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WEBSTER,  N.Y.  U580 

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CrHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

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Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibiiographiques 


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th«( 
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reqi 
met 


0 


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10X  14X  18X  22X 


26X 


SOX 


y 

5—-  -- 

! 

12X 

16X 

20X 

24X 

28X 

32X 

ire 

details 
es  du 
modifier 
er  une 
Pilmage 


es 


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g6n6rositA  de: 

La  bibliothdque  des  Archives 
publiques  du  Canada 

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conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
fiimage. 

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dernidre  page  cjui  comporte  une  empreinte 
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originaux  sont  fiimds  en  commenpant  par  la 
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d'impression  ou  d'iliustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaftra  sur  la 
dernlAre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbole  — ►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbols  V  signifie  "FIN". 


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different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
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beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
film6s  d  des  taux  de  reduction  diffdrents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtie 
reproduit  en  un  seul  cliche,  il  est  ftlmd  d  partir 
de  Tangle  supdrieur  gauche,  de  gauche  d  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  ni&cessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mdthode. 


errata 
to 


I  pelure, 
3n  d 


n 

32X 


1  2  3 


1  2  3 

4  5  6 


THE   SPECTATOR   ENTIRE 
P.  APPLETOK  &  COMPANY 

'»*'^  JUST  ITTBLraHKD 

THE     "SPECTATOE-" 

MTITH  PEEFACE8.  HI8T0BI0AI,  AND  BI06EAPHICAI,        ' 

By  Alexander  Chalmen,  A.  M. 
A  ITev,  and  Carefully  Hesmd  Edition 
amplete  in  .ixvolumes.  8vo.,  pica  type.    Price  in  cloth.' 19-  half  o,H 
extra  or  antique,  $16;  calf  extra  or  antique,  ^20 

■■■■»  »■» . 

wh;;?i?„7tSt,\°af/^^^^^^  n-^ent  of  merat.rc.„ 

this  may,  w   h  otrict  justice,  bo  eald  of  iKn      ""^^'I'f  •, l-e  h**  Imd  no  equal ;  an" 

n«h  n"'^  ?f  .'^^  ???"*««'  °'  the  EngUsh  ^"S  but '«,  "f  >.»"/  "  '°'"'«''  'o  be  considered 
lish  novelists.  Ills  best  essays  approach  Tar  Vn„w,^/'  forerunner  of  the  great  Eng- 
cellence  moro  wonderful  than  their  variety  n,iSv°'S'*  perfection ;  nor  if  their  e|. 
he^e^_  under  the  -ceasity  of  repeaSSnin^'^/o7ri°e"ar/^^^^^^^^^ 

,^,ir "-^1^  T- ""'^^^^  oTits^^er^":?'  •"■' '-  -«-*«  ^'^^.ty ..  ' 

ffl.^"^".^  i'r.r  "^  '"'^-'  -^  ^-^'  sKs  c»=ii  rA. 

s^d^'str? '^^^"^^^^^  --^  -^^---  '-- 

«J.t^°n' t1;fXVasrorr°e7e\'^^^^^^^^  '*  »ay  be  afflnned,  that  they 

Vice  and  folly  are  satirized,  virtue  aSd'iW,?      tendency  as  well  aa  literary  me,lL 

policed  diction  and  Attic  ,^tr„«etr.X4r^^^^^^^^ 

rjr?J°r'V'"'"^^^^^^  his  de,.c"at. 

humor,  he  was  in  his  proper  walk     tio  i»Vk„  »      }^     .   ""o**  origlna    and  exniilt 

tog,  in  which,  like  mo^^^heT  fo^nde™  of  schX  he Vf  ^H^^  «'''^'  "'  Popa'^^wr. 
have  attempted  to  Imiteto  him.  Hir&,/cta^?r„J',*!'S''  nnsurpass.d  by  any  who 
possessing  all  thebest  qualities  of  a  voliiclTnfo^r,fiT*  "^  "^*  ^"^^  examples  of  a  style 
•nd  familiar  without  cLseness,  animated  wlttt^v'i^"'^'"™*  ""''  Instruction^  eS? 
natural  labor,  and,  fVom  Its  fleklKlda^  ed  SJ  ^,f  1^^"°."^;  P""'hed  wlthoit  n^ 
8eriou8."-i'«wny  Cyclopedia.  ^'      ^^  ***  ^'  ""«  ^'""■'^'y  »'  «ie  gay  and  th*. 

*e„:S5yT«a1Zeet^^^^^  Ignorance,  which  too 

nent  degree,  kt  tEe  autho^rnfe^fra  lasU„^berflt*^^h°,^J^'''  "«*'"«'' '»  «S  ««»• 
'°i''«n''eri''g  popular  a  species  of^ttni^ShfcKmatirltw  ?"°?^\^y  establishing 
^^^^^th^t&^^^  -<1  augmlnt'llS'd  P?rrifTK^rIltel^"o?i«-^l^! 

thaUhe"r^^UuMn'b^.'"Ir?d"^,,^ror'SlS'^  °?  *•!?  '""J-'  <>'  ""s'on  «« 
not  have  been  endured.    Thn  wnru!;;^      .     ^   "'"  '"'^nds  attempted  more,  it  wonM 

«d.  «  such.  0  "tt;![iortor«e^e\t»^)l„^-^^"4,!"  '™"'  '^  ^'  hl^&eitl^'S 


APFLETON'S  EDITION  OF  THE  BBITISH  POETS. 
PROSPECTUS 

or  JL 

New  and  Splendid  Library  Edition 

or  THB 

POPULAR  POETS  AND  POETRY  OF  BRITAIN 

EDITED,  WITH  BIOGEAPHIOAL  AND  OEITICAL  NOTICES, 
BV  THE  REV.  GEORGE  GILPILIAN, 

AUTHOB  0»  "OAIXIEY  OF  LITIBABY  POETBAIW,"  "BABD6  OF  THB  BIBIB,"  nO. 

tai  demy-octavo  sUe,  printed  ftom  a  new  pica  type,  on  Buporflne  paper,  and  neatly  bound. 
Fricei  only  $1  a  volnme  in  doth,  or  f  2  60  in  oalf  extra. 


"  Strangely  enongh,  we  have  never  had  m  yet  any  thing  at  all  approaching  a  aatli- 
fiactory  edition  of  the  JEngllsh  poets.  We  have  had  Johnson's,  and  Bell's,  and  Cooke  a, 
and  Sharpe's  small  sized  editions— we  have  had  the  one  hundred  volnme  edition  from 
the  Chlswlck  press— we  have  had  the  douhle-coliunned  editions  of  Chalmers  and  An- 
derson—and we  have  the,  as  yet,  Imperfect  Aldlne  edition ;  but  no  series  has  hitherto 
given  evidence  that  a  man  of  cultivated  taste  and  research  directed  the  whole." — Athen. 

The  splendid  series  of  books  now  offered  to  the  public  at  snth  an  unusually  low 
rate  of  charge,  will  be  got  up  with  all  the  care  and  elegance  which  the  present  advanced 
state  of  the  publishing  art  can  command. 

The  well-known  literary  character  and  ability  of  the  editor  Is  sufficient  guaranty  .uf 
tlie  accuracv  and  general  elucidation  of  the  text,  while  the  paper,  printing,  and  binding 
of  the  voluinos  will  be  of  the  highest  class,  forming.  In  these  respects,  a  striking  contrast 
to  all  existing  cheap  editions,  in  which  so  few  efforts  have  been  made  to  combine 
iujMiriorlty  in  production  with  low  prices. 

Under  the  impression  that  a  chronological  issue  of  the  Poets  would  not  be  so  ao- 
oeptable  as  one  more  diversifleil,  it  has  been  deemed  advisable  to  Intermix  the  earlier 
and  the  later  Poets.  Care,  however,  will  be  taken  that  either  the  anther  or  the  volumes 
are  in  themselves  complete,  as  ptibllshed ;  so  that  no  purchaser  discontinuing  the  series 
St  any  time,  will  be  possessed  of  imperfect  books. 

The  absence  in  the  book  market  of  any  handsome  nnlform  series  of  the  Popular  Brilr 
Ish  Poets,  at  a  moderate  price,  has  iudu<»d  the  publishers  to  prqject  the  present  edition, 
nnder  the  Impression  that,  produced  in  superior  style,  deserving  a  place  on  the  shelves 
of  the  best  libraries,  and  offered  at  letts  than  one  naff  the  usual  selling  price,  it  will  meet 
that  amount  of  patronage  which  an  enterprise,  based  on  such  liberal  terras,  requires. 

The  series  wUl  conclude  with  a  few  volumes  of  lUgltlve  pieces,  and  a  History  oi 
British  Poetry,  ia  which  selections  will  be  given  flrom  the  writings  of  those  authors 
W'.ose  works  do  not  possess  sufficient  interest  to  warrant  their  publication  as  a  whole. 

It  is  believed  that  this  will  rendfr  the  present  edition  of  the  British  Poets  the  most 
complete  which  has  ever  been  issued,  and  secure  for  it  extensive  support  The  serice  i* 
intended  to  inolndo  the  following  authors :— 


ADDISON. 

OOWPEB. 

GBAHAMS. 

OPIB. 

BPENSBB. 

AKINSIOa. 

OBABBE. 

OBAT. 

PABNBUi. 

BCOKUNO. 

ABUSTBONO. 

0EA8UAW. 

OBEKN. 

PENKOSB. 

BUBBET. 

BABBAVLD. 

OVNNIMOHAM. 

HAMILTON,  W. 

PEBOT. 

SWIFT. 

BBARIB. 

DAVIBB. 

BABBTNQTOH. 

POPE. 

TANNAHILL. 

BLAIB. 

DENBAM. 

BEBBEBT. 

PBIOB. 

THOMSON. 

BLOOMnUSk 

DONNE. 

BEBBIOV. 

qVABLEB. 

TIOEELL. 

BXUOB. 

DBAYTON. 

nooo. 

BAMBAT. 

TAVOnAir,  H. 

BDBira. 

DBUHUOND. 

JAMES  I. 

BOO  BBS. 

WALLEB. 

BUTLBB. 

DBTDEN. 

JONES. 

B08C0MM0N. 

WAETON,  J. 

BTBOK. 

D0NBAB. 

JOHNSON. 

BOSS. 

WABTON,  T. 

OAKPBILI. 

DTKB. 

JONSON. 

WATTS. 

OABEW. 

FALOOHEB. 

LETDEN. 

soon  J. 

WniTB,  R.  ^ 

OHATTBBTOH. 

FEB01TB80N. 

I.U>TD. 

SCOTT,  Bit  W. 

WTTHBB. 

OHACOEB. 

FIjnCBKB,0. 

lOOAN. 

BBAKSPBABB, 

WILKIB. 

OHUBOHILL. 

OAT. 

MAOPHEBSOM. 

SHBLLBT. 

wouwm 

OLABB. 

OIFFOBD. 

MALLBTT. 

SDENSTONB. 

WOLFB. 

OOUBGDOB. 

OlOVKE. 

MABVBL. 

8MABT. 

WTAIT. 

OOILIKB. 

SOLDSMrm. 

MII-TON. 

BXOLLETY. 

TOnMCk 

OOWUtT. 

aOWKB. 

MOOBE. 

SOMXjtVII.T.B. 

2%<  foVovnng  Avthort  art  now  r«ady : 
JOHN  MILTON,  3  vols. ;  JAMES  THOMSON,  1  vol. ;  OEOROE  HEBBEBT,  1  f«i 

JAMES  YOUNG,  1  vol. 


'\ 


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VTKS,    'i!: 


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H.LU5mi.T.0N».    AM>  .  ,ME    NOTU'Is-:   r..    .m,.,,j,. 


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rwo 


-KW  YORK  : 

•  '  .N      \    \    ■ ,     , 

846  AND  848  BKOADWAY, 

LONDON:    16  LITTLE  BRITAIN. 

1854. 


^  ^t  P  A  2i  Y , 


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I 


/thirty  YEARS'  VIEW- 

vV  OB, 


A  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORKING  OF  THE  AMERICAN 
GOVERNMENT  FOR  THIRTY  YEARS, 

FEOM  1820  TO  1850. 

OUIKFLY  TAKEN 

FROM  THE  CONGRESS  DEBATES.  THE  PRIVATE  PAPERS  OF  aPVPPAT    , 

AND  THE  SPEECHES  OF  Fvovv-Arr^n^  GENERAL  JACKSON 

xiT-  oriiiiOHiiS  OF  EX-SENATOR  BENTON,    WITH  HI3 

ACTUAL  VIEW  OF  MEN  AND  AFFAIRS: 


/^ 


WITH 


HISTORICAL  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  AND  SOME  NOTICIB  OF  EMINENT 

DECEASED  COTEMPORARIES :  ^HNENT 


BY  A  SENATOR  OF  THIRTY  YEARS. 

IN  TWO   VOLUMES. 

VOL.  J. 


NEW  YORK : 
B.    APPLETON   AND    COMPANY 

846  AND  848  BROADWAY.  ' 

I.ONDON:    18   LITTLE  BEITAIN. 
1654. 


I 


Entered  according  to  act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1854,  by 

D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the 
Southern  District  of  New-York. 


111 

B'f'l 


Justice 

gaged,  is 

I  the  hope 

I  showing  i 

[time,  and 

'to  come,  i 

Ipatriotic  ] 

lis  anothei 

In  the  sp^ 

louse  of 

aemory  al 

emained  1 

aitted  us 

lorn,  you  ( 

ayself,  I  ] 

fit  has  been 

ladmired  th 

iBagacity,  ai 

-fcumstanees 


I^^O 


e 


% 


PREFACE. 


1. -MOTIVES  FOR  WRITING  THIS  WORK. 

Justice  to  the  men  with  whom  I  acterl  niirl  f «  *r, 

the  hope  of  boing  „«efu.  to  our  rVubllJ  „™  I  tdZ "  7ft  ""°"'\" 

fn  the  .peoehes  of  Lord  ChatLm  the  .  "  T=  '  ""  """^  ^  «"'  -"^ 
|o..e  of  Lords  on  these  foi:t:;f't  "  T,""^  '"  '"^ 

fnemory  at  the  time  and  whnf  ;«  '  '*  '""^  ^^^P  ^^^o  my 

fcaioL  there  evcrli::''^;r;27;!f.-P»'^  «■«  »e„rt :  and  Z 
Emitted  us  from  Ameriea  •  ^ZT  ^°"".  .'""^^'P'  '""^  ="  *«  papers  trans- 
laom,  you  cannot  ta  ^^j'^/  r"":  *'f  "^"""^  '^™"^»''  »^  -" 

I'  has  been  my  ftvorite  stud^I  ta™  ^;^"^"'^  and  observation-and 
Hmired  the  master  states  of  the  worU  tha^f  .t'''  "",*  ''™  '"''''^''  "■"• 
fagaoity,  and  wisdom  of  eonclusion  unl        f"  '^  °^  "'''^''■"''-  ''°™  »f 

Wtanccs,  no  nation  or  b  dv  °f  "         "      '  ^™P"'="''»  "^  d^^"!'  cir- 
ion,      body  of  men,  can  stand  in  preference  to  the  general 


iv 


PREFACR 


congress  at  Philadelphia."  This  encomium,  so  just  and  so  grand,  so  grave  and 
so  measured,  and  the  more  impressive  on  account  of  its  gravity  and  measure,  was 

pronounced  in  the  early  part  of  our  revolutionary  struggle — in  its  first  stage 

and  before  a  long  succession  of  crowning  events  had  come  to  convert  it  into  his- 
tory, and  to  show  of  how  much  more  those  men  were  capable  than  they  had 
then  done.  If  the  great  William  Pitt— greater  under  that  name  than  under 
the  title  ht  so  long  refused— had  lived  in  this  day,  had  lived  to  see  these 
men  making  themselves  exceptions  to  the  maxim  of  the  world,  and  finishing 
the  revolution  which  they  began — seen  them  found  a  new  government  and 
administer  it  in  their  day  and  generation,  and  until  "  gathered  to  their  fathers," 
and  all  with  the  same  wisdom,  justice,  moderation,  and  decorum,  with  which 
they  began  it  :  if  he  had  lived  to  have  seen  all  this,  even  his  lofty  genius  might 
have  recoiled  from  the  task  of  doing  them  justice  ; — and,  I  may  add,  from  the 
task  of  doing  justice  to  the  People  who  sustained  such  men.  Eulogy  is  not  my 
task ;  but  gratitude  and  veneration  is  the  debt  of  my  birth  and  inheritance,  and 
of  the  benefits  which  I  have  enjoyed  from  their  labors  ;  and  I  have  proposed 
to  acknowledge  this  debt — to  discharge  it  is  impossible — in  laboring  to  preserve 
their  work  during  my  day,  and  in  now  commending  it,  by  the  fruits  it  has 
borne,  to  the  love  and  care  of  posterity.  Another  motive,  hardly  entitled  to 
the  dignity  of  being  named,  has  its  weight  with  me,  and  belongs  to  the  rights 
of  "  self-defence."  I  have  made  a  great  many  speeches,  and  have  an  apprehen- 
sion that  they  may  be  published  after  I  am  gone — published  in  the  gross, 
without  due  discrimination — and  so  preserve,  or  perpetuate,  things  said,  both 
of  men  and  of  measures,  which  I  no  longer  approve,  and  would  wish  to  leave  to 
oblivion.  By  making  selections  of  suitable  parts  of  these  speeches,  and  weaving 
them  into  this  work,  I  may  hope  to  prevent  a  general  publication — or  to  render 
it  harmless  if  made.     But  I  do  not  condemn  all  that  I  leave  out. 


f 

i 


2.— QUALIFICATIONS  FOR  THE  WORK. 


iPf! 


Of  those  I  have  one,  admitted  by  all  to  be  considerable,  but  by  no  means 
enough  of  itself  Mr.  Macaulay  says  .'  Fox  and  Mackintosh,  speaking  of  their 
histories  of  the  lact  of  the  Stuarts,  and  of  the  Revolution  of  1688  :  ''  They 
had  one  eminent  qualification  for  writing  history  ;  they  had  spoken  history, 
acted  history,  lived  history.  The  turns  of  political  fortune,  the  ebb  and  flow  of 
popular  feeling,  the  hidden  mechanism  by  which  parties  are  moved,  all  these 
things  were  the  subject  of  their  constant  thought,  and  of  their  most  familiar 
conversation.     Gibbon  has  remarked,  that  his  history  is  much  the  better  for  his 


PREFACR 


,  SO  grave  and 
[  measure,  was 
1  first  stage — 
3rt  it  into  his- 
han  they  had 
le  than  under 

to  see  these 
and  finishing 
rernment  and 
their  fathers," 
n,  with  which 

genius  might 
add,  from  the 
logy  is  not  my 
heritance,  and 
lave  proposed 
Qg  to  preserve 

fruits  it  has 
ily  entitled  to 
3  to  the  rights 

an  apprehen- 

in  the  gross, 
igs  said,  both 
ish  to  leave  to 
1,  and  weaving 
—or  to  render 


having  been  an  officer  in  the  militia,  and  a  member  of  the  House  of  Commons, 
The  remark  is  most  just.     We  have  not  the  smallest  doubt  that  his  campaigns, 
though  he  never  saw  an  enemy,  and  his  parliamentary  attendance,  though  he 
never  made  a  speech,  were  of  far  more  use  to  him  than  years  of  retirement  and 
study  would  have  been.     If  the  time  that  he  spent  on  parade  and  at  mess  in 
Hampshire,  or  on  the  Treasury  bench  and  at  Brooke's,  during  the  storms  which 
overthrew  Lord  North  and  Lord  Shelbume,  had  been  passed  in  the  Bodleian 
Library,  he  might  have  avoided  some  inaccuracies  ;  he  might  have  enriched  his 
notes  with  a  greater  number  of  references  ;  but  he  never  could  have  produced  so 
lively  a  picture  of  the  court,  the  camp,  and  the  senate-house.     In  thia  respect 
Mr.  Fox  and  Sir  James  Mackintosh  had  great  advantages  over  almost  every 
English  historian  since  the  time  of  Burnet."— I  can  say  I  have  these  advantages 
I  was  in  the  Senate  the  whole  time  of  which  I  write-an  active  business  mem- 
ber, attending  and  attentive-in  the  confidence  of  half  the  administrations, 
and  a  close  observer  of  the  others— had  an  inside  view  of  transactions  of  which 
the  public  only  saw  the  outside,  and  of  many  of  which  the  two  sides  were  very 
different— saw  the  secret  springs  and  hidden  -  ^chinery  by  which  men  and 
parties  were  to  be  moved,  and  measures  promotea  or  thwarted— saw  patriotism 
and  ambition  at  their  respective  labors,  and  was  generally  able  to  discriminate 
between  them.     So  far,  I  have  one  qualification  ;  but  Mr.  Macaulay  says  that 
Lord  Lyttlelon  had  the  same,  and  made  but  a  poor  history,  because  unable  to 
use  his  material.     So  it  may  be  with  me  ;  but  in  addition  to  my  senatorial 
means  of  knowledge,  I  have  access  to  the  unpublished  papers  of  General  Jack- 
son, and  find  among  them  some  that  he  intended  for  pubUcation,  and  which  wiU 
be  used  according  to  his  intention. 


by  no  means 
making  of  their 
L688:  "They 
)oken  history, 
lb  and  flow  of 
ved,  all  those 
most  familiar 

better  for  his 


3.— THE  SCOPE  OP  THE  WORK. 

I  do  not  propose  a  regular  history,  but  a  political  work,  to  show  the  practical 
worknig  of  the  government,  and  speak  of  men  and  events  in  subordination  to 
that  design,  and  to  iUustrate  the  character  of  Institutions  which  are  new  and 
comp!ex-the  first  of  their  kind,  and  upon  the  fate  of  which  the  eyes  of  the 
world  are  now  fixed.  Our  dupUcate  form  of  government.  State  and  Federal 
IS  a  novelty  which  has  no  precedent,  and  has  found  no  practical  imitation  and 
IS  8ti)l  believed  by  some  to  be  an  experiment.  I  believe  in  its  excellence,  and 
wish  to  contnbute  to  its  permanence,  and  believe  I  can  do  so  by  giving  a  faith- 
u.  account  of  what  I  have  seen  of  its  working,  and  of  the  trials  to  which  I 
have  seen  it  subjected. 


▼1 


PREFACE 


4.— THE  SPIRIT  OP  THE  WORK. 

I  write  in  the  spirit  of  Truth,  but  not  of  unnecessaiy  or  irrelevant  tnith, 
only  gmng  hat  which  is  essential  to  the  object  of  the  work,  and  the  omission  of 
which  would  be  an  imperfection,  and  a  subtraction  from  what  ought  to  be  known 
I  have  no  ammosities,  and  shall  find  far  greater  pleasure  in  bringing  out  the  good 
and  the  great  acts  of  those  with  whom  I  have  differed,  than  in  noting  the  points 
on  which  I  deemed  them  wrong.  My  ambition  is  to  make  a  veracious  wo^ 
rehable  m  its  statements,  candid  in  its  conclusions,  just  in  its  views,  and  which 
cotemporanes  and  posterity  may  read  without  fear  of  being  misled. 


Pbrukinaby 

CHAP. 

I.    Per 

IL    Adi 

III.  Fin; 

IV.  Eell 
V.    Orei 

VL    Floi 

VII.    Dea 

VIII.    Dea 

IX    Abo 

X    Inte 

XI.    Gem 

XII.    Visi 

XIIL    The 

XIV.    Tho 

XV.    Amc 

to 

sic 

XVI.    Inter 
XVII.    Presi 

ill 
Deatl 


XVIII. 


f!l 


XIX.  Presi 
sei 

XX.  The  C 
XXL    Comn 

tio 
XXII.    Casec 
Ap 
I  XXIII.    Eetiri: 
XXIV.    Eemo 
XXV.    ThoP 
XXVI.    Duel  I 
"XXVII.    Dcatli 

fXXVUL   Ameni 

f  to  tl 

Btdei 


»vant  truth, 
■  omission  of 
0  be  known. 
)ut  the  good 
;  the  points 
cious  work, 
and  which 


CONTENTS  OF  YOLUMB  I. 


» <«i 


PamjMiNAEY  Vuw  from  1816  to  1820 


.     1 


CHAP. 

L 
IL 

III. 

IV. 
V. 

VL 

vir. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X 

XI. 

XII. 

XIIL 

XIV. 

XV. 


Personal  Aspect  of  the  Governmont       , 
Admission  of  the  State  of  Missouri      . 
Finances— Reduction  of  the  Army         , 
Belief  of  Public  Land  Debtors    . 
Oregon  Territory 

Florida  Treaty  and  Cession  of  Texas 

Death  of  Mr.  Lowndes 

Death  of  William  Plnkney 

Abolition  of  the  Indian  Factory  System      . 

Internal  Improvement       .... 

General  Removal  of  Indians . 

Visit  of  Lafayette  to  the  United  States     . 

The  Tariff,  and  American  System 

ThoA.  B.  Plot 

Amendment  of  the  Constitution,  In  relation 
to  tlie  Election  of  President  and  Vice-Pre- 
sident   

Internal  Trado  with  New  Mexico      . 
Presidential  and  Vlcc-Presidentlal  Elections 
ill  the  Electoral  Colleges    .... 
Death  of  John  Taylor,  of  Caroline    . 

Presidential  Election  In  tho  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives     

The  Occupation  of  the  Columbia 

Commencement  of  Mr.  Adams's  Admlnistra. 


tion 


Case  of  Mr.  Lanman— Temporary  Senatorial 

Appointment  from  Connecticut     . 
Retiring^of  Mr.  EufusKiiig   .... 
Removal  of  tho  Creek  Indians  from  Georgia 
The  Panama  Mission  .... 

Duel  Between  Mr.  Clay  and  Mr.  Randolph  . 
Dcalli  of  Mr.  Galliard 
Amendment  of  the  Constitution,  In  relation 

to  the  Election  of  President  and  Vice-Pro- 

sldent  .   .   .   ; 


7 
8 
11 
11 
18 
14 
18 
19 
20 
21 
27 
29 
82 
84 


87 
41 

44 

45 

46 
60 


64 

66 
6V 
58 
65 
70 
77 

78 


CHAP. 

XXIX 
XXX 


XXXL 

xxxn. 

XXXIIL 

XXXIV. 
XXXV. 

XXXVL 

XXXVIL 
XXXVIIL 

XXXIX. 
XL. 

XLL 

XLII. 

XLin. 

XLIV. 


XLV. 
XLVL 

XLvn. 
XLvin. 


Reduction  of  Executive  Patronage 
Exclusion  of  Members  of  Congress  from 

Civil  Office  Appointments 
Death  of  the  ex-Presldents,  John  Adama 

and  Thomas  Jefferson  .... 
British  Indemnity  for  Deported  Slaves     . 
Meeting  of  the  first  Congress  Elected  under 
the  Administration  of  Mr.  A(h»ms 

Revision  of  the  Tariff 

The  Public  Lands— Their  Proper  Dispo- 
sition—Graduated Prices— Pre-emption 
Rights— Donations  to  Settlers     . 
Cession  of  a  Part  of  the  Territory  of  Ar- 
kansas to  the  Cherokee  Indians 

Renewal  of  the  Oregon  Joint  Occupation 
Convention 

Presidential  Election  of  1828,  and  Further 
Errors  of  Mons.  de  Tocquovlllo  . 

Retiring  and  Death  of  Mr.  Macon      . 

Commencement  of  General  Jackson's  Ad- 
ministration   

First  Message  of  General  Jackson  to  the 
two  Houses  of  Congress  .... 

The  recovery  of  the  Direct  Trade  with  the 
British  West  India  Islands  . 

Establishment  of  tho  Globe  Newspaper    . 

Limitation  of  Public  l^ni  Sales-Suspen- 
sion of  Surveys— Abolition  of  the  Office 
of  Surveyor  General  —  Origin  of  the 
United  States  Land  System  — Author- 
ship of  the  Anti-slavery  Ordinance  of 
1T78— Slavery  Controversy- Protective 
Tariff— Inception  of  theDoctrhio of  Nnl- 
Itflcatlon 

Repeal  of  the  Sa.'t  Tax       .... 
Birthday  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  the  Doc- 
trine of  JJuIIiflration    .... 

Regulation  of  Commerce   .       ,       ,       , 
Alum  Salt-Tlio  Abolition  of  the  Duty 
upon  it,  and  Repeal  of  the  Fishing  Boun- 
ty and  Allowances  Founded  on  it 


PAOK. 

80 

82 

87 
88 

91 
96 

102 

107 

109 

111 
114 

119 

121 

124 
128 


180 
143 

143 
149 

154 


▼lU 


CONTENTO  OP  VOL.  I. 


CBAP. 

XLIX 

L. 

LI. 

LII. 

LIII. 


FAOE. 

163 
169 
163 
107 


uv. 

LV. 
LVL 

LVIl 

IVIIL 
UX. 

IX 

LSI 

IXII. 
LXIIL 

LXIV. 

LXV. 


LXVI. 

LXVIL 

LXVIII. 

LXIX. 

LlvX 

LXXI, 

LXXIL 
LXXIIL 
LXXIV. 

LXXV. 

LXXVI. 
LXXVir. 

LXXVIII. 

LXXIX. 
LXXX. 

LXXXI. 

XXXXIL 


167 


Bank  of  the  United  State*     s 

Removals  ft-om  Office  .... 

Indian  Sovereignties  within  the  SUtes  , 

Veto  on  the  Maysvllle  KoaU  BlU . 

Eupture  between  President  Jackson  and 
Vice-President  Calhoun 

Breaking  up  of  the  Cabinet,  and  Appoint- 
ment of  another 139 

Military  Academy        ....         182 

Bank  of  the  United  States— Non-renewal 
of  Charter jgj 

Error  of  De  Tocquevllle,  In  relation  to  the 

House  of  Representatives  ...       206 
The  Twenty-second  Congress . 

Rejection  of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  Minister  to 
England 

Bank  of  the  United  SUtes— Illegal,  and 

Vicious  Currency 

Error  of  Mons,  dn  Tocquevllle,  In  relation 
to  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  the 
President,  and  the  People 
Expenses  of  the  Government .       . 
Bank  of  the  United  Stat°s-Recharte>- 

Commencement  of  the  Proceedings 
Bank  of  the  United  States— Committee 

of  Investigation  Ordered  . 
The  Three  per  Cent  Debt,  and  Loss  In 
not  Paying  It  when  the  Rate  was  Low, 
and  the  Money  In  the  Bank  of  tho 
United  States  without  Interest 
Bank  of  the  United  States— Bill  for  the 
Recharter  Reported  In  the  Senate,  and 

Passed  that  Body j^g 

Bank  of  the  United  States— Bill  for  the 
Renewed  Charter  Passed  In  the  House 
of  Representatives    . 

The  Veto 

The  Protective  System 
Public  Lands— Distribution  to  the  States 
Settlement  of  French  and  Spanish  Land 
Claims 

"Efifcetsof  theVeto"      .... 
Presidential  Election  of  1883 

First  Annual  Message  of  President  Jack- 
son, after  his  Second  Election 

Bank  of  The  United  States— Delay  in 
Paying  the  Three  per  Cents.— Com- 
mittee of  Investigation     . 

Abolition  of  Imprisonment  for  Debt 

Sale  of  United  States  Stock  In  the  Na- 
tional Bank 

Nnllifleation  Ordinance  to  South  Caro- 
lina         

Proclamation  against  Nullification     . 

Message  on  the  South  Carolina  Proceed- 
ings         

Reduction  of  Duties— Mr.  Vemlanck'n 
Bill 

Reduction  of  Dotles— Mr.  Clay's  BUI     . 


208 


214 


224 


282 


236 


242 


280 
251 
265 
276 

279 

280 


288 

287 
291 

294 

297 
299 

808 


808 
818 


OBAP 

LXXXIIL 

LXXXIV. 

LXXXV. 


Revenue  Collection,  or  Force  BUI 

Mr.  Calhoun's  Nullification  Resolutions . 

Secret  History  of  the  "  Compromise  "  of 
1883    .... 


PAQE. 


LXXXVL 
LXXXVIL 


884 


843 


84T 


8M 


860 
862 


8T9 


881 


885 


Compromise  Legislation ;  and  tho  Act, 
so  called,  of  1888 844 

Vlrglnlf  Resolutions  of  '98-'99  — Dlsa- 
■  ..wl  of  their  South  Carolina  Ihterpro- 
—Ion— 1.  Upon  their  Own  Words— 2. 
Upon  Contimporaneous  Interpreta- 
tion      

LXXXVIIL    Virginia  Resolutions  of  1798— Disabused 
of  Nullification  by  their  Author  . 
LXXXIX.    The  Author's  own  View  of  the  Nature 
of  Our  Government,  as  being  a  Union 
In  Contradistinction  to  a  League :  Pre- 
sented In  a  Subsequent  Speech  on  Mis- 
souri Resolutions      .... 
XO.    Public  Lands— Distribution  of  Proceeds 
XCI.    Commencement   of    the   Twenty-third 
Congress-The  Members',  and  Presi- 
dent's Message 

XCIL  Removal  of  the  Deposits  from  tho  Bank 
of  tho  United  States     .... 

XCIII.  Bank  Proceedings,  on  Seeing  the  Deci- 
sion of  the  President,  in  relation  to  the 
Removal  of  the  Deposits  . 

XCIV.  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasniy 
to  Congress  on  the  Removal  of  the  De- 
posits      

XCV.  Nomination  of  Government  Directors, 
and  their  Rejection   .... 

XCVL    Secretary's  Report  on  the  Removal  of  the 

Deposits 

XCVn.    Call  on  the  President  for  a  Copy  of  the 

"  Paper  Read  to  the  Cabinet " . 
XOVIIL  Mistakes  of  Public  Men— Great  Combi- 
nation against  General  Jackson— Com- 
menceiment  of  the  Panic 
XCIX.  Mr.  Clay's  Speech  against  President  Jack- 
son on  the  Removal  of  the  Deposits- 
Extracts     

0.    Mr.  Benton's  Speech  In  Reply  to  Mr.  Clay 

— Extracts 405 

CL    Condemnation  of  President  Jackson- 
Mr.  Calhoun's  Speech— Extracts      .        411 

OIL    Public  Distress 415 

Cin.  Senatorial  Condemnation  of  President 
Jackson— his  Protest— Notice  of  the 
Expunging  Resolution       .         .       .      423 

CIV.    Mr.  "Webster's  Plan  of  Relief      .       .        483 
CV.    Revival  of  the  Gold  Currency- Mr.  Ben- 

ton's  Speeth       .       .         .       ,        .43s 

CVL    Attempted  Investigation  of  the  Bank  of 

the  United  States      .... 
CVIL    Mr.  Taney's  Report  on  the  Finances- 
Exposure  of  the   Distress  Alarms- 
End  of  the  Panic  

CVIII.    Hcviva!  of  tno  Quid  Currency 
CIX    Rejection  of  Mr.  Taney— Nominated  for 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury   . 


CXI 
CXI 
CXII 
CXI\ 


CXVl 

OXVIl 

CXVIII 


400 


402 


CXXII 
CXXIII 
CXXIV, 

CXXV. 

CXXVL 
CXXVIL 

CXXVIII 
CXXIX. 

oxxx. 

OXXXL 

CXXXII. 

CXXXIIL 

CXXXIV. 

CXXXV. 

CXXXVL 

CXXXVIL 

cxxxvm. 


453 

462 
469 


470 


PAGE.       !'■ 

orce  Bin 

880         1 

<aup. 

n  Besolatlons . 

m      i 

>— 
CX 

ompromls*  "  of 

843        m 

CXI. 

and  the  Act, 

1 

CXII. 

. 

844        M 

CXIII. 

'98-'99-Dlsa- 

-m 

CXIV. 

roHna  Ihterpro- 

m 

>wn  Worda— 2. 

9 

CXV. 

M   Interpreta- 

'fl 

. 

84T      mm 

CXVI. 

98-Disabused 

s 

OXVII. 

Author  . 

8M       -S 

CXVIII. 

of  tlio  Nature 

9 

being  a  Union 
League :  Pre- 

M 

OXIX. 

Jpeech  on  Mls- 

V 

cxx 

• 

860        W 

CXXI. 

n  of  Proceeds 

862         ^ 

Twenty-third 

CXXII. 

rs',  and  Presl- 

CXXIII. 

•       • 

869 

CXXIV. 

^m  the  Bank 

. 

873 

CXXV. 

3lDg  the  Decl- 

rrlatlon  to  the 

s 

i  . 

8T9          1 

CXXVI. 

'  the  Treosniy 

i 

CXXVIL 

yaloftheDe- 

■'■ 

• 

881 

CXXVIIL 

nt  Directors, 

•       >       * 

885 

CXXIX. 

emoTal  of  the 

898            ;' 

cxxx 

a  Copy  of  the 

,J 

not " . 

899     -m 

OXXXL 

3rcat  Combl- 

mm 

ckson— Com- 

400        M 

CXXXII. 

esident  Jack- 

■1 

CXXXIIL 

ie  Deposits — 

'% 

•       •       ■ 

402            J 

CXXXIV. 

y  to  Mr.  Clay 

CXXXV. 

• 

406            i 

CXXXVL 

it  Jackson — 

% 

CXXXVII. 

xtracts 

411 

cxxxvm. 

. 

415             f 

of  President 

;^K 

otice  of  the 

'^B 

. 

428         B 

f      .       . 

43.S         9 

y— Mr.  Ben- 

48«        1 

the  Bank  of 

45J        1 

Finances— 

8 

88  Alarms — 

46^     M 

7     .       . 

469        ^ 

ominated  for 

9 

. 

470        S 

CONTENTS  OF  VOL  I. 


PAOB, 


Senatorial  Investigation  of  the  Bank  of 

the  United  States     ....  470 

Downfall  ofthe  Bank  of  the  United  States  471 

Death  of  John  Bandolph,  of  lioanoake  478 

Death  of  Mr.  Wirt 475 

Death  of  the  lost  of  the  Signers  of  the 

Declaration  of  Independence  .  .  476 
Commencement  of  the  Session,  1884-'85 : 

President's  Message       .       ,       ,       .  477 

Beportof  the  Bank  Committee  .       .  481 

Frenca  Spoliations  before  1800  .  .  487 
French    Spoliations  —  Speech    of  .  Mr, 

Wright,  of  New-York       ...  489 

French  Spoliations-Mr.  Webster's  Speech  606 

French  Spo'lations-Mr.  Benton's  Speech  614 

Attempted   Assassination  of  President 

Jackson 621 

Alabama  Expunging  BesolnUons       .         624 
The  Expunging  Bosolution     .       ,       ,623 
Expunging  Besolution:   Ejected,  and 
Benewcd (549 

Branch  Mints  at  New  Orleans,  and  in  the 
Gold  Eegiois  of  Georgia  and  North 

Carolina cso 

Begulation  Deposit  Bill        .       :       ,         668 
Defeat  ofthe  Defence  Appropriation,  and 

loss  of  the  FortlflcaUon  Bill        .        .     554 
Distribution  of  Berenne      .       ,       ,         656 
Commencement  of  Twenty-Fourth  Con- 
gress—President's  Message        .         ,     668 
Abolition  of  Slavery  in  the  District  of 

Columbia 676 

Mail  Circulation  of  Incendiary  Publica- 
tions         6S0 

French    Affairs— Approach    of  a  French 

Squadron— Apology  Eequlred     .       ,     688 
French  Indemnities- British  Mediation 

— IndemDltios  Paid  .  ,  .  .  600 
President  Jackson's  Foreign  Diplcmacy  601 
Slavery  Agitation  ,  .  ,  ,  .  609 
Bemoval  of  the  Cherokees  from  Geoi{^  624 
Extension  of  the  Missouri  Boundary  ,  626 
Admission  of  the  States  of  Arkansas  and 
Michigan  into  the  Union      .       ,      .     627 


CHAP. 

CXXXIX    Attempted  Inquiry  Into   the  Military 
Academy 

CXL.    MllltaryAcademy— Speech  of  Mr.  Pierce 
CXLL    Expunging  Bescatlon  — Peroration  of 
Senator  Benton's  Second  Speech 

CXLIL    Distribution  of  the  Land  Bevenue     . 

CXLIU.  Eecharior  of  the  District  Banks-Speech 
of  Mr.  Benton— The  Parts  of  Local  and 
Temporary  Interest  Omitted 

CXLIV.    Independence  of  Texas 

CXLV,    Texas    Independence  —  Mr.    Benton's 
Speech       

CXLVL    The  Specie  Circular        ,        ,       .       . 
CXLVII.    Death  of  Mr.  Madison,  Fourth  President 

ofthe  United  States 
CXLVIIL    Death  of  Mr.  Monroe,  Fifth  President  of 
the  United  States       ,        .        .       . 
CXLIX.    Death  of  Chief  Justice  Marshall  , 

CL.    Death  of  Col.  Burr,  Thh-d  Vice-President 
of  the  United  States  . 

CLL    Death  ofWllllamB.GUeB,  of  "Virginia 
CLIL    Presidential  ElecOon  of  1886 
CLIIL    Last  Annual  Message  of  President  Jack- 


PAS& 


641 

646 
649 

658 
665 

670 
676 

678 

679 
631 

631 
632 
688 

684 


CLIV.    Final  Bemoval  ofthe  Indians      . 
CLV.    Becislon  ofthe  Treasury  Circular 
CLVI.    Distribution  of  Lands  and  Money— Vari- 
ous Propositions       .... 
CLVIl    Military  Academy— Its  Biding  House 
CLVIII.    Salt  Tax— Mr.  Benton's  Fourth  Speech 

CLIX.  Expunging  Besolution- Preparation  for 
Decision 

CLX.    Expunging    Besolution— Mr.    Benton's 
Third  Speech 

CLXL  Expunging  Besolution— Mr.  Clay,  Mr. 
Calhoun,  Mr.  Webster— Last  Scene— 
Besolution  Passed  and  Executed 

CLXIL    The  Supreme  Court— Judges  and  Officers 
CLXIIL    Farewell  Address  of  President  Jackson 

—Extract 732 

CLXIV.    Conclusion  of  General  Jackson's  Admtals- 

tratlon nm 

CLX  V,    Bearing  and  Death  of  General  Jackson- 
Administration  of  Martin  Van  Buren        785 


694 

707 
712 
714 

717 

719 

727 
781 


y  ill 


1 1  m 


till- 


The.  war 

1812,  and 

but  a  nee 

duced  .sev 

points  of 

are  necess 

derstand  t 

ment,  and 

proposed  i 

1.  It  s( 

of  the  final 

^     without  ar 

for  which  i 

rency — no 

presented 

first  Bank  > 

I  ist  in  1811. 

i  ceased  to  b( 

J  of  merchan 

M  to  foreign  c 

I  by  the  gen( 

I  duced  to  a  s 

s  lie  demand 

■  cumbrous  ft 

overspread  i 

1  government, 

>  stitution,  w 

f  loans.    The 

I  removed  th 

specie  with  ] 

j  double  load 

I  stopped  spe( 

I  New  Englar 

'  unfavorable 

I  then  the  re 

M  They  were  i; 

1  being  convei 


PRELIMINARY    VIEW 


FROM    1816   TO    1821 


The.  war  with  Great  Britain  commenced  in 
1812,  and  ended  in  1815.  It  was  a  short  war, 
but  a  necessary  and  important  one,  and  intro- 


I  duced  several  changes,  and  made  some  now 
I  points  of  departure  in  American  policy,  which 
I  are  necessary  to  be  understood  in  order  to  un- 
*  derstand  the  subsequent  working  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  the  VIEW  of  that  working  which  is 
proposed  to  be  given. 

1.  It  struggled  and  labored  under  the  state 
of  the  finances  and  the  currency,  and  terminated 
without  any  professed  settlement  of  the  cause 
for  which  it  began.    There  was  no  national  cur- 
rency—no money,  or  its  equivalent,  which  re- 
presented the  same  value  in  all  places.     The 
first  Bank  of  the  United  States  had  ceased  to  ex- 
^  ist  in  1811.     Gold,  from  being  undervalued,  had 
I  ceased  to  be  a  currency— had  become  an  article 
i  of  merchandise,  and  of  export— and  was  carried 
I  to  foreign  countries.    Silver  had  been  banished 
I  by  the  general  use  of  bank  notes,  had  been  re- 
I  duced  to  a  small  quantity,  insufficient  for  a  pub- 
I  he  demand;  and,  besides,  would  have  been  too 
\  cumbrous  for  a  national  currency.    Local  banks 
!  overspread  the  land;  and  upon  these  the  federal 
;  government,  havmg  lost  the  currency  of  the  con- 
stitution, was  thrown  for  a  currency  and  for 
loans.    They,  unequal  to  the  task,  and  having 
I  removed  their  own  foundations  by  banishing 
I  specie  with  profuse  paper  issues,  sunk  under  the 
I  double  load  of  national  and  local  wants,  and 
I  stopped  specie  payments— all  except  those  of 
I  New  England,  which  section  of  the  Union  was 
j  unfavorable  to  the  war.    Treasury  notes  were 
I  then  the  resort  of  the    federal    government. 
1  hey  were  issued  m  great  quantities;  and  not 
I  ^^^  convertible  into  coin  ut  the  will  of  the 


holder,  soon  began  to  depreciate.    In  the  second 
year  of  the  war  the  depreciation  had  already  be- 
come enormous,  especially  towards  the  Canada 
frontier,  where  the  war  raged,  and  where  money 
was  most  wanted.    An  officer  setting  out  from 
Waslungton  with  a  supply  of  these  notes  found 
them  sunk  one-third  by  the  time  he  arrived  at 
the  northern  frontier- his  every  three  dollars 
counting  but  two.    After  all,  the  treasury  notes 
could  not  be  used  as  a  currency,  neither  legally, 
nor  in  fact :  they  could  only  be  used  to  obtain' 
local    bank   paper— itself  greatly  depreciated. 
All  government  securities  were  under  par,  even 
for  depreciated  bank  notes.    Loans  were  obtain- 
ed with  great  difficulty-at  large  discount-al- 
most on  the  lender's  own  terms ;  and  still  at- 
tainable only  in  depreciated  local  bank  notes. 
In  less  than  three  years  the  government,  para- 
lyzed by  the  state  of  the  finances,  was  forced  to 
seek  peace,  and  to  make  it,  without  securing,  by 
any  treaty  stipulation,  the  object  for  which  war 
had  been  declared.    Impressment  was  the  object 
-the  main  one,  with  the  insults  and  the  outra- 
ges connected  with  it-and  without  which  there 
would  have  been  no  declaration  of  war.    The 
treaty  of  peace  did  not  mention  or  allude  to  the 
,  subject— the  first  time,  perhaps,  in  moUern  his- 
tory, m  which  a  war  was  terminat...  bj  treaty 
without  any  stipulation  derived  from  Us  cause. 
Mr.  Jefferson,  in  1807,  rejected  upon  his  own 
responsibility,  without  eren  its  communication 
to  the  Senate,  the  treaty  of  that  year  negotiated 
by  Messrs.  Monroe  and  J> inkney,  because  it  did 
not  contain  an  express  renunciation  of  the  prac- 
tice of  impressment— because  it  w.is  silent  on 
that  point.    It  was  a  treaty  of  great  moment, 
^ettled  many  troublesome  questions,  was  very 


2 


PRELIMINARY  VIEW, 


" 


liiilill 


i  ill 


desirable  for  what  it  contained ;  but  as  it  was 
silent  on  the  main  jioint,  it  was  rejected,  without 
even  a  reference  to  the  Senate.    Now  wo  were 
in  a  like  condition  after  a  war.    The  war  was 
struggling  for  its  own  existence  under  the  state 
of  the  finances,  and  had  to  bo  stopfwd  without 
securing  by  treaty  the  object  for  which  it  was 
declared.     The  object  was  obtained,  however, 
by  the  war  itself.    It  .showed  the  British  govern- 
ment that  the  people  of  the  United  States  would 
fight  upon  that  i)oint— that  she  would  have  war 
again  if  she  impressed  again  :  and  there  has  been 
no  impressment  since.    Near  forty  years  with- 
out  a  case !  when  wo  were  not  as  many  days, 
oftentimes,  without  cases  before,  and    of   the 
most  insidting  and  outrageous  nature.      The 
spirit  and  patriotism  of  the  people  in  furnishing 
the  supplies,  volunteering  for  the  service,  and 
standing  to  the  contest  in  the  general  wreck  of 
the  finances  and  the  currency,  without  regard  to 
their  own  losses— and  the  heroic  courage  of  the 
army  and  navy,  and  of  the  militia  and  volunteers, 
made  the  war  successful  and  glorious  in  spite  of 
empty  treasuries ;   and  extorted  from  a  proud 
empire  that  security  in  point  of  fact  which  diplo- 
macy could  not  obtain  as  a  treaty  stipulation. 
And  it  was  well.     Since,  and  now,  and  hence- 
forth, we  hold  exemption  from  impressment  as 
we  hold  our  independence— by  right,  and  by 
might— and  now  want  the  treaty  acknowledg- 
ment of  no  nation  on  either  point.    But  the  glo- 
rious termination  of  the  war  did  not  cure  the 
evil  of  a  ruined  currency  and  defective  finances, 
nor  render  less  impressive  the  financial  lesson 
which  it  taught.    A  return  to  the  currency  of 
the  constitution— to  the  hard-money  government 
which  our  fathers  gave  us— no  connection  with 
banks— no  bank  paper  for  federal  uses— the  es- 
tablishment of  an  independent  treasury  for  the 
federal  government ;  this  was  the  financial  les- 
son which  the  war  taught.    The  new  generation 
into  whose  hands  the  working  of  the  government 
fell  during  the  Thirty  Years,  eventually  availed 
themselves  of  that  lesson :— with  what  effect,  the 
state  of  the  country  since,  unprecedentedly  pros 


No  other  tongue  but  these  residts  is  necessary 
to  show  the  value  of  that  financial  lesson,  taught 
us  by  the  war  of  1812. 

2.  The  ».  iiiblishment  of  the  second  national 
bank  grew  out  of  this  war.  The  failure  of  tho 
local  banks  was  enough  to  prove  the  necessity 
of  a  national  currency,  and  the  re-cstablishment 
of  a  national  bank  was  the  accepted  remedy. 
No  one  seemed  to  think  of  the  currency  of  the 
constitution— especially  of  that  gold  currency 
upon  which  the  business  of  the  world  had  been 
carried  on  from  tho  beginning  of  the  world,  and 
by  empires  whose  expenses  for  a  week  were 
equal  to  those  of  the  United  States  for  a  year 
and  which  the  framers  of  the  constitution  had  so 
carefully  secured  and  guarded  for  their  country, 
A  national  bank  was  the  only  remedy  thought 
of.  Its  constitutionality  was  believed  by  some 
to  have  been  vindicated  by  the  events  of  tho  war. 
Its  expediency  was  generally  admitted.  The 
whole  argument  turned  upon  the  word  "neces- 


porous;  the  state  of  tho  currency,  never  de- 
ranged ;  of  the  federal  treasury,  never  polluted 
with  "  unavailable  funds,"  and  constantly  cram- 
med to  repletion  with  solid  gold ;  the  issue  of 
the  Mexican  war,  carried  on  triumphantly  with- 
out a  nntion.1,1  bank,  and  with  the  pi]V>)ic  securi- 
ties constantly  above  par- sufficiently  proclaim. 


sary,"  as  used  in  the  grant  of  implied  powers  at 
the  end  of  the  enumeration  of  powers  expressly 
granted  to  Congress ;  and  this  necessity  was  af 
firmed  and  denied  on  each  side  at  the  time  of  the 
establishment  of  the  first  national  bank,  with  a 
firmness  and  steadiness  which  showed  that  these 
fathers  of  the  constitution  knew  that  the  whole 
field  of  argument  lay  there.    Washington's  que- 
ries  to  his  cabinet  went  to  that  point ;  the  close 
reasoning  of  Hamilton  and  Jefferson  turned  up- 
on it.    And  it  is  worthy  of  note,  in  order  to  show 
how  much  war  has  to  do  with  the  working  of 
government,  and  the  trying  of  its  powers,  that 
the  strongest  illustration  used  by  General  Ham- 
ilton, and  the  one,  perhaps,  which  turned  the 
question  in  Washington's  mind,  was  the  state 
of  the  Indian  war  in  the  Northwest,  then  just 
become  a  charge  upon  the  new  federal  govern- 
ment, and  beginning  to  assume  the  serious  char- 
acter which  it  afterward  attained.    To  carry  on 
war  at  that   time,  with  such  Indians  as  were 
then,  supported  by  tho  British   traders,  them- 
selves countenanced    by  their  government,  at 
such  a  distance  in  the  wilderness,  and  by  the 
young  federal  government,  was  a  severe  trial 
upon  the  finances  of  the  federal  treasury,  as  well 
as  upon  the  courage  and  discipline  of  the  troops; 
and  General  Hamilton,  the  head  of  the  treasury, 
argued  that  with  the  aid  of  a  national  bank,  the 
war  would  be  better  and  more  succcssfuliy  con- 
ducted: and,  therefore,  that  it  was  "necessary," 


and  might 

a  granted 

war.     Tha 

h  having  bei 

!  the  credit 

The  war  ol 

the  finance 

'exi.sting;  a 

s  cause  of  its 

I  ty  for  a  ba 

%  then  estab 

A  and  conscie 

•I  Madi.son  at 

I  national  ba 

f  the  events  ( 

I  the  strict  ( 

fthe  weaker 

;  mental  in  tl 

fthe  damage 

loctrine  of 

[tion.    But  i 

if  which  it  if 

the  younger 

fthe  belief  tl 

,^  lot  had  a  fui 

Ifoct,  it  had  1 

|evcn  in  the  i 

Isrhcn  it  was 

jt  was  entitle 

iThat  trial  haj 

111  bank  was 

jlion.    The  g 

|reasury  wei 

|ried  them. 

fional  bank 

|nd  therefor 

|reat  questioi 

If  party  div; 

#vcuts  of  war 

<!pd  the  strici 

Ikst  time  in  tl 

being  the  las 

•onstitutional 

I     3.  The  pr 

lubstantivo  ol 

fevenue,  was 

;^ar.    Its  inci 

iiue  clause  in 

^knowlcdged 

piibstantive  ol 

~»ut  of  the  stal 

'omestic  mai 

■1 


'Hiilts  is  necessary 
icial  lesson,  taught 

le  second  national 
rhc  failure  of  tho 
•ove  tiie  necessity 
!  re-establi.shment 
accepted  remedy, 
e  currency  of  the 
it  gold  currency 
!  world  had  been 
of  the  world,  and 
or  a  week  were 
States  for  a  year, 
)nstitution  had  so 
for  their  country. 
'  remedy  thought 
believed  by  some 
ivents  of  tho  war. 

admitted.     The 
he  word  "  neces- 
mplied  powers  at 
powers  expressly 
necessity  was  af 
at  the  time  of  the 
nal  bank,  with  a 
[lowed  that  these 
V  that  the  whole 
ashington's  quo- 
point  ;  the  close 
rson  turned  up- 
in  order  to  show 
the  working  of 
its  powers,  that 
y  General  Ham- 
hich  turned  the 
1,  was  the  state 
invest,  then  just 
federal  goveni- 
he  E<?rious  char- 
d.    To  carry  on 
ndians  as  were 

traders,  them- 
government,  at 
;ss,  and  by  the 
i  a  severe  trial 
reasury,  as  well 
e  of  the  troops; 
)f  the  treasury, 
ional  bank,  the 
iccessfuliy  cou- 
IS  "  necessary!^ 


FROM  1815  TO  1820. 


and  might  be  established  as  a  .n.  ans  of  executing 
a  granted  power,  to  wit,  tho  power  of  making 
war.     That  war  terminated  well ;  and  tho  bank 
i.  having  been  estftblished   in  the  mean  time,  got 
alio  credit  of  having  Airnished  its    "sinews." 
;  The  war  of  1812  languished  under  tho  state  of 
.;  the  finances  and  the  currency,  no  national  bank 
:t  existing ;  and  this  want  seemed  to  all  to  be  the 
X  cause  of  its  difficulties,  and  to  show  the  nccessi- 
i  iy  for  a  bank.    The  second  national  bank  was 
I  then  established— many  of  its  tld,  most  able, 
land  con.scientious  opponents  giving  in  to  it  Mr' 
^  I  Madison  at  their  head.     Thus  the  question' of  a 
■^national  bank  again  grew  up-grew  up  out  of 
I  the  events  of  tho  war— and  was  decided  against 
I  the  strict  construction  of  the  constitution— to 
I  the  weakening  of  a  principle  which  was  funda- 
mental in  the  working  of  the  government,  and  to 
the  damage  of  tho  party  which  stood  upon  the 
:  doctrme  of  a  strict  construction  of  the  constitu- 
tion.   But  in  the  course  of  the  "  Thirty  Years  " 
of  which  it  is  proposed  to  take  a  "  View,"  some  of 
?the  younger  generation  became  impressed  with 
^the  belief  that  the  constitutional  currency  had 
|liot  had  a  fiiir  trial  in  that  war  of  1812 !  that  in 
|act,  it  had  had  no  trial  at  all !  that  it  was  not 
^ven  in  the  field!  not  even  present  at  the  time 
phen  It  was  supposed  to  have  failed  !  and  that 
|t  was  entitled  to  a  trial  before  it  was  condemned 
^hat  trial  has  been  obtained    The  second  nation- 
m  bank  was  Mt  to  expire  upon  its  own  limita- 
^n.    The  gold  currency  and  the  independent 
|rea.sury  were  established.      The  Mexican  war 
fried  them.    They  triumphed.    And  thus  a  na- 
»onal  bank  was  shown  to  bo  "unnecessary," 
|nd  therefore  unconstitutional.      And   thus  'a 
ireat  question  of  constitutional  construction,  and 
«t  party  division,  three   times  decided  by  the 
^cnts  of  war,  and  twice  against  the  constitution 
ya  the  strict  constructionists,  was  decided  the 
yst  tmie  in  their  favor;  and  is  entitled  to  stand 
^ing  the  last,  and  the  only  one  in  which  the 
constitutional  currency  had  a  trial. 
1     3.  The  protection  of  American  industry,  as  a 
Jubstantive  object,  independent  of  the  object  of 
|evenue,  was  a  third  question  growing  out  of  the 
l^ar.    Its  mcidcntal  protection,  under  the  reve- 
|ue  clause  in  the  constitution,  had  been  always 
giK>w  odgeci  and  granted  ;  but  protection  asa 
fibstan  ive  obiect  was  a  new  question  growin-. 
|ut  of  Uie  state  of  things  produced  by  the  wa  "  \ 
|)omestic  manufactures    had    taken   root    and 


RTOwn  up  during  the  non-imiwrtation  periods  of 
the  embargo,  and  of  hostilities  with  Great  Bri- 
tain, and  under  tho  temporary  double  duties 
which  ensued  tho  war,  and  which  were  laid  for 
revenue.    They  had  grown  up  to  be  a  largo 
interest,  and  a  new  one,  classing  in  importance 
after  agriculture  and  commerce.    The  want  of 
articles  necessary  to  national   defence,  and  of 
others   essential    to    individual    comfort-then 
neither  imported  nor  mmle  at  home-had  been 
folt  during  the  interruption  of  commerce  occa- 
sioned by  the  war;    and  the  advantage  of  a 
domestic  supply  was  brought  home  to  the  con- 
viction of  the  public  mind.     The  question  of 
protection  for  the  .sake  of  protection  wa.s  brought 
forward,  and  carried  (in  the  year  1816) ;  and 
very  unequivocally  in  the  minimum  provision  in 
relation  to  duties  on  cotton  goods.    This  reversed 
the  old  course  of  legislation-made  protection 
the  object  instead  of  the  incident,  and  revenue 
the  incident  instead  of  the  object;   and  was 
another  instance  of  constitutional  construction 
being  made  dependent,  not  upon  its  own  words 
but  upon  extrinsic,  accidental  and  transient  cir' 
cumstances.    It  introduced  a  new  and  a  large 
question  of  constitutional  law,  and  of  national 
expediency,  fraught  with  many  and  great  conse- 
quences, which  foil  upon  the    period    of   the 
Thirty  Ykars'  View  to  settle,  or  to  grapple 
with. 

4.  The  question  of  internal    improvement 
within  the  States,  by  the  federal  government, 
took  a  new  and  large  development  after  the  war 
The  want  of  facilities  of  transportation  had  been 
felt  in  our  military  operations.     Roads  were  bad 
and  canals  fow;  and  the  question  of  their  con' 
struction  became  a  prominent  topic  in  Congress 
common  turnpike  roads-for  railways  had  not 
then  been  invented,  nor  had  MacAdam  yet  given 
his  name  to  the  class  of  roads  which  has  since 
borne  it.    The  power  was  claimed  as  an  incident 
to  the  granted  powers-as  a  means  of  doing 
what  was  authorized-as  a  means  of  accomplish- 
ing an  end:  and  the  word  "necessary"  at  the 
end  of  the  enumerated  powers,  was  the  phrase 
m  which  this  incidental  power  was  claimed  to 
have  been  found.    It  was  the  same  derivation 
which  was  found  for  the  creation  of  a  national 
bank,  and  involved  very  nearly  the  same  division 
of  parties.     It  greatly  complicated  the  national 
legislation  from  1820  to  1850.  bringing  the  two 
parts  of  our  doublr  system  of  government-State 


PRELIMINARY  VIEW, 


and  Federal— into  serious  disagreement,  and 
threatening  to  coraproiniso  their  harmonious 
action.  Grappled  with  by  a  strong  hand,  it 
seemed  at  one  time  to  have  been  settled,  and 
consistently  with  the  rights  of  the  States ;  but 
sometimes  returns  to  vox  the  deliberations  of 
Congress,  To  territories  the  question  did  not 
extend.  They  have  no  political  rights  under  the 
constitution,  and  are  governed  by  Congress 
according  to  its  discretion,  under  that  clause 
which  authorizes  it  to  "  dispose  of  and  make  all 
needi'ul  rules  and  regulations  respecting  the  ter- 
ritory or  other  property  belonging  to  the  United 
States."  The  improvement  of  rivers  and  har- 
bors, was  a  branch  of  the  internal  improvement 
question,  but  resting  on  a  diflercnt  clause  in 
the  constitution— the  commercial  and  revenue 
clause— and  became  complex  and  diflticult  from 
its  extension  to  small  and  local  objects.  The 
party  of  strict  construction  contend  for  its 
restriction  to  national  objects — rivers  of  national 
character,  and  harbors  yielding  revenue. 

5.  The  boundaries  between  the  treaty-mak- 
ing   and    the    legislative    departments  of   the 
government,  became  a  subject  of  examination 
after  the  war,  and  gave  rise  to  questions  deeply 
affecting  the  working  of  these  two  departments. 
A  treaty  is  the  supreme  law  of  the  land,  and  as 
such  it  becomes  obligatory  on  the  House  of 
Representatives  to  vote  the  money  which  it  stipu- 
lates, and  to  co-operate  in  forming  the  laws 
necessary  to  carry  it  into  effect.     That  is  the 
broad  proposition.     The  qualification  is  in  the 
question  whether  the  treaty  is  confined  to  the 
business  of  the  treaty-making  power?   to  the 
subjects  which  fall  under  its  jurisdiction  ?  and 
does  not  encroacli  upon  the  legislative  power  of 
Congress  ?     This  is  the  qualification,  and  a  vital 
one :  for  if  the  President  and  Senate,  by  a  treaty 
with  a  foreign  power,  or  a  tribe  of  Indians,  could 
exercise  ordinary  legislation,  and  make  it  su- 
preme, a  double  injury  would  have  been  done, 
and  to  the   prejudice  of    that  branch  of  the 
government  which  lies  closest  to  the  people,  and 
emanates  most  directly  from  them.    Confine- 
ment to  their  separate  jurisdictions  is  the  duty 
of  each ;  but  if  encroachments  take  place,  which 
is  to  judge  ?    If  the  President  and  Senate  invade 
the  legislative  field  of  Congress,  which  is  to 
judge?  or  who  is  to  judge  between  them?  or  is 
each  to  judge  for  itself?    The  Uouro.  of  Repre- 
sentatives, and  the  Senate  in  its  legislative  capa- 


city, but  especially  the  House,  as  the  great 
constitutional  depository  of  the  legislative  power, 
becomes  its  natural  guardian  and  defender,  and 
is  entitled  to  deference,  in  the  event  of  a  differ- 
ence  of  opinion  between  the  two  branches  of  tho 
government.  The  discussions  in  Congress  be- 
tween  1815  and  1820  greatly  elucidated  this 
question;  and  while  leaving  unimpugned  the 
obligation  of  tho  House  to  carry  into  effect  a 
treaty  duly  made  by  the  President  and  Senate 
within  tho  limits  of  tho  treaty  making  power— 
upon  matters  subject  to  treaty  regulation— yet 
it  belongs  to  tho  House  to  judge  when  these 
limits  have  been  transcended,  and  to  preserve 
inviolate  the  field  of  legislation  which  tho  consti- 
tution has  intrusted  to  the  immediate  represen- 
tatives of  the  people. 

C.  The  doctrine  of  secession— tho  right  of  a 
State,  or  a  combination  of  States,  to  withdraw 
from  the  Union,  was  born  of  that  war.  It  was 
repugnant  to  tho  New  England  States,  and 
opposed  by  them,  not  with  arms,  but  with  argu- 
ment and  remonstrance,  and  refusal  to  vote 
supplies.  They  had  a  convention,  famous  under 
the  name  of  Hartford,  to  which  the  design  of 
secession  was  imputed.  That  design  was  never 
avowed  by  the  convention,  or  authentically 
admitted  by  any  leafling  member;  nor  is  it  tho 
intent  of  this  reference  to  decide  upon  the  fact 
of  that  design.  The  only  intent  is  to  show  that 
the  existence  of  that  convention  raised  the  ques- 
tion of  secession,  and  presented  the  first  instance 
of  the  greatest  danger  in  tho  working  of  tlio 
double  form  of  our  government— that  of  a  col- 
lision between  a  part  of  the  States  and  the 
federal  government.      This  question,  and   tliis 


danger,  first  arose  then— grew  out  of  the  war  of 
1812— and  were  hushed  by  its  sudden  termina- 
tion; but  they  have  reappeared  in  a  different 
quarter,  and  will  come  in  to  swell  the  objects  of 
the  THinxY  Years'  View.  At  the  time  of  its 
first  appearance  tlie  right  of  secession  was  re 
pulsed  and  repudiated  by  the  democracy  gene- 
rally, and  in  a  large  degree  by  tho  federal 
party— the  diflerenco  between  a  Union  and  a 
League  being  better  understood  at  that  time 
when  so  many  of  the  fathers  of  the  new  govern- 
ment were  still  alive.  The  leading  language  in 
respect  to  it  south  of  the  Potomac  was,  that  no 
State  had  a  right  to  withdraw  from  the  Union- 
that  it  retjuircd  the  same  jjower  to  dissolve  as 
to  form  the   Union— and  that  any  attempt  to 


dissolve  ii 

tional  lav 

politieal 

exchangee 

alter  the  i 

interest  fi 

produce  si 

speculatioi 

a  practical 

Ykars;  ai 

not  settled 

7.  Sla^ 

time   (181 

restriction 

tion  to  hoi 

condition  i 

to  bo  bindi 

tion  came 

lead,  and  8( 

It  was  qui( 

tion  was 

without  rt 

remainder  i 

;  west  of  tha 

'  degrees,  30 

'f  of  the  sou) 

V  Kentucky. 

and  was  a' 

of  the  quest 

the  united 

majority  of 

tatives,  and 

administrat 

'•  divided  free 

:  the  North 

divided  abo' 

iall  to  thef 

immense  ex 

legally  exist 

left  it  only  L 

opened  no 

was  an  imi 

holding  Stat 

tion  was  n 

different  fori 

of  petitions 

on  the  subje 

of  exciting  o 

and  laying  t! 

racy.    Witli 

the  men  of  t 

pie  for  the  v 


PROM  1816  TO  1820. 


10,  a«  tho  great 
Icjfislativc  power, 
nd  defcrnlor,  and 
jvent  of  a  diffe^ 
)  branches  of  tho 
in  ConnresH  he- 
r  elucidated  this 
iininipuKncd  the 
rry  into  effect  a 
dent  and  Senate 
naking  power- 
regulation — yet 
idgo  when  these 
and  to  preserve 
which  theconsti- 
nedjate  represen- 

1— tho  right  of  a 
tcs,  to  withdraw 
lat  war.  It  was 
md  States,  and 
I,  but  with  argu- 
refusal  to  vote 
m,  famous  under 
\x  tho  design  of 
lesign  was  never 
sr  authentjcailj 
er ;  nor  is  it  tlio 
le  upon  the  fact 
is  to  show  tlial 
raised  the  ques- 
he  first  instance 
working  of  tlio 
;— that  of  a  col- 
States  and  the 
!stion,  and  tliB 
jt  of  the  war  of 
ludden  terinina- 

I  in  a  different 

II  the  objects  of 
;  the  time  of  its 
cession  was  re 
'emocracy  gene- 
by  the  federal 
I  Union  and  a 
J  at  that  time 
he  new  govern- 
ing language  in 
ac  was,  that  no 
m  the  Union— 
[•  to  dissolve  ai 
iny  attempt  to 


dissolvo  it,  or  to  obstnict  the  action  of  constitu- 
tional laws,  was  treason.  If,  since  that  time, 
political  parties  and  sectional  localities,  have 
exchanged  attitudes  on  this  question,  it  cannot 
alter  the  question  of  right,  and  may  receive  sonje 
interest  from  tho  development  of  causes  which 
produce  such  changes.  Secession,  a  question  of 
siieculation  during  tho  war  of  1812,  has  become 
a  practical  question  (almost)  during  the  Thirty 
Ykars;  and  thus  far  has  been  "compromised," 
'   not  settled. 

7.  Slavery  agitation  took  its  rise  during  this 
time  (1819-'20),  in  tho    form  of    attempted 
restriction  on  tho  State  of  Missouri — a  prohibi- 
tion to  hold  slaves,  to  bo  placed  ujwn  her  os  a 
condition  of  her  admission  into  the  Union,  and 
to  be  binding  upon  her  afterwards.    This  agita- 
tion came  from  tho  North,  and  under  a  federal 
lead,  and  soon  swept  both  parties  into  its  vortex. 
It  was  quieted,  so  far  as  that  form  of  the  ques- 
tion was  concerned,   by  admitting  tho    State 
without  restriction,  and    imjwsing   it  on    the 
remainder  of  tho  Louisiana  territory  north  and 
west  of  that  State,  and  above  tho  parallel  of  36 
degrees,  30  minutes  ;  which  is  tho  prolongation 
of  the  southern  boundary  line  of  Virginia  and 
Kentucky.    This  was  called  a  "compromise," 
and  was  all  clear  gain  to  the  antislavery  side 
of  the  question,  and  was  done  under  the  lead  of 


tho  united  slave  state  vote  in  tho  Senate,  the 
majority  of  that  vote  in  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives, and  the  undivided  sanction  of  a  Southeni 
administration.    It  was  a  Southern  measure,  and 
divided  free  and  slave  soil  far  more  favorably  to 
;  the  North  than  tho  ordinance  of  1787.     That 
divided  about  equally :  this  of  1820  gave  about 
all  to  the  North.    It  abolished  slavery  over  an 
immense  extent  of  territory  where  it  might  then 
legally  exist,  over  nearly  the  whole  of  Louisiana, 
left  it  only  in  Florida  and  Arkansas  territory,  and 
opened  no  new  territory  to  its  existence.    It 
was  an  immense  concession  to  the  non-slave- 
holding  States ;  but  the  genius  of  slavery  agita- 
tion was  not  laid.      It  reappeared,  and  under 
different  forms,  first  from  tho  North,  in  the  shape 
of  petitions  to  Congress  to  influence  legislation 
on  the  subject;  then  from  the  South, as  a  means 
of  exciting  one  half  the  Union  against  tho  other, 
and  laying  the  foundation  for  a  Southern  confede- 
^  racy.    With  this  new  question,  in  all  its  forms, 
I  the  men  of  the  new  generation  have  had  to  grap- 
I  pie  for  the  whole  period  of  tho  "  Thirty  Years." 


8.  Tho  war  had  creatwl  a  debt,  which,  added 
to  a  balance  of  that  of  tho  Revolution,  the  pur- 
chase of  Louisiana,  and  some  other  items,  still 
amounted  to  ninety-two  millions  of  dollars  at 
the  period  of  the  commencement  of  I  his  "  View ; " 
and  tho  problem  was  to  be  solved,  whether  a 
national  debt  could  be  paid  and  extinguished  in  a 
season  of  peace,  leaving  a  nation  wholly  free 
from  that  encumbrance ;  or  whether  it  was  to  go 
on  increasing,  a  burthen  in  itself,  and  absorbing 
with  its  interest  and  changes  an  annual  portion 
of  the  public  revenues.  That  problem  was 
solved,  contrary  to  tho  experience  of  tho  world, 
and  tho  debt  paid;  and  tho  practical  benefit 
added  to  the  moral,  of  a  corresponding  reduction 
in  the  public  taxes. 

9.  Public  distress  was  a  prominent  feature 
of  tho  times  to  bo  embraced  in  this  Preliminart 
View.    Tho  Bank  of  the  United  States   was 
chartered  in  1816,  and  before  1820  had  perform- 
ed one  of  its  cycles  of  delusive  and  bubble  pros- 
perity, followed    by    actual    and    wide-spread 
calamity.    The  whole  paper  system,  of  which  it 
was  the  head  and  the  citadel,  after  a  vast  expan- 
sion, had  suddenly  collapsed,  spreading  desola- 
tion over  tho  land,  and  carrying  ruin  to  debtors. 
The  years  1819  and  '20  were  a  period  of  gloom 
and  agony.    No  money,  either  gold  or  silver :  no 
paper  convertible  into  specie:   no  measure,  or 
standard  of  value,  left  remaining.    The  local 
banks  (all  but  those  of  New  England),  after  a 
brief  resumption  of  specie  payments,  again  sank 
into  a  state  of  suspension.    The  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  created  as  a  remedy  for  all  those 
evils,  now  at  the  head  of  the  evil,  prostrate  and 
helpless,  with  no  power  left  but  that  of  suing  its 
debtors,  and  selling  their  property,  and  purchas- 
ing for  itself  at  its  own  nominal  price.    No  price 
for  property,  or  produce.    No  sales  but  those  of 
the  sheriff  and  the  marshal.    No  purchasers  at 
execution  sales  but  the  creditor,  or  some  hoarder 
of  money.    No  employroent  for  industry— no 
demand  for  labor— no  sale  for  the  product  of  the 
farm— no  sound  of  the  hammer,  but  that  of  the 
auctioneer,    knocking    down   property.      Stop 
laws— property  laws— replevin  laws— stay  laws 
— loan  ofiice  laws— the  intervention  of  the  legis- 
lator between  the  creditor  and  the  debtor :  this 
was  the  business  of  legislation  in  three-fourths 

of  the  States  of  the  L^nion of  .il!  south  and 

west  of  New  England.    No  medium  of  exchange 
but  depreciated  paper:   no  change  even,  but 


[Ml 


6 


PRELIMINARY  VIEW. 


11 


>'i!ii 


£!iin(!i 


littlo  bitH  of  foul  paper,  niarkiHl  so  many  cents, 
»nd  signed  by  .sonjo  tradesir  i,  ha^ber.  or  inn- 
kwf)er:  exchanges  tU.r««p'  o  ih-  xteat  of 
fifty  or  otio  Iiiu(  «ml  per  c   <n.  rWEM,  the 

uniTPrsai  cry  oj  thd  4tw*jd«,>  ,,jj  he  wniver- 
sal  demand  thundeivi  «<  the  doors  oi  m '  Iu^m)^. 
tures,  Stftto  and  fcdejmi.  It  was  at  the  moment 
when  this  distovH  bad  reached  its  maximum— 
182()-'21— nty/l  h*d  eatta  ,>  th  its  accumidatid 
force  upon  the  umm^Iw  of  the  Aderal  govern- 
ment, that  this  "  Vit^nr"  fif  ih  worlting  begins. 
It  is  a  doleful  starting  jwliil  w,'  may  furnish 
groat  matter  for  contrast,  or  couii-iurison,  at  its 
concluding  period  in  1850. 

Such  were  some  of  the  questions  growing  out 
of  the  war  of  1812,  or  immediately  ensuing  its 
termination.  That  war  brought  some  difficul- 
ties to  the  new  generation,  but  also  great  advan- 
tages, at  the  head  of  them  the  elevation  of  the 
national  character  throughout  the  world.  It 
immensely  elevated  the  national  character,  and, 
as  a  consequence,  put  an  end  to  insults  and  out- 


rages  to  which  we  had  been  suhjiot.    No  more 
impressments :  no  moiv  searching  our  shipn:  no 
more  killing:  no  more  carrying  oif  to  bo  force! 
t^>  serv.!  on  British  ships  agriinst  their  own  coiiii- 
try.     fha  national  Hag  became  i.  ^i^ctod.    It 
became  the  . i:i;i  „)  those  who  were  under  it.  The 
national    clmiiu  .  i    ^piwared    in   a   new    lijjht 
abroad.     Wo  were  no  Innger  considered  as  a 
ncoplo  80  addictetl  to  commerce  as  to  be  insensi- 
*' .  to  insult:  and  we  reaped  ail  the  mivantages, 
social,  political     -onmiercial,  of  this  auspicious 
change.     It  was  ^   *ar  necessary  to  the  honor  and 
interest  of  the  United  States,  and  was  bravely 
fought,  and  honorably  concluded,  and  makes  a 
|)roud  era  in  our  history.    I  was  not  in  public  lifu 
at  the  time  it  was  declared,  but  have  understood 
from  those  who  were,  that,  excej.f  for  the  exer- 
tions  of  two  men  (Mr.  Monroe  in  the  Cabinet, 
and  Mr.  Clay  in  Congress),  the  declaration  of 
war  could  not  have  been  obtained.    Honor  to 
their  memories  I 


PEB80Ni 

All  the  dej 

ed  to  great 

of  their  adm 

ias  Senator 

[President J  ( 

[Mr.  John  ( 

Mr.  Williai 

j Treasury;  J 

I  War  J  Mr.  £ 

[rotary  of  tl 

I  master  Gen( 

J  General.    T 

Ipartment,  ar 

I  any  governr 

I  more  talent 

Idecorum,  m( 

Imass  of  infor 

|ness,  than  wi 

names.    The 

npressive. 

eminent  men 

services  in  t 

And  some  of 

history,    pr, 

King  and  '  ■ 

Mr.  Harrisoi 

Mr.  Macon  ai 

the  two  Goi 

Pleasants ;   : 

Gaillard,  so 

tempore,  of 

Smith;  from 

ter ;  from  Ke 

son;   from  i 

Governor  lie: 


f 
I 

-■■» 


m 


iljt'ct.    No  mort 
iiKour  BhipM:  no 
'  o'S  to  b«  forced 
t  their  own  coiiii. 
0  ri  ^^jwcti'd.    It 
)n>  under  it.   The 
n  a  new    li^'ht 
conHidtTcd  as  a 
iw  to  be  inst'iisi. 
the  lulvanta^i'.s 
tills  aiLspicioiis 
to  the  honor  and 
nl  was  bravely 
I,  and  inakuH  a 
not  in  public  lift' 
layo  understood 
pt  for  the  exer- 
in  tlio  Cabinet, 
declaration  of 
led.    Honor  to 


THIRTY    YEARS'    VIEW. 


0  H  A  P  T  E  U    T . 

PKnSONAL  ASPKCr  OF  THK  OOVEHUMKNT. 

All  the  depiu-fments  of  the  govornmcnt  appear- 
ed to  grciit  )i.l.untago  in  the  personal  character 
of  their  administrators  at  the  time  of  my  arrival 
as  Senator  at  Washington,    Mr.  Monroe  was 
President;  Governor  Tompkins,  Vice-President ; 
I  Mr.  John  Quincy  Adams,  Secretary  of  State; 
*Mr.  William   II.   Crawford,  Secretary  of  the 
I  Treasury;  Mr.  John  C.  Calhoun,  Secretary  at 
I  War;  Mr.  Smith  Thompson,  of  New-York,  Sec- 
|rctary  of  the  Navy;  Mr.  John  McLean,  Post- 
4  master  General ;  William  Wirt,  Esq.,  Attorney 
General.    These  constituted  the  Executive  De- 
partment, and  it  would  bo  difficult  to  find  in 
I  any  governmen',  in  any  country,  at  any  time, 
I  more  talent  and  experience,  more  dignity  and 
I  decorum,  more  purity  of  private  life,  a  larger 
imass  of  information,  and  more  addiction  to  busi- 
ness, than  was  comprised  in  this  list  of  celebrated 
vnamcs.    The  legislative  department  was  equally 
&nprcssive.    The  Senate  presented  a  long  list  of 
leminent  men  who  had  become  known  by  their 
services  in  the  federal  or  State  governments, 
»nd  some  of  them  connected  with  its  earliest 
history.    F-om  New-Ycj  1:  there  were  Mr.  Rufus 
King  and  '  ■  '}  mi  Sanford;  from  Massachusetts, 
-Mr.  Harrison  Gray  Otis;  from  North  Carolina 
'  Mr.  Macon  and  Governor  Stokes ;  from  Virginia, 
the  two  Goverhors,  James  Barbour  and  James 
Pleasants;   from   South    Carolina,    Mr.  John 
Gaillard,  so  often  and  so  long  President,  pro 
I  tempore,  of  the  Senate,  and  Judge  William 
Smith;  from  Khode  Island,  Mr.  William  Uun- 
I  ter;  from  Kentucky,  Colonel  Eichard  M.  Jol.n- 
I  son;  from  Louisiana,  Mr.  James  Brown  and 
■  ^^o^ernor  Uenry  Johnson;  from  Maryland,  Mr. 


William  Pinkney  and  Governor  Edward  Lloyd; 
from   New  Jersey,   Mr.   Samuel   L.  Southard; 
Colonel  John  Williams,  of  Tennessee  ;  William 
R.  King  and  Judge  Walker,  from  Alabama; 
and  many  others  of  later  date,  afterwards  be- 
coming eminent,  and  who  will  bo  noted  in  their 
places.     In  the  House  of  Representatives  there 
was  a  great  array  of  distinguished  and  of  busi- 
ness  talent.      Mr.   Clay,  Mr.   liandolph,   Mr. 
Lowndes  were  there.    Mr.  Henry  Baldwin  and 
Mr.  Jolin  Sergeant,  from  Pennsylvania;   Mr. 
John  W.  Taylor,  Speaker,  and  Henry  Storrs, 
from  New- York ;   Dr.  Eustis,  of  revolutionary' 
memory,  and  Nathaniel  Silsbeo,  of  Massachu- 
setts ;  Mr.  Louis  McLano,  from  Delaware ;  Gen- 
eral Samuel  Smith,  from  Maryland ;  Mr.  William 
S.  Archer,  Mr.  Philip  P.  Barbour,  General  John 
Floyd,  General  Alexander  Smythe,  Mr.  Joh» 
Tyler,  Charles  Fenton  Mercer,  George  Tucker 
from    Virginia;    Mr.    Lewis     Williams,    who 
entered  the  House  young,  and  remained  long 
enough  to  bo  called  its  "Father,''  Thomas  II. 
Hall,  Weldon  N.  Edwards,  Governor  Hutchins 
G.  Burton,  from    North   Carolina;    Governor 
Earleand  Mr.  Charles  Pinckney,  from  South 
Carolina ;  Mr.  Thomas  W.  Cobb  an<l  Governor 
Georgo  Gilmer,  from  Georgia ;  Messrs.  Richard 
C.  Anderson,  Jr.,  David  Trimble,  George  Robert- 
son, Benjamin  Hardin,  and  Governor  Metcalfe 
from  Kentucky ;  Mr.  John  Rhea,  of  revolution- 
ary service.  Governor  Newton  Cannon,  Francis 
Jones,  General  John  Cocke,  from  Tennessee; 
Messrs.  John  W.  Campbell,  John  Sloan  and 
Uenry  Bush,  from  Ohio;   Mr.  William  Hen- 
dricks, from    Indiana;    Thomas    Butler,  from 
Louisiana;  Dam'el  P.  Cook,  from  Illinois;  John 
Crowel!.  froTP.  Alabama ;  Mr.  Christoplior  Ran- 
kin, from  Mississippi ;  and  a  great  many  other 
busmess  meu  of  worth  and  character  from  the 


8 


THIRTY  TEARS'  VIEW. 


;ll;!l! 


•different  States,  constituting  a  national  repre- 
Kentation  of  great  weight,  efficiency  and  decorum. 
The  Supreme  Court  was  still  presided  over  by 
Chief  Justice  Marshall,  almost  septuagenarian, 
and  still  in  the  vigor  of  his  intellect,  associated 
with  -Mr.  Justice  Story,  Mr.  Justice  Johnson,  of 
South  Carolina,  Mr.  Justice  Duval,  and  Mr. 
Justice  Washington,  of  Virginia.  Thus  all  the 
departments,  and  all  tho  branches  of  the  govern- 
ment, were  ably  and  decorously  filled,  and  the 
friends  of  popular  representative  institutions 
might  contemplate  their  administration  with 
pride  and  pleasure,  and  challenge  their  com- 
parison with  any  government  in  the  world. 


i  flii 


CHAPTEK   II. 

ADMISSION  OF  THE  STATK  OF  MISSOURI. 

This  was  the  exciting  and  agitating  question  of 
the  session  of  1820-'21.     The  question  of  re- 
striction, that  is,  of  prescribing  the  abolition  of 
slavery  within  her  limits,  had  been  "compro- 
mised" the  session  before,  by  agreeing  to  admit 
the  State  without  restriction,  and  abolishing  it  in 
all  tha  remainder  of  the  province  of  Louisiana, 
north  and  west  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  and 
north  of  the  parallel  of  36  degrees,  30  minutes. 
This  "compromise  »  was  the  work  of  the  South, 
sustained  by  the  united  voice  of  Mr.  Monroe's 
cabinet,  the  united  voices  of  the  Southern  sena- 
tors, and  a  majority  of  the  Southern  representa- 
tives.   The  unanimity  of  the  cabinet  has  been 
shown,  impliedly,  by  a  letter  of  Mr.  Monroe, 
and  positively  by  the  Diary  of  Mr.  John  Quincy 
A  Jams.    The  unanimity  of  the  slave  States  in  the 
Senate,  where  the  measure  originated,  is  shown  by 
its  journal,  not  on  the  motion  to  insert  the  section 
constituting  the  compromise  (for  on  that  motion 
the  yeas  and  nays  were  not  taken),  but  on  the 
motion  to  strike  it  out,  when  they  were  taken 
and  showed  30  votes  for  the  compromise,  and  15 
against  it— every  one  of  the  latter  from  non- 
slaveholding  States— the  former  comprehending 
every  slave  State  vote  present,  and  a  few  from 
the   North.    As  the  constitutionality  of  this 
compromise,  and  its  binding  force,  have,  in  these 
latter  times,  begun  to  be  disputed,  it  is  well  to 
give  ti.e  list  of  the  senators  names  voting  for  it 


that  it  may  be  seen  that  they  were  men  of  judg. 
ment  and  weight,  able  to  know  what  the  consti 
tution  was,  and  not  apt  to  violate  it.    They  were 
Governor  Barbour  and  Governor  Pleasants,  of 
Virginia;    Mr.  James    Brown  and    Governor 
Henry  Johnson,  of  Louisiana;  Governor  Ed- 
wards and  Judge  Jesse  B.  Thomas,  of  Illinois- 
Mr.  Elliott  and  Mr.  Walker,  of  Georgia;  Mr! 
Gaillard,  President,  pro  tevipore,  of  the  Senate 
and  Judge  William  Smith,  from  South  Carolina' 
Messrs.  Horsey  and  Van  Dyke,  of  Delaware,' 
Colonel  Richard  M.  Johnson  and  Judge  Logan' 
from  Kentucky;  Mr.  William   R.  King,  sinw 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  and  Judge 
John  W.  Walker,  from  Alabama ;  Messrs.  Leake 
and  Thomas  H.  Williams,  of  Mississippi ;  Gov- 
ernor Edward  Lloyd,  and  the  great  jurist  and 
orator,  William  Pinkney,  from  Maryland ;  Mr, 
Macon  and  Governor  Stokes,  from  North  Caro- 
Ihia;    Messrs.   Walter   Lowrie  and    Jonathan 
Roberts,  from  Pennsylvania;   Mr.  Noble  and 
Judge  Taylor,  from  Indiana;  Mr.  Palmer,  from 
Vermont;  Mr.  Parrott,  from  New  Hampshire. 
This  was  the  vote  of  the  Senate  for  the  compro- 
mise.    In  the  House,  there  was  some  division 
among  Southern  members ;  but  the  whole  vote 
in  favor  of  it  was  134,  to  42  in  the  negative— the 
latter  comprising  some  Northern  members,  as 
the  former  did  a  majority  of  the  Southern- 
among  them  one  whose  opinion  had  a  weight 
never  exceeded  by  that  of  any  other  American 
statesman,  William  Lowndes,  of  South  Carolina. 
This  array  of  names  shows  the  Missouri  com- 
promise to  have  been  a  Southern  measure,  and 
the  event  put  the  seal  upon  that  character  by 
showing  it  to  be  acceptable  to  the  South.    But 
it  had  not  allayed  the  Northern  feeling  against 
an  increase  of  slave  States,  then  openly  avowed 
to  be  a  question  of  political  power  between  the 
two  sections  of  the  Union.    The  State  of  Mis- 
souri made  her  constitution,  sanctioning  slavery, 
and  forbidding  the  legislature  to  interfere  with  it! 
This  prohibition,  not  usual  in  State  constitutions, 
was  the  effect  of  the  Missouri  controversy  and 
of  foreign  interference,  and  was  'adopted  for  the 
sake  of  peace-for  the  sake  of  internal  tranquil- 
lity—and to  prevent  the  agitation  of  the  slave 
question,  which  could  only  be  accomplished  by 
excluding  it  wholly  from  the  forum  of  elections 
and  legislation.    T  wa,-,  myself  the  ia^iligator  of 
that  prohibition,  and  the  cause  of  its  being  put 
into  the  constitution— though  not  a  member  of 


:«- 


•pic  convcntio; 

eitation  and 

Iso  a  clausie 

prohibit  the  i 

ito  the  S(at( 

,  Congress  t 

[t  was  treatiK 

bderal    cons 

briviicgcs  in 

Ivcry  State, 

ligration  w 

eing  admitti 

States,  this  p 

be  a  violat 

ons.    But  tl 

;|lavery  clause 

l|he  State,  wl 

iperpetuate.    ' 

•|ier  applicatioi 

her  late  delcf 

^ohn  Scott ;  j 

select  comi 

Carolina,  ]Mr. 

ad  General  i 

l^ppointed    th( 

being  from  sla 

reported  in 

Jut  the  major 

ray,  the  resol 

pby  a.  dear  sli 

Exceptions  beii 

=|>f  admission. : 

Iheir  own  Stat 

~$i  JIassachusc 

Jilr.  Bernard 

Senate,  the  a] 

iimilar  fate.    ' 

fommittee  of 

Imith,  ofSout 

'jfthode  Island, 

iSna,  a  majority 

j|  resolution  > 

|>assed  the  Sen: 

of  Maine,  voti 

but  was  rejec 

tives.    A  sec( 

.;  passed  the  Set 

IfHouse.    A  m( 

Hy  Mr.  Clay  t 

J|with  any  com; 

^i  by  the  Senate, 

f  Senate  and  th 


ANNO  1820.    JAMES  MONROE,  PRESIDENT. 


ere  men  of  judg. 

what  the  const! 
e  it.  They  were 
lor  Pleasants,  of 

and  Governor 
;  Governor  Ed- 
)mas,  of  Illinois; 
)f  Georgia;  Mr. 
?,  of  the  Senate, 
South  Carolina; 
!,  of  Delaware; 
d  Judge  Logan, 

R.  King,  since 
;ates,  and  Judge 
;  Messrs.  Leake 
ississippi ;  Qot- 
jreat  jurist  and 
Maryland;  Mr. 
)m  North  Caro. 

and    Jonathan 
Mr.  Noble  and 
r.  Palmer,  from 
ew  Hampshire, 
for  the  compro- 
I  some  division 
the  whole  vote 
e  negative — the 
n  members,  as 
he  Southern- 
had  a  weight 
'ther  American 
South  Carolina. 
Missouri  com- 
1  measure,  and 
;  character  by 
3  South.    But 
reeling  against 
»penly  avowed 
r  between  the 

State  of  Mis- 
oning  slavery, 
terfere  with  it. 
!  constitutions, 
ntrovcr-sy  and 
opted  for  the 
mal  tranquil- 
tx  of  the  slave 
omplished  by 
n  of  elections 

instigator  of 
its  being  put 
a  member  of 


he  convention — being  equally  opposed  to  slavery 
gitation  and  to  slavery  extension.  There  was 
jlso  a  clau.'^e  in  it,  authorizing  the  legislature  to 
irohibit  the  emigration  of  free  people  of  color 
_nto  the  State  ;  and  this  clause  was  laid  hold  of 
!^  Congress  to  resist  the  admission  of  the  State. 
It  was  treated  as  a  breach  of  that  clause  in  the 
federal  constitution,  which  guarantees  equal 
privileges  in  all  the  States  to  the  citizens  of 
Ivery  State,  of  which  privileges  the  right  of 
ligration  was  one ;  and  free  people  of  color 
eing  admitted  to  citizenship  in  some  of  the 
States,  this  prohibition  of  emigration  was  held 
be  a  violation  of  that  privilege  in  their  pcr- 
^ns.  But  the  real  point  of  objection  was  the 
llavery  clause,  and  the  existence  of  slavery  in 
*the  State,  which  it  sanctioned,  and  seemed  to 

terpctuate.     The  constitution  of  the  State,  and 
er  application  for  admission,  was  presented  by 
^er  late  delegate  and  representative  elect,  Mr. 

fohn  Scott ;  and  on  his  motion,  was  referred  to 
select  committee.    Mr.  Lowndes,   of  South 
Carolina,  Mr.  John  Sergeant,  of  Pennsylvania, 
nd  General  Samuel  Smith,  of  Maryland,  were 
ippointed    the  committee;    and    the  majority 
eing  from  slave  States,  a  resolution  was  quick- 
reported  in  favor  of  the  admission  of  the  State. 
Jut  the  majority  of  the  House  being  the  other 
vay,  the  resolution  was  rejected,  79  to  83— and 
.|)y  a  clear  slavery  and  anti-slavery  vote,  the 
Exceptions  being  but  three,  and  they  on  the  side 
M  admission,  and  contrary  to  the  sentiment  of 
fheir  own  State.    They  were  Mr.  Henry  Shaw. 
f  f  JIassachusetts,  and  General  Bloomfield  and 
|lr.  Bernard  Smith,  of  New-Jersey.     In  the 
^enate,  the  application  of  the    State  shared  a 
^milar  fate.    The  constitution  was  referred  to  a 
iommittee  of   three,  Messrs.    Judge    William 
fmith,  of  South  Carolina,  Mr.  James  Burrill,  of 
i^hode  Island,  and  Mr.  Macon,  of  North  Caro- 
iha,  a  majority  of  whom  being  from  slave  States, 
B  resolution  of  admission  was  reported,   and 
passed  the  Senate— Messrs.  Chandler  and  Holmes 
of  Maine,  voting  with  the  friends  of  admission  ; 
but  was  rejected  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives.   A  second  resolution  to  the  same  effect 
.passed  the  Senate,  and  was  again  rejected  in  the 
piouse.    A  motion  wa-s  then  made  in  the  House 
'  by  Mr.  Clay  to  raise  a  committee  to  act  jointly 
i^with  .any  committee  which  might  be  appoiulud 
Iby  the  Senate,  "to  consider  and  report  to  the 
^f  Senate  and  the  House  respectively,  whether  it 


be  expedient  or  not,  to  make  provision  for  the 
admission  of  Missouri  into  the  Union  on  tho 
same  footing  as  the  original  States,  and  for  the 
due  execution  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
within  Missouri  ?  and  if  not,  whether  any  other, 
and  what  provision  adapted  to  her  actual  condi- 
tion ought  to  be  made  by  law."    This  motion 
was  adopted  by  a  majority  of  nearly  two  to 
one — 101  to  55 — which  shows  a  large  vote  in  its 
favor  from  the  non-slaveholding  States.  Twenty- 
three,  being  a  number  equal  to  the  number  of 
the  States,  were  then  appointed  on  the  part  of 
the  House,  and  were :  Messrs.  Clay,  Thomas  W. 
Cobb,  of  Georgia ;  Mark  Langdon  Hill,  of  Mas- 
sachusetts;   Philip  P.  Barbour,  of   Virginia; 
Henry  R.  Storrs,  of  New-York;  John  Cocko, 
of  Tennessee,  Christopher  Rankin,  of  Mississippi; 
William  S.  Archer,  of  Virginia ;  William  Brown, 
of  Kentucky  ;  Samuel  Eddy,  from  Rhode  Island ; 
William  D.  Ford,  of  New- York ;  William  Cul- 
breth,  Aaron  Hackley,  of  New- York ;  Samuel 
Moore,  of  Pennsylvania,  James  Stevens,  of  Con- 
necticut ;  Thomas  J.  Rogers,  from  Pennsylvania; 
Henry  Southard,  of  New-Jersey;   John  Ran- 
dolph; James  S.  Smith,  of  North  Carolina; 
William  Darlington,  of  Pennsylvania;  Nathaniel 
Pitcher,  of  New- York ;  John  Sloan,  of  Ohio,  and 
Henry  Baldwin,  of  Pennsylvania.     The  Senate 
by  a  vote  almost  unanimous — 29  to  7 — agreed 
to  the  joint  committee  proposed  by  the  House 
of  Representatives ;  and  Messrs.  John  Holmes, 
of  Maine ;  James  Barbour,  of  Virginia ;  Jona- 
than Roberts,  of  Pennsylvania ;  David  L.  Mor- 
ril,  of  New-Hampshire ;  Samuel  L.  Southard,  of 
New-Jersey ;  Colonel  Richard  M.  Johnson,  of 
Kentucky ;  and  Rufus  King,  of  New- York,  to 
be  a  committee  on  its  part.    The  joint  commit- 
tee acted,  and  soon  reported  a  resolution  in  favor 
of  the  admission  of  the  State,  upon  the  condition 
that  her  legislature  should  first  declare  that  the 
clause  in  her  constitution  relative  to  the  free 
colored  emigration  into  the  State,  should  never 
be  construed  to  authorize  the  passage  of  any  act 
by  which  any  citizen  of  either  of  the  States  of 
the  Union  should  be  excluded  from  the  enjoy- 
ment of  any  privilege  to  which  he  m.ay  be  enti- 
tled under  the  constitution  of  the  United  States ; 
and  the  President  of  tho  United  States  being 
furnished  with  a  copy  of  said  act,  should,  by 
proclamation,  declare  the  State  to  bo  admitted. 
This  resolution  was  passed  in  tho  House  by  a 
close  vote— 80  to  82— several  members  from 


J 


10 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


Ifi 


Jii: 


>     I 


M!      1 


1  ! 


m 


m 


SlTtr/^'tir^lS;^^ 


Senate  it  was  passed  by  two  to  one— 28  to  14; 
and  the  required  declaration  having  been  soon' 
made  by  the  General  Assembly  of  Missouri,  and 
communicated  to  the  President,  his  proclamation 
was  issued  accordingly,  and  the  State  admitted. 
And  thus  ended  the  •'  Missouri  controversy,"  or 
that  form  of  the  slavery  question  which  under- 
took to  restrict  a  State  from  the  privilege  of 


havmg  slaves  if  she  chose.    The  question  itself 
under  other  forms,  has  survived,  and  still  sur- 
vives, but  not  under  the  formidable  aspect  which 
It  wore  during  that  controversy,  when  it  divided 
Congress  geographically,  and  upon  the  slave  line. 
The  real  struggle  was  political,  and  for  the 
balance  of  power,  as  frankly  declared  by  Mr. 
Rufus  King,  who  disdained  dissimulation ;  and 
m   that  struggle  the  non-slaveholding  States 
though  defeated  in  the  State  of  Missouri  were 
successful  in  producing  the  "compromise,"  con- 
ceived and  passed  as  a  Southern  measure.    The 
resistance  made  to  the  admission  of  the  State  on 
account  of  the  clause  in  relation  to  free  people 
of  color,  was  only  a  mask  to  the  real  cause  of 
opposition,  and  has  since  shown  to  be  so  by  the 
facility  with  which  many  States,  then  voting  in 
a  body  against  the  admission  of  Missouri  on  that 
account,  now  exclude  the  whole  class  of  the  free 
colored  emigrant  population  from  their  borders 
and  without  question,  by  statute,  or  by  consti- 
tutional amendment.    For  a  whUe  this  formida- 
ble Missouri  question  threatened  the  total  over- 
throw of  all  political  parties  upon  principle,  and 
the  substitution  of  geographical  parties  discrimi- 
nated  by  the  slave  line,  and  of  course  destroying 
the  just  and  proper  action  of  the  federal  govern" 
ment,  and  leading  eventually  to  a  separation  of 
the  States.    It  was  a  federal  movement,  accru- 
ing to  the  benefit  of  that  party,  and  at  first  was 
overwhelming,  sweeping  all   the  Northern  de- 
mocracy into  its  current,  and  giving  the  supre- 
macy to   their  adversaries.    When   this  eflect 
was  perceived  the  Northern  democracy  became 
alarmed,  and  only  wanted  a  turn  or  abatement 
m  the  iwpular  feeling  at  home,  to  take  the  first 
opportunity  to  get  rid  of  the  question  by  ad- 
mitting the  State,  and  re-establishing  party  lines 
upon  the  basis  of  political  principle.    This  was 
the  decided  feeling  when  I  arrived  at  Washing- 
ton, and  many  of  the  old  Northern  democracy 
took  early  opportunities  to  declare  themselves 
to  me  to  that  effect,  and  showed  that  they  were 


form  which  would  answer  the  purpose,  and  save 
themselves  from  going  so  far  as  to  lose  thei, 
own  States,  and  give  the  ascendant  to  their  po- 
litical  adversaries.    In  the  Senate,  Messrs.  Low- 
rie  and  Robert.s,  from  Pennsylvania ;  Messrs 
Morril    and    Parrott,    from    New-Hampshire; 
Messrs.   Chandler  and    Holmes,  from  Maine! 
Mr.  William  Hunter,  from  Rhode  Island;  ani 
Mr.  Southard,  from  New- Jersey,  were  of  that 
class ;  and  I  cannot  refrain  from  classing  wiH 
them  Messrs.  Horsey  and  Vandyke,  from  Del* 
ware,  which,  though  counted  as  a  slave  State,  yet 
from  its  isolated  and  salient  position,  and  small 
number  of  slaves,  seems  more  justly  to  belocg 
to  the  other  side.    In  the  House  the  vote  of 
nearly  two  to  one  in  favor  of  Mr.  Clay's  resolu. 
tion  for  a  joint  committee,  and  his  being  allowed 
to  make  out  his  own  list  of  the  House  commit- 
tee (for  it  was  well  known  that  he  drew  up  the 
list  of  names  himself,  and  distributed  it  through 
the  House  to  be  voted),  sufficiently  attest  the 
temper  of  that  body,  and  showed  the  determina- 
tion of  the  great  majority  to  have  the  question 
settled.    Mr.  Clay  has  been  often  complimented 
as  the  author  of  the  "  compromise  "  of  1820,  in 
spite  of  his  repeated  declaration  to  the  contrary, 
that  measure  coming  from  the  Senate;  but  he  is 
the  undisputed  author  of  the  final  settlement  of 
the  Missouri  controversy  in  the  actual  admission 
of  the  State.    He  had  many  valuable  coadjutors 
from  the    North— Baldwin,  of  Pennsylvania] 
Storrs  and  Meigs,  of  New-York;  Shaw,  of  Mas- 
sachusetts: and  he  had  also  some  opponents 
from  the  South— members  refusing  to  vote  for 
the  "conditional  »  admission  of  the  State,  hold- 
ing  her  to  be  entitled  to  absolute  admission- 
among  them  Mr.  Randolph.    I  have  been  minute 
in  stating  this  controversy,  and  its  settlement, 
deeming  it  advantageous  to  the  public  interest 
that  history  and  posterity  should  see  it  in  the 
proper  point  of  view ;  and  that  it  was  a  political 
movement  for  the  balance  of  power,  balked  bj 
the  Northern  democracy,  who  saw  their  own 
overthrow,  and  the  eventual  separation  of  the 
States,  in  the  establishment  of  geographical  pa^ 
ties  divided  by  a  slavery  and  anti-slavery  line, 


FINANCE 

"itii:  distress 

government. 

ditiiie  then  w 

'dollars  (iiK 

bnt  or  incide 

the  revenu 

BUS  period. 

came  the  re 

bllcy  in  all  i 

lie  forced  poli 

'  army  was 

[lich  the  ret 

ins  reduced 

DOO  men.    1 

Iprop^atiuQ 

ling  reduced 

in  i-ud  armi 

like  proci 

ace  at  many 

vn  of  a  clerk 

Itorney  Gen 

low  the  ec< 

ler  all  a  loa 

esident  was 

dollars.    T 

En  to  be  rai{ 

pnt,  small  as 

|uble  the  am 

ascs  of  the 

ase  of  its  ac 

chinery.    R! 

or  incidental  c 

terest  of  the  pi 

gradual  increa 

itens,  one  an 

1^00,000;  an 

lipall  items,  al 

#iole  about  el 

pense  of  ke 

ent  in  operat 

Id  which  wo 

&ns  after   tb 

fccted.    A  su 

bid    above  th 

Evernment,  wi 


ANNO  1820.    JAMES  MONROE,  PRESIDENT. 


11 


f  the  State  in  am 
!  purpose,  and  save 
r  as  to  lose  theij 
ndant  to  their  po. 
nate,  Messrs.  Low- 
sylvania;  Messra 

New-Hampshire; 
nes,  from  Maine; 
Ihodc  Island;  ami 
sey,  were  of  that 
Tom  classing  witk 
adykc,  from  Dela- 
s  a  slave  State,  yet 
position,  and  smaO 
i  justly  to  belong 
louse  the  vote  of 
Vfr.  Clay's  resolu- 

his  being  allowed 
le  House  commit- 
it  he  drew  up  the 
■ibuted  it  througli 
iciently  attest  the 
ed  the  detcrmina- 
(lave  the  question 
ten  complimenteii 
nise"  of  1820,  in 
I  to  the  contrary, 
Senate ;  but  he  k 
nal  settlement  of 
actual  admission 
luable  coadjutors 
f  Pennsylvania; 
;  Shaw,  of  Mas- 
some  opponents 
ising  to  vote  for 
'  the  State,  hold- 
ute  admission- 
lave  been  minute 
I  its  settlement, 
>  public  interest 
uld  see  it  in  the 
:t  was  a  political 
iwer,  balked  bj 
saw  their  own 
iparation  of  the 
cographical  par 
i-slavery  line. 


.A 


CHAPTER  III. 


FINANCES.-KEDUCTION  OF  TUB  ARMY. 


IE  distress  of  the  country  became  that  of  the 
Ivernment.    Small  as  the  government  expen- 
ture  then  was,  only  about  twenty-one  millions 
dollars  (including  eleven  millions  for  perma- 
fnt  or  mcidental  objects),  it  was  still  too  great 
the  revenues  of  the  government  at  this  disas- 
ms  period.    Reductions  of  expense,  and  loans, 
:ame  the  resort,  and  economy — that  virtuous 
(licy  in  all  times — became  the  obligatory  and 
forced  policy  of  this  time.    The  small  regu- 
army  was  the  first,  and  the  largest  object  on 
lich  the  reduction  fell.    Small  as  it  was,  it 
reduced  nearly  one-half— from  10,000  to 
100  men.    The  navy  felt  it  next— the  annual 
^prop^ation  of  one  million  for  its  increase 
fing  reduced  to  half  a  million.    The  construc- 
»n  ..ud  armament  of  fortifications  underwent 
like  process.    Reductions  of  expense  took 
ice  at  many  other  points,  and  even  the  aboli- 
»n  of  a  clerkship  of  $800  in  the  office  of  the 
;torney  General,  was  not  deemed  an  object 
low  the  economical  attention  of   Congress. 
;er  all  a  loan  became  indispensable,  and  the 
!sident  was  authorized  to  borrow  five  millions 
dollars.    The  sum  of  twenty-one  millions 
sn  to  be  raised  for  the  service  of  the  govern- 
snt,  small  as  it  now  appears,  was  more  than 
ible  the  amount  required  for  the  actual  ex- 
ises  of  the  government— for   the  actual  ex- 
ise  of  its  administration,  or  the  workin"  its 
jhinery.    More  than  half  went  to  permanent 
|incidental  objects,  to  wit:  principal  and  in- 
sst  of  the  public  debt,  five  and  a  half  millions ; 
lual  increase  of  the  navy,  one  million;  pen- 
«#ns,  one  and  a  half  millions;  fortifications, 
<|BOO,000 ;  arms,  munitions,  ordnance,  and  other 
0iall  items,  about  two  millions ;  making  in  the 
jbole  about  eleven  millions,  and  leaving  for  the 
ppense  of  keeping  the  machinery  of  govern- 
fcnt  in  operation,  about  ten  millions  of  dollars; 
md  which  was  reduced  to  less  than  nine  mU- 
Jns  after  the  reductions  of  this  year  were 
Sected.    A  sum  of  one  million  of  dollars,  over 
#id   above  the  estimated  expenditure  of  the 
ICvernment,  was  always  deemed  necessary  to  be 


provided  and  left  in  the  treasury  to  meet  con* 
tingencies — a  sum  which,  though  small  in  itself, 
was  absolutely  unnecessary  for  that  purpose, 
and  the  necessity  for  which  was  founded  in  the 
mistaken   idea  that  the   government  expends 
every  year,  within  the  year,  the  amount  of  its 
income.    This  is  entirely  fallacious,  and  never  did 
and  never  can  take  place ;  for  a  large  portion  of 
the  government  payments  accruing  within  the  lat- 
ter quarters  of  any  year  are  not  paid  until  the  next 
year.    And  so  on  in  evjry  quarter  of  every  year. 
The  sums  becoming  payable  in  each  quarter 
being  in  many  instances,  and  from  the  nature  of 
the  service,  only  paid  in  the  next  quarter,  whilo 
new  revenue  is  coming  in.    This  process  regu- 
larly going  on  always  leaves  a  balance  in  the 
treasury  at  the  end  of  the  year,  not  called  for 
until  the  beginning  of  the  next  year,  fnd  when 
there  is  a  receipt  of  money  to  meet  the  demand, 
even  if  there  had  been  no  balance  in  hand. 
Thus,  at  the  end  of  the  year  1820,  one  of  the 
greatest  depression,  and  when  demands  pressed 
most  rapidly  upon  the  treasury,  there  was  a 
balance  of  above  two  millions  of  dollars  in  the 
treasury— to  be  precise,  $2,076,607  14,  being 
one-tenth  of  the  annual  revenue.    In  prosperous 
years  the    balance    is  still    larger,  sometimes 
amounting  to  the  fourth,  or  the  fifth  of  the  an- 
nual revenue ;  as  may  be  seen  in  the  successive 
annual  reports  of  the  finances.    There  is,  there- 
fore, no  necessity  to  provide  for  keeping  any 
balance  as  a  reserve  in  the  treasury,  though  in 
later  times  tliis  provision  has  been  carried  up  to 
six  millions— a  mistake  which    economy,  the 
science  of  administration,  and  the  purity  of  the 
government,  requires  to  be  corrected. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

BELIEF  OF  PUBLIC  LAND  DEBTORS, 

Distress  was  the  cry  of  the  day ;  relief  the 
general  demand.  State  legislatures  were  occu- 
pied in  devising  measures  of  local  relief;  Con- 
gress in  granting  it  to  national  debtors.  Among 
these  was  the  great  and  prominent  class  of  the 
public  land  purchasers.  The  credit  system  then 
prevailed,  and  the  debt  to  the  government  had 


12 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


accumulated  to  twenty-three  millions  of  dollars 
—a  large  sum  in  itself,  but  enormous  when  con- 
sidered in  reference  to  the  payors,  only  a  small 
proportion  of  the  population,  and  they  chiefly 
the  inhabitants  of  the  new  States  and  territories, 
whoso  resources  were  few.    Their  situation  was 
deplorable.    A  heavy  debt  to  pay,  and  lands 
already  partly  paid  for  to  be  forfeited  if  full 
payment  was  not  made.     The  system  was  this: 
the  land  was  sold  at  a  minimum  price  of  two 
dollars  per  acre,  one  payment  in  hand  and  the 
remainder  in  four  annual  instalments,  with  for- 
feiture of  all  that  had  been  paid  if  each  succes- 
sive instalment  was  not  delivered  to  the  day. 
In  the  eagerness  to  procure  fresh  lands,  and 
stimulated   by  the    delusive  prosperity  which 
multitudes  of  banks  created  after  the  war,  there 
was  no  limit  to  purchasers  except  in  the  ability 
to  make  the  first  payment.    That  being  accom- 
plished, it  was  left  to  the  future  to  provide  for 
the  remainder.    The  banks  failed ;  money  van- 
ished; instalments  were    becoming  due  which 
could  not  be  met ;  and  the  opening  of  Congress 
in  November,  1820,  was  saluted  by  the  arrival 
of  memorials  from  all  the  new  States,  showing 
the  distress,  and  praying  relief  to  the  purchasers 
of  the  public  lands.     The  President,  in  his  an- 
nual message  to  Congress,  deemed  it  his  duty  to 
bring  the  subject  before  that  body,  and  in  doing 
so  recommended  indulgence  in  consideration  of 
the  unfavorable    change   which    had  occurred 
since  the  sales.     Both  Houses  of  Congress  took 
up  the  subject,  and  a  measure  of  relief  was 
devised  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Mr. 
Crawford,  which  was  equally  desirable  both  to 
the  purchaser  and  the  government.    The  prin- 
ciple of  the  relief  was  to  change  all  future  sales 
from  the  credit  to  the  cash  system,  and  to  reduce 
the  minimum  price  of  the  lands  to  one  dollar, 
twenty-five  cents  per  acre,  and  to  give  all  pre- 
sent debtors  the  benefit  of  that  system,  by  al- 
lowing them  to  consolidate  payments  already 
made  on  different  tracts  on  any  particular  one 
relinquishing  the  rest ;  and  allowing  a  discount 
for  ready  pay  on  all  that  had    been  entered, 
equal  to  the  difference  between  the  former  and 
present  minimum  price.     This  released  the  pur- 
chasers from  debt,  and  the  government  from  the 
inconvenient  relation  of  creditor  to  its  own  citi- 
zens.   A  debt  of  twenty-throe  millinns  of  dol- 
lars was  quietly  got  rid  of,  and  purchasers  were 
enabled  to  save  lands,  at  the  reduced  price,  to 


the  amount  of  their  payments  already  made 
and  thus  saved  in  all  cases  their  homes  and 
fields,  and  as  much  more  of  their  purchases « 
they  were  able  to  pay  for  at  the  reduced  rate, 
It  was  an  equitable  arrangement  of  a  difflciili 
subject,  and  lacked  but  two  features  to  make  it 
perfect ; /r5<,  a  pre-emptive  right  to  all  first 
settlers ;  and,  secondly,  a  periodical  reduction  of 
price  according  to  the  length  of  time  the  lano 
should  have  been  in  market,  so  as  to  allow  of 
different  prices  for    different  qualities,  and  to 
accomplish  in  a  reasonable  time  the  sale  of  the 
whole.     Applications  were  made  at  that  time 
for  the  establishment  of  the  pre-emptive  system; 
but  without  effect,  and,  apparently  without  the 
prospect  of  eventual  success.    Not  even  a  report 
of  a  committee  could  be  got  in  its  favor— nothing 
more  than  temporary  provisions,  as  special  fa- 
vors, in  particular  circumstances.    But  perseve- 
rance was  successful.    The  new  States  continued 
to  press  the  question,  and  finally  prevailed ;  and 
now  the  pre-emptive  principle  has  become  a 
fixed  part  of  our  land  system,  permanently  in- 
corporated with  it,  and  t    the  equal  advantage 
of  the  settler  and  the  government.     The  settler 
gets  a  choice  home  in  a  new  country,  due  to  his 
enterprise,  courage,  hardships  and  privations  in 
subduing  the  wilderness:  the  government  gets  a 
body  of  cultivators  whose  labor  gives  value  to 
the  surrounding  public  lands,  and  whose  courage 
and  patriotism  volunteers  for  the  public  defence 
whenever  it  is  necessary.     The  second,  or  gradu- 
ation principle,  though  much  pressed,  has  not 
yet  been  established,  but  its  justice  and  policj 
are  self-evident,  and  the  exertions  to  procure  it 
should  not  be  intermitted  until  successful.    The 
passage  of  this  land  relief  bill  was  attended  by 
incidents  which  showed  the  delicacy  of  members 
at  that  time,  in  voting  on  questions  in  wliich 
they  might  be  interested.    Many  members  of 
Congress  were  among  the  public  land  debtor, 
and  entitled  to  the  relief  to  be  granted.    One 
of  their  number,  Senator  William  Smith,  from 
South  Carolina,  brought  the  point  before  the 
Senate  on  a  motion  to  be  excused  from  voting 
on  account  of  his  interest.    The  motion  to  excuse 
was  rejected,  on  the  ground  that  his  interest  was 
general,  in  common  with  the  country,  and  not 
particular,  in  relation  to  himself:  and  that  liis 
constituents  were  entitled  to  the  beuufit  of  liia 
vote. 


CE 

OEl 

The  session  of  1 

tie  first  at  whic 

i/ongress  for  th( 

jr  territory  on 

^rt  then  owned 

|*acific  coast.    It 

bresentative  fron 

rcat  ability,   an 

torn  an  early  rei 

iibued  with  wes 

Subject  with  the 

|nd  it  required  m 

|mbrace  a  subjei 

[lore  likely  to  b 

Ivocate.    I   had 

Issays  on  the  sut 

bad  read.     Two  g 

If  New- York,  ai 

lassachusetts),  v 

aent  of  Mr.  Job 

olony  of  Astoria 

|n    the    northwt 

Washington  that 

the  same  bote 

ad  I  had  ours. 

ally  made  by  W 

aew  them  before 

information  up 

y,  was  eagerly 

f  Floyd.    He  r 

Question  of  occup 

ftr  a  select  comi 

%on  the  subject 

%  the  House,  m 

l^iectcd  member, 

Msults.    It  was 

chairman,  accordi 

Thomas  Metcalfe 

of  the  State),  an( 

Western  Virginia 

himself  ardent  m( 

lug.     They  repor 

|he  committee  wa 

jbupation  of  the  C 

Jlrade  and  interc. 

Sthereon,"  accomp 

,^eplete  with  valuj 


ANNO  1820.    JAMES  MONROE,  PRESIDENT. 


13 


ilrcady  made; 
sir  homes  and 
r  purchases  M 
!  reduced  rate, 
of  a  difficiili 
ires  to  make  it 
it  to  all  first 
il  reduction  of 
;ime  the  land 
IS  to  allow  o( 
alities,  and  to 
Jie  sale  of  tin 
at  that  time 
iptive  system; 
y  without  tl)e 
;  even  a  report 
Ivor — nothing 
as  special  la- 
But  perseye- 
ates  continued 
revailed;  and 
las  become  a 
rmanently  in- 
lal  advantage 
.    The  settler 
ry,  due  to  his 
privations  in 
rnment  gets  a 
»ives  value  to 
chose  courage 
(ublic  defence 
md,  or  gradu- 
ssed,  has  not 
:e  and  policj 
to  procure  it 
:essful.    Tiie 
attended  by 
'■  of  members 
•ns  in  wliicli 
members  of 
and  debtors, 
•anted.    One 
Smith,  from 
t  before  the 
from  voting 
ion  to  CA'cnse 
interest  was 
try,  and  not 
md  that  his 
jueflt  of  hii 


CHAPTER  V. 

OKEGON  TEKEITOET. 

The  session  of  1820-21  is  remarkable  as  being 
be  first  at  which  any  proposition  was  made  in 
Congress  for  the  occupation  and  settlement  of 
ir  territory  on  the  Columbia  River — the  only 
^art  then  owned  by  the  United  States  on  the 
pacific  coast.    It  was  made  by  Dr.  Floyd,  a  re- 
l^resentative  from  Virginia,  an  ardent  man,  of 
rcat  ability,  and  decision  of  character,  and, 
ft-om  an  early  residence  in  Kentucky,  strongly 
nbued  with  westsrn  feelings.    He  took  up  this 
iubject  with  the  energy  which  belonged  to  him, 
nd  it  required  not  only  energy,  but  courage,  to 
abrace  a  subject  which,  at  that  time,  seemed 
lore  likely  to  bring  ridicule  th.:n  credit  to  its 
Ivocate.    I  had  written  and  published  some 
ssays  on  the  subject  the  year  before,  which  he 
bad  read.     Two  gentlemen  (Mr.  Ramsay  Crooks, 
If  New- York,  and  Mr.  Russell   Farnham,  of 
lassachusetts),  who  had  been  in  the  employ- 
Bent  of  Mr.  John  Jacob  Astor  in  founding  his 
Dlony  of  Astoria,  and  carrying  on  the  fur  trade 
the    northwest  coast  of  America,  were  at 
Washington  that  winter,  and  had  their  quarters 
the  same  hotel  (Brown's),  where  Dr.  Floyd 
ad  I  had  ours.     Their  acquaintance  was  natu- 
ally  made  by  Western  men  like  us — in  fact.  I 
aew  them  before ;  and  their  conversation,  rich 
information  upon  a  new  and  interesting  coun- 
r,  was  eagerly  devoun  d  by  the  ardent  spirit 
Floyd.    He  resolved  to  bring  forward  the 
aestion  of  occupation,  and  did  so.     He  moved 
^r  a  select  committee  to  consider  and  report 
yon  the  subject.    The  committee  was  granted 
ly  the  House,  more  through  courtesy  to  a  re- 
qi>ectcd  member,  than  with  any  view  to  business 
Ksults.    It  was  a  committee  of  three,  himself 
ehairman,  according  to  parliamentary  rule,  and 
Thomas  Metcalfe,  of  Kentucky  (since  Governor 
©f  the  State),  and  Thomas  V.  Swcaringen,  from 
tTestern  Virginia,  for  his  associates— both  like 
himself  ardent  men,  and  strong  in  western  feel- 
ing.    They  reported  a  bill  within  six  days  after 
|he  committee  was  raised,  "  to  authorize  the  oc- 
lupation  of  the  Columbia  River,  and  to  regulate 
Jtrade  and  intercourse  with  the  Indian  tribes 
#hereon,"  accompanied  by  an  elaborate  report, 
deplete  with  valuable  statistics,  in  support  of  the 


measure.    The  fur  trade,  the  Asiatic  trade,  and 
the  preservation  of  our  own  territory,  were  the 
advantages  proposed.    The  bill  was  treated  with 
the  parliamentary  courtesy  which  respect  for 
the  committee  required :  it  was  read  twice,  and 
committed  to  a  committee  of  tho  whole  House 
for  the  next  day — most  of  the  members  not 
considering  it  a  serious   proceeding.    Nothing 
further  was  done  in  the  House  that  session,  but 
the  first  blow  was  struck :  public  attention  was 
awakened,  and  the  geographical,  historical,  and 
statistical  facts  set  forth  in  the  report,  made  a 
lodgment  in  the  public  mind  which  promised 
eventual  favorable  consideration.    I  had  not  been 
admitted  to  my  seat  in  the  Senate  at  the  time, 
but  was  soon  after,  and  quickly  came  to  tho 
support  of  Dr.  Floyd's  measure  (who  continued 
to  pursue  it  with  zeal  and  ability) ;  and  at  a 
subsequent  session  presented  some  views  on  the 
subject  which  will  bear  reproduction  at   this 
time.    The  danger  of  a  contest  with  Great  Bri- 
tain, to  whom  we  had  admitted  a  joint  posses- 
sion, and  who  had  already  tak^n  possession,  was 
strongly  suggested,  if  we  delayed  longer  our  own 
occupation ;  "  and  a  vigorous  effort  of  policy,  and 
perhaps  of  arms,  might  be  necessary  to  break 
her  hold."    Unauthorized,  or  individual  occupa^ 
tion  was  intimated  as  a  consequence  of  govern- 
ment neglect,  and  what  has  since  taken  place 
was  foreshadowed  in  this  sentence :  "  mere  ad- 
venturers may  enter  upon  it,  as  ^^neas  entered 
upon  the  Tiber,  and  as  our  forefathers  came 
upon  the  Potomac,  the  Delaware  and  the  Hud- 
son, and  renew  the  phenomenon  of  individuals 
laymg  the  foundation  of  a  future  empire."    The 
effect  upon  Asia  of  the  arrival  of  an  American 
population  on  the  coast  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  was 
thus  exhibited :  "  Upon  the  people  of  Eastern 
Asia  the  establishment  of  a  civilized  power  on 
the  opposite  coast  of  America,  could  not  fail  to 
produce  great  and  wonderful  benefits.    Science, 
liberal  principles  in  government,  and  the  true 
religion,  might  cast  their  lights  across  the  inter- 
vening sea.    The  valley  of  the  Columbia  might 
become  the  granary  of  China  and  Japan,  and  an 
outlet  to  their  imprisoned  and  exnberant  popula- 
tion.   Tho  inhabitants  of  the  oldest  and  tho 
newest,  the  most  despotic  and  the  freest  govern- 
ments, would  become  the  neighbors,  and  the 
friends  of  each  other.  To  my  mind  the  propo.sition 
is  clear,  that  Eastern  Asia  and  the  two  Americas, 
as  they  become  neighbors  should  become  friends  j 


hkil 


14 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


and  I  for  one  had  as  lief  see  American  ministers 
going  to  the  emperors  of  China  and  Japan,  to 
the  king  of  Persia,  and  even  to  the  Grand  Turk, 
IS  to  see  them  dancing  attendance  upon  those 
European    legitimates  who    hold    every  thing 
American  in  contempt  and  detestation."    Thus 
I  spoke ;  and  this  I  believe  was  the  first  time 
that  a  suggestion  for  sending  ministers  to  the 
Oriental    nations  was    publicly  made  in    the 
United  States.    It  was  then  a  "wild"  sugges- 
tion: it  is  now  history.    Besides  the  preserva- 
tion of  our  own  territory  on  the  Pacific,  the 
establishment  of  a  port  there  for  the  shelter  of 
our  commercial  and  military  marine,  the  protec- 
tion of  the  fur  trade  and  aid  to  the  whaling 
vessels,  the  accomplishment  of  Mr.  Jefferson's 
if'ea  of  a  commercial  communication  with  Asia 
through  the  heart  of  our  own  continent,  was 
constantly  insisted  upon  as  a  consequence  of 
planting  an  American  colony  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Columbia.    That  man  of  large  and  usefii 
ideas— that  statesman  who  could  conceive  mea- 
sures useful  to  all  mankind,  and  in  all  time  to 
come— was  the  first  to  propose  that  commercial 
communication,  and  may  also  be  considered  the 
first  discoverer  of  the  Columbia  River.    His  philo- 
sophic mind  told  him  that  where  a  snow-clad 
mountain,  like  that  of  the  Rocky  Jlountains, 
shed  the  waters  on  one  side  which  collected  into 
such  a  river  as  the  Missouri,  there  must  be  a 
corresponding  shedding  and  collection  of  waters 
on  the  other ;  and  thus  he  was  perfectly  assured 
of  the  existence  of  a  river  where  the  Columbia 
has  since  been  found  to  be,  although  no  naviga- 
tor had  seen  its  mouth  and  no  explorer  trod  its 
banks.    His  conviction  was  complete;  but  the 
idea  was  too  grand  and  useftil  to  be  permitted 
to  rest  in  speculation.     He  was  then  minister  to 
France,  and  the  famous  traveller  Ledyard,  hav- 
ing arrived  at  Paris  on  his  expedition  of  discov- 
ery to  the  Nile,  was  prevailed  upon  by  Mr. 
Jefferson  to  enter  upon  a  fresher  and  more  use- 
ful field  of  discove^3^    He  proposed  to  him  to 
change  his  theatre  from  the  Old  to  the  New 
World,  and.  proceeding  to  St.  Petersburg  upon 
a  passport  ho  would  obtain  for  him,  he  should 
there  obtain  permission  from  the  Empress  Cath- 
arine to  traverse  her  dominions  in  a  high  north- 
ern  latitude  to  their  eastern  extremity— cross 
the  sea  from  Kamschatka,  or  at  Behring's  Straits, 
and  descending  the  northwest  coast  of  America, 
come  down  upon  the  river  which  must  head  op- 


posite the  head  of  the  Missouri,  ascend  it  to  its 
source  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  then  follow 
the  Missouri  to  the  French  settlements  on  the 
Upper  Mississippi ;  and  thence  home.    It  was  a 
magnificent  and  a  daring  project  of  discovery, 
and  on  that  account  the  more  captivating  to  the 
ardent  spirit  of  Ledyard,    He  undertook  it- 
went  to  St.  Petersburg— received  the  permis3ioD 
of  the  Empress— and  had  arrived   in  Sibem 
when  ho  was  overtaken  by  a  revocation  of  the 
permission,  and  conducted  as  a  spy  out  of  the 
country.    He  then  returned  to  Paris,  and  re- 
sumed his  original  design  of  that  exploration  of 
the  Nile  to  its  sources  which  terminated  in  his 
premature  death,  and  deprived  the  worid  of  s 
young  and  adventurous  explorer,  from  whose 
ardour,  courage,  perseverance  and  genius,  great 
and  useful  results  were  to  have  been  expected, 
Mr.  Jeflerson  was  balked  in  that,  his  first  at- 
tempt, to  establish  the  existence  of  the  Columbia 
River.     But  a  time  was  coming  for  him  to  under- 
take it  under  better  auspices.    He  became  Pre- 
sident of  the  United  States,  and  in  that  character 
projected  the  expedition  of  Lewis  and  Clark, 
obtained  the  sanction  of  Congress,  and  sent  them 
forth  to  discover  the  head   and  course  of  the 
river  (whose  mouth  was  then  known),  for  the 
double  purpose  of  opening  an  inland  commercial 
communication  with  Asia,  and  enlarging  the 
boundaries  of  geographical  science.     The  com- 
mercial object  was  placed  first  in  his  message, 
and  as  the  object  to  legitimate  the  expedition! 
And  thus  Mr.  Jefferson  was  the  first  to  propose 
the  North  American  road  to  India,  and  the  in- 
troduction of  Asiatic  trade  on  that  road ;  and  all 
that  I  myself  have  either  said  or  written  on  that 
subject  from  the  year  1819,  when  I  first  took  it 
up,  down  to  the  present  day  when  I  still  contend 
for  it,  is  nothing  but  the  fruit  of  the  seed  plant- 
ed in  my  mind  by  the  philosophic  hand  of  Mr, 
Jefferson.    Honor  to  all  those  who  shall  assist 
in  accomplishing  his  great  idea. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

FLOniDA  TREATY  AND  CESSION  OP  TEXAS. 


I  WAS  a  member  of  the  bar  at  St.  Louis,  in  the 
then  territory  of  Missouri,  in  the  year  1818, 


'hen  the  Was 

nown  the  pro 

%hich  was  sign 

following,  and  ^ 

jBway  Texas.    I 

pion  of  Texas,  a 

%)r  the  United 

Iwiquisition  of  1 

Jong  sought,  an( 

Igress  of  events ; 

•putting  off  Texa 

^Iis,sissippi,  mut 

Jbrought  a  forei; 

jiolding),  to  the 

|md  established 

Jiklissouri  and  K 

jtradc,  separate  t 

^ild  Indian  depi 

,;|)erty  of  all  wh( 

sthe  other.    I  wa 

fiothing  to  do  wi 

IDnce  the  whole  ( 

fnstantly  raised 

Ipublishod  in  th( 

•iFhich  were  giv( 

Jreasons  against  { 

Itvere  afterwards, 

.|lt  the  expense  oi 

Ijiven  to  get  it  1 

"Itnd  attacked  its 

'Imprecated  a  wc 

sishould  continue 

Jrallcy  of  the  M 

Jbuntains,  spring 

{^tatesman  who  si 

^rop  of  its  wate 

foreign  power." 

|this  spirit  I  wrc 

Ratified.    Mr.  Jol 

tary  of  State,  nej 

Of  the  treaty,  wa 

toy  censure  was 

.sincere  in  my  b( 

jBut  the  dcclarat 

|Dn  the  floor  of  t 

iDensure  on  accou 

|the  blame  on  the 

iiet,  southern  mer 

governed  in  cedini 

jtry  which  I  so  i 

fiuthoritativc  deck 

'phe  Senate,  the  ho 


■^f 


ANNO  1820.    JAMES  MONROE,  PRESIDENT. 


15 


ascend  it  to  itj 
ind  then  follow 
lements  on  the 
ome.    It  was  a 
t  of  discovery, 
)tivating  to  the 
undertook  it~ 
the  permisaioii 
'^ed   in  Siberu 
vocation  of  the 
spy  out  of  the 
Paris,  and  re- 
exploration  of 
minated  in  his 
he  world  of  a 
r,  from  whose 
1  genius,  great 
been  expected, 
.t,  his  first  at- 
r  the  Columbia 
him  to  under- 
B  became  Pr«- 
that  character 
is  and  Clark, 
and  sent  them 
course  of  the 
own),  for  the 
id  commercial 
enlarging  the 
«.    The  com- 
1  his  message, 
he  expedition. 
rst  to  propose 
a,  and  the  in- 
road; and  all 
ritten  on  that 
I  first  took  it 
[  still  contend 
le  seed  plant- 
hand  of  Mr. 
o  shall  assist 


OP  TEXAS. 

Louis,  in  the 
3  year  1818, 


when  the  Washington  City  newspapers  made 
known  the  progress  of  that  treaty  with  Spain, 
which  was  signed  on  the  22d  day  of  February 
following,  and  which,  in  acquiring  Florida,  gave 
ftway  Texas.    I  was  shocked  at  it— at  the  ces- 
sion of  Texas,  and  the  new  boundaries  proposed 
for  the  United  States  on  the  southwest.    The 
ftcqui.sition  of  Florida  was  a  desirable  object, 
long  sought,  and  sure  to  be  obtained  in  the  pro- 
gress of  events ;  but  the  new  boundaries,  besides 
cutting  off  Texas,  dismembered  the  valley  of  the 
>Iis,Mssippi,  mutilated  two  of  its  noblest  rivers 
|brought  a  foreign  dominion  (and  it  non-slave- 
piolding),  to  the  neighborhood  of  New  Orleans, 
and  established  a  wilderness  barrier  between 
IWissouri  and  New  Mexico— to  interrupt  their 
trade,  separate  their  inhabitants,  and  shelter  the 
wild  Indian  depredators  upon  the  lives  and  pro- 
perty of  all  who  undertook  to  pass  from  one  to 
ihe  other.    I  was  not  then  in  politics,  and  had 
nothing  to  do  with  political  affairs ;  but  I  saw  at 
|)nce  the  whole  evil  of  this  great  sacrifice,  and 
Instantly  raised  my  voice  against  it  in  articles 
i)ublishcd  in  the  St.  Louis  newspapers,  and  in 

frhich  were  given,  m  advance,  all  the  national 
^^  easons  against  giving  away  the  country,  which 
ikFcre  afterwards,  and  by  so  many  tongues,  and 
lit  the  expense  of  war  and  a  hundred  millions 
|given  to  get  it  back.    I  denounced  the  treaty, 
pnd  attacked  its  authors  and  their  motives,  and 
imprecated  a  woe  on  the  heads  of  those  who 
Ahould  continue  to  favor  it.    "The  magnificent 
galley  of  the  Mississippi  is  ours,  with  all  its 
;|buntains,  springs  and  floods;  aud  woe  to  the 
{^tatesman  who  shall  undertake  to  surrender  one 
Aop  of  its  water,  one  inch  of  its  soil,  to  any 
Ibreign  power."    In  these  terms  I  spoke,  and  in 
Shis  spirit  I  wrote,  before  the  treaty  was  even 
Ratified.    Mr.  John  Quincy  Adams,  the  Secre- 
tary of  State,  negotiator  and  ostensible  author 
Of  the  treaty,  was  the  statesman  against  whom 
toy  censure  was  directed,  and  I  was  certainly 
Bincere  in  my  belief  of  his  great  culpability. 
;jBut  the  declaration  which  he  afterwards  made 
|)n  the  floor  of  the  House,  absolved  him  from 
|:ensure  on  account  of  that  treaty,  and  placed 
f  he  blame  on  the  majority  in  Mr.  Monroe's  cabi- 
|iet,  southern  men,  by  whose  vote  he  had  been 
tpoverncd  in  ceding  Texas  and  fixing  the  bound- 
J»ry  which  I  so  much  condemned.     After  this 
Authoritative  declaration,  I  made,  in  my  place  in 
#he  Senate,  the  honorable  amends  to  Mr.  Adams 


which  was  equally  due  to  him  and  to  myself. 
The  treaty  was  signed  on  the  anniversary  of 
the  birth-day  of  Washington,  and  sent  to  the 
Senate  the  same  day,  and  unanimously  ratified 
on  the  next  day,  with  the  general  approbation 
of  the  country,  and  the  warm  applause  of  the 
newspaper  press.     This  unanimity  of  the  Senate, 
and  applause  of  the  press,  made  no  impression 
upon  me.    I  continued  to  assail  the  treaty  and 
its  authors,  and  the  more  bitterly,  because  the 
official  correspondence,  when  published,  showed 
that  this  great  sacrifice  of  territory,  rivers,  and 
proper  boundaries,  was  all  gratuitous  and  volun- 
tary on  our  part—"  that  the  Spaiiish  govern- 
ment had  offered  us  more  than  we  accepted;  » 
and  that  it  was  our  policy,  and  not  hers,  which 
had  deprived  us  of  Texas  and  the  large  country, 
in  addition  to  Texas,  which  lay  between  the  Red 
River  and  Upper  Arkansas.    This  was  m  enigma, 
the  solution  of  which,  in  my  mind,  strongly 
connected  itself  with  the  Missouri  controversy 
then  raging  (1819)  with  its  greatest  violence, 
threatening  existing  political  parties  with  sub- 
version, and  the  Union  with  dissolution.    My 
mind  went  there— to  that  controvcr.sy— for  the 
solution,  but  with  a  misdirection  of  its  applica- 
tion.   I  blamed  the  northern  men  in  Mr.  Mon- 
roe's cabinet:   the  private  papers  of  General 
Jackson,  which  have  come  to  my  hands,  enable 
me  to  correct  that  error,  and  give  me  an  inside 
view  of  that  which  I  could  only  see  on  the  out- 
side before.    In  a  private  letter  from  Mr.  Mon- 
roe to  General  Jackson,  dated  at  Washington, 
May  22d,  1820— more  than  one  year  after  the 
negotiation  of  the  treaty,  written  to  justify  it, 
and  evidently  called  out  by  Mr.  Clay's  attack 
upon  it— are  these    passages:    "Having   long 
known  the  repugnance  with  which  the  eastern 
portion  of  our  Union,  or  rather  some  of  those 
who  have  enjoyed  its  confidence  (for  I  do  not 
think  that  the  people  themselves  have  any  inter- 
est or  wish  of  that  kind),  have  seen  its  aggran- 
dizement to  the  West  and  South,  I  have  "been 
decidedly  of  opinion  that  we  ought  to  be  content 
with  Florida  for  the  present,  and  until  the  pub- 
lic opinion  in  that  quarter  shall  be  reconciled  to 
any  further  change.    I  mention  these  circum- 
stances to  show  you  that  our  difficulties  are  not 
with  Spain  alone,  but  are  likewise  internal,  pro- 
ceeding fi'oiu  various  causes,  which  certain  men 
are  prompt  to  seize  and  turn  to  the  account  of 
their  own  ambitious  views."    This  paragraph 


Ml 


i     c. 


^  I 


w 


16 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


i! 


II  .! 


If-::  ■■]; 


from  Mr.  Monroe's  letter  lifts  the  curtain  which 
concealed  the  secret  reason  for  ceding  Texas— 
that  secret  wliich  explains  what  was  incompre- 
hensible—our having  refused  to  accept  as  much 
as  Spain  had  offered.    Internal  difficulties,  it 
was  thus  si  own,  had  induced  that  refusal;  and 
these  difficulties  grew  out  of  the  repugnance  of 
loading  men  in  the  northeast  to  see  the  further 
aggrandizement  of  the  Union  upon  the  South 
and  West.     This  repugnance  was  then  taking 
an  operative  form  in  the  shape  of  the  Missouri 
controversy ;  and,  as  an  immediate  consequence, 
threatened  the  subversion  of  political  party  lines,' 
and  the  introduction  of  the  slavery  question  into 
the  federal  elections  and  legislation,  and  bring- 
ing into  the  highest  of  those  elections— those  of 
President  and  Vice-President-a  test  which  no 
southern  candidate  could  stand.    The  repug- 
nance in  the  northeast  was  not  merely  to  terri- 
torial aggrandizement  in  the  southwest,  but  to 
the  consequent  extension  of  slavery  in  that  (juar- 
ter;  and  to  allay  that  repugnance,  and  to  pre- 
vent the  shivery  extension  question  from  becom- 
ing a  test  in  the  presidential  election,  was  the 
true  reason  for  giving  away  Texa^;,  and  the  true 
solution  of  the  enigma  involved  in  the  strange 
refusal  to  accept  as  much  as  Spain  offered.    The 
treaty  was  disapproved  by  Mr.  Jefferson,   to 
whom  a  similar  letter  was  written  to  that  sent 
to  General  Jackson,  and  for  the  same  purpose- 
to  obtain  his  approbation;  but  he  who  had  ac- 
quired Louisiana,  and  justly  gloried  in  the  act, 
could  not  bear  to  see  that  noble  province  muti- 
lated, and  returned  his  dissent  to  the  act,  and 
his  condemnation  of  the  polic>  on  which  it  was 
done.      General   Jackson  had    yielded  to   the 
arguments  of  Mr.  Monroe,  and  consented  to  the 
cession  of  Texas  as  a  temporary  measure.    The 
words  of  his  answer  to  Mr.  Monroe's  letter 
were:  "I  am  clearly  of  your  opinion,  that,  for 
the  present,  we  ought  to  be  contented  with  the 
Floridas."    But  Mr.  Jefferson  would  yield  to  no 
temporary  views  of  policy,  and  remained  inflexi- 
bly opposed  to  the  treaty ;  and  in  this  he  was 
consistent  with  his  own  conduct  in  similar  cir- 
cumstances.   Sixteen  years  before,  he  had  been 
in  the  same  circumstances— at  the  time  of  the 
acquisition  of  Louisiana— when  he  had  the  same 
repuj^nance  to  southwestern  aggrandizement  to 
contend  with,  and  the  same  bait  (Florida)  to 
tempt  him.     Then  oMstcrn  men  raised  the  same 
objections;  and  as  early  as  August  1803— only 


four  months  after  the  purchase  of  Louisiana- 
he  wrote  to  Dr.  Breckenridge :  «  Objections  an 
rai.-!ing  to  the  eastward  to  the  vast  extent  of  our 
boundaries,  and  propositions  are  made  to  ex- 
change Louisiana,  or  a  part  of  it,  for  the  Flori- 
das ;  but  as  I  have  said,  we  shall  get  the  Floii 
das  without ;  and  I  would  not  give  one  inch  of 
the  waters  of  the  Mississippi  to  any  foreign 
nation."    So  that  Mr.  Jefierson,  neither  in  1803 
nor  in  1819,  would  have  mutilated  Louisiana  to 
obtain  the  cession  of  Florida,  which  he  kneir 
would  be  obtained  without  that  mutilation  ;  nor 
would  he  have  yielded  to  the  threatening  discon- 
tent in  the  east.    I  have  a  gratification  that, 
without  knowing  it,  and  at  a  thousand  miles 
from  him,  I  took  the  same  ground  that  Mr.  Jef. 
ferson  stood  on,  and  even  used  his  own  words; 
"Not  an  inch  of  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi  to 
any  nation."    But  I  was  mortified  at  the  time, 
that  not  a  paper  in  the  United  States  backed  my 
essays.    It  was  my  first  expeiience  in  standing 
"solitary  and  alone;"  but  I  stood  it  without 
flinching,  and  even  incurred  the  imputatioL  of 
being   opposed  to  the  administration— had  to 
encounter  that  objection  in  my  first  election  to 
the  Senate,  and  was  even  viewed  as  an  opponent 
by  Mr.  Monroe  himself,  when  I  first  came  to 
Washington.    He  had  reason  to  know  before 
his  office  expired,  and  still  more  after  it  expired, 
that  no  one  (of  the  young  generation)  had  a 
more  exalted  opinion  of  his  honesty,  patriotism, 
firnmess  and  general  soundness  of  judgment ;  or 
would  be  more  ready,  whenever  the  occasion 
permitted,  to  do  justice  to  his  long  and  illus- 
trious career  of  public  service.    The  treaty,  as  I 
have  said,  was  promptly  and  unanimously  rati- 
fied by  the  American  Senate ;  not  so  on  the 
part  of  Spain.     She  hesitated,  delayed,  procras- 
tinated ;  and  finally  sufiered  the  time  limited 
for  the  exchange  of  ratifications  to  expire,  with- 
out having   gone  through    that  indispensable 
formality.    Of  course  this  put  an  end  to  the 
treaty,  unless  it  could  be  revived ;  and,  there- 
upon, new  negotiations  and  vehement  expostula- 
tions against  the  conduct  which  refused  to  ratify 
a  treaty  negotiated  upon  full  powers  and  in  con- 
formity to  instructions.    It  was  in  the  course 
of  this  renewed  negotiation,  and  of  these  warm 
expostulations,  that  Mr.  Adams  used  the  strong 
expressions  to  the  Spanish  ministry,  so  enigma- 
tical at  the  time,  '•  That  Spain  had  offered  more 
than  wo  accepted,  and  that  she  dare  not  deny 


3 


movement.  Th 
October,  1820,  a 
it  became  neces 
American  Senati 
of  1820-21.  It 
unanimously,  bi 
given  against  it, 

■  namely:  Colonel 
tucky;  Colonel 
Mr.  James  Bro 
Trimble,  of  Ohio 
and  a  senator  cle 
scat,  in  consequci 

I  the  new  State  of 
I  had  no  opportur 
J  the  treaty.     But 

■  ga\e  me  an  oppoi 

tion,  and  to  ajjpea 

as  an  cnemj'  to  il 

the  treaty  was  st 

crastination  in  the 

tions,  Mexico  (to  ■ 

Louisiana  and  the 

tached),  itself  ceas 

f  stablished  her  inc 

jfish  authority,  an 

|iother  country. 

fho  treaty  by  pn 

run  and  mark  the 

passed  at  the  tin 

treaty;  it  came  u 

was  oppo.scd  by 

upon  the  grounds 

treaty,  but  on  the 

that  the  revolution 

pendence— had  sup 

the  whole  article  o 

wos  with  Mexico 

settle  them.    The  j 

sweej)ing  majority, 

2   ' 


ANNO  18-M.    JAMES  MONROE,  PRESIDENT. 


it "    Piimily,  after  tho  lap.so  of  a  year  or  fo  the 
treaty  was  ratified  by  Spain.     In  the  mean  time 
Mr.  Clay  Iiad  made  a  movement  against  it  in  the 
House  of  ilepresentativos,  unsucccssfuJ,  of  course 
but  exciting  some  sensation,  both  for  the  reasons 
he  gave  and  tho  vote  of  some  thirty-odd  mem- 
bers who  concnired  with  him.    This  movement 
very  certainly  induced  the  letters  of  Sir.  Monroe 
to  General  Jackson  and  Jfr.  Jefferson  as  they 
;r  were  contemporaneous  (May,  1820),  and  also 
some  expressions  in  the  letter  to  General  Jack- 
son,  which  evidently  referred    to   Mr.  Clay's 
movement.    The  ratification  of  Spain  was  given 
October,  1820,  and  being  after  the  time  limited, 
;  it  became  necessary  to  submit  it  again  to  the 
;   American  Senate,  which  was  done  at  tho  session 
■  of  1820-21.     It  was  ratified  again,  and  almost 
unanimously,  but  not  finite,  four  votes   bein- 
given  against  it,  and   all  by  western  senators" 
namely:  Colonel  Richard  M.  Johnson,  of  Ken- 
tucky;   Colonel  John  Williams,  of  Teimessce; 
::  Mr.  James   Brown,  of  Louisiana,  and  Colonel 
Trimble,  of  Ohio.    I  was  then  in  Washington, 
::  and  a  senator  elect,  though  not  yet  entitled  to  a 
'.  scat,  m  consequence  of  the  delayed  admission  of 
J  the  new  State  of  Missouri  into  tho  Union,  and  so 
t^had  no  opportunity  to  record  my  vote  a-ainst 
}tlie  treaty.     But  the  progress  of  events  soon 
-gave  me  an  opportunity  to  manifest  my  opposi- 
tion, and  to  aj.pear  in  the  parliamentary  history 
.as  an  enemy  to  it.    The  case  was  this:  While 
^the  treaty  was  still  oncouatering  Spanish  pro- 
.crastmation  in  the  delay  of  exchanging  ratifica- 
i:tions,  Mexico  (to  which  the  amputated  part  of 
|Louisiana  and  the  whole  of  Texas  was  to  be  at- 
fa^lied),  itself  ceased  to  belong  to  Spain.    She 
|stablished  her  independence,  repulsed  all  Spa- 
fish  authority,  and  remained  at  war  with  the 
Jaother  country.    The  law  for  giving  effect  to 
«ho  treaty  by  providing  for  commissioners  to 
run  and  mark  the  new  boundary,  had  not  been 
p«ussed  at  the  time  of  the  ratification  of  the 
treaty;  ,t  came  up  after  I  took  my  seat,  and 
was  o^^osed  by  me.    I  opposed  itf  not 'only 

treaty  but  on  the  further  and  obvious  ground 

that  the  revolution  in  Mexico-her  actual  inde- 

pendence-had  superseded  the  Spanish  treatyt 

tl;h;:''^!-l^^°^o"ndaries,andthaU; 

:  -      !^''^-  .  ^^'"^  -"^^  ^^^s  passed,  however,  by  a 
Mveepmg  majority,  the  administration  bein^  for 


17 


it,  and  senators  holding  themselvoq  committed 
by  previous  votes ;  but  the  progress  of  events 
soon  justified  my  opposition  to  it.     The  country 
bcmg  in  possession  of  Mexico,  and  she  at  war 
with  Spain,  no  Spanish  commissioners  could  go 
there  to  join  ours  in  executing  it;  and  so  the 
act  remained  a  dead  letter  upon  the  statute- 
book.     Its  futility  was  afterwards  acknowledged 
by  our  government,  and  tlie  misstep  corrected 
by  establishing  tho  boundary  with  Mexico  her- 
self.    This  was  done  by  treaty  in  tho  year  1828 
adopting  the  boundaries  previously  agreed  upon 
with  Spain,  and  consequently  ami)utating  our 
nvers  (tho  Red  and  the  Arkansas),  and  dis- 
membering the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  to  the 
sanie  extent  as  was  done  by  the  Spanish  treaty 
of  1819.     I  opposed  the  ratification  of  the  treaty 
with  Mexico  for  the  same  reason  that  I  opposed 
Jts  original   with  Spain,  but  without  success. 
Only  two  senators  voted    with    me,  namely 
Judge  William  Smith,  of  South  Carolina,  and 
Mr.  Powhatan  Ellis,  of  Mississippi.     Thus  I  saw 
this  treaty,  which  repulsed  Texas,  and  dismem- 
bered   the    valley    of   the    Mississippi-which 
placed  a  foreign  dominion  on  tho  upper  halves 
of  the  Red  River  and  the  Arkansas-placed  a 
foreign  power  and  a  wilderness  between  Mis- 
souri and  New  Mexico,  and  which  brought  a 
non-slaveholding  empire  to  the  boundary  ^ino 
of  the  State  of  Louisiana,  and  almost  to  tho 
southwest  corner  of  Missouri-saw  this  treaty 
three  times  ratified  by  the  American  Senate,  as 
good  as  unanimously  every  time,  and  with  the 
hearty  concurrence  of  the  A  merican  press     Yet 
I  remained  in  the  Senate  to  see,  within  a  few 
years,  a  political  tempest  sweeping  the  land  and 
overturning  all  that  stood  before  it,  to  get  back 
this  very  country  which  this  treaty  had  given 
away ;  and  menacing  the  Union  itself  with  dis- 
solution, if  it  was  not  immediately  done,  and 
without  regard   to  consequences.     But  of  this 
hereafter.    The  point  to  be  now  noted  of  this 
treaty  of  1819,  is,  that  it  completed,  very  nearly 
the  extinction  of  slave  territory  within  the  limits 
of  the  United  States,  and  that  it  was  the  work 
of  southern  men,  with  the  sanction  of  the  South 
It  extinguished  or  cut  off  the  slave  territory 
beyond  the  Mississippi,  below  3G  de-rees    30 
I  minutes,  all  except  the  diagram  in  Arkansas 
which  was  soon  to  become  a  State.     The  Mis- 
souri compromise  line  had  interdicted  slavery  in 
all  the  vr  '■     -  .  -  •' 


El 


4 


i-ast 


expanse  of  Lo 


uiM.'uia  north  of  3& 


18 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


degrees,  30  minutes;  this  treaty  gave  away,  first 
to  Spain,  and  then  to  Mexico,  nearly  all  the 
slave  territory  south  of  that  lino ;  and  what  lit- 
tle was  left  by  the  Spanish  treaty  was  assigned 
in  perpetuity  by  laws  and  by  treaties  to  difTcront 
Indian  tribes.    These  treaties  (Indian  and  Span- 
ish), together  with  the  Missouri  compromise 
line— a    measure    contemporaneous    with     the 
treaty— extinguished  slave  soil  in  all  the  United 
States  territory  west  of  the  Mississippi,  except 
in  the  diagram  which  was  to  constitute  the 
State  of  Arkansas ;  and,  including  the  extinction 
in  Texas  consequent  upon  its  cession  to  a  non- 
slaveholding  power,  constituted  the  largest  ter- 
ritorial abolition  of  slavery  that  was  ever  effect- 
ed by  the  political  power  of  any  nation.    The 
ordinance  of  1787  had  previously  extingiiished 
slavery  in  all  the  northwest  territory— all  the 
country  easi  of  the  Mississippi,  above  the  Ohio, 
and  out  to  the  great  lakes;  so  that,  at  this 
moment— era  of  the  second  election  of  Mr.  Mon- 
roe—slave soil,  except  in  Arkansas  and  Florida, 
was  extinct  in  the  territory  of  the  United  States. 
The  growth  of  slave  States  (except  of  Arkansas 
and  Florida)  was  stopped ;  the  increase  of  free 
States  was  permitted  in  all   the  vast  expanse 
from  Lake  Michigan  and  the  Mississippi  River  to 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  to  Oregon ;  and  there 
was  not  a  ripple  of  discontent  visible  on  the  sur- 
fiice  of  the  public  mind  at  this  mighty  transfor- 
mation of  slave  into  free  territory.  No  talk  then 
about  dissolving  the  Union,  if  every  citizen  was 
not  allowed  to  go  with  all  his  "property,"  that 
is,  all  his  slaves,  to  all  the  territory  acquired  by 
the  "common  blood  and  treasure"  of  all  the 
Union.    But  this  belongs  to  the  chapter  of  1844 
whereof  I  have  the  material  to  write  the  true  and 
secret  history,  and  hope  to  use  it  with  fairness, 
with  justice,  and  with  moderation.    The  outside 
view  of  the  slave  question  in  the  United  States 
at  this  time,  which  any  chronicler  can  write,  is, 
that  the  extension  of  slavery  was  then  arrested' 
circumscribed,  and  confined  within  narrow  terri- 
torial limits,  while  free  States  were  permitted  an 
a.lmost  unlimited  expansion.     That  is  the  out- 
side view;   the  inside  is,  that  all  this  was  the 
work  of  southern  men,  candidates  for  the  presi- 
dency, some  in  abeyance,  some  in  praismti,  and 
all  yielding  to  that  repugnance  to  territorial  ag- 
grandizement, and  slavery  extension  in  the  south- 
west, which  Mr.  Monroe  mentioned  in  his  letter 
to  General  Jackson  as  the  "iuternal  difficulty" 


which  occasioned  the  cession  of  Texas  to  Spain. 
This  cha|)ter  is  a  point  in  the  history  of  the  times 
which  will  require  to  bo  understood  by  all  who 
wish  to  understand  and  appreciate  the  cvonts 
and  actors  of  twenty  years  later. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

DEATH  OF  MR.  LOWNDEfl, 


I   HAD    but  a  slight    acquaintance    with  Mr. 
Lowndes.     He  resigned  his  place  oi  account  of 
declining  health  Foon  after  I  came  in   >  Congrc&>; 
but  all  that  I  saw  of  him  confirmed  the  imprus- 
sion  of  the  exalted  character  which  the  public 
voice  had  ascribed  to  him.    Virtue,  modesty, 
benevolence,  patriotism  were  the  qualities  of  his 
heart ;  a  sound  judgment,  a  mild  persuasive  elo- 
cution were  the  attributes  of  his  mind;  his  man- 
ners gentle,  natural,  cordial,  and  inexpressibly 
engaging.    He  was  one  of  the  galaxy,  as  it  was 
well  called,  of  the  brilliant  young  men  which 
South  Carolina  sent  to  the  House  of  Represent- 
atives at  the  beginning  of  the  warof  1812— Cal- 
houn,  Cheves,  Lowndes  ;— and   was  soon  the 
brightest  star  in  that  constellation.    He  wt  .i  one 
of  those  members,  rare  in  ail  assemblies,  wno, 
when  he  spoke,  had  a  cluster  around  him,  noi 
of  friends,  but  of  the  House— members  quitting 
their  distant  seats,  and  gathering  up  close  about 
him,  and  showing  by  their  attention,  that  each 
one  would  feel  it  a  personal  loss  to  have  missed 
a  word  that  he  said.    It  was  the  attention  of 
aficctionate  confidence.    He  imparted  to  others 
the  harmony  of  his  own  feelings,  and  was  the 
moderator  as  well  as  the  leader  of  the  House, 
and  was  followed  by  its  sentiment  in  all  cases 
in  which  inexorable  party  feeling,  or  some  pow- 
erful interest,  did  not  rule  the  action  of  the  mem- 
bers ;  and  even  then  he  was  courteously  and 
deferentially  treated.    It  was  so  the  only  time 
I  ever  heard  him  speak— session  of  1820-21- 
and  on  the  inflammable  subject  of  the  admission 
of  the  State  of  Missouri— a  question  on  which  the 
inflamed  passions  left  no  room  for  the  influence 
of  reason  and  judgment,  and  in  which  the  mem- 
bers voted  by  a  geographical  line.   Mr.  Lowndes 
was  of  the  democratic  school,  and  strongly  indi- 


cated for  nn  ( 
indicated  by  i 
not  by  any 
management- 
shrunk,  as  f 
.   lie  was  nom 
^  1   tivc  State  for 
^:  }  fore  the  event 
•I'M  pressed  that  s 
ft '    itself,  and  so  \ 
%''     was  true,  "T 
fI..   neither  to  be  g 
b      the  nge  of  fort 
age,  and  in  the 
country,  was  I 
public  11  lid  na 
biographies,  bu 
some  eminent 
fame  belongs  t( 
up  its  owa  title 


CH 


DEATU 


.He  died  at  Wa 

the  Congress  of 

the  Supremo  Co 

tioner.     He  fell 

;of  his  strength, 

under  the  doubh 

aiul  of  the  Seiiat 

centration  of  th 

preparation  of  hi 

in  his  day  the 

T:*)!!  hardly  kee{ 

tause  he  sprfkc  r 

reader— to  the  pi 

avoided   the  car 

Bpcechcs.     He  la 

for  the  effect  of  t 

of  present  victory 

•the  crowded  gallc 

^which  went  forth 

i-hich  crowned  tli 

^ication  of  wliat 

applause,  giving  a; 

Apeech  would  ml 

delivered  one.    H 


ixoH  to  Spain, 
y  of  the  limca 
)tl  by  all  who 
to  tho  ovoqU 


ANNO  1822.    JAMES  MONROE,  PRESIDENT. 


[I. 


:s. 


»  with  Mr. 
>n  account  of 
H  I)  Congrcsu; 
d  the  imprcs- 
:h  tho  public 
ue,  modesty, 
lalities  of  liis 
3rsuasive  elo- 
id ;  his  man- 
inexpressibly 
xy,  as  it  was 

men  which 
if  Represent- 
f  1812— Cal. 
as   soon  the 

Ilewt  :  one 
mblies,  wrio, 
md  him,  not 
>ers  quitting 
)  close  about 
)n,  that  each 
have  missed 
attention  of 
ed  to  others 
nd  was  the 

the  House, 
in  all  cases 
r  some  pow- 
of  the  mem- 
teously  and 
0  only  time 

1820-21- 
le  admission 
»n  which  the 
le  influence 
h  the  mem- 
[r.  Lowndes 
rongly  indi- 


^  cated  for  on  early  elevation  to  tho  presidency— 
,  indicated  by  the  public  will  and  judgment,  and 
not  by  any  machinery  of  individual  or  party 
management— from  the  approach  of  which  ho 
.shrunk,  as  from  tho  touch  of  contamination. 
He  wos  nominated  by  the  legislature  of  liis  na- 


19 


fore  the  event  came  round.     It  wa.M  hn  w),n  „v-    i„„* . .      r^"""  '"'"^''' 


fore  the  event  came  round.     It  was  ho  who  ex- 
pres.sed  that  sentiment,  so  just  and  beautiful  in 
itself,  and  so  bcconn'ng  in  him  becau.so  in  him  it 
was  true,  "That  tho  presidency  was  an  ofllce 
neither  to  be  sought,  nor  declined."     lie  died  at 
the  age  of  forty-two  j  and  his  death  at  that  early 
age,  and  in  the  impending  circumstances  of  tho 
country,  was  felt  by  those  who  knew  him  as  a 
public  and  national  calamity.    I  do  not  y  hte 
biographies,  but  note  tho  death  and  character  of 
some  eminent  deceased  contemporaries,  whose 
fame  belongs  to  tho  country,  ami  goes  to  make 
up  its  owa  title  to  tho  respect  of  tho  world. 


ju.lgmcnt,  his  logic,  his  power  of  arg.unent; 
but,  like  many  other  men  of  acknowledged  pre- 
emmenco  in  some  great  gift  of  nature,  and  who 
are  still  ambitious  of  some  inferior  gift,  ho 
courted  his  imagination  too  much,  and  hiicl  too 
much  stress  upon  action  and  delivery— .so  ,)otent 

but  so 


CHAPTER    VIII, 

DEATH  OF  WILLIAM  TINKNEY. 

IHe  died  at  Washington  during  the  session  of 
|the  Congress  of  which  he  was  a  member,  and  of 
Jthe  Supieiiio  Court  of  which  he  was  a  practi- 
tioner.   He  fell  like  the  warrior,  in  the  plenitude 
fof  his  strength,  and  on  the  field  of  his  faine- 
.:|tinder  the  double  labors  of  the  Supremo  Court 
jand  of  the  Senate,  and  under  the  immense  con- 
jcentration  of  thought  which   he  gave  to  the 
preparation  of  his  speeches.     He  was  considered  i 
p  his  day  the  first  of  American  orators,  but 
|riil  hardly  keep  that  place  with  posterity,  be- 
cause he  sprfkc  more  to  the  hearer  than  to  the 
t^eadcr-to  the  present  than  to  the  absent-and 
avoided    the  careful    publication    of  his    own 
speeches.    Ho  labored  them  hard,  but  it  was 
for  the  efTect  of  their  delivery,  and  the  triumph 
of  present  victory.     He  loved  the  admiration  of 
^he  ci^owded  galieiy-the  trumpet-tongued  fame 
|Wh,eh  went  forth  f^om  the  fbrum-the  victory 
Ijvhich  crowned  the  eflbrt ;  but  avoided  the  pub- 
lication of  what  was  received   with  so  much 
Jppiause,  giving  as  a  reason  that  the  published 
|peeoh  ^^■m\d  not  sustain  tho   renown  of  the 
delivered  one.    His  forte  as  a  speaker  lay  in  his 


•     ..vi.n.,.-.,     Dill     HO 

lost  upon  tho  national  audience  which  tho  press 
now  gives  to  a  great  speaker.     In  other  respects 
Mr.  Pmkney  was  truly  a  great  orator,  rich  ia 
his  material,   strong  in    his    argument-clear 
natural  and  regular  in  tho  exposition  of  his 
subject,  comprehensive  in  his  views,  and  chasto 
in  his  diction.     His  speeches,  both   .senatorial 
and  forensic,  were  fully  studied  and  laboriously 
prepared-all  the  argumentative  parts  carefully 
digested  under  appropriate  head.s,an.l  the  showy 
pa.ssages  often  fully  written  out  and  committed 
to  memory.     He  would  not  speak  at  all  except 
upon  preparation;   and  at  sexagenarian  age- 
that  at  which   I  knew  him-was  a  model  of 
study  and  of  labor  to  all  young  men.     His  last 
speech  m  tho  Senate  was  in  reply  to  iMr.  llufus 
King,  on  the  Missouri  question,   and  was  tho 
master  eflbrt  of  his  life.    The  subject,  the  place 
the  audience,  tho  antagonist,  were  nil  such  as  to 
e.\cite  him  to  tho  utmost  exertion.    The  subject 
was  a  national  controversy  convulsing  the  Union 
and  menacing  it  with  dissolution  :  the  place  was 
the  American  Senate  ;  the  audience  was  Europe 
and  America;    the  antagonist  was    Puinckps 
Senatl's,  illustrious  for  thirty  years  of  diplo- 
matic  and  senatorial  service,  and  for  great  dig- 
nity of  life  and  character.     He  had  ample  time 
for  preparation,  and  availed  himself  of  it.    Mr 
King  had  spoken  the  session  before,  and  pub- 
lished the  "Substance"   of   his  speeches  (for 
there  were  two  of  them),  after  the  adjournment 
of  Congress.    They  were  the  signal  guns  for  the 
Missouri  controversy.     It  was  to  these  published 
speeches  that  Mr.   I' nkney  replied,    and  with 
the  interval  between  two  sessions    r.  prepare. 
It  was  a  dazzling  and  overpowering  reply,  with 
the  prestige  of  having  the  union  and  the  harmony 
of  the  States  for  its  object,  and  crowded  with 
rich  material.    The  most  brilliant  part  of  it  was 
a  highly-wrought    and    splendid   amplification 
(with  illustrations  from  Greek  and  Koman  his- 
tory), of  that  passage  in  Mr.  Uurke's  speech 
upon  •'  Conciliation  with  the  Colonies,"  in  which, 
and  in  looking  to  the  elements  of  American  re-^ 
sistance  to  British  power,  he  looks  to  the  spirit 


.'.  f 


'i 


20 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIKW. 


Jl 


of  the  Hlavoliolding  coloiiios  as  a  main  ingredi- 
ont,  and  attributes  to  tho  masters  of  slaves,  who 
arc  not  thcmst'lvcs  slaves,  tho  highest  lovo  of 
liberty  and  tho  most  difllciilt  task  of  subjection. 
It  was  tho  most  gorgeous  8j)eech  ever  delivered 
in  tho  Senate,  and  the  most  applauded  ;  but  it 
was  only  a  magnificent  exhibition,  as  Mr.  Pink- 
noy  know,  and  could  not  sustain  in  tho  leading 
the  plaudits  it  received  in  delivery ;  and  there- 
fore ho  avoided  its  publication.     He  gave  but 
littlo  attention  to  tho  current  business  of  the 
Senate,  only  appearing  in  his  place  when  the 
"Salaminian  galley  was  to  bo  launched,"    or 
Boroe  special  occasion  called  him — giving  his 
time  and  labor  to  tho  bar,  where  his  prido  and 
glory  was.      Ho  luid  previously  served  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  his  first  speech 
there  was  attended  by  an  incident  illustrative  of 
'Mr.  Randolph's  talent  for  delicate   intimation, 
and  his  punctilious  sense  of  parliamentary  eti- 
quette.   Mr.  Pmkney  came  into  tho  House  with 
a  national  reputation,  in  the  fulness  of  his  fame, 
and  exciting  a  great  expectation— which  he  was 
obliged   to  fulfil.       He  s\Ktko  on   the  treaty- 
making  power— a  question   of  diplomatic  and 
constitutional  law ;  and  he  having  been  minister 
to  half  the  courts  of  Europe,   attorney  general 
of  the  United  States,  and  a  jurist  by  profession, 
could  only  speak  upon  it  in  one  way — as  a  great 
master  of  tho  subject;  and,  consequently,  ap- 
peared as  if  instructing  tho  House.    Mr.  Ran- 
dolph—a veteran  of  twenty  years'  parliamentary 
service — thought  a  new  member  should  serve 
a  little  apprenticeship  before  he  became  an  in- 
structor, and   wished   to  signify   that   to   Mr. 
Pinkney.      He  had  a  gift,  such  as  man  never 
had,  at  a  delicate  intimation  where  he  desired 
to  give  a  hint,  without  ofTence;  and  he  displayed 
it  on  this  occasion.     Ho  replied  to  Mr.  Pinkney, 
referring  to  him  by  the  parliamentary  designa- 
tion of  "  the  membej  from   Maryland  ; "   and 
then  pausing,  as  if  not  certain,  added,  "I  believe 
he  is  from  Maryland."     This  implied  doubt  as 
to  where  he  came  from,  and  consequently  as  to 
•who  he  was,  amused  iMr.  Pinkney,  who  under- 
stood it  perfectly,  and  taking  it  right,  went  over 
to  Mr.  Randolph's  seat,  introduced  himself,  and 
assured  him  that  he  was    'from   Maryland." 
They  became  close  fi  lends  for  ever  after ;  and  it 
was  Mr.  Randolph  who  first  made  known  his 
death  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  interrupt- 
ing for  that  purpose  an  angry  debate,   then 


raging,  with  a  beautiful  and  apt  cpiotation  from 
the  (juarrel  of  Adam  and  Kvc  at  their  expulsion 
from  paradise.  Tho  published  debates  give  this 
account  of  it :  "Mr.  Randolph  rose  to  announce 
to  tho  House  an  event  wliich  he  hoiwd  would 
put  an  end,  at  least  for  this  day,  to  all  further 
jar  or  collision,  here  or  ehsewhere,  among  tht 
members  of  this  body.  Yes,  for  this  one  day, 
at  least,  lot  us  say,  as  our  first  mother  said  to 
our  first  father — 

'  Wlillii  yet  wn  live,  scnrw  ono  sliort  hdiir  perbaps, 
lictwecn  ua  two  lot  ttiero  be  peace' 

"  I  rise  to  announce  to  the  Hou.so  the  not  un- 
locked for  death  of  a  man  who  filled  the  first 
place  in  the  public  estimation,  in  the  fii-st  profes- 
sion in  that  estimation,  in  this  or  in  any  other 
country.  Wo  liave  been  talking  of  Genera! 
Jackson,  and  a  greater  than  him  is,  not  here, 
but  gone  for  ever.  I  allude,  sir,  to  the  boast 
of  Maryland,  and  the  pride  of  tho  United  States 
— the  pride  of  all  of  us,  but  more  particular^ 
tho  pride  and  ornament  of  the  profession  of 
which  you,  Mr.  Speaker  (Mr.  Philip  P.  Bar- 
bour), are  a  member,  and  an  eminent  one." 

Mr.  Pinkney  was  kind  and  ailable  in  hi* 
temper,  free  from  every  taint  of  envy  or  jealousy, 
con.scious  of  his  powers,  and  relying  ujjon  thtm 
alone  for  success.  He  was  a  model,  as  I  have 
already  said,  and  it  will  bear  repetition,  to  all 
young  men  in  his  habits  of  study  and  applica- 
tion, and  at  more  than  sixty  years  of  age  was 
still  a  severe  student.  In  politics  he  classed 
democratically,  and  was  one  of  the  few  of  our 
eminent  public  men  who  never  seemed  to  think 
of  the  presidency.  Oratory  was  his  glory,  the 
law  his  profession,  the  bar  his  theatre  ;  and  his 
service  in  Congress  was  only  a  brief  episode, 
dazzling  each  House,  for  he  was  a  monieutarj 
member  of  each,  with  a  single  and  splendid 
speech. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

ABOLITION  OF  THE  INDIAN  FACTOIIY  SYSTEM 

The  experience  of  the  Indian  factory  systeii 
is  an  illustration  of  the  unfitness  of  the  fwlen 
government  to  carry  on  any  system  of  triiu 
the  liability  of  the  benevolent  designs  of  the  gov- 


* 


iii^i. 


liiututioii  from 
:lifir  expulsion 
bates  give  this 
<e  to  announce 
!  li()|)eil  woulil 

to  all  further 
•0,  among  tin 

thiH  ono  day, 
inotlior  said  to 


our  pertinps, 

^0  the  not  un- 
filled the  first 
le  fii-st  profi's- 
r  in  any  other 
g  of  General 
I  la,  not  hero, 

to  tlie  boast 
United  States 
0  i)articulurh- 
l)rofes.sion  of 
l.ilip  P.  Har- 
mt  one." 
allablo  in  li 
ry  or  jealousy, 
ng  ujjon  tliini 
lei,  as  I  have 
letilion,  to  all 

and  applies- 
rs  of  age  was 
:a  he  classi'J 
lie  few  of  our 
nied  to  think 
his  glory,  the 
atre ;  and  his 
brief  episode, 
a  momentary 
and  splendid 


i 


ANNO  1S-2X    JAMES  MONROi;  PRISIDENT. 


21 


31tY  BV8TEM. 

t'tory  sypteiii 
)f  the  fi'tli'n. 
em  of  tia  i< 
ns  of  the  gov- 


crniMcnt  to  Jw  nhn.sed,  and  the  difnciilty  of  de- 
tcctiiin  and  redrcMHJng  abusoH  in  the  management 
of  our  Indian  affairs.     This  syNtem  originated  in 

(he  year  mt\  nnder  the   reoommendation  of  I  wa.  master      T»„.  .  ••  " '" 

I'resident    Washington,    and   was  inten<Ied   to  »,„th  TfT.  .  "^"^  '"""'"'^  t'"-«"«h 

.ounteroct  the  influence  of  the  Hritish  traders  ou   the ! 7'  "  ** '"'^ '  ^"' ""'  '''^^' 

then  allowed  to  trade  with  the  Indians  of  the  Iry  ab  Zr"  """"""  "'"■'' '''"  '^"'"'^  '' 

Jnited  States  within  our  limits;  also  to  protect  Z;^      r  .T""  ''"^«"nt'^^rs-not  that  any 

H.-  rudians  from  im,K,sitions  from  our  0^1  trad-  n  "^  f°'"'  ""  ''*'"«^'  »'"'  *''»'  «">-  inter 


o  aJK,liHh  tf.*  factories,  and  throw  o,)on  the  A,r 

trad,    to  ln.Iividual  enterprise,  and  supported 

fu«  LmI  w,th  all  the  ■        ^.d  realms  of  which 

I  wa.  master.     The  l>ii  w««  carried  through 


....m,  iii»u  lo  protec 

(he  fiidians  from  imiwsitions  from  our  own  trad- 
ers, and  for  that  purpose  to  sell  them  goods  nt 
rust  and  carriage,  and  receive  their  furs  and  pel- 
tries at  fair  and  liberal  prices  ;  and  which  being 
.-old  on  acx-ount  of  the  United  States,  would  de- 
I  fray  the  exjienscs  of  the  establishment,  and  pre- 
I  Kervc  tlie  ipital  undiminished--to  bo  returned 
to  the  treasury  at  the  end  of  the  experiment.  The 
goods  were  jiurcha.sed  at  the  expense  of  the  Unit- 
ed Stjite.s— the  superintendent  and  factors  were 
paid  out  of  the  trea.sury,  and  the  whole  system 
V  as  to  be  one  of  favor  and  benevolence  to  the 
Indians,  guarded  by  the  usual  amount  of  bonds 
and  oaths  prescribed  by  custom  in  such  ca.ses 
JJcuig  an  experiment,  it  was  first  established  by 
n  temporary  act,  limited  to  twoyears-the  usual 
«  ly  m  which  equivocal  measures  get  a  foothold 
JH  legislation.      It  was  soon  suspected  that  this 
8v  stem  did  not  work  as  disinterestedly  as  had 
Ven  cxpected-that  it  was  of  no  benefit  to  the 
In.hans-no  counteraction  to  British  traders- 
%n  nyury  to  our  own  fur  trado-and  a  loss  to 
Iho  Lmted  States;   and  many  attempts  were 
^ade  to  get  rid  of  it,  but  in  vain.      It  was  kept 
BP  by  contmued  temporary  renewals  for  aquar- 


tsi  d  in  It  were  vigilant  and  active,  visiting  the 
members  who  woul.l  permit  such  visits,  furHsh- 
■np  them  with  adverse  statements,  lauding  the 
operation  of  the  system,  and  constantly  lugging 
m  the  name  of  Washington  as  its  author.  When 
the  system  was  closed  up,  „„d  the  inside  of  it 

tru  all  the  representations  were  which  had  been 
made  against  ,t.    The  Indians  had  been  imposed 

"IKmm  the  quality  and  prices  of  the  goodi  sold 
them    a  general  tro.le  had  been  carried  on  with 

the  whites  as  well  as  with  the  Indians;  largo 

son"  T!, '"'  ''""  ^''"^^^'^  "P«"  ^-'•y  thing 
old;and  the  total  capital  of  three  hLn.! 
hou.sand  dollars  was  lost  and  gone.  It  was  a 
OSS  winch  at  that  time  (1822),  was  considered 

small;  bu   ,ts  history  still  has  its  uses,  in  show- 

■ng  how  differently  from  its  theory  ^  well  in- 

onded  act  may  operato-how  long  the  Indians 

and  the  government  may  be  cheated  without 

knowing  it-and  howdifHcult  it  is  to  get  a  bad 

aw  discontinued  (where  there  is  an  interest  in 

keeping  It  up),  even  though  first  adopted  a.s  a 

emporary  measure,  and  as  a  mere  experiment. 

It  cost  me  a  strenuous  cxertion-m,ich  labor  in 


W  Which  h.„„„,,h„„  keen  .h.„,..  J",*    :r'^^^^^^  .pckto,  ta  ,.„„, 


kbu..cs  which  ho  would  have  been  the  first  to  rc- 
tress  and  punish.  As  a  citizen  of  a  frontier 
ftate  I  had  seen  the  working  of  the  system- 
ken  its  inside  working,  and  knew  its  operation 

t  Tf'  '"""■''^  ''  *^°  ^''^"•^J'^nt  de- 
fens  of  Its  projectors.  I  communicated  all 
ttiKs,  soon  after  my  admi.ssion  to  a  scat  in  the 

We    to    Mr     Calhoun,   the    Secretary    a^ 

rv  ar,  to  whose  department  the  supervision  of 

Im  r  ' ,  V  ""'"  '^>*'"^'^'^'  -d  proposed  to 
Imi  the  abolition  of  the  system;  but  he  had  too 

rl;:  ""'TV'  "^"  -l-intendentTthen 

\L  .  McKinney),  to  believe  that  anv  '^^  ^  ^«^^  ^^  impkovemen  . 

■'^t  I  *va.,  light,  I  determined  tohrin,,  i)Z  P-"'^<^»'"n,  ^hc  candidates  in  the  field,  their  re- 

--etheSenate-didso^StSlSrSt-;— ^^^^^^ 


thenibe.reth;Senatei;S^?,::^:3 
law  discontinued,  after  twenty-five  years  of  in- 
J  urious  operation  and  costly  experience.  Of  .all 
the  branches  of  our  service,  that  of  the  Indian 
afiTairs  IS  most  liable  to  abuse,  and  its  abuses  the 
most  difEcult  of  detection. 


CHAPTER   X. 

INTERNAL  IMPROVEMEN, 


22 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


■II 

Hi 

■  1 

i  III 

1  In 

■^ 

1 

New- York  canal  had  just  been  completed,  and 
had  brought  great  popularity  to  its  principal  ad- 
Tocate  (De  Witt  Clinton),  and  excited  a  great 
ajjpetltc  in  public  men  for  that  kind  of  fame. 
Koail.s  and  canals — niciining  common  turnpike, 
for  the  steam  car  had  not  then  been  invented, 
nor  McAdam  impressed  lus  name  on  the  new 
class  of  roads  which  afteiwards  wore  it — were 
all  the  vogue ;  and  the  candidates  for  the  Presi- 
dency spread  their  sails  upon  the  ocean  of  inter- 
nal improvements.      Congress  was  full  of  pro- 
jects for  diil'erent  objects  of  improvement,  and 
the  friend'"  of  each  candidate  exerted  themselves 
in  rivalry'  of  each  other,  under  the  supposition 
that  ihcir  opinions  would  stand  for  those  of  their 
principals.      Mr.  Adams,  Mr.   Clay,   and  Mr. 
Calhoun,  wore  the  avowed  advocates  of  the  mea- 
sure, going  thoroughly  for  a  general  national 
system  of  internal  improvement :  Mr.  Crawford 
and  General  Jackson,  under  limitations  and  qua- 
lifications. The  Cumberland  road,  and  the  Chesa- 
peake and  Ohio  canal,  were  the  two  prominent 
objects  discussed ;  but  the  design  extended  to  a 
general  system,  and  an  act  was  finally  passed,  in- 
tended to  be  annual  and  permanent,  to  appropri- 
ate ^30,000  to  make  surveys  of  national  routes. 
Mr.  Monroe  signed  this  bill  as  being  merely  for 
the  collection  of  information,  but  the   subject 
drew  from  him  the  most  elaborate  and  thorough- 
ly considered  opinion  upon  the  general  question 
which  has  ever  been  delivered  by  any  of  our 
statesmen.    It  was  drawn  out  b\  the  passage  of 
an  act  to  provide  for  the  preservation  and  repair 
of  the  Cumberland  road,  and  was  returned  by 
him  to  the  House  in  which  it  originated,  with  his 
objections,  accompanied  by  a  state  paper,  in  ex- 
position of  his  opinions  upon  the  whole  subject ; 
for  the  whole  subject  was  properly  before  him. 
The  act  which  he  had  to  consider,  though  mod- 
estly entitled  for  the  "  preservation  "  and  "  re- 
pair "  of  the  Cumberland  road,  yet,  in  its  mode 
of  accomplishing  that  purpose,  assumed  the  whole 
of  the  powers  which  were  necessary  to  the  exe- 
cution of  a  general  system.    It  passed  with  sin- 
gular unanimity  through  both  Houses,  in  the 
Senate,  only  seven  votes  against  it,  of  which  I  af- 
terwards felt  proud  to  have  been  one.    He  de- 
nied the  i)Ower ;  but  befoi  o  examining  the  argu- 
ments for  and  against  it,  very  properly  laid 
down  the  amount  and  variety  of  jurisdiction  and 
authority  which  it  would  require  the  federal  gov- 
ernment to  exercise  within  the  States,  in  order 


to  execute  a  system,  and  that  in  each  and  every 
part— in  every  mile  of  each  and  every  canal 
road — it  should  undertake  to  construct.     He  be- 
gan with  acquiring  the  right  of  way,  and  pur- 
sued it  to  its  results  in  the  construction  and  pre- 
servation of  tiiu  v^-ork,  involving  jurisdiction 
ownership,    penal    laws,    and    administration. 
Commissioners,  he  said,  must  first  be  appointed 
to  trace  a  route,  and  to  acquire  a  right  to  tiie 
ground  over  which  the  road  or  canal  was  to  pass, 
with  a  suificient  breadth  for  each.     The  ground 
could  only  be  acquired  by  voluntary  grants  from 
individuals,  or  by  purchases,  or  by  condemna- 
tion of  the  property,  and  fixing  its  value  through 
a  jury  of  the  vicinage,  if  they  refused  to  give  or 
sell,  or  demanded  an  exorbitant  price.      After 
all  this  was  done,  then  came  the  repairs,  the  care 
of  which  was  to  be  of  perpetual  duration,  and 
of  a  kind  to  provide  .against  criminal  and  wilful 
injuries,  as  well  as  against  the  damages  of  acci- 
dent,  and   deterioration  from    time    and    use. 
There  are  persons  in  every  community  capable 
of  committing    voluntary  injuries,  of   pujling 
down  walls  that  are  made  to  sustain  the  road ; 
of  breaking  the  bridges  over  water-courses,  and 
breaking  the  road  itself.    Some  living  near  it 
might  be  disappointed  that  it  did  not  pass  through 
their  lands,  and  commit  these  acts  of  violence 
and  waste  from   revenge.      To  prevent  these 
crimes  Congress  must  have  a  power  to  pass  laws 
to  punish  the  offenders,  wherever  they  may  k 
found.      Jurisdiction  over  the  road  would  not 
be  sufficient,  though  it  were  exclusive.      There 
must  be  power  to  follow  the  ofienders  wherever 
they  might  go.  It  would  seldom  happen  that  the 
parties  would  be  detected  in  the  act.  They  would 
generally  commit  it  in  the  night,  and  fly  far  off  be- 
fore the  sun  appeared.    Right  of  pursuit  must  at- 
tach, or  the  power  of  punishing  become  nugatory, 
Tribunals,   State  or  federal,  must  be  invested 
with  power  to  execute  the  law.    Wilful  injuries 
would  require  all  this  assumption  of  power,  and 
machinery  of  administration,  to  punish  and  pre- 
vent them.      Repair  of  natural  deteriorations 
would  require  the  application  of  a  diflbrcnt  re- 
medy.    Toll  gates,  and  persons  to  collect  the 
tolls,  were  the  usual  resort  for  repairing  tliis 
class  of  injuries,  and  keeping  the  road  in  order, 
Congress  must  have  power  to  make  such  an  esta- 
blishment, and  to  enact  a  code  of  reguiatioDi 
for  it,  with  fines  and  penalties,  and  agents  to 
execute  it.     To  all  these  exercises  of  authorit) 


the  question  < 
may  bo  raised 
position  migh 
might  contest 
ment  thus  to 
roads  and  can 
(rollision  wouli 
ernments,  oacl 
dependent  in  i 
pute. 

Thus  did  M 

practical  beari 

suits,  and  the 

difficulties  witl 

involved ;    and 

made — the    ba 

working  of  thi 

argument  agai 

rights,  and  thi 

might  have  ad 

I  able  by  the  ti 

^  inexpedient.    1 

exiuniucd  it  un 

derivation  undc 

;  power,  and  foi 

I  them,  and  virtt 

These  were,  Ji 

,  ofliccs  and  post 

"^jthird,  to  rcgula 

fourth,  the  pow 

for  the  common 

•the  United  Sta 

l^essary  and  pro 

,aed  (enumerated 

'|to  dispose  of,  an 

;^ulatioiis  respet 

Jerty  of  the  U 

iltoumcration  of 

iHr.  Monroe  wej 

liplicity  was  an 

each  one  was  i 

cates  for  each  of 

-could  not  agree 

.^ingle  source  of 

^eought  for  from 

.^which  proclaimc 

I  Still  he  examine 

lorder,  and  effecti 

Jl.   The  iK)st-ofli 

^word  "establish 

"Jand  offices  were 

:  act.    And  how  ? 


ANNO  1823.    JAMES  MONROE,  PRESIDENT 


ich  and  every 
d  cverj'  oanal 
tnict.  Tie  bc- 
way,  and  pur- 
action  and  j)rc- 
g  jurisdiction, 
idministration. 
;  be  appointed 
a  right  to  the 
lal  was  to  pass, 
The  ground 
ry  grants  from 
by  condemna- 
vahie  tlirougb 
scd  to  give  or 
price.  After 
spairs,  tlie  care 

duration,  and 
nal  and  wilful 
nages  of  acci- 
me  and  use, 
mnity  capable 
s,  of  pulling 
ain  the  road ; 
r-courses,  and 
living  near  it 
t  pass  through 
its  of  violence 
prevent  these 
T  to  pass  laws 

they  mayk 
ad  would  not 
isive.  There 
lers  wherever 
ippen  that  the 
.  They  wouU 
Iflyfaroflfbc- 
rsuit  must  at- 
)mc  nugatory, 
t  be  invested 
niful  injuries 
of  power,  and 
nish  and  prfr 
deteriorations 

diflbrcnt  re- 
to  collect  the 
'epairing  tliis 
jad  in  order, 
!  such  an  csta- 
f  roguialioiis 
,nd  agents  to 

of  authoritj 


the  question  of  the  constitutionality  of  the  law 
may  be  rai.'Jcd  by  the  prosecuted  party.   But  op- 
position might  not  stop  with  individuals.  States 
might  contest  the  right  of  the  federal  govern- 
i  ment  thus  to  possess  and  to  manage  all  the  great 
tj  roads  and  canals  within  their  limits ;  and  then  a 
'  collision  would  be  brought  on  between  two  gov- 
ernments, each  claiming  to  be  sovereign  and  in- 
dependent in  its  actions  over  the  subject  in  dis- 
pute. 
i      Thus  did  Mr.  Monroe  state  the  question  in  its 
I  practical  bearings,  traced  to  their  legitimate  rc- 
£  suits,  and  the  various  assumptions  of  power  and 
difficulties  with  States  or  individuals  which  they 
involved ;   and  the   bare  statement  which  he 
made— the    bare  presentation  of  the  practical 
working  of  the  system,  constituted  a  complete 
argument  against  it,  as  an  invasion  of  State 
rights,  and  therefore  unconsittutional,  and,  he 
might  have  added,  as  complex  and  unmanage- 
;  able  by  the  federal  government,  and  therefore 
;  inexpedient.    But,  after  stating  the  question,  he 
;:  examined  it  under  every  head  of  constitutional 
derivation  under  which  its  advocates  claimed  the 
'power,  and  found  it  to  be  granted  by  no  one  of 
.thorn,  and  virtually  prohibited  by  some  of  them. 
These  were,  first,  the  right  to  establish  post- 
offices  and  post-roads ;  s'-cmd,  to  declare  war; 
third,  to  regulate  commerce  among  the  States; 
fourth,  the  power  to  pay  the  debts  and  provide' 
for  the  common  defence  and  general  welfare  of 
the  United  States;  fifth,  to  make  all  laws  ne- 
cessary and  proper  to  carry  into  eflPect  the  grant- 
ed (enumerated)  powers;  sixth,  from  the  power 
^  dispose  of,  and  make  all  needful  rules  and  re- 
fpulations  respecting  the  territory  or  other  pro- 
,|.erty  of  the  United  States.     Upon  this  long 
|numcration  of  these  claimed  sources  of  power 
Iklr.  Monroe  well  remarked  that  their  very  mul-^ 
;*iplicity  was  an  argument  against  them,  and  that 
each  one  was  repudiated  by  some  of  the  advo- 
cate.s  for  each  of  the  others :  that  these  advocates 
«ouJd  not  agree  among  themselves  upon  anyone 
j«ngle  source  of  the  power;    and  that   it  was 
|«aught  for  from  place  to  place,  with  an  assiduity 
Iwluch  proclaimed  its  non-existence  any  where 
Jfctdl  he  exammed  each  head  of  derivation  in  its 
lorder  and  etJectually  disposed  of  each  in  its  turn. 
11.   Ihe  ,K)st.office  and  post-road  grant.     The 


23 


^d"ostabli.h"  was  the  ruling  t^rm/rold: 

and  offices  were  the  subjects  on  which  it  was  to 

fact.    And  how?    Ask  any  number  of  enlight- 


ened citizens,  who  had  no  connection  with  pub- 
lic affairs,  and  whose  minds  were  unprejudiced, 
what  was  the  meaning  of  the  word  "  establish  '' 
and  the  extent  of  the  grant  it  controls,  and  there 
would  not  be  a  difference  of  opinion  among 
them.    They  would  answer  that  it  was  a  power 
given  to  Congress  to  legalize  existing  roads  as 
post  routes,  and  existing  places  as  post-offices— 
to  fix  on  the  towns,  court-houses,  and    other 
places  throughout  the  Union,  at  which  there 
should  be  post-offices ;  the  routes  by  which  the 
mails  should  be  carried ;  to  fix  the  postages  to 
be  paid;  and  toprotect  the  post-offices  and  mails 
from  robbery,  by  punishing  those  M-ho  commit 
the  offence.     The  idea  of  a  right  to  lay  off  roads 
to  take  the  soil  from  the  proprietor  against 
his  will ;  to  establish  turnpikes  and  tolls ;  to 
establish  a  criminal  code  for   the  punishment 
of  injuries  to  the  road ;  to  do  what  the  protection 
and  repair  of  a  road  requires :  these  are  things 
which  would  never  enter  into  his  head.   The  use 
of  the  existing  road  would  be  all  that  would  be 
thought  of;  the  juri.sdiction  and  soil  remaining 
m  the  State,  or  in  those  authorized  by  its  legis- 
lature to  change  the  road  at  pleasure. 

2.  The  war  power,      Mr.  Monroe  shows  the 
object  of  this  grant  of  power  to  the  federal  gov- 
ernment—the terms  of  the  grant  itself— its  in- 
cidonts  as  enumerated  in  the  constitution— the 
exclusion  of  constructive  incidents— and  the  per- 
vading interference  with  the  soil  and  jurisdiction 
of  the  States  which  the  assumption  of  the  internal 
improvement  power  by  Congress  would  carry 
along  with  it.     He  recites  the  grant  of  the  power 
to  make  war,  as  given  to  Congress,  and  prohi- 
bited to  the  States,  and  enumerates  the  incidents 
granted  along  with  it,  and  necessary  to  carrying 
on  war :   which  are,  to  raise  money  by  taxes, 
duties,  excises,  and  by  loans ;  to  rai.se  and  sup- 
port armies  and  a  navy ;  to  provide  for  calling 
out,  arming,  disciplining,  and  governing  the  mili- 
tia, when  in  the  service  of  the  United  States ;  es- 
tablishing fortifications,  and  to  exercise  exclusive 
jurLsdiction  over  the  places  granted  by  the  State 
legislatures  for  the  sites  of  forts,  magazines,  ar- 
senals, dock-yards,  and  other  needful  buildings. 
And  having  shown  this  enumeration  of  incidents, 
he  very  naturally  concludes  that  it  is  an  exclu- 
sion of  constructive  incidents,  and  c.'^pccially  of 
one  so  great  in  itself,  and  so  much  interfering 
with  the  soil  and  jurisdiction  of  the  States,  as  the 
federal  exercise  of  the  road-making  power  would 


24 


nilRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


I 


be.      He  exhibits  the  enormity  of  this  interfer- 
ence by  a  view  of  tiie  extensive  field  over  which 
it  would  operate.      The  United  States  are  ex- 
posed to  invasion  through  the  whole  extent  of 
their  Atlantic  coast  (to  which  may  now  be  add- 
ed seventeen  degrees  of  the  Pacific  coast)  by 
any  Eiu-opean  ix)wer  with  whom  we  might  be 
engaged  in  war:  on  the  northern  and  north- 
western frontier,  on  the  side  of  Canada,  by  Great 
Britain,  and  on  the  southern  by  Spain,  or  any 
power  in   alliance  with  her.      If  internal  im- 
provements are   to  be   carried  on  to  the  full 
extent  to  which  they  may  be  useful  for  military 
purposes,  tlio  power,  as  it  exists,  must  apply  to 
all  the  roads  of  the  Union,  there  being  no  limita- 
tion to  it.      Wherever  such  improvements  may 
facilitate  the  march  of  troops,  the  transportation 
of  cannon,  or  otherwise  aid  the  operations,  or 
mitigate  the  calamities  of  war  along  the  coast, 
or  in  the  interior,  they  would  be  useful  for  mili- 
tary purposes,   and  might  therefore  be  made. 
They  must  be  coextensive  with  the  Union.     The 
power  following  as  an  incident  to  another  power 
can  be  measured,  as  to  its  extent,  by  reference 
only  to  the  obvious  extent  of  the  power  to  which 
it  is  incidental.     It  has  been  shown,  after  the 
most  liberal  construction  of  all  the  enumerated 
powers  of  the  general  government,  that  the  ter- 
ritory within  the  limits  of  the  respective  States 
belonged  to  them ;  that  the  United  States  had 
no  right,  under  the  powers  granted  to  them 
(with    the   exceptions    specified),   to   any  the 
smallest  portion  of  territory  within  a  State,  all 
those  powers  operating  on  a  different  principle, 
and  having  their  full  effect  without  impairing,  in 
the  slightest  degree,  this  territorial  right  in  the 
States.     By  specifically  granting  the  right,  as  to 
such  small  portions  of  territory  as  might  be  ne- 
cessary for  these  purposes  (forts,  arsenals,  mag- 
azines, dock-yards  and  other  needful  buildings), 


on  certain  conditions,  minutely  and  well 


and, 

defined,  it  is  manifest  that  it  was  not  intended  to 
grant  it,  as  to  any  other  portion,  for  any  purpose, 
or  in  any  manner  whatever.  The  right  of  the 
general  government  must  be  complete,  if  a  right 
at  all.  It  must  extend  to  every  thing  necessary 
to  the  enjoyment  and  protection  of  the  right. 
It  must  extend  to  the  seizure  and  condemnation 
of  the  propertj',  if  necessary ;  to  the  punishment 
of  the  offenders  for  injuries  to  the  roads  and 
canals;  to  the  establishment  and  enrorcemcntof 
tolls  J  to  the  unobstructed  construction,  protec- 


tion, and  preservation  of  the  roads.    It  must  be 
a  complete  right,  to  the  extent  above  stated,  or 
it  win  be  of  no  avail.    That  right  does  not  exist, 
3.  The  commercial  power.      Jlr.  Monroe  ar- 
gues that  the  sense  in  which  the  power  to  regu- 
late  commerce  was  understood  and  exercised  by 
the  States,  was  doubtless  that  in  which  it  was 
transferred  to  the  United  States ;  and  then  shows 
that  their  regulation  of  commerce  was  by  the 
imposition  of  duties  and  imposts ;  and  that  it  was 
so  regulated  by  them  (before  the  adoption  of  tlie 
constitution),  equally  in  respect  to  each  otlier, 
and  to  foreign  powers.     The  goods,  and  the  ves- 
sels employed  in  the  trade,  are  the  only  subject 
of  regulation.    It  can  act  on  none  other.    He 
then  shows  the  evil  out  of  which  that  grant  of 
power  grew,  and  which  evil  was,  in  fact,  the  pre- 
dominating cause  in  the  call  for  the  convention 
which  framed  the  federal  constitution.     Each 
State  had  the  right  to  lay  duties  and  imposts, 
and  exercised  the  right  on  narrow,  jealous,  and 
selfish  principles.    Instead  of  acting  as  a  nation 
in  regard  to  foreign  powers,  tlie  States,  individ- 
ually, had  commenced  a  system  of  restraint  upon 
each  other,  whereby  the  interests  of  foreign 
powers  were  promoted  at  their  expense.    Tliis 
contracted  policy  in  some  of  the   States  was 
counteracted  by  others.    Restraints  were  imme- 
diately laid  on  such  commerce  by  the  suffering 
States ;  and  hence  grew  up  a  system  of  restric- 
tions and  retaliations,  which  destroyed  the  har- 
mony of  the  States,  and  threatened  the  confederacy 
with  dissolution.      From  this  evil  the  new  con- 
stitution relieved  us;  and  the  federal  government, 
as  successors  to  the  States  in  the  power  to  regu- 
late commerce,  immediately  exercised  it  as  they 
had  done,  by  laying  duties  and  imposts,  to  act 
upon  goods  and  vessels :  and  that  was  the  end 
of  the  power. 

4.  To  pay  the  debts  and  provide  for  the  com- 
mon defence  and  general  welfare  of  the  Union, 
Mr.  Monroe  considers  this  "common  defence" 
and  "  general  welfare  "  clause  as  being  no  grant 
of  power,  but,  in  themselves,  only  an  object  and 
end  to  be  attained  by  the  exercise  of  the  enume- 
rated powers.  They  are  found  in  that  sense  in 
the  preamble  to  the  constitution,  in  comjjany 
with  otliers,  as  inducing  cau.ses  to  the  formation 
of  the  instrument,  and  as  benefits  to  be  obtained 
by  the  powers  granted  in  it.  They  stand  tlius  in 
the  preamble :  "  Jn  order  to  form  a  more  perfect 
union,   establish  justice,   insure  domestic  tran- 


quillity, provi( 
^♦he  general  wi 
:\piberty  to  ouri 
'|and  establish 
objects  to  be  a 
Dongress  to  d 
ihem  (in  whic 
peed  for  invest 
,||be  accomplish( 

f  ranted  in  the 
dered  as  a 
ower  to  pro' 
md  the  "gene 
'^  pould  give  to 
;  vhole  force,  s 
'f  Jnion — absorb: 
:  Jl  other  powei 
nd  restrictions 
,  hesc  words  fori 
lited  power,  s 
oust  be)  abam 
United  States  is 
br  great  nation: 
pther  interests  i 
Ihose  duty  it  i 
pd  canals  fall  ii 
Jeneral  Governi 
the  exercise  i 
Iruction,  and  pi 
lire.  Mr.  Mon 
lads  made  in  t 
dian  countries,  ai 
tory  below  the 
(with  the  consent 
Athens  in  Georgii 
•cquiied  the  Flori 
no  objection  to  th 
of  them,  to  the  St 
lilies  the  case  of 
within  the  States 
Whieh  the  Unitec 
founded  on  any 
#ht."  He  says 
an  article  of 
ates  and  the  Sta 
ate  came  into  th 
|iise  attending  it 
I  cation  of  a  certa 
;  from  tlie  sales 
ate.  And,  in  thi 
Ive  exercised  no  m 
]  within  either  of 


3.    It  must  be 
bove  stated,  or 
does  not  exist, 
r.  Monroe  ar- 
)ov\'er  to  regu- 
1  exercised  by 
I  which  it  was 
md  then  shows 
ce  was  by  the 
and  that  it  was 
ndoptionofthe 
to  each  otiier, 
s,  and  the  ves- 
5  only  subject 
ic  other.    He 
that  grant  of 
n  fact,  the  pre- 
[le  convention 
tution.     Each 
>  and  imposts, 
r,  jealous,  and 
ig  as  a  nation 
tates,  individ- 
restraint  upon 
its  of  foreign 
spense.     Tliis 
3   States  was 
;s  were  imme- 
■  the  suffering 
■m  of  restric- 
yed  the  har- 
le  confederacy 
the  new  con- 
1  government, 
ower  to  regu- 
>ed  it  as  tliey 
iposts,  to  act 
;  was  the  end 

for  the  com- 
of  the  Union. 
ion  defence" 
ling  no  grant 
m  object  and 
f  the  enume- 
that  sense  in 
in  company 
le  formation 
J  be  obtained 
stand  tliiis  in 
more  perfect 
mestic  tran- 


ANNO  1823.    JAMES  MONROE,  PRESIDENT. 


juillity,  provide  for  the  common  defence,  promote 
*e  general  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of 
iberty  to  ourselves  and  our  posterity,  do  ordain 

Cnd  establish  this  constitution."    These  are  the 
bjccts  to  be  accomplished,  but  not  by  allowing 
Congress  to  do  what  it  pleased  to  accomplish 
'them  (in  which  case  there  would  have  been  no 
^ced  for  investing  it  with  specific  powers),  but  to 
be  accomplished  by  the  exercise  of  the  powers 
|gTanted  in  the  body  of  the  instrument.      Con- 
sidered as  a  distinct  and  separate  grant,  the 
iwwer  to  provide  for  the  "common  defence" 
^nd  the  "general  welfare,"  or  either  of  them, 
kould  give  to  Congress  the  command  of  the 
Irliole  force,  and  of  all   the  resources  of  the 
tJnion— absorbing  in  their  transcendental  power 
:|11  other  powers,  and  rendering  all  the  grants 
|ind  restrictions  nugatory  and  vain.   The  idea  of 
|iesc  words  forming  an  original  grant,  with  un- 
Bmited  power,  superseding  every  other  grant,  is 
(must  be)  abandoned.    The  government  of  the 
Fnited  States  is  a  limited  government,  instituted 
for  great  national  purposes,  and  for  those  only 
Other  interests  are  left  to  the  States  individually 
those  duty  it  is  to  provide  for  them.      Eoads 
tod  canals  fall  into  this  class,  the  powers  of  the 
|e,uTal  Government  being  utterly  incompetent 
tb  the  exercise  of  the  rights  which  then-  con- 
itruction,  and  protection,  and  preservation  re- 
qiino.    Mr.  Monroe  examines  the  instances  of 
reads  made  in  territories,  and  through  the  In- 
dian countries,  a..d  the  one  upon  Spanish  terri- 
tory below  the  31st  degree  of  north  latitude 
(with  the  consent  of  Spain),  on  the  route  from 
Atiiens  in  Georgia  to  New  Orleans,  before  we 
acquired  the  Floridas;  and  shows  that  there  was 
no  objection  to  these  territorial  roads,  being  all 
Of  them,  to  the  States,  ex-territorial.     He  exam- 
^s  the  case  of  the  Cumberland  road,  made 
^n  the  States,  and  upon  compact,  but  in 
Which  the  United  States  exercised  no  power 
fouiH led  on  any  principle  of  "jurisdiction  or' 
.ht.       He  says  of  it :  This  road  was  founded 
an  article  of  compact  between  the  United 
>  es  and  the  State  of  Ohio,  under  which  that 
ite  came  mto  the  Union,  and  by  which  the  ex- 
"se  attendmg  it  was  to  be  defrayed  by  the  ap- 
>cation  of  a  certain  portion  of  the  moiu^y  aris- 
^rom  the  sales  of  the  public  lands  within  the 
^tc.    And,  m  this  instance,  the  United  States 
TccAtTcisea  no  act  of  jurisdiction  or  sovereign- 
withm  either  of  the  States  through  wliich  the 


25 


road  runs,  by  takii  •  the  land  {torn  the  proprie- 
tors by  force— by  passing  actn  for  the  protection 
of  the  road— or  to  raise  a  revenue  from  it  by  the 
establishment  of  turnpikes  and  tolls-or  any 
other  act  founded  on  the  principles  of  jurisdic- 
tion or  right.      And  I  can  add,  that  the  bill 
passed  by  Congress,  and  which  received  his  veto 
died  under  his  veto  message,  and  has  never  been 
revised,  or  attempted  to  be  revised,  since;  and 
the  road  itself  has  been  abandoned  to  the  States 
5.  The  power  to  make  all  laws  which  shall  be 
necessary  and  proper  to  cariy  into  effect  the 
powers  specifically  granted  to  Congress.    This 
power,  as  being  the  one  which  chiefly  gave  rise 
,  to  the  Jatitudinarian  constructions  which  dis- 
I  criminated  parties,  when  parties  were  founded 
upon  principle,  is  closely  and  clearly  examined 
by  Mr.  Monroe,  and  shown  to  be  no  grant  of 
power  at  all,  nor  authorizing  Congress  to  do 
any  thing  wliich  might  not  have  been  done  with- 
out ,t,  and  only  added  to  the  enumerated  powers 
through  caution,  to  secure  their  complete  exe^ 
cution.    He  says :  I  have  always  considered  this 
power  as  having  been  granted  on  a  principle  of 
greater  caution,  to  secure  the  complete  execu- 
tion of  all  the  powers  which  had  been  vested  in 
the  General  Government.   It  contains  no  distinct 
and  specific  power,  as  every  other  grant  does 
such  as  to  lay  and  collect  taxes,  to  declare  war' 
to  regulate  commerce,  and  the  like.    Lookin-  to 
the  whole  scheme  of  the  General  Government  it 
gives  to  Congress  authority  to  make  all  laws 
which  should  be  deemed  necessary  and  proper 
for  carrying  all  its  powers  into  effect.     My  im- 
pression has  invariably  been,  that  this  power 
would  have  existed,  substantially,  if  this  grant 
had  not  been  made.    It  results,  by  necessary 
implication  (such  is  the  tonor  of  the  argument) 
from  the  granted  powers,  and  was  only  added 
from  caution,  and  to  leave  nothing  to  implica- 
tion     To  act  under  it,  it  must  first  be  shown 
that  the  thing  to  be  done  is  already  six^cified  in 
one  of  the  enumerated  powers.     This  is  the  point 
and  substance  of  Mr.  Monroe's  opinion  on  this 
incdental  grant,  and  which  has  been  the  source 
of  division  between  parties  from  the  foundation 
of   the  government-the  fountain  of  latitudl- 
nousconstruction-and  which,  taking  the  judg- 
ment of  Congress  as  the  rule  and  measure  of 
what  wns  "  necessary  and  proper  -  in  legislation, 
takes  a  rule  which  puts  an  end  to  the  limitation^ 
of  the  constitution,  refers  all  the  powers  of  the 


f     >' 


26 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


•I 


I 


i 


f-!'ll| 


body  to  its  own  discretion,  and  be oraes  as  absorb- 
ing and  transcendental  in  its  scope  as  the  "  gen- 
eral welfare  "  and  "  common  defence  clauses  " 
would  be  >'iemselves. 

6.  The  power  to  dispose  of,  and  make  all  need- 
ful rules  and  regulations  respecting  the  territory 
or  other  property  of  the  United  States.  This 
clause,  as  a  source  of  power  for  making  roads 
and  canals  within  a  State,  Mr.  Monroe  disposes 
of  summarily,  as  having  no  relation  whatever  to 
the  subject.  It  grew  out  of  the  cessions  of  ter- 
ritory which  different  States  had  made  to  the 
United  Staces,  and  relates  solely  to  that  terri- 
tory (awd  to  such  as  has  been  acquired  since  the 
adoption  of  the  constitution),  and  which  lay 
without  the  limits  of  a  State.  Special  provision 
was  deemed  necessary  for  such  territory,  the 
main  powers  of  the  constitution  operating  inter- 
nally, not  being  applicable  or  adequate  thereto ; 
and  it  follows  that  this  power  gives  no  authority 
and  has  even  no  bearing  on  the  subject. 

Such  was  this  great  state  paper,  delivered  at 
a  time  when  internal  unprovement  by  the  fede- 
ral government,  having  become  an  issue  in  the 
canvass  for  the  P<c!iidency,  and  ardently  advo- 
cated by  three  of  the  candidates,  and  qualifiedly 
by  two  others,  fmd  an  immense  current  in  its 
favor,  carrying  many  of  the  old  strict  constitu- 
tionists  along  with  it.  Mr.  Monroe  stood  firm, 
vetoed  the  bill  wliich  assumed  jurisdiction  over 
the  Cumberland  road,  and  drew  up  his  senti- 
ments in  full,  fo.  the  consideration  of  Congress 
and  the  couiitry.  His  argument  is  abridged 
and  condensed  in  this  view  of  it ;  but  his  posi- 
tions and  conclusions  preserved  in  full,  and  with 
scrupulous  correctness.  And  the  whole  paper, 
as  an  exposition  of  the  differently  understood 
parts  of  the  constitution,  by  one  among  those 
most  intimately  acquainted  with  it,  and  as  ap- 
phcab!-^  to  the  whole  question  of  constructive 
powers,  deserves  to  be  read  and  studied  by  every 
student  of  our  constitutional  law.  The  only 
point  at  which  Mr.  Monroe  gave  way,  or  yielded 
in  the  least,  to  the  temper  of  the  times,  was  in 
admitting  the  power  .>f  appropriation— the  right 
of  Congress  to  apprc,  -iate,  but  not  to  apply 
money— to  internal  improvements ;  and  in  that 
he  yielded  against  his  earlier,  and,  a.s  I  believe, 
better  judgment.  He  had  previously  condemned 
the  appropriation  as  well  as  the  application,  but 
finally  yielded  on  this  point  to  the  counsels  Aat 
beset  him ;  but  nugatorially,  as  appropriation 


without  application  was  inoperative,  and  a  balk 
to  the  whole  system.    But  an  act  was  passwi 
soon  after  for  surveys— for  making  surveys  of 
routes  for  roads  and  canals  of  general  and  nation- 
al importance,  and  the  sum  of  $(130,000  was  ap- 
propriated for  that  purpose.      The  act  was  « 
carefully  guarded  as  words  could  do  so,  in  it, 
limitation  to  objects  of  national  importance,  but 
only  presented  another  to  the  innumerable  in- 
stances of  the  impotency  of  words  in  securic 
the  execution  of  a  law.    The  selection  of  route, 
under  the  act,  rapidly  degenerated  from  natiomj 
to  sectional,  from  sectional  to  local,  and  from  lo- 
cal to  mere  neighborhood  improvements.    Earlj 
in  the  succeeding  administration,  a  list  of  som 
ninety  routes  were  reported  to  Congress,  from 
the  Engineer  Department,   in  which  occurred 
names  of  places  hardly  heard  of  b'-fore  outsidf 
of  the  State  or   section  in  which    they  wert 
found.    Saugatuck,  Amounisuck,  Pasumic,  Wiu- 
nispiseogee,  Piscataqua,  Titonic  Falls,  Lake  Mem- 
phramagog,   Conneant    Creek,    Holmes'    Hole, 
Lovejoy's  Narrows,  Steele's  Ledge,  Cowhegai, 
Androscoggin,   Cobbiesconte,   Ponceaupcchaui, 
alias  Soapy  Joe,  were  among  the  objects  whicl 
figured  in  the  list  for  national  improvement 
The  bare  reading  of  the  list  was  a  condemnation 
of  the  act  under  which  they  were  selected,  ami 
put  an  end  to  the  annual  appropriations  whicl 
were  in  the  course  of  being  made  for  these  sur- 
veys.   No  appropriation  was  made  after  the  yeai 
1827.    Afterwards  the  veto  message  of  Presi- 
dent Jackson  put  an  end  to  legislation  upoi 
local  routes,  and  the  progress  of  events  has  ivitb- 
drawn  the  whole  subject— the  subject  of  a  »ji 
tern  of  national  internal  improvement,  once  s 
formidable  and  engrossing  in  the  public  mind- 
from  the  halls  of  Congress,  and  the  discussions 
of  the  people.    Steamboats  and  steam-cars  han 
superseded  turnpikes  and  canals ;  individual  en- 
terprise has  dispensed  with  national  legLslatioi 
Hardly  a  great  route  exists  in  any  State  whicl 
is  not  occupied  under  State  authority.    Etci 
great  works  accomplished  by  Congress,  at  vaa 
cost  and  long  and  bitter  debates  in  Congrea 
and  deemed  eminently  national  at  the  time,  have 
lost  that  character,  and  sunk  into  the  ckssd' 
common  routes.    The  Cumberiand  road,  whicl 
cost  $0,070,000  in  money,  and  was  a  proniineni 
subject  in  Congress  for  thirtv-four  ye.*np~i  - 
1802,  when  it  was  conceived  to  1830,  when  it  u 
abandoned  to  the  States :  this  road,  once  so  aly 


arbing  both  ( 
tion,  has  dcge: 
»nd  is  entirely 
oad  route.  1 
ree,  of  the  CI 
national  object 
Jts  name  impoi 
tthe  Atlantic  wi 
jiow  a  local  c 
p)anies,  very  be 
lihe  national  ch 
^he  votes  of  Cc 
jrom  the  federa 
jDf  the  most  cai 
|ic  men,  thorouj 
«nd  the  workin 
|ipon  it  entitle 
Ipoint  (of  intern 
Jjy  the  federal  f 
,j(ome  law.  Bui 
ff  improving  ni 

fivenue— appro 
ppi  and  other 
frhen  unincumb 
|)y  the  approprii 
Of  $75,000  for 
tivers,  and  whic 
|Ir.  Monroe. 


CH 

fJENEEAI 

tnK  Indian  tribt 

Union,  had  expe 

tte  northern  and 

4h  the  south  anc 

Wd  formidable. 

Great  Britain,  th 

^Id  vast,  comj: 

Jltates,  preventin 

ettlements  witlii 

hngerous  neigh 

rictories  of  Gem 

nd  the  territori 

he  first  great  bn 

but  much  remain 

|rn  and  western 

«rous  populatio; 

|urisdiction  of  a 

lits,  and  to  plac 


ANNO  1824.    JAMES  MOXROE,  PRESIDENT. 


ive,  and  a  baH 
act  was  passed 
ing  surveys  of 
eral  and  nation- 
(30,000  was  ap. 
The  act  was  as 
lid  do  so,  in  its 
importance,  but 
nnumerable  m- 
•rds  in  securin" 

C 

jction  of  rout(i 
d  from  national 
al,  and  from  lo- 
cmonts.  Earlj 
I,  a  list  of  some 
Congress,  froo 
iv'hich  occurrHi 
f  bf^fore  outside 
ich    they  wen 

Pasumic,  Wis- 
ills,  Lake  Mem. 
Holmes'  Hole, 
Ige,  Cowhegai 
)nceaupechaui, 
!  objects  whicl 

improvenienl. 
I  condemnatim 
re  selected,  awi 
iriations  whicl 

for  these  m- 
e  after  the  yeai 
sage  of  Tm- 
igislation  upot 
vents  ha.s  witb- 
abject  of  a  «ji 
pment,  once  * 
public  mind- 
the  discussion! 
team-cars  havt 

individual  ttr 
nal  legLslatioi 
ny  State  whicl 
-hority.  Even 
tigress,  at  vast 
s  in  Congrea 

the  time,  havi 
to  the  cla.'isol' 
id  road,  whici 
IS  a  promincsi 
ir  years-- i.  2 
•G,  whenitwiJ 
d,  once  so  alv 


27 


lorbing  both  of  public  money  and  public  atten- 
tion, has  degenerated  into  a  common  highway 
,nd  is  entirely  superseded  by  the  parallel  rail- 
lad  route.    The  same  may  be  said,  in  a  less  dc- 
•ee,  of  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  canal,  once  a 
lational  object  of  federal  legislation  intended  as 
Jks  name  imports,  to  connect  the  tide  water  of 
•the  Atlantic  with  the  great  rivers  of  the  West ; 
pow  a  local  canal,  chiefly  used  by  some  com- 
panies, very  beneficial  in  its  place,  but  sunk  from 
'|he  national  character  which  commanded  for  it 
|he  votes  of  Congress  and  large  appropriations 
"•om  the  federal  treasury.    Mr.  Monroe  was  one 
»f  the  most  cautious  and  deliberate  of  our  pub- 
ic men,  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  theory 
«nd  the  working  of  the  constitution,  his  opinions 
|ipon  it  entitled  to  great  weight;  and  on  this 
Ipoint  (of  internal  improvement  within  the  States 
ly  the  federal  government)  liis  opinion  has  be- 
fome  law.    But  it  does  not  touch  the  question 
if  improving  national  rivers  or  harbors  yielding 
|evenue— appropriations  for  the  Ohio  and  Missis- 
|ippi  and  other  large  streams,  being  easily  had 

trhen  unincumbered  with  local  objects,  as  shown 
y  the  appropriation,  in  a  separate  bill,  in  1821, 
of  $75,000  for  the  improvement  of  these  two 
fivers,  and  which  was  approved  and  signed  by 
|Ir.  Monroe. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

I  GENERAL  EEMOYAL  OF  INDIANS. 

IiiK  Indian  tribes  in  the  different  sections  of  the 
iJnion,  had  experienced  very  different  fates— in 
#ie  northern  and  middle  States  nearly  extinct— 
|l  the  south  and  west  they  remained  numerous 
«nd  formidable.    Before  the  war  of  1812,  with 
©reat  Britain,  these  southern  and  western  tribes 
keld  vast,  compact   bodies  of  land   in    these 
States,  preventing  the  expansion  of  the  white 
fettlements  within  their  limits,  and  retaining  a 
pngerous  neighbor  within  their  borders.     The 
rictories  of  General  Jackson  over  the  Creeks, 
ind  the  territorial  cessions  which  ensued,  made 
phc  first  great  breach  in  this  vast  Indian  domain ; 
Jut  much  remained  to  be  done  to  free  the  south- 
|rn  and  western  States  from  a  useless  and  dan- 
erous  popu!ation-to  give  them  the  use  and 
lurisdiction  of  all  the  territory  within  their 
uts,  and  to  place  them,  in  that  respect,  on  an 


equality  with  the  northern  and  middle  States. 
From  the  earlie'st  periods  of  the  colonial  settle- 
ments, it  had  been  the  policy  of  the  government, 
by  successive  purchases  of  their  territory,  to 
remove  these  tribes  further  and  further  to  the 
west;  and  that  policy,  vigorously  pursued  after 
the  war  with  Great  Britain,  had  made  much 
progress  in  freeing  several  of  these  States  (Ken- 
tucky entirely,  and  Tennesjnc  almost)  from  this 
population,  which  so  greatly  hindered  tne  cj^pan- 
sion  of  their  settlements  and  so  much  checked 
the  increase  of  their  growth  and  strength.   Still 
there  remained  up  to  the  year  1824— the  last 
year  of  Mr.  Monroe's  administration— large  por- 
tions of  many  of  these  States,  and  of  the  terri- 
tories, in  the  hands  of  the  Indian  tribes ;   in 
Georgia,  nine  and  a  half  millions  of  acres ;  in 
Alabama,  seven  and  a  half  millions ;  in  Missis- 
sippi, fifteen  and  three  quarter  millions ;  in  the 
territory  of  Florida,  four  millions ;  in  the  terri- 
tory of  Arkansas,  fifteen  and  a  half  millions ; 
in  the  State  of  Missouri,  two  millions  and  three 
quarters ;  in  Indiana  and  Illinois,  fifteen  mil- 
lions ;  and  in  Michigan,  east  of  the  lake,  sevM 
millions.    All  these  States  and  territories  were 
desirous,  and  most  justly  and  naturally  so,  to 
get  possession  of  these  vnst   bodies  of  land, 
generally  the  best  within  their  limits.     Georgia 
held  the  United  States  bound  by  a  compact  to 
relieve  her.    Justice  to  the  other  States  and  ter- 
ritories required  the  same  relief;  and  the  appli- 
cations to  the  federal  government,  to  which  the 
right  of  purchasing  Indian  lands,  even  within  the 
States,  exclusively  belonged,  were  incessant  and 
urgent.    Piecemeal  acquisitions,  to  end  in  get- 
ting the  whole,  were  the  constant  effort;  and  it 
was  evident  that  the  encumbered  States  and  ter- 
ritories would  not,  and  certainly  ought  not  to  be 
satisfied,  until  all  their  soil  was  open  to  settle- 
ment, and  subject  to  their  jurisdiction.    To  the 
Indians  themselves  it  was  equally  essential  to  be 
removed.    The  contact  and  pressure  of  the  white 
race  was  fatal  to  them.     They  had  dwindled  un- 
der it,  degenerated,  becom.;  depraved,  and  whole 
tribes  extinct,  or  reduced  to  a  few  individuals, 
wherever  they  attempted  to  remain  in  the  old 
States ;  and  could  look  for  no  other  fate  in  the 
new  ones. 

"What,"  exclaimed  Mr  Elliott,  senator  from 
Georgia,  in  advocating  a  system  of  general  re- 
moval—"what  has  become  of  the  immense  hordes 
of  these  people  who  once  occupied  the  soil  of  the 


Ml 


U: 


28 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


older  States  ?    Tn  New  England,  where  numer- 
ous and  warlike  tribes  once  so  fiercely  contended 
for  supremacy  with  our  forefathers,  but  two 
thousand  five  hundred  of  their  descendants  re- 
main, and  they  aro  dispirited  and  degraded.    Of 
the  powerful  league  of  the  Six  Nations,  so  long  the 
scourge  and  terror  of  New- York,  only  about  five 
thousand  souls  remain.  In  New  Jersey,  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  Jfaryland,  the  numerous  and  powerful 
tribes  once  seen  there,  arc  either  extinct,  or  so  re- 
duced as  to  escape  observation  in  any  enumeration 
of  the  States'  inhabitants.    In  Virginia,  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson informs  us  that  there  were  at  the  com- 
mencement of  its  colonization  (lG07),in  the  com- 
paratively small  portion  of  her  extent  which  lies 
between  the  sea-coast  and  the  mountains,  and 
from  the  Potomac  to  the  most  southern  waters 
of  James  River,   upwards  of  forty  tribes  of 
Indians:  now  there  are  but  forty-seven  individ- 
uals in  the  whole  State!    In  North  Carolina 
none  arc  counted :  in  South  Carolina  only  four 
hundred  and  fifty.     While  in  Georgia,  where 
thirty  years  since  there  were  not  less  than  thirty 
thousand  souls,  there  now  remain  some  fifteen 
thousand— the  one  half  having  disappeared  in  a 
single  generation.     That  many  of  these  people 
have  removed,  and  others  perished  by  the  sword 
in  the  frequent  wars  which  have  occurred  in  the 
progress  of  our  settlements,  I  am  free  to  admit. 
But  where  arc  the  hundreds  of  thousands,  with 
their  descendants,   who  neither  removed,  nor 
were  thus  destroyed  ?    Sir,  like  a  promontory 
of  sand,  exposed  to  the  ceaseless  encroachments 
of  the  ocean,  they  have  been  gradually  wasting 
away  before  the  current  of  the  advancing  white 
population  which  set  in  upon  them  from  every 
quarter;  ^nd  unless  speedily  removed  beyond 
the  influence  of  this  cause,  of  the  many  tens  of 
thousands  now  within  the  limits  of  the  southern 
and  western  States,  a  remnant  will  not  long  be 
found  to  point  you  to  the  graves  of  their  ances- 
tors, or  to  relate  the  sad  story  of  their  disap- 
pearance from  earth." 

Mr.  Jeft'erson,  that  statesman  in  fact  as  well 
as  in  name,  that  man  of  enlarged  and  compre- 
hensive views,  whose  prerogative  it  was  to  fore- 
see evils  and  provide  against  them,  had  long  fore- 
seen the  evils  both  to  the  Indians  and  to  the 
whites,  in  retaining  any  part  of  these  tribes  within 
o«r  organized  limits;  and  upon  the  first  acquisi- 
tion of  Louisiana— within  three  months  after  the 
acquisition— proposed  it  for  the  future  residence 


of  all  the  tribes  on  the  east  of  the  Mississippi; 
and  his  plan  had  been  acted  upon  in  some  ii- 
grce,  both  by  himself  and  bis  immediate  suc(» 
sor.     But  it  was  reserved  for  Mr.  Monroe's  ai 
ministration  to  take  up  the  subject  in  it.s  fui; 
sense,  to  move  upon  it  as  a  system,  and  to  ac- 
complish at  a  single  operation  the  removal  of 
all  the  tribes  from  the  east  to  the  west  side  of 
the  Mis.sissippi— from  the  settled  States  and  ter- 
ritories, to  the  wide  and  wild  expanse  of  Louisi- 
ana.   Their  preservation  and  civilization,  and 
permanency  in  their  new  possessions,  were  toh 
their  advantages  in  this  removal- delusive,  it 
might  be,  but  still  a  respite  from  impendhig  de- 
struction  if  they  remained  where  they  were.  Tiiis 
comprehensive  plan  was  advocated  by  Mr.  Cal- 
houn, then  Secretary  of  War,  and  charged  wiiii 
the  administration  of  Indian  affairs.   It  was  a  plan 
of  incalculable  value  to  the  southern  and  west- 
ern States,  but  impracticable  without  the  hrartj 
concurrence  of  the  northern  and  non-slaveholding 
States.    It  might  awaken  the  slavery  question, 
hardly  got  to  sleep  after  the  alarming  agitations 
of  the  Missouri  controversy,      Tlio  States  anii 
territories  to  be  relieved  were  slaveholding.    To 
remove  the  Indians  would  make  room  for  tk 
spread  of  slaves.    No  removal  could  be  ellecttJ 
without  the  double  process  of  a  treaty  and  as 
appropriation  act— the  treaty  to  be  ratified  k 
two  tliirds  of  the  Senate,  where  the  slave  and 
free  States  were  equal,  and  the  appropriation  tc 
be  obtained  from  Congres,s,  whore  free  States 
held  the  majority  of  members.      It  was  evident 
that  the  execution  of  the  whole  plan  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  free  States;  and  nobly  did  they  do 
their  duty   by  the  South.    Some  societies,  id 
some  individuals,  no  doubt,  with  very  humane 
motives,  but  with  the  folly,  and  blindness,  and 
injury  to  the  objects  of  their  care  which  generally 
attend  a  gratuitous  interference  with  the  affairs 
of  others,  attempted  to  raise  an  outcry,  and  made 
themselves  busy  to  frustrate  the  plan  ;  but  the 
free  States  themselves,  in  their  federal  action, 
and  through  the  proper  exponents  of  their  will 
—their  delegations  in  Congress— cordially  con- 
curred in  it,  and  faithfully  lent  it  a  helping  and 
efficient  hand.      The  President,  Mr.  Monroe,  in 
the  session  1824-'2o,  recommended  its  adoption 
to  Congress,  and  asked  the  necessary  aiiproinia- 
tion  to  begin  from  the  Congn-ss,    A  bill  was  re- 
ported in  the  Senate  for  that  purpose,  and  unani- 
mously passed   that   body.      What   is    more, 


le  treaties  n 
^  ibes  in  182 
States  of  all  tl 
%n<]  Arkansas 
^Ives,  and  wh 
flit  previous  ai 

tr  the  purpost 
e  Indians  ei 
Mod  readily  rat 
it  St.  Louis  bj 
lliority,  so  far  i 
ferned,  at  my  i 
Aat  the  Senate 
'|fhey  were  rati 
gendered  to  tli 
|Md  for  the  futi 
■^as  followed  uj 
Ijf  Congress,  ui 
|pites  wore  as  i 
ipnibiance  of  a: 
4|ras  an  actor  in 
pe  bills  and  adv 
Ulis  great  bene 
l^ihiessed    the 
Ij^rs  from  the 
"(piTence  they  < 
1#io  wish  for  1 
<jbe  States,  and 
Wre  it  to  the  cai 
tl^e  cultivation 
this  faithful  tesi 
CWnduct  of  the 

Jving  the  sou) 
large  an  incui 
sion  of  their  se 
licommendation 
<4  1825,  were  tl 
tUtel  removal;  1 
•Ipufcd  the  sue 
UpB  followed  up, 
of:«ach  ease,  unti 
idfehed. 


CHJ 

VISIT  OF  LAFATJ 


Is  I 


ic  summer  c 


«p"iiii)anied  by] 
"li  Lafayette,  anci 
hsident,  revisit* 


ANNO  1824.    JAMES  MONROE,  PRESIDENT. 


tlio  Mi.ssissijjpi; 
ipon  ill  mmc  dt- 
miediate  .sums- 
r.  Aronroc'.s  ml- 
ibjcct  in  its  fni; 
stem,  and  to  ac. 

the  removal  of 
10  west  side  of 
I  States  and  tor- 
lanso  of  Louisi- 
;ivilization,  anil 
;ions,  were  to  k 
al — delusive,  il 
1  impending  de- 
hey  were.  This 
cd  by  air.  Cal- 
d  charged  witli 
i.  It  was  a  plan 
lern  and  west- 
liout  the  licartj 
Dn-slaveholdJD; 
ivcry  question, 
ning  agitations 
rhc  States  and 
vcholding.    To 

room  for  the 
uld  be  eUbctcil 
I  treaty  and  ai 

be  ratified  hj 

tlie  slave  and 
)propriation  to 
■re  free  States 
It  was  evident 
hin  was  in  the 
ly  did  they  do 
!  societie.s,  »nd 
I  very  liuwane 
blindness,  and 
'hicli  generally 
ith  the  alfairs 
cry,  and  made 
plan ;  but  the 
federal  action, 
s  of  their  wiE 
cordially  con- 
%  helping  and 
[r.  Monroe,  in 
J  its  adoption 
iry  ajiproinia- 
A  bill  was  rc- 
)se,  and  unaiii- 
lat   is    more. 


ho  treaties  made  with  the  Kansas  and  Osage 
.ribes  iu   1825,  lor  the  cession  to  the  United 
^tates  of  all  their  vast  territory  west  of  Missouri 
Ind  Arkansa.s,  excejjt  small  reserves  to  them- 
selves, and  which  treaties  had  been  made  with- 
|iit  previous  authority  from  the  government,  and 
%T  the  purpose  of  acquiring  new  homes  for  all 
he  Indians  east  of  the  Mississippi,  were  duly 
Bd  readily  ratified.     Those  treaties  were  made 
St.  Louis  by  General  Clarke,  without  any  au- 
bority,  so  far  as  this  large  acquisition  was  con- 
fcrned,  at  my  instance,  and  upon  my  assurance 
bat  the  Senate  would  ratify  them.  It  was  done, 
fhey  were  ratified  :  a  great  act  of  justice  was 
Jtndered  to  the  South.      The  foundation  was 
jMd  foi'  the  future  removal  of  the  Indians,  which 
fcus  followed  up  by  subsequent  treaties  and  acts 
*  Congress,  until  the  southern  and   western 
ates  were  as  free  as  the  northern  from  the  in- 
dmbrance  of  an  Indian  population ;  and  I,  who 
Jas  an  actor  in  these  transactions,  who  reported 
#e  bills  and  advocated  the  treaties  which  brought 
i»is  great  benefit  to  the  south  and  west,  Tnd 
fi*ne.ssed   the   cordial    support  of  the  mem- 
Iprs  from  the  free  States,  without  whose  con- 
flrrence  they  could  not  have  been  passed— I, 
#10  wish  for  harmony  and  concord  am»ng  all 
He  States,  and  all  the  sections  of  this  Union 
o»Fe  it  to  the  cause  of  truth  and  justice,  and  to' 
%  cultivation  of  fraternal    feelings,  to    bear 
*is  faithful  testimony  to  the  just  and  liberal 
gn<]uct  of  the  non-slaveholding  States,  in  re- 
MpMiig  the  southern  and  western  States  from 
#  large  an  incumbrance,  and  aiding  the  exten- 
sien  of  their  settlement  and  cultivation.     The 
Ijommendation  of  Mr.  Monroe,  and  the  treaties 
otl  825,  were  the  beginning  of  the  system  of 
totel  removal;  but  it  was  a  beginning  which 
•jpurcd  the  success  of   the   whole   plan,  and 
^  followed  up,  as  will  be  seen,  in  the  history 
^ch  ca.e,  until  the  entire  system  was  accom^ 
pilBhed. 


29 


CHAPTER    XII. 

VIMT  OF  LAFAYETTE  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES. 
I«  <1h"  summer  of  this  year  General  Lafayette 
r-r-d  by  his  son,  Mr.  George  W-X^ 
"  I;uayette,  and  under  an  invitation  from  "the 
rcsulent,  revisited  tl^e  United  State.,  after  a 


lapse  of  forty  years.     He  was  received  with  un- 
bounded honor,  aflection,  and  gratitude  by  the 
American  people.    To  the  survivors  of  the  Revo- 
lution, it  was  the  return  of  a  brother ;  to  the 
new  generation,  born  .since  that  time,  it  was  the 
apparition  of  an  historical  character,  familiar 
from  the  cradle;  and  combining  all  the  titles  to 
love,  admiration,  gratitude,   enthusiasm,  which 
could  act  upon  the  heart  and  the  imagination  of 
the  young  and  the  ardent.    He  visited  every 
State  m  the  Union,  doubled  in  number  since  as 
the  friend  and  pupil  of  Washington,  he  had  spilt 
his  blood,  and  lavished  his  fortune,  for  their  in- 
dependence.     His  progress  through  the  States 
was  a  triumphal  procession,  such  as  no  Roman 
ever  led  up-a  procession  not  through  a  city 
but  over  a  continent-followed,  not  by  captives 
m  chains  of  iron,  but  by  a  nation  in  the  bonds 
of  affection.      To  him  it  was  an  unexpected  and 
overpowering  reception.    His  modest  estimate  of 
himself  had  not  allowed  him  to  suppose  that  he 
was  to  electrify  a  continent.     He  expected  kind- 
ness, but  not  enthusiasm.     He  expected  to  meet 
with  surviving  friends-not  to  rouse  a  young  gen- 
eration.   As  he  approached  the  harbor  of  New- 
York,  he  made  inquiry  of  some  acquaintance  to 
know  whether  he  could  find  a  hack  to  convey 
him  to  a  hotel  ?    Illustrious  man,  and  modest  as 
illustrious  !    Little  did  be  know  that  all  Ame- 
rica was  on  foot  to  receive  him-to  take  posses- 
sion of  him  the  moment  he  touched  her  soil— to 
fetch  and  to  carry  him-to  feast  and  applaud 
him-to  make  him  the  guest  of  cities,  States 
and  the  nation,  as  long  as  he  could  bo  detained." 
Many  were  the  happy  meetings  which  he  had 
with  old  comrades,  survivors  for  near  half  a 
century  of  their  early  hardsnips  and  dangers ; 
and  most  grateful  to  his  heart  it  was  to  see 
them,  so  many  of  them,  exceptions  to  the  maxim 
which  denies  to  the  beginners  of  revolutions  the 
good  fortune  to  conclude  them  (and  of  which 
maxim  his  own  country  had  just  been  so  sad  an 
exemplification),  and  to  see  his  old  comrades  not 
only  conclude  the  one  they  began,  but  live  to  enjoy 
Its  fruits  and  honors.    Three  of  his  old  associates 
ae  found  ex-presidents  (Adams,  Jefferson,  and 
Madison),  enjoying  the  respect  and  affection  of 
their  country,  after  having  reached  its  highest 
honors.     Another,  and  the  last  one  that  Time 
would  admit  fo  the  Tresidency  (Mr.  Monroe), 
now  m  the  Presidential  chair,  and  inviting  him 
to  revisit  the  land  of  his  adoption.    Many  of  his 


80 


THIRTY  TEARS'  VIEW. 


early  associates  seen  in  the  two  Houses  of  Con- 
gress—many   in   the  State  governments,   and 
many  more  in  all  the  walks  of  private  life,  pa- 
triarchal sires,  respected  for  their  characters, 
and  venerated  for  their  patriotic  services.    It 
was  a  grateful  spectacle,  and  the  more  impres- 
sive from  the  calamitous  fate  which  ho  had  seen 
attend  so  many  of  the  revolutionary  patriots  of 
the  Old  World.      But  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
young  generation  astonished  and  excited  him, 
and  gave  him  a  new  view  of  himself— a  future 
glimpse  of  himself— and  such  as  he  would  bo 
seen  in  after  ages.     Before  them^  he  was  in  the 
presence  of  posterity ;  and  in  their  applause  and 
admiration  ho  saw  his  own  future  place  in  his- 
tory, passing  down  to  the  latest  time  as  one  of 
the  most  perfect  and  beautiful  characters  which 
one  of  the  most  eventful  periods  of  the  world 
had  produced.      Mr.   Clay,  as  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  the  organ  of  their 
congratulations  to  Lafayette  (when  he  was  re- 
ceived in  the  hall  of  the  House),  very  felicitously 
seized  the  idea  of  his  present  confrontation  with 
posterity,  and  adorned  and  amplified  it  with  the 
graces  of  oratory.    He  said:  "The  vain  wish 
has  been  sometimes  indulged,  that  Providence 
would  allow  the  patriot,  after  death,  to  return 
to  his  country,  and  to  contemplate  the  inter- 
mediate changes  which  had  taken  place— to  view 
the  forests  felled,  the  cities  built,  the  mountains 
levelled,  the  canals  cut,  the  highways  opened, 
the  progress  of  the  arts,  the  advancement  of 
learning,  and  the  increase  of  population.     Gen- 
eral !  your  present  visit  to  the  United  States  is 
the  realization  of  the  consoling  object  of  that 
wish,  hitherto  vain.    You  are  in  the  midst  of 
posterity  !      Every  where  you  must  have  been 
struck  with  the  great  changes,  physical  and 
moral,  which  have  occurred  since  you  left  us. 
Even  this  very  city,  bearing  a  venerated  name, 
ahke  endearing  to  you  and  to  us,  has  since 
emerged  from  the  forest  which  then  covered  its 
site.    In  one  respect  you  behold  us  unaltered, 
and  that  is,  m  the  sentiment  of  continued  devo- 
tion to  liberty,  and  of  ardent  affection  and  pro- 
found gratitude  to  your  departed  friend,  the  fa- 
ther of  his  country,  and  to  your  illustrious  asso- 
ciates in  the  field  and  in  the  cabinet,  for  the  mul- 
tiplied blessings  which  surround  us,  and  for  the 
very  privilege  of  addressing  you,  which  I  now 
have."     Ho  was  received  in  both  Houses  of  Con- 
gress with  equal  honor;  but  the  Houses  did 


not  limit  themselves  to  honors :  they  added  sub. 
stantial  rewards  for  long  past  services  and  sacii 
flees— two  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  money 
and  twenty-four  thousand  acres  of  fertile  land  in 
Florida.    These  noble  grants  did  not  pass  with- 
out objection— objection  to  the  principle,  not  to 
the  amount.    The  ingratitude  of  republics  is  the 
theme  of  any  declaimer :  it  required  a  TacHut 
to  say,  that  gratitude  was  the  death  of  republics, 
and  the  birth  of  monarchies ;  and  it  belongs  to 
the  people  of  the  United  States  to  exhibit  an 
exception  to  that  profound  remark  (as  they  do 
to  so  many  other  lessons  of  history),  and  showa 
young  republic  that  knows  how  to  be  grateful 
without  being  unwise,  and  is  able  to  pay  the  debt 
of  gratitude  without  giving  its  liberties  in  the  dis- 
charge of  the  obligation.    The  venerable  Mr.  Ma- 
con, yielding  to  no  one  in  love  and  admiration  of 
Lafayette,  and  appreciation  of  his  services  and  sa- 
crifices in  the  American  cause,  opposed  the  grants 
in  the  Senate,  and  did  it  with  the  honesty  of  pur- 
pose and  the  simplicity  of  language  which  distin- 
guished all  the  acts  of  his  life.    He  said:  "Ii 
was  with  painful  rel-ictance  tliat  ho  felt  himjclf 
obliged  to  oppose  his  voice  to  the  passage  of  this 
bill.    He  admitted,  to  the  full  extent  claimed  foi 
them,   the   great  and  meritorious  services  ot' 
General  Lafayette,  and  he  did  not  object  to  tit 
precise  sum  which  this  bill  proposed  to  awari 
him ;  but  he  objected  to  the  bill  on  this  ground: 
he  considered  General  Lafayette,  to  all  intent! 
and  purposes,  as  having  been,  during  our  revolu- 
tion, a  son  adopted  into  the  family,  taken  into 
the  household,  and  placed,  in  every  respect,  oi 
the  same  footing  with  the  other  sons  of  thesam 
family.    To  treat  him  as  others  were  treated 
was  all,  in  this  view  of  his  relation  to  us,  tk 
could  be  required,  and  this  had  been  done.  Tint 
General  Lafayette  made  great  sacrifices,  aal 
spent  much  of  his  money  in  the  service  of  thii 
country  (said  Mr.  M.),  I  as  firmly  believe  as  I 
do  any  other  thing  under  the  sun.    I  have  no 
doubt  that  every  faculty  of  his  mind  and  bod; 
were  exerted  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  in  de- 
fence of  this  country ;  but  this  was  equally  tin 
case  with  all  the  sons  of  the  family.     Many  m- 
tive  Americans  spent  their  all,  made  great  sacri- 
fices, und  devoted  their  lives  in  the  same  cau» 
This  was  the  ground  of  his  objection  to  this  HI 
which,  he  repeated,  it  was  as  disagreeable  ti 
him  to  state  as  it  cnu'd  ho  to  the  Senate  to  h«r^ 
He  did  not  mean  to  take  up  the  time  of  the  S»j 


.to  in  debate 

move  any  i 

-^jthat,  when  sue 

,§be  done  with  a 

.^iple  of  the  hi 

^ropo.sed  to  bo 

•-     The  ardent  A 

,^rter  of  the 

wbjections,  and 

om  Lafayette 

'ith  the  propose 

icrificcs  in  ou: 

(he    American 

777    to    1783, 

.$140,000  )i  ar 

■a  foreigner,  o 

lis  fortune  into  i 

Irished  in  our  can 

tank  and  fortun 

|5imily,  to  come  a 

Ju-mies,  and  wit: 

Vmed  a  regiment 

vessel  to  us,  loa 

(t  was  not  until 

tiiined  by  the  Fn 

|brts  in  the  cause 

^ive  the  naked  pi 

|al  officer  for  th( 

^0  was  entitled  t( 

|he  Revolution,  ai: 

im,  to  be  located 

!ie  United  State 

ires  adjoining  tl: 

iOngress  afterwar 

:ation,  granted  tl 

ew  Orleans.      I 

as  so  informed ;  ] 

lying  that  he  woi 

irtion  of  the  Amc 

;ation  to  bo  remoi 

ted  upon  ground 

what  wa«  then 

iOO,000.     These  y 

isses,  and  sacrifices 

•eat  value  to  our 

the  mond  effect  i 

d  his  influence  v 

diich  procured  us  t 

The  grants  were  i 

id  with  the  genera 

np-nplc,     Mr.  Jel 

ing  as  a  reason, 


loy  added  suV 
ices  and  siicri. 
Inrs  in  money, 
F  fertile  land  in 
not  pass  with- 
inciplc,  not  to 
epublics  is  the 
ired  a  Tacitm 
th  of  republics, 

it  belongs  to 

to  exhibit  an 
rk  (as  they  do 
1^),  and  show  J 
to  bo  grateful 
to  pay  the  debt 
'ties  in  the  dis- 
!rable  Mr.  Ma- 
admiration  of 
ervices  and  sj- 
«ed  the  grants 
onesty  of  put- 
!  which  distill. 

He  said:  "Ii 
le  felt  himjelf 
passage  of  this 
ant  claimed  for 
8  services  of 

object  to  tht 
osed  to  awanl 
n  this  ground; 
to  all  inteni! 
ng  our  revoln- 
ily,  taken  intf 
ry  respect,  oi 
ns  of  the  sam 
were  treated 
)n  to  us,  tha! 
3n  done.  Thji 
iacrifices,  ad 
ervice  of  this 
r  believe  as  I 
1.  I  have  M 
lind  and  body 
•y  war,  in  (it- 
is  equally  tb 
y.  Many  m- 
le  great  saw:- 

same  cau« 
)n  to  this  liiil 
isagrecablc  tt 
"nate  to  h""  - 
ne  of  the  Sfr- 


ANNO  1823.    JAMES  MONROE,  PREaiDENT. 


^Bato  in  debate  upon  the  principle  of  the  bill,  or 

to  move  any  amendment   to  it.     Ho  admitted 

^  tli;it,  when  such  things  were  done,  they  should 

^be  done  with  a  free  hand.     It  was  to  t'-.e    nn- 

fciple  of  the  bill,  therefore,  and  not  to  tiie  ami 

proposed  to  be  given  by  it,  that  he  objected." 

The  ardent  Mr.  Ilayne,  of  South  Carolina,  re- 
porter of  the  bill  in  the  Senate,  replied  to' the 
objections,  and  first  showed  from  history  (not 
/rem  Lafayette,  who  would  have  nothing  to  do 
with  the  proposed  grant),  his  a^Ivances,  losses,  and 
iacrifices  in  our  cause.     He  had  expended  for 
the    American    sen'ice,    in    six    years,    from 
17  <  7    to    1783,   the    sum    of   700,000    francs 
f  .^140,000  i  and  under  what  circumstances? 
-a  foreigner,  owing  us  nothing,  and  throwing 
Jjis  fortune  into  the  scale  with  his  life,  to  be  la- 
vished in  our  cause.    He  left  the  enjoyments  of 
rank  and  fortune,  and  the  endearments  of  his 
'imiily,  to  come  and  serve  in  our  almost  destitute 
rmies,  and  without  pay.      He  equipped  and 
ned  a  regiment  for  our  service,  and  freighted 
i  vessel  to  us,  loaded  with  arms  and  munitions 
it  was  not  until  the  year  1794,  when  almost 
Vined  by  the  French  revolution,  and  by  his  ef- 
forts in  the  cause  of  liberty,  that  he  would  re- 
vive the  naked  pay,  without  interest,  of  a  gene- 
al  officer  for  the  time  he  had  served  with  us 
h  was  entitled  to  land  as  one  of  the  officers  of 
be  Revolution,  and  11,500  acres  was  granted  to 
ym,  to  be  located  on  any  of  the  public  lands  of 
^e  United  States.     His  agent  located    1000 
cres  adjoining  the  city  of  New  Orleans  j  and 
Congress  afterwards,  not  b^ing  infoi-med  of  the 
bcation,  granted  the  same  ground  to  the  city  of 
few  Orleans.      His  location  was  valid,  and  he 
►as  so  mformed;  but  he  refused  to  adhere  to  it 
^ymg  that  he  would  have  no  contest  with  any 
Portion  of  the  American  people,  and  ordered  the 
K:ation  to  be  removed ;  which  was  done,  and  car- 
led  upon  ground  of  little  value-thus  giving 

500,000  These  were  his  moneyed  advances 
Isses,and  sacrifices,  great  in  themselves,  and  of 
feat  value  to  our  cause,  but  perhaps  exceeded 
^  the  moral  effect  of  his  example  in  joining  us, 
N  his  mfluence  with  the  king  and  ministry 
lliich  procured  us  the  alliance  of  France 
/fhe  grants  were  voted  with  great  unanimity, 
Ji<l  with  the  general  concurrence  of  the  Ameri- 

!!  people.    Mr.  Jefferson  was  warmly  for  them 
ruig  as  a  reason,  in  a  conversation  with  me 


31 


while  the  grants  were  depending  (for  the  biU 
was  passed  in  the  Christmas  holidays,  when  I 
had  gone  to  Virginia,  and  took  the  opportunity 
to  call  upon  that  great  man),  which  showed 
his  regard  for  liberty  abroad  as  well  as  at  homo 
and  his  far-seeing  sagacity  into  future  events' 
He  said  there  would  bo  a  change  in  Franco, 
and  Lafayette  would  be  at  the  head  of  it,  and 
ought  to  be  easy  and  independent  in  his  circum- 
stances, to  bo  able  to  act  efficiently  in  conductine 
the  movement.    This  he  said  to  me  on  Christmas 
day,  1824.     Six  years  afterwards  this  view  into 
futurity  was  verified.    The  old  Bourbons  had  to 
retire:  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  a  bravo  general  in 
the  republican  armies,  at  the  commencement  of 
the  Revolution,  was  handed  to  the  throne  by  La- 
fayette, and  became  the  "citizen  king, surround- 
cd  by  republican  institutions."    And  in  this 
Lafayette  was  consistent  and  sincere.     He  was 
a  republican  himself,  but  deemed  a  constitutional 
monarchy  the  proper  government  for  Prance,  and 
labored  for  that  form  in  the  person  of  Louis 
AVL  as  well  as  in  that  of  Louis  Philippe. 

Loaded  with  honors,  and  with  every  feeling  of 
his  heart  gratified  in  the  noble  reception  he  had 
met  in  the  country  of  his  adoption,  Lafayette  re- 
turned to  the  country  of  his  birth  the  following 
summer,  still  as  the  guest  of  the  United  States" 
and  under  its  flag.    He  was  carried  back  in  a 
national  ship  of  war,  the  new  frigate  Brandy, 
wme-a  delicate  compliment  (in  the  name  and 
selection  of  the  ship)  from  the  new  President 
Mr.  Adams,  Lafayette  having  wet  with  his  blood 
the  sanguinary  battle-field  which  takes  its  name 
from  the  little  stream  which  gave  it  first  to  the 
field  and  then  to  the  frigate.     Mr.  Monroe,  then 
a  subaltern  in  the  service  of  the  United  States 
was  wounded  at  thesame  time.    How  honorable 
to  themselves  and  to  the  American  people,  that 
nearly  fifty  years  afterwards,  they  should  again 
appear  together,  and  in  exalted  station  ;  one  as 
President,  inviting  the  other  to  the  great  repub- 
ic,  and  signing  the  acts  which  testified  a  na- 
tion s  gratitude ;  the  other  as  a  patriot  hero 
tried  m  the  revolutions  of  two  countries,  and  re- 
splendent in  the  glory  of  virtuous  and  consistent 
tame. 


m 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIKW. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

THE  TAKIFF,  AND  AMERICAN  SYSTEM. 

The  revision  of  the  Tariff,  with  a  view  to  the 
protection  of  home  inchistry,  and  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  what  was  then  called,  "  Tho  Ameri- 
can System,"  was  one  of  the  largo  subjects 
before  Congress  at  the  session  1823-24,  and  was 
tho  regular  commencement  of  the  heated  debates 
on  that  question  which  afterwards  ripened  into 
a  serious  difficulty  between  the  federal  govern- 
ment and  some  of  tho  southern  States.  The 
presidential  election  being  then  depending,  the 
subject  became  tinctured  with  party  politics,  in 
which,  so  far  as  that  ingredient  was  concerned, 
and  wa.s  not  controlled  by  other  considerations, 
members  divided  pretty  nnich  on  tho  line  which 
always  divided  them  on  a  question  of  construct- 
ive powers.  The  protection  of  domestic  indus- 
try not  being  among  tho  granted  powers,  was 
looked  for  in  the  incidental ;  and  denied  by  the 
strict  constructionists  to  bo  a  substantive  power, 
to  be  exercised  for  the  direct  purpose  of  protec- 
tion; but  admitted  by  all  at  that  time,  and  ever 
since  the  first  tnrirt'  act  of  1789,  to  be  an  inci- 
dent to  tho  revenue  raising  power,  and  an  inci- 
dent to  be  regarded  in  tho  exercise  of  that 
power.  Revenue  the  object,  protection  the  inci- 
dent, had  been  the  rule  in  the  earlier  tariffs : 
now  that  rule  was  soiight  to  be  reversed,  and  to 
make  protection  the  object  of  the  law,  and  reve- 
nue the  incident.  The  revision,  and  the  aug- 
mentation of  duties  which  it  contemplated, 
turned,  not  so  much  on  tho  emptiness  of  the 
treasury  and  the  necessity  for  raising  money  to 
fill  it,  as  upon  the  distress  of  the  country,  and 
the  necessity  of  creating  a  homo  demand  for  la- 
bor, pro'-isions  and  materials,  by  turning  a  largpr 
proportion  of  our  national  industry  into  the 
channel  of  domestic  manufactures.  Mr.  Clay, 
the  leader  in  the  proposed  revision,  and  the 
champion  of  the  American  System,  expressly 
placed  tho  proposed  augmentation  of  duties  on 
this  ground ;  and  in  his  main  speech  ujwn  the 
question,  dwelt  upon  tho  state  of  the  country, 
and  cave  a  picture  of  the  public  distress,  which 
deserves  to  bo  reproduced  in  this  View  of  the 
woi'kin,;  of  our  go\cinmuiit,  botli  as  the  leading 
arguniLut  for  the  new  tariff,  and  as  an  exhibi- 


tion of  a  national  distress,  which  those  who  wort 
not  cotemporary  with  tho  state  of  thmgs  which 
ho  described,  would  find  it  difllcult  to  conccivt 
or  to  realize.    lie  said  : 

"  In  casting  our  eyes  around  us,  tho  most 
prominent  circumstance  which  fixes  our  nttiD- 
tion  and  challenges  our  deepest  regret,  is  (Ik 
general  distress  which  pervades  the  whole  cniin- 
try.      It  is  forced  ujjon  us  by  numerous  fiict^ 
of  the  most  incontestable  character.     Itisimii. 
cated  by  tho  diminished  exfjorts  of  native  pro- 
duce; by  the  depressed  and  reduced  state  of  oiir 
foreign    navigation ;    by  our  diminished  com- 
merce ;  by  successive  unthreshed  crops  of  paii 
perishing  in  our  barns  for  want  of  a  market: 
by  the  alarming  diminution  of  tho  circulatinn 
medium;  by  the  numerous  bankruptcies  ;  by  a 
universal  complaint  of  the  want  of  employment, 
and  a  consequent  reduction  of  tho  wages  of  h- 
bor ;  by  the  ravenous  pursuit  after  public  sitm- 
tions,  not  for  the  sake  of  their  honors,  and  ik 
performance  of  their  public  duties,  but  as  i 
means  of  private  subsistence  ;  by  tho  reluctan; 
resort  to  the  perilous  use  of  paper  money ;  k 
tho  intervention  of  legislation  in  tho  delicat 
relation    between   debtor   and    c.editor;   ani 
above  all,  by  tho  low  and  depressed  state  of"  tt 
value  of  almost  every  description  of  tho  wholt 
mass  of  tho  property  of  tiie  nation,  which  iii; 
on  an  average,  sunk  not  less  than  about  fillt 
per  centum  within  a  few  years.     This  distresj 
pervades  every  part  of  the  Union,  every  class  of 
society ;  all  feel  it,  though  it  may  bo  felt,  at  i 
ferent  places,  in  different  degrees.     It  is  like  tli 
atmosphere  which  surrounds  us :  all  must  \i 
hale  it,  and  none  can  escape  from  it.    A  ftt 
years  ago,  the  planting  interest  consoled  itsel' 
with  its  happy  exemptions  from  tho  general  o- 
lamity  ;  but  it  has  now  reached  this  interest  alsc 
which  experiences,  though  with   less  severiti 
the  general  suffering.     It  is  most  painful  to  li 
to  attempt  to  sketch,  or  to  dwell  on  the  giooi 
of  this  picture.    But  I  have  exaggerated  nothini 
Perfect  fidelity  to  the  original  would  have  at- 
thorized   mo   to  have   thrown  on  deeper  m 
darker  hues." 

Jlr.  Clay  was  the  loading  speaker  on  the  par 
of  tho  bill  in  the  House  of  Eepresentatives 
but  ho  was  well  supported  by  many  able  m 
effective  speakers— by  Messrs.  Storrs,  Tracr 
John  W.  Taylor,  from  New- York ;  by  Mcssb 
Buchanan,  Todd,  Ingham,  Hemphill,  Andrw 
Stewart,  from  Pennsylvania ;  by  Mr.  Loiii 
McLane,  from  Delaware ;  by  Messrs.  Bucknt; 
F.  Johnson,  Letcher,  Metcalfe,  Trimble,  WiiiK 
Wickliffo,  from  Kentucky;  by  Messrs.  Cainf 
bell,  Vance,  John  W.  Wright,  Vinton,  Whittle 
soy,  from  Ohio;  Mr.  Daniel  P.  Cook,  fw 
Illinois.  L 


Mr.  Websf 

other  side,  m 

distress  whici 

cmption  fron 

pssumed  can.' 

tributed  it  to 

paper  system, 

suspension  of 

necessity  for 

tures,  and  its  i 

of  tho  coimtr 

contested  tho 

duties,  in  the  j 

of  the  world,  I 

facturing  enter 

"Within  m 

;  cause  for  such 

4  sentation.      In 

I  States,  with  th 

t  acquainted,  t]n\ 

?  general  jirosper 

*|  be  a  depression 

f  pressure ;  tho  r 

"  that  evil.    A  d 

I  great  part  of  th 

I  degree  as  that, 

i  the  centre  and  i 

[per  cent.     The 

[instituted  to  co 

I  wliich  it  is  not 

I  did  not  for  som< 

[of  the  counlry  t 

I  the  British  lions 

I  vote,  decided  tlu 

I  nients  by  the  Bi 

I  deferred  beyond 

I  then  been  in  a  s( 

I  five  years).     Th 

Icci'tainly  commi 

Iproperty.    It  ha 

I  excited  overtradii 

Icarae,  and  this  vi( 

jat  the  same  nioi 

■England,  inflated 

Ikept  up  no  lonj 

[which  has  been  e 

lequal  to  a  fall  of 

■The  depression  \i 

Iwas  felt  in  tho  D 

jnot  equally  so  in 

Jthe  time  of  these 

■system    underwei 

|caiises,  in  my  viei 

produce  the  great 

Icoinincrcial  cities, 

itiie  country.     TIk 

Inorous  failures,  ai 

PnJ  would  have 

i!i;in  exist  at  pres( 

Ation  which  has  1 

Vol.  i._a 


ANNO  1824.    JAMES  MONROE,  PRESIDKNT. 


Mr.  Webster  was  the  lomling  speaker  on  the 
other  side,  ami  disputed  the  universality  of  the 
distress  which  had  been  described  j  chiiniiuK  ex- 
emption from  it  in  New  England ;  denied  the 
KBsunied  cause  for  it  where  it  did  exist,  and  ut- 
tribute«l  it  to  over  expansion  and  collapse  of  the 
paper  system,  as  in  Great  TJritain,  after  the  long 
suspension  of  the  Eank  of  England  j  denied  the 
necessity  for  increased  i)rotection  to  manufac- 
I  turca,  and  its  inadequacy,  if  granted,  to  the  relief 
of  the  country  where  distress  prevailed ;    and 
I  contested  the  propriety  of  high  or  prohibitory 
I  duties,  in  the  present  active  and  intelligent  state 
of  the  world,  to  stimulate  indu  fry  and  manu- 
facturing enterprise.    lie  said : 


33 


,      "Withm  my  own   observation,  there  is  no 
cause  for  such  gloomy  and  terrifying  a  reiire- 
sentation.      In   respect   to   the   New    Enirland 
States,  with  the  condition  of  which  I  am  best 
acquainted,  they  i)resent  to  me  a  period  of  verv 
general  prosperitj-.     Supposing  the  evil  then  to 
f  be  a  depression  of  prices,  and  a  parlial  pecuniary 
I  pressure;  the  n.  xt  inquiry  is  into  the  causes  of 
tliat  evil.     A  depreciatefl  currency  existed  in  a 
great  part  of  the  country-depreciate,  to  such  a 
degree  as  that,  at  one  time,  exchange  between 
the  centre  and  the  north  was  as  high  as  twentv 
per  cent.     The  Bank  of  the  United  States      2 
mstiuted  to  correct  this  evil;  but,  for  causes 
S'nn/r"  "°*  ""'"^  necessary  to  enumerate,  it 
du  not  for  some  years  bring  back  the  currency 
I  ?l  .?  .™""*  '■>'  *°  ^  ■'°""il  «tate.     In  May  ]  81<) 
the  British  House  of  C^ommons,  by  an  uiSnimous 
vote  decided  that  the  resumptioT,  of  ca  H,  ;. 

defer  ed  beyond  the  ensuing  February  (it  ha.l 

then  been  in  a  state  of  suspension  near  t  vei  y- 

flve  years).     The  paper  system  of  England  had 

Jcc^tainy  communicated  an  artificial"value    o 

Iproperty.     It  had  encouraged  speculation  and 

lean  e,  and  this  violent  pressure  for  money  acted 
lat  the  same  moment  on  the  Continent  and  ki 

IS-V?    ,    '""Ser.     A  reduction    took   place 

lequal  to  a  fall  of  tliirty,  if  not  forty,  per  cent 
IThe  depression  was  universal;  and  thl  chanoc 
[was  felt  in  the  United  States 'severely  S  oS 

fc  tiir"/ the!"  r''  ^'''  ''  ^^-'    St 

I  V  t  m  uml  rxv  f '"°".  '^'•'"'''  «"»■  ««■"  bank 
■system    underwent   a  change  ;    and  all    the«o 

Icanses,  m  my  view  of  the  subject  concurred  fo 
fcroduce  the  great  shock  which''SkZee  fn  t? 
Commercial  cities,  and  through  mai  rnar ts  of 
|«ie  country.  The  year  ISl'f  waTa  yeiu  of  nu 
i7Z^^  'f  ^-^7  eonsidera'brdiriS, 
Ein  evis  '  furnished  far  better  n.,o„n,Is 

liin      f-  'r^  r^'^'^"*  ^<'''  that  gloomy  renresen- 
ation  which  has  been  presented,    ir.  Jpetker 

Vol.  i._3 


(tlay)  has  alluded  to  the  strong  inclination 
|vhich  exists,  or  has  existed,  in  vaHou.spZof 
the  country,  to  issue  paper  money,  as  a  Iwotot 
great  existing  difliculties.     I  regiml  it  rKer  ^ 
a  very  productive  cause  of  those  difliculties    aiS 
we  cannot  fail  to  observe,  that  (hei    is  at  Sfa 
moment  much  the  loudest 'complain   o  .iJst  "^ 
precisely  where  there  has  bc-en  the  gr- a  S 
empt  to  relievo  it  by  a  system  of  pape,  credit 
,  Let  us  not  suppose  that  wo  ar.  A-V,./,,J  Uie 
protcc  ion  of  manufactures  by  duties  on  i  iporte 
•ook    o  the  history  of  our  laws;  look  TJhe 
present  state  of  our  laws.     Consider  that  o  ? 
whole  revenue,  with  a  trifling  exceptio.     «  J- 
Iccted  from  the  custom-house,  and  always  has 
been;  and  then  s.iy  what  propriety  there  fa  in 
calling  on  the  government  for  protect im  as  if 
no  protection  hud  heretofore  beei  a.loni  d!    On 
the  general  question,  allow  me  to  ask  if  thS 
doetnne  of  prohibition,  as  a  general  doc  rine  bo 
not  preposterous V     Suppose  all  nitons  to  Jc? 
upon  It:  they  would  be  pUperous  t  ei  „lr^ 
>r'g  to  the  argument,  precisely  in  the  ,"m  ortion 

inouar  ihe  best  apology  ft,,-  hiws  of  Drohibi- 
t  <.n  and  laws  of  monopoly/will  be  found  i„  hat 
state  of  society  not  only  unenlightened  but 
t  SSr  p'"^'!  '^}'y  •''•«  '"o-^t  genenllV  es! 
t,  blLhed      Private  industry  in  those  days  re- 

S'stS"^  r'-vocatives,^vhich   goveSJi^ 
Mas   seeking    to   administer    by   these    means 
Something  was  wanted  to  actuate  and  sti    Se 
men,  and  the  prospects  of  such  profits  i^swo, 
m  our  times,   excite    unbounded    coinpetition 
jvould  hardly  move  the  sloth  of  fori    J  S 
I    some  ms  ances,  no  doubt,  these  laws  prodded 
»i  eflect  which  in  that  pei'iod,  would  not  have 
taken  place  without  them.     rinstnn,.lnrr  ti 
teetion  to  tl.  English  ilfi'tl^S;;:^']^ 
the  time  of  the  Henrys  and  the  Edwards       B? 
our  age  IS  wholly  of  a  diflerent  character  and 
.s  legislation  takes  another  turn.     SocSyt 
i-ull  of  excitement:  competition  comes  in  1,S 

01  lvT.S^'  r^  ^"i^'Jb-gence  and  industry  S 
only  for  fair  play  and  an  open  Hold." 


T\  ith  Mr.  Webster  were  numerous  and  able 
speakers  on  the  side  of  free  trade:    From  his 
own  State,  Mr.  Baylies;  from  New- York,  Mr 
Oambreling ;   from  Virginia,  Messrs.  Randolph, 
^hilip  P.  Barbour,  John  S.  Barbour,  Garnet 
Alexander  Smythe,  Floyd,  Mercer,  Archer,  Ste- 
venson, Rives,  Tucker,  Mark  Alexander;  from 
North    Carolina,  Messrs.  Mangum,   Saunders, 
Spaight,  Lewis  Williams,  Burton,  AV'eldon  N. 
Edwards  ;  from  South   Carolina,  Messrs.   Mc- 
Duffie,  James  Hamilton,  Poinsett;  from  Geor- 
gia,  Messrs.  Forsyth,  Tatnall,  Cuthbert,  Cobb: 
!  from  Tennessee,  Messrs.  Blair,  Isaak.s,  Reynolds: 
I  from  Louisiana,  Mr.  Edward  Livingston ;  from 
i  Alabama,   Mr.    Owen;    from    Maryland,   Mr. 


34 


•nilUTY  YEAIIS'  VIEW. 


i'    ^ 


Wardehl;    from    Mimssippi,   Mr.   ChriHtopher 
Rankin. 

Tlio  bill  wiiMcurrictl  in  the  House,  after  a  pro- 
tracted a)ntt'Ht  of  ten  wcek.s,  by  the  lean  majority 
of  fivt— 107  to  102— only  two  members  absent, 
and  the  voting  ho  zealous  that  several  members 
were  brought  in  ujion  their  sick  couchcH.    In  the 
Senate  the  liiil  eni'ountercd  a  strcnuouH  resist- 
ance.    Mr.  Edward  Lloyd,  of  Maryland,  moved 
to  refer  it  to  the  committee  on  finance— a  motion 
considered  hostile  to  the  bill ;  and  wliich  was 
lost  by  one  vote— 22  to  23.     It  was  then,  on  the 
motion  of  ]\Ii .  Dickerson,  of  New  Jersey,  referred 
to  the  committee  on  manufactures  ;  a  reference 
deemed  favorable  to  the  bill,  and  by  which  com- 
mittee it  was  soon  returned  to  the  Senate  with- 
out any  proposed  amendment.     It  gave  rise  to  a 
mowt  earnest  debate,  and  many  propositions  of 
amendment,  somo  of  which,   of  slight  import, 
were  carried.     The  bill  itself  was  carried  by  the 
small  majority  of  four  votes— 25  to  21.     The 
principal   speakers  in  favor  of  the  bill  were: 
Messrs.  Dickerson,  of  New  Jersey ;  D'Wolf,  of 
Rhode  Island ;  Holmes,  of  Maine  ;  R.  M.  John- 
son, of  Kentucky ;  Lowrie,  of  Pennsylvania ;  Tal- 
bot, of  Kentucky;  Van  Buren.     Against  it  the 
principal  speakers  were :  Messrs.  James  Rarljour 
and  John  Taylor,  of  Virginia  (usually   called 
Joiin  Taylor  of  Caroline)  ;  Messrs.  Branch,  of 
North  Carolina;    Haync,  of  South  Carolina; 
Henry  Johnson  and  Josiah  Johnston,  of  Louisi- 
ana; Kelly  and  King,  of  Alabama;  Rufus  King, 
of  New- York ;  James  Lloyd,  of  Massachusetts  ; 
Edward  Lloyd  and  Samuel  Smith,  of  Maryland ; 
Macon,  of  North  Carolina  ;  Van  Dyke,  of  Dela- 
ware.   The  bill,  though  brought  forward  avow- 
edly for  the  protection    f  domestic  manufucturcs, 
was  not  entirely  supported  on  that  ground.    An 
increase  of  revenue  was  the  motive  with  some, 
the  public  debt  being  still  near  ninety  millions, 
and  a  loan  of  five  millions  being  authorized  at 
that  session.    An  increased  protection  to  the  pro-* 
ducts  of  several  States,  as  lead  in  Missouri  and 
Illinois,  hemp  in  Kentucky,  iron  in  Pennsylvania, 
wool  in  Ohio  and  New- York,  commanded  many 
votes  for  the  bill ;  and  the  impending  presidential 
election  had  its  influence  in  its  favor.    Two  of 
the  candidates,  Messrs.  Adams  aiid  Clay,  were 
avowedly  for  it;  General  Jackson,  who  voted 
for  the  bill,  was  for  it,  as  tending  to  give  a  home 
supply  of  the  articles  necessary  in  time  of  war, 
and  am  raising  revenue  to  pay  the  public  debt,  i 


Mr.  Crawford  was  opposed  to  it;  and  Mr.  C»l. 
houn  luid  iM'i-n  withdrawn  from  the  list  of  |)rcsi. 
dential  camlidates,  and  becot  le  a  candidate  for 
the   Vice-Presidency.      The  Southern  planliLg 
States  were  extremely  dissatisfied  with  the  pass- 
ago  of  the  bill,  believing  that  the  new  burdirin 
ufjon  imi)ort,s  which  it  imiKjsed  fell  u|M)n  the 
producers  of  the  exports,  and  tended  to  enrich 
one   section   of  the    Union  at   the   expense  of 
another.     The  attack  and  sujfport  of  the  bill 
took  much  of  a  secMonal  aspect ;  Virginia,  the 
two  Carolinas,  Georgia,  and  some  others  being 
nearly   unanimous   against   it.      Penasylvania, 
New- York,  Oliio,  Kentucky  being  nearly  unani- 
mous for  it.     Massachusetts,  which  up  to  this 
time  hud  a  predominating  interest  in  commerce 
voted  all,  except  one  member,  against  it.     With 
this  sectional  aspect,  a  tarilT  for  protection  also 
began  to  assume  a  political  aspect,  being  taken 
under  the  care  of  the  party  since  discriminated 
as  Whig,  which  diew  from  Mr.  Van  Buren  a 
sagacious  remark,  addressed  to  the  manufactur- 
ers themselves;  that  if  they  suffered  their  inter- 
ests to  become  identified  with  a  political  pary 
(any  one),  they  would  share  the  fate  of  that 
party,  and  go  down  with  it  whenever  it  sunk, 
Without  the  increased  advantages  to  some  States. 
the  pendency  of  the  presidential  election,  and 
the  political  tincture  which  the  question  he^m 
to  receive,  the  bill  would  not  have  pa,ssed— so 
difficult  is  it  to  prevent  national  legislation  from 
falling  under  the  influence  of  extrinsic  and  acci- 
dental causes.    The  bill  was  approved  by  Mr. 
Monroe— a  proof  that  that  careful  and  strict 
constructionist  of  the  Constitution  did  not  con- 
sider it  as  deprived  of  its  revenue  character  by 
the  degice  of  protection  which  it  extended. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

TIIB  A.  B.  PLOT. 

On  Monday,  the  19th  of  April,  the  Speaker  of 
the  House  (Mr.  Clay)  laid  before  that  body  a 
note  ju.st  rec<>ived  from  Niniaii  Edwards,  Esq,, 
late  Senator  in  Congress,  from  Illinois,  and  then 
Minister  to  Mexico,  and  then  on  his  way  to  his 
post,  requesting  him  to  present  to  the  House  a 
commuuication  which  accompanied  the  note,  and 


which  chBrge( 
.•^I'cretory  of  t 
lord.  The  < 
tlirough  a  vol 
(lensed  at  its 
I  nccusation,  coi 
and  declaring 

■      if  tJK'  IfoilSl'  \\ 

p  coinnuuucatioi 

1^   hers  of  certai 

I  A.  B.,  of  whicl 

i  bo  the  autlioi 

}  nroived  as  a 

printed  along  i 

tions  luider  the 

then  a  [jrominc 

and  the  A.  B.  ] 

House,  were  a 

Washington  C 

defeat  his   elec 

'1, 

I'  shared  the  usu 
'  .sunk  into  obli 
-r   had  it  not  bee 
<i  IIou.se  (the  grar 
call  for  investigi 
i  "vcr.  did  not  s< 
,|  vpstipation,  and 
I  of  Congress.     ( 
incnt;  the  accu 
the  charges  wen 
them  numerous 
rel.ating  to  trans 
banks.    The  cvi 
was,  that  the  mi 
session,  before  v 
tion  would  take 
done  to  Mr.  Cra^ 
unanswered  acci 
so  imposingly  iai 
of  Congress.     Tl 
the  necessity  of  ir 
of  Virginia,  insti 
communication,  ] 
pointed  to  take  i 
be  empowered  to 
to  administer  oati 
-  J  it  to  the  House ; 
I  joiirnment,  if  the 
before;  and  publi 
was  granted,  witi 
was  most  nnex( 
speaker  (Mr.  Cla 


ANNO  1824.    JAMES  MONROE,  PRESIDENT. 


and  Mr.  C»l. 
I  list  (»f  presi. 
"undidutc  for 

iLTIl    pllUltiQg 

rith  the  pass, 
new  bunions 
I'll  npon  the 
(led  to  enrich 

expense  of 
t  of  the  bill 
Virginia,  the 
others  being 
•enasylvania, 
leurly  uniini- 
1  up  to  this 
n  oommeree, 
ust  it.  With 
otection  also 
beinR  taken 
liscriminateil 
an  Buren  a 
manufuctiir- 
1  their  int«r- 
litical  par  y 
fate  of  that 
ver  it  sunk, 
some  States, 
lection,  and 
}stion  began 

passed— so 
slation  from 
sic  and  acci- 
)ved  by  Mr. 
I  and  strict 
iid  not  con- 
ihnracter  by 
ended. 


35 


Speaker  of 
that  body  a 
vards,  Esq., 
i.s,  and  then 
way  to  his 
he  House  a 
le  note,  and 


which  charped  illegalities  and  miscondiict  on  the 
Secretory  of  the  Treasury,  Mr.  William  Ff.  Craw- 
ford.    The  chargeH   and   sperltlcntionH,  spread 
through  a  voluminous  rommunicition,  were  con- 
dcnseil  at  its  elose  into  six  regular  hemis  of 
accuMition,  containing  matter  of  imiteaohmcnt ; 
and  dcelarins  them  all  to  he  susceptible  of  proof 
if  the  FIoMse  would  order  an  itivestij^ation.     The 
communication  was  nx-eompanied  by  ten  num- 
bers of  certain  newspaper  [tublicutions,  si^'iied 
,  A.  n.,  of  which  Mr.  Edwards  avowed  himself  to 
be  the  author,  and  asked  that  they  might  be 
I  received  as  a  part  of  his  coinnnmication,  and 
printed  along  with  it,  aiid  taken  as  the  speciflca- 
^  tions  mider  the  six  charges.     Mr.  Crawford  was 
^  then  a  prominent  candidate  for  the  Presidency 
and  the  A.  B.  papers,  thus  communirate'l  to  the 
House,  were  a  series  of  publications  marlc  in  a 
Washington  Ciiy  paper,  during  the  canvas.s.  to 
defeat  his  election,  and  would  doubtless  have 
;  shared  the  usiud  fate  of  such  publications,  and 
sunk  into  oblivion  after  the  election  was  over 
had  it  not  been  for  this  formal  appeal  to  the 
House  (the  grand  inquest  of  the  nation)  and  this 
mil  for  investigation.     The  communication,  how- 
ever, did  not  seem  to  contemplate  an  early  in- 
vestigation, and  certainly  not  at  the  then  session 
of  Congress.    Congress  was  near  its  adjourn- 
ment; the  accu,ser  was  on  his  way  to  Mexico; 
the  charges  were  grave ;  the  specifications  under 
them  numerous  and  complex ;  and  many  of  them 
relating  to  transactions  with  the  remote  western 
banks.    The  evident  expectation  of  the  accuser 
was,  that  the  matter  would  He  over  to  the  next 
session,  before  which  time  the  piesidential  elec- 
tion would  take  place,  and  all  the  mischief  be 
done  to  Mr.  Crawford's  character,  resulting  from 
I  unanswered  accusations  of  so  much  gravity  and 
S  so  imposingly  laid  before  the  impeaching  branch 
of  Con-ress.     The  friends  of  Mr.  Crawford  .aw 
the  necessity  of  immediate  action ;  and  Mr.  Floyd 
of  Virginia,  instantly,  upon  the  reading  of  the 
communication,  moved  that  a  committee  be  ap- 
pointed to  take  it  into  consideration,  and  that  it 
be  empowered  to  send  for  persons  and  papers- 
to  administer  oaths-take  tcstimony-and  report 
It  to  the  House;  with  leave  to  sit  after  the  ad- 
journment, if  the  investigation  was  not  finished 
before ;  and  publish  their  report.    The  committee 
was  granted,  with  all  the  powers  asked  for,  and 

was  most  nnpvfor>t;nr,oKi„ , i  i      ,- 

1       X,,   --i— r J   ..j.jiri|,ost;d  by  the 

speaker  (Mr.  Clay) ;  a  task  of  delicacy  and  re- 


sj)onsibility,  the  S,.eaker  being  himself  a  randi- 
date  for  the  Presidency,  and  every  member  of  the 
H0U.M0  a  friend  to  some  one  of  f  he  candidat.-s,  in- 
eluding  the  accused,  rtconsi.stedof  Mr.  Floyd,  the 
mover;  Mr.  Livingston,  of  i.oin'siana;  Mi.  W  -b- 
ster,  of  Ma.ssachusetts ;  Mr.  Handolph,  of  Virj^i- 
nia;  Mr.  J.  W.  Taylor,  of  New- York ;  Mr.  Duncan 
Mc Arthur,  of  Ohio;  and  Mr.  Owen,  of  Alabama. 
The  sergeant-at-arms  of  the  Hou.'-e  was  imme- 
'liately  dispatched  by  the  committee  in  pursuit 
of  Mr,  Edwards:  overtook  him  at  fifteen  hun- 
divd  miles;  l)rought  him  back  to  Washington; 
but  did  not  arrive  until  Congress  had  adjourned. 
In  the  mean  time,  the  committee  sat,  and  received 
from  Mr.  Crawford  his  answer  to  the  six  char- 
ges :  an  answer  pronounced  by  Mr.  Handoljih 
to  be  "  ,1  triumphant  and  irresistible  vindication ; 
the  most  temperate,  passionles.s,  nnld,  dignified 
and  irrefragable  exposure  of  falsehood  that  ever 
Diet  a  base  accu.sation ;  and  without  one  harsh 
word  towards  their  author."    This  was  the  true 
character  of  the  answer;  but  Mr.  Crawford  did 
not  write  it.     He  was  unable  at  that  time  to 
write  any  thing.    It  was  written  and  read  to 
him  as  ,t  went  on,  by  a  treasury  clerk,  familiar 
with  all  the  transactions  to  which  the  accusa- 
tions related-Mr.  Asbury  Di-kens,  .since  secre- 
ary  of  the  Senate.     This  Mr.  Crawford  told 
himself  at  the  time,  with  his  accustomed  :rank- 
ne.ss.     His  answer  being  mentioned  hy  a  friend 
as  a  proof  that  his'  paralytic  stroke'  '-md  not  af- 
fected his  str.n  th,  he  replied,  that  was  no  proof- 
that  Dick.,,    wrote  it.     The  committee  went  on 
with  (I.  case  (Mr.  Edwards  represented  by  his 
so„-,n-Iaw,  Mr.  Cook),  examined  .ll  the  evidence 
m  their  reach,  made  a  report  unanimously  con- 
fi'ivd  m,  and  exonerating  Jfr.  Crawford  from 
"  iry  dishonorable  or  illegal  imputation.     The 
report  was  accepted  by  the  House;  but  Mr. 
Edwards,  having  far  to  travel   on  his  return 
journey,  had  not  yet  been  examined ;  and  to  hear 
him  the  committee  continued  to  sit  after  Con- 
gress had  adjourned.    He  was  examined  fully 
but  could  prove  nothing;  and  the  commit  0^ 
made  a  second  report,  corroborating  the  former 
and  declaring  it  as  their  unanimous  opinion- 
the  opinion  of  every  one  present-  -"  that  nothing 
had  been  proved  to  impeach  the  integrity  of  the 
Secretary,  or  to  bring  into  doubt  the  general 
correctness  and  ability  of  his  administration  of 
me  public  finances." 
The  committee  also  reported  all  the  testimony 


36 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


I    !  11 


taken,  from  which  it  appeared  that  Mr.  Edwards 
himself  had  contradicted  all  the  accusations  in 
the  A.  B.  papers ;  had  denied  the  authorship  of 
them ;  had  applauded  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Craw- 
ford in  the  use  of  the  western  banks,  and  their 
currency  in  payment  of  the  public  lands,  as  hav- 
ing saved  farmers  from  the  loss  of  their  homes ; 
and  declared  his  belief,  that  no  man  in  the  gov- 
ernment could  have  conducted  the  fiscal  and 
financial  concerns  of  the  government  with  more 
integrity  and  propriety  than  he  had  done.      This 
was  while  his  nomination  as  minister  to  Mexico 
was  depending  in  the  Senate,  and  to  Mr.  Noble, 
a  Senator  from  Indiana,  and  a  friend  to  Mr. 
Crawford.    He  testified : 


That  he  had  had  a  conversation  with  Mr. 
Edwards,  introduced  by  Mr.  E.  himself,  concern- 
ing Mr.  Crawford's  management  of  the  western 
banks,  and  the  authorship  of  the  A.  B.  letters. 
That  it  was  pending  his  nomination  made  by 
the  President  to  the  Senate,  as  minister  to  Mex- 
ico.    He  (Mr.  E.)  stated  that  he  was  about  to 
be  attacked  m  the  Senate,  for  the  purpose  of  de- 
featmg  his  nomination :  that  party  and  political 
spirit  was  now  high ;  that  he  understood  tha. 
charges  would  be  exhibited  against  him,  and 
that  It  had  been  so  declared  in  the  Senate.     He 
further  remarked,  that  he  knew  me  to  be  the 
decided  friend  of  William  H.  Crawford,  and  said 
I  am  considered  as  being  his  bitter  enemy :  and 
1  am  charged  with  being  the  author  of  the  num- 
bers signed  A.  B. ;  but  (raising  his  hand)  I  pledge 
you  my  honor,  I  am  not  the  author,  nor  do  I 
know  who  the  author  is.     Crawford  and  I,  said 
Mr.  Edwards,  have  had  a  little  difference;  but  I 
have  always  considered  him  a  high-minded,  hon- 
orable, and  vigilant  officer  of  the  government 
He  has  been  abused  about  the  western  hs"'., 
and  the  unavailable  funds.     Leaning  forward 
and  extending  his  hand,  he  added,  now  damn  it' 
you  know  we  both  live  in  States  where  there 
are  many  poor  debtors  to  the  government  for 
lands,  together  with  a  deranged  currency.     The 
notes  on  various  banks  being  depreciated,  after 
the  effect  and  operation  of  the  war  in  that  por- 
tion of  the  Union,  and  the  banks,  by  attcmptinn- 
to  call  m  their  paper,  having  exhausted  their 
specie  the  notes  that  were  in  circulation  became 
of  kttlc  or  no  value.     Many  men  of  influence  in 
tliat  country,  said  he,  have  united  to  induce  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  select  certain  banks 
as  banks  of  deposit,  and  to  take  the  notes  of 
certain  banks  in  payment  for  public  land.     Had 
he  (Mr.  Crawford)  not  done  so,  many  of  our  in- 
hatjitants  would  have  been  turned  out  of  doors 
and  lost  their  land ;  and  the  i)coi)Ie  of  the  coun- 
try would  have  had  a  universal  disgust  a-^ainst 
Mr.  Crawford.     And  I  will  ventun;  to  say  said 
Mr.  Edwards,  notwithstanding  1  am  considered 
his  enemy,  that  no  man  in  this  government  could 
bars  managed  the  fiscal  and  financial  concerns 


of  the  government  with  more  integrity  and  pro 
priety  than  Mr.  Crawford  did.     He  (Mr.Nobk) 
had  never  repeated  this  conversation  to  any  body 
until  the  eveningof  the  day  that  I  (he)  was  inform- 
ed that  Gov.  Edwards'  'address '  was  presented  to 
the  House  of  Bepresentatives.     On  that  evening 
in  conversation  with  several  members  of  tlie 
House,  amongst  whera  were  Mr.  Reid  and  Jlr 
Nelson,  some  of  whom  said  that  Governor  Ed- 
wards had  avowed  himself  to  be  the  author  of 
A.  B.,  and  others  said  that  he  had  not  done  so  I 
remarked,  that  they  must  have  misunderstood  tlie 
'address,'  for  Gov.  Edwards  had  pledged  his 
honor  to  me  that  he  was  not  the  author  of  A.  B." 
Other  witnesses  testified  to  his  denials,  while 
the  nomination  was  depending,  of  all  authorship 
of  these  publications :  among  them,  the  editors 
of  the  National  Intelligencer,— friends  to  Mr. 
Crawford.    Mr.  Edwards  called  at  their  office 
at  that  time  (the  first  time  he  had  been  there 
within  a  year),  to  exculpate  himself  from  the 
imputed  authorship ;  and  did  it  so  earnestly  that 
the  editors  believed  him,  and  published  a  contra- 
diction of  the  report  against  him  in  their  paper, 
stating  that  they  had  a  "  good  reason  "  to  know 
that  he  was  not  the  author  of  these  publicatioii-;. 
That  "  good  reason,"  they  testified,  was  his  own 
voluntary  denial  in  this  unexpected  visit  to  their 
office,  and  his  declarations  in  what  he  called  a 
"frank  and  free"  conversation  with  them  on  the 
subject.    Such  testimony,  and  the  absence  of  all 
proof  on  the  other  side,  was  fatal  to  the  accusa- 
tions, and  to  the  accuser.    The  committee  le- 
ported  honorably  and  unanimously  in  favor  of 
Mr.  Crawford ;  the  Congress  and  the  country 
accepted  it ;  Mr.  Edwards  resigned  his  commis- 
sion, and  disappeared  from  the  federal  political 
theatre :  and  that  was  the  end  of  the  A.  B.  plot, 
which  had  filled  some  newspapers  for  a  year  with 
publications  against  Mr.  Crawford,  and  which 
might  have  passed  into  oblivion,  as  the  current 
productions  and  usual  concomitants  of  a  Presi- 
dential canvass,  had  it  not  been  for  their  formal 
communication  to  Congress  as  ground  of  im- 
peachment against  a  high  officer.     That  com- 
munication carried  the  "  six  charges,"  and  their 
ten  chapters  of  specifications,  into  our  parlia- 
mentary history,  where  their  fate  becomes  one 
of  the  instructive  lessons  which  it  is  the  province 
of  history  to  teach.    The  newspaper  in  which  the 
A.  B.  papers  were  publislied,  was  edited  by  a 
war-office  clerk,  in  the  interest  of  the  war  Secre- 
tary (Mr.  Cnlhoun),  to  the  serious  injury  of  tlwt 
gentleman,  who  received  no  vote  in  any  State 
voting  for  Mr.  Crawford.  , 


EuROPKAN  wri 
of  mistakes  or 
and  these  misti 
of  the  democra 
•f  and  in  their  igi 
the  theory  and 
election  of  the 
French  writers 
de  Tocqueville  i 
and  the  theory 
ticular  to  be  th 
of  electors,  to 
power  of  electio; 
and  hence  attr 
of  these  elector 
eminent  Preside 
dential  chair.    1 
practice  is  know 
sliould  be  knowi 
who  wish  to  do 
I  The  electors  ha^ 
I  election,  and  hav 
ition.     From  th 
I  pledged  to  vote  f 
I  the  early  electio 
swards,  by  Congi 
I  caucuses  followec 
j  assemblages  call 
I  follow  the  public 
|electorhasbeeni 
Iparticular  impuls 
I  would  be  attend© 
{penalty  which  pi 
I  From  the  beginn 
I  useless,  and  an 
Jtween  the  people ; 
land,  in  time,  may 
luseless,  inconveni( 
idanger ;  having  w 
ipose  for  which  tl 
(which  purpose  no 
phecomes  a  just  a 
|shoiild  be  abolishc 
'  the  direct  vote 


rjty  and  pro- 
!  (Mr.  Noble) 
I  to  any  body 
)  v/as  inform- 
I  presented  to 
that  evening, 
ibers  of  the 
teid  and  Jlr, 
overnor  Ed- 
16  author  of 
ot  done  so  I 
iderstood  the 
pledged  his 
lorof  A.  B." 
3nials,  while 
I  authorship 
,  the  editors 
snds  to  Mr. 
their  office 
been  there 
ilf  from  the 
rnestly  that 
ed  a  contra- 
thoir  paper, 
1 "  to  know 
mblications. 
vns  his  own 
isit  to  their 
he  called  a 
;hem  on  the 
>sence  of  all 
the  accusa- 
amittoe  re- 
in favor  of 
he  country 
lis  commis' 
'al  political 
A.  B.  plot, 
a  year  with 
and  which 
the  current 
of  a  Presi- 
heir  formal 
ind  of  im- 
That  com- 
"  and  their 
our  parlia- 
icomes  one 
he  province 
1  which  the 
;dited  by  a 
war  Secri!" 
ury  of  tlwt 
I  any  State 


ANNO  1824.    JAMES  MONROE,  PRESIDENT. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

AMENDMENT  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION  IN  EELA 
TION  TO  THE  ELECTION  OF  PKESIDENT  AND 
VIOE-PBESIDENT. 


European  writers  on  American  affairs  are  full 
of  mistakes  on  the  working  of  our  government  • 
r  and  these  mistakes  are  generally  to  the  prejudice' 
[  of  the  democratic  element.     Of  these  mistakes, 
I  and  in  their  ignorance  of  the  difference  between 
;  the  theory  and  the  working  of  our  system  in  the 
!  election  of  the  two  first  officers,  two  eminent 
French  writers  are  striking  instances :  Messrs. 
de  Tocqueville  and  Thiers.     Taking  the  working 
and  the  theory  of  our  government  in  this  par- 
ticular to  be  the  same,  they  laud  the  institution 
of  electors,  to  whom  they  believe  the  whole 
I  power  of  election  belongs  (as  it  was  intended)  ;- 
j  and  hence  attribute  to  the  superior  sagacity 
jof  these  electors  the  merit  of  choosing  all  the 
[eminent  Presidents  who  have  adorned  the  presi- 
I  dential  chair.    This  mistake  between  theory  and 
I  practice  is  known  to  every  body  in  America,  and 
r  should  be  known  to  enlightened  men  in  Europe 
I  who  wish  to  do  justice  to  popular  government! 
I  The  electors  have  no  practical  power  over  the 
I  election,  and  have  had  none  since  their  institu- 
Ition.      From  the  beginning  they  have    stood 
j  pledged  to  vote  for  the  candidates  indicated  (in 
I  the  eariy  elections)  by  the  public  will;  after- 
I  wards,  by  Congress  caucuses,  as  long  as  those 
[caucuses  followed  the  public  will;  and  since,  by 
I  assemblages  called  conventions,  whether  they 
follow  the  public  will  or  not.    In  every  case  the 
I  elector  has  been  an  instrument,  bound  to  obey  a 
Iparticular  impulsion;  and  disobedience  to  which 
Iwould  be  attended  with  infamy,  and  with  every 
Ipenalty  which  public  indignation  could  inflict 
IFrom  the  beginning  these  electors  have  been 
Inseless,  and  an  inconvenient  intervention  be- 
jtween  the  people  and  the  object  of  their  choice; 
land,  m  time,  may  become  dangerous :  and  being 
juseless,  inconvenient,  and  subject  to  abuse  and 
[danger;  having  wholly  failed  to  answer  the  pur- 
[pose  for  which  they  were  instituted  (and  for 
[Which  purpose  no  one  would  now  contend);  it 
Ibecomes  a  juc:t  conclusion  that  the  institution 
Ishould  be  abolished,  and  the  election  committed 
|to  the  direct  vote  of  the  people.    And,  to  obvi- 


37 

ate  all  excuse  for  previous  nomination's  by  inter- 
mediate bodies,  a  second  election    to  be  held 
forthwith  between  the  two  highest  or  leading 
candidates,  if  no  one  had  had  a  majority  of  the 
whole  number  on  the  first  trial.    These  are  not 
new  ideas,  born  of  a  spirit  of  change  and  innova- 
tion; but  old  doctrine,  advocated  in  the  conven- 
tion which  framed  the  Constitution,  by  wise  and 
good  men ;  by  Dr.  Franklin  and  others,  of  Penn- 
sylvania;  by  John  Dickinson  and  others   of 
Delaware.     But  the  opinion  prevailed  in 'the 
convention,  that  the  mass  of  the  people  would 
not  be  sufficiently  informed,  discreet,  and  tem- 
[perate  to  exercise  with  advantage  so  great  a 
privilege  as  that  of  choosing  the  chief  magistrate 
of  a  great  republic;  and  hence  the  institution  of 
an  intermediate  body,  called  the  electoral  col- 
lege-its members  to  be  chosen  by  the  people- 
and  when  assembled  in  conclave  (I  use  the  word 
m  the  Latin  sense  of  con  and  claiis,  under  key) 
to  select  whomsoever  they  should  think  proper 
for  President    and   Vice-President.     All   this 
scheme   having  failed,  and  the   people  having 
taken  hold  of  the  election,  it  became  just  and 
regular  to  attempt  to  legalize  their  acquisition 
by  securing  to  them   constitutionally  the  full 
enjoyment  of  the  rights  which  they  imperfectly 
exercised.     The  feeling  to  this  effect   became 
strong  as  the  election  of  1824  approa<ihed,  when 
there  were  many  candidates  in  the  field,  and 
Congress  caucuses  fallen  into  disrepute;   and 
several  attempts  were  made  to  obtain  a  consti- 
tutional amencbnent  to  accomplish  the  purpose 
Mr  McDuffie,  in  the  House  of  Representatives' 
and  myself  in  the  Senate,  both  proposed  such 
amendments;  the  mode  of  taking  the  direct 
votes  to  be  in  districts,  and  the  persons  receiving 
the  greatest  number  of  v  ^tes  for  President  or 
Vice-President  in  any  district,  to  count  one  vote 
for  such  office  respectively ;  which  is  nothing  but 
substituting  the  candidates  themselves  for  their 
electoral  representatives,  while  simplifying  the 
election,  insuring    its    integrity,    and  securing 
the  rights  of  the  people.     In   support  of  my 
proposition  in  the  Senate,  I  delivered  some  ar- 
guments in  the  form  of  a  speech,  from  which  I 
here  add  some  extracts,  in  the  hope  of  keeping 
the  question  alive,  and  obtaining  for  it  a  better 
success  at  some  future  da\'. 


"The  evil  of  a  want  of  uniformity  in  the 
choice  of  presidential  electors,  is  not  limited  to 
Its  disfiguring  effect  upon  the  face  of  our  gov- 


88 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


ernment,  but  goes  to  endanger  the  rights  of  the 
people,  by  permitting  sudden  alterations  on  the 
eve  of  an  election,  and  to  annihilate  the  right  of 
the  small  States,  by  enabling  the  large  ones  to 
combine,  and  to  throw  all  their  votes  into  the 
scale  of  a  particular  candidate.     These  obvious 
evils   make  it  certain  that  any  uniform  rule 
would   be  ])referable  to   the  present  state  of 
things.     But,  in  fixing  on  one,  it  is  the  duty  of 
statesmen  to  select  that  which  is  calculated  to 
give  to  every  portion  of  the  Union  its  due  share 
in  the  choice  of  the  Chief  Magistrate,  and  to 
every  individual  citizen,  a  fair  opportunity  of 
voting  according  to  his  will.     This  would  be 
effected  by  adopting  the  District  System.     It 
would  divide  every  State  into  districts,  equal  to 
the  whole  number  of  votes  to  be  given,  and  the 
people  of  each  district  would  be  governed  by 
Its  own  majority,  and  not  by  a  majority  existing 
m  some  remote  part  of  the  State.     This  would 
be  agreeable  to  the  rights  of  individuals:  for,  in 
entering  into  societ}',  and  submitting  to  be  bound 
by  the  decision  of  the  majority,  each  individual 
retamed  the  right  of  voting  for  himself  wherever 
it  was  practicable,  and  of  being  governed  by  a 
majority  of  the  vicinage,  and  not  by  majorities 
brought  from  remote  sections  to  overwhelm  him 
with  their  accumulated  numbers.     It  would  be 
agreeable  to  the  interests  of  all  parts  of  the 
States  ;  for  each  State  may  have  dilferent  inter- 
ests in  different  parts  ;  one  part  may  be  agricul- 
tural, another  manufacturing,  another  commer- 
cial ;  and  it  would  be  unjust  that  the  strongest 
should  govern,  or  that  two  «hould  combine  and 
sacrifice  the  third.     The  district  system  would 
be  agreeable  to  the  intention  of  our  present  con- 
stitution, which,  in  giving  to  each  elector  a  sepa- 
rate vote,  instead  of  giving  to  each  State  a  con- 
solidated vote,   composed   of   all   its    electoral 
suffrages,  clearly  intended  that  each  mass  of 
persons  entitled  to  one  elector,  should  have  the 
right  of  giving  one  vote,  according  to  their  own 
sense  of  their  own  interest. 

"  The  general  ticket  .system  now  existing  in  ten 
States,  was  the  offspring  of  policy,  and  not  of 
any  disposition  to  give  fair  play  to  the  will  of 
the  people.  It  was  adopted  by  the  leading  men 
of  those  States,  to  enable  them  to  consolidate 
the  vote  of  the  State.  It  would  be  easy  to  prove 
this  by  referring  to  facts  of  historical  notoriety. 
It  contributes  to  give  power  and  consequence  to 
the  leaders  who  manage  the  elections,  but  it  is  a 
departure  from  the  intention  of  the  constitution  ; 
violates  the  rights  of  the  minorities,  and  is  at- 
tended with  many  other  evils.  The  intention  of 
the  constitution  is  violated,  because  it  was  the 
intention  of  that  instrument  co  give  to  each  mass 
of  persons,  entitled  to  one  elector,  the  power  of 
giving  an  electoral  vote  to  any  candidate  they 
preferred.  The  rights  of  minorities  are  violated, 
because  a  majoiity  of  one  will  carry  the  vote  of 
the  whole  State.  This  principle  is  the  same, 
■whether  tiie  elector  is  chosen  by  genera!  ticket 
or  by  legislative  ballot ;  a  majority  of  one,  in 


either  case,  carries  the  vote  of  the  whole  State, 
In  New-York,  thirty-six  electoi-s  are  chosen' 
nineteen  is  a  majority,  and  the  candidate  receivin» 
tliis  majority  is  fairly  entitled  to  count  nineteen 
votes ;  but  he  counts  in  reality,  thirty-six  :  be- 
cause the  minority  of  seventeen  are  added  to  the 
majority.  These  seventeen  votes  belong  to  seven- 
teen masses  of  people,  of  40,000  souls  each,  in  all 
080,000  people,  whose  votes  are  seized  upon 
taken  away,  and  presented  to  whom  the  majority 
pleases.  Extend  the  calculation  to  the  seventeen 
States  now  choosing  electors  by  general  ticket 
or  legislative  ballot,  and  it  will  show  that  t'nee 
millions  of  souls,  a  population  equal  to  tiiat 
which  carried  us  through  the  Revolution,  may 
have  their  votes  taken  from  them  in  the  same 
way.  To  lose  their  votes,  is  the  fate  of  all  mi- 
norities,  and  it  is  their  duty  to  submit ;  but  tiiis 
is  not  a  case  of  votes  lost,  but  of  votes  tuki-n 
away,   added    to  those   of   the  majority. 


.     -'  -    --    -J — J,  ana 

given  to  a  person  to  whom  the  minority  was 
opposed. 

"  He  said,  this  objection  (to  the  direct  vote  of 
the  people)  had  a  weight  in  the  year  1787,  to  which 
it  is  not  entitled  in  the  year  1824.    Our  govern- 
ment was  then  young,  schools  and  colleges  were 
scarce,  political  science  was  then  confined  to  feiv, 
and  the  means  of  diffusing  intelligence  were  both 
inadequate  and  uncertain.     The  experiment  ol'a 
popular  government  was  just  beginning ;  the 
people  had  been  just  released  from  subjectiwitu 
an  hereditary  king,  and  were  not  yet  practisd 
in  the  art   of  choosing  a  temporary  chief  tur 
themselves.     But  thirty-six  years  have  revoiaJ 
this  picture.     Thirty -six  years,  which  have  pio- 
duced  so  many  wonderful  changes  in  Ameiica, 
have  accomplished  the  work  of  many  centiiriis 
upon  the  intelligence  of  its  inhabitants.     Withii 
that  period,  schools,  colleges,  and   universitit; 
have  multiplied  to  an   amazing  extent.     Tht 
means  of  diffusing  intelligence  have  been  won- 
derfully augmented  by  the  establishment  of  sis 
hundred  newspapers,  and  upwards  of  five  tliou- 
sand  post-offices.    The  whole  coui-se  of  an  Aiiur- 
lean's  life,  civil,  social,  and  religious,  has  becoim 
one  continued  scene  of  intellectual  and  of  uioia; 
improvement.     Once  in  every  week,  more  tiiar; 
eleven  thousand  men,  eminent  for  learning  anJ 
for  piety,  perform  the  double  duty  of  aineiuliiic 
the  heaits,  and  enlightening  the  understanding 
of  more  than  eleven  thousand  congregations  of 
people.     Under  the  benign  influence  of  a  frw 
government,  botli  our  public  institutions  and  pri- 
vate pursuits,  our  juries,  elections,  courts  of  jus- 
tice, the  liberal  professions,  and  the  meclianic 
arts,  have  each  become  a  school  of  political  sci- 
ence and  of  mental  improvement.     The  federal 
legislature,  in  the  annual  message  of  the  Presi- 
dent, in  reports  from  heads  of  departments,  and 
committees  of  Congress,  and  speeches  of  mem- 
bers, pours  forth  a  flood  of  intelligence  which ' 
carries  its  waves  to  th.e  remotest  coufiucs  of  the 
republic.     In  the  ditJereiit  States,  twenty-four 
State  executives  and  State  legislatures  are  aunu- 


ally  repeat 

limited  sph 

ling,  and  tf 

thought,  ai 

gcnce  of  th 

The  face  of 

grand  and 

the  human 

Less  than 

liberty  has 

moral  trutf 

power  of  tl 

rules  the  af] 

gence  the  o 

preferment. 

has  created 

for  reading, 

the  endowra 

the  heart,  a 

inestimable 

posterity. 

"This  obj 

violence  at  t 

tory  of  the  a 

ary  election; 

justness  of  t 

thing  in  the 

parallel  bet^ 

volatile  Gre 

There  is  not 

countries,  or 

makes  one  a; 

mans  voted  i 

even  when  tf 

lions  of  perso 

and  divided  ii 

but  by  centu: 

the  voters  w 

citj-,  and  deci 

gle.    In  such 

to  violence,  an 

prepared  by  t 

ted  States  all 

assembled  in  i 

places,  distribi 

They  come  to 

odious  distinc 

violence,  and  v 

If  heated  duri 

upon  rcturnir 

their  ordinary 

'■  But  let  m 

Let  us  admit 

be  as  tumultui 

as  were  the  cj 

the  election  o 

then  ?    Are  v 

of  the  officers 

degradation  of 

presided?     I  j 

assert  the  sup 

others  ever  o 

either  by  herei 

lect  mode  of  el 


ANNO  1824.    JAMES  MONROE,  PRESIDENT. 


3  minority  was 


ally  repeating  the  same  process  within  a  more 
limited  sphere.     The  habit  of  universal  travel- 
ling, and  the  practice  of  universal  interchange  of 
thought,  are  continually  circulating  the  in'telli- 
gence  of  the  country,  and  augmenting  its  mass. 
•The  face  of  our  country  itself,  its  vast  extent,  its 
grand  and  varied  features,  contribute  to  expand 
the  human  intellect,  and  to  magnify  its  power 
Less  than  half  a  century  of  the  enjoyment  of 
liberty  has  given  practical  evidence  of  the  great 
moral  truth,  that,  under  a  free  government  the 
power  of  the  intellect  is  the  only  power  which 
rules  the  affairs  of  men ;  and  virtue  and  intelli- 
gence the  only  durable  passports  to  honor  and 
preferment.     The  conviction  of  this  great  truth 
has  created  an  universal  taste  for  learning  and 
for  reading,  and  has  convinced  every  parent  that 
the  endowments  of  the  mind,  and  the  virtues  of 
the  heart,  are  the  only  imperishable,  the  only 
mestimable  riches  which  he  can  leave  to  his 
posterity. 

"This  objection  (the  danger  of  tumults  and 
violence  at  the  elections)  is  taken  from  the  his- 
tory of  the  ancient  republics ;  from  the  tumultu- 
ary elections  of  Rome  and  Greece.  But  the 
justness  of  the  example  is  denied.  There  is  no- 
thing m  the  laws  of  physiology  which  admits  a 
parallel  between  the  sanguinary   Roman,  the 

Twl  ■?.  •  *™^  !t  P^>l''S™''^ti«  American. 
Ihere  is  nothing  m  the  state  of  the  ?  ■  ctivc 
countries,  or  in  their  manner  of  vf,  hich 

makes  one  an  example  for  the  oth(  '     Ro 

mans  voted  in  a  mass,  at  a  single  votm-'  nlace 
even  when  the  qualified  voters  amounted  to  mil- 
lions of  persons.  They  came  to  the  polls  armed 
and  divided  into  classes,  and  voted,  not  by  bezels,' 
but  by  centuries.     In  the  Grecian  Republics  al 

c it3 ,  and  decided  the  contest  in  one  great  strug- 
gle. In  such  assemblages,  both  the  inducement 
to  violence,  and  the  means  of  committing  it  we?e 
!7^l^f  by  the  government  itself.  I,f tLe  Uni- 
ted Sta  es  all  this  is  different.  The  voters  are 
assembkd  m  small  bodies,  at  innumerable  votn' 
places,  distributed  over  a  vast  extent  of  co^n  ry 

odiZsTHn'r^'  polls  without  arms,witS 
Odious  distinctions,  without  any  temntation  to 
violence,  and  with  eVery  inducem^ent  t?ha  mmiy 
If  heated  during  the  day  of  election,  they  ""ol  off 
upon  re  unung  to  their  homes,  a'nd^run ing 
their  ordinary  occupations.  resuming 

■  But  let  us  admit  the  truth  of  the  objection 
Let  us  admit  that  the  American  people*' would 
?s  wnr  T.1"'""'^  ^*  their  presidentia  elections 
as  « ere  the  citizens  of  the  ancient  republicrat 
e  ectu,n  of  their  chief  magistrate*!,.     Wha 

dgradrt  of  thr''''f'-""^*  '^'  consequent 
pSi2    T  1  countries  over  which  they 

presiauw  I  answer  no.  So  far  from  it  fl.n^i 
assert  the  superiority  of  these  ofJc??^ 'oVe'^1 
others  ever  obtninod  for   fho  =:^n         °^*^J.*"' 

feet  mode  of  election.    I  affirm  those  periods  of 


39 


history  to  be  the  most  glorious  in  arms,  the 
most  renowned  m  arts  the  most  celebrat^  in 
letters,  the  most  useful  in  practice,  and  the  most 
happy  m  the  condition  of  the  people,  in  which 

hn"?r'  ^°^y°f/he  citizens  Voted  direrS 
the  chief  officer  of  their  country.  Take  the 
history  of  that  commonwealth  which  yet  shines 
as  the  leading  star  in  the  firmament  of  nations 
Ut  the  twenty-five  centur'ies  that  the  Roman 
state  has  existed  to  what  period  do  we  look  for 
the  generals  and  statesmen,  the  poets  and  ora- 
tors, the  philosophers  and  historians,  the  sculp- 
tors painters,  and  architects,  whose  immortal 
works  have  fixed  upon  their  country  the  admir- 
ing eyes  of  all  succeeding  ages  ?  Is  it  to  thp 
reigns  of  the  seven  first  king.s  ?-to  the  reigSs 

bands'/TtT''  P^^^l'T^'l  by  the  praetorian 
bands?— to  the  reigns  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiffs 

TZ\^^  f  ''^''}-  ^"""^y  "^  '^^•^^tors  in  a  cone  ave 
of  most  holy  cardinals  ?  No- We  look  to  none 
of  these,  but  to  that  short  intorval  of  four  cen! 
tunes  and  a  half  which  lies  between  the  expS- 
of^mnn.    ^  ^^T.^"''  ''"^^  ^^e  1  e-establishment 

It  i^o  thy,?°  ,^^'  ?'^'°!^  «'■  <^*^'^^'"«  Caesar. 
It  IS  to  this  short  period,  during  which  the  con- 
suls, tribunes,  and  praetors,  were  annually^loctod 
by  a  direct  vote  of  the  people,  to  which  we  look 
ourselves  and  to  which  we' direct  the  infant 
minds  of  our  children,  for  all  the  works  and 
monuments  of  Roman  greatness;  for  roaJs 
bridges,  and  aqueducts,  constructed;  for  victo- 

r>nl?'".  '  "''*'°°?  vanquished,  commerce  ex- 
tended, treasure  imported,  libraries  founded 
learning  encouraged,  the  arts  flourishing,  the 
city  embel hshed,  and  the  kings  of  the  earth 
humbly  suing  to  be  admitted  into  >  '  "endshin 
and  taken  under  the  protectioi  ^  '..  Roman 
people.  It  was  of  this  magnificei.,,  period  Sat 
Cicero  spoke  when  he  proclaimed  thf  people  of 
Rome  to  be  the  masters  of  kings,  and  the  con- 
querors and  commanders  of  all  'the  nations  of 
he  earth.     And,  what  is  wonderful,  during  this 

and  fiftf  r'^'  '?  ?  !"'*^^-^'°"  «f  ^^^'  hundred 
and  fifty  annual  elections,  the  people  never  once 

^.rrl^n?/ "''''"  ■?  the  consulship  who  did  So? 
caiiy  the  prosperity  and  the  glory  of  the  Re- 

CJj^it     '  P*^'"*^^^^"^  that 'at  -Jhich  heh^ 

"It  is  the  same  with  the  Grecian  Republics. 
Thirty  centuries  have  elapsed  since  they  we7e 
founded ;  yet  it  is  to  an  ephemeral  period  of  one 
himdred  and  fifty  years  only,  the  period  of  pop^! 
lar  elections  which  intervened  between  the  dis- 
persion of  a  cloud  of  petty  tyrants,  and  he 
CO  nmg  of  a  great  one  in  the  jferson  ^  Phi  ,p 
king  of  Macedon,  that  we  are  to  look  for  thS 

&  "^  ?"^^^  'f'^^  '^'"^  '">  '""^h  lustre  upon 
their  country,  and  in  which  we  are  to  find  the 
ii-st  cause  of  that  intense  sympathy  which  now 
burns  in  our  bosoms  at  the  name  of  Greece 

Ihese  short  and  brilb-nnt  periods  ovhi!,it  the 
great  triumph  of  popular  elections ;  often  tu- 
multuary- often  stained  with  blood,  but  always 
eiHliiig  gloriously  for  the  country.     Then  the 


i  * 


I' 


'■4] 


r 

! 

1 


I         "" 


.      », 


40 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


i 


right  of  suffrage  was  enjoyed ;  the  sovereignty 
of  the  people  was  no  fiction.  Then  a  sublime 
spectacle  was  seen,  when  the  Roman  citizen 
advanced  to  the  polls  and  proclaimed  :  '  /  vote 
for  Cato  to  be  Consul;'  the  Athenian.  '  I  vote 
for  Aristides  to  be  Archon ;'  the  Theban,  'I 
vote  for  Pelopidas  to  be  Bceotrach  ;'  the  Lace- 
demonian, '  /  vote  for  Leonidas  to  be  fird  of 
the  Ephori.'  And  why  may  not  an  American 
citizen  do  the  same  ?  Why  may  not  he  go  up 
t»  the  poll  and  proclaim,  '  /  vote  for  Thomas 
person  to  be  President  of  the  United  States?' 
Why  is  he  compelled  to  put  his  vote  in  the  ha ,  :is 
of  another,  and  to  incur  all  the  hazards  of  in 
irresponsible  agency,  when  he  himself  30uld  im- 
mediately give  his  own  vote  for  his  own  chosen 
candidate,  without  the  slightest  assistance  from 
agents  or  managers  ? 

"  But,  said  Mr.  Benton,  I  have  other  objec- 
tions to  those  intermediate  electors.  They  are 
the  peculiar  and  favorite  institution  of  aristocratic 
republics,  and  elective  monarchies.  I  refer  the 
Senate  to  the  late  republics  of  Venice  and  Genoa ; 
of  France,  and  her  litter;  to  the  kingdom  of 
Poland ;  the  empire  of  Germany,  and  the  Pon- 
tificate of  Rome.  On  the  contrary,  a  direct 
vote  by  the  people  is  the  peculiar  and  fiivorite 
institution  of  democratic  republics ;  as  we  have 
just  seen  in  the  governments  of  Rome,  Athens, 
Thebes,  and  Sparta;  to  which  may  be  added  the 
principal  cities  of  the  Amphyctionic  and  Achaian 
leagues,  and  the  renowned  republic  of  Carthage 
when  the  rival  of  Rome. 

"I  have  now  answered  the  objections  which 
were  brought  forward  in  the  year  '87.  I  ask 
for  no  judgment  upon  their  validity  at  that  day, 
but  I  affirm  them  to  be  without  force  or  reason 
in  the  year  1824.  Time  and  kxperience  have 
so  decided.  Yes,  time  and  experience,  the  only 
infallible  tests  of  good  or  bad  institutions,  have 
now  shown  that  the  continuance  of  the  electoral 
system  will  be  both  useless  and  dangerous  to 
the  liberties  of  the  people,  and  that  'the  only 
effectual  mode  of  preserving  our  government 
from  the  corruptions  which  have  undermined 
the  libertij  of  so  matiy  nations,  is,  to  confide 
the  ekclion  of  our  chief  magistrate  to  those 
who  are  farthest  removed  from  the  influence 
of  his  patronage ; '  *  that  is  to  say,  to  the 

WHOLE  BODV  OF  AMERICAN  CITIZENS  ! 

"The  electors  are  not  independent;  they 
have  no  superior  intelligence ;  they  are  not  left 
to  their  own  judgment  in  the  choice  of  President ; 
they  are  not  ahove  the  control  of  the  people ;  on 
the  contrary,  every  elector  is  pledged,  before  he 
is  chosen,  to  give  his  vote  according  to  the  will 
of  those  who  choose  him.  He  is  nothing  but  an 
agent,  tied  down  to  the  execution  of  a  precise 
trust.  Every  reason  which  induced  the  conven- 
tion to  institute  electors  has  failed.  They  are 
no  longer  of  any  use,  and  may  be  dangerous  to 


*  Eoport  of  n  Committee  of  the  House  of  EeprosoutatlvoB 
4)0  Mr.  McUullie's  proputitlon. 


the  liberties  of  the  people.    They  are  not  useful 
because  they  have  no  power  over  their  own  vote' 
and  because  the  people  can  vote  for  a  President 
a-s  easily  as  they  can  vote  for  an  elector.     They 
are  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the  people,  be- 
cause, in  the  first  place,  they  introduce  extrane- 
ous considerations  into  the  election  of  President' 
and,  in  the  secoml  place,  they  may  sell  the  vote 
which  is  intrusted  to  their  keeping.     They  in- 
troduce extraneous  considerations,  by  bringing 
their  own  character  and  their  own  exertions 
into  the  presidential  canvass.     Every  one  sees 
this.     Candidates  lor  electors  are  now  .selected, 
not  for  the  reasons  mentioned  in  the  Federalist! 
but  for  their  devotion  to  a  particular  party  for 
then'  manners,  and  their  talent  at  electioneerine 
The  elector  may  betray  the  liberties  of  the  peo- 
ple, by  selling  his  vote.     The  operation  is  ea«v 
because  he  votes  by  ballot ;  detection  is  impos- 
sible, becaftse  he  does  not  sign  his  vote ;  the 
restraint  is  nothing  but  his  own  conscience,  for 
there  is  no  legal  punishment  for  his  breach  of 
trust.     If  a  swindler  defrauds  you  out  of  a  few 
dollars  in  property  or  money,  he  is  whipped  and 
pilloried,  and  rendered  infamous  in  the  eye  of 
the  law ;  but,  if  an  elector  should  defraud  40,000 
people  of  their  vote,  there  is  no  remedy  but  to 
abuse  him  in  the  newspapers,  where  the  b(St 
men  in  the  country  may  be  abused,  as  much  as 
Benedict  Arnold,   or   Judas  Iscariot.      Every 
reason  for  instituting  electors  has  failed,  and 
every  consideration  of  prudence  requires  them 
to   be    discontinued.      They  are  nothing    but 
agents,  in  a  case  which  requires  no  agent ;  and 
no  prudent  man  would,  or  ought,  to  employ  an 
agent  to  take  care  of  his  money,  his  property, 
or  his  liberty,  when  he  is  equally  capable  to 
take  care  of  them  himself. 

"  But,  if  the  plan  of  the  constitution  had  not 
failed— if  we  were  now  deriv  ng  from  electors 
all  the  advantages  expected  from  their  institu- 
tion—I,  for  one,  said  Mr.  B.,  would  .still  be  in 
favor  of  getting  rid  of  them.  I  should  esieera 
the  incorruptibility  of  the  people,  their  disinte- 
rested desire  to  get  the  best  man  for  President, 
to  be  more  than  a  counterpoise  to  all  the  advan- 
tages which  might  be  derived  from  the  superior 
intelligence  of  a  more  enlightened,  but  smaller, 
and  therefore,  more  corruptible  body.  I  should 
be  opposed  to  the  intervention  of  electors,  be- 
cause the  double  process  of  electing  a  man  to 
elect  a  man,  would  p.aralyze  the  spirit  of  tli^^ 
people,  and  destroy  the  life  of  the  election  itself 
Doubtless  this  machinery  was  introduced  into 
our  constitution  for  the  purpcse  of  .softening  the 
action  of  the  democratic  element;  but  it  also 
softens  the  interest  of  the  people  in  the  result 
of  the  election  itself.  It  places  them  at  too 
great  a  distance  from  their  first  servant.  It  in- 
terposes a  body  of  men  between  the  people  and 
the  object  of  their  choice,  and  gives  a  false  di- 
n.'ction  to  (he  gratitude  of  the  President  elected, 
He  reels  liunself  indebted  to  the  electoi-s  who  ^ 
collected  the  votes  of  the  people,  and  not  to  the  | 


f 


n    KIND    OF    SI 

Ions  : '  and  the 


ANNO  1824,    JAMES  MONROE,  PRESmENT. 


,jplo,  who  gave  their  vctes  to  the  electors.    It 
lables  a  few  men  to  govern  many,  and,  in  time, 
will  transfer  the  whole  power  of  the  election 
ito  the  hands  of  a  few,  leaving  (o  the  peofde 
le  humble  occupation  of  confirminjj  what  has 
sen  done  by  superior  authority. 
''Mr  Benton  referred  to  historical  examples  to 
jve  the  correctness  of  his  opinion. 
"  He  mentioned  the  constitution  of  the  French 
^public,  of  the  year  III.  of  French    liberty. 
!he  people  to  choose  electors ;  these  to  choose 
he  Councils  of  Five  Hundred,  and  of  Ancients  ; 
id  these,  by  a  further  process  of  filtration,  to 
loose  the  Five  Directors.    The  effect  was,  that 
je  people  had  no  concern  in  the  election  of 
leir  Chief  Magistrates,  and  felt  no  interest  in 
leirfate.    They  saw  them  enter  and  expel 
!h  other  from  the  political  theatre,  with  the 
jie  indiiference  with  which  they  would  see 
le  entrance  and  the  exit  of  so  many  players  on 
;e  stage.   It  was  the  same  thing  in  all  the  subal- 
irn  Republics  of  which  the  French  armies  were 
Wivered,  while  overturning  the  thrones  of  Eu- 
►pe.    The  constitutions  of  the  Ligurian,  Cisal- 
ne,  and   Parthenopian    Republics,   were    all 
iplicates  of  the  mother  institution,  at  Paris ; 
id  all  shared  the  same  fate.    The  French  con- 
lar  constitution  of  the  year  VIII.  (the  last 
sar  of  French  liberty)  preserved  all  the  vices 
the  electoral  system;    and  from   this  fact 
[one,  that  profound  observer,  Neckar,  from 
»e  bosom  of  his  retreat,  in  the  midst  of  the 
dps,  predicted  and  proclaimed  the  death  of 
porty  m  France.    He  wrote  a  book  to  prove 
^at   Liberty  would  be  ruined  by  providing 


41 


»Y    KIND    OF    SUBSTITUTE   FOR    POPULAR    ELEC- 

loNs :    and  the  result  verified  his  prediction  in 
■""  years." 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

INTERNAL  TRADE  WITH  NEW  MEXICO. 

IE  name  of  Mexico,  the  synonyme  .f  gold  and 
Iver  mines   possessed  always    an    invincible 
larm  for  the  people  of  the  western  States, 
luarded  from  intrusion  by  Spanish  jealousy  I 
Id  despotic  power,  and  imprisonment  for  life 
]  labor  in  the  mines,  the  inexorable  penalty  for 
•ery  attempt  to  penetrate  the  forbidden  coun- 
r,  still  the  dazzled  imaginations  and  daring 
|ints  of  the  Great  West  adventured  upon  the 
terpnse;  .-vnd  failure  and  misfortune,  chains 
Id   labor,   were  not  sufficient  to    intimidate 
Hers.      The  journal  of  (the  then  lieutenant, 


afterwards)  General  Pike  inflamed  this  spirit, 
and  induced  new  adventurers  to  hazard  the  en- 
terprise, only  to  meet  the  fate  of  their  predeces- 
sors.    It  v/as  not  until  the  Independence  of 
Mexico,  in  the  year  1821,  that  the  frontiers  of 
this  vast  and  hitherto  sealed  up  country,  were 
thrown  open  to  foreign  ingress,  and  trade  and 
intercourse  allowed  to  take  their  course.     The 
State  of  Missouri,  from  her  geographical  posi- 
tion, and  the  adventurous  spirit  of  her  inhabit- 
ants, was  among  the  first  to  engage  in  it;  and 
the  "Western  Internal  Provinces  "—the  vast 
region  comprehending  New  Mexico,  El  Paso  del 
Norte,  New  Biscay,  Chihuahua,  Sonora,  Sinaloa, 
and  all  the  wide  slope  spreading  down  towards 
the  Gulf  of  California,  the  ancient  "Sea  of  Cor- 
tez»— was  the  remote  theatre  of  their  cour- 
ageous enterprise— the  further  ofi"  and  the  less 
known,  so  much  the  more  attractive  to  their 
daring  spirits.     It  was  the  work  of  individual 
enterprise,  without  the  protection    or  counte- 
ance  of  the  government— without  even  its  know- 
ledge—and exposed  to  constant  danger  of  life 
and  property  from  the  untamed  and  predatory 
savages,  Arabs  of  the  New  World,  which  roam- 
ed over  the  intermediate  country  of  a  thousand 
miles,  and  considered  the  merchant  and    his 
goods  their  lawful  prey.    In  three  years  it  had 
grown  up  to  be  a  new  and  regular  branch  of  in- 
terior commerce,  profitable  to  those  engaged  in 
It,  valuable  to  the  country  from  the  articles  it 
carried  out,  and  for  the  silver,  the  furs,  and  the 
mules  whicli  it  brought  back;  and  well  entitled 
to  the  protection  and  care  of  the  government. 
That  protection  was  sought,  and  in  the  form 
which  the  character  of  the  trade  required-a 
right  of  way  through  the  countries  of  the  tribes 
between    Missouri  and  New  Mexico,   a    road 
marked  out  and  security  in  travelling  it,  stipula- 
tions for  good  behavior  from  the  Indians,  and  a 
consular  establishment  in  the  provinces  to  be 
traded  with.    The  consuls  could  be  appointed 
by  the  order  of  the  government;  but  the  road, 
the  treaty  stipulations,  and  the  substantial  pro- 
tection against  savages,  required  the  aid  of  the 
federal  legislative  power,  and  for  that  purpose  a 
Bill  was  brought  into  the  Senate  by  me  in  the 
session  of   1824-25;  and  being  a  novel    and 
strange  subject,  and  asking  for  extr-anrdinary 
legislation,  it  became  necessary  to  lay  a  foun- 
dation of  fafits,  and  to  furnish  a  reason  and  an 
argument  for  every  thing  that  was  asked.    I 


42 


TITIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


tl  I 


produced  a  Htatpmcnt  froni  those  pngiiRcd  in  tlio 
trmlc,  among  others  from  Mr.  Auniistus  Storrs, 
lato  of  Now  llamj)shire,  then  of  Missouri — iv 
gentleman  of  charncter  and  intelligence,  very 
capable  of  relating  things  as  they  were,  and  in- 
capable of  relating  them  otherwise;  and  who 
had  been  i)ersonally  engaged  in  tlio  trade.  In 
presenting  his  statement,  and  moving  to  have  it 
printed  for  the  use  of  the  Senate,  I  said  : 

"  This  gentleman  had  been  one  of  a  caravan  of 
eighty  persons,  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  horses, 
and  twenty-throe  wngons  and  carriages,  which 
had  made  the  expedition  from  Missouri  to  Santa 
Fe  (of  New  Mexico),  in  the  months  of  May 
and  June  last.  His  account  was  full  of  interest 
and  novelty.  It  sounded  like  romance  to  hear 
of  caravans  of  men,  horses,  and  wagons,  travers- 
ing with  their  merchandise  the  vast  j)lain  which 
lies  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  liin  dd 
Nmir.  The  story  seemed  better  adapted  to  Asia 
than  to  North  America.  But,  romantic  as  it 
might  seem,  the  reality  had  already  exceeded  the 
visions  of  the  wildest  imagination.  The  journey 
to  New  Afexico,  but  lately  deemed  a  chimerical 
project,  had  become  an  affair  of  ordinary  occur- 
rence. Santa  Fe,  but  lately  the  Ultima  Thulc 
of  American  enter|)rise,  was  now  considered  as 
a  stage  only  in  the  progress,  or  rather,  a  new 
point  of  departure  to  our  invincible  citizens, 
instead  of  turning  back  from  that  point,  the 
caravans  broke  np  there,  and  the  subdivisions 
branched  off  in  ditlercnt  directions  in  search  of 
new  theatres  for  their  enterprise.  Some  pro- 
ceeded down  the  river  to  the  Poso  del  Norte. ; 
some  to  the  mines  of  Chihuahua  and  Durango, 
in  the  province  of  New  Biscay ;  some  to  Sonora 
and  Sinaloa,  on  the  Gulf  of  California;  and 
some,  seeking  new  lines  of  communication  with 
the  Pacific,  had  luidertaken  to  descend  the  west- 
ern slope  of  our  continent,  through  the  nnex- 
plored  regions  of  the  Colorado.  The  fruit  of 
these  enterprises,  for  the  present  year,  amounted 
to  $190,000  in  gold  and  silver  bullion,  and  coin, 
ami  precious  furs  ;  a  sum  considerable,  in  itself, 
in  the  commerce  of  an  infant  State,  but  chiefly 
deserving  a  statesman's  notice,  as  .an  earnest  of 
what  might  be  exi)ected  from  a  regulated  and 
protected  trade.  The  princijjal  article  given  in 
exchange,  is  that  of  which  we  have  the  greatest 
abundance,  and  which  has  the  peculiar  advantage 
of  making  the  circuit  of  the  Union  before  it 
departs  from  the  territories  of  the  republic — 
cotton — which  grows  in  the  South,  is  manu- 
factured in  the  North,  and  exported  from  the 
West 

"  That  the  trade  will  be  beneficial  to  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Internal  Provinces,  is  a  pro- 
position too  plain  to  be  argued.  They  are  a 
people  among  whom  all  the  arts  are  lost — the 
ample  catalogue  of  whose  wants  may  be  inferred 
from  the  lamentable  details  of  Mr.  Storrs.    No 


books!  no  nowspaporHl  iron  a  dollar  a  poiiml! 
cultivating  the  earth  with  wooden  tools!  and 
spinning  ujion  a  stick !  Such  is  the  pictun^  of| 
people  whose  fathers  wore  the  proud  title  of 
''  ('(iiK/urrorfi  ;^^  whose  ancestors,  in  the  timiidf 
Charles  the  Fifth,  wore  the  pri<le,  the  terror,  nini 
the  model  of  Europe;  and  such  has  been  tl* 
l)Ower  of  civil  and  religious  (hispotism  in  occom. 
plishing  the  degradation  of  the  human  spwips' 
To  a  people  thus  abased,  and  so  lately  arrivwl 
at  the  possession  of  their  liberties,  a  supply  o[ 
merchandise,  upon  the  cheapest  tenns,  is  tht 
lea-st  of  the  benefits  to  be  deprived  from  n  com- 
merce with  the  {icople  of  the  United  Slates.  Tli 
consolidation  of  their  republican  institution 
the  improvement  of  their  moral  and  social  on 
dition,  the  restoration  of  their  lost  arts,  and  lb 
development  of  their  national  ri'sources,  an 
among  the  grand  results  which  philanthrofj 
anticipates  from  such  a  commerce. 

"To  the  Indians  themselves,  the  openini^ofi 
road  through  their  country  is  an  object  of  vitt 
importance.  It  is  connected  with  the  preservt 
tion  and  improvement  of  their  race.  For  tsi 
hundred  years  the  problem  of  Indian  civiiizatk 
lias  been  successively  presented  to  each  gcncn 
tiou  of  the  Americans,  and  solved  by  eacii  inlli 
same  way.  Schools  have  been  set  up,  c<  iicfo 
founded,  and  missions  established ;  a  woiidwfi 
success  has  attended  the  commencement  of  evin 
undertaking ;  and,  after  som(^  time,  tlu^  scliofs 
the  colleges,  the  missions,  and  the  Indians,  k 
all  disajjpeared  together.  In  the  south  al(* 
have  we  seen  an  exception.  There  the  natios 
have  preserved  themselves,  and  have  iiiadfi 
cheering  progress  in  the  arts  of  civilizalk 
Their  advance  is  the  work  of  twenty  years,  I 
dates  its  commencement  from  the  openiiiKti 
roads  through  their  coimtry.  lloads  indiiu: 
separate  families  to  settle  at  the  ciossinfri 
rivers,  to  establish  themselves  at  the  best  sprin; 
and  tracts  of  land,  and  to  begin  to  .sell  pi; 
and  provisions  to  the  travellers,  whom,  a  fei 
years  before,  they  wonld  kill  and  plunder.  lb 
imparted  the  idea  of  exclusive  property  in  it 
soil,  and  created  an  attachm(;nt  for  a  fixed  m 
dence.  Gradually,  fields  were  opened,  hou^« 
built,  orchards  planted,  flocks  and  herds  acquirtt 
and  slaves  bought.  The  acquisition  of  tlie 
comforts,  relieving  the  body  from  the  torturiis 
wants  of  cold  and  hunger,  placed  the  niiiidiii 
condition  to  pursue  its  improvement. — This,  )l: 
President,  is  the  true  secret  of  the  happy » 
vance  which  the  southern  tribes  have  niades 
acquiring  the  arts  of  civilization ;  this  lia,s  tiiw , 
them  for  the  reception  of  schools  and  mission' 
and  doubtles,s,  the  same  cause  will  produce t!f 
same  effects  among  the  tribes  beyond,  whiclt 
has  produced  among  the  tribes  on  this  sitlei 
the  Mississippi. 

"  The  right  of  way  is  indispensable,  and  ii> 
committee  have  begun  with  directing  a  bill  i« '' 
reported  for  that  purpose.     Happily,  there  i'| 
no  constitutional  objections  to  it.    Statei  '" 


ANNO  1824.    JAMRS  MONROE,  PRI'^SfDRNT. 


for  a  (ixed  m 


Ire  in  no  danRcr !    Tho  road  which  jh  contcm- 

blated  will  truHpasH  upon  tliij  Koil,  or  infrinRO  iiiion 

Hio  jiirindiction  of  no  Statu  whatKoevcr.    It  runH 

i  course  and  a  distance  to  avoid  all  that ;  for  it 

begins  iijKjn  tlie  outside  Hno  of  tho  oiitHide  State 

uid  runs  directly  off  towardH  tfio  Kottinff  hiui— 

tr  away  from  all  tho  StatoH.   1'he  ConRrosH  and 

he  Indians  are  alono  to  bo  conHiilted,  and  the 

.tatutc  book  is  full  of  precedents.     ProtestinK 

teainst  the  necessity  of  producing  precedents  for 

^  act  \n  Itself  pregnant  with  |)ropriety,  I  will 

►ct  niune  a  few  in  order  to  illustrate  the  iwlicv 

V  tho  government,  and  show  its  readiness  to 

hake  roads  through  Indian  countiies  to  facilitate 

he  nilercourso  of  its  citizens,  and  even  u„on 

J>rei^'n  territory  to  promote  commorco  and  na- 

■onal  communications." 

Precedents  were  then  shown.   L  A  road  from 
JTashville,  Tennessee,  through  the  Chicasaw  and 
■hocUw  tribes,  to  Natchez,  1800  j   2,  a  road 
trough  the  Creek  nations,  from  Athens    in 
leorgia,  to  the  .Slst  degree  of  north  latitude  in 
Jo  .lirection  to  New  Orleans,   1800,  and  ron- 
bued  by  act  of  1807,  with  the  consent  of  the 
Danish  government,  through  the  then  Spanish 
Irritory  of   West  Florida  to   New   Orleans- 
I  three  roads  through  the  Cherokee  nation  to' 
ben  an  intercourse  between  Ceorgia,  Tennessee, 
bd  the  lower  Mississippi ;  and  more  than  twenty 
Ihcis  u,x,n  tho  territory  of  the  United  States 
fct  the  precedent  chiefly  relied  upon  was  that 
Dm  Athens  through  tho  Creek  Indian  territory 
N  the  Spanish  dominions  to  New  Orleans     It 
fcs  lip  to  tho  exigency  of  the  occasion  in  every 
^ticular-being  both  upon  Indian   territory 
Ithm  our  dominions,  and  upon  foit^ign  territory 
lyond  them.    The  road  I  wanted  fell  within 
I    ^'^""/'"f  both  these  qualifications.     It  was 
pa.ss  through  tribes  within  our  own  territory 
I  .1  It  reached  the  Arkansas  River:  there  H 
Jt  the  foreign  boundary  established  by  the 

Tn  f      u™"^*"*  '°  ^''^''^'^  ^'^  continuing 
road,  with  the  assent  of  Mexico,  from  thi! 
"ndary  to  Santa  Fe,  on  the  Upper  del  Nort 
Nmed  ,t  fair  to  give  additional  emphasis  to 

fe  precedent,  by  showing  that  I  had  it  from 
Jefferson,  and  said: 


43 

who  can  And  himself  in  tho  presence  of  that 
great  man,  and  retire  from  it  without  bring.'  ^g 
oil  some  faet,  or  some  maxim,  of  eminent  uS 
to  tho  human  race.     I  trust  that  I  di.l  no    hJ 

w  iicM  Jed  to  tho  discovery  of  tho  precedent 
which  iH  to  n,move  the  onl/sorious  ol  j  .S„'  j 
0  m«l  ,„  .j„ej,ti  I  ,,^,^  ,j^,,^  ^  service,  nol 
to  the  human  family,  at  least  to  the  citi/e„/of 
tho  two  greatest  Republics  in   the  uorl.        t 

.T  r  ^^"  ';r"''"«  "'"  f''"iHtmas  day  tint  I 
called  u,,on  Mr.  Jefferson.  Tho  converna  on 
among  other  things,  turn.d  upon  roa.ls  To 
Hpoko  of  one  from  (ieorgia  t.'  New  rlea.H 
made  during  the  last  ternrof  hi.,  own  a  In  inil 

own),  bound  up  m  a  certain  volume  of  ,,,a  h 
w^iicb  ho  described  to  me.  (J„  „  y  retu  .  to 
Washington,  J  searched  the  statut "  b J,k  .  ,1  J 
found  the  a.;ts  which  authorized  the  ro  vl  be 
made:  they  are  the  same  which  I  have  „st  read 
to  ho  Sena:..     I  searched  the  Congniss''  it  rarv 

f  S'^  uwl  H  •"'■''..'^  '"  l"'-'Hentii,g  a  huge 
lolio;,  and  there  is  the  map  of  the  road  f.r.m 
Georgia  to  New  Orleans,  more  t  m^.  w  W 
Ired  mies  of  which,  nmrked   in   blue    nk     s 


K'tol"?'"'^^  "^  *^'«  V^'^^^^^nt,  I  am  in-* 

Kf.  In  TZrlT  ^'"^  ^'■-  «^««n 
iji--,       ^  ,/  'ate  excursion   to   VirHnis    T 

tefto  ttr  ^°''^\^^^  to'call  a  jiay 
ividua?  1  .  ^*  patriarchal  statesman.  The 
fvidual  must  manage  badly,  Mr.  p;^sident' 


The  foreign  part  of  the  road  was  the  difficulty 
and  was  not  entirely  covered  by  tho  ,,recedent 
hat  was  a  roml  to  our  own  city,  and  no  other 
direct  territorial  way  from  tho  Southern  States 
than  through  tho  Spanish  province  of  West 
Florida:  this  was  a  road  to  be.  not  only  on 
foreign  territory,  but  to  go  to  a  fon..ign  country. 
Some  Senators,  favorable  to  the  bill  were 
startled  at  it,  and  Mr.  Lloyd,  of  Massac-llu-setts. 
moved  to  Ktnko  out  the  part  of  the  section 
which  provided  for  this  ex-territorial  national 

highway;  but  not  in  a  spirit  of  hostility  to  the 
bdl  Itself  provmrng  for  protection  to  a  branch 
of  commerce.      Mr.  Lowrie,  of  Pennsylvania. 

reldittb'"V'^'"""'^"'^«'^J^^^^^^^^^ 
held  It  to  be  only  a  modification  of  what  was 

now  done  for  the  protection  of  commerce-tho 
substitution  of  land  for  water ;  and  instanced  the 
Tl^T^^  'P'"*  '"  maintaining  a  fleet  in 

TyT  JV      '""°  ^"'■P"^^-     ^'-  Van  Buren, 

thought  the  government  was  bound  to  extend 
he  same  protection  to  this  branch  of  trade  as 
0  any  other:  and  the  road  upon  the  foreign 

^rntory  was  only  to  be  marked  out,  not  made. 

Mr.  Macon  thought  the  question  no  great  mat- 
1  ter.  formerly  Indian  traders  followed  ''traces:" 


44 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VTEW. 


V      III     '  ! 


=tt,. 


ma 

' 

i 

' 

Ha 

1 

^■11 

In 

H 

■1 

p 

1 

now  they  must  have  roads.  He  did  not  care 
for  precedents :  they  arc  generally  good  or  bad 
as  they  suit  or  cross  our  purposes.  The  case 
of  the  road  made  by  Mr.  Jefferson  was  different. 
That  road  was  made  among  Indians  comparar 
tively  civilized,  and  who  had  some  notions  of 
property.  But  the  proposed  road  now  to  be 
marked  out  would  pass  through  wild  tribes  who 
think  of  nothing  but  killing  and  robbing  a  white 
man  the  moment  they  see  him,  and  would  not 
be  restrained  by  treaty  obligations  even  if  they 
entered  into  them.  Col.  Johnson,  of  Kentucky, 
had  never  hesitated  to  vote  the  money  which 
was  necessary  to  protect  the  lives  or  property 
of  our  sea-faring  men,  or  for  Atlantic  fortifica- 
tions, or  to  suppress  piracies.  "We  had,  at  this 
session  voted  $;500,000  to  suppress  piracy  in  the 
West  Indies.  We  build  ships  of  war,  erect  light- 
houses, spend  annual  millions  for  the  protection 
of  ocean  commerce ;  and  he  could  not  suppose 
that  the  sum  proposed  in  this  bill  for  the  protec- 
tion of  an  inland  branch  of  trade  so  valuable  to 
the  West  could  be  denied.  Mr.  Kelly,  of  Ala- 
bama, said  the  great  object  of  the  bill  was  to 
cherish  and  foster  a  branch  of  commerce  already 
in  existence.  It  is  carried  on  by  land  through 
several  Indian  tribes.  To  be  safe,  a  road  must  be 
had— a.right  of  way—"  a  trace,"  if  you  please. 
To  answer  its  purpose,  this  road,  or  "trace" 
must  pass  the  i  boundary  of  the  United  States, 
and  extend  several  hundred  miles  through  the 
wilderness  country,  in  the  Mexican  Republic  to 
the  settlements  with  which  the  traffic  must  be 
carried  on.  It  may  be  well  to  remember  that  the 
Mexican  government  is  in  the  germ  of  its  exist- 
ence, struggling  with  difficulties  that  we  have 
long  since  surmounted,  and  may  not  feel  it  con- 
venient to  make  the  road,  and  that  it  is  enough  to 
permit  us  to  maik  it  out  upon  her  soil ;  which  is 
all  that  this  bill  proposes  to  do  within  her  limits. 
Mr.  Smith,  of  Maryland,  would  vote  for  the 
bill.  The  only  question  with  him  was,  whether 
commerce  could  be  carried  on  to  advantage  on 
the  proposed  route ;  and,  being  satisfied  that 
it  could  be,  he  should  vote  for  the  bill.  Mr. 
Brown,  of  Ohio  (Ethan  A.),  was  very  glad  to 
hear  such  sentiments  from  the  Senator  from 
Maryland,  and  hoped  that  a  reciprocal  good 
feeling  would  always  prevail  between  different 
Sections  of  the  Union.  He  thought  there  could 
be  no  objection  to  the  bill,  and  approved  the 
policy  of  getting  the  road  upon  Mexican  territory 


with  the  consent  of  the  Mexican  government 
The  bill  passed  the  Senate  by  a  large  vote— 30 
to  12 ;  and  these  are  the  names  of  the  Senators 
voting  for  and  against  it  : 

Yeas. — Messrs.  Barton,  Benton,  Boulignj 
Brown,  D'Wolf,  Eaton,  Edwards,  Elliott,  Holmes 
of  Miss.,  Jackson  (the  General),  Johnson  of 
Kentucky,  Johnston  of  Lou.,  Kelly,  Knight 
Lanman,  Lloyd  of  Mass.,  Lowrie,  Mcllvaine 
McLean,  Noble,  Palmer,  Parrott,  Ruggles,  Sey- 
mour, Smith,  Talbot,  Taylor,  Thomas,  Van 
Buren,  Van  Dyke— 30. 

Nays.— Messrs.  Branch,  Chandler,  Clayton, 
Cobb,  Qaillard,  Hayne,  Holmes  of  Maine,  Kin» 


of  Ala., 


King  of  N.  Y.,  Macon, 


Tazewell,  M 


Hams — 12. 

It  passed  the  House  of  Representatives  byi 
majority  of  thirty— receiveu  the  approving  sig- 
nature of  Mr.  Monroe,  among  the  last  acts  of 
his  public  life — was  carried  into  effect  by  his 
successor,  Mr.  John  Quincy  Adams— and  tliE 
road  has  remained  a  thoroughfare  of  comnem 
between  Missouri  and  New  Mexico,  and  ail  Ik 
western  internal  province. ;  ever  since. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

PRESIDENTIAL  AND  VICE-PRESIDENTIAL  EUC 
TION  IN  THE  ELECTORAL  COLLEGES. 

Four  candidates  were  before  the  people  for  tin 
office  of  President— General  Jackson,  Mr.  Joki 
Quincy  Adams,  Mr.  William  H.  Crawford,  d 
Mr.  Henry  Clay.  Mr.  Crawford  had  been  nou 
inated  in  a  caucus  of  democratic  members  cl 
Congress ;  but  being  a  minority  of  the  mcmben 
and  the  nomination  not  in  accordance  with  put- 
lie  opinion,  it  carried  no  authority  along  withii 
and  was  of  no  service  to  the  object  of  its  choia 
General  Jackson  was  the  candidate  of  thep» 
pie,  brought  forward  by  the  masses.  Mi 
Adams  and  Mr.  Clay  were  brought  forward  li 
bodies  of  their  friends  in  different  States.  Hi! 
whole  number  of  electoral  votes  was  261  irf 
'  which  it  required  131  to  make  an  election.  Vi 
one  had  that  number.  General  Jackson  m 
the  highest  on  the  list,  and  had  99  vote.sl'f 
Adams  84 ;  Mr.  Crawford  41 ;  Mr.  Clay :  " 
No  one  having  a  majority  of  the  whole  of  em 
ors,  the   election  devolved  upon  the  House  J 


epresentative! 

[iven  in  a  scpai 

In  the  vice-] 

brent.    Mr.  Jo 

kinning  of  the 

or  tiie  Presider 

lis  friends  in  J 

\>r  Vice-Preside 

lectoral  college 

andford.  Senate 

ftd  been  placet 

nd  received  30 

nia  were  giver 

^(.'nt,  he  not  b 

pfused  to  beco 

leorgia  were  giv 

Implimcnt,  he  n 

Pltes.    Mr.  Albei 

the  Congress 

ft  finding  the  j 

ceptable  to  the  ; 

|(-  canvass.    Mr. 

an  five  vice-pres 

lople,  and  his  elc 

lling  in  the  Nor 

teiving  the  mail 

|arter— 114  vote 

Rtes,  and  only  ( 

lithcm  man,  and 

Is  indebted  to  n 

flders,  for  the  hoi 

in  the  elector 

!  electoral  colleg 

s  of  presidential 

«s  who  had  tha 

jdisposition  in  thi 

unjust,  or  unkinc 


CHAPT 

(DEATH  OF  JOHN 

by  that  designa 
kn  State,  the  em 
[irginia,  who  was 
first  term  of  Gcn€ 
»n,  and  in  the  la 
■who,  having  volui 


ANNO  1824.    JAMES  MONROE,  PRESIDENT. 


»presentatives ;  of  which  an  account  will  be 
[iyen  iu  a  separate  chapter. 

In  the  vice-presidential  election  it  was  ^if- 
brent.    Mr.  John  C.  Calhoun  (who  'n  the  bc- 
^nning  of  the  canvass  had  been  a  candidate 
br  tiie  Presidency,  but  had  been  withdrawn  by 
lis  friends  in  Pennsylvania,  and  put  forward  I 
br  Vice-President),  received   182  votes  in  the 
lectoral  college,  and  was  elected.    Mr.  Nathan 
fendford,  Senator  in  Congress  from  New- York 
ad  been  placed  on  the  ticket  with  Mr.  Clay' 
nd  received  30  votes.     The  24  votes  of  Vir- 
Dia  were  given  to  Mr.  Macon,  as  a  compli- 
lent,  he  not  being  a  candidate,  and  having 
fefused  to  become  one.     The  nine  votes  of 
leorgia  wore  given  to  Mr.  Van  Buren.  also  as  a 
Impliment,  ho  not  being  on  the  list  of  candi- 
Ites    Mr.  Albert  Gallatin  had  been  nominated 
I   the  Congress   caucus  with  Mr.  Crawford 
fct  finding  the  proceedings  of  that  caucus  un- 
Iceptablc  to  the  people  he  had  withdrawn  from 
le  canvass.    Mr.  Calhoun  was  the  only  sub- 
*ntive  vice-presidential  candidate  before  the 
lople,  and  his  election  was  an  evidence  of  good 
fhng  m  the  North  towards  southern  men-he 
fceivmg  the  main  part  of  his  votes  from  that 
larter-114  votes  from  the  non-slavoholding 
^tes,  and  only  68  from  the  slaveholding     A 
uthem  man,  and  a  slaveholder,  Mr.  Calhoun  , 

fders,  for  the  honorable  distinction  of  an  elec- 
ta m  the  electoral  colleges-the  only  one  in 

electoral  colleges-the  only  one  on  all  the 
«of  presidential  and  vice-presidential  candi- 
es who  had  that  honor.     Surely  there  was 

Idispositionm  the  free  States  at  that  time  to 
■unjust,  or  unkind  to  the  South. 


45 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

[DEATH  OF  .TOHN  TAYLOR,  OF  CAEOLINE. 

knSttl  tr"'"'*""  ^^  <^'«crimi-nated,  in 
[Tg  n.a,  who  was  a  Senator  in  Congress  in 

Iwho  h  "''  *'""  ""^  M^-  Monroe-  , 

who,  having  voluntarily  withdrawn  himself  | 


f  om  that  high  station  during  the  intermediate 
thirty  years,  devoted  himself  to  the  noble  pur- 
muts  of  agriculture,  literature,  the  study  of  ,,o- 
Ltical  economy,  and  the  service  of  his  State  or 
coun^  when  called  by  his  fellow-citizens.    Pcr- 
ondly  I  knew  him  but  slightly,  our  meeting  in 
he  Sena  e  being  our  first  acquaintance,  and  our 
enatorial  association  limited  to  tlio  single  se«. 
sion  of  which  he  was  a  member-1 823-24  —at 
ho  end  of  which  he  died.     But  all  my  obs^rv.^ 
tionof  him,  and  his  whole  appearance  and  de- 
portment, went  to  confirm  the  reputation  of  his 
mdmduality  of  character,  and  high   quiUi 
of  the  head  and  the  heart.     I  can  hardly  figure 
to  myself  the  ideal  of  a  republican  state  man 

more  perfect  and  complete  L„  he  was  IT 
ahty  .-pla,n  and  solid,  a  wise  counsellor,  a  ready 
and  vigorous  debater,  acute  and  comprehensive 
npo  m  all  historical  and  political  knoSge X' 
nately  republican-modest,  courteous  bonev  o lent 
hospitable-a  skilful,  pracLcal  farme    X'gTk 
tmie  to  his  farm  and  his  books,  when  not  ^flled 
by  an  emergency  to  the  public  service-and  r^ 
turning  to  his  books  and  his  farm  when  Z 
emergency  was  over.    His  whole  chaiLter  wa 
nnounced  in  his  looks  and  deportment,  and" 
his  uniform  (senatorial)  dress-the  coa    wais  " 
coat,  and    pantaloons  of  the    same    "L  ndon 
I  brown,"  and  in  the  cut  of  a  former  fash  on- 
beaver  hat  with  ample  briin-fl„e  white  linen 
-and  a  gold-headed  cane,  carried  not  for  shoT 
but  for  use  and  support   when  walking  an^' 
bending   under  the  heaviness  of  years       Ho 
seemed  to  have  been  cast  in  ihn 
with  Mr.    nr  "  ^^^  ^ame  mould 

ith  Mr.  Macon,  and  it   was  pleasant   to  .ee 
hem  together,  looking  like  two  Grecian  iges 
and  showing  that  regard  for  each  otiier  v2 
everyone  felt  for  them  both.    He  belonged  o 

brightly  m  Virginia  in  his  day,  and  the  light  of 
which  was  not  limited  to  Virginia,  cr  our  Amc 
nca  but  spread  through  the  bounds  of   he  "t 
hzod  world.     He  was  the  author  of  several 
works,  political  and  agricultural,  of  which  h 
Arator  m  one  class,  and  his  Construction  Con- 
^trued   m    another,   were    the    principal-one 
adorning  and  exalting  the  plough  tith  the  attri 
butes  of  science;  the  other  exploring  the  confits' 
0     he  federal  and  the  State  gov^nments  and 
P  es  ntmg  a  mine  of  constitutional  law  veryprc^ 

who  win  rr^""^'  '^  *^^  P°"^-'  «S 

who  will  not  be  repuL   .  -^om  a  banquet  of  rich 


46 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


ideas,  by  the  quaint  Sir  Edward  Coko  style — 
(the  only  point  of  resemblance  between  the 
republican  statesman,  and  the  crown  officer  of 
Eliziibeth  and  James) — in  which  it  is  dressed. 
Devotion  to  State  rights  was  the  ruling  feature 
of  his  policy;  and  to  keep  both  governments. 
State  and  federal,  within  their  respective  consti- 
tutional orbits,  was  the  labor  of  his  political  life. 
In  the  years  1798  and  '99,  Mr.  Taylor  was  a 
member  of  the  General  Assembly  of  his  State, 
called  into  service  by  the  circumstances  of  the 
times ;  and  was  selected  on  account  of  the  dignity 
and  gravity  of  his  charactci  his  power  and  rea- 
diness in  debate,  and  his  signal  devotion  to  the 
rights  of  the  States,  to  bring  forward  those  cele- 
brated resolutions  which  Mr.  Jefferson  conceived, 
which  his  friends  sanctioned,  which  Mr.  Madison 
drew  up,  and  which  "  John  Taylor,  of  Caroline," 
presented ; — which  arc  a  perfect  exposition  of 
the  principles  of  our  duplicate  form  of  govern- 
ment, aud  of  the  limitations  upon  the  power 
of  the  federal  government ; — and  which,  in  their 
declaration  of  the  unconstitutionality  of  the 
alien  and  sedition  laws,  and  appeal  to  other 
States  for  the.i  co-operation,  had  nothing  in  view 
but  to  initiate  a  State  movement  by  two-thirds  of 
the  States  (the  number  required  by  the  fifth 
article  of  the  federal  constitution),  to  amend,  or 
authoritatively  expound  the  constitution  ; — the 
idea  of  forcible  resistance  to  the  execution  of 
any  act  of  Congress  being  expressly  disclaimed 
at  the  time. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

PBE8IDENTIAL  ELECTION  IN  THE  HOUSE  OP 
EEPBESENTATIVE8. 

It  has  already  been  shown  that  the  theory  of 
the  constitution,  and  its  practical  working,  was 
entirely  different  in  the  election  of  President  and 
Vice-President — that  by  the  theory,  the  people 
were  only  to  choose  electors,  to  whose  superior 
intelligence  the  choice  of  fit  persons  for  these 
high  stations  was  entirely  committed — and  that, 
in  practice,  this  theory  had  entirely  failed  from 
the  beginning.  From  the  very  first  election  the 
electors  were  made  subordinate  to  the  people, 
having  no  choice  of  their  own,  and  pledged  to 
deliver  their  votes  for  a  particular  person,  ac- 
cording to  the  will  of  those  who  elected  them. 


Thus  the  theory  had  failed  in  its  application  to 
the  electoral   college ;    but   there  might  be  j 
second  or  contingent  election,  and  has  been ;  anil 
here  tlie  theory  of  the  constitution  has  Md 
again.     In  the  event  of  no  choice  being  made  bj 
the  electors,  either  for  want  of  a  majority  o( 
electoral  votes  being  given  to  any  one,  or  on  jo 
count  of  an  equal  majority  for  two,  the  Home 
of  Representatives  became  an  electoral  collca 
for  the  occasion,  limited  to  a  choice  out  of  tin 
five  highest  (before  the  constitution  was  amecii 
ed),  or  the  two  highest  having  an  equal  majoritj, 
The    President  and   Vice-President  were  m 
then  voted  for  separately,  or  with  any  design* 
tion  of  their  office.     All  appeared  upon  tb 
record  as  presidential  nominees — the  highest  t 
the  list  having  a  mujority,  to  be  President;  tk 
next  highest,  also  having  a  majority,  to  be  Vi«. 
President ;  but  the  people,  from  the  beginniat 
had  discriminated  between  the  persons  for  thes 
respective  places,  always  meaning  one  on  the 
ticket  for  President,  the  other  for  Vico-Presideji 
But,  by  the  theory  of  the  constitution  kA  is 
words,  those  intended  Vice-Presidents  might  \t 
elected  President  in  the  House  of  Repres'em* 
tives,  either  by  being  among  the  five  higb 
when  there  was  no  majority,  or  being  one  ofti 
in  an  equal  majority.     This  theory  failed  inik 
House  of  Representatives  from  the  fii-st  electk 
the  demos  krateo  principle — the  people  to  got 
em — prevailing  there  as  in  the  electoral  colicga 
and  overruling  the  constitutional  design  in  cacli 
The  first  election  in  the  House  of  Represetlt 
tives  was  that  of  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Mr.  Bur 
in  the  session  of  1800-1801.     These  gentlera 
had  each  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  i 
electoral  votes,  and  an  equal  majority  — 73  on 
— Mr.  Burr  being  intended  for  Vice-PresideK 
One  of  the  contingencies  had  then  occurred! 
which  the  election  went  to  the  House  of  Eepit 
.sentatives.      The    federalists    had    acted  m 
wisely,  one  of  their  State  electoral  colleges  (tli 
of  Rhode  Island),  having  withheld  a  vote  fni 
the  intended  Vice-President  on  their  side,  1 
Charles  Colesworth  Pinckney,  o'   South  C» 
lina;  and  so  prevented  an  equality  of  votes!* 
tween  him  and  Jlr.  John  Adams.    It  wonfe 
have  been  entirely  constitutional  in  the  Hoih. 
of  Representatives  to  have  elected  Mr.  I!m|; 
President,  but  at  the  same  time,  a  gross  violtl 
tion  of  the  democratic  priuci]»le,  which  ruqiBi 
the  will  of  the  majority  to  bo  comphed  wiiil 


ANNO  1825.     JAMES  MONROE,  PRESIDENT. 


10  federal  States  undertook  to  elect  Mr.  Burr 
id  kept  ii[)  the  struggle  for  seven  days  nnd 
ights,  and  until  the  thirty-sixth  ballot.     There 
■ere  sixteen  States,  and  it  required  the  concur- 
ince  of  nine  to  effect  an  election.     Until  the 
lirty-sixth  Mr.  Jefferson  had  eight,  Mr.  Burr 
x,  and  two  were  divided.     On  the  thirty-sixth 
illot  Mr.  Jefferson  had  ton  States  and  was 
lected.    General  Hamilton,  though  not  then  in 
iblic  life,  took  a  decided  part  in  this  election, 
i'"ng  above  all  personal  and  all  party  considera- 
ms,  and  urging  the  federalists  from  the  begin- 
ig  to  vote  for  Mr.  Jefferson.    Thus  the  demo- 
itic  principle  prevailed.     The  choice  of  the 
•oplo  was  elected  by  the  House  of  Representa- 
cH ;  and  the  struggle  was  fatal  to  those  who 
opposed  that  principle.     The  federal  party 
broken  down,  and  at  the  ensuing  Congress 
!tions,  was  left  in  a  small  minority.    Its  can- 
late  at  the  ensuing  presidential  election  receiv- 
but  fourteen  votes  out  of  one  hundred  and 
'enty-six.     Burr,  in  whoso  favor,  and  with 
lose  connivance  the  struggle  had  been  made 
s  ruiued-fell  under  the  ban  of  the  republican 
•ty,  disappeared  from  public  life,  and  was  only 
m  afterwards  in  criminal  enterprises,  and  end 
;  his  I.fe  in  want  and  misery.     The  constitu. 
m  Itself,  m  that  particular  (the  mode  of  elec- 
|n),  was  broken  down,  and  had  to  bo  amended  so 
ito  separate  the  presidential  from  the  vice-presi- 
ptial  ticket,  giving  each  a  separate  vote;  and 
the  event  of  no  election  by  the  electoral  col- 
;es,  sendmg  each  to  separate  houses-the  three 
[hest  on  the  presidential  lists  to  the  House  of 
>presentatives,-the  two  highest  on  the  vire- 
^SKlentia ,  to  the  Senate.     And  thus  ended 
first  struggle  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
!S  (m  relation  to  the  election  of  President) 
-ween  the  theory  of  the  constitution  and  the 
nocratic  prmciple-triumph  to  the  principle. 
In  to  ,ts  opposers,  and  destruction  to  the  clause 
tlm  jonstitution,  which   permitted   such  a 

;he  second  presidential  election  in  the  House 
representatives  was  afler  the  lapse  of  aquarter 
^r:  7'  "'""'"  "''-™-'^J  co-t- 
on w.ch  earned  the  three  highest  on  the 
Mo  the  House  when  no  one  had  a  majority 
the  electoral  votes.  General  Jackson  Mr 
Qumey  Adams,  and  Mr.  William  H.  Craw- 
I.  werfi  the  tliT~w  ^K«-'  -  ^raw- 

84.41:  Jt^i""^P"^'^«^°*- being 


«r 


41 ;  and  in  this  case  a  second  struggle 


took  place  between  the  theory  of  the  constitu- 
tion   and   the  democratic   principle;    and  with 
eventual  defeat  to  the  opposers  of  that  principle 
though  temporarily  successful.    Mr.  Adams  was 
elected,  (hough  General  Jackson  was  the  choice 
of  the  people,  having  receive,  1  the  greatest  num- 
ber of  votes,  and  being  undoubtedly  the  second 
choice  of  several  States  whoso  votes  had  been 
given  to  Mr.  Crawford  and  Mr.  Clay  (at  the 
general    elo-llon).      The    representatives    from 
Home  of  those  States  gave  the  vote  of  the  State  to 
Mr  Adams,  upon  the  argument  that  he  was  best 
qualified  for  the  station,  and  that  it  was  dan- 
gerous  to  our   institutions  to  elect  a  military 
chieftain-an  argument  which  assumed  a  guard- 
ianship over  the  people,  a-.l  implied  the  necessity 
of  a  superior  intelligence  .,  guide  them  for  their 
own  good.      The  election  of  Mr.  Adams  was 
perfectly  constitutional,  and  as  such  fully  sub- 
mitted to  by  the  people ;  but  it  was  also  a  viola- 
tion  of  the  demos  krateo  principle;  and  that 
violation  was  signally  rebiiked.     All  the  repre- 
-scntatives  who  voted  against  the  will  of  their 
constituents,  lost  their  favor,  and  disappeared 
from  public  life.      The  representation   in  the 

ItThTfl    .  ^^'"'''"*'''^"'  ''''  '"^^eHy  changed 
at  the  first  general  election,  and  presented  a  full 
opposition  to  the  new  President.    Mr.  Adams 
himself  was  injured  by  it,  and  at  the  ensuing 
presidential  election  was  be, ten    by   Generd 
Jmjkson  more  than  two  to  one-178  to  83    Mr 
Clay,  who  took  the  lead  in  the  House  for  Mr' 
Adams,  and  afterwards  took  upon  himself  th« 
mission  of  reconciling  the  people  to  his  election 
m  a  series  of  public  speeches,  was  himself  crip- 
pled  m  the  effort,  lost  his  place  in  the  democrat^ 
party    joined  the  whigs  (then  called  national 
republicans),  and  has  since  presented  the  dis- 
heartening   spectacle  of  a  former  great  leader 
figuring  at  the  head  of  his  ancient  foes  in  all 
their  defeats^  and  lingering  on  their  rear  in  their 
victories.    The  democratic  principle  was  again 
victor  over  the  theory  of  the  constitution,  anS 
great  and  good  were  the  results  that  ensued     It 
vindicated  the  demos  in  their  right  and  their 
power,  and  showed  that  the  prefix  to  the  con- 
^itution    "We,  the  people,  do  onlain  and  es- 
tablish, '  &c.,  may  also  be  added  to  its  adminis- 
tration, showing  them  to  be  as  able  to  administer 
as  to  make  thnt  mc.f^„.„„_i.     t.  ...... 

_-,x.  - -^  ~ .ent.     it  re-estawished 

parties  upon  the  basis  of  principle,  and  drew 
anew  party  Ibes,  then  almost  obliterated  under 


48 


TiimiT  TEARS'  vrew. 


tho  fiiHion  of  parties  during  the  "  era  of  good 
feeling,"  and  tho  clforts  of  leading  men  to  iniikc 
personal  parties  for  themselves.  It  showed  the 
conservative  power  of  our  government  to  lie  in 
tho  people,  more  than  in  its  constituted  authori- 
ties. It  showed  that  they  wore  ciip  ible  of  ex- 
ercising tho  function  of  self-government.  It 
assured  tho  supremacy  of  the  democracy  for  a 
long  time,  and  until  temporarily  lost  by  causes 
to  bo  shown  in  their  proper  place  Finally,  it 
was  a  caution  to  all  public  men  against  future 
attempts  to  govern  presidential  lections  in  the 
House  of  Reprcsentatiros. 

It  is  no  part  of  the  object  of  thia  "  Thirty 
Years'  A'iew  "  to  dwell  upon  the  'onduct  of  indi- 
viduals, except  as  showing  the  causes  and  the 
consequences  of  events  ;  and,  under  this  aspect, 
it  becomes  tho  gravity  of  history  to  tell  that,  in 
these  two  struggles  for  tli'  election  of  President, 
those  who  struggled  against  the  democratic 
principle  lost  their  places  on  tho  political  theatre, 
— the  mere  voting  members  being  put  down  in 
their  States  and  districts,  and  tho  eminent  actors 
for  ever  ostracised  from  tho  high  object  of  their 
ambition.  A  subordinate  cause  riiny  have  had 
its  effect,  and  unjustly,  in  prejudicing  the  public 
mind  against  Mr.  Adams  and  Mr.  Clay.  They 
had  been  political  adversaries,  had  co-operated  in 
the  election,  and  went  into  the  administration  to- 
gether. Mr.  Clay  received  the  office  of  Secretary 
of  State  from  Mr.  Adams,  and  this  gave  rise  to 
the  imputation  of  a  bargain  between  them. 

It  came  within  my  knowledge  (for  T  was  then 
intimate  with  Mr.  Clay),  long  before  tho  elec- 
tion, and  probably  before  Mr.  Adams  knew  it 
himself,  that  Mr.  Clay  intended  to  support  him 
against  General  Jackson ;  and  for  the  riiisons 
afterward  averred  in  his  public  speeches.  I  made 
this  known  when  occasions  required  me  to  speak 
of  it,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  friends  of  the 
impugned  parties.  It  went  into  the  newsj)apers 
upon  the  information  of  these  friends,  and  Mr. 
Clay  made  mo  acknowledgments  for  it  in  a  let- 
ter, of  which  this  is  the  exact  copy : 

'■  /  have  received  a  paper  pnhlished  on  the 
20<A  ulUmo,  at  Lemington,  in  Virginia,  in 
which  is  mntaineil  an  article  stating  that  you 
had,  to  a  gentleman  of  that  place,  expressed 
your  disbelief  of  a  charge  injurious  to  me. 
touching  the  late  presidential  election,  and 
that  I  had  communicated  to  you  unequivocalli/, 
before  the  loth  of  December,  1824,  my  determi- 


nation to  vote  for  Mr.  Adamn  and  not  far 
(ieneral  Jackson.     Presuming  that  the  puhH. 
cation  was  with  your  authority,  I  cannot  ilm 
the  crpreMsion  (f  proper  arknowleilg mentis  f\,r 
thf'  sense  of  justice  which  has  prompted  ymii, 
render  thts  voluntary  and  faithful  lestimniif 
This  letter,  of  which  I  now  have  the  originul, 
was  dated  at  Washington  City,  Deceml)er  (ith, 
1827 — that  is  to  say,  in  the  very  heat  and  iniij. 
die  of  tho  canvass  in  which  Mr.   Adunis  ri* 
beaten  by  General  Jackson,  and  when  the  t(. ; 
mony  con  d  be  of  most  service  to  him.    It  went 
the  rounds  i>f  tho  papers,  and  was  quoted  mi 
relied  upon  in  debates  in  Congress,  greatly  to 
the  dissatislaction  of  many  of  my  own  party. 
There  was  no  mistake  in  tho  dati',  or  the  fact. 
I  left  Washington  the  15th  of  December,  oik 
visit  to  my  fatlier-in-law,  Colonel  James  Mc 
Dowell,  of  Rockbridge  county,  Virginia,  when 
Mrs.  Henton  then  was ;  and  it  was  before  I  lei 
Washington  that  I  learned  from  Mr.  Clay  hiij 
self   that  his    intention   was  to    support  Mr 
Adams.    I  told  this  at  that  time  to  Colonel  Mf 
Dowell,  and  any  friends  that  chanced  to  be  ]>» 
sent,  and  gave  it  to  the  public  in  a  letter  which  m 
copied  into  many  newspapers,  and  is  prcservM 
in  Niles'  Register.     I  told  it  as  my  belief  toMi 
Jefferson  on  Christmas  evening  of  the  samejw. 
when  returning  to  Washington  and  makinjrnal! 
on  that  illustrious  man  at  his  seat,  Monticellojajl 
believing  then  that  Mr.  Adams  would  be  elected 
and,  from  the  necessity  of  the  case,  would  han 
to  make  up  a  miied  cabinet,  I  expressed  tk 
belief  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  using  the  term,  familii; 
in  English  history,  of  "broad  bottomed ;" w. 
a.sked  him  how  it  would  do?     He  answcd: 
"  Not  at  all — would  never  succeed — would  ni 
all  engaged  in  it."     Mr.  Clay  told  his  intentioB 
to  others  of  his  friends  from  an  early  pcrioil 
but  as  they  remained  his  friends,  their  testiraonj 
was  but  little  heeded.    Even  my  own,  in  tin 
violence  of  party,  and  from  my  relationship  t* 
Mrs.  Clay,  seemed  to  have -but  little  effect.  Tk 
imputation  of  "bargain"  stuck,  and  doublles 
had  an  influence  in  the  election.     In  fact,  tii 
circumstances  of  the  whole  affair — prcviou! 
tagonism  between  the  parties,  actual  support iig| 
the  election,  and  acceptance  of  high  office,  ^§M 
up  a  case  against  Messrs.  Adams  and  Clay  ffliii^| 
it  was  hardly  safe  for  public  men  to  create  atil 
to  brave,  however  strong  in  their  own  consci*| 
ness  of  integrity.    Still,  the  great  objection  vl 


ANNO  1820.    JAMES  MONROE,  PRESIDENT. 


49 


Jie  election  of  Mr.  AdamM  WM  in  the  violation 
bf  the  principle  dftnoa  krateo  ;  and  in  the  qncs- 
Von  wiiich  it  raised  of  the  (aipacity  of  the  demoa 
o  choose  B  ^afc  Pruwidcnt  for  themselves.  A 
ittcr  which  I  wrote  to  the  representative  from 
dissoufi,  before  ho  ^avo  th»^  vote  of  the  State  to 
Ir.  Adams,  and  which  wa.s  published  immcdi- 
Itoly  afterwards,  placed  the  objection  upon 
liifi  hi(,'h  ground ;  and  upon  it  the  but  tie  wa.s 
nainly  fought,  and  won.  It  was  a  victory  of 
Irinciplo,  and  nhould  not  bo  disparaged  by  the 
dmisaion  of  an    unfounded    and  subordinate 


tuse. 


This  presidential  election  of  1824  is  remarkable 
nder  another  axpwt — as  having  put  an  end  to 
ho  practice  of  caiuus  nominations  for  the  Prcsi- 
lency  by  members  of  Conprcss.     This  mode  of 
•oiinntrating  public  opinion  began  to  bo  prac- 
tit-   1  as  the  eminent  men  of  the  Revolution,  to 
irlioiM  public  opinion  awarded  a  preference,  were 
lassing  away,  and  when  new  men,  of  more  equal 
rctensinns,  were  coming  upon  the  stage.     It 
^as  trie<l  several  times  with  success  and  general 
bprobation,  public  sentiment  having  been  fol- 
bwed,  and  not  led,  by  the  caucus.     It  was  at- 
bmpted  in  1S24,  and  failed,  the  friends  of  Mr. 
Irawford  only  attending— others  not  attending, 
jot  from  any  repugnance  to  the  practice,  as  their 
bvions  conduct  had  shown,  but  because  it  was  j 
iiown  that  Mr.  Crawford  had  the  largest  num- 
ter  of  friends  in  Congress,  and  would  assuredly 
pceive  the  nomination.     All  the  rest,  therefore, 
^fused  to  go  into  it :  all  joined  in  opposing  the 
caucus  candidate,"  as  Mr.  Crawford  was  called  j 
il  united  in  painting  the  intrigue  and  corrup- 
lon  of  these  caucus  nominations,  and  the  ano- 
kaly  of  members  of  Congress  joining  in  them. 
ly  their  joint  efforts  they  succeeded,  and  justly 
I  the  fact  though  not  in  the  motive,  in  rendering 
fcese  Congress  caucus  nominations  odious  to 
|ie  people,  and  broke  them  down.      They  were 
opped,  and  a  different  mode  of  concentrating 
Mbhc  opinion  was  adopted-that  of  party  nomi- 
Jtions  by  conventions  of  delegates  from  the 
tates.    This  woi-ked  well  at  first,  the  will  of 
be  people  being  strictly  obeyed  by  the  delegates 
N  the  majority  making  the  nomination.    But 
quickly  degenerated,  and  became  obnoxious  to 
V  the  objections  to  Congress  caucus  nomina- 
pns,  and  many  others  besides,     MemKn.c  ^f 
pngress  still  attended  them,  either  as  delegates 
as  lobby  managers.    Persons  attended  as 
Vol.  I.— 4 


delegates  who  had  no  constituency.    Delogute* 
attended  upon  equivocal  ni)pointincnts.    Double 
sets  of  delegates  nometimes  came  from  the  State 
I  and  either  weu>  admitted  or  repulsed,  as  suited 
I  the  views  of  the  majority.      Proxies  were  in- 
vented.   Many  delegates  attended  with  the  sole 
view  of  chtublishing  a  claim  for  ofllco,  uud  voted 
accordingly.      The  two-thirds  rule  was  invent- 
ed, to  enable  the  minority  to  control  the  ma- 
jority  ;  and  the  whole  proceeding  br;camo  anom- 
alous and  irrcHponsiblo,  and  subversive  of  the 
will  of  the  people,  leaving  them  n'>  more  con- 
trol over  the  nomination  than  the  subjects  of 
kings  have  over  the  birth  of  the  child  which 
is  born  to  rule  over  them.    King  Caucus  is  as 
potent  as  any  other  king  in  thi,"  respect;  for 
whoever  gets  the  nomination-no  matter  how 
effectcd-becomes  the  condidato  of  the  party, 
from  the  necessity  .f  uuio  i  against  the  opposite 
pa.  ty,  and  from  che  indispo  lition  of  the  great 
States  to  go  into   he  \^mmoi  iepresontatives  to 
be  balanred  by  tk  ...:  Jl  „r.cr     This  is  the  mode 
of  making  President     -^nv.tised  by  both  parties 
now.    It  is  the  virtual  election !  and  thus  the 
election  of  the  President  and  Yi-.-c-President  of 
the  United  States  has  passed-not  only  from  the 
college  of  electors  to  which  the  constitution  con- 
fided it,  and  from  the  people  to  whom  the  prac- 
tice under  the  constitution  gave  it,  and  from  the 
House  of  Representatives  which  the  constitution 
provided  as  ultimate  arbiter-but  has  gone  to 
an  anomalous,  irresponsible  body,  unknown  to 
law  or  constitution,  unknown  to  the  early  ages 
of  our  government,  and  of  which  a  large  propor- 
tion of  the  members  composing  it,  and  a  much 
larger  proportion   of  interlopers  attending  it 
have  no  other  view  cither  in  attending  or  in  pro^ 
moting  the  nomination  of  any  particular  man, 
than  to  get  one  elected  who  will  enable  them  to 
eat  out  of  the  public  crib-who  will  give  them  a 
key  to  the  public  crib. 

The  evil  is  destructive  to  the  rights  and  sov- 
ereignty of  the  people,  and  to  the  purity  of  elec- 
tions.  The  reu.edy  is  in  the  application  of  the 
democratic  principle- the  people  to  vote  direct 


for  President  and  Vice-President;  and  a  second 
election  to  be  held  immediately  between  the  two 
highest,  if  no  one  has  a  majority  of  the  whole 
number  on  the  first  trial.  But  this  would  re- 
quire an  amendment  of  the  constitution,  not  to 
be  effected  but  by  a  concurrence  of  two  thirds 
of  each  house  of  Congress,  and  the  sanction  i/f. 


flO 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


three  fourtlis  of  the  States— a  consummation  to 
which  the  strength  of  the  people  has  not  yet 
been  equal,  but  of  which  there  is  no  reason  to 
despair.     The  great   parliamentary  reform  in 
Great  Britain  was  only  carried  after  forty  years 
of  continued,  annual,  persevering  exertion.    Our 
constitutional  reform,  in  this  point  of  the  presi- 
dential election,  may  require  but  a  few  years ;  in 
the  meanwhile  I  am  for  the  people  to  select,  as 
well  as  elect,  their  candidates,  and  for  a  reference 
to  the  House  to  choose  one  out  of  three  presented 
by  the  people,  instead  of  a  caucus  nomination  of 
whom  it  pleased.    The  House  of  Representatives 
is  no  longer  tlie  small  and  dangerous  electoral  col- 
lego  that  it  once  was.    Instead  of  thirteen  States 
we  now  have  thirty-one ;  instead  of  sixty-five 
representatives,  we  have  now  above  two  hundred. 
Responsibility  in  the  House  is  now  well  establish- 
ed, and  political  ruin,  and  personal  humiliation,  at- 
tend the  violation  of  the  will  of  the  State.    No 
man  could  be  elected  now,  or  endeavor  to  be 
elected  (after  the  experience  of  1800  and  1824), 
who  is  not  at  tlie  head  of  the  list,  and  the  choice 
of  a  majority  of  the  J^.ion.    The  lesson  of  those 
times  would  deter  imitation,  and  the  democratic 
principle  would  again  crush  all  that  were  instru- 
mental m  thwarting  the  public  will.     There  is 
no  longer  the  former  danger  from  the  House  of 
Representatives,  nor  any  thing  in  it  to  justify  a 
previous  resort  to  such  assemblages  as  our  na- 
tional conventions  have  got  to  be.    The  House 
is  legal  and  responsible,  which  the  convention  is 
not,  with  a  better  chance  for  integrity,  as  having 
been  actually  elected  by  the  people ;  and  more 
restrained  by  position,  by  public  opinion,  and  a 
clause  in  the  constitution  from  the  acceptance  of 
oflBce  from  the  man  they  elect.    It  is  the  consti- 
tutional umpire ;  and  until  the  constitution  is 
amended,  I  am  for  acting  upon  it  as  it 'S. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

THE    OCCUPATION  OF  THE  COLUMBIA. 

This  subject  had  begun  to  make  a  lodgment 
in  the  public  mind,  and  I  brought  a  bill  into  the 
Senate  to  enable  the  President  to  possess  and  re- 
tain the  country.  The  joint  occupation  treaty 
of  1818  was  drawing  to  a  close,  and  it  was  my 


policy  to  terminate  such  occupation,  and  hold 
the  Columbia  (or  Oregon)  exclusively,  as  wehjij 
the  admitted  right  to  do  while  the  question  o[ 
title  was  depending.    The  British  had  no  title, 
and  were  simply  working  for  a  division— for  tl« 
right  bank  of  the  river,  and  the  harbor  at  it; 
mouth— and  waiting  on  time  to  ripen  their  job- 
occujiation  into  a  claim  for  half.   I  knew  this  atj 
wish  3d  to  terminate  a  joint  tenancy  which  couli 
only  bo  injurious  to  ourselves  while  it  lasted 
and  jeopard  our  rights  when  it  terminated.  Tin 
bill  which  I  brought  in  proposed  an  appropii 
tion  to  enable  the  President  to  act  efficientlv 
with  a  detatchment  of  the  army  and  navy;  aai 
in  the  discussion  of  this  bill  the  whole  questioj 
of  title  and  of  policy  came  up ;  and,  in  a  reph 
to  Mr.  Dickerson,  of  New  Jersey,  I  found  it  ti 
be  my  duty  to  defend  both.     I  now  give  soiu 
extracts  from  that  reply,  as  a  careful  examiiu. 
tion  of  the  British  pretension,  founded  uponte 
own  exhibition  of  title,  and  showing  that  k 
had  none  south  of  forty-nine  degrees,  and  tk 
we  were  only  giving  her  a  claim,  by  putting  iin 
possession  on  an  equality  with  our  own.   Tie 
extracts  will  show  the  history  of  the  case  asii 
then  stood— as  it  remained  invalidated  in  all  s«l> 
sequent  discussion— and  according  to  which,  am 
after  twenty  years,  and  when  the  question  U 
assumed  a  war  aspect,  it  was  finally  .settled 
The  bill  did  not  pass,  but  received  an  encouragiii» 
vote— fourteen  senators  voting  favorably  to  it 
They  were : 

Messrs.  Barbour,  Benton,   Bouligny,  CoH 
Hayne,  Jackson   (the   General),   Johnson  «' 
Kentucky,  Johnston   of    I^ouisiana,  Lloyd  of 
Mills,  Noble,  Ruggles,  Talta 


Massachusetts, 
Thomas. 


"  Mr.  Benton,  in  reply  to  Mr.  Dickerson,  sai'i 
that  he  had  not  intended  to  speak  to  this  bil! 
Always  unwilling  to  trespass  upon  the  tiineaiii 
patience  of  the  Senate,  he  was  particulariv  n 
at  this  moment,  when  the  session  was  drawiE 
to  a  close,  ind  a  hundrf-d  bills  upon  the  tall- 
were  each  demanding  attention.  The  occupj- 
tion  of  the  Columbia  River  was  a  subject  whci 
had  engaged  the  deliberations  of  Congress  h 
four  years  past,  and  the  minds  of  gentleniei 
might  be  siipposed  to  be  made  up  upon  it.  lie-'- 
ingupon  this  belief,  Mr.  B.,  as  reporter  of  th 
bill,  had  limited  himself  to  the  duty  of  watci 
ing  its  progress,  and  of  holding  himself  in  re* 
ncss  to  answer  any  inquiri'js  wliich  might  k  pui . 
IiKluii'ius  he  certainly  expected ;  but  a  gciiiraf 
assa-'lt,  at  this  late  stage  of  the  session,  tipoi f 
tuc  i,nnciple,  the  policy,  and  the  details  of  tkj 


t)ill,  had  not  I 

bad,  however, 

sew  Jersey 

lunfaithful  to  1 

|discharging  th 

Eoing  over  th 

|tlie  expense   ( 

from  the  Greg 

solve  his  difflci 

3ute — whetlu 

new  route  ex; 

Imountains  clin 

Bent  twelve  fee 

rays  of  a  July 

calculations  an 

[the  gentleman' 

|an  excellent  ai 

|for  embellishii 

Ithe  want  of  oi 

the  senator  fr 

'aSenate  with  tl 

';.Wr.  B.  to  say, 

^turb  liim  in  th 

§which  he  had  \ 

«^directly  to  spea 

"^     "It  is  now, 

b  precisely  two  a 

{for  the  Columbi 

lUuited  States  a 

loriginated  with 

[The  moment  tli 

lit ;  and  withoui 

Ihas  labored  ev 

larts  of  negotiat 

Icovery  by  mens 

■  In  the  yeai 

[States,  C  ipt.  ( 

[Columbia  at  its 

1803,  Lewis  am 

lernment  of  the 

Idiscovery  of  tl 

[downwards,  anc 

|th3  name  of  tl 

[Alexander  McK 

by  the  British  ' 

[object;  but  he  i 

[fell  upon  the  Ti 

[Pacific  about  fiv 

[the  mouth  of  th 

"  In  1803,  the  T 

I  and  with  it  an  c 

that  vast  provin( 

[Florida  this  qu 

ithe  King  of   S] 

(west,  with   the 

hap])cned  in  the 

I  a  treaty  in  Paris 

I  that  we  were  sij; 

j  adjustment  of  t 

;  northwest  jios.sej 

i  the  King  of  Gr 

I  of  each  were  igi 

!  doat; ;  luiil  on  re 

I  Senate  of  the  Ui 

for  the  purchase 


ANNO  1826.    JAMES  MONROE,  PRESIDENT. 


51 


)ation,  and  hold 
sively,aswehiii 
the  question  of 
ish  had  notitlt 
division— for  tk 
le  harbor  at  ijj 
ripen  their  join! 
Iknewthis,ai)j 
ncy  which  coiili 
while  it  lasted 
3rminated.   Tin 
id  an  approprij. 
>  act  efficientlj, 
and  navy;  aui 
whole  questiot 
and,  in  a  reph 
y,  I  found  it  li 
now  give  sodj 
areful  examim. 
unded  upon  lie 
lowing  thatslf 
legrees,  and  tk 
,  by  putting  Jin 
ur  own.    Tl« 
f  the  case  as  i 
idatedinallsuth 
ig  to  which, « 
le  question  k 
finally  settled 
an  encouragij! 
favorably  to  it 

iouligny,  Colk 
Johnson  oi 
Lloyd  c( 
uggles,  Tallxn 


ina, 


Dickerson,  saij 
ik  to  this  bill 
on  the  timeanJ 
particularly  « 
1  was  drawinj 
upon  the  talli 
The  occiipa- 
I  subject  wiiicl 
f  Conjiress  foi 
i  of  gentlemei 
'  upon  it.  Ite'- 
rcpc/rtcr  of  tit 
luty  of  vvatii- 
mself  in  m&\ 
liniigiitbopu!.; 

but  a  gciiinii; 
!  session,  \if'-'l 

details  of  tk  i 


bill,  had  not  been  anticipated.     Such  an  assault 
bad,  however,  been  made  by  the  senator  from 
Kew  Jersey  (Mr.  D.),  and  Mr.  B.  would  be 
unfaithful  to  his  duty  if  he  did  not  repel  it.     In 
discharging  this  duty,  he  would  lose  no  time  in 
going  over  the  gentleman's  calculations  about 
(the  expense  of  getting  a  member  of  Congress 
■rom  the  Oregon  to  the  Potomac ;  nor  would  he 
iBolve  his  difficulties  about  the  shortest  and  best 
Jroute — whether  Cape  Horn  should  be  doubled,  a 
|,new  route  explored  under  the  north  pole,  or 
Imountains  climbed,  whose  aspiring  summits  pre- 
"jBent  twelve  feet  of  defying  snow  to  the  burning 
jrays  of  a  July  sun.    Mr.  B.  looked  upon  these 
jcalculations  and  problems  as  so  many  dashes  of 
the  gentleman's  wit,  and  admitted  that  wit  was 
an  excellent  article  in  debate,  equally  convenient 
^{oT  embellishing  an  argument,  and  concealing 
'the  want  of  one.    For  which  of  these  purposes 
the  senator  from  New  Jersey  had  amused  the 
^Senate  with  the  wit  in  question,  it  was  not  for 
.Jlr.  B.  to  say,  nor  should  he  undertake  to  dis- 
turb him  in  the  quiet  enjoyment  of  the  honor 
5;which  he  had  won  thereby,  and  would  proceed 
vdirectly  to  speak  to  the  merits  of  the  bill. 

"It  is  now,  Mr.  President,  continued  Mr.  B., 

precisely  two  and  twenty  years  since  a  contest 

for  the  Columbia  has  been  going  on  between  the 

United  States  and  Great  Britain.     The  contest 

orijiinated  with  the  discovery  of  the  river  itself. 

The  moment  that  we  discovered  it  she  claimed 

it ;  and  without  a  color  of  title  in  her  hand,  she 

has  labored  ever  since  to  overreach  us  in  the 

^  arts  of  negotiation,  or  to  bully  us  out  of  our  dis- 

Icovery  by  menaces  of  war. 

I     '•  In  the  year  1790,  a  citizen  of  the  United 

iStates,  C  ipt.  Gray,  of  Boston,  discovered  the 


iColumbia  at  its  entrance  into  the  sea;  and  in 
11803,  Lewis  and  Clarke  were  sent  by  the  gov- 
lernment  of  tiie  United  States  to  complete  the 
[discovery  of  the  whole  river,  from  its  source 
{downwards,  and  to  take  formal  possession  in 
Ith3  name  of  their  government.  In  1793  fc>./ 
I  Alexander  McKenzie  had  been  sent  from  Canada 
[by  the  British  Government  to  effect  the  same 
I  object;  but  he  missed  the  sources  of  the  river, 
I  fell  upon  the  Tacoutche  Tesse,  and  struck  the 
I  Pacific  about  five  hundred  miles  to  the  north  of 
[the  nioutli  of  the  Columbia. 

'•  111  1803,  the  United  States  acquired  Louisiana, 

land  with  it  an  open  question  of  boundaries  for 

I  that  vast  province.     On  the  side  of  Mexico  and 

Florida  this  question  was  to  be  settled  with 

jthe  King  of  Spain:  on  the  north  and  north- 

[west,   with  the  King  of    Great   Britain.       It 

i  happened  in  the  very  time  that  we  were  signing 

a  treaty  in  Paris  for  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana^ 

I  that  we  were  signing  anotlier  in  London  for  the 

I  adjustment  of  the  boundary  line  between  the 

northwest  possessions  of  the  United  States  and 

I  tlie  king  of  Great  Britain.      The   negotiators 

\  of  each  were  ignorant  of  what  the  others  had 

done  ;  and  on  remitting  the  two  treaties  to  the 

Senate  of  the  United  States  for  ratification,  that 

for  the  purchase  of  Louisiana  was  ratified  with- 


out restriction ;  the  other,  with  the  exception  of 
the  fifth  article.  It  was  this  article  which  ad- 
justed the  boundary  line  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain,  from  the  Lake  of  the 
Woods  to  the  head  of  the  Mississippi ;  and  the 
Senate  refused  to  ratify  it,  because,  by  possibili- 
ty, it  might  jeopard  the  northern  boundary  of 
Louisiana.  The  treaty  was  sent  back  to  London, 
the  fifth  article  expunged;  and  the  British  Gov- 
ernment, acting  then  as  upon  a  late  occasion, 
rejected  the  whole  treaty,  when  it  fiiiled  in  se- 
curing the  precise  advantage  of  which  it  was 
in  search. 

"In  the  year  1807,  another  treaty  was  negoti- 
ated between  the  United  States  and  Great  Bri- 
tain.    The  negotiators  on  both  sides  were  then 
possessed  of  the  fact  that  Louisiana  belonged  to 
the  United  States,  and  that  her  boundaries  to 
the  north  and  west  were  undefined.    The  settle- 
rnent  of  this  boundary  was  a  point  in  the  nego- 
tiat'on,  and  continued  efforts  were  made  "  ,'  the 
British  plenipotentiaries  to  overreach  the  Ame- 
ricans, with  respect  to  the  country  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains.       Without   presenting  any 
claim,  they  endeavored  to  ^  lea  L-e  a  nest  egg  for 
future  pretensions  in  that  quarter.''     \state 
Papers,  1822-3.)  Finally,  an  article  was  agreed 
to.      The  forty-ninth  degree  of  nori     latitude 
was  to  be  followed  west,  as  far  as  the  territories 
of  the  two  countries  extended  in  that  direction 
with  a  proviso  against  its  application  to  the 
country  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.     This 
treaty  shared  the  fate  of  that  of  1803.     It  was 
never  ratified.    For  causes  unconnected  with  the 
questions  of  boundary,  it  was  rejected  by  Mr. 
Jefferson  without  a  reference  to  the  Senate. 

"At  Ghent,  in  1814,  the  attempts  of  1803  and 
1807  wx're  renewed.  The  British  plenipotentia- 
ries offered  articles  upon  the  subject  of  the  boun- 
dary, and  of  the  northwest  coast,  of  the  same 
character  with  those  previously  offered ;  but  no- 
thing could  be  agreed  upon,  and  nothing  upon 
the  subject  was  inserted  in  the  treaty  signed  at 
that  place. 

"At  London,  in  1818,  the  negotiations  upon 
this  point  were  renewed;  and  the  British  Gov- 
ernment, for  the  first  time,  uncovered  the  ground 
upon  which  its  pretensions  rested.     Its  plenipo- 
tentiaries, Mr.  Robinson  and  Mr.  Goulbourn 
asserted  (to  give  them  the  benefit  of  their  owii 
words,  as  reported  by  Messrs.  Gallatin  and  Rush) 
That  former  voy.iges,  and  principally  that  of 
Captam  Cook,  gave  to  Great  Britain  the  rin-hts 
derived  fi-om  discovery;  and  they  alluded  to  pur- 
chases from  the  natives  .south  of  the  river  Co- 
lumbia, which  they  alleged  to  have  been  made 
prior  to  the  American  Revolution.      They  did 
not  make  any  formal  proposition  for  a  boundary 
but  intimated  that  the  river  itself  was  the  most 
convenient  that  could  be  adopted,  and  that  they 
would  not  agree  to  anv  wliicli  did  not  give  them 
the  harbor  at  the  vmvth  -of  the  r/rer  incommou 
with  the  United  States.'— .Lt'</er  from  Messrs. 
Gallatin  and  Rush,  October  20th.  1820. 
To  this  the  American   plenipotentiaries  an- 


52 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


1  ii 


swered,  in  a  way  better  calculated  to  encourage 
than  to  repulse  the  groundless  pretensions  of 
Great  Britain.  '  We  did  not  assert  (continue 
these  gentlemen  in  the  same  letter),  \vc  did  not 
assert  that  the  United  States  had  a  perfect  right 
to  that  country,  but  insisted  that  their  claim  was 
itt  least  good  against  Great  Britain.  We  did  not 
know  with  precision  what  value  our  govern- 
ment set  on  the  country  to  the  westward  of  these 
mountains ;  but  we  were  not  authorized  to  enter 
into  any  agreement  which  should  be  tantamount 
to  an  abandonment  of  the  claim  to  it.  It  was 
at  last  agrml,  but,  as  we  thought,  with  some  re- 
luctance on  the  part  of  the  British  plenipoten- 
tiaries, that  the  country  on  the  northwest  coast, 
claimed  by  either  party,  should,  without  preju- 
dice to  the  claims  of  either,  and  for  a  liiaitp.d 
time,  be  opened  lor  the  purposes  of  trade  to  tlie 
inhabitants  of  both  countries.' 

"  The  substance  of  this  agreement  was  inserted 
in  the  convention  of  October,  1818.  It  con- 
stitutes the  third  article  of  that  treaty,  and  is 
the  same  upon  which  the  senator  from  New 
Jersey  (Mr.  Dickerson)  relies  for  excluding 
the  United  States  from  the  occupation  of  the 
Columbia. 

"  In  subsequent  negotiations,  the  British  agents 
further  rested  their  claim  upon  the  discoveries 
of  McKenzie,  in  1793,  the  seizure  of  Astoria  du- 
ring the  late  war.  and  the  Nootka  Sound  Treaty, 
of  1790.  '  •" 

"  Such  an  exhibition  of  title,  said  Mr.  B.,  is 
ridiculous,  and  would  be  contemptible  in  the 
hand.s  of  any  other  power  than  that  of  Great 
Britain.     Of  the  five  grounds  of  claim  which 
she  has  set  up,  not  one  of  them  is  tenable  against 
the  .slightest  examination.      Cook  never  saw 
much   less  took  possession  of  any  part  of  the 
northwest  coast  of  America,  in  the  latitude  of 
the  Columbia  River.     All  his  discoveries  wore 
far  north  of  that  point,  and  not  one  of  them  was 
followed  up  by  possession,  without  which  the 
fact  of  discovery  would  confer  no  title.      The 
Indians  were  not  even  named  from  whom  the 
purchases  are  stated  to  have  been  made  anterior 
to  the  Revolutionary  War.     Not  a  single  parti- 
cular is  given  which  could  identify  a  transaction 
of  the  kind.     The  only  circumstance  mentioned 
applies  to  the  locality  of  the  Indians  supposed 
to  have  made  the  sale  ;  and  that  circumstance 
invalidates  the  whole  claim.     They  are  said  to 
have  resided  to  the 'som^A.' of  the  Columbia; 
by  consequence  they  did  not  reside  upon  it,  and 
could  have  no  right  to  sell  a  country  of  which 
they  were  not  the  possessors. 

'•  McKenzie  was  sent  out  from  Canada,  in  the 
year   1793,  to  discover,  at  its  head,  the  river 
which  Captain  Gray  had  discovered  at  its  moutii,  | 
tiireu  years  before.     But  McKenzie  missed  tiie  \ 
object  of  his  search,  and  struck  the  Pacific  five 
hundred  miles  to  the  north,  as  I  have  already 
stated.     The  .seizure  of  Astoria,  during  the  wai' 
wa<  an  operation  of  .•i.rms,  cnnfcrririg  no  more 
title  upon  (ireat  Britain  to  the  Columbia,  than  i 
the  capture  of  Castine  and  Detroit  gave  iier  to  | 


Maine  and  Michigan.  This  new  ground  of  ciaini 
was  set  up  by  Mr.  Bagot,  his  Britannic  Majesty'! 
minister  to  this  republic,  in  1817,  and  ,sut  '1 
in  a  way  to  contradict  and  relinquish  all  theb 
other  pretended  titles.  Mr.  Bagot  was  rcnion 
strating  against  the  occupation,  by  the  United 
States,  of  the  Columbia  River,  and  recitinj.'  that 
it  had  been  taken  possession  of,  in  his  Majesty.- 
name,  during  the  late  war,  '  and  had  sin(  k  i^^" 
roNsiDKUKU  >is  forming  a  part  of  Ids  iMajestih 
dominions.  The  word  's/Hce,'  is  exclusive  of 
all  previous  pretension,  and  the  Ghent  Treaty 
which  stipulates  for  the  restoration  of  all  tht 
captured  posts,  is  a  complete  extinguisher  to  tlii* 
idle  pretension.  Finally,  the  British  negotiaton 
have  been  driven  to  take  shelter  under  the  Xoct 
ka  Sound  Treaty  of  1790.  The  character  of 
that  treaty  was  well  understood  at  the  time  that 
it  was  made,  and  its  terms  will  speak  for  tiKn. 
selves  at  the  present  day.  It  was  a  treaty  of 
concession,  and  not  of  acquisition  of  rights  on 
the  part  of  Great  Britain.  It  was  so  character- 
ized by  the  opposition,  and  so  admitted  to  be  bv 
the  ministry,  at  the  time  of  its  communication  to 
the  British  Parliament. 

[Here  Mr.  B.  read  passages  from  the  speeches 
of  Mr.  Fox  and  Mr.  Pitt,  to  prove  the  cliaracttj 
of  this  Treaty.] 

"Mr.  Fox  said,  'What,  then,  was  the  ext  ni 
of  our  rii'b.ts  before  the  convention— (whether 
admitted  or  denied  by  Spain  was  of  no  con* 
•juence)— and   to  what  extent  were  they  now 
secured  to  us  ?     We  possessed  and  exercised  th. 
free  navigation  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  without  re- 
straint or  limitation.     We  possessed  and  exer- 
cised the  right  of  carrying  on  fisheries  in  the 
South   Seas  equally  unlimited.     This  wa.s  m 
barren  right,  but  a  right  of  which  we  had  avail- 
ed ourselves,  as  appeared  by  the  papers  on  the 
table,  which  showed  that  the  produce  of  it  liad 
increased,  in  five  years,  from  twelve  to  ninety- 
seven  thousand  pounds  sterling.     This  estate  we 
had,  and  were  daily  improving ;  it  was  not  to  k 
disgraced  by  the  name  of  an  acquisition.     Theal- 
mission  of  part  of  these  rights  by  Spain,  was  all  we 
had  obtained.     Our  right,  before,  was  to  settle  in 
any  part  of  the  South  or  Northwest  Coast  of 
America,  not  fortified   against  us  by  previous 
occupancy ;  and  we  were  now  restricted  to  settle 
in  certain  places  only,  and  under  certain  restric- 
tions.    This  was  an  important  concession  on  our 
part.      Our  rights  of  fishing  extended   to  the 
whole  ocean,  and  now  it,  too.  was  limited,  ami  to 
be  carried  on  within  certain  distances  of  the 
Spanish  settlements.     Our  right  of  making  set- 
tlements was  not,  a.s  now,  a  right  to  buildlmts, 
but  to  plant  colonies,  if  we   thought  \m\m. 
Surely  these   were  not  acquisitions,  or  rather 
conquests,  as  they   must   be  considered,  if  we 
were  to  judge  by  the  tiiunqihant  language  re- 
specting them,  but  great  and  important  conces- 
sions.     By  the  third  article,  we  are  autlioimJ 
to  navigate  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  Soiilli  lSia>, 
iininoiesteil.  for  the  jiuqiose  of  carrying  on  our 
fisheries,  and  to  land  on  the  unsettled  coasts,  lor 


|he  purpose  o 
[ifter  this  pom 
fation,  fishery 
ir'icle,  the  .sixf 
aiiding,  and  e 
fmy  purpose  bi 
tnd  amounts 
ight  to  settle 
onimerce  with 
nentary  Histo. 
"Mr.  Pitt,  ii 
bart  of  Mr.  Fo; 
Reparation,  Mr. 
lamely,  that  g 
hat  the  other 
acre  concession 
fewer  to  this,  M 
jjrhat  this  coun 
^w  rights,  it  c 
pVe  had,  before, 
fishery,  and  a  : 
jlsheries  in  the 
ihe  coasts  of  ar 
but  that  right  i 
edged,  but  disp 
he  convention,  i 
itance  which,  th 
ivantage.' — Sa 
■  But,  contini 
ake  the  characf 
,'h  authority  oi 
Ml  Parliament. 
!  have  it  in  my  1 
felied  upon  to  s^ 
"polumbia  River. 
'  ARTICLE  TH 

"'In  order  to  s 

hip,  and  to  pres 

|ioiiy  and  good  u 

pntracting  parti 

bective    subjects 

plested,    either 

their  fisheries 

be   South  Seas, 

pose  seas  in  place 

urposc  of  carryir 

tttives  of  the  com 

here;  the  whole 

fcstrictions  and  p 

|llowing  articles.' 

;  "  The  particulai 

bon  by  the  advo 

|at  which  gives  f 

the  Northwest 

Ir  the  purpose  o 

plving  .settlement 

pen  this  clause 

|titud(!  of  the  Col 

I  the  date  of  the  I 

Iswer  is  in  the 

hether  the  Englis 

Iwas  so  unoccupi 

gative ;  and  this 

hsion  of  British  cl 


ground  of  ciaiu 
annic  Majesty's 
17,  and  set  up 
iqiiish  all  theii 
rot  wa,s  rcmon. 
by  the  Uniteni 
id  recitiiif,'  that 
n  his  Majesty's 
had  siNCKAfjf) 
fids  Majestijs 
s  exclusive  of 
Ghent  Treaty. 
tion  of  all  the 
iguisher  to  this 
;ish  negotiators 
nder  the  Noot- 
e  character  of 
it  the  time  thai 
)eak  for  thoni- 
i^as  a  treaty  of 
1  of  rights' un 
is  so  character- 
litted  to  ix'  bj 
nmunication  to 

n  the  speeches 
!  the  character 


vtis  the  estnt 
ion— (whether 
s  of  no  con* 
ere  they  now 
1  exercised  the 
m,  without  rin- 
sed and  e.xir- 
isheries  in  the 

This  was  m 

we  had  avail- 
papers  on  the 
luce  of  it  had 
Ive  to  ninety- 
riiis  estate  we 
was  not  to  be 
ion.  The  ad- 
un,  was  all  we 
as  to  settle  in 
i-est  Coast  of 

by  previoib 
icted  to  settle 
.Ttain  restrif 
ession  on  our 
nded  to  the 
niited.  ami  to 
;ances  of  the 
'  making  stt 
0  build  hut< 
ight  proper 
lis,  or  rather 
idered.  if  \\\ 
language  re 
rtant  coiice> 
•e  autliori/Ail 

iSotiUi  t'i'a> 
ying  on  our 
ed  coasts,  i- 


ANNO  1825.    JAMES  MONROE,  PRESIDENT. 


53 


Ihe  purpose  of  trading  with  the  natives;  but, 
lifter  this  pompous  recognition  of  right  to  navi- 
gation, fishery,  and  commerce,  comes  another 
Ir'Jclc,  the  sixth,  which  takes  away  the  right  of 
Jauding,  and  erecting  even  temporary  huts  for 
j»ny  purpose  but  that  of  carrying  on  the  fishery, 
^nd  amounts  to  a  complete  dereliction  of  alJ 
^ght  to  settle  in  any  way  for  the  purpose  of 
connnerce  with  the  natives.' — British  Parlia- 
mentary  History,  Vol.  28,  p.  990. 

"  Ur.  Pitt,  in  reply.     '  Having  finished  that 
fart  of  Mr.  Fox's  speech  which  fefcrred  to  the 
Reparation,  Mr,  Pitt  proceeded  to  the  next  point 
iamely,  that  gentleman's  argument  to  prove' 
jthat  the  other  articles  of  the  convention  were 
ttore  concessions,  and  not  acquisitions.     In  an- 
swer to  this,  Mr.  Pitt  maintained,  that,  though 
Jrhat  this  country  had  gaine'^  consisted  not  of 
iiew  rights,  it  certainly  did  of  new  advantages. 
We  had,  before,  a  right  to  the  Southern  whale 
fishery,  and  a  right  to  navigate  and  carry  on 
fisheries  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  to  trade  on 
the  coasts  of  any  part  of  Northwest  America ; 
but  that  right  not  only  had  not  been  acknow-^ 
ledged,  but  disputed  and  resisted :  whereas  by 
the  convention,  it  was  secured  to  us— a  circiim- 
Btance  which,  though  no  new  right,  was  a  new 
idvantage.'— .Same— p.  1002, 


■  But,  continued  Mr.  Benton,  we  need  not 
take  the  character  of  the  treaty  even  from  the 
high  authority  of  these  rival  leaders  in  the  Brit- 
fch  Parliament.  The  treaty  will  speak  for  itself 
I  have  it  in  my  hand,  and  will  read  the  article 
K\m\  upon  to  sustain  the  British  claim  to  the 
vulumbia  River. 

■;    '"ARTICLE  THIED  OF  TIIE  NOOTKA  SOUND 
TEKATY. 

"'In  order  to  strengthen  the  bonds  of  friend- 
up,  and  to  preserve,  in  future,  a  perfect  har- 
lony  and  good  understanding  between  the  two 
)nti-actmg  parties,  it  is  agreed  that  their  re- 
.lective    subjects    shall  not  be   disturbed   or 
lolested,    cither    in    navigating    or    carrying 
their  fisheries    in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  or  in 
le   bouth  beas,  or  in  landing  on  the  coasts  of 
lose  seas  in  places  not  already  occupied  for  the 
irpose  of  carrying  on  their  commerce  with  the 
itives  of  the  country,  or  of  making  settlements 
lere;  the  whole  subject,  nevertheless,  to  the 
istrictions  and  provisions  specified  in  the  three 
illowing  articles.' 

"The  particular  clause  of  this  article,  relied 
•on  by  the  advocates  for  the  British  claim  is 
lat  winch  gives  the  right  of  landing  on  parts 
,  the  .Northwest  Coast,  not  already  occimed 
.'the  purpose  of  carrying  on  commerce  &ni 
^^mg  settlements.  The  first  inquiry  arising 
)on  this^  c  ause  is,  whether  the  coast,  in  the 
ttude  of  the  Columbia  River,  was  unoccupied 
the  date  of  the  Nootka  Sound  Treaty  1  The 
swcr  is  in  the  affirnint'vp      The  4frnr!  ;- 


Isw 


1  nether  the  Jinglish  landed  upon  t'us  coast  while 
was  so  unoccupied  ?      The  answer  is  in  the 
pativ  e ;  ar.d  this  answer  puts  an  end  to  all  pre- 
Hibion  of  British  claim  founded  upon  this  treaty. 


vvithout  leaving  us  under  the  necessity  of  recur- 
ring to  the  fact  that  the  permission  to  land  and 
to  make  settlements,  so  far  from  contemplatine 
an  acquisition  of  territory,  was  limited  by  subse- 
quent restrictions,  to  the  erection  of  temporary 
huts  lor  the  personal  accommodation  of  fisher- 
men and  traders  only. 

"  iMr.  B.  adverted  to  the  inconsistency,  on  the 
^u\  f  ^^atBntain,  of  following  the  49th  par- 
allel to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  refusing  to 
follow  It  any  further.     He  aifirmed  that  the 
principle  which  would  make  that  parallel   a 
boundary  to  the  top  of  the  mountain,  would 
carry  it  out  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.     He  proved 
this  assertion  by  recurring  to  the  origin  of  that 
me     It  grew  out  of  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  that 
treaty  which,  in  1704,  put  an  end  to  the  wars  of 
Queen  Anne  and  Louis  the  XlVth  and  fixed  the 
boundaries   of  their    respective    dominions  in 
North  America.     The  tenth  article  of  that  treaty 
was  applicable  to  Louisiana  and  to  Canada.    It 
provided  that  commissioners  should  be  appoint- 
ed by  the  two  powers  to  adjust  the  boundary 
between  them.      The  commissioners  were  ap- 
pointed, and  did  fix  it.     The  parallel  of  49  de- 
grees vvas  fixed  upon  as  the  common  boundary 

%Tw^}^''^L'^^  ^^'^  ^«°^«'  ''indefinitely  to 
the  West."  This  boundary  was  a<:quiesced  in 
or  a  hundred  years.  By  proposing  to  follow  it 
to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  the  British  Govern- 
ment admits  its  validity ;  by  refusing  to  follow 
It  out,  they  become  obnoxious  to  the  charge  of 
inconsistency,  and  betray  a  determination  to  • 
croach  upon  the  territory  of  the  United  Stai  . 
Se       ,"°^'^S"''^«^d  purpose  of  selfish  aggran- 

"The  truth  is,  Mr.  President,  continued  Mr. 
«.,  tireat  Britain  has  no  color  of  title  to  the 
country  m  question.    She  sets  up  none.     There 
'\?u   *  P^P""  upon  the  face  of  the  earth  in 
which  a  British  minister  has  stated  a  claim.    I 
speak  of  the  king's  ministers,  and  not  of  the 
agents  employed  by  them.      The    claims  we 
nave  been  examining  are  thrown  out  in  the  con- 
versations and  notes  of  diplomatic  agents.    No 
l!.nglish  minister  has  ever  put  his  name  to  them 
and  no  one  will  ever  risk  his  character  a.s  a 
statesman  by  venturing  to  do  so.     The  claim  of 
Ixreat  Britain  is  nothing  but  a  naked  pretension, 
founded  on  the  double  prospect  of  benefiting 
herself  and  injuring  the  United  States.     The  fur 
trader,  Sir  Alexander  McKcnzie,is  at  the  bottom 
ot  this  policy.    Failing  in  his  attempt  to  explore 
the  Columbia  River,  in  1793,  he,  nevertheless, 
urged  upon  the  British  Government  the  advan- 
tages of  taking  it  to  herself,  and  of  expo'  ing  the 
Americans  from  the  whole  region  west  of  the 
Kocky  Mountains.      The  advice  accorded  too 
well  with  the  passions  and  policy  of  that  govern- 
ment, to  be  disregarded.     It  is  a  government 
wnich  has  lost  no  opportunity,  since  the  peace 
TT  ■!  'i  o  ''ge'"an<l'zing  itself  at  the  expense  of  the 
United  States.    It  is  a  government  which  listens 
to  the  suggestions  of  its  experienced  subjects, 
and  thus  an  individual,  in  the  humble  station  of 


ij" 


54 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


Illll ' 


RIfl    ISI 


a  fur  trader,  has  pointed  out  the  policy  which 
has  been  pursued  by  every  Minister  of  Great 
Britain,  from  Pitt  to  Canning,  and  for  the  main- 
tenance of  which  a  war  is  now  menaced. 

"  For  a  boundary  line  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain,  west  of  the  Mississippi, 
McKenzie  proposes  the  latitude  of  45  degrees,  be- 
cause that  latitude  is  necessary  to  give  the  Co- 
lumbia River  to  Great  Britain.  His  words  are : 
"  Let  the  line  begin  where  it  may  on  the  Missis- 
sippi, it  must  be  continued  west,  till  it  termi- 
nates in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  to  the  south  of  the 
Columbia.^ 

"  Mr.  B.  said  it  was  curious  to  observe  with 
what  closeness  every  suggestion  of  McKenzie 
had  been  followed  up  by  the  British  Govern- 
ment. He  recommended  that  the  Hudson  Bay 
and  Northwest  Company  should  be  united ;  and 
they  have  been  united.  He  proposed  to  extend 
the  fur  trade  of  Canada  to  the  shore  of  the  Pa- 
cific Ocean ;  and  it  has  been  so  extended.  He 
proposed  that  a  chain  of  trading  posts  should  be 
formed  through  the  continent,  from  sea  to  sea ; 
and  it  has  been  formed.  He  recommended  that 
no  boundary  line  should  be  agreed  upon  with 
the  United  States,  which  did  not  give  the  Co- 
lumbia River  to  the  British;  and  the  British 
ministry  declare  that  none  other  shall  be  formed. 
He  proposed  to  obtain  the  command  of  the  fur 
trade  from  latitude  45  (''Agrees  north ;  and  they 
have  it  even  to  the  Mandan  villages,  and  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Coimcil  Bluffs.  He  r.  .ora- 
mended  the  expulsion  of  American  traders  from 
the  whole  region  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
and  they  are  expelled  from  it.  Ho  pioposed  to 
command  the  commerce  of  the  Pacific  Ocean ; 
and  it  will  be  commanded  the  moment  a  British 
fleet  takes  position  in  the  mouth  of  the  Colum- 
bia. Besides  these  specified  advantages,  McKen- 
zie alludes  to  other  ^ polilical  coii.uderations^ 
which  it  was  not  necessary  for  him  to  particu- 
larize. Doubtless  it  was  not.  They  were  suf- 
ficiently understood.  They  are  the  same  which 
induced  the  retention  of  the  northwestern  posts, 
in  violation  of  the  treaty  of  1783;  the  same 
which  induced  the  acquisition  of  Gibraltar, 
Malta,  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  the  Islands  of 
Ceylon  and  Madagascar ;  the  same  which  makes 
Great  Britain  covet  the  possession  of  every  com- 
manding position  in  the  four  quarters  of  the 
globe." 

I  do  not  argue  the  question  of  title  on  the 
part  of  the  United  States,  but  only  state  it  as 
founded  upon — 1.  Discovery  of  the  Columbia 
River  by  Capt.  Gray,  in  1790  ;  2.  Purchase  of 
Louisiana  in  1803  ;  3.  Discovery  of  the  Colum- 
bia from  its  head  to  its  mouth,  by  Lewis  and 
Clarke,  in  1803 ;  4.  Settlement  of  Astoria,  in 
1811;  5.  Treaty  with  Spain,  1810:  6.  Contigu- 
ity and  continuity  of  settlement  and  possession. 
Nor  do  I  argue  the  question  of  the  advantages 
of  retaining  the  Columbia,  and  refusing  to  di- 


vide or  alienate  our  territory  upon  it.  I  morely 
state  them,  and  leave  their  value  to  result  from 
the  enumeration.  1.  To  keep  out  a  foreiiTi 
power;  2.  To  gain  a  seaport  with  a  military  ami 
naval  station,  on  the  coast  of  the  Pacific ;  3.  To 
save  the  fur  trade  in  that  region,  and  prevem 
our  Indians  from  being  tampered  with  by  Britisli 
traders ;  4.  To  open  a  communication  for  con- 
mercial  purposes  between  the  Mississijjpi  ani 
the  Pacific ;  5.  To  send  the  lights  of  science  atl 
of  religion  into  eastern  Asia. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

COMMENCEMENT  OF  ME.  ADAMS'S  ADMINISTBi. 
TION. 

On  the  4th  of  March  he  delivered  his  inaugural 
address,  and  took  the  oath  of  office.  That  ad- 
dress— the  main  feature  of  the  inauguration  of 
every  President,  as  giving  the  outline  of  the  i* 
licy  of  his  administration — furnished  a  tcpit 
against  Mr.  Adams,  and  went  to  the  reconstrut- 
tion  of  parties  on  the  old  line  of  strict,  or  latitii- 
dinous,  construction  of  the  constitution.  It  was 
the  topic  of  internal  national  improvement  k 
the  federal  government.  The  address  extolld 
the  value  of  such  works,  considered  the  constitu- 
tional objection  as  yielding  to  the  force  of  argu- 
ment, expressed  the  hope  that  every  speculatiw 
(constitutional)  scruple  would  be  solved  ini 
practical  blessing ;  and  declared  the  belief  thai 
in  the  execution  of  such  works  posterity  woiili 
derive  a  fervent  gratitude  to  the  founders  of  oci 
Union,  and  most  deeply  feel  and  acknowlcdu 
the  beneficent  aetion  of  our  government.  Tke 
declaration  of  principles  which  would  gives 
much  power  to  the  government,  and  the  dangei 
of  which  had  just  been  so  fully  set  forth  by  Mi 
Monroe  in  his  veto  message  on  the  CumbeiW 
road  bill,  alarmed  the  old  republicans,  and  gavci 
new  ground  of  opposition  to  Mr.  Adams's  admini- 
tration,  in  addition  to  the  strong  one  growing  oi! 
of  the  election  in  the  House  of  Representativ&| 
in  which  the  fundamental  principle  of  reprc-et- « 
tativo  government  had  been  disregarded.  Ttii^^^ 
new  ground  of  opposition  was  greatly  strengtli-|^'; 
cned  at  the  delivery  of  the  first  annual  mcs^^  j 
in  which  the  topic  of  internal  improvement  \fiil 
again  largely  enforced,  other  subjects  recoifl 


aended  whicli 

onstructive  p( 

lie  President 

|he  American 

ministers  to  1 

Isthmus  of  Pj 

from  the  begin 

vas  to  have  a  i 

that  founded  i 

ime  principle 

bad  di.scrimina 

Df  the  federal 

chool — survive 

ad  Jefferson  t: 

accordbgly 

yams,  the  re 

Qass  of  the  yoi 

In  the  Senat 

lim,  comprehei 

aen  afterwards 

iorth  Carolinf 

Tan    Buren   o 

Smith  of  Mary] 

rolina  (the  Ion; 

of  the  Senate),  J 

aor  Edward  LL 

tucky,  and  Fin 

louse  of  Repr 

ainority  oppose 

i  be  increased  i 

aajority :  so  th 

Qenced  his  adm 

I  able  auspices,  oi 

Inlar  career. 

The  cabinet  v 
Irieuced  men — Jl 
iRichard  Rush,  o 
iTrcasury,  recall 
jthat  purpose ;  \ 
[Secretary  at  Wj 
iNew  Jersey,  Se( 
jMonroo,  continu 
iMr.  John  McLei 
land  of  Mr.  Wirt 
Ipying  the  same 
jMonroe,  and  con 
Iplace  of  Secretai 
[by  Mr.  Adams 
[and  declined  by 
[be  commemorate 
[of  personal  feeli 


ANNO  1828,    JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS.  PRESIDENT. 


55 


n  it.  I  mcrelj 
i  to  result  from 

out  a  foreip 
li  a  military  and 

Pacific ;  3.  To 
)n,  and  prevent 
ivith  by  Britisli 
ation  for  com- 
Vlississippi  anj 
)  of  science  asl 


XI. 

3  ADMINISTEi. 

i  his  inaugural 
ce.  That  aii- 
lauguration  o( 
tline  of  the  i* 
nished  a  topit 
tlie  reconstnic 
trict,  or  latitii 
tution.  It  n 
iprovement  Iit 
idress  extolld 
2d  the  constiti!- 
force  of  argil 
ery  speculatm 
)e  solved  ini 
the  belief  thji 
losterity  wouli 
bunders  of  om 
d  acknowlcdjt 
eminent.  Tk 
would  give« 
ind  the  danai 
3t  forth  by  Mr 
le  CumberlaiiJ 
ans,  and  gavti 
iams'sadmmi- 
ne  growing  oii! 
l,epresentatiT^ 
le  of  reprcsiD- 
jgarded.  Tlit 
catly  strengili 
rinual  mes-agt  I 
)rovement  wsij 
ibjects  recoffi'l 


lended  which  would  require  a  liberal  use  of 

instructive  powers,  and  Congress  informed  that 

he  President  had  accepted  an  invitation  from 

Ihe  American  States  of  Spanish  origin,  to  send 

ninisters  to  their  proposed  Congress  on  the 

Igthraus  of  Panama.     It  was,  therefore,  clear 

Irom  the  beginning  that  the  new  administration 

vas  to  have  a  settled  and  strong  opposition,  and 

that  founded  in  principles  of  government — the 

ame  principles,  under  different  forms,   which 

bad  discriminated  parties  at  the  commencement 

Df  the  federal  government.      Men  of  the  old 

chool — survivors  of  the  contest  of  the  Adams 

ad  Jefferson  times,  with  some  exceptions,  divid- 

"td  accoraingly — the  federalists  going  for   Mr. 

Adams,  the  republicans  against  him,  with  the 

mass  of  the  younger  generation. 

In  the  Senate  a  decided  majority  was  against 
Lim,  comprehending  (not  to  speak  of  younger 
men  afterwards  become  eminent,)  Mr.  Jlacon  of 
North  Carolina,  Mr.  Tazewell  of  Virginia,  Mr. 
Van  Buren  of  New- York,  General  Samuel 
Smith  of  Maryland,  Mr.  Gaillard  of  South  Ca- 
rolina (the  long-continued  temj)orary  President 
of  the  Senate),  Dickerson  of  New  Jersey,  Gover- 
nor Edward  Lloyd  of  Maryland,  Rowan  of  Ken- 
lucky,  and  Findlay  of  Pennsylvania.  In  the 
louse  of  Representatives  there  was  a  strong 
ninority  opposed  to  the  new  President,  destined 
'  be  increased  at  the  first  election  to  a  decided 
oajority :  so  that  no  President  could  have  com- 
nenced  his  administration  under  more  unfavor- 
lable  auspices,  or  with  less  expectation  of  a  pop- 
ular career. 

The  cabinet  was  composed  of  able  and  expe- 
rienced men— Mr.  Clay,  Secretary  of  State;  Mr. 
lEichard  Rush,  of  Pennsylvania,  Secretary  of  tte 
■Treasury,  recalled  from  the  London  mission  fljp 
ithat  purpose ;  Mr.  James  Barbour,  of  Virgini  ' 
■Secretary  at  War ;  Mr.  Samuel  L.  Southard,  o 
iNew  Jersey,  Secretary  of  the  Navy  under  iTr. 
JMonroc,  continued  in  that  place ;  the  same  of 
iMr.  John  McLean,  of  Ohio,  Postmaster  General, 
land  of  Mr.  Wirt,  Attorney  General— both  occu- 
Ipying  the  same  places  respectively  under  ]Mr. 
I  Monroe,  and  continued  by  his  successor.  The 
jplace  of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  was  offered 
I  by  Mr.  Adams  to  Mr.  William  H.  Crawford, 
land  declined  by  him— an  offer  which  deserves  to 
|be  commemorated  to  show  how  little  there  was 
jof  personal  feelmg  between  these  two  eminent 


If 


citizens,  who  had  just  been  rival  candidates  for 
the  Presidency  of  the  United  States.  If  Mr, 
Crawford  had  accepted  the  Treasury  department, 
the  administration  of  Mr.  John  Quincy  Adams 
would  have  been  entirely  composed  of  the  same 
individuals  which  composed  that  of  Mr.  Monroe, 
with  the  exception  of  the  two  (himself  and  Mr. 
Calhoun)  elected  President  and  Vice-President ; 
— a  fact  which  ought  to  have  been  known  to  Mens, 
de  Tocqueville,  when  he  wrote,  that  '•  Mr.  Quincy 
Adams,  on  his  entry  into  ofBce,  discharged  the 
majority  of  the  individuals  who  had  been  ap- 
pointed by  his  predecessor." 

There  was  opposition  in  the  Senate  to  the  con- 
firmation of  Mr.  Clay's  nomination  to  the  State 
department,  growing  out  of  his  support  of  Mr. 
Adams  in  the  election  of  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives, and  acceptance  of  oflice  from  him ;  but 
overruled  by  a  majority  of  two  to  one.     The  af- 
firmative votes  were  Messrs.  Barton  and  Benton 
of   Missouri;    Mr.  Bell   of   New  Hampshire; 
Messrs.  Bouligny  and   Josiah  F.  Johnston  of 
Louisiana ;    Messrs.  Chandler  and  Holmes   of 
Maine  ;  Messrs.  Chase  and  Seymour  of  Vermont ; 
Messrs.  Thomas  Clayton  and  Van  Dyke  of  Dela- 
ware; Messrs.  DeWolf  and  Knight  of  Rhode 
Island;  Mr.  Mahlon  Dickerson  of  New  Jersey; 
Mr.  Henry  W.  Edwards  of  Connecticut;  Mr. 
Gaillard  of  South  Carolina;  Messrs.  Harrison 
(the  General)  and  Ruggles  of  Ohio ;  Mr.  Hen- 
dries  of  Indiana ;  Mr.  Elias  Kent  Kane  of  Illi- 
nois; Mr.  William  R.  King  of  Alabama ;  Messrs. 
Edward  Lloyd  and  General  Samuel  Smith  from 
Maryland ;  Messrs.  James  Lloyd  and  Elijah  H. 
Mills  from  Massachusetts ;  Mr.  John  Rowan  of 
Kentucky;  Mr.  Van  Buren  of  New- York— 27. 
The  negatives  were :  Messrs.  Berrien  and  Thos. 
W.  Cobb  of  Georgia ;  Messrs.  Branch  and  Ma- 
con of  North  Carolina ;   Jlessrs.  Jackson  (the 
General)  and  Eaton  of  Tennessee ;  Messrs.  Find- 
lay  and  Marks  of  Pennsylvania ;  Mr.  Ilayne  oi 
South  Carolina;    Messrs.   David  Holmes  and 
Thomas  A.  Williams  of  JMississippi ;  Mr.  Mcll- 
vaine  of  New  Jersey ;  Messrs.  Littleton  W.  Taze- 
well and  John  Randolph  of  Virginia ;  Mr.  Jesse 
B.  Thomas  of   Illinois.     Seven  senators  were 
absent,  one  of  whom  (Mr.  Noble  of  Indiana) 
declared  he  should  have  voted  for  the  confirma- 
tion of  Jlr.  Clay,  if  he  had  been  present ;  and  of 
those  voting  for  lum  about  the  cue  half  were  hia 
political  opponents. 


^fa^ffl 


<t^s|. 


\hth 


56 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


'illi 


'.  1,1   I  I 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

CASE  OP  MR.  LANMAN-TEMPORARY  SEN  ■  r:>UIAL 
APPOINTMENT  FROM  CONNECTICUT. 

Mr.    Lanman   had  served   a   regular  term  as 
senator  from  Connecticut.    His  term  of  service 
expired  on  the  3d  of  Jlarch  of  this  year,  and  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  State  having  failed  to 
make  an  election  of  senator  in  his  place,  he  re- 
ceived a  temporary  appointment  from  the  gov- 
ernor.    On  presenting  himself  to  take  the  oath  of 
office,  on  the  4th  day  of  March,  being  tlia  first 
day  of  the  special  senatorial  session  convoked  by 
the  retiring  President  (Mr.  Monioe),  according 
to  usage,  for  the  inauguration  of  his  successor ; 
his  appointment  was  objected  (o.  as  not  having 
been  made  m  a  case  in  wliich  u  ^^-jvemor  of  a 
State  could  fill  a  vacancy  by  L/aking  a  tenu^v 
rary  appointment.    Mr.  Tazewell  was  the  pri;  -  i 
cipal  speaker  against  the  validity  of  the  appoint- 
ment, arguing  against  it  both  on  the  words  of 
tic  constitution,  and  the  reason  for  the  provi- 
sio;i,     The  words  of  the  constitution  are :  "  If 
vacaucief,  happen  (in  the  Senate)  by  resignation 
or  otherwise,  daring  the  recess  of  the  legislature 
of  any  .State,  tb-  executive  thereof  may  make 
temporary  appoii^vments,  until  the  n^xl,  meeting 
of  the  legislcture."     "  Happen"  was  held  by  Mr. 
Tazewell  to  be  the  go'ocning  word  in  this  pro- 
vision, and  it  always  implied  a  contingency,  and 
an  unexpected  one.    It  cuuld  not  apply  to  a 
foreseen  event,  bound  to  occur  at  a  fixed  period. 
Here  the  vacancy  was  foreseen ;  there  was  no 
contingency  in  it.    It  was  regular  and  certain. 
It  wa.s  the  right  of  the  legislature  to  fill  it,  and 
if  they  failed,  no  lafittor  from  what  cause,  there 
was  no   right  in  the  governor  to  supply   their 
omission.    The  reason  of  the  phraseology  waa 
evident.     The  Assembly  was    the    appointing 
body.     It  was  the  regular  authority  to  elect 
senators.    It  was  a  body  of  more  or  less  mem- 
bers, but  always  representing  the  whole  body 
of  the  State,  and  every  county  in  the  State,  a  ad 
on  that  account  vested  by  the  constitution  with 
the  power  of  choosing  senators.  The  terms  choose 
and  elect  are  the  words  applied  to  the  legislative 
election  of  senators.     The  term  appoint  is  the 
word  applied  to  a  gubernatorial  appointmeut. 


The  election  was  the  regular  mode  of  the  con- 
stitution,  and  was  not  to  be  superseded  by  ig 
appointment  ii-  any  casein  which  the  legislature 
could  act,  wlvther  they  acted  or  not.    Some 
debate  took  p/ace,  and  precedents  were  called 
for.    On  motion  of  Mr.  Eaton,  a  committee  was 
appointed  to  search  for  them,  and  found  several. 
The  committee  cons:i,ted  of  Mr.  Eaton,  of  Ten. 
nessee;  Mr.  Edwards,  of  Connecticut ;  and  Mr, 
Tazewell,  of  V  irginia.     They  reported  the  cases 
of  William  Co  >ke,  of  Tennessee,  appointed  by 
the  governor  of  the  State,  in  April,  1797.  to  fill 
the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  expiration  of  his 
own  term,  the  3(1  of  March  preccvllng;  olUriali 
Tracy,  of  Connec!  iciit,  appointed  by  the  governor 
of  the  State,  in  February,  1801,  (*?  fill  the  ya- 
cancy  to  occur  u?  on  ihe  expiraticn  of  his  on 
term,  on  the  3d  of  March  following, ;  of  .;  .seph 
Anderson,  of  Tennessee,  appointed  by  the  gov. 
emor  of  jl.e  State,  in  February,  1809,  to  iill  ti 
acancy  ivhich  the  expiration  of  his  own  t^rni 
would  make  on  the  4th  of  March  following ;  of 
.iohit  Williams,  )r  Tennessee,  appointed  by  he 
gonTMr  of  the  State,  in  January,  1817,  to  till 
tie  laoancy  iu  occur  from  the  expiration  of  hi< 
ir  "m,  on  the  ensuing  3d  of  March ;  and  in  all 
the.so  cases  the  persons  so  appointed  had  beei, 
admitted  to  their  seats,  and  all  of  them,  except 
ill  the  case  of  Mr.  Tracy,  without  any  question 
being  raised ;  and  in  his  case  by  a  vote  of  13  to 
10.    These  precedents  were  not  satisfactory  to 
the  Senate ;  and  after  considering  Mr.  Lanraan's 
case,  from  the  4th  to  the  7th  of  March,  the  mo- 
tion to  admit  him  to  a  seat  was  rejected  by  a 
vote  of  23  to  18.     The  senators  voting  in  favor 
of  the  motion  were  Messrs.  Bell,  Bouligny,  Chase, 
Clayton,  DeWolf,  Edwards,  Harrison  (General) 
Hendricks,  Johnston  of  Lousiana,  Kane,  Knight 
l^loyd  of  Massachu.setts,  Mcllvaine,  Mills,  Noble, 
^owsui,  Seymour,  Thomas— 10.     Those  voting 
iigainst  it  were  aiessrs.  Barton,  Benton,  Berrien! 
Branch,  Chandler,  Dickerson,  Eaton,  Findlay, 
Gaillard,  Hayne,  Holmes  of  Maine,  Holmes  of 
Mississippi,  Jackson  (General),  King  of  Ala- 
bama, Lloyd  of  Maryland,  Marks,  Macon,  Bug- 
gies, Smith  of  Maryland,  Tazewell,  Van  Buren, 
Vandyke,  Williams,  of  Mississippi— 23 ;   and 
with  this  decision,  the  subsequent  practice  of 
the  Senate  has  conformed,  leaving  States  in  pan  - 
or  in  who'.-  unrepresented,  when  the  leg''  'nt'ire 
failed  tc  ii;;  r*  regular  vacancy. 


CHi 

EETIRI 

the  summer 

^'.iiiiud  a  ioii,'.^ 

['■j'iii'tmonttTft 

'.y  to  quit  it 

,('  iicw  Pre,sid( 

vk.<Mi  of  },i.ir 

:traordinary  ) 

^me  place  to  wl 

ears  before,  a: 

enate)  by  Pre 

licii  he  httd  n 

l^flerson,  at  th 

<k  piacc  in  Ii 

(t?;.  the  goverur 

tiiS  Congress 

convention  ^ 

Itution  (in  botl 

Massachusetts 

New- York,  bei) 

it  State,  elect© 

luyler,  the  fath 

was  afterwar 

igain  senator,  i 

mean  time,  de 

t  Washington 

was  a  federal: 

id  of  that  part 

lilton;  and  w 

ty,  with  whos 

items  of  policy, 

icided.    As  chi 

as  Vice-Presidi 

1810.    He  was 

•ported  the  gov 

inst  Great  Briti 

I,  he  went  into  : 

glared,  and  in  h 

measures  and  s 

most  essential  J 

the  defence  of 

the  strength  ai 

> depended);  as 

inteer  regiments 

ing  with  the  rep 

and  Mr.  Van  1 

of  New-Yorli 


do  of  the  COB, 
)erseded  by  an 
the  legislature 
or  not.    Some 
ts  were  called 
committee  was 
found  several 
Saton,  of  Ten- 
icut ;  and  Mr, 
)rted  the  cases 
appointed  by 
il,  1791  to  fill 
piratjoi)  of  his 
:ing;  ofUriali 
y  the  governor 
'>>  fill  theva- 
:n  of  his  own 
g  j  of  ./  ;sepl; 
I  by  the  gov. 
i09,  to  iill  ti 
ills  own  term 
Allowing ;  of 
)inted  by  he 
■,  1817,  to  i,a 
iration  of  hL 
I ;  and  in  ail 
ited  had  be«, 
them,  except 
any  question 
vote  of  13  to 
atisfactory  to 
Ir.  Lanman's 
arch,  the  mo- 
ejected  by  a 
•ting  in  favor 
iligny,  Chaso, 
•n  (General), 
^ane.  Knight, 
Mills,  Noble, 
?hose  voting 
iton,  Berrien, 
on,  Findlay, 
Holmes  of 
ing  of  Ala- 
Macon,  Rug- 
Van  Buren. 
i— 23;    a-'d 
practice  of 
tates  in  pan  '* 
B  legi;;.!atuie  ;• 


ANNO  1825.    JOHN  QUINCT  ADAMS,  PRESIDENT. 


CHAPTER    XXIir. 

EETIKING  OF  ME.  EUFU3  KING. 

.^.  the  summer  of  this  year,  this  gentleman  ter- 
,^',iuied  a  knv-  and  high  career  in  the  legislative 
■^^^"j'iirtment  c  f !  I.o  fc  L.^ral  government,  but  not  en- 
;/  to  quit  its  ser  vii;-.,     He  was  appointed  by 
5;cw  President,  Afr.  .John  Quincy  Adams,  to 
lAzAQ  of  ?;Iir>istct  r'-'onipotentiary  and  Envoy 
;traofdinary  to  the  Court  of  St.  James,  the 
me  place  to  which  he  had  been  appointed  thirty 
sars  before,  and  from  the  same    place  (the 
5nate)  by  President  Washington;  and  from 
hicii  he  had  not  been  removed  by  President 
ifierson,  at  the  revolution  of  parties,  which 
-ik  Iliac,'  in  1800.      He  had  been  connected 
the  government  forty  years,  having  served 
ti.?  Congress  of  the  Confederation,  and  in 
convention  which  framed  the  federal  con- 
Itution  (in  both  places  from  his  native  State 
JIassachusetts),  in  the  Senate  from  the  State 
New- York,  being  one  of  the  first  senators  from 
^t  State,  elected  in  1789,  with  General  Philip 
luyler,  the  father-in-law  of  General  Hamilton, 
was  afterwards  minister  to  Great  Britain 
igain  senator,  and  again  minister— having  in 
mean  time,  declined  the  invitation  of  Presi- 
it  Washington  to  be  his  Secretary  of  State 
was  a  federalist  of  the  old  school,  and  the 
id  of  that  party  after  the  death  of  General 
milton;  and  when  the  name  discriminated  a 
■ty,  with  whose  views  on  government  and 
items  of  policy,  General  Washington  greatly 
ncded.    As  chief  of  that  party,  he  was  voted 
as  Vice-President  in  1808,  and  as  President 
l«10.    He  was  one  of  the  federalists  who 
•ported  the  government  in  the  war  of  1812 
mst  Great  Britain.     Opposed  to  its  declara- 
>,  he  went  mto  its  support  as  soon  as  it  was 

Glared,  and  in  his  place  in  the  Senate  voted 
measures  and  supplies  required;  and  (what 
.most  essential)  exerted  himself  in  providing 
the  defence  of  his  adopted  State,  New-York 

,,  tho  strength  and  conduct  of  which  so  much 
-?■  '  f  P™*^*^^)  5  ^««isting  to  raise  and  equip  her 

^^.nteer  regnnents and  militia  quotas,  ani  co-op- 
ing  with  the  republican  looHpr-  /^r-  t 

-  of  New-York  m  the  strong  nnd  united 


57 

position  which  tho  war  in  Canada  and  repug- 
nance  to  the  war  in  New  England,  rendered  es- 
sential to  the  welfare  of  the  Union.  History 
should  remember  this  patriotic  conduct  of  Mr 
King,  and  record  it  for  the  beautiful  and  instruc 
I  tive  lesson  which  it  teaches. 

Like  Mr.  Macon  and  John  Taylor  of  Carolina, 
Mr.    Kmg  had  his  individuality  of  character^ 
manners  and  dress,  but  of  different  type;  they 
of  plam  country  gentlemen;    and  he,  a  high 
model  of  courtly  refinement.     He  always  ap- 
peared in  the  Senate  in  full  dress;  short  small- 
clothes, silk  stocking.s,  and  shoes,  and  was  ha- 
bitually observant  of  all  the  courtesies  of  life 
His  colleague  in  tho  Senate   during  the  chief 
time  that  I  saw  him  there,  was  Mr.  Van  Buren  • 
and  it  was  singular  to  see  a  great  State  represent- 
ed m  the  Senate,  at  the  same  time,  by  the  chiefs 
of  opposite  political  parties  •   Mr.  Van  Buren 
was  much  the  younger,  and  it  was  delightful  to 
behold  the  deferential  regard  which  he  paid  to 
hi«  elder  colleague,  always  returned  with  mark- 
ed kindness  and  respect. 

I  felt  it  to  be  a  privilege  to  serve  in  the  Senate 
with  three  such  senators  as  Mr.  Kin"-  Mr  Ma- 
con, and  John  Taylor  of  Carolina,  and'wasanx- 
lous  to  improve  such  an  opportunity  into  a  means 
of  benefit  to  myself.    With  Mr.  Macon  it  came 
easily,  as  he  was  the  cotemporary  and  friend  of 
my  father  and  grandfather;  with  the  venerable 
John  Taylor  there  was  no  time  for  anv  intimacy 
to  grow  up,  as  we  only  served  together  for  one 
session  ;  with  Mr.  King  it  required  a  little  system 
of  advances  on  my  part,  which  I  had  time  to 
make,  and  which  the  urbanity  of  his  manners 
rendered  easy.    He  became  kind  to  me ;  readily 
supplied  me  with  information  from  his  own  vast 
stores,  allowed  me  to  consult  him,  and  assisted  me 
m  the  business  of  the  State  (of  whose  admission 
he  had  been  the  great  opponent),  whenever  I 
could  satisfy  him  that  I  was  right,-even  down  to 
the  small  bills  which  were  entirely  local,  or  mere- 
ly mdividual.    More,  he  gave  me  proofs  of  real 
regard,  and  in  that  most  difficult  of  all  friendly 
ofHces^-admonition,  counselling  against  a  fault  • 
one  instance  of  which  was  so  marked  and  so 
agreeable  to  me  (reproof  as  it  was),  that  I  im- 
mediately wrote  down  the  very  words  of  it  in  a 
letter  to  Mrs.  Benton  (who  was  then  absent 
I  irom  the  city),  and  now  copy  it,  both  to  do  hon- 
or to  an  aged  senator,  who  could  thus  act  a 
I   /a^AerV"  part  towards  a  young  one,  and  be- 


i'M 


58 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


cause  I  am  proud  of  the  words  ho  used  to  me. 
The  letter  saya : 

"Yesterday  (May  20th,  1824),  we  carried 
^75,000  for  improving  the  navigation  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  the  Ohio.  I  made  a  good  speech, 
but  no  part  of  it  will  be  published.  I  spoke  in 
Teply,  and  with  force  and  animation.  When  it 
was  over,  Mr.  King,  of  N.  Y.,  came  and  sat  down 
in  a  cliair  by  me,  and  took  hold  of  my  hand  and 
said  he  would  speak  to  me  as  a  futlicr — that  I 
had  great  powers,  and  that  he  felt  a  sincere  pleas- 
ure in  seeing  me  advance  and  rise  in  the  world, 
and  that  ho  would  take  the  liberty  of  warning 
me  against  an  effect  of  my  temperament  when 
heated  by  opposition;  that  under  these  circumstan- 
ces I  took  an  authoritative  manner,  and  a  look  and 
tone  of  defiance,  which  sat  ill  upon  the  older  mem- 
bers ;  and  advised  me  to  moderate  my  manner." 

This  was  real  friendship,  enhanced  by  the 
kindness  of  manner,  and  had  its  effect.  I  sup- 
pressed that  speech,  through  compliment  to  him, 
and  have  studied  moderation  and  forbearance 
ever  since.  Twenty-five  years  later  I  served  in 
Congress  with  two  of  Mr.  King's  sons  (Mr. 
James  Gore  King,  representative  from  New- 
York,  and  Mr.  John  Alsop  King,  a  representa- 
tive from  New  Jersey)  ;  and  was  glad  to  let 
them  both  sec  the  sincere  respect  which  I  had 
for  the  memory  of  their  father. 

In  one  of  our  conversations,  and  upon  the  for- 
mation of  the  constitution  in  the  federal  conven- 
tion of  1787,  he  said  some  things  to  me  which,  I 
think  ought  to  be  remembered  by  future  genera- 
tious,  to  enable  them  to  appreciate  justly  those 
founders  of  our  government  who  were  in  favor 
of  a  stronger  organization  than  was  adopted. 
He  said :  "  You  young  men  who  have  been  born 
since  the  Kevolution,  look  with  horror  upon  the 
name  of  a  King,  and  upon  all  propositions  for  a 
strong  government.  It  was  not  so  with  us. 
We  were  born  the  subjects  of  a  King,  and  were 
accustomed  to  subscribe  ourselves  '  Ilis  Majesty's 
most  faithful  subjects ; '  and  we  began  the  quar- 
rel wliich  ended  in  the  Revolution,  not  against 
the  King,  but  against  his  parliament;  and  in 
making  the  new  government  many  propositions 
were  submitted  which  would  not  bear  discus- 
sion ;  and  ought  not  to  be  quoted  against  their 
authors,  being  offered  for  consideration,  and  to 
bring  out  opinions,  and  which,  tlinnn;])  behind 
the  opinions  of  this  day,  were  in  advance  of  those 
of  that  day." — These  things  were  said  cliiefly  in 


relation  to  General  Hamilton,  who  had  submiti 
ted  propositions  stronger  than  those  adopted  i 
but  nothing  like  those  which  party  spirit  atlii 
buted  to  him.  I  heanl  these  words,  I  hope,  wiik 
profit ;  and  commit  them,  in  the  same  hope,  to 
after  generations. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

REMOVAL  OF  THE  CEEEK  INDIANS  FEOM 
GEORGIA. 

By  an  agreement  with  the  State  of  Georgia  ii 
the  year  1802,  the  United  States  became  bomj 
in  consideration  of  the  cession  of  the  wcste 
territory,  now  constituting  the  States  of  Alabau 
and  Mississippi,  to  extinguish  the  remainder  i 
the  Indian  title  within  her  limits,  and  to  remop 
the  Indians  from  the  State ;  of  which  large  ai 
valuable  portions  were  then  occupied  L}  i; 
Creeks  and  Cherokees.  No  time  was  linii:f. 
for  the  fulfilment  of  this  obligation,  and  near; 
quarter  of  a  century  had  passed  away  witho. 
seeing  its  full  execution.  At  length  Georgia,  seeiir 
no  end  to  this  delay,  became  impatient,  andJK 
ly  so,  the  long  delay  being  equivalent  to  a  brad 
of  the  agreement ;  for,  although  no  time  n 
limited  for  its  execution,  yet  a  reasonable  tin 
was  naturally  understood,  and  that  incessant  as 
faithful  endeavors  should  be  made  by  the  Uniii 
States  to  comply  with  her  undertaking.  Inti 
years  1824-'25  this  had  become  a  serious  (jbs 
tion  between  the  United  States  and  Georgii- 
the  compact  being  but  partly  complied  with-E 
S't.  Monroe,  in  the  last  year  of  his  Admiiiisiiv 
tion,  and  among  its  last  acts,  had  the  satisfactii 
to  conclude  a  treaty  with  the  Creek  Indians  f* 
a  cession  of  all  their  claims  in  the  State,  aiidtb 
removal  from  it.  This  was  the  treaty  of  Q 
Indian  Springs,  negotiated  the  12th  of  Fcbniai' 
1825,  the  famous  chief,  Gen.  Wm.McInto4ii 
some  fifty  other  chiefs  signing  it  in  the  prew 
of  Mr.  Crowell,  the  United  States  Indian  api 
It  ceded  all  the  Creek  country  in  Georgia  M 
also  several  millions  of  acres  in  the  State  ol  .^ 
bama.  Complaints  followed  it  to  Washington* 
having  been  concluded  by  McTntnsl!  v.-ithou'iiil 
authority  of  the  nation.  The  ratification  of  i! 
treaty  was  opposed,  but  finally  carried,  and  t 


■«iiilk.ii..t^ 


ANNO  1826.     JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  PRESIDENT. 


59 


I  strong  vote  of  34  to  4,     Disappointed  in  their 
kposition  to  the  ti-eaty  at  Washington,  tlic  dis- 
ntented  party  became  violent  at  home,  killed 
Iclntosh  and  another  chief,  declared  forcible  re- 
■tance  to  the  execution  of  the  treaty,  and  j)r(>- 
Ired  to  resist.     Georgia,  on  her  part,  determin- 
!  to  execute  it  by  taking  possession  of  the  ceded 
ritory.    The  Government  of  the  United  States 
pt  itself  bound  to  interfere.     The  new  Presi- 
nt,  Mr.  Adaras,  became  impressed  witli  the 
nviction  that  fhe  treaty  had  been  made  with- 
it  due  authority,  and  that  its  execution  ought 
^t  to  be  enforced ;  and  sent  Gen.  Gaines  with 
deral  troops  to  the  confines  of  Georgia.    All 
orgia  was  m  a  flame  at  this  view  of  force,  and 
neighboring  States  sympathized  with  her. 
I  the  mean  time  the  President,  anxious  to  avoid 
blence,  and  to  obtain  justice  for  Georgia,  treat- 
I further;  and  assembling  the  head  men  and 
lefs  qf  the  Creeks  at  Washington  City,  conclu- 
'  a  new  treaty  with  them  (January,  1820) ; 
•  which  the  treaty  of  Indian  Springs  was  an- 
dled,  and  a  substitute  for  it  negotiated,  ceding 
!  the  Creek  lands  in  Georgia,  but  none  in  Ah- 
na.    This  treaty,  with  a  message  detailing  all 
!  difBculties  of  the  question,  was  immediately 
iimunicated  by  the  President  to  the  Senate 
"  by  it  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Indian 
^ftairs,  of  which  I  was  chairman.    The  commit- 
ie  reported  against  the  ratification  of  the  treaty, 
-^rnestly  deprecated  a  collision  of  arms  between 
federal  government  and  a  State,  and  recom- 
Jnded  further  negotiations— a  thing  the  more 
tey  as  the  Creek  chiefs  were  still  at  Washing- 
The  objections  to  the  new  treaty  were : 
That  it  annulled  the  Mcintosh  treaty;  there- 
f  implying  its  illegality,  and  apparently  justify- 
T  the  fate  of  its  authors. 

Because  it  did  not  cede  the  whole  of  the 
reek  lands  in  Georgia. 

Because  it  ceded  none  in  Alabama. 
iPurther  negotiations  according  to  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  Senate,  were  had  by  the  Pres- 
-^    and  on  the  31st  of  March  of  the  same 


pnt; 

ar,  a  supplemental  article  was  concluded^by 
Mch  all  the  Creek  lands  in  Georgia  were  ceded 
Iher;  and  the  Creeks  withm  her  borders  bound 
Temigrate  to  a  new  home  beyond  the  Mississip- 
I  The  vote  in  the  Senate  on  ratifying  this  new 
?%,  and  Its  supplemental  article,  was  full  and 
Jphatic-thirty  to  seven:  and  the  seven  nega- 

"saU  Southern  senators  favorable  to  the  object 


but  dissatisfied  with  the  clause  which  annulled 
tlio  Mcintosh  treaty  and  implied  a  censure  upon 
its  authors.     Northern  senators  voted  in  a  body 
to  do  this  great  act  of  justice  to  Georgia,  re- 
strained   by  no  unworthy   feeling  against   the 
growth  and  prosperity  of  a  slave  State.    And 
thus  wa.s  carried  into  effect,  after  a  delay  of  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  and  after  great  and  just 
complaint  on  the  part  of  Georgia,  tlic  compact 
between  that  State  and  the  United  States  of  1802. 
Georgia  was  paid  at  last  for  her  great  cession  of 
territory,  and  obtained  the  removal  of  an  Indian 
community  out  of  her  limits,  and  the  use  and 
dominion  of  all  her  .soil  for  settlement  and  juris- 
diction.    It  was  an  incalculable  advantage  to  her, 
and  sought  in  vain  under  three  successive  Southern 
Presidents-Jefferson,  Madison,  Monroe-(who 
could  only  obtain  part  concessions  from  the  In- 
dians)—and  now  accomplished  under  a  Northern 
President,  with  the  full  concurrence  and  support 
of  the  Northern  delegations  in  Congress :  for  tho 
Northern  representatives  m  the  House  voted  the 
appropriations  to  carry  the  treaty  into  effect  as 
readily  as  the  senators  had  voted  the  ratification 
of  the  treaty  itself.    Candid  men,  friends  to  the 
harmony  and  stability  of  this  Union,  should  re- 
member these  tilings  when  they  hear  the  North- 
ern States,  on  account  of  the  conduct  of  some 
societies  and  individuals,  charged  with  unjust 
and  criminal  designs  towards  the  South. 

An  incident  which  attended  the  negotiation 
of  the  supplemental  article  to  the  treaty  of 
January  deserves  to  be  commemorated,  as  an 
instance  of  the  frauds  which  may  attend  Indian 
negotiations,  and  for  which   there  is  so  little 
chance  of  detection   by  either  of  the  injured 
parties,— by  the  Indians  themselves,  or  by  the 
federal  governmv.nt.    When  the  President  sent 
m  the  treaty  of  January,  and  after  its  rejection 
by  the  Senate  became  certain,  thereby  leaving 
the  federal  government  and  Georgia  upon  the 
point  of  collision,  I  urged  upon  Mr.  James  Bar- 
bour, the  Secretary  at  War  (of  whose  depart- 
ment the  Indian  Office  was  then  a  branch)  the 
necessity  of  a  supplemental  article  ceding  all  the 
Creek  lands  in  Georgia;  and  assured  him  that, 
with  that  additional  article,  the  treaty  would 
be  ratified,  and  the  question  settled.     The  Secre- 
tary was  very  willing  to  do  all  this,  hut  said  it 
was  impossible,-that  the  chiefs  would  not  agree 
to  It.    I  recommended  to  him  to  make  them 
some  presents,  so  as  to  overcome  their  opposi- 


V 


60 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


tion ;  which  he  most  innocently  declined,  iK-caiise 
it  would  savor  of  bribery.     In  fbe  niean  time 
it  had  been    communicated,  to  me,   that    the 
treaty  already  made  was   itself  the  work   of 
grcHt   bribery;   the  sum  of  $100,000    -nit  of 
<J247,000,  which  it  stipulated  to  the  Creek  na- 
tion, as  a  lirst  payment,  being  a  fund  for  private 
distribution  among  the  chiefs  who   negotiated 
it    Having  received  this  information,  I  felt  (juite 
sure  that  the  fear  of  the  rejection  of  the  treaty, 
and  the  consequent  loss  of  these  $100,000,  to  the 
negotiating  chiefs,  would  insure  their  assent  to 
the  supplemental  article  without  the  inducement 
of  further  presents.     I  had  an  interview  with 
the  leading  chiefs,  and  made  known  to  them  the 
inevitable  fact  that  the  Senate  would  reject  the 
treaty  as  it  stood,  but  would  ratify  it  with  a 
supplemental  article  ceding  all  their  lam  is  in 
Georgia.     With  this  information  they  ugieed  to 
the  additional  article:  and  then  the  w!,  jIo  was 
ratified  as  T  have  alicady  stated.     But  ;i  further 
work  remained   behind.     It  was   *o   balk  the 
fraud  of  the  corrupt  distribution  oi'  $160,000 
among  a  few  chiefs ;  and  that  was  to  be  done 
in    the    appropriation    bill,  and   by  a    clause 
directing    the  whole   treaty  money  to  be  paid 
to  the  nation  instead  of  the  chiefs.     The  case 
was  communicated  to  the  Senate  in  secret  ses- 
sion, and  a  committee  of  conference  appointed 
(Messrs.  Benton,  Van  Buren,  and  Berrien)  to 
agree  with  the  House  committee  upon  the  pro- 
per clause  to  be  put  into  the  appropriation  bill. 
It  was  also  communicated  to  the  Secretary  at 
War.     He  sent  ma  report  from  Mr.  Jf,  Kinney, 
the  Indian  bureau  clerk,  and  actual  negotiator  of 
the  treaty,  admitting  the  fact  of  the  intended 
private  distribution;  whi-;h,  in  fact,  could  not  be 
denied,  as  I  held  an  original  paper  showing  the 
names  of  all  the  intended  recipients,  with  the 
sum  allowed  to  each,  beginning  at  $20,000  and 
ranging  down  to  $5000:  and  that  it  was  done 
with  his  cognizance. 

Some  extracts  from  speeches  delivered  on 
thatoccasion  will  well  finish  this  view  of  a  trans- 
action which  at  one  time  threatened  violence 
between  a  State  and  the  federal  government, 
and  in  which  a  great  fraud  in  an  Indian  tieaty 
was  detected  and  frustrated. 

EXTEACTS  FROM  THE  SI'KECUES  IN  THE  SENATE 
AND  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  EKPEE9ENTATIVES. 
"Mr.  Van  Buren  said  he  should  state  the  cir- 
cumstances of   this  case,  and  the  views  of  the 


committee  »)f  conference.      \  treaty  was  mid, 
in  this  city,  in  which  it  w    ^  stipulated  on  1 
part  of  the  United  States,   that  $247  0(KI  i! 
gether   with  an  annuity  of  $20,000   a  „* 
find  other  considerations,  shoii!     be  paid  to  ||, 
Creeks,  as  a  consideration  for  the  t  Atingiiis|,infl 
of  their  title  to  lan<ls  in  the  State  of  (Jcorju 
which   the  United  States,  under  the  ceswonof 
1S02,  were  under  obligations  to  extinguish  1\, 
bill  from  the  other  House  to  carry  this  ti  •• 
into  erect,  -iireotod  ,  Lat  the  mon. 'v  >houl,i  i! 
p.-  .1  ajid  di.sti-,'>uled  amcng  the  chiefs  and  war 
noi !,.     :iad  bill  came  to  the  Senate,  an<l  a  ooih 
tidential  communication  was  made  to  the  Senate, 
-  Ill  which  it  appeared  that  strong  suspici,. 
were  entertained  that  a  design  existed  on  tk 
irt  of  the  chiefs  who  made  the  treaty,  to  prjt 
Use  a  fraud  on  the  Creek  nation,  hv  dividing  tl, 
money  amongst  themw'-.;^  ,Mvi  ,r:aweiates    \ 
amendment  was  propt.sud  by  the  Senate,  wlm 
provided  for  the  payment  of  those  moneys  - 
the  usual  way,  and  the  distribution  of  tlieni  j 
the  n.sual  manner,  and  in  the  usual  proporlioj 
to   which   the    Indians  were    entitled.     Tk 
amendment  was  sent  to  the  other  House  wk 
unadvised  as  to  the  facts  which  were  known  >: 
the  Senate,  refused  to  concur  in  it,  and  askoh 
conference.     The  conferees,  on  the  part  ot  tli 
Senate,  communicated  their  suspicions  to  tk 
conferees  on  the  part  of  the  House,  and  a^fc^ 
them  to  unite  in  an  application  to  the  Deiw 
ment  of  War,  for  information  on  the  snl.Kr 
Ihis  was  accordingly  don     and  the  docnniMii 
sent,  in  answer,  wev  a  letter  from  the  Sw 
tary  of  War,  and  a  report  by  Mr.  iMcKenner, 
Jjrom  that  rejiort  it  appeared  cle.ar  and  satisfe 
tory  that  a  design  thn,^  existed  on  the  part  ti 
ihe  Indians,  by  whom  the  treaty  was  negotiate 
to  distribute  of  the  $247,000  to  be  paid  Ibrtlf 
cession  by  the  United  States,  $150,750  :m- 
them.selve.s,  and  a  few  favorite  chiefs  at 
and  three  Cherokee  chiefs  who  had  no  i„„ 
in  the  property      Kiuge  and  Vann  were  to  i^ 
ceive  by  the  original  treafy  $5000  eiuli.  Br 
this  agreement  of  the  dist'    ,ution  of  the  mov. 

$20,(M  M  lor  each.     I 'id.    ,  the  father  of  Riifc 

ei f?n  nfuf  ^'  '"'"'^  *.°  '■'  "'^'^  S1<M)00.     The  otk 
$100,000  was  to  be  distributed,  ,$5000,  and  i 
some  mst  .n.',.  ,  $10,000  to  the  chiefs  who  i- 
tiated  the  treaty  here,  varying  from  one  to  t. 
thousand  dollars  each. 

"Mr  V.  B.  said,  in  his  judgment,  the  clnt. 
acter  of  the  government  Wiiv  involved  in  tk 
subject,  and  it  wouI(' 
stances  of  this  case,  , 
step  they  could   rip: 
them.selves  from  ha\ 

concurred  in  this  frau ..  ,.,....,„,  „ 

American  people  where  he  resided  was.  and  lia 
been,  highly  excited  on  this  abject;  thev  1* 
applauded  in  the  most  ardent  manner,  tlu'  id 
manitested  by  the  govf-nnuent  to  preserve  liinf 
selves  pure  in  their  negotiations  with  the  Indian;: 
and  though  he  was  satisfied— though  he  deeurt 


•quire 

th 

.Ih 

in 

The 


•ider  the  cucuiB' 
iiould  take  urn; 
i<e   to  exci.'paii 
i^  i  V  degree  or  (m 


■ntiment  of  lit 


ANNO  1820.    JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS.  PRUSIDENT. 


•eaty  was  imj, 
ipiilati'd  on  tk, 

it  .1ii247,0(X),  ^ 
20,000    tt  jear, 

'>e  paid  to  i|, 
'(.Atinjruishmeu 
tato  of  Gcorp^ 
'  the  ci'.siiion  o( 
extinptiish.  Tk, 
■arr.v  this  ti^i, 
OIK  y  .should  ti 
chiefs  nndwj,. 
natc,  and  a  con. 
le  to  the  Senate, 
:rong  suspicior 
I  existed  ontki 
treaty,  to  prj,, 

bv  dividing  till 
a^jflv^cates.  i 
B  Senate,  wlurt 
hosu  niono)s;: 
tion  of  theni  j 
sual  proportic! 
jntitled.  '\k 
ler  House,  wh 
were  known!! 
it,  and  askoh 
the  part  ot  ikt 
ipicions  to  tli 
)iise,  and  a,skei 
I  to  the  Di'par:- 
on  tho  sulijic: 
the  docnmenii 
I'om  the  8m 
klr.  McKwinei, 
!ir  and  satiifi, 
I  on  the  partfl 
was  ncsrotiatfil 
be  paid  for  tin 
150,750  amODf 
liiefs  at 
lad  no  mtiii-, 
,nn  were  to » 

000  each.  Bj 
[1  of  tlie  moiK; 

nioTv  niakin 
iither  ofRiilf 
00.  Thcote 
$5000,  andij 
liefs  who  !'  :• 
;)m  one  to  tii 

nunt,  tlic  fiiK- 
ivnhx'd  ill  liis 
ler  the  ciituU' 
)uld  take  I'viit 
!  to  exc  '[(I't 
'logree  or  I'T? 
iitiment  of  it; 

1  was,  anil  L: 
ject ;   they  i 
anner,  tlir  /.■ 
preserve  i 
itli  the  Indian;; 
ugh  lie  decniti 


im|.ossd)lo  to   Kuppose    for  a   moment   that 
pveniment  could  have  countenanced    tho  ihuc- 
Ce  of  this  fraud,  yet  there  were  c.rcunistanee.s 
\  tlie  ca.sc  which  re(|uired  e.\.  ulpation.    livhuvn 
he  negotiation  of  the  treaty  and  the  negotiation 
Itho  Hunplcnicntary  article  on  which  the  treaty 
las  finally  adoptee],  all  these  circumstances  were 
%nununicated  to  the  Depiirtment  of  War  by  tho 
^0  Cherokees.     Mr.  V.  I;  said  it  was  not  his 
hrpo.se,  because  the  nece.ssit    of  the  case  did  not 
kjuire  it,  to  say  what  the  .-'ocretary  of  War 
Ipht  to  have  done,  or  to  censure  what  he  did 
I,  when  the  uiformation  was  given  to  him     He 
|d  known  him  inan.v     "ars,  and  there  was  not 
1  honester  man,  or  a  man  more  devoted  t,.  his 
untry,  than  th.it  gentleman  was.     Mr    V    B 
Id  It  uiis  not  for  him  to  have  said  what  should 
Ive  been  the  .-oursc  of  the  I'resident  of  the 
hitcd  htates,  li  the  mformation  had  been  given 
Hnm  on  the  subject.    H  could  not  fail  to  make 
^moitifymg  an.l  most  injurious  impre.ssion  on 
tte  minds  o(  the  people  of  this  counti  v,  to  find 
ttat   no  means   whatever  ivere   taken  for  tho 
ppre,ss,on  of   this  fraud.      There   was,   and 
hr.  n„ght  to  be  an  excitement  on  the  subject 
Jthe  jHdiJummd."  '' 

I' Air.  ISenton  s.iid,  that  after  the  explanation 
Ithe  vt.ws  of  the  committee  of  conference 
lich  had  been  given  by  the  .seii.itor  from  Neu    : 
Srk  (Mr.  Van  Buren),  he  would  limit  him.sei 
*^  statement  of  facts  on  two  or  tlu       points 
l^>_lnch  references  had  been  made  to  ids  per- 
Wl  knowledge.  ^ 

|The  .Secretary  of  War  ha.l  referred  to  him,  in 
/le  to,  the  committee  as  knowing  the  fkct 
I  li.e  Secretary  had  refused  to  give  private 
l^iuties  to  the  -nek  chief,   (o  promo^'T 

1     mV ''''°"-     T'le  .efercnc,    ,vas 

*l'.t  .V,.  ;„^  •'■'"^^'^  recommended  i  he 

k  nfP  ?k  /"  '  '^  "■"''  ^owoyor  „t  forty 
h  after  the  tr  nty  had  been  si.  He  r7 

lo    10  n  01  March,  and  the  treatv  had 
led  m  the  month  of  January  preceding.     , 
[done  at  the  time  that  Mr.  B.  had  offer^  h  s 

[P  act  CO  of  gn     -  these  grauities.     Mr.  B 


a 


mttnj^with  barbarians;  thu-    if  not  gratil 

this  w,ay.  the  chiefs  wouj,!  prolong  the 

0     t.on,  at  n    reat  daily  expense  \o  the°gov! 

hflu"""'  ''  '^  ^^  their' uratuity  in  ^oile 

^        .re7[l      "''"''1"/    ^^ty  aligethe" 

Insn;      rfK    i'"''''^V™'°  I"    «anctiom.d  by 

I'sa^     'f  thel     ,ted  State.s  :  he  believed^ 

;ommon  m  a H  barbarous  nations,  and    n 

Ition    Si     "^"'""^'""O"  tiH.ught  such  a  re- 
£/ •        "<='=^'?^'i'-y,  even  among  ourselveV 
Ilie  Inne  at  which  Mr.  B. ),      ,.hL,  .  u •' 7 
i^'^  ai.i  this  negotiation,  had    m,-.  ,red  to  him 

hninently  critical,  and  big  wuh  coniq« 


[  which  ho  was  anxious  '      u-ert.     It  was  aftor 
the  committee  had  r..s<,Ive       ,  .ep.rt  aSst  thi 
new  treaty,  «„d  before  th.        .1  made  tCplr? 
to  the  Senate.   The  deci.sio,    whatsoever  it  nS 
be  and  the  con.sequem    lis,    ssions,  criminat  S 
ami  recr.m,natio„.M,  were  calculated  to  bnTon 
a  violent  struggle  in  the  Senate  it.self;  hctwee; 
M  Senate  and  the  Executive;  perhap.    between 
the  two  Hoases   (for  a  reference  of    he  subject 
to  both  would  have  'aken  place) ;  and  iJtwecn 
one  or  more  States  and  the  Vcleil  government 
Mr.  B.  had  concurred  in  the  report  against  the 
new  treaty  becau.se  it  divested  Georgia  of  vested 
rights ;  and,  though  objectionable  in  many  ither 
respec  s,  he  was  willing,  for  the  sake  of^,^aJ^ 
to  ratdy  .  ,  provided  the  vested  rights  of  gS 
were  not  mvaded.    The  supplemental  a  t  cle  B 
relieved  him  upon  this  point.     He  thought  that 
W^ia  had  no  further  cau.se  of  di.s.saSction 
with  the  treaty ;  .t  was^/a6a,„a  that  wa  i  1 S 
by  the  loss  «f  some  millions  of  acres,  whicli  she 
had  acquired  under  the  treaty  of  1825  ad  lost 
under  that  of  1820.     Her  case  com;;^^  S 
regrets  and  .s.vmpathy.     She  had  lost  11^^!^ 

ritirv    anSr^'T  "  ''""■^''l<-''-'»»^'«  extent  of  tl 
ntory;  and  the  adv.-      j,.es  of  .settling  cultivat- 
.ng  and  taxing  the  s,„ne,  were  postpo^.ed  ;'  S 
I  he  hoped,  no   indefinitely.    But^he.J  «xre  S 
^^9«e«/m/ adv.antage.s,   resulting   from   an   act 
which  the  government  was    not  bound  ?S  cfo- 
and,  though  the  loss  of  them  was  an  injury  vet 
this  injury  conld  rot  be  considered  as  a  viofatfon 
of  vested  rig    s;  but  the  circumstance  SS 
incrca,sed  the  .strength  of  her  claim  to  t^e  tlfi-'[ 
extinction  of  the  IiTdian  ^tles  w   hin  he HimUs 
and.  he  trusted,  would  have  its  due  effec    u  1' 
<.?r'':.'™f"*  «f  the  United  States  '   " 

Ihe  third  and  last  paint  on  which  Mr  B 
thought   references   to  his  name  had  mS  it' 
,  proper  lor  him  to  giv>  a  statement,  related  to  the 
:  2rftmco  winch  had  induced  'the  Senate  to 
mal      the  amendment  which  had    become  the 
!      '1     ir  I    ,  f'?"''^'''''"ce    between    the    two 

1  o        '    .i.  !  ''™''^""  ^"'"^  t»  the  knowledge 

^    u.     circumstance  m  the  last  days  of  Anrd 

!  mme  wc-eks  after  the  supplemental  article  Ind 
been  ratified.  He  had  deemed  it  to  be  his  d  ?v 
to  communicate  it  to  the  Senate,  and  do  it  i    J 

EVubllr  r'  "     '  '■  ^'•"""'^^-''^  agitation  of 

true.  He  therefore  '  .mmuni<„ted  it  tu  the 
Senate  in  secret  ses...„„;  „„d  the  effbct  of  tb« 
mformation  was  immediate '  v  manifested  in  he 
unanimous  determination  o  tl.e  .sJnate lo  a<]  t 
he  amendment  «d>ich  .,  as  no.  m,der  cons"    L 

Soul      LTfuT'  '''"  ;u„endn.ent.  or  one  tba^ 
Houi      tfect  the  .same  object,  to  be  ,  >  '      for  i,sr 

t-ueTrSr  '^the  case,  and  the  fative 
sute  of  the  parties.  '  was  apparent  thu  few 
chiefs  were  to  have  .•  undue,  .nnrn-..,  .tT 
t7;,?T"»^y  *'    '  '■'  '  ^^'"^^  *'''had'fo,   told 

knowledge  of  th  s,  whenever  it  should  b    limnl 


m 


:A      ^  '     Tk'\ 


-■  i: 


62 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


out  by  the  nation,  would  orrnsion  disturltances, 
and,  pt'ihajts,  blooiislicd.  Ho  thoiiRht  tlmt  tho 
United  .Stutes  should  prcvont  those  consequcnceH, 
by  preventing  tho  cause  of  ihein,  and,  for  this 
purpose,  he  wotdd  concur  in  any  amendment 
that  would  effect  a  fair  distribution!  f  the  money, 
or  any  (hstribution  that  was  agreeable  to  the 
nation  in  o|)cn  coim.scl. " 

Mr.  IJerrien :  "  You  have  arrived  at  tho  last 
scene  in  'lie  present  nit  of  tlie  p-eat  politi(!al 
drunui  of  tho  Creek  controversv .  In  its  progress, 
you  havo  seen  two  of  the  sovereign  States  of  tho 
American  Confederation— especially,  you  have 
seen  one  of  those  Statef,  which  has  always  been 
faithful  and  forward  in  tho  discharge  of  her 
duties  to  this  Union,  driven  to  the  wall,  by  the 
combined  force  of  tho  administration  and  its 
allies  consisting  of  a  portion  of  the  Creek  nation, 
and  certain  Cherokee  diplomatists.  Hitherto,  in 
the  discussions  before  tlie  Senate  on  this  subject, 
I  have  imposed  a  restraint  upon  my  own  feel- 
ings under  the  intluence  of  motives  whidi  have 
now  ceased  to  oiwrate.  It  was  my  first  (lu(y  to 
obtain  an  aoknowledgnient,  on  this  floor,  of  tho 
rights  of  (ieorgia,  repressing,  for  that  purpose, 
even  the  story  of  her  wrongs.  It  was  my  first 
duty,  sir,  and  I  have  sacrificed  to  it  every  other 
consideration.  As  a  motive  to  forbearance  it  no 
longer  exists.  The  rights  of  Georgia  have  been 
prostrated. 

"Sir,  in  tho  progress  of  that  controversy, 
which  has  grown  out  of  the  treaty  of  the  Indian 
Springs,  the  p<  pie  of  Georgia  have  been  grossly 
and  wantonly  calumniated,  and  tho  acts  of  the 
administration  have  assisted  to  give  currency  to 
these  calumnies.  Her  chief  magistrate  has 
been  traduced.  Tho  .solemn  act  of  her  legisla- 
ture has  been  set  at  «aught  by  a  rescript  of  tho 
federal  E.\ecutive.  A  military  force  has  been 
quartered  on  her  borders  to  coerce  her  to  sub- 
mission ;  and  without  a  trial,  without  tho  privi- 
lege of  being  heard,  without  tho  semblance  of 
evidence,  she  has  been  deprived  of  rights  secured 
to  her  by  the  solemn  stipulations  of  treaty. 

"  When,  in  obedience  to  tho  will  of  tho  legis- 
lature of  Georgia,  her  chief  magistrate  had  com- 
municated to  the  President  his  determination 
to  survey  the  ceded  territor3^  his  right  to  do  so 
was  admitted.  It  was  declared  by  the  President 
that  the  act  would  be  '  wholly'  on  the  responsi- 
bility ol  tho  governiiu'nt  of  Georgia,  and  that 
'  the  Government  of  the  United  States  would 
not  1)0  in  any  manner  responsible  for  any  conse- 
quences which  might  result  from  the  measure.' 
When  his  willingness  to  encounter  this  re>;ponsi- 
bility  was  announced,  it  was  met  by  the  declara- 
tion that  the  President  would  '  not  permit  the 
survey  to  be  made,'  and  he  was  referred  to  a 
major-general  of  the  army  of  the  United  States, 
an(l  one  thousand  regulars. 

"The  murder  of  Mcintosh— the  defamation 
of  th  hief  magistrate  of  Georgia — the  menace 
of  iuiii..iiy  force  to  cucrcu  her  to  subiuission — 
were  followed  by  the  traduction  of  two  of  her 
cherished  citizens,  employed  as  tho  agents  of  the 


(icneral  Government  in  negotiating  the  trmtj, 
gentlemen  whoso  integrity  will  not  shrink  I 
1  Mnipari.son  with  that  of  tho  proudest  ami  Im; 
of  their  atrcusers.     Then  the  sympathies  of  ij, 
jioople  of  tho  Union  were  i-xcitcd  in  behulf  uf  i|), 
children  of  the  forest,'  who  were  repre^enli  i  i 
indignantly  .spuming  tho  gold,  which  wnol! 
to  entice  them  from  tho  graves  of  their  lull, , 
and  resolutely  determined  never  to  abnntlon  lli,u 
The  incidents  of  the  plot  being  thus  prepandii, 
all'air  hastens  to  its  consummation.    A  new  tei 
is  negotiated  here — d  piiir  mid  spotli:^^  trui^ 
The  rights  of  (ieorgia  and  of  Alabani.i  iire  wr 
liced ;  the  I  ■  nited  States  obtain  a  part  of  the  kn!: 
and  pn'     Dublc  tho  amount  .stipulated  by  tin 
treaty  ,  and  those  poor  and  noble,  and  nm^n, 
ticated  sons  of  tho  forest,  having  succecdiii  j 
imjiosing  on  tho  simplicity  of  this  governnitii, 
next  concert,  under  its  eye.  and  with  itH  kiw 
ledge,  the  means  of  defrauding  their  owlu'on^' 
ents,  tho  chiefs  and  warriors  of  tho  Cn  •  k  iiai 
"  For  their  agency  in  exciting  the  Creek- 
resist  the  former  treaty,  and  in  (ieliiiiiii;;  t 
government    to  annul    it,    three    ('Iwrnki'i- 
Ridge,  Vann^and  the  father  of  the  forma-i 
to   receive   kouty    thousand    pollaks  of: 
money  stipulated  to  be  paid  by  the  United  %: 
to  the  chief's  of  the  OtWc  nation ;  and  tho  pn<- 
ment.  when  inti)rmed  of  the  projected  f'r;iU(l,  In 
itself  powerless  to  avert  it.    Nay,  when  ii|i]ir,- 
by  your  anu  iidment,  that  you  hail  also  deln- 
it,  tlKit  government  does  not  hesitate  to  interi- 
by  (Hie  of  its  high  functionaries,  to  resists 
pi-oceeding,  by  a  singular  fiituity,  thus  <ir   . 
countenance  and  support  to  the  comniissiui. 
the  fraud.     Sir,  I  sj)eak  of  what  has  i 
Iwfore  your  eyes  even  in  this  hall. 

"One  fifth  of  the  whole  purchase  niomv: 
bo  given  to  three  Cherokees.  Tkn  tiii 
noi.LARs  reward  one  of  the  heroes  ot  1 
Minis — a  boon  which  it  .so  well  becouies  «• 
bestow.  A  few  chosen  favorites  divide  ait; 
themselves  upwards  of  one  HUNnitKU  andi' 
THousANO  Doi.i.Aus,  leaving  a  pittance  fji'iK 
button  among  the  great  body  of  the  chiefs  ( 
warriors  of  the  nation. 

'•  Jbit  the  administration,  though  it  comk 
the  fraud,  thinks  that  we  have  no  power  to  s 
vent  its  consummation.    What,  sir.  have  «i 
power  to  see  that  our  own  treaty  is  cariinl  ■ 
etl'ect?    Have  we  no  interest  in  doing  so '  t 
we  no  power?     We  have  stijnilated  for tlii|i 
ment  of  two  hundred  and  forty-seven  tliooi 
dollars   to  the  chiefs  of  the  Creek  natioiU' 
distribiLlcd  among  the  chiefs  avd  varrinn 
that  iKdion,     Is  not  the  distribution  \i« 
the  contract  as  well  as  the  payment!   ^\il't 
that  a  few  of  those  chiefs,  in  fraudulent  M'j'"  . 
of  the  rights  secured  by  that  treaty,  an  "^^ 
to  a])propriate  this  money  to  tliein.'<clve«.  -^' 
we  powerless  to  prevent  it  ?     Nay,  iii"~'  - 
too.  suffer  ourselves  to  be  made  the  coiii| 
iustrumentr-:  of    it«  consunun.itionl    ^^"""l 
made  a  bargain  with  a  savago  tribe  nlmjij 
choose  to  dignify  with  the  nami     f  a  "^ 


ANNO  1826.    JOHN  QUINCY  ADAM8,  PRESIDENT. 


pnivminR  whom  wo  legJHlato  with  their  con- 
bnt,  or   witliout  it.  as  it  sct'inH  j?o<m1   in  our 
tcH.     Wi!  'aiow  that  Honie  ten  or  twenty  of 
kuiii  ari'  nhoiit  to  rlioat  the   runiiiindcr.     Wo 
AVL-  tlio  ini'iiiis  in  our  hniids,   witiioiit  which 
keir  corniiit  fmriK).so  cannot  ho  effcrtod.     Have 
\*!  not  the  rij;lit  to  w'o  that  our  own  Ijarpain  w 
Bnostly  fiilliik'd?    Con.sistentiy  v*-ith  connnon 
i>nt'sty.  can  W('  put  tho  consideration  money  of 
lo  contract  into  the  hands*  of  tlioNo  who  wo 
yow  are  ahoiit  to   defraud    the    ncopio   who 
ksted  thorn?    Sir,  tiio  im    po.sition  im  ahsurd. 
["Afr,  Forsyth  (of  tho   lloii.so  of  RoprcNonta- 
fc»)  sail! :  A  Ktiipcndous  Irainl,  it  woins,  was 
kondcd  h\  tliodole>!;atioii  who  had  formed, 'with 
>  S('(  I xtary  of  War,  tiio  now  contract.     Tho 
liofs  r.  -nposinp:  tho  Creek  diplomatic  train,  a.s- 
itcd  In  (iioir  ( 'lieroltoe  secretaries  of  location, 
Id  rombmed  to  put  into  their  own  pockets,  and 
los<-  of  (i  few  select  friends,  soniowliorf  abont 
m    •  foiirUiMof  the  first  payment  to  bo  made  for 
.-(■I'oii  1  cession  of  the  lands  lyinR  in  Gcor- 
.    Tlie  facts  connected  with  this  transaction 
-hoiiirh  concealed   from  tho  Senate  when  the 
lomi  contract  was  »>efore  them  for  ratification, 
H  from  the  House  ^vlmi  tho  appropriation  bill 
J  carry  it  into  cftcct  was  nndor  consideration 
Ire  perfectly  imdervtood  at  tho  War  Hcpart- 
Int  1)/  the  Secretary,  and  by  his  clerk,  who 
Sillied  the  head  of  tho   fndian  JJiirean  (Mr 
looms  r,.  McKinnoy).     Tho  Senate  having,  by 
hie  straiifro  fortune,  discovered   the  intended 
liul,  after  tho  ratification  of  tho  contract,  and 
■ore  they  acted  on  tho  appropriation  bill,  wish- 
I  l>y  an  amendment  to  tho  bill,  to  prevent  the 
fccess  of  the  profitable  .scheme  of  villany.     The 
lose    entirely  ignorant  of  tho  facts,  and  not 
Ipectinir  the  motive  of  the  amendment,  had  ro- 
M  it     iMsted  upon  their  disagreement  to  it 
ia  co.MMiitteeof  the  two  Houses, ;,.  u.sual.  had 
Iferred  on  the  sulyect.    Now,  that  the  facts  are 
terfmied  by  the  separate  reports  of  the  fom- 
Itees.  there  can  bo  no  differenco  of  opinion  on 
^  preat  point  of  defeating  ih.  intended  treache- 
ot  the  delegation  and  .secrotarios  to  the  Creek 
Do.     the  only  matter  which  can  bear  discus- 
n,  IS.  how  .shall  tho  treachery  bo  punished  ? 
Sow  shall  the  Crook  tribe  be'  protJcted  from 
abominable  designs  of  their  worthless  and 
[..•mcp led  agents  ?    Will  tho  amendment  pro- 
'Niy  the  committee  reach  their  object  ^    The 
1  i.s.  to  pay  the  money  to  tho  chiefs,  to  be 
P'led  aiin.ufr  the  chiefs  and  warriors,  under 

I,;  hTf'thV'r'''  '''^"^'-^y-'  War.  inatil 
liK.ilot  the  I  .tion,  convened  for  the  purpose 
boso  the  councd  in  solemn  session,  the  Sev 

tr    '""'/"l'^"  ^"^'^i""  ''hout  to  bo  made 
lor  the  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  War- 

ISI        '^"''^'  "?^  ^^'^'^  ^'^c'-otaries  claim 
Ic    m"  tJ'"  Secretary  or  his  agent  resist 

■  1  ■«       1  Secretary  was  willing  to  go  as 
as  hve  thousand  dollars,  but  "could  not, 


63 


HtrctcF,  to  t(.h  thonsftnd  doIIarH.  Notwithstand- 
ing  the  assent  of  tho  (!h..rokees,  and  tho  declara- 
tion ol  tho  .Secretary,  that  five  thousand  dollars 
each  was  tho  extent  that  they  could  be  allowed, 
Kidgo  and  V  ann,  after  the  treaty  was  signed,  an. 

oil  "to  Vr,  "'/"!""  '•>;  ^^''  "^'"^"^'^  "'  «"''"'it- 
ed  to  that  I'ody  brought  a  pafior.  tho  pix-cions 
lis  tof  tho  price  of  each  traitor,  for  tho  inspection 
ami  mformation  of  tho  head  of  tho  bureau  and 
tho  head  of  ho  department;  and  what  answer 
hd  I  hey  receive  from  both?  Tho  head  of  tho 
bureau  said  it  was  their  own  affair.     Tho  Socrc- 

Hut  f  ask  this  House,  if  the  engagement  for  tho 
lye  tloasand  dollars,  and  the  list  of  the  sums  to 
bodLstributerl  may  not  be  claimed  as  part  of  this 
now  contract  ?  U  those  persons  have  not  a  righJ 
to  claim  in  the  faco  of  tho  tribe,  the.so  si.m.s,  as 
I.romised  to  them  by  their  (;reat  Father?     Av 

tril'/Ir  ''"'•>'/''''  powerful  enough  in  the 
tribe,  they  will  enforce  their  claim.  Under  what 
pretext  will  your  Secretary  of  War  direct  a  ,P 
oront  disposition  or  divisiof.  of  tho  money  a  r 
Ins  Olsten  repoato.1  declaration,  'it  is  their  own 
affair '-tho  affair  of  tho  delegation  ?  Y^  sTr 
so  happily  f,as  this  business  f^eon  managed  at  tho 
a    of  government,  i.n.Ior   the   Executive  Z 

tl  nmto'nfT'""  'T'"'^  ^^'  n'-^'otiators  propo.id 
to  make  of  tho  spoil,  may  bo  termed  a  part  of  tho 

fo::::^"thart?'  ""*  ^""'"^'-  '^  '»•■'' »-  -'- 

ftssed   that     heco  exf|.,isito   ambassadors  were 

quite  hfjoral  lo  themselves,  their  secretaries  and 

particular  friend.s:  one  hundred   ad   (Knino 

housand  seven  hundred  dollars,  to  bo  div"  e,l 

among  some   twenty  persons,   k   pretty   woH  ' 

What  namo  shall  wo  give   to  thi.s  divLon  of 

money  among  them?    To  call  it  a  bribe  would 

shock  the  delicacy  of  the  War  Depa  «  and 

possibly  ofl end  tho.se  gentle  ..piritod  pibSc'ians 

vvJ.0  resemble  Cowper's  preachers,  '  Tho  cS 

•not  mention  hell  to  ears  polite.'     The  transcond- 

ent  criminality  of  this  design    can  no     ff  wed 

h  klTn'"?°"*  '■''^'^"'""  '°  rocollectionThe 
dark  and  bloody  scones  of  the  year  past.  The 
chief  Mcintosh,  distinguished  at  all  times  by  his 
-ourage  and  .levotion  to  the  whites.  derivirS  hig 
name  of  the  White  Warrior,  from  1  is  ,. ixeJ  ,Z 

of  tho  Indi.in  Springs.    Ho  was  denounced  for  it 

flames  of  his  dwelling  burning  over  his  head 
Escaping  from  tho  flames,  ho  w.is  shot  down  bv 
a  party  acting  under  tho 'orders  of  the  persons 
who  accused  him  of  betraying,  for  his  own  selfisJ 
P"rpo.ses,  the  interest  of  the  tribe.  tLoso  vhS 
condemned  that  chief,  the  incendiaries  and  Iho 
rnurderers.  are  the  nog-  ..tors  of  this  now  con" 
tract;  the  one  hundred  and  fifly-nine  thousand 
dollars,  IS  to  bo  the  fruit  of  theirvic  tory  o?ortS2 
assa.ssinated  chief.  What  ovi.leiico  of  L,  ,1  and 
solfishnes.s,  and  treachorv.  bn.  rp,j  or  wi.'-o  n-?)-V 
been  able  to  exhibit  against  the  dead' warrio^l 

tsoTZT^nV'?^  '°'' '"■'"■  '"  the  contracJof 
t«-l,  was  sold  by  him  to  the  United  States  for 
t^venty-livo  thousand  dollars;  a  price  he  cou?d 


64 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


1  i 


have  obtained  from  individuals,  if  his  title  had  ^ 
been  deemed  secure.  Tiiis  sale  of  propei'ty  jjiven  j 
to  him  by  the  tribe,  was  the  foundation  of  the 
calumnies  that  have  been  heaped  upon  his  memo- 
ry, and  the  cause  which,  in  the  eyes  of  onr  ad- 
ministration newspaper  editors,  scribblers,  and  re- 
viewers, justified  his  execution.  Now,  .sir,  the 
executioners  are  to  be  rewarded  by  pillaging  the 
public  Treasury.  I  look  with  some  curiosity  for 
the  mdignant  denunciations  of  this  accidentally 
discovered  treachery.  Perhaps  it  will  be  dis- 
covered that  all  this  new  business  of  the  Creeks 
is  '  their  own  affair,'  with  which  the  white  editors 
and  reviewers  have  nothing  to  do.  P'ortunately, 
Mr.  F.  said.  Congress  had  something  to  do  with 
this  affair.  We  owe  a  justice  to  the  tribe.  This 
amendment,  he  feared,  would  not  do  justice.  The 
power  of  Congress  should  be  exerted,  n»t  only  to 
keep  tiie  money  out  of  the  hands  of  these  wretch- 
es, but  to  secure  a  faithful  and  equal  distribution 
of  it  among  the  whole  Creek  nation.  The  whole 
tribe  liold  the  land ;  their  title  by  occui)ancy 
resides  in  all ;  all  are  rightfully  claimants  to  equal 
portions  of  the  price  of  their  removal  from  it. 
The  country  is  not  aware  how  the  Indian  annui- 
ties are  distributed,  or  the  moneys  paid  to  the 
tribes  disposed  of  They  are  divided  according 
to  the  discretion  of  the  Indian  government,  com- 
pletely arisiocratical — all  the  powers  vested  in  a 
few  chiefs.  Mr.  F.  had  it  from  authority  he 
could  not  doubt,  that  the  Creek  annuities  had, 
for  years  past,  been  divided  in  very  unequal  pro- 
portions, not  among  the  twenty  thousand  souls 
of  which  the  tribe  was  believed  to  be  composed, 
but  among  about  one  thousand  five  hundred 
chiefs  and  warriors. 

''Mr.  Forsyth  expressed  his  hope  that  the 
House  would  reject  the  report  of  tlie  coiumittee. 
Before  taking  his  seat,  he  asked  the  indulgence 
of  the  House,  while  he  made  a  few  comments  on 
this  list  of  worthies,  and  tlie  prices  to  be  paid  to 
each.  At  the  head  of  the  list  stands  Air.  Kidge, 
with  the  sum  of  ,'$15,000  opposite  to  his  elevated 
name.  This  man  is  no  Creek,  but  a  Cherokee, 
educated  among  tlie  whites,  allied  to  them  by 
marriage — has  received  lessons  in  Cin-istianity, 
morality,  and  sentiment — perfectly  civilized,  ac- 
cording to  the  rules  and  customs  of  Cornwall. 
This  negotiation,  of  which  he  bus  been,  either  as 
actor  or  instrument,  the  jirincipal  manager,  is  an 
.admirable  proof  of  the  benefits  he  has  derived 
from  his  residence  among  a  moral  and  religious 
people.  Vann.  another  Cherokee,  half  .ravage 
and  half  civilized,  succeeds  him  with  §(15.000 
bounty.  A  few  inches  below  comes  another 
Ridge,  the  m.ijor,  father  to  the  .secretary — a  gal- 
lant old  fellow,  who  did  some  service  agaiust  the 
hostile  Creeks,  during  the  late  war,  for  which  ho 
deserved  and  roceived  acknowledgment.s — but 
what  claims  he  had  to  this  Creek  money,  Mr.  F. 
coidd  not  comprehend.  Probably  his  name  was 
used  merely  to  cover  another  lir.'ituity  foi"  tho 
son,  whose  modesty  would  not  pennit  him  to 
take  more  than  i$I5,000  in  his  own  name.   These 


Chcrokees  were  together  to  receive  1^40,000  of 
Creek  money,  and  the  Secretary  of  AVar  is  of 
opinion  it  is  quite  consistent  with  the  contract, 
which  provides  for  the  distribution  of  it  amoii" 
the  chiefs  and  warriors  of  the  Creeks,  l.ooki 
sir,  at  the  distinction  made  for  these  exquisites. 
Yopothle  Yoholo,  whose  word  General  (i.iintj 
would  take  against  the  congregated  world,  is  set 
down  for  but  l(f;10,000.  The  Little  Prince  kt 
.'(iil0,000.  Even  Mcnawee,  distinguished  as  lie « 
as  the  leader  of  the  party  who  murdered  Mclnto-k 
and  Etome  Tustunnuggee — as  one  of  the  accursed 
band  who  butchered  three  hundred  men,  womtB, 
and  children,  at  Fort  Minis — has  but  $10,iii!ti, 
A  distinguished  Red  Stick,  in  these  day.s.  viki 
kindness  to  Indians  is  shown  in  proportion  lo 
their  opposition  to  the  policy  of  the  General  Gov- 
ernment, might  have  expected  better  treatment 
— only  ten  thousand  dollars  to  our  enemy  inwai 
and  in  peace !  But,  sir,  I  will  not  detain  the 
House  longer.  I  .should  hold  myself  criininaiil 
I  had  exposed  the.se  things  unnecessarily  or  use- 
lessly. That  patriotism  only  is  lovely  whicl. 
imitating  the  filial  piety  of  the  sons  of  the  Patri- 
arch, .seeks,  with  averted  face,  to  cover  the  naked- 
ness of  the  coimtry  fi'om  the  eye  of  a  vultjarani 
invidious  curiosity.  But  the  commands  of  pull;; 
duty  must  be  obeyed ;  let  those  who  have  im- 
posed this  duty  upon  us  answer  for  it  to  Iti 
peonle." 

"  Mr.  Tatnall,  of  Geo.  (II.  R.)  He  was  ascoa- 
fident  as  his  colleagues  could  be,  that  the  foiik-; 
fraud  had  been  projected  by  some  of  the  imlivni- 
uals  calling  them.selves  a  part  of  the  Creek  dele- 
gation, and  that  it  was  known  to  the  ile|);iri- 
ment  of  war  before  the  ratification  of  the  ticaiv 
and  was  not  communicated  by  that  dcpartuM; 
to  the  Senate,  either  before  or  during  tiie  pu- 
dency of  the  consideration  of  the  treaty  by  tlii 
body.  Mr.  T.  said  he  wouhl  not,  however,  i; 
the  rea.sons  just  mentioned,  dwell  on  this  gruBnl 
but  would  proceed  to  state,  that  he  was  in  fava 
of  the  amendment  offered  by  the  comniittoei: 
conference,  (and  therein  he  diflcred  from  liis  eoi- 
league),  which,  whilst  it  would  effectually  fK- 
vent  the  commission  of  the  fraud  intended,  woui: 
also,  avoid  a  violation  of  the  term,  of  •  tiie  w 
treaty,'  as  it  was  styled.  He  stated,  tliat  il^^; 
list  which  he  held  in  his  hand  was.  itself,  (» 
elusive  evidence  of  a  corrupt  intention  to  diviii; 
the  greater  part  of  the  money  among  tiit  li' 
persons  named  in  it.  In  this  list,  different  .mie 
were  written  opposite  the  names  of  difUMeiitir; 
dividuals.  such,  for  instance,  as  the  folIowiK' 
'John  Ridge,  )ji;15,000— Joseph  Yann.  Ku;*' 
(both  Cherokees,  and  not  Creek.s,  and,  tlierifori. 
i  not  entitled  to  one  cent).  The  next,  a  Iohl'  ^ 
'  barbarous  Indian  name,  which  I  shall  nut ..: 
!  tempt  to  i)rono\nice,  '$10,000 '—next,  J*! 
;  Stedham,  '  ,'tt;10,000,'  &c.  This  list,  as  it  npiicaii 
in  the  documents  received  from  the  Se;rutary(i| 
AViir,  was  presented  to  the  war  deoartmenl  lij 
I  Ridge  and  Vanu." 


ANNO  1826.    JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  PRESIDENT. 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

THE  PANAMA  MISSION. 


TirE  history  of  this  mission,  or  attempted  mis- 
sion (for  it  never  took  effect,  though  eventually 
sanctioned  by  both  Houses  of  Congress),  de- 
serves a  place  in  this  inside  view  of  the  working 
of  our  government.     Though  long  since  sunk 
into  oblivion,  and  its  name  almost  forgotten  it 
was  a  master  subject  on  the  political  theatre 
during  its  day;  and  gave  rise  to  questions  of 
national,  and  of  constitutional  law,  and  of  na- 
tional policy,  the  importance  of  which  survive 
tthe  occasion  from  which  they  sprung ;  and  the 
^  solution  of  which    (as  then   solved),   may  be 
I  some  guide  to  future  action,  if  similar  questions 
*  again  occur.    Besides   the  grave  questions  to 
I  which  the  subject  gave  rise,  the  subject  itself 
became  one  of  unusual  and  painful  excitement. 
It  agitated  the  people,  made  a  violent  debate  in 
jthe  tuo  Houses  of  Congress,  inflamed  the  pas- 
[sions  of  parties  and  individuals,  raised  a  tempest 
I  before  which  Congress  bent,  made  bad  feeling 
ibetwocn  the  President  and  the  Senate;  and  led 
[to  the  duel  between  IMr.  Randolph  and  Mr.  Clay, 
lit  was  an  administration  measure,  and  pressed 
Iby  all  the  means  known  to  an  administration 
lit  was  evidently  relied  upon  as  a  means  of  act- 
iJng  upon  the  people-as  a  popular  movement 
Ivhich  might  have  the  effect  of  turning  the  tide 
iwhich  was  then  running  high  against  Mr.  Adams 
i^nd  Mr.  Clay  on  account  of  the  election  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  the  broad  doc- 
trines of  the  inaugural  address,  and  of  the  first 
bnnual  message:   and  it  was    doubtless  well 
Bmagmed  for  that  purpose.    It  was  an  American 
Wment,  and  republican.     It  was  the  assembly 
|>t  the  American  states  of  Spanish  origin,  counsei- 
S.ng  for  their  mutual  safety  and  independence; 
Nl  presenting  the  natural  wish  for  the  United 
Ptatcs  to  place  herself  at  their  head,  as   the 
l^dcst  sister  of  the  new  republics,  and  the  one 
f|ho.se  example  and  institutions  the  others  had 
^llmvcd.   The  monarchies  of  Europe  had  formed 

Ibeity.  ,t  .>emed  just  that  the  republics  of 

he.New  Wo.    .should  confederate  a^..in.f  the 

^^r,  of  despotism.    The  subject  had  a  chann 

«"t,  and  the  name  and  place  of  meeting  res 

Vol.  I.-— 5 


es 

called  classic  and  cherished   recollections.     It 
was  on  an  isthmus-the  Isthmus  of  Panama— 
vrhich  connected  the  two  Americas,  the  Grecian 
republics  had  their  isthmus— that  of  Corinth— 
where  their  deputies  assembled.    All   the  ad- 
vantages   in   the  presentation  of  the  question 
wore  on  the  side  of  the  administration.     It  ad- 
dressed itself  to  the  imagination-to  the  pas- 
sions-to  the  prejudices  ;-and    could  only  bo 
met  by  the  cold  and  sober  suggestions  of  reason 
and  judgment.      It  had  the  prestige  of  name 
and  subject,  and  was  half  victor  before  the  con- 
test began;  and  it  required  bold  mm  to  make 
head  against  it. 

The  debate  began  in  the  Senate,  upon  the  nomi- 
nation of  ministers;  and  as  the  Senate  sat  with 
closed  doors,  their  objections  were   not  hear(f 
[  while  numerous  presses,  and  popular  speakers,' 
excited  the  public  mind  in  favor  of  the  measure 
and  inflamed  it  against  the  Senate  for  delaying 
Its  sanction.   It  was  a  plan  conceived  by  ihe  new 
bpanish  American  republics,  and  prepared  as  a 
sort  of  amphictyonic  council  for  the  settlement 
of  questions  among  themselves;  and,  to  which 
m  a  manner  which  had  much  the  appearance  of 
our  own  procuring,  we  had  received  an  invitaiion 
to  send  deputies.   The  invitation  was  most  seduc- 
tively exhibited  in  all  the  administration  presses  • 
and  captivated  all  young  and  ardent  imagina- 
tions.    The  people  were  roused  :  the  majority  in 
both  Houses  of  Congress  gave  way  (many  against 
their  convictions,  as  they  frankly  told  me),  while 
the  project  itself-our  participation  in  it-was 
utterly  condemned  by  the  principles  of  our  con- 
stitution, and  by  the  policy  which  forbade  "en- 
tangling alliances,"  and  the  proposed  congress 
Itself  was  not  even  a  diplomatic  body  to  which 
ministers  could  bo  sent  under  the  Ia^   of  nations 
To  counteract  the  effect  of  this  outside  current* 
the  Senate,  on  the  motion  of  Mr.  Van  Buren' 
adopted  a  resolve  to  debate  the  question  with 
open  doors,  "unless,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Presi- 
dent, tne  publication  of  documents  necessary  to 
be  referred  to  in  debate  should  bo  prejudicial  to 
existing  negotiations:"  and  a  copy  of  the  resolve 
was  sent  to  Mr.  Adams  for  his  opinion  on  that 
point.    He  declined  to  give  it,  and  left  it  to  the 
Senate  to  decide  for  itself,  '^ihe  question  of  ati 
unexampled  departure  from  it»  own  usages 
and  ifpun  the  motives  of  which,  not  being  him- 
self informed,  he  did  not  fed  himself  competent 
to  decide:^    This  reference  to  the  moti-cs  of  the 


i* 


66 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


f  ^   i  !!  ' 


members,  and  the  usages  of  ihe  Senate,  with  its 
clear  impHcation  of  the  badness  of  one,  and  the 
violation  of  the  other,  gave  great  oflcnce  in  the 
Senate,  and  even  led  to  a  proposition  (made  by 
Mr.  Rowan  of  Kentucky),  not  to  act  on  the  nom- 
inations until  the  information  requested  should 
be  given.  In  the  end  the  Senate  reliuquished  the 
idea  of  a  public  debate,  and  contented  itself  with 
its  publication  after  it  was  over.  Mr.  John  Ser- 
geant of  Pennsylvania,  and  Mr.  Richard  Clark 
Anderson  of  Kentucky,  were  the  ministers  nomi- 
nated ;  and,  the  question  turning  wholly  upon  tlie 
mission  itself,  and  not  upon  the  persons  nominated 
(to  whose  fitness  there  was  no  objection),  they 
were  confirmed  by  a  close  vote — 24  to  20,  The 
negatives  were:  Messrs.  Benton,  Berrien.  Branch. 
Chandler,  Cobb  (Thomas  W.  of  Gecrgia),  Dick 
erson,  Eaton,  Findlay,  Ilayne,  Holmes  of  JIaine, 
Kane,  King  of  Alabama,  Macon,  Randolph,  Taze- 
well, Rowan,  Van  Buren,  White  of  Tennessee, 
Williams  of  Jlississippi,  Woodbury.  The  Vice- 
President,  Mr.  Calhoun,  presiding  in  the  Senate, 
had  no  vote^  the  constitutional  contingency  to 
authorize  it  not  having  occurred :  but  he  was  full 
and  free  in  the  expression  of  his  opinion  against 
the  mission. 

It  was  very  nearly  a  party  vote,  the  democi-acy 
as  a  party,  being  against  it :  but  of  those  of  the 
party  who  voted  for  it,  the  design  of  this  history 
(which  is  to  show  the  working  of  the  govern- 
ment) requires  it  to  be  told  that  there  was  after- 
wards, either  to  themselves  or  relatives,  some 
large  dispensations  of  executive  patronage.  Their 
votes  may  have  been  conscientious ;  but  in  that 
case,  it  would  have  been  better  to  have  vin- 
dicated the  disinterestedness  of  the  act,  by  the 
total  refusal  of  executive  favor.  Mr.  Adams 
commenced  right,  by  asking  the  advice  of  the 
Senate,  before  he  instituted  the  mission ;  but  the 
manner  in  which  the  object  was  pursued,  made  it 
a  matter  of  opposition  to  the  administration  to 
refuse  it,  and  greatly  impaired  the  harmony 
which  ought  to  exist  between  the  President  and 
the  Senate.  After  all,  the  whole  conception  of  the 
Panama  congress  was  an  abortion.  It  died  out 
of  itself,  without  ever  having  been  once  held — 
not  even  by  the  states  which  had  conceived  it. 
It  was  incongruous  and  impracticable,  even  for 
them, — more  apt  to  engender  disputes  among 
themselves  tlian  to  harmonize  action  against 
Spain, — and  utterly  foreign  to  us,  and  dangerous 
to  our  peace  and  institutions.    The  basis  of  the 


agreement  for  the  congress,  was  the  existing  state 
of  v/ar  between  all  the  new  states  and  the  mother 
country — Spanish  pride  and  policy  being  slow  to 
acknowledge  the  independence  of  revolted  colo- 
nies, no  matter  how  independent  in  factj-nnij 
the  wish  to  establish  concert  among  themselves, 
in  the  mode  of  treating  her  commerce,  and  tliat 
of  such  of   her  American  possessions  (Cuba, 
Porto  Rico),  as  had  not  thrown  off  their  suljjec. 
tion.    We  were  at  peace  with  Spain,  and  could 
not  go  into  any  such  council  without  comprom. 
ising  our  neutrality,  and  impairing  the  integritv 
of  our  national  character.     Eccides  the  difficul- 
ties it  would  involve  with  Spain,  there  was  one 
subject  specified  in  the  treaties  for  discussion  and 
settlement  in  that  congress,  namely,  the  consid- 
erations of  future  relations  with  the  government 
of  Haiti,  which  would  have  been  a  firebrand  it 
the  southern  half  of  our  Union, — not  to  be  han- 
dled or  touched  by  our  goverment  any  where. 
The  publication  of  the  secret  debates  in  the  Senate 
on  the  nomination  of  the  ministers,  and  the  put- 
lie  discussion  in  the  House  of  Representatives  on 
the  appropriation  clauses,  to  carry  the  missct 
into  effect,  succeeded,  after  some  time,  in  dis- 
sipating all  the  illusions  which  had  fascinated  tk 
public  mind — turned  the  current  against  the  aJ- 
ministration — made  the  project  a  now  head  ei 
objection  to  its  authors ;  and  in  a  short  time  ii 
would  have  been  impossible  to  obtain  any  cod- 
sideration  for  it,  either  in  Congress  or  before  tk 
people.    It  is  now  entirely  forgotten,  but  deserre 
to  be  remembered  in  this  View  of  the  vvorkinjc 
the  government,  to  show  the  questions  of  poller 
of  national  and  constitutional  law  which  iver: 
discupied — the  excitement  which  can  be  gotut 
without  foundation,   and   against  reason— how 
public  men  can  bend  before  a  storm — how  all  tk 
departments  of  the  government  can  go  wrong  :- 
and    how  the  true  conservative   powor  in  oa 
country  is  in  the  people,  in  their  judgment  ani 
reason,  and  in  steady  appeals  to  their  intelligent 
and  patriotism. 

Mr.  Adams  communicated  the  objects  of  tk 
proposed  congress,  so  far  as  the  United  Stair 
could  engage  in  them,  in  a  special  message  to ' 
the  Senate;  in  which,  disclaiming  all  partinari 
deliberations  of  a  belligerent  character,  or  de-iaj 
to  contract  alliances,  or  to  engage  in  any  proJKil 
importing  hostility  to  any  other  nation,  he  eiiii| 
merated,  as  the  measures  in  which  we  could  wcl 
take  part,  1.  The  establishment  of  liberal  prifr  j 


4' 


ciples  of  comi; 

posed  could  b 

the  American 

taneous  adopt! 

trnlity.     3.  Tl 

free  goods.    4. 

doctrine,"  as  it 

the  congress, 

means,  its  owr 

colonizatioa.     ' 

so  different  fro: 

posed  to  be,  i 

guard  all  the  t 

European  coloi 

this  passage  fror 

words.  Theyar 

all  the  parties  : 

each  will  guard 

',  establishment  o 

within  its  borde 

was,  more  than 

my  predecessor 

suiting  from  the 

rican  continents. 

new  .southern  n£ 

an  essential  app 

These  were  the  ■ 

been  a  member 

filliiig  the  depart 

would  emanate; 

enunciation  of  it 

himself,  in  a   coi 

Senate,  was  layinj 

[.the  American  nati 

deputies,     The  ci 

cation  render  it  in 

be  deceived  in  hi 

ii'g  to  him,  this  " 

to  which  it  has  I 

United  States  wei 

Americas,  and  n 

from  their  shores) 

own  borders  ■  that 

the  other  states  of 

each  for  itself,  an 

[guard  its  own  tc 

that  the  United  : 

gratuitous  protect 

states,  would  neith 

such  enterprise,  bui 

I  means,  within  itso\ 

ttion  from  European 


ANNO  1826.    JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  PRESIDENT. 


67 


i 


■i 


ciples  of  commercial  intercourse,  which  he  sup- 
posed could  bo  best  done  in  an  assembly  of  all 
the  American  states  together.     2.  The  consen- 
taneous adoption  of  principles  of  mfritime  neu- 
trality.    3.  The  doctrine  that  free  ships  make 
free  goods.    4.  An  agreement  that  the  "  Monroe 
doctrine,"  as  it  is  called,  should  be  adopted  by 
the  congress,  each  state  to  guard,  by  its  own 
means,  its  own  territory  from  future  European 
colon  izatioa.    The  enunciation  of  this  doctrine 
so  different  from  what  it  has  of  late  been  sup- 
posed to  be,  as  binding  the  United  States  to 
guard  all  the  territory  of  the  New  World  from 
European  colonization,  makes  it  proper  to  give 
this  passage  from  Mr.  Adams's  message  in  his  own  I 
words.  They  are  these:  "An  agreement  between 
all  the  parties  represented  at  the  meeting,  that 
each  will  guard,  by  its  own  means,  against  the 
establishment  of  any  future  European  colony 
within  its  borders,  may  be  found  advisable.  This 
was,  more  than  two  years  since,  announced  by 
ray  predecessor  to  the  world,  as  a  principle  re- 
sulting from  the  emancipation  of  both  the  Ame- 
rican continents.     It  may  be  so  developed  to  the 
new  southern  nations,  that  they  may  feel  it  as 
an  essential  appendage  to  their  independence." 
These  were  the  words  of  Jlr.  Adams,  who  had 
been  a  member  of  Mr.  Monroe's  cabinet,  and 
fillitjg  the  department  from  which  the  doctrine 
would  emanate;    written  at  a  time  when  the 
enunciation  of  it  was  still  fresh,  and  when  he 
himself,  in  a   communication  to  the  American 
Senate,  was  laying  it  down  for  the  adoption  of  all 
.the  American  nations  in  a  general  congress  of  their 
deputies.     The  circumstances  of  the  communi- 
cation render  it  incredible  that  Mr.  Adams  could 
be  deceived  in  his  understanding ;  and,  accord- 
ing to  him,  this  "Monroe  doctrine"  (accordino- 
to  which  it  has  been  of  late  believed  that  the 
United  States  were  to  stand  guard  over  the  two 
Americas,   and  repulse   all   intrusive    colonists 
from  their  shores),  was  entirely  confined  to  our 
own  borders-  that  it  was  only  proposed  to  get 
the  other  states  of  the  New  World  to  agree  that 
each  for  itself,  and  by  its  own  means,  should 
guard  Its  own  territories:    and,  consequently 
the  United  States,  so   far  from  extending 


that 


I  gratuitous  protection  to  the  territories  of  other 
states,  would  neither  give,  nor  receive,  aid  in  any 
such  entcipriseJnit  that  each  should  use  its  own 

|moans,  within  its  own  borders,  for  its  own  exemp- 
tion from  European  colonial  intrusion.     5 


object  propo.sed  by  Mr.  Adams,  in  which  he  sup- 
posed our  participation  in  the  business  of  the 
Panama  congress  might  be  rightfully  and  bene- 
ficially admitted,  related  to  the  advancement  of 
religious  liberty :   and  as  this  was  a  point  at 
which  the  message  encountered  much  censure, 
I  will  give  it  in  its  own  words.     They  are  these  ,' 
"  There  is  yet  another  subject  upon  which,  with- 
out entering  into  any  treaty,  the  moral  influence 
of  the  United  States  may,  perhaps,  be  exerted 
with  beneficial  influence  at  such  meeting— the 
advancement  of  religious  liberty.    Some  of  the 
southern  nations  are,  even  yet,  so  far  under  the 
dominion  of  prejudice,  that  they  have  incorpo- 
rated,  with  their  political  constitutions,  an  ex- 
clusive Church,  without  toleration  of  any  other 
than  the  dominant  sect.    The  abandonment  of 
this  last  badge  of  religious  bigotry  and  oppres- 
sion, may  be  pressed   more   eflectually  by  the 
united    exertions  of  those  who  concur  in  the 
principles  of  freedom  of  conscience,  upon  those 
who  are  yet  to  be  convinced  of  their  justice  and 
wisdom,  than  by  the  solitary  efforts  of  a  minis- 
ter to  any  one  of  their  separate  governments." 
6.  The  sixth   and  last  object  named  bv  Mr 
Adams  was,  to  give  proofs  of  our  good  will  to 
all   the  new  southern  republics,  by  accepting 
their  invitation   to  join  them   in  the  conrrress 
which  they  proposed  of  American  nations.  ^The 
President  enumerated  no  others  of  the  objects 
to  which  the  discussions  of  the  congress  might  be 
directed;  but  in  the  papers  which  he  commu- 
nicated  with    the  invitations   he   had  received 
many  others  were  mentioned,  one  of  which  was' 
the  basis  on  which  the  relations  with  Haiti 
should  be  placed;"  and  the  other,  '■' to  consider 
and  settle  the  future  relations  with  Cuba  and 
Porto  Rico.' 

The  message  was  referred  to  the  Senate's 
Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs,  consisting  of  Mr 
Macon,  Mr.  Tazewell,  and  Mr  Gaillard  of  South 
Carolina,  Mr.  Mills  of  Massachusetts,  and  Mr 
Hugh  L.  White  of  Tennessee.  The  committee 
reported  adversely  to  the  President's  recom- 
mendation, and  replied  to  the  message,  point  by 
point.  It  is  an  elaborate  document,  of  gieat 
ability  and  research,  and  well  expressed  the 
democratic  doctrines  of  that  day.  It  was  p-e- 
sented  by  Mr.  Macon,  the  chairman  of  the 
committee,  and  was  drawn  bv  Mr.  Tazewell 
and  wn«   tb.e  r.port  of  which  ifr.  Macon,  when 


A  fifth  I  complimented  a,  ^n  it,  was  accustomed  to  answer. 


68 


THIRTY  YEARS'  "VIEW. 


"  Yes :  it  is  a  good  report.  Tazewell  wrote  it." 
But  it  was  his  also ;  for  no  power  could  have 
made  him  present  it,  without  declaring  the  fact, 
if  he  had  not  approved  it.  The  general  principle 
of  the  report  was  that  of  good  will  and  friend- 
ship to  all  the  young  republics,  and  the  cultiva- 
tion of  social,  commercial  and  political  relations 
with  each  one  individually ;  but  no  entangling 
connect  n,  and  no  internal  interference  with  any 
one.  i.  I  the  suggestion  of  advancing  religious 
freedofi,  *hp-  committee  remark : 

''•  h:  11  e  opinion  of  this  committee,  there  is  no 
proposition,  concerning  which  the  people  of  the 
United  States  are  now  and  ever  have  been  more 
unanimous,  than  that  which  denies,  not  merely  the 
expediency,  but  the  right  of  intermeddling  with 
the  internal  affairs  of  other  states;  and  espe- 
cially of  seeking  to  alter  any  provision  they  may 
have  thought  proper  to  adopt  as  a  fundamental 
law,  or  may  have  incorporated  with  their  politi- 
cal constitutions.  And  if  there  be  any  such 
subject  more  sacred  and  delicate  than  another, 
as  to  which  the  United  States  ought  never  to 
intermeddle,  even  by  obtrusive  advice,  it  is  that 
which  concerns  religious  liberty.  The  most 
cruel  and  devastating  wars  have  been  produced 
by  such  interferences ;  the  blood  of  man  has 
been  poured  out  in  torrents  ;  and,  from  the  daj'S 
of  the  crusades  to  the  present  hour,  no  benefit 
has  resulted  to  the  human  family,  from  discus- 
sions carried  on  by  nations  upon  such  subjects. 
Among  the  variety  even  of  Christian  nations 
wliich  now  inhabit  the  earth,  rare  indeed  are  the 
examples  to  be  found  of  states  who  have  not 
established  an  exclusive  church  ;  and  to  far  the 
greater  number  of  these  toleration  is  yet  un- 
known. In  none  of  the  communications  which 
have  taken  place,  is  the  most  distant  allusion  made 
to  this  delicate  subject,  by  any  of  the  mini.fters 
who  have  given  this  invitation  ;  and  the  com- 
mittee feel  very  confident  in  the  opinion,  that,  if 
•^ver  an  intimation  shall  be  made  to  tlie  sove- 
reignties they  represent,  that  it  was  the  purpose 
of  the  United  States  to  discuss  at  the  proposed 
congress,  their  plans  of  internal  civil  polity,  or 
any  thing  touching  the  supposed  interests  of 
their  religious  establishments,  the  iiwitation 
given  would  soon  be  withdrawn!" 

On  the  subject  of  the  "  Monroe  doctrine,"  the 
report  shows  that,  one  of  the  new  republics 
(Colombia)  proposed  that  this  doctrine  .should 
fee  enforced  "  by  the  joint  and  united  efforts  of 
all  the  states  to  be  represented  in  the  congress, 
who  should  be  bound  by  a  solemn  convention 
to  seeare  this  end.  It  was  in  answer  to  this  pro- 
position that  the  President  in  his  message  showed 
the  extent  of  that  doctrine  to  be  limited  to  our 
own  territories,  and  that  all  that  we  could  do, 


would  be  to  enter  into  agreement  that  eac'i 
should  guard,  by  its  own  means,  against  tiie  es- 
tablishment of  any  foreign  colony  within  its  bor- 
ders. Even  such  an  agreement  the  committee 
deemed  unadvisable,  and  that  there  was  no 
more  reason  for  making  it  a  treaty  stipulation 
than  there  was  for  reducing  to  such  stipulations 
any  other  of  the  ''high,  just,  and  universally  aj. 
mitted  rights  of  a1!  nations."  The  favorable  com- 
mercial  treaties  which  the  President  expected  to 
obtain,  the  committee  believed  would  be  more 
readily  obtained  from  each  nation  separately  (in 
which  opinion  their  foresight  has  been  justified 
by  the  event) ;  and  that  each  treaty  would  be  tlie 
more  easily  kept  in  proportion  to  the  smaller 
number  of  parties  to  it.  The  ameliorations  of  the 
laws  of  nations  which  the  President  proposed,  in 
the  adoption  of  principles  of  maritiine  neutrality, 
and  that  free  ships  should  make  free  goods,  and 
the  restriction  of  paper  blockades,  were  deemed 
by  the  committee  objects  beyond  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  American  states  alone  ;  and  the  en- 
forcement of  which,  if  agreed  to,  might  bring  the 
chief  burthen  of  enforcement  upon  the  Unitti 
States ;  and  the  committee  doubted  the  policy  of 
undertaking,  by  negotiation  with  these  nations. 
to  settle  abstract  propositions,  as  parts  of  public 
law.  On  the  subject  of  Cuba  and  Porto  Rim. 
the  report  declared  that  the  United  States  could 
never  regard  with  indifference  theii  actual  condi- 
tion, or  future  destiny ;— but  deprecated  any 
joini-.  action  in  relation  to  *hem,  or  any  action  to 
which  th'-y  themselves  were  not  parties;  and  it 
totally  di,scounicnanced  any  joint  discussion  orac- 
tiou  in  relation  to  the  future  of  Haiti.  To  ti," 
whole  of  the  new  republics,  the  report  expresiied 
the  belief  that,  the  retention  of  our  present  un- 
connected and  friendly  position  towards  thcin. 
would  bo  I.  -)st  for  their  own  benefit,  and  enallc 
the  United  States  to  act  most  effectually  for  tlicni 
in  the  case  of  needing  our  good  offices.  It 
said  : 

"Wl".  the  United  States  retain  the  position 
whic:'  :i-cy  have  hitherto  occupied,  and  ni.iid- 
fest  a  constant  determination  not  to  mingle  their 
interests  with  those  of  the  other  states  ofAincHi* 
they  may  continue  to  employ  the  infltiencu  which 
they  pos.sess,  and  have  already  happily  exertid. 
with  the  nations  of  Europe,  in  favor  of"tlio>e  iii.v 
republics.  But,  if  ever  the  United  States  [ht- 
mit  themselves  to  be  as.sociated  with  these  n;- 
tions  in  any  general  congress,  as.sembied  forth 
discus.sion  of  common  plans,  in  any  v.ny  nfil'iiMi!!  k^ 
European  interests,  they  will,  by  such  an  act,  not  "" 


only  deprive  tl 
pos.sc.ss,  of  rei 
other  America 
ctlccts,  prejudii 
the  powers  of 
filled  in  the  .sa 
of  the  United  ' 
and  restrain  ar 
existing  contes 
of  America,  to  ( 
own  limits,  an( 
their  possession 
while  so  guardt 
fidence. " 

The  advantaf 

maintaining  fri 

"entangling  all 

*  presented  in  a  b 

'•And  the  Un 

in  happiness,  to 

'  st"ict  observanci 

i  of  jiolicy,  and 

t  and  most  profou 

mii.st  prepare  to 

upon  au  unknoTi 

;  by  little  experie; 

|ha\en.    In  such 

I  kting  between  t 

I  in  interest,  chara 

I  customs,  habits, 

.  particular :  and 

;  nui~,t  surely  proc 

I  eiMtc  discords,  w 

[  Iiope  of  its  succG 

I  even  -;uccess  itsel 

I  direful  conflicts  t 

_:  been  the  issue  o 

fi  time ;  and  we  ha 

■  expect  in  the  futi 

I  causes. 

The  committee 
Ion  the  point  of  hi 
I  without  the  previ 
,|  Senate.  The  Pre 
fso:  but  deemed  i 
|cufflstances,  to  w£ 
I  vice.  The  commi 
JScnate  to  decide  d 
.sthis  71CW  nmsinn  J 
ioriginality,  and  hoi 
lis  to  be  instituted 
|not  the  filling  of  a 
"lave  a  right  to  dec 
?oince  itself. 

I  spoke  myself  ( 
points  wliich  it  pre 
:^J|re!atinns  with  Ha 
vas  to  be  determii 


ANNO  1826.    JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  PRESIDENT. 


only  deprive  themselves  of  the  ability  they  now 
possess,  of  rendering  useful   assistance   to  the 
other  American  states,  but  also  produce  other 
cttects,  prejudicial  to  their  own  interests.     Then 
the  powers  of  Europe,  who  have  hitherto  con- 
fided in  the  sagacity,  vigilance,  and  impartiality 
of  the  United  States,  to  watch,  detect,  announce 
and  restrain  any  disposition  that  the  heat  of  the 
existing  contest  might  excite  in  the  new  states 
of  America,  to  extend  their  empires  beyond  their 
own  limits,  and  who  hare,  therefore,  considered 
their  possessions  and  commerce  in  America  safe 
while  so  guarded,  would  no  longer  feel  this  con- 
fideace. " 


69 


The  advantage  of  pursuing  our  old  policy,  and 
maintaining  friendly  relations  with  all  power- 
"entangling  alliances  with  none,"  was  forcibly 
presented  in  a  brief  and  striking  paragraph : 

"  And  the  United  States,  who  have  grown  up 
in  happiness,  to  their  present  prosperity  by  a 
strict  observance  of  their  old  well-known  course 
of  policy,  and  by  manifesting  entire  good  will 
and  most  profound  respect  for  all  other  nations 
must  prepare  to  embark  their  future  destinies 
upon  au  unknown  and  turbulent  ocean,  directed 
by  httle  experience,  and  destined  for  no  certain 
haven.    la  such  a  voyage,  the  dissimilitude  ex- 
isting between  themselves  and  their  associates 
m  nitcrest  character,  language,  religion,  manners' 
customs,  habits,  laws,  and  almost  every  other 
particular :  and  the  rivalship  these  discrepancies 
must  surely  produce  amongst  them,  would  gen- 
erate discords,  which,  if  they  did  not  destroy  all 
liope  of  Its  successful  termination,  would  inakc 
even  success  itself  the  ultimate  cause  of  new  and 
direlul  conflicts  between  themselves.    Such  has 
been  the  issue  of  all  such  enterprises  in  past 

^I'll/f"    f.!™A^^^*^?'''''°''*'  «*^«"g  reasons  tc 
expect  m  the  future,  similar  results  from  similar 

'I  The  committee  dissented  from  the  President 
|on  the  point  of  his  right  to  institute  the  mission 
I  without  the  previous  advice  and  consent  of  the 
-S  Senate.    The  President  averred  his  right  to  do 


fso:  but  deemed  it  advisable,  under  all  the  cir- 
|cu.ustances,  to  waive  the  right,  and  ask  the  ad- 
,s1vice.  The  committee  averred  the  right  of  the 
iScnate  to  decide  directly  upon  the  expedience  of 
fthn  new  mission  ;  grounding  the  bt  upon  its 
^originality,  and  holding  that  when  .  ,.e«,  mission 
I.S  to  be  instituted  it  is  the  creation  of  an  office 
rot  the  filling  of  a  vacancy;  and  that  the  Senate 
Jme  a  right  to  decide  upon  the  expediency  of  the 
^folfice  itself.  ^  .r  V. 

I  spoke  myself  on  thi.«  question,  and  to  all  the 
'Oints  wliich  it  presented,  and  on  the  subject  of 
o.atinn.  With  IL-iVti  (ou  which  a  uniform  rule 
•as  to  be  determined  on,  or  a  rule  with  modid- 


cations,  according  to  the  proposition  of  Colombia) 
I  held  that  our  policy  was  fixed,  and  could  be 
neither  altered,  aor  discussed  in  any  foreign  as- 
sembly; and  especially  m  the  one  proposed  ;  all 
the  other  parties  to  which  had  already  placed 
the  two  races  (black  and  white)  on  the  basis  of 
political  equality.    I  said : 

"Our  policy  towards  IlaJti,  the  old  San  Do- 
mingo, has  been  fixed  for  three  and  thirty  years. 
We  trade  W'th  her,  but  no  diplomatic  /ektions 
have  been  established  between  us.    We  purchase 
coflTee  Irom  her,  and  pay  her  for  it ;  but  we  inter- 
change no  consuls  or  ministers.    We  receive  no 
rnulatto  consuls,  or  black  ambassadors  from  her 
And  why  ?    Because  the  peace  of  eleven  States 
m  this  Umon  will  not  permit  the  fruits  of  a  suc- 
cessful negro  insurrection  to  be  exhibited  among 
them.    It  will  not  permit  black  consuls  and  am- 
bassadors to  establish  themselves  in  our  cities 
and  to  parade  through  our  country,  and  cive  to 
their  fellow  blacks  in  the  Umted^^tate.s^proof 
in  hand  of  the  honors  which  await  them,  for  a 
like  successful  effort  on  their  part.    It  will  not 
permit  the  fact  to  be  seen,  and  told,  that  for  the 
muTder  of  their  roasters  and  mistresses,  they  are 
nnff"^^??'^  among  the  white  people  of  these 
United  States.    No,  this  is  a  question  which  haa 
been  determined  here  for  three  and  thirty 
years;  one  which  has  never  been  open  for  dis- 
cussion, at  home  or  abroad,  neither  under  the 
Presidency  of  Gen.  Washington,  of  the  first  M 
Adams,  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  jfr.  Madison  or  Mr] 

inM/^V  ^V'  «"«T'"^^  ^""""t  be  discu.ssed 

n /A^s  chamW  on  this  day;  and  shall  we  go 

to  Panama  to  discuss  it  ?    I  take  it  in  the  mild- 

est  supposed  character  of  this  Congress-sha  1 

Zrit  S'^wV"  "'^'7  ^"^.  ^''"*"''  >»  council 
about  It  ?    Who  are  to  advise  and  sit  in  iud-- 

Si?  h"AT  V  ^"'^  "^"""^^  ^''«  J>-^-<^  '^iSy 

put  the  black  man  upon  an  equality  with  the 
white  not  only  m  their  constitutions  but  in  real 
ite  live  nations  who  have  at  this  moment  (at 
least  .some  of  thorn)  black  generals  in  the  r  ir- 
mies  and  mulatto  senators  in  their  congresses ! 


No  qu>.stion,  in  its  day,  excited  more  heat  and 
mtemperate  discussion,  or  more  feeling  betn-een 
a  President  and  Senate,  than  this  proposed  mis- 
sion to  the  congress  of  American  nations  at  Pan- 
ama; and  no  heated  question  ever  cooled  off 
and  died  out  so  suddenly  and  completely.    And 
now  the  chief  benefit  to  be  derived  from  its 
retro.p.a     nid  that  indeed  is  a  real  one-is  a 
view  ..f  fh.-  iirmness  with  which  was  then  main- 
turned  by  3  minority,  the  old  policy  of  the  Uiii- 
i^a  •itatts,  to  avoid  entangling  alliances  and  in- 
terference with  the  affairs  of  otbnr  nations  j-and 
the  exposition  of  the  Monroe  doctrine,  from  one 
so  competent  to  give  it  as  Mr.  Adams. 


, ; 


r .. 


70 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

DUEL  BETWEEN  MR.  CLAY  AND  ME.  KANDOLril. 

It  was  Saturday,  the  first  day  of  April,  towards 
iioou,  the  Senate  not  being  that  day  in  session, 
that  Mr.  Eandolph  came  to  my  room  at  Brown's 
Hotel,  and  (without  explaining  the  reason  of  the 
question)  asked  me  if  I  was  a  blood-relation  of 
Mrs.  Clay  ?  I  answered  that  I  was,  and  ho  im- 
mediately replied  that  that  put  an  end  to  a  re- 
quest which  he  had  wished  to  make  of  me ;  and 
then  went  on  to  toll  me  that  he  had  just  received 
a  challenge  from  Mr.  Clay,  had  accepted  it,  was 
ready  to  go  out,  and  would  apply  to  Col.  Tat- 
nall  to  be  his  second.  Before  leavuig,  he  told  mc 
he  would  make  my  bosom  the  depository  of  a 
secret  which  he  should  commit  to  no  other  per- 
son :  it  was,  that  he  did  not  intend  to  fire  at 
Mr.  Clay.  He  told  it  to  me  because  he  wanted 
a  witness  of  '  .  intention,  and  did  not  mean  to 
tell  it  to  hi£  .ond  or  any  body  else  ;  and  en- 
joined inviolable  secrecy  until  the  duel  was  over. 
This  was  the  first  notice  I  had  of  the  affair. 
The  circumstances  of  the  delivery  of  the  challenge 
I  had  from  Gen.  Jesup,  Mr.  Clay's  second,  and 
they  were  so  perfectly  characteristic  of  Mr.  Ean- 
dolph that  I  give  them  in  detail,  and  in  the  Gen- 
eral's own  words : 

"  I  was  unable  to  sec  Mr.  Randolph  until  the 
morning  of  the  1st  of  April,  when  I  called  on 
him  for  the  purpose  of  delivering  the  note. 
Previous  to  presenting  it,  however,  I  thought  it 
proper  to  ascertain  from  Mr.  Randolph  himself 
whether  the  information  which  Mr.  Clay  had 
received — that  he  considered  himself  personally 
accountable  for  the  attack  on  him — was  cor*"  "t. 
I  accoi-dinsily  iiiformed  Mr.  Randolph  that  I  \  > 
the  bearer  of  a  message  from  Mr.  Clay,  in  conse- 
quence of  an  attack  which  lie  had  made  upon  his 
private  as  well  as  public  character  in  the  Senate ; 
that  I  was  aware  no  one  had  the  right  to  ques- 
tion him  out  of  the  Senate  for  any  thing  said  in 
debate,  unless  he  chose  voluntarily  to  waive  his 
privileges  as  a  member  of  that  body.  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph replied,  that  the  constitution  did  protect 
him,  but  he  vfould  never  shield  himself  under 
such  a  Bubterfuge  as  the  pleading  of  his  privilege 
lus  a  senator  from  Virginia ;  that  he  did  hold  him- 
si  If  accountable  to  Mr.  Clay ;  but  he  said  that 
gentleman  had  first  two  pledges  to  redeem :  one 
that  he  had  bound  himself  to  fight  any  member 
of  the  House  of  Representatives,  who  .should  ac- 
knowledge himself  the  author  of  a  certain  pub- 


lication in  a  Philadelphia  paper ;  and  the  otiicr 
that  he  stood  pledged  to  establish  certain  t^tl 
in  regard  to  a  great  man,  whom  he  would  not 
name ;  but,  he  added  he  could  receive  no  verba] 
message  from  Mr.  Clay — that  any  message  fioiu 
him  must  be  in  writing.  I  replied  that  I  was 
not  authorized  by  Mr.  Clay  to  enter  into  or 
receive  any  verbal  explanations — that  the  in. 
quiries  I  had  made  were  for  my  own  satisfaction 
and  upon  my  own  responsibility — that  the  only 
message  of  which  I  was  the  bearer  was  in  writiii", 
I  then  presented  the  note,  and  remarked  tliat'l 
knew  nothing  of  Mr.  Clay's  pledges ;  but  that  if 
they  existed  as  he  (Mr.  Randolph)  undorstcvj 
them,  and  he  wa.s  aware  of  them  when  ho  madt 
the  attack  complained  of,  he  could  not  avail  liim- 
self  of  them — that  by  making  the  attack  I  tlioucili: 
he  had  waived  them  himself.  He  said  he  b! 
not  the  remotest  intention  of  taking  advanta;;! 
of  the  pledges  referred  to ;  that  he  had  mention- 
ed them  merely  to  remind  me  that  he  was  waiv- 
ing his  privilege,  not  only  as  a  senator  froir. 
Virginia,  but  as  a  private  gentleman ;  that  Ik 
was  ready  to  respond  to  Mr.  Clay,  and  woali 
be  obliged  to  me  if  I  would  bear  his  note  in  re- 
ply ;  and  that  he  would  in  the  course  of  the  day 
look  out  for  a  friend.  I  declined  bting  the  bear- 
er of  his  note,  but  informed  him  my  only  reason 
for  declining  was,  that  I  thought  he  owed  it  , 
himself  to  consult  his  friends  before  takin};  so 
important  a  step.  He  seized  my  hand,  suyin;, 
'  You  are  right,  sir.  T  thank  you  for  the  sug- 
gestion :  but  as  you  do  not  take  my  note,  yoj 
must  not  be  impatient  if  you  should  not  hear  from 
me  to-day.  I  now  think  of  only  two  friemli, 
and  there  are  circumstances  connected  with  one 
of  tliem  which  may  deprive  me  of  his  services, 
and  the  other  is  in  bad  health — he  was  sick  yes- 
terday, and  may  not  be  out  to-day.'  I  assured 
him  that  any  reasonable  time  which  he  mii:!it 
find  necessary  to  take  would  be  satisfactory, 
I  took  leave  of  him  ;  and  it  is  due  to  his  memory 
1,0  say  that  his  bearing  was,  througlioat  the  in- 
terview, that  of  a  high-toned,  chivalrous  gentle- 
man of  the  old  .school." 

These  were  the  circumstances  of  the  deliver)' ol 
the  challenge,  and  the  only  thing  necessary  to 
give  them  their  character  is  to  recollect  that,  witt 
this  prompt  acceptance  and  positive  refusal  to 
explain,  and  this  extra  cut  about  the  two  pled- 
ges, there  was  a  perfect  determination  not  toilre 
at  Mr.  Clay.  That  determination  rested  on  two 
grounds ;  lirst,  an  entire  unwillingness  to  hurt  Mr. 
Clay ;  and,  next,  a  conviction  that  to  return  tk 
fire  would  be  to  answer,  and  would  be  an  implitJ 
acknowledgment  of  Mr.  Clay's  right  to  make  liiii; 
answer.  'J'his  he  would  not  do,  neither  by  iiiipli 
cation  nor  in  words.  He  denied  the  right  of  any 
person  to  question  him  out  of  the  Senate  la 
words  spoken  within  it.    He  took  a  distinciii- 


between  man  i 

constitutional  i 

and  which  he  i 

promise ;  as  in 

faction  for  wh 

would  receive, 

much  as  to  sa; 

what  has  offem 

the  fire,  admit 

subtle  distincti 

death,  and  not  v 

but  to  Mr.  Rai: 

His  allusion  to 

which  he  might 

challenge,  and  i 

cut  at  Mr.  Adai 

satisfaction  for ' 

bcr  of  the  Houf 

Pennsylvania,  v 

tial  election  in  tl 

avowed  himself 

publication,  the 

threatened  to  c 

tiimself— and  di 

President  Adan; 

a  newspaper  cor 

fact, — which  hat 

this  sarcastic  cu 

in  the  Panama 

President  and  J 

encouraged  the 

att'""k  him,  whk 

chose  to  overlook 

the  instigators,  a 

he  did  to  his  hea 

to  their  great  am 

Icnge  proved.     T 

Col,  Tatnall  an( 

which  might  dis( 

of  'ny  relationshi 

not  know  the  dej 

consanguinity — c 

the  other  a  comp 

second— holding, 

an  Indian,  to  the 

but  little  stress 

afl'able  reception 

Jesup  were  accon 

the  decorum  whii 

A  duel  in  the  circ 

ifliiir  of  honor :" ; 

code,  must  pervi 


ANNO  1C26.    JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  PRESIDENT. 


h 


between  man  and  senator.    As  senator  he  had  a 
constitutional  immunity,  given  for  a  wise  purpose, 
and  which  he  would  neither  surrender  nor  com- 
promise ;  as  individual  he  was  ready  to  give  satis- 
faction for  what  was  deemed  en  injury.      lie 
would  receive,  but  not  return  a  lire.     It  was  a." 
mucli  as  to  say :  Mr.  Clay  may  fire  at  me  lor 
what  has  offended  him  ;  I  will  not,  by  returning 
the  fire,  admit  his  right  to  do  ro.     This  was  a 
subtle  distinction,  and  that  in  case  of  life  and 
death,  and  not  very  clear  to  the  t.  imon  intellect ; 
but  to  Mr.  Randolph  both  clear  and  convincing. 
His  allusion  to  the  "  two  pledges  unredeemed," 
which  he  might  have  plead  in  bar  to  Mr.  Clay's 
challenge,  and  would  not,  was  another  sarcastic 
cut  at  Mr.  Adams  and  Mr.  Clay,  while  rendering 
satisfaction  for  cuts  already  given.     The  "  mem- 
ber of  the  House"  was  Mr.  George  Kremer,  of 
Pennsylvania,  who,  at  the  time  of  the  presiden- 
tial election  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  had 
avowed  himself  to  be  the  author  of  an  anonymous 
publication,  the  writer  of  which  Mr.  Clay  had 
threatened  to  call  to  account  if  he  would  avow 
nimself— and  did  not.      The  "great  man"  was 
President  Adams,  with  whom  Mr.  Clay  had  had 
a  newspaper  controversy,  involving  a  question  of 
fact,— which  had  been  postponed.    The  cause  of 
this  sarcastic  cut,  and  of  all  the  keen  personality 
in  the  Panama  sijeech,  was  the  belief  that  the 
President  and  Secretarj,  the  latter  especially, 
encouraged  the  newspapers  in  their  interest  to 
att-'-k  him,  which  they  did  incessantly ;  and  he 
chose  to  overlook  the  editors  and  retaliate  upon 
the  instigators,  as  he  believed  them  to  be.    This 
he  did  to  his  heart's  content  in  that  speech— and 
to  their  great  annoyance,  as  thecomingofthechal- 
lenge  proved.     The  "  two  friends"  alluded  to  were 
Col.  Tatnall  and  myself,  and  the  circumstances 
whidi  might  disqualify  one  of  the  two  were  those 
of  my  relationship  to  Mrs.  Clay,  of  which  he  did 
not  know  the  degree,  and  whether  of  affinity  or 
consanguinity— considering  the  first  no  obstacle, 
the  other  a  complete  bar  to  my  appearing  as  his 
second— holding,  as  he  did,  with  the  tenacity  of 
an  Indian,  to  the  obligations  of  blood,  and  laying 
hut  little  stress  on  marriage  connections,     ilis 
afl'able  reception  and  courteous  demeanor  to  Gen.  j 
Jesup  were  according  to  his  own  high  breeding,  ana 
the  decorum  which  belonged  to  such  occasions.  I 
A  duel  in  the  circle  to  which  he  belonged  was  "an  I 
affair  of  honor ;"  and  higli  honor,  according  to  its  ' 
code,  must  pervade  every  part  of  it.     General  I 


Jcsup  had  come  upon  an  unpleasant  business. 
Mr.  Randolph  determined  to  put  him  at  his  case ; 
and  did  it  so  effect' .ally  as  to  charm  him  into  ad 
miration.    The  r,  hole  plan  of  his  conduct,  down 
to  contingent  dotails,  was  cast  in  his  mind  in- 
stantly, as  h  by  intuition,  and  never  departed 
from,    The  acceptance,  the  refusal  to  explain,  the 
determination  not  to  fire,  the  first  and  second 
choice  of  a  friend,  and  the  ciicumstanccs  which 
might  disqualify  one  and  delay  the  other,  the  ad- 
ditional cut,  and  the  resolve  to  fall,  if  he  fell,  on 
thj  soil  of  Virginia— was  all,  to  his  mind,  a  single 
emanation,  the  flash  of  an  instant.     He  needed 
no  consultations,  no  deliberations  to  arrive  at  all 
these  important  conclusions.    I  dwell  upon  these 
small  circumstances  because  they  are  character- 
istic, and  show  the  man— a  man  who  belongs  to 
history,  and  had  his  own  history,  and  shoufd  be 
known  as  he  was.  That  character  can  only  be  shown 
in  his  own  conduct,  his  own  words  and  acts :  and 
this  duel  with  Mr.  Clay  illustrates  it  at  many 
points.    It  is  in  that  point  of  view  that  I  dwell 
upon  circumstances  which  might  seem   trivial 
but  which  are  not  so,  being  illustrative  of  char- 
acter and  significant  to  their  smallest  particulars. 
The  acceptance  of  the  challenge  was  in  keep- 
ing with  the  whole  proceeding-prompt  in  the 
agreement  to  meet,  exact  in  protesting  against 
the  right  to  call  him  out,  clear  in  the  waiver  of 
his  constitutional  privilege,  brief  and  cogent  in 
;  nsenting  the  case  as  one  of  some  reprehension 
— u  i  :.  i.  e  of  a  member  of  an  administration 
challei.g.ng  a  senator  for  words  spoken  in  do- 
bate  of  that  administration ;   and  all  in  brief 
terse,  and  superlatively  d^^toruus,  language.     It 
ran  thus : 

''Mr.  Randolph  acct^if*  ti,>  challenge  of  Mr. 
Clay.  At  the  same  time  ..  c^xotcts  against  the 
ng-A^ofany  minister  of  the  i  .oontivo  Government 
of  the  United  States  to  hold  him  responsible  for 
words  spoken  in  debate,  as  a  senator  from  Vir- 
ginia, m  crimination  of  such  minister,  or  «he  ad- 
nnmstration  under  which  I,  shall  have  taken 
office.  Colonel  Tatnall,  of  Georgia,  tho  bearer 
ot  this  letter,  is  authorized  to  arrange  with  Gen- 
eral Jesup  (the  bearer  of  Mr.  Clay's  challenge) 
the  terms  of  the  meeting  to  which  Mr.  Randolph 
18  mvited  by  that  note. " 

This  protest  which  Mr.  Randolph  entered 
against  the  n>ht  of  Mr.  Clay  to  challenge  him, 
led  to  an  explanation  between  their  mutual 
friends  oa  that  delicate  fH)iut— a  point  which 
concerned  the  independence  of  debate,  the  pri- 


-r^^i 


'f 

IV 

j  i ' 

1 

■ 
It:  - 

72 


THIRTY   i  EARS'  VIEW. 


vileges  of  the  Senate,  the  immunity  of  a  mem- 
ber, and  the  sanctity  of  the  constitution.  It 
was  a  point  which  Mr.  Clay  felt;  and  the  expla- 
nation which  was  had  between  the  mutual  friends 
presented  an  excuse,  if  not  a  justification,  for  his 
proceeding.  lie  Imd  been  informed  that  Mr. 
Randolph,  in  his  speech,  had  avowed  his  respon- 
sibility to  Mr.  Clay,  and  waived  his  privilege— a 
thing  which,  if  it  had  been  done,  would  have  been 
a  defiance,  and  stood  for  an  invitation  to  Mr.  Clay 
to  send  a  challenge.  Mr.  Randolph,  through 
Col.  Tatnall,  disavowed  that  imputed  avowal, 
and  confined  his  waiver  of  privilege  to  the  time 
of  the  delivery  of  the  challenge,  and  in  answer 
to  an  inquiry  before  it  was  delivered. 

The  following  are  the  communications  between 
the  respective  seconds  on  this  point : 


In  regard  to  the  protest  with  which  Mr. 

r  ndolph's  note  concludes,  it  is  due  to  Mr.  Clay 

tay  that  he  had  been  informed  Mr.  Randolph 

.  and  would,  hold  himself  responsible  to  him 

-  any  observations  he  might  make  in  relation 

.    him  ;  and  that  I  (Gen.  Jesup)  distinctly  un- 

'    rstood  from  Mr.  Randolph,  before  I  delivered 

le  note  of  Mr.  Clay,  that  he  waived  his  privilege 

s  a  senator. "  ^         o 

To  this  Col.  Tatnall  replied; 

"  As  this  expression  (did  and  would  hold  him- 
self responsible,  &c.)  may  be  construed  to  mean 
that  Mr.  Randolph  had  given  this  intimation  not 
only  before  called  upon,  but  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  throw  out  to  Mr.  Clay  something  like  an 
mvitation  to  make  such  a  call,  1  have,  on  the 
part  of  Mr.  Randolph,  to  disavow  any  disposition, 
when  expressing  his  readiness  to  waive  his  pi-ivi- 
lege  as  a  senator  from  Virginia,  to  invite,  in  any 
case,  a  call  upon  him  for  personal  satisfaction. 
The  concluding  paragraph  of  your  note.  I  pre- 
sume, is  intended  to  show  merely  that  you  did 
not  present  a  note,  such  as  that  of  Mr.  Clay 
to  Mr.  RanJolijh,  until  you  had  ascertained  his 
willingness  to  waive  his  privilege  as  a  senator. 
This  1  infer,  as  it  was  in  your  recollection  that 
the  exjiression  of  such  a  readiness  on  the  part  of 
Mr.  Randolpli  was  in  reply  to  an  inquiry  on  that 
point  made  by  yourself. " 

Thus  an  irritating  circumstance  in  the  affair  was 
virtually  ne^'ativt'd,  and  its  offensive  import  whol- 
ly disavo'ved.  For  my  part,  I  do  not  believe  that 
Mr.  Randolph  used  such  language  in  his  speech. 
I  have  no  iwolk-ction  of  having  heard  it.  The 
published  report  of  the  speech,  as  taken  down  by 
the  TO|K>rters  and  not  revised  by  the  sjieaker,  con-  j 
Uuia  nothing  of  it.    Such  gasconade  was  Ibreigu  j 


to  Mr.  Randolph's  character.  The  occasion  wns 
not  one  in  which  these  sort  of  defiances  &,« 
thrown  out,  which  are  either  to  purchase  a  che»n 
reputation  when  it  is  known  they  will  be  dcspis! 
ed,  or  to  get  an  advantage  in  extracting  a  chal. 
lenge  when  there  is  a  design  to  kill,  Mr.  Ran. 
dolph  had  none  of  these  views  with  respect  to  Mr, 
Clay.  He  had  no  desire  to  fight  him,  or  to  hurl 
him,  or  gain  cheap  character  by  appearinj;  to 
bully  him.  He  was  above  all  that,  and  had 
settled  accounts  with  him  in  his  speech,  and 
wanted  no  more.  I  do  not  believe  it  was  said' 
but  there  was  a  part  of  the  speech  which  mi(;bt 
have  received  a  wrong  application,  and  led  to  the 
erroneous  report :  a  part  which  ap{)lied  to  a 
quoted  passage  in  Mr.  Adams's  Panama  message, 
which  he  condemned  and  denounced,  and  dared 
the  President  and  his  friends  to  defend.  His 
words  were,  as  reported  unrevised :  "  Here  I 
plant  my  foot ;  here  I  fling  defiance  right  into 
his  (the  President's)  teeth;  here  I  throw  the 
gauntlet  to  him  and  the  bravest  of  his  coinpetrj 
to  come  forward  and  defend  these  lines, "  &c.  A 
very  palpable  defiance  this,  but  very  diflerei.' 
from  a  summons  to  personal  combat,  and  from 
what  was  related  to  Mr.  Clay.  It  was  an  unfor- 
tunate  report,  doubtless  the  effect  of  indistinct 
apprehension,  and  the  more  to  be  regretted  ss. 
after  having  been  a  main  cause  inducing  the 
challenge,  the  disavowal  could  not  stop  it. 

Thus  the  agreement  for  the  meeting  was  ab- 
sohite  ;  and,  according  to  the  expectation  of  the 
principals,  the  meeting  itself  would  be  imme- 
cUately ;  but  their  seconds,  from  the  most  land- 
able  feelings,  determined  to  delay  it,  witli  the 
hope  to  prevent  it,  and  did  keep  it  off  a  week, 
admitting  me  to  a  participation  in  the  good  wo.k, 
as  being  already  privy  to  the  affair  and  iriendly 
to  both  parties.  The  challenge  stated  no  specific 
ground  of  oflence,  specified  no  exceptionable 
words.  It  was  peremptory  and  general,  for  an 
"unprovoked  attack  on  his  (Mr.  Cla^ 's)  char- 
acter," and  it  dispen.'^ed  with  explanation.s  by 
alleging  that  the  notoriety  and  indisputable  ex- 
istence of  the  injury  superseded  the  necessity  for 
them.  Of  course  this  demand  was  bottomed  on 
a  report  of  the  words  spoken— a  verbal  report, 
the  full  daily  publication  of  the  debates  liaving 
not  then  begun- and  that  verbal  report  was  of 
a  character  greatly  to  exasperate  Mr.  Clpy.  It 
stated  that  in  the  course  of  the  debate  Mr,  Ran- 
dolph said : 


"  That  a  letter 
In  Minister  at 
ixecutive  to  th 
»ving  been  mar 
^tary  of  State, 
on  as  a  corrupt 
nd  blackleg;    a 

(Mr.  Randolp 
Dnsiblc  for  all 

This  was  the 

Ihich  ho  gave  t 

eivod  the  ab.soli 

11  inquiry  betwc 

'  the  quarrel.    '. 

and   to  atten 

aceable  dcterm 

^n  sequence.  Gen 

,  a  note  to  Col. ' 

I "  The  injury  of 

Bts  in  this,  that . 

^th  liaving  forgc( 

cted  with  the  ; 

applied  to  birr 

The  explana 

that  Mr.  Rand( 

ition  of  chargin{ 

■  private  capacity 

tpcr,  or  misrepr 

|at  the  term  blac 

I  him." 

\  To  this  expositii 
lint.  Col.  Tatnal' 

"Mr.  Randolph 
ed  by  him  in  de 
[thought  it  won 
fidcnce  sufficient! 
harlotte  (county] 
lanufactured  here 
|e  as  bearing  a  sti 
the  other  pape 
ove  this,  but  exp 
ct  was  so.  I  apj 
lithet,  puritanic- 
linistration. '  M: 
lords  as  those  utt( 
piling  to  afford  anj 
',  and  apphcation. 

I  In  this  answer  5 

I  original  gi-ound 

ke  Senate  for  wore 

|spccts  the  stater 

oken  greatly  am( 

DC  coarse  and  ins 

falsifying, "  being 

Were  not  iisod.  and 

pblished  report.     ' 


■■■'  -^sv;: 


Tms^ 


ANNO  1826.    JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  PRESIDENT. 


73 


(  "  That  a  letter  trom  General  Salazar,  the  Mexi- 
kn  Minister  at  Washington,  submitted  by  the 
fxecutivo  to  the  Senate,  bore  the  ear-mark  of 
kving  been  manufactured  or  forged  by  the  Sec- 
ttary  of  State,  and  denounced  the  administra- 
lon  as  a  corrupt  coalition  between  the  puritan 
lid  blackleg ;    and  added,  at  the  same  time,  that 

I  (Mr.  Randolph)   held  himself  personally  re- 

onsiblc  for  all  that  ho  had  said. " 


This  was  the  report  to  Mr.  Clay,  and  upon 
Ihich  he  gave  the  absolute  challenge,  and  re- 
lived the  absolute  acceptance,  which  shut  out 
11  inquiry  between  the  principals  into  the  causes 
7  the  quarrel.  The  seconds  determined  to  open 
and   to  attempt   an    accommodation,  or  a 

aceable  determination  of  the  difficulty.  In 
Insequence,  General  Jesup  stated  the  complaint 
\  a  note  to  Col.  Tatnall,  thus: 

I "  The  injury  of  which  Mr.  Clay  complains  con- 
Bts  in  this,  that  Mr.  Randolph  has  charged  him 
Jith  having  forged  or  manufactured  a  paper  con- 
^cted  with  the  Panama  mission ;  also,  that  he 
its  applied  to  him  in  debate  the  epithet  of  black- 
leg.   The  explanation  which  I  consider  necessary 
tliat  Mr.  Randolph  declare  that  he  had  no  in- 
ition  of  charging  Mr.  Clay,  either  in  his  public 
>  private  capacity,  with  forging  or  falsifying  any 
Ipcr,  or  misrepresenting  any  fact;    and  also 
■at  the  term  blackleg  was  not  intended  to  apply 
1  him." 

[To  this  exposition  of  the  grounds  of  the  com- 
aint.  Col.  Tatnall  answered : 

'Mr.  Randolph  informs  me  that  the  words 
led  by  him  in  debate  were  as  follows :  '  That 
[thought  it  would  be  in  my  power  to  show 
ndence  sufficiently  presumptive  to  satisfy  a 
harlotte  (county)  jury  that  this  invitation  was 
lanufactured  here—that  Salazar's  letter  struck 
i  as  bearing  a  strong  likeness  in  point  of  style 
the  other  papers.  I  did  not  undertake  to 
ove  this,  but  expressed  my  suspicion  that  the 
ct  was  so.  I  applied  to  the  administrat  ion  the 
|ithet,  puritanic-diplomatic-black-legged  ad- 
linistration.'  Mr.  Randolph,  in  giving  these 
lords  as  those  uttered  by  him  in  debate,  is  un- 
•illmg  to  afford  any  explanation  as  to  their  mean- 
";  and  application. " 

I  In  this  answer  Mr.  Randolph  remained  upon 
^  original  ground  of  refusing  to  answer  out  of 
^e  Senate  for  words  spoken  within  it.  In  other 
epcots  the  statement  of  the  words  actually 
>okni  greatly  ameliorated  the  offensive  report, 
fte  coarse  and  insulting  words,  ''forcing  and 
fahifying, "  being  disavowed,  as  in  fact  they 

Wore  not  nsod     nnrf   arm    nnl-    +«    l--    f-^.      i     •        .. 

— . ,..„  .,.  ^.^  loimu  m  inc 

piblished  report.    The  speech  was  a  bitter  phi- 


lippic, and  intended  to  be  so,  taking  for  its  point 
the  alleged  coalition  between  Mr.  Clay  and  Mr. 
Adams  with  respect  to  the  election,  and  their 
efforts  to  get  up  a  popular  question  contrary  to 
our  policy  of  non-entanglemcnt  with  foreign  na- 
tions, in  sending  ministers  to  the  congress  of  the 
American  states  of  Spanish  origin  at  the  Isthmus 
of  Panama.    I  heard  it  all,  and,  though  sharp 
and  cutting,  I  think  it  might  have  been  heard, 
had  he  been  r^'-^sent,  without  any  manifestation 
of  resentment  ;.    Mr.  Clay.    The  part  which  ho 
took  so  seriously  to  heart,  that  of  having  the 
Panama  invitations  manufactured  ia  his  office 
was  to  my  mind  nothing  more  than  attributing 
to  him  a  diplomatic  superiority  which  enabled 
him  to  obtain  from  the  South  American  mmisters 
the  invitations  that  he  wanted ;  and  not  at  all 
that  they  were  spurious  fabrications.    As  to  the 
expression,   "blackleg  and  puritan,^'  it  was 
merely  a  sarcasm  to  strike  by  antithesis,  and 
which,  being  without  foundation,  might  have  been 
disregarded.     I  presented  these  views  to  the 
parties,  and  if  they  had  come  from  Mr.  Randolph 
they  might  have  been  sufficient ;  but  ho  was  in- 
exorable, and  would  not  authorize  a  word  to  be 
said  beyond  what  he  had  written. 

All  hope  of  accommodation  having  vanished, 
the  seconds  proceeded  to  arrange  for  the  duel. 
The  afternoon  of  Satu.-day,  the  8th  of  April,  was 
fixed  upon  for  the  time ;  the  right  bank  of  the 
Potomac,  within  the  State  of  Virginia,  above  the 
Little  Falls  bridge,  was  the  place,— pistols  the 
weapons,— distance  ten  paces ;  each  party  to  be 
attended  by  two  seconds  and  a  surgeon,  and  my- 
self  at  liberty  to  attend  as    a  mutual  friend. 
There  was  to  be  no  practising  with  pistols,  and 
there  was  none ;  and  the  words  "  one, "  "  two  " 
"three,  "  "stop,"  after  the  word  "fire,"  were, 
hf  agftjement  between  the  seconds,  and  for  the 
humane  purpose  of  reducing  the  result  as  near 
as  possible  to  chance,  to  be  given  out  in  quick 
succession.     The  Virginia  side  of  the  Potomac 
was  taken  at  the  instance  of  Jlr.  Randolph,    He 
went  out  as  a  Virginia  senator,  refusing  to  com- 
promise that  character,  and,  if  he  fell  in  defence 
of  its  rights,  Virginia  soil  was  to  him  the  chosen 
ground  to  receive  his  blood.    There  was  a  statute 
of  the  State  against  duelling  within  her  limits ; 
but,  as  he  merely  went  out  to  receive  a  fire  with- 
out returnmg  it,  he  deemed  that  no  fighting,  and 
consequently  no  breach  of  her  statute.     This 
reason  for  choosing  Virginia  could  only  be  ex 


\ 


- 


74 


THIRTY  YKAliS'  VIKW. 


I  US'' 


plainrd  to  mc,  a.<i  1  alone  was  thcdojiositoryof 
his  sccrcl 

The  week's  dclny  which  the  HccontlH  had  con- 
trived was  about  cxpirinp:.     It  was  Fridnyeven- 
in<>;,  or  ninu  r  nij^ht,  when  T  went  to  see  -Mr.  Clay 
for  the  last  time  before  the  (hiel.     Tlierc  had  \n  ii 
Kome  alienation  between  ns  since  the  time  of  tlio 
presiilential  eUrtion  in  the  Ilonse  of  Kepres'-nta- 
tives,  nnil  I  wislied  to  give  evidence  tliat  there 
was  nothing  in-  sonal  in  it.    The  fiiuiily  were  in 
the   parlor— c(iiipany  present— and  some  of  it 
staid  late.     The  yonngest  child,  l  beHeve  James, 
went  to  sleep  on  the  sofa— a  circnmstanco  which 
availed  nie  for  a  pnijw.si    the  next  day.     Mrs. 
Clay  was,  as  always  since  (he  death  of  her  daugli- 
tors,  the  picture  of  desolation,  but  calm,  conversa- 
ble, and  withont  the  slightest  apparent  conscious- 
ness of  the  impending  event.     "When  all  were 
gone,  and  she  also  had  led  the  parlor,  I  did  what 
I  came  for,  and  .said  to  Jfr.  Clay,  that,  notwith- 
standing onr  late  political  differences,  my  personal 
feelings  towards  him  were  the  same  as  fomerly, 
and  that,  in  whatever  concerned  his  life  or  honor 
my  best  wishes  were  with  him.     He  exjjressed 
his  gratification  at  the  visit  and  the  declaration, 
and  .said  it  was  what  he  would  have  exjiected  of 
me.     We  parted  at  midnight. 

Saturday,  the  8th  of  April— the  day  for  the 
duel— had  come,  and  almost  the  hoi;  •.     It  was 
noon,  and  the  meeting  was  to  take  place  at  4^ 
o'clock,     I  had  gone  to  .see  Mr.  Randolph  before 
the  hour,  and  for  a  purpose ;  and,  besides,  it  wa,-; 
-so  far  on   the  way,  as  he   lived  half  way  (.< 
Georgetown,  and  wc  h.ad  to  pass  through  thai 
place  to  C10.SS  the  Potomac  into  A'irginia  at  the 
Little  Falls  bridge.     I  had  heard  nothing  from 
him  on  the  point  of  not  returning  the  fire  since 
the  first  communication  to  that  eftect,  eight  days 
before.     I  had  no  reason  to  doubt  the  stei'idiness 
of  his  determination,  but  felt  a  desire  to  have 
fresh  a.ssurance  of  it  after  so  many  days'  delay, 
and  so  near  apprc^ch  of  the  trying  moment.     I 
kuew  it  would  not  do  to  ask  him  the  question- 
any  question  which  would  imply  a  doubt  of  his 
word.     His  sensitive  feelings  would  be  hurt  and 
annoyed  at  it.    So  I  ftjil  upon  a  scheme  to  get  at 
the  inquiry  without  seeming  to  make  it.     I  told 
him  of  my  visit  to  Mr.  Chiy  the  night  before— 
of  the  late  sitting— the  child  asleep— the  uncon- 
scious tranquillity  of  Mrs.  Clay ;  and  added,  I 
could  not,  help  r-^flectiiig  how  diirerent  all  that 
might  be  the  next  night.     He  understood  me 


i  I  -1 


perfectly,  and  immd  ,itely  said,  with  a  qujd.j^ 
of  look  and  expresM   ,i  which  seem.  I  (o  n\4t 
an  unworthy  (loul)t,   •  I ithall  itn  imthinn  '^4 
tiirh  the  hIii'p  o/lhe  child  or  tlu'  I'po^r  n'^ 
mother^"  and  went  on  with  his  employ i,,,,,,,^^ 
seconds  being  engaged  in  their  preparations  ij, 
different  room)~wliich  Wtt.s,  making  C(,(li,;i|,  ,j 
his   Will,   nil    in   the   way  of  rniicmhiuiiw.  ,^ 
friends;  tiie  beipiests  slight  in  \alii. ,  hiit  in,,], 
nable  in  tenderness  of  feeling  and  beauly  of,,. 
pression,  and  always  appropriate  to  the  u 
To  Mr.  Macon  ho  gave  some  Knglivh  .sluH,,, 
to  keep  t\w  game  when  he  played   wliisl.  l|[ 
namesake,  John  llandolph  Uryan,  then  nt  so^,^ 
in  Baltimore,  and  since  married  In  his  imvAi 
hi'en  sent  for  to  see  him,  Imt  sent  olf  licr.i,  ■ 
hour  for  going  out,  to  save  the  boy  from  a 
ble  .shock  at  seeing    iniu    brought   back,    if 
wanted  .soiiK.  gold— that  coil,  not  being  ihnn 
circulation,  anrl  only  to  be  obtained  by  Tivor? 
purchase— and  sent   his  faithful   man,  Jolw 
to  the  United  Slates  Branch  Hi.idc  to  get  af,', 
pieces,   American    being    the    kind   jiskr.l  k 
Johnny  returned  without  the  gold,  and  (li'lir.rs 
the  excuse  that  the  bank  h,ad  none.     Iiistuni:; 
-Mr.  Randolph's    clear    silver-toned   voiw  n 
heard  above  its  natural  pitch,  exclaiming,  "Ttie; 
name  is  legion  !  and  they  are  liars  IVom  th,  1. 
ginning.      Johnny,  bring  me   my  horse."  Ii, 
own    saddle-horse   was    brought    him— i;,i  !, 
i  u.'v,T  rode  Johnny's,  nor  Johnny  hi.s,  tliwpi 
j)^:d!,  and  all   his  hundred  horses,  were  of  i.^. 
I  i'nmi  English  blood— and  rode  off  to  th- 1« 
i  il.vwn  Pennsylvania  avenue,  now   Coicdnmi 
jhggs'.s— Johnny    following,   as    always,  font 
paces  behind.     Arrived  at  the  bank,  this  saai 
accoiding  to  my  informant,  took  place: 

"  Mr.  Randolph  asked  for  the  state  of  liis  J^ 
count,  was  shown  it,  and  found  to  be  soinc  fe 
thousand  dollars  in  his  favor.  He  asked  furr. 
The  teller  took  up  packages  of  bills,  ami  civiiii 
asked  in  what  sized  notes  he  would  have  it.  i 
want  money,'  .said  Mr.  Jlandolj)!!,  putlin-  » 
l)hasis  on  the  word ;  and  at  that  time  it  rfi|iiii<!i 
a  bold  man  to  intimate  that  United  States  IW 
notes  were  not  money.  The  teller,  beginniii!!( 
understand  him,  and  willing  to  make  sinv.sati 
mquiringly,  '  You  want  silver  V  'I  want  w 
nioney  ! '  was  the  reply.  Then  the  teller,  JitW;: 
boxes  to  the  counter,  said  politely:  'Ilavi'w; 
a  cart,  Mr.  Randolph,  to  put  it  in?'  'Tliatiic 
my  business,  sir,'  said  he.  Ry  (hat  time  thoai'l 
tentionofthe  cashier  (Mr.  Richard  .Smitlnr;* 

j  attracted  to  what  was  going  on.  who  eaine  iii)..i:.. 

I  understanding  the  question,  and  its  causi',  i :: 


r.  liiindolph  th< 
Iren  to  his  s'  '"vii 
Biil'l  t 'ivo  w  hat 

(in  fact,  ho  had 
liicli  ho  wanted 
>ii:;ht  ahoutaci 
Di  i!  receivi'd,  th( 

|tii  :   but  lll(!  ncc 

t  ikt'u  for  tl 
tuii  and  delii 
fas  I  open  it'  li 
ft)  was  not;  ah 
ill  licfore  I  got  I 
rei|iu'  ■  to  feel  ii 
killed,  tnd  fli 
111  '•  nine — take 
nuiulier  to  ' 
ih  cal^i  In  rt'ea 
re  all  three  at  J 
soon  sat  out,  I 
[a  carriage,  1  foli 
i.tvoaln  idy  s 
[lick  after  givinti 
Mon  whi(  Ii  couI< 
I  Mr.  Randolph, 
ho,  though  agreei 
i  he  hit,  this  rapii 
Id  (juick  arrival  ; 
hited  no  objection 
jreiit.  With  him 
pd  gave  rise  to  so 
eness  in  countii 
Iniinunicatod  to 
Ir.  llandolph,  had 
B(l,  aided  by  an 
touiid,  unsettled  i 
liiiation  which  he 
Pay.    1  now  give 

I  "  When  I  repeati 
he  manner  in  whi( 
pessed  some  appi 

customed  to  the 
JDt  he  able  to  fire 
^a.son  alone  desire 

mentioned  to  C 
|lay.  He  replied 
me  must  be  prolo 
fepret  it.'  I  inforr 
toloiiging  the  tin 
loiild  accpiiesce. 
Viii'd  out." 

I  knew  nothing  ( 
(fjituk  with  the  sc 


ANNO  18'2».    JOHN  QUlUCV  ADAMS,  PRESIDKST, 


75 


wi"»  a  quiiiiad, 
■'""■I  lo  n^ 

l<i»K  <'»nlic'iln 
iiiiclnlirniiii  . 

'vli'",  JmiI  imii, 

il  buaiily  offj. 

to  the  riciitif 

■I'll     Wllist.     II, 

»,  tlion  at  scli,^ 
i>  lii.s  iiic(v.  la 

,t  oil"  Ipi'fdiT  |. 

>y  from  a  j 

jtlt     l)Ucl(.      If 

L  bcin;,'  ilini; 
K^il  hy  ("ivor* 
iimn,  Jdlini). 
>k  to  ^'I't  a  fi, 
iiid  uskcil  f» 
<1,  nmlilcliv 

')1U'.       Ills'tllli!,; 

oimI  voiiv  Bj, 
liii'iiiiiK.  "Tk 
•s  IVom  \h  Ik- 
y  Iiorso,'"  II., 
;  liiin— for  k 
iiy  his,  iIkhiJ 
.'S,  were  ftl'  lii 
fl'  to  (lui  l« 
iv  (/orcdniii  i 
always,  font 
iiik,  this  sttn; 
ilatT : 

itate  of  his  ^ 
>  1r'  Kiiinc  fc 
L'  asked  fun 
lis.  ami  civiiii 
Id  have  it.  i 
ll,  puttill;'  (t 
iiiio  it  ri'ijiiiifi 
d  Sialcs  liaiii 
r,  fK'pinniii;'iii 
ikt'  siiiv.  sati 
'  1  want  nij ' 
e  teller,  liftia;'; 
1^:  '  Have  \f.[ 
\'V  'TliatiiL 
it  time  till' a!- 1- 
\  iSuiith)  «■«! 
)  came  iij),! 


i..indolph  thrrv  wM  n  >iil«tako  in  thcnhiwor 
^cn  to  hifl  HI  rvibit ;  thai  "v  had  gold,  unl  lio 
oaid  '  'vo  w  hat  he  wtnUjcJ.'' 

Iln  fact,  ho  had  only  ar  plied  for  a  few  pioccH, 
jiich  \w  wuiiti'd  for  a  nja'ciul  purpose.  This 
i^'ht  ahout  a  compromise.  'J'he  jtieceH  of  j^old 
■  received,  the  cart  and  the  silver  dispensed 
Itli  ■  Imt  iIk!  account  in  hank  wa.s  clo.sed,  aitd  a 
I  iken  for  the  amount  on  New-Vork.  IIo 
lui ..  and  delivered  niu  a  sealed  iper,  which 
rafi  I"  open  il  lie  wius  killed — j;;  (  hack  I'  iiirn 
Ihe  was  not;  also  an  open  slip,  which  I  was  to 
l,(  t"  fore  I  got  to  the  grouirl.  This  ."^  ip  wa.s 
^eipie  t"  feel  ill  his  left  breeches  pocket,  if  he 
i<illed,  .nd  find  so  many  pieces  of  fold — I 
Bii  nine — taku  Jhrec  for  myself,  and  gue  the 
nuniher  to  Tatnall  and  Ifi  'Mon  each,  to  I 
kki  ■a!'- ti)  vvear  in  remembrance  of  him.  Wo 
TiMi;l  three  at  .Mr.  Uandolph'.s  lo<]<i;ings  then, 
!  soon  sat  out,  Mr.  l{andolpli  and  IiIk  ,-econd.s 
[aearrla^e,  I  following  him  on  hoi-seb.afk. 

have  air  ely  said  thai  the  count  was  to  be 
flick  after  Rivins;  the  v  rd  "fire,"  and  for  a 
Hon  whii  il  coulu  not  '       .Id  to  the  prini  ij)aN 

Mr.  Randolph,  vho  did  not  mean  to  lire,  a, 
ho,  though  agreeing  o  be  shot  at,  had  no  dcsii 
I  he  hit,  this  rm.idity  of  counting  out  the  tiiae 
Id  (|uick  arrival  at  ,ic  command  ".sto))"  prc- 
jlited  no  objection.  With  Mr.  Clay  it  wa-s  dif- 
\mt.  With  him  it  wa.s  all  a  real  tran.saction, 
hd  gave  rise  to  some  projjosal  for  more  deliber- 
leni's.s  in  counting  off  the  time ;  which  being 
Inimunicated  to  Col.  Tatnall,  and  by  him  to 
Ir.  Randolph,  had  an  ill  effect  upon  hi.s  feelings, 
bd,  aided  by  an  untoward  accident  on  the 
round,  unsettled  for  a  moment  the  noble  dctcr- 
lination  which  he  had  formed  not  to  fire  at  Mr. 
Day.    I  now  give  the  word.s  of  Gen.  Jesup : 

["When  I  repeated  to  Mr.  Clay  the  'word'  in 
ke  manner  in  which  it  would  be  given,  he  cx- 
»essed  some  apprehension  that,  a.s  he  wa.s  not 
J!customed  to  the  use  of  the  pi.stol,  he  might 
bt  be  able  to  fire  within  th(>  time,  and  for  that 
lason  alone  desired  tliat  it  might  be  prolonged. 
{  mentioned  to  Col.  Tatnall  the  desire  of  Mr. 
|lay.  lie  rejilied,  'If  you  insi.st  upon  it,  tlie 
ne  must  be  prolonged,  but  I  should  very  much 
fepret  It.'  I  informed  him  I  did  not  insist  upon 
irolongmg  the  time,  and  I  was  sure  Mr.  Clay 
rouid  ac(iuiesce.  The  original  agreement  was 
VrieU  out." 


Tos.vd  the  '  ittle  Falls  bridge  juKl  after  them, 
and  ctntvi  to  the  place  whore  the  Hcrvants  and 
cnrria;;.  H  ha<l  stopped.     I  saw  none  of  the  gen- 
tlemen, and  su[)po.s(d  they  had  all  gone  t*.  tfio 
spot  where  the  ground  was  being  marked 
b  !'    a  HiKjal  ng  to  Johnny,  Mr.  Randolj,,    « 
wa     still  in       -  carriage  and  heard  my 
loolved  out  fron,  the  window,  and  said  t     i 
"  i  ilonel,  since  I  .saw  you,  and  since  I  have  bc%n 
in  this  carriage,  I  have  h  ard  something  which 
may  make  me  change  my  detcrmiiri'ion.     Col. 
Jlamil'  n  will  give  you  a  note  whidi  will  explain 
it."     '    d.  Hamilton  was  then  in  the   carriage, 
and  gave  me  the  note,  in  tiic  course  of  the  even- 
ing, of  which  Afr.  Randolph  si-  ',e,     I  KaiJily 


cter- 


■  ud 

I  not. 

en  us  J 

d;  the 


!  I  knew  nothing  of  this  until  it  was  too  late  to 
^uk  with  the  seconds  or  principals.    I  had 


comprehended  that  this  possible  change 
mination  related  to  his  firing  ;  but  t' 
with   which   he   jironouncud   tie    v 
clearly  sliowed  that  his  mind  wa-.  n 
left   it  doubtful   wliether  he  wool 
No  further  conversation  took  plact 
the  preparations  for  the  duel  were 
parties  went  to  their  jilaces;  and  I  went  forward 
to  a  piece  of  rising  ground,  from  which  I  could 
•e  what  passed  and  hear  what  was  said.     Tlie 
.  illiful  Johnny  followed  me  close,  .sixaking  not 
a  word,  but  evincing  the  deepest  anxiety  for  his 
beloved  master.     The  place  was  a  thick   forest, 
and  the   immediate   spot  a  little  depres.sion,  or 
basil,  in  which  the  parties  stood.    Tiie  principals 
saluted  each  otlier  courteou.sly  as  they  took  their 
stands.     Col.  Tatnall  had  won  the  choice  of  po- 
sition, which  gave  to  Gen.  Jesup  the  delivery  of 
the  word.     They  stood  on  a  line  east  and  west— 
a  small   stump  just   behind   :Mr.  Clay ;  a  low 
gravelly  bank  ro.se  just  behind  Mr.  Randolph. 
This  latter  asked  Gen.  Jesup  to  repeat  the  word 
as  he  would  give  it ;  and  while  in  the  act  of  doing 
so,  and  Mr.  Randolph  adjusting  the  butt  of  his 
pistol  to  his  hand,  the  muzyle  pointing  down- 
wards, and  almost  to  the  piound,  it  fired.    In- 
stantly Mr.  Randolph  tnv    ,d  to  Col.  'iatnaU  and 
said:  "I  protested   agauist  that  hair  trigger." 
Col.  Tatnall  took  blame  to  himself  for  having 
sprung  the  hair.     Mr.  Clay  had  not  then  receiv- 
ed his  pistol.     Senator  Johnson,  of  Louisiana 
(  Josiah),  one  of  his  seconds,  was  carrying  it  to  him, 
and  still  several  steps  from  him.     This  untimely 
fire,  though  clearly  an  accident,  necessarily  gave 
rise  to  some  remarks,  and  a  siieeics  of  iiiquirj', 
which  was  conducted  with  the  utmost  delicacy, 
I  ut  which,  in  itself,  was  of  a  nature  to  be  inexpres- 


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33  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

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76 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


i  «' 


sibly  painful  to  a  gentleman's  feeUngs.  Mr.  Clay 
stopped  it  with  the  generous  remark  that  the  fire 
was  clearly  an  accident:  and  it  was  so  unani- 
mously declared.    Another  ?istol  was  immedi- 
ately furm'shedj  and  exchange  of  shots  took 
place,  and,  happily,  without  effect  upon  the  per- 
sons.   Mr.  Randolph's  bullet  struck  the  stump 
behind  Mr.  Clay,  and  Mr.  Clay's  knocked  up  the 
earth  and  gravel  behind  Mr.  Randolph,  and  in  a 
Ime  with  the  level  of  his  hips,  both  bullets  hav- 
mg  gone  so.  true  and  close  that  it  was  a  marvel 
how  they  missed.     The  moment  had  come  for 
me  to  interpose.    I  went  in  among  the  parties 
and  offered  my  mediation  j  but  nothmg  could  be 
done.     Mr.  Clay  said,  with  that  wave  of  the 
hand  with  which  he  was  accustomed  to  put  away 
a  trifle,  «  ThU  is  child's  play!''  and  required 
another   fire.      Mr.  Randolph    also  demanded 
another  fire.    The  seconds  were  directed  to  re- 
load.   While  this  was  doing  I  prevaUed  on  Mr. 
Randolph  to  walk  away  from  his  post,  and  re- 
newed to  him,  more  pressingly  than  ever,  my 
importunities  to  yield  to  some  accommodation; 
but  I  found  him  more  determined  than  I  had 
ever  seen  him,  and  for  the  first  time  impatient, 
and  seemingly  annoyed  and  dissatisfied  at  what 
I  was  doing.    He  was  indeed  annoyed  and  dis- 
satisfied.   The  accidental  fire  of  his  pistol  preyed 
upon  his  feolings.     He  was  doubly  chagrined  at 
it,  both  as  a  circumstance  susceptible  in  itself  of 
an  unfair  interpretation,  and  as  having  been  the 
immediate  and  controlling  cause  of  his  firing  at 
Mr.  Clay.    He  regretted  this  fire  the  instant  it 
was  over.    He  felt  that  it  had  subjected  him  to' 
imputations  from  which  he  knew  himself  to  be 
free— a  desire  to  kill  Mr.  Clay,  and  a  contempt 
for  the  laws  of  his  beloved  State;  and  the  an- 
noyances which  he  felt  at  these  vexatious  cir- 
cumstances revived  his  original  determination, 
and  decided  him  irrevocably  to  carry  it  out. 

It  was  in  this  interval  that  he  told  me  what 
he  had  heard  since  we  parted,  and  to  which  he 
alluded  when  he  spoke  to  me  from  the  window 
of  the  carriage.  It  was  to  this  effect :  That  he 
had  been  informed  by  Col.  Tatnall  that  it  wa^ 
proposed  to  give  out  the  words  with  more  delib- 
erateness,  so  as  to  prolong  the  time  for  taking 
aim.  This  information  grated  harshly  upon  his 
feelings.  It  unsettled  his  purpose,  and  brought 
his  mind  to  the  inquiry  (as  he  now  told  me,  and 
.IS  I  found  it  exprc-HScd  in  the  note  which  he  had 
immediately  written  in  pencU  to  apprise  me  o' 


his  possible  change),  whether,  under  these  cir 
cumstances,  he  might  not  '' disable"  his  adver- 
sary  ?  This  note  is  so  characteristic,  and  such 
an  essential  part  of  this  affair,  that  I  here  give 
Its  very  words,  so  far  as  relates  to  this  pomt.  It 
ran  thus : 

T  "I"/«™a*'on  received  from  Col.  Tatnall  since 
1  got  into  the  carnage  may  induce  me  to  chaix^e 
my  mind,  of  not  returning  Mr.  Clay's  fire  't 
seek  not  his  death.  I  would  not  have  his  blood 
upon  my  hands-it  will  not  be  upon  my  soul  if 
shed  in  self-defence-for  the  worid.  He  has  de- 
termmed,  by  the  use  of  a  long,  preparatory  cau- 
tion  by  words  to  get  time  to  kill  me.  May  I  not. 
then,  disable  him?   Yes,  if  I  please."        ^     ^ 

It  has  been  seen,  by  the  statement  of  Gen. 
Jesup,  already  given,  that  this  ''information'' 
was  a  misapprehension;  that  Mr.  Clay  had  not 
applied  for  a  prolongation  of  time  for  the  purpose 
of  getting  sure  aim,  but  only  to  enable  his  unused 
hand,  long  unfamiliar  with  the  pistol,  to  fire 
within  the  limited  time ;  that  there  was  nn  pro- 
longation, in  fact,  either  granted  or  insisted  upon; 
but  he  was  in  doubt,  and  General  Jesup  having 
won  the  word,  he  was  having  him  repeat  it  in 
the  way  he  was  to  give  it  out,  when  his  finger 
touched  the  hair-trigger.    How  unfortunate  that 
I  did  not  know  of  this  in  time  to  speak  to  Gen- 
eral Jesup,  when  one  word  from  him  would  have 
set  all  right,  and  saved  the  imminent  risks  incur- 
red !  This  inquiry,  "May  I  not  disable  him  ?  "  was 
still  on  Mr.  Randolph's  mind,  and  dependent  for 
its  solution  on  the  rising  incidents  of  the  moment, 
when  the  accidental  fire  of  his  pistol  gave  the 
turn  to  his  feelings  which  solved  the  doubt.  But 
he  declared  to  me  that  he  had  not  aimed  at  the 
life  of  Mr.  Clay ;  that  he  did  not  level  as  high  as 
the  knees— not  higher  than  the  knee-band;  "for 
it  was  no  mercy  to  shoot  a  man  in  the  knee;" 
that  his  only  object  was  to  disable  him  and  spoil 
his  aim.    And  then  added,  with  a  beauty  of  ex- 
pression and  a  depth  of  feeling  which  no  studied 
oratory  can  ever  attain,  and  which  I  shall  never 
forget,  these  impressive  words :  "  I  would  not 
have  seen  him  fall  mortally,  or  even  doubtfully 
wounded,  for  all  the  land  that  is  watered  by 
the  King  of  Floods  and  all  his  tributary 
streams."   He  left  me  to  resume  his  post,  utterly 
refusing  to  explain  out  of  the  Senate  any  thing 
that  he  had  said  in  it,  and  with  the  positive  dec- 
laration that  he  would  not  return  the  next  fire. 
I  withdrew  a  little  way  into  the  woods,  and  kept 
my  eyes  fixed  on  Mr.  Randolph,  who  I  then  knew 


ANNO  1826.    JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  PRESmENT. 


77 


to  be  the  only  one  in  danger.    I  saw  him  receive 
the  fire  of  Mr.  Clay,  saw  the  gravel  knocked  up 
in  the  same  place,  saw  Mr.  Randolph  raise  his 
pistol— discharge  it  in  the  air ;  heard  him  say,  '  / 
do  notjire  at  you,  Mr.  Clay-'  and  immediately 
advancing  and  offering  his  hand.     He  was  met  in 
the  same  spirit.   They  met  half  way,  shook  hands, 
Mr.  Randolph  saying,  jocosely,  '  You  owe  me  a 
coat,  Mr.  Clay— (the  bullet  had  passed  through 
the  skirt  of  the  coat,  very  near  the  hip)— to 
which  Mr.  Clay  promptly  and  happily  replied, 
'larn  glad  the  debt  is  no  greater.^  I  had  come 
up,  and  was  prompt  to  proclaim  what  I  had  been 
obliged  to  keep  secret  for  eight  days.    The  joy 
of  all  was  extreme  at  this  happy  termination  of  a 
most  critical  affair ;  and  we  immediately  left,  with 
lighter  hearts  than  we  brought.    I  stopped  to 
sup  with  Mr.  Randolph  and  his  friends— none  of 
us  wanted  dinner  that  day— and  had  a  charac- 
teristic time  of  it.    A  runner  came  in  from  the 
bank  to  say  that  they  had  overpaid  him,  by  mis- 
take, 0130  that  day.    He  answered,  'I  believe  it 
is  your  rule  not  to  correct  mistakes,  except  at 
the  time,  and  at  your  counter.''    And  with  that  I 
answer  the  runner  had  to  return.     When  gone 
Mr.  Randolph  said,  ' I  will  pay  it  on  Monday) 
people  must  be  honest,  if  banks  are  not.'    He 
asked  for  the  sealed  paper  he  had  given  me, 
opened  it,  took  out  a  check  for  ^1,000,  drawn  in 
my  favor,  and  with  which  I  was  requested  to 
have  him  carried,  if  killed,  to  Virginia,  and  buried 
under  his  patrimonial  oaks— not  let  him  be  buried 
at  Washington,  with  an  hundred  hacks  after 
him.     He  took  the  gold  from  his  left  breeches 
pocket,  and  said  to  us  (Hamilton,  Tatnall,  and 
f),  '  Gentlemen,  Clay's  bad  shooting  shan't  i-ob 
you  of  your  seals.    I  am  going  to  London,  and 
will  have  them  made  for  you  ;'  which  he  did.  and 
most  characteristically,  so  far  as  mine  was  con- 
cerned.  He  went  to  the  herald's  office  in  London 
and  inquired  for  the  Benton  family,  of  which  I 
had  often  told  him  there  was  none,  as  we  only 
dated  on  that  sido  from  my  grandfather  in  North 
Carolina.    But  the  name  was  found,  and  with  it 
a  coat  of  arms-among  the  quarterings  a  lion 
rampant.    Thai  is  the  family,  said  he;  and  had 
the  arms  engraved  on  the  seal,  the  same  which  I 
have  since  habitually  worn ;  and  added  the  motto. 
I'actis  non  verbis:  of  which  he  was  afterwards 
accustomed  to  say  the  7ion  should  be  changed 
""to  et.    But,  enough.    I  run  into  these  details, 
not  merely  to  relate  an  event,  but  to  show  cha- 


racter; and  if  I  have  not  done  it,  it  is  not  for 
want  of  material,  but  of  ability  to  use  it. 

On  Monday  the  parties  exchanged  cards,  and 
social  relations  were  formally  and  courteously  re- 
stored. It  was  about  the  last  high-toned  due) 
that  I  have  witnessed,  and  among  the  highest- 
toned  ihat  I  have  ever  witnessed,  and  so  happily 
conducted  to  a  fortunate  issue— a  result  due  to 
the  noble  character  of  the  seconds  as  well  as  to 
the  generous  and  heroic  spirit  of  the  principals. 
Certainly  duelling  is  bad,  and  has  been  put  down, 
but  not  quite  so  bad  as  its  substitute— revolvers, 
bowie-knives,  blackguarding,  and  street-assassi- 
nations under  the  pretext  of  self-defence. 


CHAPTEB   XXVII, 

DEATH  OF  MB.  GAILLAED. 


He  was  a  senator  from   South   Carolina,  and 
had  been  continuously,  from  the  year  1804.    He 
was  five  times  elected  to  the  Senate— the  first 
time  for  an  unexpired  term— and  died  in  the 
course  of  a  term ;  so  that  the  years  for  which 
he  had  been  elected  were  nearly  thirty.    He  was 
nine  times  elected  president  of  the  Senate  pro 
tempore,  and  presided  fourteen  years  over  the  de- 
liberations of  that  body,— the  deaths  of  two  Vice- 
Presidents  during  his  time  (Messrs.  Clinton  and 
Gerry),  and  the  much  absence  of  another  (Gov. 
Tompkins),  making  long  continued  vacancies  in 
the  President's  chair,— which  he  was  called  to  fill. 
So  many  elections,  and  such  long  continued  ser- 
vi-e,  terminated  at  last  only  by  death,  bespeaks 
an  eminent  fitness  both  for  the  place  of  Senator, 
and  that  of  presiding  officer  over  the  Senate.    In 
the  language  of  Mr.  Macon,  he  seemed  born  for 
that  station.    Urbane  in  his  manners,  amiable  in 
temper,  scrupulously  impartial,  attentive  to  his 
duties,  exemplary  patience,  perfect  knowledge  of 
the  rules,  quick  and  clear  discernment,  uniting 
absolute  firmness  of  purpose,  with  the  greatest 
gentleness  of  manners,  setting  young  Senators 
right  with  a  delicacy  and  amenity,  which  spared 
the  confusion  of  a  mistake— preserving  order,  not 
by  authority  of  rules,  but  by  the  graces  of  de- 
portment:   such  were  the  qualifications  which 
commended  him  to  the  presidency  of  the  Senate, 


78 


THIRTY  TEARS'  VIEW. 


and  which  facilitated  the  transaction  of  business 
while  preserving  the  decorum  of  the  body.  There 
was  probably  not  an  instance  of  disorder,  or  a 
disagreeable  scene  in  the  chamber,  during  his 
long  continued  presidency.  He  classed  demo- 
cratically in  politics,  but  was  as  much  the  favoritc- 
of  one  side  of  the  house  as  of  the  other,  and  that 
in  the  high  party  times  of  the  war  with  Great 
Britain,  which  so  much  exasperated  party  spirit. 
Mr.  Gaillard  was,  as  his  name  would  indicate, 
of  French  descent,  having  issued  from  one  of 
those  Huguenot  families,  of  which  the  bigotry  of 
Louis  XIV.,  dominated  by  an  old  woman,  depriv- 
ed France,  for  the  benefit  of  other  countries. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

AMENDMENT  OP  THE  CONSTITUTION  IN  GELA- 
TION TO  THE  ELECTION  OF  PEESIDENT  AifD 
VICE-PBESIDENT. 

The  attempt  was  renewed  at  the  session  of 
1825-'26  to  procure  an  amendment  to  the  con- 
stitution, in  relation  to  the  election  of  the  two 
first  magistrates  of  the  republic,  so  as  to  do  away 
with  all  intermediate  agencies,  and  give  the  elec- 
tion to  the  direct  vote  of  the  people.  Several 
specific  propositions  were  ofiered  in  the  Senate 
to  that  effect,  and  all  substituted  by  a  general 
proposition  submitted  by  Mr.  Macon—"  tiiat  a 
select  committee  be  appointed  to  report  upon  the 
best  and  most  practicable  mode  of  electing  the 
President  and  Vice-President :"  and,  on  the  mo- 
tion of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  the  number  of  the  com- 
mittee was  raised  to  nine— instead  of  five — the 
usual  number.  The  members  of  it  were  ap- 
pointed by  Mr.  Calhoun,  the  Vice-President,  and 
were  carefully  selected,  both  geographically  as 
coming  from  different  sections  of  the  Union,  and 
personally  and  politically  as  being  friendly  to 
the  object  and  known  to  the  country.  They 
were :  Mr.  Benton,  chairman,  Mr.  Macon,  Mr. 
Van  Buren,  Mr.  Hugh  L.  White  of  Tennessee, 
Mr.  Findlay  of  Pennsylvania,  Mr.  Dickerson  of 
New  Jersey,  Mr.  Holmes  of  JIainc,  Mr.  Hayne 
of  South  Carolina,  and  Col.  Richard  M.  Johnson 
of  Kentucky.  The  committee  agreed  upon  a 
proposition  of  amendment,  dispensing  with  elec- 
tors, providing  for  districts  in  which  the  direct 


vote  of  the  people  was  to  be  taken ;  and  obvia- 
ting all  excuse  for  caucuses  and  conventions  to 
concentrate  public  opinion  by  proposing  a  second 
election  between  the  two  highest  in  the  event  of 
no  one  receiving  a  majority  of  the  whole  number 
of  district  votes  in  the  first  election.  The  plan 
reported  was  in  these  words : 

"  That,  hereafter  the  President  and  Vice-Pres 
ident  of  the  United  States  shall  be  chosen  by  the 
People  of  the  respective  States,  in  the  manner 
following :  Each  State  shall  be  divided  by  the 
legislature  thereof,  into  districts,  equal  in  num- 
ber to  the  whole  number  of  senators  and  repre- 
sentatives, to  which  such  State  may  be  entitled 
in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States ;  the  said 
districts  to  be  composed  of  contiguous  territory 
and  to  contain,  as  nearly  as  may  be,  an  equal 
number  of  personSj  entitled  to  be  represented, 
under  the  constitution,  and  to  be  laid  off,  for  the 
first  time,  immediately  after  the  ratification  of 
this  amendment,  and  afterwards  at  the  session 
of  the  legislature  next  ensuing  the  appointment 
of  representatives,  by  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States ;  or  oftener,  if  deemed  necessary  by  the 
State ;  but  no  alteration,  after  the  first,  or  after 
each  decennial  formation  of  districts,  shall  take 
effect,  at  the  next  ensuing  election,  after  such 
alteration  is  made.    That,  on  the  first  Thursday, 
and  succeeding  Friday,  in  the  month  of  August, 
of  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
twenty-eight,  and  on  the  same  days  in  every 
fourth  year  thereafter,  the  citizens  of  each  State, 
who  possess  the  qualifications  requisite  for  elec- 
tors of  the  most  numerous  branch  of  the  State 
Legislature,  shall  meet  within  their  respective 
districts,  and  vote  for  a  President  and  Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States,  one  of  whom,  at 
least,  shall  not  be  an  inhabitant  of  the  same 
State  with  himself:  and  the  person  r;-ceivingthe 
greatest  number  of  votes  for  President,  and  the 
one  receiving  the  greatest  number  of  votes  for 
Vice-President  in  each  district  shall  be  holdenlo 
have  received  one  vote :  which  fact  shall  be  im- 
mediately certified  to  the  Govemor  of  the  State. 
to  each  of  the  senators  in  Congress  from  such 
State,  and  to  the  President  of  the  Senate.    The 
right  of  afiixing  the  places  in  the  districts  at 
which  the  elections  shall  be  held,  the  manner  of 
holding  the  same,  and  of  canvassing  the  votes, 
and  certifying  the  returns,  is  reserved,  exclu- 
sively, to  the  legislatures  of  the  States.     Tlie 
Congress  of  the  United  States  shall  be  in  session 
on  the  second  Monday  of  October,  in  the  j-earone 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  twenty- eight,  and  on 
the  same  day  in  every  fourth  year  thereafter :  and 
the  President  of  the  Senate,  in  the  presence  of 
the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  shall 
open  all  the  certificates,  and  the  votes  shall  then 
be  counted.      The  person  having  the  greatest 
number  of  votes  for  President,  shall  be  Presi- 
dent, if  such  number  he  eqtia!  to  a  majority  of 
the  whole  number  of  votes  given ;  but  if  no  per- 


son have  sn( 

shall  be  lieli 

ceeding  Frids 

next  ensuinjj 

two  highest  r 

which  secon( 

result  certifii 

same  manner 

ing  the  great( 

shall  be  the  F 

■sons  shall  hai 

number  of  v 

House  of  Rc] 

them  for  Pros 

constitution. 

number  of  vo 

election,  shall 

number  be  e 

number  of  vo 

such  majority, 

place,  between 

numbers,  on  t 

tion  is  held  foi 

the  highest  ni: 

shall  be  the  V 

persons  shall  1 

of  votes  in  the 

shall  choose  or 

now  provided  i 

second  electioi 

of  Vice-Pre.sid( 

of  President,  tl 

President,  froi 

highest  numbe: 

prescribed  in  tl 

The  promine 

are:  1.  The  al 

vote  of  the  peoj 

the  two  highest 

majority  of  th 

mode  of  electio 

would  be  to  g 

which  the  select 

is  now  taken  oi 

usurped  by  self 

sible  bodies, — a 

er,  and  disinten 

themselves.    If 

text  for  caucuse 

the  House  of  Re 

State  is  balance 

received  a  majo: 

tricts  iii  the  fi 

principle -the  i 

govern— is  satis 

majority,  then 

popular  nominal 

nation  by  the  pc 


ANNO  1825.     JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  PRESIDENT. 


79 


son  have  such  majority-,  then  a  second  election 
shall  be  held,  on  the  first  Thursday  and  suc- 
ceeding Friday,  in  the  month  of  December,  then 
next  ensuing,  between  the  persons  having  the 
two  highest  numbers,  for  the  office  of  President : 
which  second  election  shall  be  conducted,  the 
result  certified,  and  the  votes  counted,  in  the 
same  manner  as  in  the  first;  and  the  person  hav- 
ing the  greatest  number  of  votes  for  President, 
shall  be  the  President.    But,  if  two  or  more  per- 
sons shall  have  received  the  greatest  and  equal 
number  of  votes,  at  the  second    election,  the 
House  of  Representatives  shall  choose  one  of 
them  for  President,  as  is  now  prescribed  by  the 
constitution.     The  person  having  the  greatest 
number  of  votes  for  Vice-President,  at  the  first 
election,  shall  be  the  Vice-President,  if  such 
number  be  equal  to  a  majority  of  the  whole 
number  of  votes  given,  and,  if  no  person  have 
such  majority,  then  a  second  election  shall  take 
place,  between  the  persons  having  the  two  highest 
numbers,  on  the  same  day  that  the  second  el>jc- 
tion  is  held  for  President,  and  the  person  having 
the  highest  number  of  votes  for  Vice-President 
shall  be  the  Vice-President.     But  if  two  or  more 
persons  shall  have  received  the  greatest  number 


of  votes  m  the  second  election  then  the  Senate 
shall  choose  one  of  them  for  Vice-President  as  is 
now  provided  in  the  constitution.  But,  when  a 
second  election  shall  be  necessary,  in  the  case 
of  Vice-President,  and  not  necessary  in  the  case 
of  President,  then  the  Senate  shall  choose  a  Vice- 
President,  from  the  persons  having  the  two 
highest  numbers  in  the  first  election,  as  is  now 
prescribed  in  the  constitution." 

The  prominent  features  of  this  plan  of  election 
are :  1.  The  abolition  of  electors,  and  the  direct 
vote  of  the  people;  2.  A  second  election  between 
the  two  highest  on  each  Ikt,  when  no  one  has  a 
majority  of  the  whole;   3.  Uniformity  in   the 
mode  of  election.— The  advantages  of  this  plan 
would  be  to  get  rid  of  all   the  max;hinery  by 
which  the  selection  of  their  two  first  magistrates 
is  now  taken  out  of  the  hands  of  the  people,  and 
usurped  by  self-constituted,  illegal,  and  irrespon- 
sible hoaies,— and  place  it  in  the  only  safe,  prop- 
er, and  disinterested  hands— those  of  the  people 
themselves.    If  adopted,  there  would  be  no  pre- 
text for  caucuses  or  conventions,  and  no  resort  to 
the  House  of  Representatives,— where  the  largest 
State  is  balanced  by  the  smallest.    If  any  one 
received  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  dis- 
tricts m  the  first  election,  then  the  democratic 
prmciple-the  demos    krateo— the  majority  to 
govern-is  satisfied.    If  no  one  receives  such 
majority,  then  the  first  election  stands  for  a 
popular  nomination  of  the  two  highest-a  nomi- 
nation by  the  people  themselves-out  of  which 


two  the  election  is  sure  to  be  made  on  the  sec- 
ond trial.  But  to  provide  for  a  possible  contin- 
gency— too  improbable  almost  ever  to  occur 

and  to  save  in  that  case  the  trouble  of  a  third 
popular  election,  a  resort  to  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives is  allowed;  it  being  nationally  un- 
important which  is  elected  where  the  candidates 
were  exactly  equal  in  the  public  estimation.— 
Such  was  the  plan  the  committee  reported ;  and 
it  is  the  perfect  plan  of  a  popular  election,  and 
has  the  advantage  of  being  applicable  to  all  elec- 
tions, federal  and  State,  from  the  highest  to  the 
lowest.    The  machinery  of  its  operation  is  easy 
and  simple,  and  it  is  recommended  by  every  con- 
sideration of  public  good,  which  requires  the  aban- 
donment of  a  defective  system,  which  has  failed— 
the  overthrow  of  usurping  bodies,  which  have 
seized  upon  the  elections— and  the  preservation  to 
the  people  of  the  business  of  selecting,  as  well  aa 
electing,  their  own  high  officers.    The  plan  was 
unanimously  recommended  by  the  whole  com- 
mittee, composed  as  it  was  of  experienced  men 
taken  from  every  section  of  the  Union.    But  it 
did  not  receive  the  requisite  support  of  two- 
thirds  of  the  Senate   to  carry  it  through  that 
body;  and  a  sim'  vr  plan  proposed  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  received  the  same  fate  there 
—reported  by  a  committee,  and  unsustained  by 
two-thirds  of  the  House :  and  such,  there  is  too 
much  reason  to  apprehend,  may  be  the  fate  of 
future  similar  pre positio.is,  orirrinating  in  Con- 
gress, without  the  powerful  l.^ion  ot  the  peo- 
ple to  urge  them  through,     ^e.ecl  :. ,  iies  aro  not 
the  places  for  popular  reforms.    These  reforms 
are  for  the  benefit  of  the  people,  and  should  be- 
gin with  the  people;  and  the  constitution  itself 
sensible  of  that  necessity  in  this  very  case,  has 
very  wisely  made  provision  for  the  popular  initi- 
ative of  constitutional  amendments.     The  fifth 
article  of  that  instrument  gives  the  power  of  be- 
ginning the  reform  of  itself  to  the  States,  in  their 
legislatures,  as  well  as  to  the  federal  government 
in  its  Congress:    and   there   is    the    place  to 
begin,   and    before    the    people   themselves    in 
their  elections  to  the  general  assembly.    And 
there  should  be  no  despair  on  account  of  the  fail- 
ures already  suffered.    Xo  great  reform  is  carried 
suddenly.     It  requires  years  of  persevering  exer- 
tion to  produce  the  unanimity  of  opinion  which 
is  necessary  to  a  great  popular  reformation:  but 
because  it  is  difficult,  it  is  not  impossible.     The 
greatest  reform  ever  effected  by  peaceful  means 


80 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


in  the  history  of  any  government  was  that  of  the 
pariiamentary  reform  of  Great  Britain,  by  which 
the  rotten  boroughs  were  disfranchised,  populous 
towns  admitted  to  representation,  the  elective 
franchise  extended,  the  House  of  Commons  puri- 
fied, and  made  the  predominant  branch— the 
master  branch  of  the  British  government.    And 
how  was  that  great  reform  effected  ?    By  a  few 
desultory  exertions  in  the  parliament  itself  ?    No. 
but  by  forty  years  of  continued  exertion,  and  by 
incessant  appeals  to  the  people  themselves.    The 
society  for  parliamentary  reform,   founded    in 
1792,  by  Earl  Grey  and  Major  Cartwright,  suc- 
ceeded in  its  efforts  in  1832;  and  in  their  success 
there  is  matter  for  encouragement,  as  in  their 
conduct  there  is  an  example  for  imitation.    Th^y 
carried  the  question  to  the  people,  and  kept  it  there 
forty  years,  and  saw  it  triumph— the  two  patriotic 
founders  of  the  society  living  to  see  the  consum- 
mation of  their  labors,  and  the  country  in  the 
enjoyment  of  the  inestimable  advantage  of  a 
"  Reformed  Parliament." 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 

SEDUCTION  OF  EXECUTIVE  PATRONAOE. 

In  the  session  lS25-'26,  Mr.  Macon  moved  that 
the  select  committee,  to  which  had  been  com- 
mitted the  consideration  of  the  propositions  for 
amending  the  constitution  in  relation  to  the  elec- 
tion of  President  and  Vice-President,  should  also 
be  charged  with  an  inquiry  into  the  expediency 
of  reducing  Executive  patronage,  in  cases  in 
which  it  could  be  done  by  law  consistently  wi^h 
the  constitution,  and  without  impairing  the  effi- 
ciency of  the  government.   The  motion  was  adopt- 
ed, and  the  committee   (Messrs.  Benton,  Macon, 
Van  Buren,  White  of  Tennessee,  Findlay  of  Penn- 
sylvania, Dickerson,  Holmes,  Hayne,  and  John- 
son of  Kentucky)   made  a  report,  accompanied 
by  six  bills ;  which  report  and  bills,  though  not 
acted  upon  at  the  time,  may  still  have  their  use 
in  showing  the  democratic  principles,  on  practical 
points  of  that  day  (when  .some  of  the  fathers  of 
the  democratic  church  were  still  among  us)  ;— 
and  in  recalling  the  administration  of  the  govern 


»».,  to  .h»  stoplici.,  and  ecnon,,  „f  Us  »1,  i  JTuS  .h." ^Jsrb'iVJfrjSllg'SilLr; 


days.  The  six  bills  reported  were.  1.  Tc  re 
gulate  the  publication  of  the  laws  of  the  United 
States,  and  of  the  public  advertisements.  2  To 
secure  in  office  the  faithful  collectors  anddisburs- 
ers  of  the  revenue,  and  to  displace  defaulters.  3 
To  regulate  the  appointment  of  postmasters!  4 
To  regulate  the  appointment  of  cadets.  5.  To 
regulate  the  appointment  of  midshipmen.  C.  To 
prevent  military  and  naval  officers  from  bein" 
dismissed  the  service  at  the  pleasure  of  the  Pre" 
sident.-In  favor  of  the  general  principle,  and 
objects  of  all  the  bUls,  the  report  accompanying 
them,  said : 

"Incoming  to  the  conclusion  that  Executive 
patronage  ought  to  be  diminished  and  regulated 
on  the  plan  proposed,  the  committee  rest  tiieir 
opmion  on  the  ground  that  the  exercise  of  grea 
patronage  m  the  hands  of  one  man,  has  a  constant 
tendency  to  sully  the  purity  of  our  institutions 
and  to  endanger  the  liberties  of  the  country    Thi^ 
doctrme^s  not  new.    A  jealousy  of  power,  and 
of  the  in'^uence  of  patronage,  which  must  always 
accompany  Its  exercise,  has  ever  been  a  distin- 
guished  feature  m  the  American  character    It 
displayed  itself  strongly  at  the  period  of  the  for- 
mation, and  of  the  adoption,  of  the  federal  con- 
stitution.   At  that  time  the  feebleness  of  the  old 
confederation  had  excited  a  much  greater  dread 
of  anarchy  than  of  power-' of  anarchy  amon 
the  members  than  of  power  in  the  head  '-and 
although  the  impression  was  nearly  universal 
that  a  government  of  more  energetic  character 
had  become  indispensably  necessary,  yet,  even 
under  the  influence  of  this  conviction-lsuch  was 
the  dread  of  power  and  patronage-that  the 
Mates,  with  extreme  reluctance,  yielded  their 
assent    o  the  establishment  of  the  federal  gov- 
ernment.   Nor  was  this  the  effect  of  idle  and 
visionary  fears  on  the  part  of  an  ignorant  multi- 
tude,  without  knowledge  of  the  nature  and  ten- 
dency of  power.    On  the  contrary,  it  resulted 
from  the  most  extensive  and  i^ofound  political 
knowledge,-from  the  heads  of  statesmen  unsur- 
passed, m  any  age,  in  sagacity  and  patriotism, 
Nothing  could  reconcile  the  great  men  of  that 
day  to  a  constitution  of  so  much  power,  but  the 
guards  whidi  were  put  upon  it  against  the  abuse 
n  r„T';   irM'"*^  and  jealousy  of  this  abuse  di.s- 
pla^ed  Itself  throughout  the  instrument.   To  this 
spirit  we  are  indebted  for  the  freedom  of  the 
press  trial  by  jury  liberty  of  conscience,  freedom 
of  debate    resfwusibility  to  constituents,  power 
of  impeachment,  the  control  of  the  Senate  over 
appointments  to  office;  and  many  other  provi- 
sions of  a  like  character.    But  the  committee  can- 
not  imagine  that  the  jealous  foresight  of  the  time, 
great  as  it  was,  or  that  any  human  sagacity 
could  have  foreseen,  and  placed  a  competent  guard 
upon,  every   possible  avenue   to  the  abuse  of 
puwi-r.     ine  nature  of  a  constitutional  act  ex- 


ftn  nf  Ti  ^'"m*'  excellence.  After  the  exer- 
tion of  all  possible  vigilance,  something  of  what 
ought  to  have  been  done,  has  been  omitted;  am 
much  of  what  has  been  attempted,  has  been  fouSd 
insufficient  and  unavailing  in  practice.  Much  re- 
mams  for  us  to  do,  and  murn  will  still  remS  for 
posteray  to  do-for  those  unborn  generations  to 
do,  on  whom  will  devolve  the  sSred  task  S 
guarding  ho  emplo  of  the  constitution,  and  of 
keeping  alive  the  vestal  flame  of  liberty  ' 

1  he  committee  believe  that  they  vv-ill  be  act- 

o'm"ul  iil/ff  ''  '""^  constitution^  in  laboring 
to  multiply  the  guards,  and  to  streuffthen  tl.o 
barriers,  against  the  possible  abuse  of  powe?    If 

lu^s  shoS'  '°"'*;  be  imagined  in  ^hTch  the 
U^^s  should  execute  themselves-in  which  the 
power  of  government  should  consist  in  The  enact 
ment  of  laws-in  such  a  state  the  machine  of 
government  would  carry  on  its  operaSns  w  th 
out  jar  or  friction.     Parties  would^  be  unknown 
and  the  movements  of  the  political  machbe  would 
but  little  more  disturb  the  passions  of  men  than 
they  are  disturbed  by  the  operations  of^he'S 
laws  of  the  material  worid.    But  this  hLffhl 
case.     The  scene  shifts  from  S  imagLaJtle 
gion,  where  aws  execute  themselves,  to^th^  thea- 
tre of  real  life,  wherein  they  are  executed  by  S 
and  military  officers,  by  armies  and  navies  bv 
courts  ofjust.ee,  by  the  collection  Snd  dTsbu'rsT 
ment  of  revenue,  with  all  its  train  of  salS 

it"'  ''''^tT.T^r'  ^""^  >"  this  aspect  of  SeS 
ahty,  we  behold  the  working  of  pathonage  and 
discover  the  reason  why  so  many  stand  ready  in 
any  country,  and  in  all  ages,  to  flock  to  the  stanS 

•^  m^rSef  ^^^■^"^^^'  ^'  ^^  -h--ver, 

"The  patronage  of  the  federal  government  at 

he  beginning   was  founded  upon  a  r™?nue  of 

two  millions  of  dollars.   It  is  now  operatiTupon 

about  one  half,  say  ten  millions  of  it,  areSrS 

ment,  must  be  paid  off.  A  short  neriorl^t/^' 
and  a  faithful  application  of  the^sinkinlS" 
wf  fff  "^,f '^^Wlish  that  most TeSitt' 
ject    Unless  the  revenue  be  then  reduS  a  woi 

p"at'oS^*/';he"?t"l  ^^  ^"  monSeTS 
paironage  ot  the  federal  government,  ereat  a<5  ,> 

already  is.  must,  in  the  lapse  of  a  few  years  re 

ti.n  of  the  public  debt,^  L  .W^sc  rf"^"" 
nu.,  will  multiplj.  i„  a  'f„„.fS5  S^X  „™°" 

applicable^  but  ^a^each  person  employed  will 


ANyOl826.    JOHN  QUINCT  ADAMS.  PRESIDENT. 


81 


have  a  circle  of  greater  or  less  diameter,  of  which 
he  IS  the  centre  and  the  soul-a  circle  comrsS 
of  friends  and  relations,  and  of  indivirluals  em 
pbyed  by  himself  on  public  or  on  private  Soun 
n      K  "''fu''^  \"^'''"'^'°  of  federal  power  andrtroJ. 
age  by  the  duplication- of  the^cven,T^S^J 
notm  the  arithmetical  ratio,  but  in  geCetriaS 
progression-an  increase  almost  beyoml  the  "w- 
er  of  the  mind  to  calculate  or  to  compreheSd^' 


This  was  written  twenty-five  years  ago.    Its 
anticipations  of  increased  revenue  and  patronage 
are  more  than  realized.    Instead  of  fifty  millions 
of  annual  revenue  during  the  lifetime  of  persons 
hen  hvmg,  and  then  deemed  a  visionary  specu- 
lation   I  saw  it  rise  to  sixty  millions  before  I 
ceased  to  be  a  senator;  and  saw  all  the  objecte 
of  patronage  expanding  and  multiplying  in  the 
same  degree,  extending  the  circle  of  its  influence, 
and,  m  many  cases,  reversing  the  end  of  its  crea- 
tion.   Government  was  instituted  for  the  protec- 
tion of  mdividuals-not  for  their  support.   Office 
was  to  be  given  upon  qualifications  to  fill  it_not 
upon  the  personal  wants  of  the  recipient.   Proper 
I  ^'Z'  T''  *'  ^'  '"""S^*  °"*  «"d  appointed- 
id  t     .!''?'?  ^°  '^'  ^''S^^r  appointmente, 
and  by  the  heads  of  the  different  branches  of 
service  m  the  lower  ones);   and  importunate 
suppliants  wei-e  not  to  beg  themselves  into  an 
offi^  which  belonged  to  the  public,  and  was  only 
to  be  admmistered  for  the  public  good.    Such 
was  the  theory  of  the  government.    Lctice  ha^ 
reversed  It.    Now  office  is  sought  for  support, 
and  for  the  repair  of  dilapidated  fortunes ;  appli' 
cants  obtrude  themselves,  and  prefer  "claims- to 
office.    Their  personal  condition  and  party  ser- 
vices, not  qualification,  are  made  the  basis  of  the 
demand:  and  the  crowds  which  congregate  a 
Washmgton  at  the  change  of  an  adminisLion 
supplicants  for  office,  are  humiliating  to  behold 
and  threaten  to  change  the  contests  of  partLs 
from^a^contest  for  principle  into  a  struggle  for 

The  bills  which  were  reported  were  intended 
to  control,  and  regulate   different  branches  of 
the  public  service,  and  to  limit  some  exercises 
of  executive  power.  1.    The  publication  of  the 
government  advertisements  had  been  found  to  be 
subject  to  great  abuse-large  advertisements,  and 
for  long  periods,  having  been  often  found  to  be 
given  to  papers  of  little  circulation,  and  sometimes 
oi  no  circulation  at  all,  in  places  where  the  adver- 
tisement  was  to  operate-the  only  effect  of  that 
favor  being  to  concUiate  thesupportof  the  paper 


82 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


or  to  sustain  an  cflBcicnt  one.  For  remedy,  the 
bill  for  that  purpose  provided  for  the  selection, 
and  the  limitaMon  of  the  numbers,  of  the  news- 
papers which  we!  0  to  publish  the  federal  laws 
and  advertisements,  ami  for  the  periodical  report 
of  tneir  names  to  Congress.  2.  The  four  years' 
limitation  law  was  found  to  operate  contrary  to 
its  intent,  and  to  have  become  the  facile  means 
of  getting  rid  of  faithful  disbursing  officers,  in- 
stead of  retaining  them.  The  object  of  the  law 
was  to  pass  the  disbursing  oflBcers  every  four 
years  under  the  supervision  of  the  appointing 
power,  for  the  inspection  of  their  accounts,  in 
order  that  defaulters  might  be  detected  and  drop- 
ped, while  the  faithful  should  be  ascertained  and 
continued.  Instead  of  this  wholesome  discrimina- 
tion, the  expiration  of  the  four  years'  term  came 
to  be  considered  as  the  termination  and  vacation 
of  all  the  offices  on  which  it  fell,  and  the  crea- 
tion of  vacancies  to  be  filled  by  new  appointments 
at  the  option  of  the  President.  The  bill  to  re- 
medy tills  evil  gave  legal  eficct  to  the  original 
intention  of  the  law  by  confining  the  vacation  of 
office  to  actual  defaulters.  The  power  of  the 
President  to  dismiss  civil  officers  was  not  attempt- 
ed to  be  curtailed,  but  the  restraints  of  respon- 
sibility were  placed  upon  its  exercise  by  requiring 
the  cause  of  dismission  to  be  communicated  to 
Congress  in  each  case.  The  section  of  the  bill  to 
that  effect  was  in  these  words :  "  That  in  all 
nominatioris  made  by  the  Presulent  to  the 
Senate,  to  Jill  vacancies  occasioned  by  an  exer- 
cise of  the  President's  poicer  to  remove  from 
office,  the  fact  of  the  removal  shall  be  stated  to 
the  Senate  at  the  same  time  thatthe  nomination 
is  made,  w  ith  a  statement  of  the  reasons  for  which 
such  officer  may  have  been  removed.''^  This  was 
intended  to  operate  as  a  restraint  upon  removals 
without  cause,  and  to  make  legal  and  general 
what  the  Senate  itself,  and  the  members  of  the 
committee  individually,  had  constantly  refused 
to  do  in  isolated  cases.  It  was  the  recognition 
of  a  principle  essential  to  the  proper  exercise  of 
the  appointing  power,  and  entirely  consonant  to 
Mr.  Jefferson's  idea  of  removals ;  but  never  ad- 
mitted by  any  administration,  nor  enforced  by 
the  Senate  against  any  one — always  waiting  the 
legal  enactment.  The  opinion  of  nine  such 
senators  as  composed  the  committee  who  pro- 
posed to  legalize  this  principle,  all  of  them  demo- 


t\  -V  Y\i\**i  n  r»  nn/^1 


jxpf^ri 


Hi. 


principle  should  be  legalized.  3.  The  appoij,i. 
ment  of  military  cadets  was  distributed  accord- 
ing to  the  Congressional  representation,  and 
which  has  been  adopted  in  practice,  and  perhaps 
become  the  patronage  of  the  member  from  a 
district  instead  of  the  President.  5.  The  selection 
of  midshipmen  was  placed  on  the  same  footinp- 
and  has  been  followed  by  the  same  practical  con.fe- 
quence.  6.  To  secure  the  independence  of  tho 
army  and  navy  officers,  tho  bill  proposed  to  do, 
what  never  has  been  done  by  law,— define  the 
tenure  by  which  they  held  their  commissions, 
and  substitute  "  good  behavior "  for  the  clause 
which  now  runs  "during  the  pleasure  of  the 
President. "  Tho  clause  in  the  existing  com- 
mission was  copied  from  those  then  in  use,  de- 
rived from  the  British  government ;  and,  in 
making  army  and  navy  officers  subject  to  dis- 
mission at  the  will  of  the  President,  departs  from 
the  principle  of  our  republican  institutions,  and 
lessens  the  independence  of  the  officers. 


should  stand  for  a  persuasive  reason  why  this 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

EXCLUSION  OF  MErtBEES  OF  C0NGEES3  FEOM 
CIVIL  OFFICE  APPOINTMENTS, 

An  inquiry  into  the  expediency  of  amending 
the  constitution  so  as  to  prevent  the  appointment 
of  any  member  of  Congress  to  any  federal  office 
of  trust  or  profit,  during  the  period  for  which  he 
was  elected,  was  moved  at  the  session  1825-26, 
by  Mr.  Senator  Thomas  W.  Cobb,  of  Georgia; 
and  his  motion  was  committed  to  the  consider- 
ation of  the  same  select  committee  to  which  had 
been  referred  the  inquiries  into  the  expediency 
of  reducmg  executive  patronage,  and  amending 
the  constitution  in  relation  to  the  election  of 
President  and  Vice-President.  The  motion  as 
submitted  only  applied  to  the  term  for  which  th« 
senator  or  representative  was  elected — only 
carried  the  exclusion  to  the  end  of  his  constitu- 
tional term ;  but  the  committee  were  of  opinion 
that  such  appointments  were  injurious  to  the  in- 
dependence of  Congress  and  to  the  purity  of 
legislation ;  and  believed  that  the  limitation  on 
the  eligibilitj'^  of  members  should  be  more  comprn- 
hensive  than  the  one  proposed,  and  should  extend 


ANNO  1826.    JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  PRKSIDENT. 


83 


rhc  appouit- 
luted  accord- 
ntation,  and 
and  ijorhaps 
nber  from  a 
Iho  selection 
iame  footing, 
ictical  con.ie- 
dence  of  the 
)posed  to  do, 
— define  tlie 
commissions, 
)r  the  clause 
isure  of  the 
xisting  corn- 
n  in  use,  dc- 
it ;  and,  in 
jject  to  dis- 
departs  from 
itutions,  and 
ers. 


EES8  FEOM 
FTS. 

•f  amending 
appointment 
federal  office 
for  which  he 
on  1825-26, 
of  Georgia; 
he  consider- 

0  which  had 
expediency 

d  amending 
election  of 

1  motion  as 
)r  which  th» 
ected — only 
lis  constitu- 
e  of  opinion 
us  to  the  in- 
le  purity  of 
mitation  on 
tore  compriv 
bould  extend 


to  the  President's  term  under  whom  the  member 
served  as  well  an  to  his  own— so  as  to  cut  off 
the  possibility  for  a  member  to  receive  an  appoint- 
ment from  the  President  to  whom  he  might  havo 
lent    a  subservient   vote:    and   the   committee 
directed  their  chairman  (Mr.  Benton)  to  report 
accordingly.     This  was  done ;  and  a  report  was 
made,  chiefly  founded  upon  the  proceedings  of  the 
federal  convention  which  framed  the  constitution 
and  the  proceedings  of  the  conventions  of  the 
States  which  adopted  it— showing  that  the  total 
exclusion  of  members  of  Congress  from  all  federal 
appointments  was  actually  adopted  in  the  con- 
vention on  a  full  vote,  and  struck  out  in  the  ab- 
sence of  some  members;  and  afterwards  modified 
so  as  to  leave  an  inadequate,  and  easily  evaded 
clause  in  the  constitution  in  place  of  the  full  re- 
medy which  had  been  at  first  provided.     It  also 
showed  that  conventions  of  several  of  the  States 
and  some  of  the  earlier  Congresses,  endeavored 
to  obtain  amendments  to  the  constitution  to  cut 
oflf  members  of  Congress  entirely  from  exKiutive 
patronage.     Some  extracts  from  that  report  are 
here  given  to  show  the  sense  of  the  early  friends 
of  the    constitution   on  this  important  point 
Thus:  ■ 


That,  having  had  recourse  to  the  history  of  the 
times  m  which  the  constitution  was  formed  the 
committee  find  that  the  proposition  now  referred 
to  them,  had  engaged  the  deliberations  of  the 
iederal  convention  which  framed  the  constitution 
and  of  several  of  the  State  conventions  whicli 
ratitied  it. 

"  In  an  early  stage  of  the  session  of  the  federal 
convention,  it  was  resolved,  rs,  follows  : 

TT  "  ^I'l''!?  ^'  ^^*=^'*'"  ^-  '^'he  members  of  each 
House  (of  Congress)  shall  be  ineligible  to,  and  in- 
capable of  holding,  any  office  under  the  authority 
of  the  United  States,  during  the  time  for  which 
they  shall  respectively  be  elected ;  and  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Senate  shall  be  ineligible  to,  and  in- 
capable of  holding  any  such  office  for  one  year 
afterwards.'  ^ 

"It  further  appears  from  the  journal,  that  this 
clause,  m  the  first  draft  of  the  constitution,  was 
adopted  with  great  unanimity;  and  that  after- 
Z^IV  ^  concluding  days  of  the  session,  it 
was  altered,  and  its  intention  defeated,  by  a  ma- 

^^Q^/\""^^^^?^?''"  *^'c  ^^^-^cnce  of  one  of 
the  States  by  which  it  had  been  supported. 

i-ollowing  the  constitution  into  tlie  State  con- 
ventions which  ratified  it  and  the  committee  find 

m'-nded  '':'Jr'^''^  convention,  it  was  recomi 
m.'naed,  as  follows : 


'•  By  the  Virginia  convention,  as  follows : 
"  '  That  the  iiieml)ers  of  tiic  Senate  and  IIouso 
of  Representatives  shall  be  ineligible  to,  and  in- 
capable of  holding,  any  civil  ofBce  under  the 
authority  of  the  United  States:,  during  the  term 
for  which  they  shall  respectively  be  elected.' 

"  By  the  North  Carolina  convention,  the  same 
amendment  was  recommended,  in  the  same 
words. 

••  In  the  first  session  of  the  first  Congress,  which 
was  held  under  the  constitution,  a  member  of  the 
House  of  llepresentatives  submitted  a  similar 
proposition  of  amendment;  and.  in  the  third 
session  of  the  eleventh  Congress,  James  Madison 
being  President,  a  like  proposition  was  again 
submitted,  and  being  referred  to  a  committee  of 
the  IIouso,  was  reported  by  them  in  the  following 
words :  ° 

'"No  senator  or  representative  shall  be  ap- 
pointed to  any  civil  oflice,  place,  or  emolument, 
under  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  untill 
the  expiration  of  the  presidential  term  in  which 
such  person  shall  have  served  as  a  senator  or 
representative.' 

"  Upon  the  question  to  adopt  this  resolution  the 
vote  stood  71  yeas,  40  nays,— wanting  but  three 
votes  of  the  constitutional  number  for  referring 
it  to  the  decision  of  the  States. 

"  Having  thus  shown,  by  a  reference  to  the 
venerable  evi^-nce  of  our  early  history,  that  the 
principle  of  the  amendment  now  under  consider- 
ation, has  had  the  support  and  approbation  of  the 
first  friends  of  the  constitution,  the  committee 
will  now  declare  their  own  opinion  in  favor  of  its 
correctness,  and  expresses  its  belief  that  the  rul- 
ing principle  in  the  organization  of  the  federal 
government  demands  its  adoption." 

It  is  thus  seen  that  in  the  formation  of  the 
constitution,  and  in  the  early  ages  of  our  govern- 
ment, there  was  great  jealousy  on  this  head- 
great  fear  of  tampering  between  the  president 
and  the  members— and  great  efforts    ,  f.de   to 
keep  each  independent  of  the  other.    i< .  r  the 
safety  of  the  President,  and  that  Congress  should 
not  have  him  in  their  power,  he  was  made  inde- 
pendent of  them  in  point  of  salary.    By  a  con- 
stitutional provision  his  compensation  was  neither 
to  be  diminished  nor  increased  during  the  terra 
for  which  he  was  elected ;— not  diminished,  lest 
Congress  should  starve  him  into  acquiescence 
in   their  views;— not  increased,  lest  Congress 
should  seduce  him  by  tempting  his  cup'dity  with 
an  augmented  compensation.      That  provision 
secured  the  independence  of  the  President ;  but 
the  independence  of  the  two  Houses  was  still  to 
be  provided  for;  and  that  was  imperfectly  effect- 
ed by  two  provisions— the  first,  prohibiting  office 
holders  under  the  federal  government  from  tak- 
ing a  seat  in  either  House;  the  second,  by  pro- 


:f? 


84 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


hibiting  their  appointment  to  any  civil  ofilce  that 
might  have  been  created,  or  its  emoluments  in- 
creased, during  the  term  for   whicli  ho  shouhl 
have  been  elected.    These  provisions  were  deemed 
by  the  authors  of  the  federalist  (No.  55)  suffi- 
cient to  protect  the  independence  of  Congress,  and 
would  have  been,  if  still  observed  in  their  spirit, 
as  well  as  in  their  letter,  as  was  done  by  the 
earlier  rrc^idouts.    A  very  strong  instance  of 
this  observanoo  was  tlio  case  of  Mr.  Alexander 
Smythe,  of  Virginia,  during  the  administration 
of  President  Monroe.     Mr.  Smythe  had  boon  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  in 
that  capacity  had  voted  for  the  establishment  of  a 
judicial  district  in  Western  Virginia,  and  by  which 
the  office  of  judge  was  created.    Ilis  term  of  service 
had  expired:  ho  was  proposed  for  the  judgeship: 
the  letter  of  the  constitution  permitted  the  ap- 
pointment :  but  its  spirit  did  not.     Mr.  Smytho 
was  entirely  fit  for  tho  place,  and  Mr.  Monroe 
entirely  willing  to  bestow  it  upon  huii.    But  ho 
looked  to  tho  spirit  of  tho  act,  and  tho  mischief, 
it  was  intended  to  prevent,  as  well  as  to  its  let- 
ter ;  and  could  see  no  difference  between  bestow- 
ing the  appointment  the  day  after,  or  the  day 
before,  the  expiration  of  Mr.  Smythe's  term  of 
.service :  and  he  refused  to  make  the  appointment. 
This  was  protecting  the  purity  of  legislation  ac- 
cording to  tho  intent  of  the  constitution  ;  but  it 
has  not  always  been  so.     A  glaring  case  to  the 
contrary  occurred  in  the  person  of  Mr.  Thomas 
Butler  King,  under  the  presidency  of  Mr.  Fillmore. 
Mr.  King  was  elected  a  member  of  Congress  for 
the  term  at  which  the  office  of  collector  of  the 
customs  at  San  Francisco  had  been  created,  and 
had  resigned  his  place :  but  the  resignation  could 
oot  work  an  evasion  of  the  constitution,  nor  af- 
fect the  principle  of  its  provision.     lie  had  been 
appointed  in  the  recess  of  Congress,  and  sent  to 
take  the  place  before  his  two  years  had  expired 
— and  did  take  it ;  and  that  was  against  tho  words 
of  the  constitution.     His  nomination  was  not 
sent  in  until  his  term  expired — the  day  after  it 
expired — having  been  held  back  during  the  regu- 
lar session;  and  was  confirmed  by  the  Senate. 
I  had  then  ceased  to  be  a  member  of  tho  Senate, 
and  know  not  whether  any  question  was  raised  on 
the  nomination ;  but  if  I  had  been,  there  should 
have  been  a  question. 

But  tho  constitutional  limitation  upon  the  ap- 
pointment of  members  of  Congress,  even  when 
executed  beyond  its  letter  and  accordiiig  to  its 


spirit,  as  done  by  Mr.  Monroe,  is  but  a  very 
small  restraint  upon  their  apj»ointmont,  only  ap- 
plying to  tho  few  cases  of  new  offices  created,  or 
of  compensation  increased,  during  tho  period  of 
their  membership.    The  whole  class  of  regular 
vacancies  remain  open !     All  the  vacancies  which 
the  President  pleases  to  create,  by  an  exercise  of 
tho  removing  power,  arc  opened !  and  between 
these  two  sources  of  supply,  tho  fund  is  ample 
for  as  large  a  commerce  between  meiiibers  and 
tho  President — between  subservient  votes  on  one 
side,  and  executive  appointments  on  tho  other— 
as  any  President,  or  any  set  of  members,  might 
choose  to  carry  on.    And  here  is  to  be  noted  u 
wide  departure  from  the  theory  of  the  govern- 
ment on  this  point,  and  how  differently  it  has 
worked  from  what  its  early  friends  and  advocates 
expected.     I   limit  myself  now  to  Hamilton, 
Madis-^n  -:.i  Jay ;  and  it  is  no  narrow  limit 
which  includes  three  such  men.     Their  names 
would  have  lived  for  ever  in  American  history, 
among  those  of  tho  wise  and  able  founders  of  our 
government,  without  the  crowning  work  of  the 
"  Essays  "  in  behalf  of  tho  constitution  which 
have  been  embodied  under  the  name  of  '•  Feder- 
alist " — and  which  made  that  name  so  respect- 
able before  party  assumed  it.    The  defects  of  the 
constitution  were  not  hidden  from  them  in  the 
depths  of  the  admiration  which  they  felt  for  its 
perfections ;  and  these  defects  were  noted,  and  as 
far  as  possible  excused,  in  a  work  devoted  to  its 
just  advocation.     This  point  (of  dangerous  com- 
merce between  the  executive  and  the  legislative 
body)  was  obliged  to  be  noticed — forced  upon 
their  notice  by  the  jealous  attacks  of  the  "  Ami- 
Federalists  "—as  the  opponents  of  tho  constitu- 
tion were  called :  and  in  the  number  55  of  tncir 
work,  they  excused,  and  diminished,  this  defect 
in  these  terms : 

"  Sometimes  we  are  told,  that  this  fund  of  cor- 
ruption (Executive  appointments)  is  to  bo  ex- 
hausted by  the  President  in  subduing  the  virtue 
of  tho  Senate.  Now,  the  fidelity  of  tho  other 
House  is  to  bo  the  victim.  The  improbability  of 
such  a  mercenary  and  perfidious  combination  of 
the  several  members  of  the  government,  stand- 
ing on  as  different  foundations  as  republican  prin- 
ciples will  well  admit,  and  at  the  same  time  ac- 
countable to  the  society  over  which  they  are 
placed,  ought  alone  to  quiet  this  apprehension. 
But,  fortunately,  the  constitution  has  provided 
a  still  further  safeguard.  The  mcmbci's  of  tlic 
Congress  are  rendered  ineligible  to  any  civil 
offices  that  may  be  created,  or  of  which  the 


cmohime 
of  thoir 
dealt  out 
may  k-c 
aiHl  to  su 
purchase 
the  peopl 
by  ^vhich 
8ul)stitutc 
jciiJousy,  \ 

Such  wi 

great  abili 

votiou,  cot 

danger.    1 

with  a  bri 

mained,  w; 

the  workiii 

iiig  to  theii 

been  good. 

italics  tho  i 

tion  which 

"  ordinary 

deaths,   res 

mcnt,  and  t 

nate.     Tlii,v 

Bmall  amour 

term ;  and  a 

compensatio] 

imdoubtedly 

contempt  wi( 

But  what  ha 

working  of  1 

how  stands  I 

to  "ordinaj'i 

tlie  main  sta^i 

was  knocked 

government ; 

from  construe 

constitution  a 

^^trument  whic 

as  many  vaca 

moment  that  1 

yielding  to  hini 

ing  officers  wi 

llie  consent  of 

power.    The  j 

Ajrcseeu  this  ci 

!iad  asserted  th 

i'lom  the  premi; 

"■(M  appurtetu 

"ley  had  maini 

work-(x\o.  77 

Senate  was  nec( 


ANNO  ]82fl^^roHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  PRESIDENT. 


crnolumonts  may  be  incroase.I,  during  tho  tcnn 

dealt  out  to  tho  existing  members,  but  such  as 
may   become  varant  by  ordinary  casual  es 
md  0  suppose  tJmt  these  would  be  suSnt  to 
purchase  the  guardians  of  the  people,  selected  by 
ho  people  theinselves,  is  to  reno.U  every  nde 

su hstituto    an    mdiscnmmate   and   unboundefl 
JoaJousy,  with  which  all  reasoning  musrbeS" 


85 


Such  ^ms  their  defence-tho  best  which  their 
great  abilities,  and  ardent  zeal,  and  patriotic  de- 
votion, could  furnish.     They  could  not  deny  the 

with  a  brilliant  declamation  tho  little  that  re- 
mained, was  their  resource.    And,  certainly  if 
the  working  of  the  government  had  been  accord- 
ing to  their  supposition,  their  defence  would  have 
been  good.    I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  mark  in 
Italics  he  ruling  words  contained  in  the  quota- 
lon  which  I  have  made  from   their  works- 
ordinary  casualties. "    And  what  were  they  ? 
deaths,   resignations,   removals  upon  impeach- 
ment, and  aismissions  by  tho  President  and  Se- 
nate     This,  in  fact,  would   constitute  a  very 
small  amount  of  vacancies  during  the  presidential 
term;  and  as  new  oflBces,  and  those  of  increased 
eompensa  ion,  were  excluded,  the  answer  was 
undoubtedly  good,  and  even  justified  tho  vis  bk 
con  emp  with  which  the  objection  was  repu  led 
But  what  has  been  the  fact  ?  what  has  been  the 
working  of  the  government  at  thi..  point?  and 
how  stands  tins  narrow  limitation  o?  vacancies 
to     ordinary  casualties  ?  "    I„  the  first  place 
the  main  stay  of  the  argument  in  the  FederaS 
was  knocked  from  under  it  at  tho  outset  of   he 
government;    and  so  knocked  by  a  side-blow 
from  construction.    In  the  very  ist  yoar^Z 
constitution  a  construction  was^ut  on  that  i^ 
^  rument  which  enabled  the  Pre 'dent  to  creat 
as  many  vacancies  as  he  plea.scd   and  nf 
•nomcnt  that  he  pleased.    TWs  wL^ffec   ."^ 
F.elcijigtohimthekinglyprerogativeofdisl''^ 

foreseen  this  construction:  so  far  from  Ti^ 
hadasserted  the  contrary :  andlrg^Xc^^^^^ 

^os  appurtenant  to   the  appointing  pLl' 
they  had  maintained  in  thif S'       a  ' 

Son.fn  ^7^-that,  as  tho  consent  of  the 

Senate  Mas  necessary  to  the  appointment  of  1 


I  officer,  «o  tho  consent  of  tho  same  body  would 
bo  equally   necessary   to  his  dismi^ion   from 

ho  first  Congress  which  sat  under  the  constitu- 
t  on.  The  power  of  dismission  from  office  was 
abandoned  to  the  President  alone ;  and,  with  tl^o 
acquisition  of  this  prerogative,  tho  p^wer  and 
patronage  of  the  presidential  office  waL  instantly 
mcreased  to  an  indefinite  extent;  and  the  amu^ 
^ntof  ^e  Federalist  against  the^apl^rfX^ 
President    to  corrupt  members    of   Congress 

ounded  on  the  small  number  of  places  whi  5 
ho  could  use  for  that  purpose,  was  Lally  over- 
thrown.    This  is  what  has  been  done  by  con- 

t^te«!l      ,  ,^''"^  •"'"""  enumeration  of  sta- 
tutes so  widely  extending  and  increasing  execu- 
fvo  patronage  in  the  multiplication  of  offices 
jobs  contracts  agencies,  retainers,  and  sequiturs 
of  all  sorts^  holding  at  the  will  of  the  President 
't^scnongh  to  point  to  a  single  act_th    four 
years'  limitation  act ;  which,  by  vacating  almos 
he  entire  civil  list-the  whole  "  Blue  Book" -- 
tho  40,000  places  which  it  registers-t  everT 
period  of  a  presidential  term-puts  more  o2 
a    he  command  of  the  President  than  the  autho" 
of  the  Federalist  ever  dreamed  of;  and  enough  to 
equip  all  the  members  and  all  their  kin  if  ^hey 
chose  to  accept  his  favors.     But  this  is  not  thi 
end.    Large  as  ,t  opens  the  field  of  patronairo 
:t  >s  not  the  end.     There  is  a  practice  grown  ^ 
:n  these  latter  times,  which,  upon  evei^  rlvolu- 
tion  of  parties,  makes  a  political  exodus  among 
he    dversary  office-holders,  marching  them  ol 
mto  the  wildernes.s,  and  leaving  their  places  for 
,  new   .^ers.    This  practice  of  itself,  also  unfor:. 
see  ,       the  au  hors  of  the  Federalist,  again  over- 
sts  their  whole  argument,  and  leaves  the  mis- 
cluef  from  which  they  undertook  to  defend  the 
constitution  in  a  degree  of  vigor  and  universali'; 
of  which  the  original  opposers  of  that  mischief 
had  never  formed  the  slightest  conception. 

Besides  the  direct  commerce  which  may  take 
Pla^e  between  the  Executive  and  a  mLber 
there  are  other  evils  resulting  from  their  ap-' 
po  ntment  to  office,  wholly  at  war  with  th^ 
theory  of  our  government,  and  the  purity  of  its 
ac  .on.    Responsibility  to  his  constiLntI  f  the 
,  corner-stone  and  sheet-anchor,  in  the  system  of 
j  representative  government,    it  is  the  sub  tanc^ 
I  without  which  representation  is  but  a  shadot 
,  To  secure  that  responsibility  the  constitution 


86 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


has  provided  that  tho  moinbors  slmll  bo  iieriodi- 
cally  returned  to  tlieir  conHtitucnts — thouc  of 
tho  House  at  Iho  end  of  every  two  years,  thoao 
of  tho  Senate  at  tho  end  of  every  hix — to  paBs  in 
review  before  them — to  account  for  what  may 
have  been  done  amiss,  and  to  receive  the  reward 
or  censure  of  good  or  bad  conduct.    Tliis  re- 
sponsibility is  totally  destroyed  if  tho  President 
talces  a  member  out  of  tlie  hands  of  his  constit- 
uents, prevents  his  return  home,  and  places  him 
in  a  situation  where  ho  is  independent  of  their 
censure.    Again :  the  constitution  intended  that 
tho  three  departments  of  tho  government, — the 
executive,  tho  legislative,  and  tho   judicial — 
should  be  independent  of  each  otlier  :  and  this 
independence  ceases,  between  the  executive  and 
legislative,  the   moment  tho  members  become 
expectants  and  recipients  of  presidential  favor ; 
— tho  more  so   if  tho  President   should   have 
o^'od  his  office  to  their  nomination.    Then   it 
becomes  a  commerce,  upon  the  regular  principle 
of  trade — a  commerce  of  mutual  benefit.     For 
this  reason  Congress  caucuses  for  the  nomination 
of  presidential  candidates  fell  under  the  ban  of 
public  opinion,  and  were  ostracised  above  twenty 
years  ago — only  to  be  followed  by  the  same  evil 
in  a  worse  form,  that  of  illegal  and  irresponsible 
"  conventions  ; "  in  which  the  nomination  is  an 
election,  so  far  as  party  power  is  concerned  ;  and 
into  which  the  member  glides  who  no  longer 
dares  to  go  to  a  Congress  caucus ; — whom  the 
constitution  interdicts  from  being  an  elector — 
and  of  whom  some  do  not  blush  to  receive  office, 
and  even  to  demand  it,  from  tho  President  whom 
they  have  created.    The  framers  of  our  govern- 
ment never  foresaw — far-seeing  as  they  were — 
this  state  of  things,  otherwise  the  exclusion  of 
members  from  presidential  appointments  could 
never  have  failed  as  part  of  the  constitution, 
(after  havmg  been  first  adopted  in  the  original 
draught  of  that  instrument)  ;  nor  repulsed  when 
recommended  by  so  many  States  at  the  adoption 
of  the  constitution ;  nor  rejected  by  a  majority  of 
one  in  the  Congress  of  1789,  when  proposed  as 
an  amendment,  and  coming  so  near  to  adoption 
by  the  House. 

Thus  far  I  have  spoken  of  this  abuse  as  a  po- 
tentiality—as a  possibility — as  a  thing  which 
might  happen  :  the  inexorable  law  of  history 
requires  it  to  be  written  that  it  has  happened,  is 
happening,  becomes  more  intense,  and  is  ripen- 
ing into  a  chronic  disease  of  the  body  politic. 


When  I  first  came  to  the  Senate  thirty  jcars 
ii„'0,  aged  memlters  were  accustomed  to  tell  am 
that  there  were  always  members  in  the  nmikft, 
waiting  to  render  votes,  and  to  receive  ofllcc; 
and   that  in  any  closely  contested,  or  ncailj 
balanced  question,  in  which  tho  administmtioii 
took  an  interest,  they  could  turn  tho  decision 
which  way  they  pleased  by  tho  help  of  tlitsu 
marketable  votes.     It  was  a  humiliating  revela- 
tion to  a  young  senator — but  true ;  and  I  have 
seen  too  much  of  it  in  my  time — seen  members 
whose  every  vote  was  at  the  service  of  govern- 
ment— to  whom  a  seat  in  Congress  was  but 
the  stepping-stone  to  executive  appointment— to 
whom  federal  ofiice  was  the  pabulum  for  which 
their  stomachs  yearned — and  who  to  obtain  it, 
wore  ready  to  forgot  that  they  had  either  con- 
stituents or  country.    And  now,  why  tliis  mor- 
tifying exhibition  of  a  disgusting  depravity  ?    I 
answer — to  correct  it : — if  not  by  law  and  con- 
stitutional amendment   (for  it  is  hard  to  get 
lawgivers  to  work  against  themselves),  at  least 
by  the  force  of  public  opinion,  and  the  stern  re- 
buke of  popular  condemnation. 

I  have  mentioned  Mr.  Monroe  as  a  President 
who  would  not  depart,  even  from  the  spirit  of 
the  constitution,  in  appointing,  not  a  member, 
but  an  ex-member  of  Congress,  to  oflBcc.  Others 
of  the  earlier  Presidents  were  governed  by  tlie 
same  jninciplo,  of  whom  I  will  only  mention 
(for  his  example  should  stand  for  all)  General 
Washington,  who  entirely  condemned  the  prac- 
tice. In  a  letter  to  General  Hamilton  (vol.  C, 
page  53,  of  Hamilton's  Works),  he  speaks  of  his 
objections  to  these  appointments  as  a  thing  well 
known  to  that  gentleman,  and  which  he  wa* 
only  driven  to  think  of  in  a  particular  instance, 
from  the  difficulty  of  finding  a  Secretary  of 
State,  successor  to  Mr.  Edmund  Randolph.  No 
less  than  four  persons  had  declined  the  offer  of 
it ;  and  seeing  no  other  suitable  person  without 
going  into  the  Senate,  he  offered  it  to  Mr.  Rufiis 
King  of  that  body — who  did  not  accept  it :  and 
for  this  offer,  thus  made  in  a  case  of  so  much 
urgency,  and  to  a  citizen  so  eminently  fit,  AVash- 
ington  felt  that  the  honor  of  his  administration 
required  him  to  show  a  justification.  What 
would  the  Father  of  his  country  have  thought 
if  members  had  come  to  him  to  solicit  office? 
and  especially,  if  these  members  (a  thing  al- 
most blasphemous  to  be  imagined  in  connection 
with  his  name)  had    mixed  in  caucuses  and 


ANNO  1826.    JOUN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  I'UEHIDENT. 


hirty  j  eurs 

1  to  It'll  1110 

Iho  rimrkft, 
civo  oillcc; 

or  iHftilj 
iiinistmiion 
ho  dfciHion 
alp  of  Uu'su 
ting  revela- 

and  I  Imve 
(11  intitnberH 
J  of  f^nvL-rn- 
w  was  but 
intiiR'iit— to 
m  for  wliich 
.0  obtain  it, 
\  eithor  con- 
\y  tills  mor- 
pravity  ?  I 
aw  and  con- 
hard  to  get 
es),  at  least 
the  stern  re- 

!  a  President 
the  spirit  of 
;  a  member, 
Hoc.  Others 
erned  by  the 
nly  mention 
all)  General 
led  the  prac- 
ilton  (vol.  6, 
?pcuks  of  his 
a  thing  well 
hich  ho  wai 
liar  instance. 
Secretary  of 
ndolph.  No 
I  the  offer  of 
rson  without 
to  Mr.  itufus 
ccpt  it :  and 
3  of  so  much 
ly  fit,  Wash- 
hninistration 
;ion.  What 
lave  thought 
lolicit  office? 
(a  thing  al- 
ii connection 
iaucuses  and 


convention.s  to  procure  his  nomination  for  PrcKi- 
dent  ?  Certainly  ho  would  have  given  them  a 
look  which  would  have  Hont  such  suppliants  for 
ever  from  his  pmsence.  And  I,  who  was  senator 
for  thirty  years,  and  never  had  offlee  for  myself 
or  any  one  of  my  blood,  have  a  right  to  con- 
demn a  practice  wliich  my  conduct  rebuke)^,  and 
ihirh  the  purity  of  the  government  requires  to 
je  abolished,  and  which  the  early  Presidents 
carefully  avoided. 


87 


CIIArTER    XXXI. 

DKATU  OF  THE  KX-PKE8IUE\T8  JOHN  ADAM8 
AND  THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

It  comes  within  the  scope  of  this  View  to  notice 
the  deaths  and  characters  of  eminent  public  men 
who  have  died  during  my  time,  although  not  my 
contempora-ics,  and  who  have  been   connected 
with  the  founding  or  early  working  of  the  fed- 
eral government.    This  gives  me  a  right  to  head 
a  chapter  with  the  names  of  Mr.  John  Adams 
and  Mr.  Jefferson-two  of  the  most  eminent 
political  men  of  the  revolution,  who,  entering 
public  life  together,  died  on  the  same  day- 
July  4th,  1826,-exactIy  fifty  years  after  they 
had  both  put  their  hands  to  that  Declaration  of 
Independence  which  placed  a  new  nation  upon 
the  theatre  of  the  world.     Doubtless  there  was 
enough  of  similitude  in  their  lives  and  deaths  to 
excus3  the  belief  in  the  interposition  of  a  direct 
providence,  and  to  justify  the  feeling  of  mys- 
terious reverence  with  which  the  news  of  their  co- 
incident demise  was  received   throughout   the 
country.    The  parallel  between  them  was  com- 
plete.    Bom   nearly  at    the  same  time,  Mr. 
Adams  the  elder,  they  took  the  same  course  in 
iile-with  the  same  success-and  ended  their 
earthly  career  at  the  same  time,  and  in  the  same 
way:-,n  the  regular  course  of  nature,  in  the  re- 
pose and  tranquillity  of  retirement,  in  the  bosom 
of  their  famdies,  and  on  the  soil  which  their 
labors  had  contributed  to  make  free. 

Born  one  in  Massachusetts,  the  other  in  Vir- 
g-n-a,  they  both  received  liberal  educations,  em- 
braced the  same  profession  (that  of  the  law) 
mixed   !,ter.tur.  and  science   with  their  le-^al 


studies  and  pursuits,  and  cntorod  early  into  the 
ril)ening    conU>st   with.  Oreut   Uritain-llrst  in 
their  counties  and  States,  ami  then  on  the  broader 
field  of  the  General  Congress  of  the  Confeder- 
ate, 1  (Jolonies.     They  were  both  members  of  the 
Congress  which  declared  Indeiieiidence-both  of 
the  committee  which  rejwrted  the  Declaration- 
both  signed  it-were  both  employed  in  foreign 
missions  -  both   became  Vice  Presidents  -  and 
both  became  Presidents.     They  were  both  work- 
ingnien;  and,  in  the  great  number  of  eflicient 
laborers  b  the  cause  of  Indoiiendenco  ishich  the 
Congresses  of  the  Revolution  contained,   thoy 
were  doubtless  the  two  most  ellkient-and  Mr. 
Adams  the  more  so  of  the  tw..    lie  was,  as  Mr. 
Jefferson    styled   him,  "the   Colossus"  of  the 
Congress -speaking,    writing,    counselling -a 
member    of   ninety   different    committees,   and 
(during  his  three  years'  service)  chairman  of 
twenty  five— chairman  also  of  the  board  of  war 
and  board  of  appeals:  his  soul  on  fire  with  the 
cause  left  no  rest  to  his  head,  hands,  or  tongue. 
Mr.  Jefferson  drew  the  Declaration  of  Indepcn- 
denco,  but  Mr.  Adams  was  "  the  pillar  of  its  sup- 
port, and  its  ablest  advocate    and    defender" 
during  the  forty  days  it  was  before  the  Con™ 
In  the  letter  which  lie  wrote  that  night  to^Mrs 
Adams  (for,  after  all  the  labors  of  the  day  and 
such  a  day,  he  could  still  write  to  her),  he  took 
a  glowing  view  of  the  future,  and  used  those 
expressions,  "gloom"  and   "glory,"  which  hi, 
son  repeated  in  the  paruKraph  of  his  message  to 
Congress  in  relation  to  the  deaths  of  the  two  ex- 
Presidents,  which   I  have  heard  criticized    by 


those  who  did  not  know  their  historical  alluMon 
and  could  not  feel  the  force  and  beauty  of  their 
application.     They  were  words  of  hope  and  con- 
fidence when  he  wrote  them,  and  of  history 
when  he  died.     "I  am  well  aware  of  the  toil 
and  blood,  and  treasure,  that  it  will  cost  to  main- 
tain this  Declaration,  and  to  support  and  defend 
these  States;  yet  through  all  the  gloom,  I  can 
see  the  rays  of  light  and  glonj  !  »  and  he  lived  to 
see  it-to  see  the  glory-with  ih<i  bodily,  as  well 
as  with  the  mental  eye.    And  (for  the  great  fact 
will  bear  endless  repetition)  it  was  he  that  con- 
ceived  the  idea  of  making  Washington  command- 
er-,n-chief,  and  prepared  the  way  for  his  unani- 
mous nomination. 
In  the  division  of  part:js  which  ensued  the 

establishment  of  *hp   fl.rip-ai    -n--.  ■    -sr 

.  ^   i-ncrai   yOvcimncnt;,  Mr. 

Adams  and  Mr.  Jefferson  differed  in  systems  of 


88 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


policy,  and  became  heads  of  opposite  divisions, 
but  without  becoming  either  unjust  or  unkind  to 
each  other.  Mr.  Adams  sided  with  the  party 
discriminated  as  federal;  and  in  that  character 
became  the  subject  of  political  attacks,  from 
which  his  competitor  generously  defended  him. 
declaring  that  "a  more  perfectly  honest  man 
never  issued  from  the  bauds  of  his  Creator ;"  and, 
though  opposing  candidates  for  the  presidency, 
neither  would  have  any  thing  to  do  with  the  elec- 
tion, which  they  considered  a  question  between 
the  systems  of  policy  which  they  represented, 
and  not  a  question  between  themselves.  Mr. 
Jefferson  became  the  head  of  the  party  then 
called  republican— now  democratic ;  and  in  that 
character  became  the  founder  of  the  political 
school  which  has  since  chiefly  prevailed  in  the 
United  States.  He  was  a  statesman :  that  is  to 
say,  a  man  capable  of  conceiving  measures  use- 
ful to  the  country  and  to  mankind — able  to  re- 
commend them  to  adoption,  and  to  administer 
them  when  adopted.  I  have  seen  many  politi- 
cians—a few  statesmen— and,  of  these  few,  he 
their  pre-eminent  head.  He  was  a  republican 
by  nature  and  constitution,  and  gave  proofs 
of  it  in  the  legislation  of  his  State,  as  well  as  in 
the  policy  of  the  United  States.  Ho  was  no 
speaker,  but  a  most  instructive  and  fascinating 
talker;  and  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
even  if  it  had  not  been  sistered  by  innumerable 
classic  productions,  would  have  placed  him  at 
the  head  of  political  writers.  I  never  saw  him 
but  once,  when  I  went  to  visit  him  in  his  retire- 
ment ;  and  then  I  felt,  for  four  hours,  the  charms 
of  his  bewitching  talk.  I  was  then  a  young  sen- 
ator, just  coming  on  the  stage  of  public  life— he  a 
patriarchal  statesman  just  going  off  the  stage  of 
natural  life,  and  evidently  desirous  to  impress 
some  views  of  policy  upoa  me— a  design  in  which 
he  certainly  did  not  fail.  I  honor  him  as  a  patriot 
of  the  Revolution— as  one  of  the  Founders  of  the 
Republic— AS  the  founder  of  the  political  school 
to  which  I  belong;  and  for  the  purity  of  charac- 
ter which  he  possessed  in  common  with  his  com- 
patriots, and  which  gives  to  the  birth  of  the 
United  States  a  beauty  of  parentage  which  the 
genealogy  of  no  other  nation  can  show. 


CHAPTER    XXXII. 


BEITISU  INDEMNITY  FOR  DEPOETED  SLATES, 

In  this  year  was  brought  to  a  conclusion  the 
long-continued  controversy  with  Great  Britain 
in  relation  to  the  non-fulfilment  of  the  first  arti- 
cle of  the  treaty  of  Ghent  (1814),  for  the  resti- 
tution of  slaves  carried  off  by  the  British  troops 
in  the  war  of  1812.  It  was  a  renewal  of  the  mis- 
understanding, but  with  a  better  issue,  which 
grew  up  under  the  seventh  article  of  the  treaty 
of  peace  of  1783  upon  the  same  subject.  The 
power  of  Washington's  administration  was  not 
able  to  procure  the  execution  of  that  article, 
either  by  restoration  of  the  slaves  or  indemnity. 
The  slaves  then  taken  away  were  carried  to  Nova 
Scotia,  where,  becoming  an  annoyance,  they  were 
transferred  to  Sierra  Leone ;  and  thus  became  the 
foundation  of  the  British  African  colony  there. 
The  restitution  of  deported  slaves,  stipulated  in 
the  first  article  of  the  Ghent  treaty,  could  not  be 
accomplished  between  the  two  powers ;  they  dis- 
agreed as  to  the  meaning  of  words ;  and,  after 
seven  years  of  vain  efforts  to  come  to  an  under- 
standing, it  was  agreed  to  refer  the  question  to 
arbitrament.  The  Emperor  Alexander  accepted 
the  office  of  arbitrator,  executed  it,  and  decided 
in  favor  of  the  United  States.  That  decision  was 
as  unintelligible  to  Great  Britain  as  all  the  pre- 
vious treaty  stipulations  on  the  same  subject  had 
been.  She  could  not  understand  it.  A  second 
misunderstanding  grew  up,  giving  rise  to  a  second 
negotiation,  which  was  concluded  by  a  final 
agreement  to  pay  the  value  of  the  slaves  carried 
off.  In  1827  payment  was  made — twelve  years 
after  the  injury  and  the  stipulation  to  repair  it, 
and  after  continued  and  most  strenuous  exertions 
to  obtain  redress. 

The  case  was  this :  it  was  a  part  of  the  system 
of  warfare  adopted  by  the  British,  when  operat- 
ing in  the  slavo  States,  to  encourage  the  slaves  to 
desert  from  their  owners,  promising  them  free- 
dom ;  and  at  the  end  of  the  war  these  slaves 
were  carried  off.  This  carrying  ott'  was  foreseen 
by  the  United  States  Commissioners  at  (Jlient, 
and  in  the  first  article  of  the  treaty  wns  pro- 
vided against  in  these  words ;  "  all  places  taken, 
&c.  shall  be  restored  without  delay,  <S;c.,  or  car- 
rying away  any  of  the  artillery,  or  other  publio 


property 

places,  ai 

exchange 

any  slav( 

British   ( 

limitation 

that  whic 

only  sucli 

within  th( 

the  time  c 

struction 

were  indi 

whole;  ar 

change  of 

ed  the  re! 

given  to  th 

and  by  wl 

were  held 

der  the  Br 

pensated  fo 

confined  tl 

nant  to  the 

vate  propel 

compensati( 

how  acquir 

The  poir 

Kmperor  Al 

ed  by  their 

Great  Brita 

Nesselrode  i 

gunients  to 

Majesty's  d 

United  Stal 

inderanificat 

property  ca 

and,  as  the 

cially,  for  al 

by  the  Briti 

tories  of  whi 

the  treaty,  in 

ries."   This 

ter  undertoo 

to  slaves  wl 

troops  to  fre' 

came  from  ] 

British  troop 

effect  to  the 

to  be  laid  b 

Alexander  gi 

categorical  r( 

said:  "  the  E 

sent  of  the  t 


ANNO  1827.    JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  PRESIDENT. 


property  originally  captured  in  the  said  posts  or 
places,  and  which  shall  remain  therein  upon  the 
exchange  of  the  ratifications  of  this  treaty,  or 
any  slaves  or  other  private   property."     The 
British   Government  undertook  to  extend  the 
limitation  which  applied  to  public  property  to 
that  which  was  private  also ;  and  so  to  restore 
only  such  slaves  as  were  originally  captured 
within  the  forts,  and  which  remained  therein  at 
the  time  of  the  exchange  of  ratifications— a  con- 
struction which  would  have  excluded  all  that 
were  induced  to  run  away,  being  nearly  the 
whole ;  and  all  that  left  the  forts  before  the  ex- 
Change  of  ratifications,  which  would  have  includ- 
ed the  rest.    She  adhered  to  the  construction 
given  to  the  parallel  article  in  the  treaty  of  1783, 
and  by  which  all  slaves  taken  during  the  war 
were  held  to  be  lawful  prize  of  war,  and  free  un- 
der the  British  proclamation,  and  not  to  be  com- 
pensated for.  The  United  States,  on  the  contrary, 
confined  this  local  limitation  to  things  appurte- 
nant to  the  forts ;  and  held  the  slaves  to  be  pri- 
vate property,  subject  to  restitution,  or  claim  for 
compensation,  if  carried  away  at  all,  no  matter 
how  acquired. 

The  point  was  solemnly  carried  before  the 
Hmjeror  Alexander,  the  United  States  represent- 
ed by  their  minister,  Mr.  Henry  Middleton,  and 
Great  Britain  by  Sir  Charles  Bagot— the  Counts 
Nesselrode  and  Capo  D'Istrias  receiving  the  ar- 
guments to  be  laid  before  the  Emperor.    His 
Majesty's  decision  was  peremptory ;  '•  that  the 
United  States  of  America  are  entitled  to  a  just 
indemnification  from  Great  Britain  for  all  private 
property  carried  away  by  the  British  forces; 
and,  as  the  question  regards  slaves  more  pspt- 
cially,  for  all  such  slaves  as  were  carried  away 
by  the  British  forces  from  the  places  and  terri- 
tories of  which  the  restitution  was  stipulated  by 
the  treaty,  iu  quitting  the  said  places  and  territo- 
ries."  This  \ras  explicit ;  but  the  British  minis- 
ter undertook  to  understand  it  as  not  applying 
to  slaves  who  voluntarily  joined  the   British 
troops  to  freo  themselves  from  bondage,  and  who 
came  from  places  never  in  possession  of  the 
British  troops;  and  he  submitted  a  note  to  that 
effect  to  the  Kussian  minister.  Count  Nesnelrodc, 
to  bo  laid  before  the  Emperor.    To  this  note 
Alexander  gave  an  answer  which  is  a  model  of 
categorical  reply  to  i.nfoimd:d  dubitation.     Ho 
said:  "  the  Emperor  having,  by  the  mutual  con- 
sent of  the  two  plenipotentiaries,  given  an  opin- 


89 


ion,  founded  solely  upon  the  sense  which  results 
from  the  text  of  the  article  in  dispute,  does  not 
think  himself  called  upon  to  decide  here  any 
question  relative  to  what  the  laws  of  war  permit 
or  forbid  to  the  belligerents ;  but,  always  faithful 
to  the  grammatical  interpretation  of  the  first  ar- 
ticle of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  his  Imperial  Majesty 
declai-es,  a  second  time,  that  it  appears  to  him, 
according  to  this  interpretation,  that,  in  quitting 
the  places  and  territories  of  which  the  treaty  of 
Ghent  stipulates  the  restitution  to  the  United 
States,  his  Britannic  Majesty's  forces  had  no 
right  to  carry  away  from  the  same  places  and 
territories,  absolutely,  any  slave,  by  whatever 
means  he  had  fallen  or  come  into  their  power." 
This  was  the  second  declaration,  the  second  de- 
cision of  the  point;  and  both   parties  having 
bound  themselves  to  abide  the  decision,  be  it 
what  it  might,  a  convention  was  immediately  con- 
cluded •'-'•  the  purpose  of  carrying  the  Emperor's 
decisio       .to  effect,  by  establishing  a  board  to 
ascertain  the  number  and  value  of  the  deported 
slaves.     It  was  a  convention  formally  drawn 
up,  signed  by  the  ministers  of  the  three  powers 
done  in  triplicate,  ratified,  and  ratifications  ex- 
changed, and  the  affair  considered  finished.     Not 
so  the  fact !    New  misunderstanding,  now  nego- 
tiation, five  years  more  consumed  in  diplomtTtic 
notes,  and  finally  a  new  convention  concluded! 
Certainly  it  was  not  the  value  of  the  property 
m  controversy,  not  the  amount  of  money  to  be 
paid,  that  led  Great  Britain  to  that  pertinacious 
resistance,  bordering  upon  cavilling  and  bad  faith. 
It  was  the  loss  of  an  advantage  in  war— the  loss 
of  the  future  advantage  of  operating  upon  the 
slave  States  through  their  slave  property,  and 
which  advantage  would  be  lost  if  this  compensa- 
tion was  enforced,-which  induced  her  to  stand 
out  so  long  against  her  own  stipulations,  and  the 
decisions  of  her  own  accepted  arbitrator. 

This  new  or  third  treaty,  making  indemnity 
for  these  slaves,  was  negotiated  at  London  No- 
vember, 182G,  between  Mr.  Gallatin  on  the  part 
of  the  United  States,  and  Messrs.  Iluskisson  and 
Addington  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain.  It  com- 
menced with  reciting  that  "  difficulties  having 
arisen  in  the  execution  of  the  convention  conclud- 
ed at  St.  Petersburg,  July  12th,  1822,  under  the 
mediation  of  his  majesty  the  Emperor  of  all  the 
Russias,  between  the  United  States  of  America 
and  Great  Britain,  for  the  purpose  of  carrying 
into  effect  the  decision  of  his  Imperial  Majesty 


M 


90 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


upon  the  differences  which  had  arisen  between 
the  said  United  States  and  Great  Britain  as  to 
the  true  construction  and  meaning  of  the  first 
article  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  therefore  the  said 
parties  agree  to  treat  again,"  &c.  The  result  of 
this  third  negotiation  was  to  stipulate  for  the 
payment  of  a  gross  sum  to  the  government  of 
the  United  States,  to  be  by  it  divided  among 
those  whose  slaves  had  been  carried  off:  and  the 
sum  of  one  million  two  hundred  and  four  thou- 
sand nine  hundred  and  sixty  dollars  was  the 
amount  agreed  upon.  This  sum  was  satisfactory 
to  the  claimants,  and  was  paid  to  the  United 
States  for  their  benefit  in  the  year  1827  —just 
twelve  years  after  the  conclusion  of  the  war,  and 
after  two  treaties  had  been  made,  and  two  arbi- 
trations rendered  to  explain  the  meaning  of  tlie 
first  treaty,  and  which  fully  explained  itself. 
Twelve  years  of  persevering  exertion  to  obtaui 
the  execution  of  a  treaty  stipulation  which  solely 
related  to  private  property,  and  which  good  faith 
and  sheer  justice  required  to  have  been  complied 
with  immediately  !  At  the  commencement  of 
the  session  of  Congress,  1827-28,  the  President, 
Mr.  John  Quincy  Adams,  was  able  to  communi- 
cate the  fact  of  the  final  settling  and  closing  up 
of  this  demand  upon  the  British  government  for 
the  value  of  the  slaves  carried  off  by  its  troops. 
The  sum  received  was  large,  and  ample  to  pay 
the  damages ;  but  that  was  the  smallest  part  of 
the  advantage  gained.  The  example  and  the 
principle  were  the  main  points — the  enforcement 
of  such  a  demand  against  a  government  so  power- 
ful, and  after  so  much  resistance,  and  the  con- 
demnation which  it  carried,  and  the  responsibilty 
which  it  implied — this  was  the  grand  advantage. 
Liberation  and  abduction  of  slaves  was  one  of 
the  modes  of  warfare  adopted  by  the  British,  and 
largely  counted  on  as  a  means  of  harassing  and 
injuring  one  half  of  the  Union.  It  had  been 
practised  during  the  Revolution,  and  indemnity 
avoided.  If  avoided  a  second  t';,ie,  impunity 
would  have  sanctioned  the  practice  and  rendered 
it  inveterate ;  and  in  future  wars,  not  only  with 
Great  Britain  but  with  all  powers,  this  mode  of 
annoyance  would  have  become  an  ordinary  re- 
sort, leading  to  servile  insurrections.  The  in- 
demnity exacted  carried  along  with  it  the  con- 
demnation of  the  pi-actice,  as  a  spoliation  of 
private  property  to  be  atoned  for ;  and  was  both 
a  compun.sation  for  the  past  and  a  warniag  for 
the  future.    It  implied  a  responsibility  wliich  uo 


power,  or  art,  or  time  could  evade,  and  the  pnn- 
ciple  of  which  being  established,  there  will  be  no 
need  for  future  arbitrations. 

I  have  said  that  this  article  in  the  treaty  of 
Ghent  for  restitution,  or  compensation,  for  do. 
ported  slaves  was  brought  to  a  better  issue  than 
its  parallel  in  the  treaty  of  peace  of  178.3.  By 
the  seventh  article  of  this  treaty  it  was  det  larcd 
that  the  evacuation  (by  the  British  troops)  sliould 
be  made  "  without  carrying  away  any  negroes  or 
other  property  belonging  to  the  American  in- 
habitants." Yet  three  thousand  slaves  were 
carried  away  (besides  ten  times  that  number— 
27,000  in  Virginia  alone— perishing  of  disea.se  in 
the  British  camps)  ;  and  neither  restitution  nor 
compensation  made  for  any  part  of  them.  Both 
were  resisted— the  restitution  by  Sir  Guy 
Carleton  in  his  letter  of  reply  to  Washington's 
demand,  declaring  it  to  be  an  impossible  infamy 
in  a  British  officer  to  give  up  those  whom  they 
had  invited  to  their  standard ;  but  reserving  the 
point  for  the  consideration  of  his  government,  and, 
in  the  mean  time,  allowing  and  facilitating  tiie 
taking  of  schedules  of  all  slaves  taken  away— 
names,  ages,  sex,  former  owners,  and  istatci 
from  which  taken.  The  British  government 
resisted  compensation  upon  the  ground  of  war 
captures ;  that,  being  taken  in  war,  no  matter 
how,  they  became,  like  other  plunder,  the  pi'o- 
perty  of  the  captors,  Avho  had  a  right  to  dispose 
of  it  as  they  pleased,  and  had  chosen  to  set  it 
free;  that  the  slaves,  having  become  fiee,  bo- 
longed  to  nobody,  and  consequently  it  was  no 
breach  of  the  treaty  stipulation  to  carry  tiiem 
away.  This  ground  was  contested  by  the  Con- 
gress of  the  confederation  to  the  end  of  its  exist- 
ence, and  afterwards  by  the  new  federal  govern- 
ment, from  its  commencement  until  the  claim 
for  indemnity  was  waived  or  abandoned,  at 
the  conclusion  of  Jay's  treaty,  in  1790,  Tlie 
very  first  message  of  Washington  to  Confjrcss 
when  he  became  President,  presented  the  ine.vo- 
cution  of  the  treaty  of  peace  in  this  particular, 
among  others,  as  one  of  the  complaints  justly 
existing  against  Great  Britain  ;  and  all  the  di- 
plomiujy  of  his  administration  was  exerted  to 
obtain  redress— in  vain.  The  treaties  of  "J4  and 
'90  were  both  signed  without  allusion  to  the  sub- 
ject ;  and,  being  left  unprovided  for  in  these  trea- 
ties, the  claim  sunk  into  the  class  of  obsolete  de- 
mands ;  and  the  stipulation  remained  in  the  treaty 
a  dead  letter,  although  containing  the  piecisu 


mi 


% 


words,  anc 

the  Emper 

mandcd  cc 

nients  four 

had  been  i 

ujioD  priva 

tlie  confedi 

and  even  o 

copies  of  t 

it ;  and  ho 

extinguish 

bitter  com] 

gross  debai 

abundantly 

Northeri 

getting  coi 

more,  estal 

be  corapen 

carried  aw 

of  the  comr 

stipulation 

Adams,  Ru 

Clay  and  ] 

Northern  i 

Northern  F 

finally  obta 

thy  of  rem 

who  was  fl 

batcr  in  Co: 

argument  (i 

of  Mr.  Mad 

the  British 

of  this  artic 

I  am  no  I 

federal'  gov 

which  exhui 

cility  with  v 

in  the  hand.? 

next  to  noth 

the  argume 

claim  is  noi 

applies  witli 

whose  slaves 

Revolution  t 

ation  claims. 

tiieir  per.sons 

voluntary  or 

*lenee  of  thcii 

spoiled  of  thi 

these  slave."*  i 

were  suppor 

debt  to  Britis 


ANNO  1827.    JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  PRESIDENT. 


91 


4 
I 


words,  and  the  additional  one  "negroes," on  Tvhich 
the  Emperor  Alexander  took  the  stand  w'  com- 
manded compensation  and  dispensed  ■.  '■  argu- 
ments founded  in  the  laws  of  war.  No ':  a  shilling 
had  been  received  for  that  immense  depredation 
upon  private  property ;  although  the  Congress  of 
the  confederation  adopted  the  strongest  resolves 
and  even  ordered  each  State  to  be  furnished  with 
copies  of  the  schedules  of  the  slaves  taken  from 
it ;  and  hopes  of  indemnity  were  kept  alive  imtll 
extinguished  by  the  treaty  of  '96.  It  was  a 
bitter  complaint  against  that  treaty,  as  the  Con- 
gress debates  of  the  time,  and  the  public  press, 
abundantly  show. 

Northern  men  did  their  duty  to  the  South  in 
getting  compensation  (and,  what  is  infinitely 
more,  establishing  the  principle  that  there  shall 
be  compensation  in  such  cases)  for  the  slaves 
carried  away  in  the  war  of  1812.  A  majority 
of  the  commissioners  at  Ghent  who  obtained  the 
stipulation  for  indemnity  were  Northern  men- 
Adams,  Russell,  Gallt»tin,  from  the  free,  and 
Clay  and  Bayard  fr;AA  the  slave  States.  A 
Northern  negotiator  (Mr.  Gallatin),  under  a 
Northern  Prcsider^t  (Mr.  John  Quincy  Adams), 
finally  obtained  i(;  and  it  is  a  coincidence  wor- 
thy of  remark  that  this  Northern  negotiator, 
who  was  finally  successful,  was  the  same  de- 
bater in  Congress,  in  '96,  who  delivered  tho  best 
argument  (in  my  opinion  surpassing  even  that 
ofMr.  Madison),  against  tho  grounds  on  which 
the  British  Government  resisted  the  execution 
of  this  article  of  the  treaty. 

I  am  no  man  to  stir  up  old  claims  against  the 
federal-  government;    and,  I  detest  the  trade 
which  exhumes  such  claims,  and  deplore  the  fa- 
cility with  which  they  are  considered— too  often 
in  the  hands  of  speculators  who  gave  nothing,  or 
next  to  nothing,  for  them.     But  I  must  say  that 
the  argument  on  which  the  French  spoliation 
claim  is  now  receiving  so  much  consideration, 
applies  with  infinitely  more  force  to  the  planters 
whose  slaves  were  taken  during  the  war  of  the 
Revolution  than  in  behalf  of  these  French  spoli- 
ation claims.    They  were  contributing-some  in 
tiicir  persons  in  the  camp  or  council,  all  in  their 
voluntary  or  tax  contributions-to  the  indepen- 
tlcncc  of  their  country  when  they  were  thus  de- 
spoiled of  their  property.     They  depended  upon 
these  slaves  to  support  their  families  while  they 
were  supporting  their  country.     They  were  in 
debt  to  British  merchants,  and  relied  upon  com- 


pensation for  these  slaves  to  pay  those  debts,  at 
the  very  moment  when  compensation  was  aban- 
doned by  tho  same  treaty  which  enforced  the 
payment  of  the  debts.    They  had  a  treaty  obli- 
gation for  indemnity,  express  in  its  terms,  and 
since  shown  to  be  valid,  when  deprived  of  this 
stipulation  by  another  treaty,  in  order  to  obtain 
general  advantages  for  the  whole  Union.     This 
is  something  like  taking  private  property  for 
public  use.    Three  thousand  slaves,  the  property 
of  ascertained  individuals,  protected  by  a  treaty 
stipulation,  and  afterwards  abandoned  by  another 
treaty,  against  the  entreaties  and  remonstrances 
of  tho  owners,  in  order  to  obtain  the  British 
commercial  treaty  of  '94,  and  its  supplement  of 
'96 :  such  is  tho  case  which  this  revolutionary 
spoliation  of  slave  property  presents,  and  which 
puts  it  immeasurably  ahead  of  tho  French  spoli- 
ation claims  prior  to  1800.    There  is  but  four 
years'  difference  in  their  ages— in  the  dates  of 
tho  two  treaties  by  which  they  were  respectively 
surrendered— and  every  other  difference  between 
the  two  cases  is  an  argument  of  preference  in 
favor  of  the  losers  under  tho  treaty  of  1796. 
Yet  I  am  against  both,  and  each,  separately  or 
together ;  and  put  them  in  contrast  to  make  one 
stand  as  an  argument  against  the  other.     But 
the  primary  reason  for  introducing  the  slave 
spoliation  case  of  1783,  and  comparing  its  less 
fortunate  issue  with  that  of  1812,  was  to  show 
that  Northern  men  will  do  justice  to  the  South; 
that  Northern  men  obtained  for  the  South  an 
indemnity  and  security  in    our  day  which  a 
Southern  Administration,  with  Washington  at 
its  head,  had  not  been  able  to  obtam  in  the  days 
of  our  fathers. 


CHAPTER    XXXIII. 

MEETING  OF  THE  FIRST  CONGRESS  ELECTED  UN- 
DER  THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  MR.  ADAMS. 


The  nineteenth  Congress,  commencing  its  legal 
existence,  March  the  4th,  1825,  had  been  chiefly 
elected  at  tho  time  that  Mr.  Adams'  administra- 
tion commeucud,  and  the  two  Houses  stood  di- 
vided with  respect  to  him— the  majority  of  the 
Itcpresentatives  being  favorable  to  him,  while  tho 


92 


THIRTY  YEAR'S  VIEW. 


I1 1 


majority  of  the  Senate  was  in  opposition.  The 
olcctiona  for  the  twentieth  Congress— the  first 
under  his  administration — wci  o  looked  to  with 
great  interest,  both  as  showing  whether  the  new 
President  was  supported  by  the  country,  and  his 
election  by  the  House  sanctioned,  and  also  as  an 
index  to  the  issue  of  the  ensuing  presidential 
election.  For,  simultaneously  with  the  election 
ki  the  House  of  Representatives  did  the  canvass 
for  the  succeeding  election  begin— General  Jack- 
eon  being  the  announced  candidate  on  one  side, 
and  Mr.  Adams  on  the  other ;  and  the  event  in- 
volving not  only  the  question  of  merits  between 
the  parties,  but  also  the  question  of  approved  or 
disapproved  conduct  on  the  part  of  the  represen- 
tatives who  elected  Mr.  Adams.  The  elections 
took  place,  and  resulted  in  placing  an  opposition 
majority  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  and 
increasing  the  strength  of  the  opposition  majori- 
ty in  the  Senate.  The  state  of  parties  in  the 
House  was  immediately  tested  by  the  election  of 
speaker,  Mr.  John  W.  Taylor,  of  New- York, 
the  administration  candidate,  being  defeated  by 
Mr.  Andrew  Stevenson,  of  Virginia,  in  the  op- 
position. The  appointment  of  the  majority  of 
members  on  all  the  committees,  and  their  chair- 
men, in  both  Houses  adverse  to  the  administra- 
tion, was  a  regular  consequence  of  the  .'nflamed 
state  of  parties,  although  the  proper  conducting 
of  the  public  business  would  demand  for  the  ad- 
ministration the  chairman  of  several  important 
committees,  as  enabling  it  to  place  its  measures 
fairly  before  the  House.  The  speaker  (Mr.  Ste- 
venson) could  only  yield  to  this  just  sense  of 
propriety  in  the  case  of  one  of  the  committees, 
that  of  foreiuii  relations,  to  which  Mr.  Edward 
Everett,  classing  as  the  political  and  personal 
friend  of  the  President,  was  appointed  chairman. 
In  other  committees,  and  in  both  Houses,  the 
stem  spirit  of  the  times  prevailed ;  and  the  or- 
ganization of  the  whole  Congress  was  adverse  to 
the  administration. 

The  presidential  message  contained  no  new 
recommendations,  but  referred  to  those  previ- 
ously made,  and  not  yet  acted  upon;  among 
which  internal  improvement,  and  the  encourage- 
ment of  home  industry,  were  most  prominent. 
It  gave  an  account  of  the  failure  of  the  proposed 
congress  of  Panama ;  and,  consequently,  of  the 
inutility  of  all  our  exertions  to  be  represented 
there.  And,  as  in  this  final  and  valedictory  no- 
tice by  Mr.  Adams  of  that  once  far-famed  con- 


gress, he  took  occasion  to  disclaim  some  views 
attributed  to  him,  I  deem  it  just  to  give  him  tho 
benefit  of  his  own  words,  both  in  making  the 
disclaimer,  and  in  giving  the  account  of  tlie 
abortion  of  an  impracticable  scheme  which  had 
so  lately  been  prosecuted,  and  opposed,  with  so 
much  heat  an  '  /iolence  in  our  own  country.  He 
said  of  it : 

"  Disclaiming  alike  all  right  and  all  intention 
of  interfering  in  those  concerns  which  it  is  the 
prerogative  of  their  independence  to  regulate  as 
to  them  shall  seem  fit,  we  hail  with  joy  every 
indication  of  their  prosperity,  of  their  harmony 
of  their  persevering  and  inflexible  homage  to 
those  principles  of  freedom  and  of  equal  rights 
which  are  alone  suited  to  the  genius  and  temper 
of  the  American  nations.  It  has  been  therefore 
with  some  concern  that  we  have  observed  ini- 
cations  of  intestine  divisions  in  some  of  the  re- 
publics of  the  South,  and  appearances  of  less 
union  with  one  another,  than  we  believe  to  be 
the  interest  of  all.  Among  the  results  of  this 
state  of  things  has  been  that  the  treaties  con- 
cluded at  Panama  do  not  appear  to  have  been 
ratified  by  the  contractmg  parties,  and  that  the 
meeting  of  the  Congress  at  Tacubaya  has  been 
indefinitely  postponed.  In  accepting  the  invita- 
tions to  be  represented  at  this  Congress,  while  a 
manifestation  was  intended  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States,  of  the  most  friendly  dispoHition 
towards  the  Southern  republics  by  whom  it 
had  been  proposed,  it  was  hoped  that  it  would 
furnish  an  opportunity  for  bringing  all  tho  na- 
tions of  this  hemisphere  to  the  common  acknow- 
ledgment and  adoption  of  the  principles,  in  the 
regulation  of  their  international  relations,  which 
would  have  secured  a  lasting  peace  and  harmony 
between  them,  and  have  promoted  the  cause  of 
mutual  benevolence  throughout  the  globe.  But 
as  obstacles  appear  to  have  arisen  to  the  re- 
assembling of  the  Congress,  one  of  the  two  min- 
isters commissioned  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States  has  returned  to  the  bosom  of  his  country, 
while  the  minister  charged  with  the  ordinary 
mission  to  Mexico  remains  authorized  to  attend 
at  the  conferences  of  the  Congress  whenever 
they  may  be  resumed." 

This  is  the  last  that  was  heard  of  that  so  much 
vaunted  Congress  of  American  nations,  and  in 
the  manner  in  which  it  died  out  of  itself,  among 
those  who  proposed  it,  without  ever  having  been 
reached  by  a  minister  from  the  United  States, 
we  have  the  highest  confirmation  of  the  sound- 
ness of  the  objections  taken  to  it  by  the  opposi- 
tion members  of  the  two  Houses  of  our  Con- 
gress. 

In  stating  the  condition  of  the  finances,  tho 
message,  without  intending  it,  gave  proof  of  the 
paradoxical  proposition,  first,  I  believe,  broached 


by  inysoU;  that  an  annual  revenue  to  the  extent 
of  a  fourth  or  a  fifth  below  the  annual  expendi- 
ture, «  sufficient  to  meet  that  annual  expendi- 
ture; and  consequently  that  there  is  no  neces- 
sity to  levy  as  much  as  is  expended,  or  to  pro- 
vide by  law  for  keeping  a  certain  amount  in  the 
t.msury  when  the  receipts  arc  equal,  or  superior 
to  the  expenditure.    He  said: 

circd  a„a  fiVight  thoulJcl"  x"huS;redt"d' 
eighty-six   dollars    and   eighteen    cents      S 
receipts  from  that  day  to  ^he  sSth  of  Septm 
bor  last,  as  near  as  the  return.!  nf  fif^      I 
received  can  show  amouJt^^\      "*^™  ^^^ 
eight  hundred   ami  S?t  ?v    5'""  "."^'<^»« 
hundred  and  eigh^-onfdSr!  and'Sl  f'' 
oeiits.      The  receipts  of   the  nrescnJ  n  ^  .'^*' 
e-stimated  at  four  millions  fi^e  hSod  iZff' 
teen  thousand,  added  to  the  above  form  « 

been  applied  to  the  discharge  of  [£  f  •  '^  ^."""^ 
the  public  debt;  the  wK  amounrKh'  ? 

four  hundred  and  fiffw  AZ      ''^,^^'^0  "ve  millions 

exceeding  ir of  ^^^^tsfof't"''"''  ^  ^""^ 
though  falling  short  nffj/f    ?.^  January,  1825, 

of  January  ?ast.»  ^^""^  ^""^^'^^"^  ^^  the  first 

In  this  statement  the  expenditures  of  fl.„ 

I  j»ls  „„,il  there  In,  1.1?*  ^  """'y  '»  "l" 
!«» Vafa,  (here  ™  a  a"  ,o  "i  ,  ''''" 
f«»m  sii  millions :  whik  ilj  ""' '" 

|"i»™teof .f,„;,:„"fi  „;r  '•''»"'»''' 

h")-  times  ercaler  n„„  .1  'Momc.are 

f^^^ular  payments  f^mtrtr^;;  3 


ANNO  1828.    JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  PRESIDENT. 


93 

the   revenue   itself  is  red^a^^Tbd^^Tu^ 
pendature.     This  is  a  financial  paradox,  sust«^n: 

m  the  state  of  the  treasury  at  all  time*;  yet  I 
have  endeavored  in  vain  to  establish  H^ll 
Congress  ,s  as  careful  as  ever  to  provide  LTn- 
nuai     come  equal  to  the  annual' expend"   e 
and  to  make  permanent  provision  by  law  to  kl' 

ther::;^"-;!;^*^^""^^  ^^-^  --''"o 

there  of  Itself  without  such  law  as  lon^asthft 
The  following  members  composed  tho  fn,« 

^^»»^.ui.iMhe...»io„„ns.:t.s 

SENATE. 

^MAssACHusKxxs-Nathaniel    Silsbee,   Daniel 

kS=5S4i^£S^£ 

BafemTn:''"^^-''"'>^««  ^-^^-son,  Ephraim 
BarS!'"^""-™^->  Marks,  Isaac  D. 
^^  D...w.KK-Louis  MW,  Henry  M.'Ridge- 
^^M.«v...„-_Ezekiel    P.  Chambers,  Samuel 

Macon.       "^^"""^^-John  Branch,  Nathanid 
^  South  C.HouNA-William  Smith,  Robert  Y 
^G.oHou-John  MTherson  Berrien,  Thomas 

,  0«'o-William  a  Ha^S^t'  i"^^  ^'  ^'"^''- 
gles.  iianison,  Benjamin  Rug- 

JotasC"""""'"''""'  """"W,  Joriah  S. 
liams.  '^^t'^"  ^"^s,  Thomas  H.  Wil- 

M.so.._B:j!it^;;;.wdi.m^i^ 

^^HOUSE  OF  BEPKESENTATIVES 


94 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


Barker,  jr.,  Titua  Brown,  Joseph  Hcaley,  Jona- 
than Harvey,  Thomas  Whipple,  jr.— 0. 

Massaciiusf-tts— Samuel  C.  Allen  John  Bai- 
ley, Issac  C.  Bates,  B.  W.  Crowmnshield,  John 
DaVi8,  Henry  W.  Dwight,  Edward  Everett, 
Benjamin  Gorham,  James  L.  Hodges,  John 
Locke,  John  Reed,  Joseph  R.chardson,   John 

Vamum — 15.  ^  tw  ■.       t 

Rhode  Island— Tristam  Burgcs,  Dutce  J. 

Connecticut- John  Baldwin,  Noyes  Barber, 
Ralph  J.  IngersoU,  Orange  Merwm,  Elisha 
Phelps,  David  Plant>— 6.      .     „    ,      ,      ,,  „„ 

VERMONT-Daniel  A.  A.  Buck,  Jonathan 
Hunt,  Rolin  C.  Mallary,  Benjamm  Swift,  George 

"New-Youk— Daniel  D.  Barnard,  George  0. 
Belden,   Rudolph  Runner,  C.   C-   <^ambreleng, 
Samuel  Chase,  John  C.  Clark,  John  D.  Dickon-  | 
gon,  Jonas  Earll,  jr..  Darnel  G.  Garnsey  Na- 
thaniel Garrow,  John  I.  De  Graff  John  Hallock, 
ir.,  Selah  R.  Hobbic,  Michael  Hoffman,  Jcromus 
Joiinson,  Richard  Keese,  Henry  Markell,  H.  C. 
Martind^le,  Dudley  Marvin,  John  Magee,  John 
Maynard,  Thomas  J.  Oakley,  S.  Van  Rensselaer 
Henry  R.  Storrs.  James  Strong,  John  G.  Stower, 
Phineas  L    Tracy,  John  W.  Taylor,  G.  C.  Ver- 
planck,  Aaron  Ward,  John  J.  Wood,  Sdas  Wood, 
David  Woodcock,  Silas  Wright,  jr.— 34. 

New  Jersev- Lewis  Condict,  George  Hol- 
combe,  Isaac  Pierson,  Samuel  Swan,  iidge 
Thompson,  Ebenv<?zer  Tucker— 6 

Pfnnsvlvania- -William    Addaras,    Samuel 
Anderson,   Stephen  Barlow,  James  Buchanan, 
Richard  Coulter,  Chauncey  Forward,  Joseph  t  ry, 
ir.    Innes  Green,   Samuel  D.  Ingham,  George 
Kremcr,  Adam  King,  Joseph  Lawrejice,  Dame 
H  Miller,  Charles  Miner,  John  Mitchell,  Samuel 
M'Kean,  Robert  Orr,  jr.,  William  Ran^ay,  John 
Sergeant,  James  S.  Stevenson,  John  B.  Sterigere, 
Andrew  Stewart.  Joel  B.  Sutherland,  Espy  Van 
Horn,  James  Wilson,  Cleorge  Wolf— 2G. 
Delaware— Kensy  Johns,  jr.— 1. 
MARYLAND-John  Barucy,  Clement  Dorsey, 
Levin  Gale,   John   Leeds   Kerr,  Peter  Little, 
Michael  C.  Sprigg,  G.  C.  Washington,  John  0. 
Weems,  Ephraim  K.  Wilson— 9. 

Virginia— Mark  Alexander,  Robert  Allen, 
Wm.  S.  Archer,  Wm.  Armstrong,  jr.,  John  \Dax- 
bour,  Philip  P.  Barbour,  Burwell  Bassett  N.  U. 
Claiborne,  Thomas  Davenport,  John  Floyd  Isaac 
Leffler,  Lewis  Maxwell,  Charles  F.  Mercer, 
William  M'Coy,  Thomas  Newton,  John  Ran- 
dolph William  C.  Rives.  John  Roane,  Alexan- 
der Smyth,  A  Stevenson,  John  Talliaferro,  James 

Trezvant— 22.  t^  ■  i  t 
North  Carolina- Willis  Alston,  Daniel  L. 
Barringer,  John  II.  Bryan,  Samuel  P.  Carson, 
Henry  W.  Conner,  John  Culpepcr,  Ihomas  li. 
Hall,  Gabriel  Holmes,  John  Long,  Lemuel  ^aw- 
ycr,  A.  II.  Shepperd,  Daniel  Turner,  Lewis  Wil- 
liams  13.  T) 

South  Carolina— John  Carter,  Warren  K. 
Davis  William  Drayton,  James  Hamilton,  jr., 
George  M'Duffie,  William  D.  Martin,   Ihomas 


R.  Mitchell,  Wm.  T.  Nuckolls,  Starling  Tucker 
9 

GroRfiiA— John  Floyd,  Tomlinson  Fort, 
Charles  E.  Hayncs,  George  R.  Gilmer  Wilson 
Lumpkin,Wiley  Thompson.Richard  H.  \\  ililc-*. 

Kentu(KY— Richard  A.  Buckner,  James  Clark, 
Henry  Daniel,  Joseph  Lecompto,  Robert  P. 
Letcher,  Chittenden  Lyon,  Thomas  Metcalfe, 
Robert  M'llatton,  Thomas  P.  Moore,  Charles  A. 
Wickliffe,  Joel  Yancey,  Thomas  Chilton-12. 

Tennessee— John  Bell,  John  Blair,  David 
Crockett,  Robert  Desha,  Jacob  C.  Isacks,  Pryor 
Lea,  John  H.  Marable,  James  C.  Mitchell,  James 

K  Polk 9. 

Ohio— Mordecai  Bartley,  Philemon  Beecher, 

William  Creighton,  jr.,  John  Davenport,  James 

Findlay,  Wm.  M'Lean,  William  Russell.  John 

Sloane.William  Stanberry,  Joseph  Vance,  Saraiiel 

i  F.  Vinton,  Elisha  Whittlesey,  John  Woods,  John 

'  C.  Wright— 14.  ,       ^         ,      rr  IT 

Louisiana— William  L.  Brent,  Henrj-  H. 
Gurlry,  Edward  Livingston— 3. 

Indiana— Thomas  H.  Blake,  Jonathan  Jen- 
nings, Oliver  H.  Smith— 3. 

Mississippi— William  Ilaile— 1. 

Illinois— Joseph  Duncan— 1. 

Alabama— Gabriel  Moore,  John  M'Kee, 
George  W.  Owen— 3. 

Missouri— Edward  Bates — 1. 


delegates. 

Arkansas  Territory— A.  H.  Sevier. 
Michigan  Territory— Austin  E.  Win^. 
Florida  Territory— Joseph  M.  VVhite. 

This  list  of  members  presents  an  immense 
array  of  talent,  and  especially  of  business  talent; 
and  in  its  long  succession  of  respectable  names, 
many  will  be  noted  as  having  attained  national 
reputations— others  destined  to  attain  that  dis- 
tinction—while many  more,  in  the  first  class  o( 
useful  and  respectable  members,  remained  without 
national  renown  for  want  of  that  faculty  which 
nature  seems  most  capriciously  to  have  scatter^ 
among  the  children  of  men— the  fticulty  of  fluent 
and  copious  speech  ;— giving  it  to  some  of  great 
judgment— denying  it  to  others  of  equal, or  sti 
greater  judgment— and  lavishing  it  upon  some 
of  no  judgment  at  all.     The  national  cycsi.'e 
fixed  upon  the  first  of  these  classcs-tiic  men 
of  judgment  and  copious  speech ;  and  even  those 
in  the  third  class  obtain  national  notoriety;  while 
the  men  in  the  second  class— the  men  of  jut 
ment  and  few  words— are  extremely  valued  ma 
respected  in  the  bodies  to  which  they  belun:, 
and  have  great  weight  in  the  conduct  of  business. 
'  They  are,  in  fact,  the  business  men,  often  more 
practical  and  efficient  than   the  great  orator 
This  twentieth  Congress,  as  all  others  that  ban 


it  i 


ANNO  1828.    JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  PRESIDENT. 


been,  container!  a  large  proportion  of  these  most 
useful  and  respectable  members;  and  it  will  be 
ti.o  pleasant  task  of  this  work  to  do  them  the 
justice  which  their  modest  merit  would  not  do 
for  themselves. 


95 


CHAPTER    XXXIV. 

KEVISION  OF  THE  TARIFF. 


The  tariff  of  1828  is  an  era  in  our  legislation 
bemg  the  event   from  which  the  doctrine  of 
nulhfication'-  takes  its  origin,  and  from  which 
a  serious  division  dates  between  the  North  and 
the  South.    It  was  the  work  of  politicians  and 
manufacturers;   and  was  commenced  for  the 
benefit  of  the  woollen  interest,  and  upon  a  bOl 
chiefly  designed  to  favor  that  branch  of  manu- 
facturing industry.     But,  like  all  other  bills  of 
the  kind  It  required  help  from  other  interests  to 
g^  Itself  along;  and  that  help  was  only  to  be 
obtained  by  admitting  other  interests  into  the 
benefits  of  the  bill.    And  so,  what  began  a,s  a 
special  benefit,  intended  for  the  advantage  of  a 
par  icular  interest,  became  general,  and  ended' 
with  mcluflmg  all  manufacturing  interests-or 
at  least  as  many  as  were  necessary  to  make  up 

t,ol  J°  /'"'''"'■^  *°  '^''y  '^-    The  produc- 
tions of  different  States,  chiefly  ift  the  West 

were  favored  by  additional  duties  on  their  rival 
imports ;  as  lead  in  Missouri  and  Illinois,  and 
hemp  of  Kentucky;  and  thus,  though  opposed 
0  the  object  of  the  bill,  many  members  we^e 
n  cessitated  to  vote  for  it.  Mr.  Rowan,  of  Ken- 
tucky, well  exposed  the  condition  of  others  in 
this  .-espect,  in  showing  his  own  in  some  remarks 
which  he  made,  and  in  which  he  said 


1  fiiemilv  to  a  tariff  nf^^^f    ,    '^•'"^'•'I'-y-  ^e  was 

[his  indiviculal  suppoT    ■■  ^"™^*'^Mo  lend  it 
^ilf 'i'p"i'''''"'-'^^''--P''^-^'^°"t'  ''aid  he.  that  it  is 

pisde.iS^^:^,^sa;iri 


tutions.  It  is  the  system  of  equal  rights  and 
privileges  secured  by  the  representativfi^LSe 

^TedsTlh'et'lf'^'  ■";'^'"'  '''••""hiecting'thepS 
cteds  ot  the  labor  of  some  to  taxation  in  fhn 
view  to  enrich  others,  secures  to  all  Z price  Ss 
of  thcr  labor-exempts  all  from  taxation  ex' 
copt  for  the  support  of  the  protecting  i^we'r  of 
the  government.     As  a  tax  necessary  to  So  snn 

no  nac  s.ii<l,  thiil  he  n-ouM  volo  nsainst  the  l,m 

to  Ihc  voto  he  should  give  „p„n  u,i,  ,,,;',""  ?! 
.e  rea«,„,,  which  woSm  inllucnee  him  to  d™ 

r^r,  tf  r4Hrr;;,e»tL's 
Of  c.api„,  rr  £'si';.c;iie"°  S 

Strained,  on  nr incinlos  of   coir.i„f     '    :         "' 
herself  elf  theLtiXwhK^^^^^^^^^ 

ofS:^'-ssSyiXs"i^i??n^^^-* 

those  who  shall  bu.J  ZZLuV^J^'VkZ 

-ep;^o-s-^-'K"^ 

organ  of  the  State  of  Kentucky  he  fe It  'hridf         ' 


Thus,  this  tariff  bill,  like  every  one  admitting 
,  a  variety  of  items,  contains  a  vicious  principle,  by 
:  "  '^'^'^  ^  ^'''J^^ty  may  be  made  up  to  pass  a 
j  measure  which  they  do  not  approve.  But  be 
j  f"'  "^rf {  f .  "S"-ltural  and  manufacturing 
I   fvervl;    ''"•'  *''^  hill,  there  was  anothe: 

I  hat  of  party  politics.  A  presidential  election 
j«as  approaching:  General  Jackson  and  Mr 
Adams  were  the  candidatcr._the  latter  in  favo; 
of  the  American  System  "-of  which  Mr.  Clay 
Oi-s  Secretary  of  State)  was  the  champion,  and 
mdissolubly  connected  with  him  in  the  public 


y 


96 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


I 


mind  in  tlio  issue  of  the  election.     This  tariff 
was  made  an  administration  measure,  and  be- 
came an  issue  in  the  canvass  ;  and  to  tliis  Mr. 
Kowan  significantly  alluded  when  he  spoke  of  a 
tariff  as  being  ''  perverted  by  the  ambition  of 
political  aspirants."    It  was  in  vain  that  the 
manufacturers  were  warned  not  to  mix  their  in- 
terests with  the  doubtful  game  of  politics.   They 
yielded  to  the  temptation— yielded  as  a  class, 
though  with  individual  exceptions— for  the  sake 
of  the  temporary  benefit,  without  seeming  to  re- 
alize  the  danger  of  connecting  their  interests 
with   the  fortunes  of  a  political   party.     This 
tariff  of  '28,  besides  being  remarkable  for  giving 
birth  to  "nullification,"  and  heart-burning  be- 
tween the  North  and  the  South,  was  also  re- 
markable for  a  change  of  policy  in   the  New 
England  States,  in  relation  to  the   protective 
system.    Being  strongly  commercial,  these  States 
bad  hitherto  favored  free  trade  ;  and  Mr.  Web- 
ster was  the  champion  of  that  trade  up  to  1824. 
At  this   session  a  majority  of  those  States,  and 
especially  those  which  classed  politically  w  ^h 
Mr.  Adams  and  Mr.  Clay,  changed  their  policy: 
and  Webster  became  a  champion  of  the  protec- 
tive system.     The  cause  of  this  change,  as  then 
alleged,  was  the  fact  that  the  protective  system 
hadbecome  the  established  policy  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  that  these  States  had  adapted  their 
industry  to  it ;  though  it  was  insisted,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  political  calculation  had  more 
to  do  with  the  change  than  federal  legislation : 
and,  in  fact,  the  question  of  this  protection  was 
one  of  those  which  lay  at  the  foundation  of  par- 
ties, and  was  advocated  by  General  Hamilton  in 
one  of  his  celebrated  reports  of  fifty  years  ago. 
But  on  this  point  it  is  right  that  New  England 
should  speak  for  herself,  which  she  did  at  the  time 
of  the  discussion  of  the  tariff  in  '28  ;  and  through 
the  member,  now  a  senator  (Mr.  Webster),  who 
typified  in  his  own  person  the  change  which  his 
section  of  the  Union  had  undergone.    He  said  : 


"  New  England,  sir,  has  not  been  a  leader  in 
this  policy.  On  the  contrary,  she  held  back,  her- 
self, and  tried  to  hold  others  back  from  it,  from 
the  adoption  of  the  constitution  to  1.S24.  Up  to 
1824,  she  was  accused  of  sinister  and  selfish  de- 
sign", because  she  discountenanced  the  progress 
of  this  policy.  It  was  laid  to  her  charge,  then, 
that  having  established  her  manufactures  herself, 
she  wished  that  others  should  not  have  the  power 
of  rivalling  her;  and,  for  that  reason,  opposed  all 
legislative  en.iouragement.  Under  this  angry 
denunciation  ugainst  her,  the  act  of  1824  passed. 


Now  the  imputation  is  precisely  of  an  opposite 
character.  The  present  measure  ift  pronounced 
to  bo  exclusi\  ly  for  the  benefit  of  New  England; 
to  bo  brought  forward  by  her  agency,  and  de- 
signed  to  gratify  the  cupidity  of  her  wealthy  es- 
tablishments. 

"Both  charges,  sir,  are  equally  without  the 
slightest  foundation.    The  opinion  of  New  Enj;- 
land  up  to  1824,  was  founded  in  the  conviction, 
that'  on  the  whole,  it  was  wisest  and  best,  botli 
for  herself  and  others,  that  manufacturers  should 
make  haste  slowly.     She  felt  a  reluctance  to  trust 
great  interests  on  the  foundation  of  government 
patronage;   for  who  could  tell  how  long  such 
patronage  would  last,  or  with  what  steadiness, 
skill,  or  perseverance,  it  would  continue  to  bo 
granted?     It  is  now  nearly  fifteen  years,  since, 
among  the  first  things  which  I  ever  ventured  to 
say  here,  was  the  expression  of  a  serious  doubt, 
whether  this  government  was  fitted  by  its  con- 
struction, to  administer  aid  and  protection  to 
particular  pursuits;  whether,  having  called  such 
pursuits  into  being  by  indications  of  its  favor,  it 
would  not,  afterwards,  desert  them,  when  troubles 
come  upon  them ;  and  leave  them  to  their  fate, 
Whether  this  prediction,  the  result,  certainly,  of 
chance,  and  not  of  sagacity,  will  so  soon  be  ful- 
filled, remains  to  be  seen. 

"  At  the  same  time  it  is  true,  that  from  tk 
very  first  conmiencement  of    the  governmont 
those  who  have  administered  its  concerns  liavc 
held  a  tone  of  encouragement  and  invitation  to- 
wards those  who  should  embark  in  manufactures, 
All  the  Presidents.  I  believe,  without  exception. 
have  concurred  in  this  general  sentiment ;  and 
the  very  first  act  of  Congress,  laying  duties  of  im- 
post, adopted  the  then  unusual  expedient  of  a 
preamble,  apparently  for  little  other  purpose  tlian 
that  of  declaring,  that  the  duties,  which  it  impos- 
ed, were  imposed  for  the  encouragement  and  pro- 
tection  of  manufactures.     When,  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  late  war,  duties  were  doubieA 
we  were  told  that  we  should  find  a  mitigation  of 
the  weight  of  taxation  in  the  new  aid  and  suc- 
cor which  would  be  thus  allbrdcd  to  our  ou 
manufacturing    labor.      Like    arguments  mre 
urged,  and  prevailed,  but  not  by  the  aid  of  J«« 
I  England  votes,  when  the  tariff  was  aftcrwaris 
1  arranged  at  the  close  of  the  war,  in  181(3.   Fi- 
;  nallv,  after  a  whole  winter's  deliberation,  tlie  act 
of  1824  received  the  sanction  of  both  Houses  oi 
Congress,  and  settled  the  policy  of  the  couiiti  ■. 
What,  then,  was  New  England  to  do?    She» 
fitted    for  '  manufacturing    operations,  by  tlft 
amount  and  character  of  her  population,  bv  her 
i  capital,  by  the  vigor  and  energy  of  her  freelaLur, 
by  the  skill,  economy,  enterprise,  and  pcrsevir- 
i  ance  of  her  peojile.     I  repeat,  what  was  she.  wv 
'dcr  these  circumstances,  to  do?     A  ?rea  an^t 
prosperous  rival  in  her  near  neighborhood,  tliicat- 
i  ening  to  draw  from  her  a  part,  perhaps  a  great 
part,  of  her  foreign  commerce;  was  she  toiK 
or  to  neglect,  those  otlier  nieuiis  of  scckiii?  .^ 
own  prosperity  which  belonged  to  her  cbaractei 

'  nnrl  Lr  nonditioU  ?      WaS    sllC    tO    liold  OUt,  l0^ 


ANNO  1828.    JOHN  QUIXCY  ADAMS,  PRESIDENT. 


ever  against  tho  coiirs-  .  •  tho  government,  and 
SCO  herself  lomng,  on  one  side,  and  yet  making  no 
efforts  to  sustain  herself  on  tho  other?  No  sir 
Nothing  was  left  to  Now  England,  after  tho  act 
ot  1«J4,  but  to  conform  herself  to  tho  will  of 
others.  Nothing  was  left  to  her,  but  to  consider 
that  tho  government  had  fixed  and  detcrminerl 
Its  own  policy  j  and  that  policy  was  protection.  " 

Tho  question  of  a  protective  tariff  had  now 
not  only  become  political,  but  sectional.  In  the 
early  years  of  the  federal  government  it  was  not 
so.  The  tariff  bills,  as  the  i'rst  and  tho  second 
that  were  passed,  declared  in  their  preambles 
that  they  were  for  tho  encouragement  of  manu- 
factures, as  well  as  for  raising  revenue;  but 
then  the  duties  imposed  were  all  moderate- 
such  as  a  revenue  system  really  required ;  and 
there  were  no  ^'minimums;^  to  make  a  false  ba- 

Z  f°^,/^t.?'™'""'"  "^  ''""•^«'  ^y  ^"'^cting 
that  all  which  cost  less  than  a  certain  amount 
should  be  counted  to  have  cost  that  amount- 
and  be  rated  at  the  custom-houso  accordin^v'' 
lu  this  eariy  period  the  Southern  States  were 
as  ready  as  any  part  of  the  Union  in  extending 
the  protection  to  home  industry  which  resulted 
from  the  imposition  of  revenue  duties  on  rival 
imported  articles,  and  on  articles  necessary  to 
ourselves  in   time  of  war;    and  some   of  her 
statesmen  wore  amongst  the  foremost  members 
of  Congress  in  promoting  that  policy.    As  late 
as  1810,  some  of  her  statesmen  were  still  in  favor 
of  protection,  not  merely  as  an  incident  to  reve- 
nue, but  as  a  substantive  object:   and  amomr 
hese  wa.  Mr.  Calhoun,  of  South  Carolina-who 
ven  advocated  the  minimum  provision-Uil  j 
for  the  first  time  introduced  into  a  tariff  bill  and 
upon  his  motion-and    applied  to  the  cotto    ' 

St  tl    Iwf  '  "'^''•^."•^^  -P^«^t-tho  Southern 

Wy  personal    position    was    thnf    nf  ^' 

many  others  i„  tho  n  *  f^''^'** 

opposed  to  1  r  T'  P'-otective  sections- 
count  of  1  .^'  '-'''  ^"*  ^"'"S  ^"h  it,  on  ac- 
count of  the  interest  of  the  Rtnfn  i„  *i, 

tionofsomeofit«nro<I„  <  T      *^°  P'"*'^'-"'^- 


97 


per  centum;  and  it  was  carried.    I  moved  a 
<luty  upon  indigo,  a  former  staple  of  the  South 
but  now  declined  to  a  slight  production;  and  I 
proposed  a  rato  of  duty  in  harmony  with  the 
j  protective  features  of  tho   bill.     No  southern 
member  would  movo  that  duty,  because  ho  op- 
posed tho  principle :  T  move<l  it,  that  the  "Amer- 
ican System,"  as  it  was  called,  should  work 
alike  mall  parts  of  our  America.     I  supported 
the  motion  with  somo  reasons,  and  some  views 
of  the  former  cultivation  of  that  plant  in  tho 
Southern  States,  and  its  present  decline,  thus: 

n^^^ll'^AulTl^o^  proposed  an  amendment,  to 

i  iXo  wifh  i^     ^^  ''^*'  P^'-P«"nd  on  imported 

Kligo,  with  a  progressive  increase  at  the  rate  of 

25  cents  per  pound  per  annum,  until  the  whole 

onjea  to  be  two-fold  in  propos mg  this  duty  first 
to  place  the  American  System  beyond  the  reach 

r.fnnr?P  •;•"'''  ^y  reviving  tho  cultivation 
of  one  of  Its  ancient  and  valuabfe  staples. 

Indigo  was  first  planted  in  the  Caroli^as  and 
Georgia  about  the  year  1740,  and  succeecled  "o 
well  as  to  command  the  attention  of  the  British 
manufacturers  and  the  Uritish  pari  ament  An 
act  was  passed  for  the  eiicourag  .meS  of  its  vv^ 
Inchon  m  these  colonies,  in  the  reign  of  Goo;^ 
nd  ir''  '^?  preamble  to  which  Mr.  B  reaT 

^l„r    't".'""""^"^  *°  the  consideration  of  the 
Senate.    It  recited  that  a  regular,  ample    and 

Sc  ess  "of  ^Ksf  ^^^  T  -^■•^P-3fto  tSe 
success    01   JJntish  manufacturers;   that  the*!? 

port  wi  91 7  nnn  IK  •"  P'^f'''^""  "^  ^^"^  "^t,  the  ex- 
poit  was  .^17,000 lbs.  and  at  the  breakin"'  out  of 
tho  Revolution  t  aoiounted  to  l.loS'ooO  lbs   The 

^'ovinmnnf    w"  ^^T-^  P^'d ;  and  the  British 

nf  fi  ^  T>  '.•  ■r   '-^'^^hnas,  when  thev  were  a  nirt 
of  tie  British  possessions,  now  lookod    o  iSf*' 


98 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


i^^ 


last  few  j'carH  to  6  or  8,000  lbs.  In  tho  mean 
tiino  our  niiinufiictories  were  growing  up ;  and 
having  no  supply  of  indigo  at  home,  they  had  to 
import  from  aliroad.  In  1826  this  importation 
amounted  to  1,15(),()()0  lbs.,  costing  a  fraction  less 
than  two  millions  o**  dollars,  and  had  to  be  paid 
for  almost  entirely  in  ready  money,  as  it  was 
chicliyobtiiiuetl  fioin  places  where  American  pro- 
duce was  in  no  denuind.  Uiwn  this  state  of 
facts,  Mr.  H.  conceived  it  to  bo  tho  part  of  a  wise 
and  prudent  policy  to  follow  tho  examj)le  of  tho 
British  parliament  in  the  reign  of  George  11.  and 
pK>vido  a  home  supply  of  this  indispensable  ar- 
ticle. Our  niiinufacturers  now  paid  a  high  price 
for  fine  indijjo.  no  less  than  $2  50  per  pound,  as 
testified  by  one  of  themselves  before  the  Com- 
mittee on  Miinufactures  raised  in  tho  House  of 
IleprescntativLS.  Tho  duty  which  ho  pro,)osed 
was  only  40  jicr  cent,  upon  that  value,  and  would 
not  even  reach  that  rate  for  four  years.  It  was 
less  than  one  half  the  duty  which  the  same  bill 
proposed  to  lay  instanter  upon  the  very  doth 
which  this  indigo  was  intended  to  dye.  In  th^ 
end  it  would  make  all  indigo  come  cheaper  to  the 
manufactuicr,  as  the  homo  supply  would  soon  be 
equal,  if  not  superior  to  the  demand ;  and  in  the 
mean  time,  it  could  not  be  considered  a  tax  on 
the  manufiicturer,  as  ho  would  levy  the  advance 
which  he  had  to  pay,  with  a  good  interest,  upon 
the  wearer  of  the  cloth. 

"Mr.  B.  then  went  into  an  exposition  of  the 
reasons  for  encouraging  the  home  production  of 
indigo,  and  showed  that  the  life  of  the  American 
System  depended  upon  it.  Neither  cotton  7ior 
woollen  manufactures  could  be  carried  on  with- 
out indigo.  The  consumption  of  that  article  was 
prodigious.  Even  now,  in  the  infant  state  of  our 
manufactories,  the  importation  was  worth  two 
millions  of  dollars:  and  must  soon  bo  worth 
double  or  treble  that  sum.  For  this  great  sup- 
ply of  an  indispensable  article,  we  were  chieliy 
indebted  to  the  jealous  rival,  and  vigilant 
enemy,  of  these  very  manufactures,  to  Great  Bri- 
tain herself.  Of  the  1,150,000  lbs.  of  indigo  im- 
ported, we  bring  020,000  lbs.  from  tlie  British 
East  Indies ;  wliich  one  word  from  the  British 
government  would  stop  for  ever ;  we  bring  the 
further  quantity  of  120,000  lbs.  from  Manilla,  a 
Spanish  possession,  which  British  influence  and 
diplomacy  could  immediately  stop :  and  the  re- 
mainder came  from  different  parts  of  South  Ame- 
rica, and  might  be  taken  from  us  by  the  arts  of 
diplomacy,  or  by  a  monopoly  of  the  whole  on  the 
part  of  our  lival.  A  stoppage  of  a  supply  of  in- 
digo for  one  year,  would  prostrate  all  our  manu- 
factories, and  give  them  a  blow  from  which  they 
would  not  recover  in  many  pears.  Great  Britain 
could  effect  this  stoppage  to  the  amount  of  thiee 
fourths  of  the  whole  quantity  by  speaking  a  sin- 
gle word,  and  of  the  remainder  by  a  slight  exer- 
tion of  policy,  or  the  expenditure  of  a  sum  suffi- 
cient to  monopolize  for  one  year,  the  purchase  of 
what  South  America  sent  into  the  market, 

"  Mr.  B.  said  he  expected  a  unanimous  vote 
in  favor  of  his  amendment.    The  North  should 


vote  for  it  to  sccuro  tho  life  of  tho  American  Sys- 
tem ;  to  give  a  proof  of  their  regard  for  the  South; 
to  sliow  that  the  country  south  of  the  Potomac 
is  included  in  the  bill  for  some  other  purpose  be- 
sides that  of  oppression.  The  South  itself,  al- 
tiiough  opiK).sed  to  the  Anther  increase  of  duties, 
should  vote  for  this  duty  ;  that  tho  bill,  if  it 
passes,  may  contain  one  provision  favorable  to  its 
interests.  Tiie  West  should  vote  for  it  throiiph 
gratitude  for  fifty  years  of  guardian  protection, 
itenerous  defence,  and  kind  assistance,  which  the 
South  had  given  it  under  all  its  trials ;  and  for 
the  purpose  of  enlarging  the  market,  increasing 
the  demand  in  the  South  and  its  ability  to  pur- 
chase  tho  horses,  mules,  and  provisions  whicli  the 
West  can  sell  nowhere  else.  For  himself  he  had 
personal  rea.sons  for  wishing  to  do  this  little  jus- 
tice to  tho  South.  He  was  a  native  of  one  of 
these  States  (N.  Carolina) — the  bones  of  his  fa- 
ther and  his  grandfathers  rested  there.  Her 
Senators  and  Ilepresentatives  were  his  early  and 
his  hereditary  friends.  The  venerable  Senator 
before  him  (Mr.  Macon)  had  been  the  friend  of 
him  and  his,  through  four  generations  in  a 
straight  line  ;  the  other  Senator  (Mr.  Branch) 
was  his  schoolfellow :  the  other  branch  of  the 
legislature,  the  House  of  Representatives,  also 
showed  him  in  the  North  Carolina  delegation, 
the  friends  of  him  and  his  through  successive 
generations.  Nor  was  this  all.  He  felt  for  the 
sad  changes  which  had  taken  place  in  the  South 
in  the  last  fifty  years.  Before  the  Revolution  it 
was  the  seat  of  wealth  as  well  as  of  hospitality. 
.Money,  and  all  that  it  connnanded,  abounded 
there.     But  how  now  ?     All  this  is  reversed. 

"  Wealth  has  fled  from  the  South,  and  settled 
in  the  regions  north  of  the  Potomac,  and  this  in 
tho  midst  of  the  fact  that  the  South,  in  four  staples 
alone,  in  cotton,  tobacco,  rice  and  indigo  (while 
indigo  was  one  of  its  staples),  had  exported  pro- 
duce since  the  Revolution,  to  the  value  of  eight 
hundred  million  of  dollars,  and  the  North  Iwd 
exported  comparatively^  nothing.  This  sum  was 
prodigious ;  it  was  nearly  equal  to  half  the  coin- 
age of  the  mint  of  Mexico  since  tlie  conquest  by 
Cortez.  It  was  twice  or  thrice  the  amount  of 
the  product  of  the  three  thousand  gold  and  silver 
mines  of  Mexico,  for  the  same  period  of  fifty 
yjars.  Such  an  export  would  indicate  unparal- 
leled wealth ;  but  what  was  the  fact  ?  In  place 
of  wealth,  a  universal  pressure  for  money  was 
felt ;  not  enough  for  current  expenses ;  the  price 
of  all  jjroperty  down  ;  the  country  drooping  and 
Imguishing ;  towns  and  cities  decaying  ;  and  the 
frugal  habits  of  the  people  pushed  to  tho  verge 
of  universal  self-denial,  for  the  preservation  of 
their  family  estates.  Such  a  result  is  a  strange 
and  wonderful  phenomenon.  It  calls  upon  states- 
men to  inquire  into  the  cau.se ;  and  if  they  in- 
quire upon  the  theatre  of  this  strange  metamor- 
phosis, they  will  receive  one  universal  answer 
from  all  ranks  and  all  ages,  that  it  is  federal 
legislation  which  ha??  worked  this  ruin.  Under 
this  legislation  the  exports  of  the  South  have 
1  been  made  the  basis  of  the  federal  revenue.  The 


even  a  goo 
States  soutl 
action  of  th 
stand  the  ex 
Iieat  by  the 
to  it  at  nigh 
all  vegetati( 
heat  is  greai 
South  be  ei 
perty  by  a  c 
taking  from 
it. 

"  Every  n( 

action.    No 

the  two  Car 

visions,  exce] 

upon  them. 

tunity  to  fori 

storing  the  c 

pies, — one  of 

Revolution. 

tion  to  the  S( 

tributed   to 

sunk  the  dut; 

five  to  fifteen 

reasons  for  in 

posed.    Wha 

to  it?    Not  I 

which  laid  tl 

factures,  and 

than  half  a  c 

the  two  Care 

much  fifty  ye 

have  now  the 

Mississippi,  an 

kansas,  to  adc 

not  to  the  ami 

will  be  but  fo 

duty  laid  by  1 

and  that  maxi 

by  slow  degree 

to  give  tiuiu  fo 

place  of  the  in 

duty  on  the  m 


ANNO  1828.    JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMH.  PRESIDENT. 


99 


f't 


';-:| 


a 


twenty  odd  millions  nnnnally  lovierl  upon  im- 
poitwl  Rooda,  aro  deducted  out  of  tlio  price  of 
th.ir  cotton,  rice  and  tobacco,  cither  in  the  (hnii- 
nishcd  price  whicii  they  receive  for  theHo  Htaple.s 
in  foreif^n  ports,  or  in  the  increnHcd  price  which 
they  pay  for  the  articles  they  have  to  conHiiine 
at  homo.  Virginia,  the  two  C'arolinas  and  (Jeorgia, 
may  be  said  to  defray  three  fourths  of  the  annual 
cxjienso  of  Kuppt>rtinp;  tlie  federal  poverninent ; 
and  of  this  great  sum  annually  furnished  by  them, 
nothing,  or  next  to  nothing,  is  returned  to  them 
in  the  shape  of  government  expenditure.     That 
exiK-nditiire  flows  in  an  opposite  direction  ;    it 
flows  northwardly,  in  one  uniform,  uninterru[)tcd 
anil  iiorennial  stream  ;  it  takes  the  course  of  trade 
and  of  exchange ;  and  this  is  the  reason  why 
wealth  disappears  from  the  South  and  ri.scsupin 
the  North.     Federal  legislation  does  all  this  ;  it 
does  it  by  the  simple  process  of  eternally  taking 
away  from  the  South,  and  returning  nothing  to 
it.     ff  it  returned  to  the  South  the  wlioler  or 
even  a  good  part  of  what  it  exacted,  the  four 
States  south  of  the  Potomac  might  stand  the 
action  of  this  system,  as  the  earth  is  enabled  to 
stand  the  exhausting  influence  of  the  sun's  daily 
iieat  by  the  refreshing  dews  which  aro  returned 
to  it  at  night;  but  as  the  earth  is  dried  up,  and 
all  vegetation   destroyed   in  regions  where  the 
heat  is  great,  and  no  clews  returned,  so  must  the 
South  be  exhausted  of  its  money  and  its  pro- 
perty by  a  course  of  legislation  which  is  for  ever 
takuig  from  it,  and  never  returning  any  thing  to 

"  Every  new  tariff  increases  the  force  of  this 
action.  No  tariff  has  ever  yet  included  Virginia, 
the  two  Carolinas,  and  Georgia,  within  its  pro- 
vision.s,  except  to  increase  the  burdens  impo.sed 
upon  them.  This  one  alone,  presents  the  oppor- 
tunity to  form  an  exception,  by  reviving  and  re- 
storing the  cultivation  of  one  of  its  ancient  sta- 
ples,—one  of  the  sources  of  its  wealth  before  the 
Revolution.  The  tariff  of  1828  owes  this  repara- 
tion to  the  South,  becau-se  the  tariff  of  1810  con- 
tributed to  destroy  the  cultivation  of  indigo  • 
sunk  the  duty  on  the  foreign  article,  from  twenty- 
five  to  fifteen  cents  per  pound.  These  aro  the 
reasons  for  imposing  the  duty  on  indigo,  now  pro- 
posed    What  objections  can  possibly  be  rai.sed 

V  I  ,^.?*  }°  i^°  ^"^"*y  '  f"''  't  Js  the  .same 
which  laid  the  foundation  of  the  British  manu 
fa<;tures  and  sustained  their  reputation  for  more 
than  half  a  century ;  not  to  the  quantity :  for 
the  two  Carolmas  and  Georgia  alone  raised  as 
much  fifty  years  ago  as  \^e  now  import,  and  we 
have  now  the  States  of  Louisiana,  Alabama,  and 
Mississippi,  and  the  Territories  of  Florida  and  Ar- 
kan.sas  to  add  to  the  countries  which  produce  it : 
no  to  the  amount  of  the  duty  ;  forits  maximum 
wi  I  bo  but  forty  per  cent.,  only  one  half  of  the 
duty  laid  by  this  bill  on  the  cloth  it  is  to  dye  ; 
and  that  maximum  not  immediate,  Sut  attained 
by  slow  degrees  at  the  end  of  four  years,  in  order 
lu  give  tiino  lor  the  domestic  article  to  supply  the 

duty  on  the  manufacturer,  but  on  the  wearer  of 


the  goods ;  from  whom  ho  levies,  with  a  good 
interest  on  the  price  of  the  cloths,  all  that  he  ex- 
pends in  th(!  punihase  of  materials.     For  onco, 
said  Mr.  H.,  I  ex|Mct  a  unanimous  vote  on  a  clause 
in  tho  tariff.     This  indigo  clau.so  must  have  the 
singular  and  unprecedented  honor  of  an  unani- 
mous yoicoin  its  favor.   The  South  must  vote  for  it 
to  revive  the  cultivation  of  one  of  its  most  ancient 
and  valuable  staples ;  the  West  must  vote  for  it 
tlirough  gratitude  for  past  favors— through  grati- 
tude for  tho  vote  on  hemp  this  night*— and  to 
save  enlarge,  and  increase  the  market  for  its  own 
productions  ;  tho  North  must  vote  for  it  to  show 
their  disinterestedness  ;  to  give  one  proof  of  just 
feeling  towards  tho  South  ;  and,  above  all,    to 
save  their  favorite  American  System  from  the 
deadly  blow  which  Great  Britain  can  at  any  mo- 
nient  give  it  by  stopping  or  interrujiting  the  sup- 
plies of  foreign  indigo;  and  tho  whole  Union,  tho 
entire  legislative  body,  must  vote  for  it,  and  vote 
lor  It  with  joy  and  enthusiasm,  becau.se  it  is  im- 
pos.siblo  that  Americans  can  deny  to  sister  States 
of  the  Confederacy  what  a  British  King  and  a 
Uriti.sh  Parliament  granted  to  these  same  States 
wfien  they  were  colonies  and  dependencies  of  the 
British  crown." 

Mr.  Ilayne,  of  South  Carolina,  seconded  my 
motion  in  a  speech  of  wliich  this  is  an  extract: 

"  Mr.  Ilaync  said  ho  was  oppo.sed  to  tliis  bill 
m  Its  principles  as  well  as  in  its  details.   It  could 
a.ssuine  no  shape  which  would  make  it  accepta- 
ble to  hun,  or  which  could  prevent  it  from  ope- 
rating most  opiiressively  and  unjustly  on   his 
constituents.     With  these  views,  he  had  deter- 
mined to  make  no  motion  to  amend  tho  bill  in 
any  respect  whatever ;  but  when  such  motions 
were  made  by  others,  and  he  was  compelled  to 
vote  on  them,  he  knew  no  better  rule  than  to 
endeavor  to  make  the  bill  consistent  with  itself 
On  this  principle  he  had  acted  in  all  the  votes  he 
had  given  on  this  bill.     He  had  endeavored  to 
carry  out  to  its  legitimate  con.sequences  what 
gentlemen  are  plca.sed  to  mi.scall  the  'American 
System.    With  a  fixed  resolution  to  vote  against 
the  bill,  he  still  considered  himself  at  liberty  to 
assist  in  so  arranging  the  details  as  to  extend  to 
every  great  interest,  and  to  all  portions  of  the 
country,  as  far  as  may  be  practicable,  equal  pro- 
tection, and  to  distribute    the  burdens  of  the 
system  equally,  in  order  that  its  benefits  as  well 
as  Its  evils  may  be  fully  tested.     On  this  prin- 
ciple, he  should  vote  for  the  amendment  of  the 
gentleman  from  Mis.souri,  bccau.so  it  was  in  .strict 
conformity  with  all  the  principles  of  the  bill.  As 
a  southern  man,  ho  would  ask  no  boon  for  tho 
South— he  should  propose  nothing ;  but  he  must 
say  that  the  protection  of  indigo  rested  on  the 
same  principles  as  every  other  article  proposed 


•^' 


!- 


*  "Tho  vote  on  Leiup  this  uight"  In  rejecting  Mr.  Web- 
ster's  motion  to  strike  out  the  duty  on  hemp,  and  a  yoto  lu 
whicli  tho  South  wont  unanimously  with  tlie  Weat.—Mte  Iv 
Mr.  B,  ' 


100 


rniRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


h" 


ih 


(he 


'1  -wt  see 

,  their 

.irinciple 

.led?     If 

U,  it  was 


to  bo  rrotMtcd  by  this  bill,  st 
how  frentloitien  could,  (  <"  ' 
maxims,  vot<'  afr(ii»'^t,  it.  Wlia 
on  which  this  bui  » «i*  probm 
there  was  any  prim'i|i|^  iNi  ill 
that,  whenever  the  oomif^rf  had  the  eap#'i|y  tA 
produce  an  nrtide  wiU»  which  any  impor  ,'c'fl  ar- 
ticle could  cntef  i«4b  competition,  the  domestic 
product  wttH  P)  be  proUsiit^Jd  by  a  duty.  Now, 
had  the  Soulhcfll  5>t,ftte«  the  opacity  to  produce 
indigo?  The  soil  ar.id  climate  of  those  States 
were  well  Huited  to  tbt  •  'i"  "  *■  '^be  article.  At 
the  commencement  of  Ui.   .  n  our  exports 

of  the  article  amounted  to  no  it>s  i  tn  1,1(M»,()()0 
lbs.  The  whole  quantity  now  impor t<itl  into  the 
United  States  is  only  l,l,')0,Oi)()  lbs. ;  ho  that  the 
capacity  of  the  country  to  produce  a  sufficient 
quantity  of  indigo  to  supply  the  wants  of  the 
manufacturers  is  unquestionable.  It  is  true  that 
the  (juantity  now  produced  in  the  country  is  not 
great. 

"  In  1818  only  700  lbs.  of  domestic  indigo  were 
exported. 

•'In  1825        9.955  dO. 

"  In  1826        5,289  do. 

"  This  proves  that  the  attention  of  the  country 
is  now  directed  to  the  subject.  The  .senator  from 
Indiana,  in  some  remarks  which  he  made  on  this 
subject  yesterday,  stated  that,  according  to  the 
principles  of  the  American  System  (so  called), 
p'  tion  ""w  not  extended  to  any  article  which 
til  untr)  as  not  in  the  habit  of  exporting. 
This  IS  entii  y  a  mistake.  Of  the  articles  pro- 
tected by  tti.^tariff  of  1824,  ns  well  as  tho.so  in- 
cluded in  viis  bill,  very  few  are  exported  at  all. 
Among  these  are  iron,  woollens,  hemp,  flax,  and 
severivl  others.  If  indigo  is  to  be  protected  at  all, 
the  duties  proposed  must  surely  be  considered 
extremely  reasonable,  the  maximum  proposed 
being  much  below  that  imposed  by  this  bill  on 
wool,  woollens,  and  other  articles.  The  duty  on 
indigo  till  181C,  was  25  cents  \nr  pound.  It  was 
then  (ill  favor  of  the  manufacturers)  reduced  to 
15  cents.  The  first  increase  of  duty  proposed 
here,  is  only  to  put  back  the  old  duty  of  25  cents 
per  pound,  equal  to  an  ai(  valorem  duty  of  from 
10  to  ]5  per  cent. — and  i  o  maximum  is  only 
from  40  to  58  per  cent,  ad  valorem,  and  that  will 
not  accrue  for  .several  years  to  come.  With  this 
statement  of  facts,  Mr.  II.  said  he  would  leave 
the  question  in  the  hands  of  those  gentlemen 
who  were  engaged  in  giving  this  bill  the  form  in 
which  it  is  to  be  submitted  to  the  final  decision 
of  the  Senate." 

The  proposition  for  this  duty  on  ini ported  indigo 
did  not  prevail.  In  lieu  of  iht  -ount  proposed, 
and  which  was  less  than  any  pi  j.  '■'V''  'uty  in 
the  bill,  the  friends  of  the  "  Aw  ru.  •  Syster..." 
(constituting  a  majoritjr  of  the  ijcru  )  ■ '' sti- 
ts'.ted  a  nominal  diitv  of  five  cenw  i  n  -  '-  'lijund 
— to  be  increased  five  cents  annually  for  ten 
years — and  to  remain  at  fifty.    This  was  only 


about  twenty  per  centum  on  the  cost  of  the  a^ 
tide,  and  that  only  to  bo  attained  after  a  pro- 
gn:  ssion  of  ten  years  ;  while  all  other  dutit's  in 
the  bill  #ere  from  four  to  ten  times  that  amount 
— and  to  lake  eO'.t  immediately.  A  duty  so 
c/mtemptiblo,  mj  ")ui  '>f  proportion  to  the  other 
provisions  of  the  bill  and  doled  out  in  such  ini.<- 
rablo  drops,  was  a  mockery  and  insult ;  and  no 
vi.  ,*e<I  by  the  southern  members.  It  increusod 
the  odiousnoss  »>'  the  bill,  by  showing  that  tlic 
southern  section  •■  the  Union  was  only  included 
in  the  "  American  riystem  "  for  its  burdens,  and 
not  for  its  benefits.  Mr.  McDuflle,  in  the  House 
of  Representatives,  inveighed  bitterly  against  it, 
and  spoke  tho  general  feeling  of  the  Southum 
States  when  he  said : 

"  Sir,  if  the  union  of  these  States  shall  ever  Iw 
severed,  and  their  liberties  subverted,  the  histo- 
rian who  records  these  disasters  will  have  to  as- 
cribe them  to  measures  of  this  det^cription.  I  do 
sincerely  believe  that  neither  this  govcrnniciU 
nor  any  free  government,  can  exist  for  a  (luaiKr 
of  a  century,  under  such  a  system  of  legislation. 
Its  inevitable  tendency  is  to  i;orrupt.  not  only  the 
public  functionaries,  but  all  those  portions  of  tlw 
Union  and  clas.ses  of  society  who  have  an  inteitst, 
real  or  imaginary,  in  the  bounties  it  provides,  by 
taxing  other  sections  and  other  classes.  Wiiut, 
sir,  is  tho  essential  characteristic  of  a  freeman  / 
It  is  that  independence  wliich  results  from  au 
habitual  reliance  upon  his  own  resources  and  iiis 
own  labor  for  his  .support.  He  is  not  in  fact  a 
freeman,  who  habitually  looks  to  the  govermiiint 
for  pecuniary  bounties.  And  I  confess  that  no- 
thing in  the  conduct  of  those  who  are  the  inomi- 
nent  advocates  of  this  system,  has  excited  more 
apprehension  and  alarm  in  my  mind,  than  tiie 
constant  elibrts  made  by  all  of  them,  from  the 
Secretary  of  tho  Treasury  down  to  the  huuildest 
coadjutor,  to  impress  upon  the  public  mi!!(l.  tlie 
idea  that  national  prosperity  and  iiidividuai 
wealth  are  to  be  derived,  not  from  indiviiliial  in- 
dustry and  economy,  bui  from  governniunt  Ijoiin- 
tics.  An  idea  more  fatal  to  liberty  could  not  be 
inculcated.  I  said,  on  another  occasion.  I.mt  the 
days  of  Roman  liberty  were  numbered  winn  tie 
people  consented  to  receive  bread  from  tti"  i  ,'.- 
lie  granaries.  From  that  moment  it  .•usr."'*  'lie 
patriot  who  had  .shown  the  greatest  capacity  and 
made  the  greatest  sacrifices  to  serve  the  repubhc, 
but  the  demagogue  who  would  pr(jmi.^e  to  di.s- 
tribute  most  profusely  the  spoils  of  the  jilundered 
provinces,  that  was  elevated  to  office  by  a  (iofrin- 
erate  and  mercenary  iwpulace.  Every  tiiinf;  be- 
came venal,  even  in  the  country  of  Fabrieiiis.  un- 
til finally  §ie  empire  itself  was  .^old  ut  i^ililic 
aucti.;.- '  And  what,  sir,  is  the  nature  iuid  teii- 
dcnc,  of  the  .system  we  are  discuHsinj; ?  It  !«iirs 
an  analogy,  but  too  lamentably  .striking,  to  that 
which  corrupted  the  republican  purity  of  tiie 


Koiiiau  jH'opI 

.surninntu  its 

a  similar  cai 

event  by  no  i 

legislate  |)erii: 

the   election 

question  of  c 

States — dogrn 

the  influential 

this   (iiiion ! 

single  act  like 

lions  of  dollar: 

one  part  of  tl 

con.sider  the  d 

under  which  t 

bition  may  pi 

and  jxilitical  p 

moment,  to  pr 

rect  liounti. :!. 

of  corruption  c 

finictioiiarii.s. 

and  w  'nith  int 

to  "iil>  iMplato 

resist.    Do  we 

the  extraordir 

less  than  one 

means  of  this  u 

an  absolute  an 

ions  of  eight 

fortunes  and  ( 

will  not  antici 

p<Tinit  myself  I 

the  United  Stal 

by  this  system  ( 

I  must  say  thai 

Union  in  which 

were  to  come  fc 

in  his  hanr  nol 

if  his  adversary 

tein  of  qipressi( 

a  talisman  whit 

to  the  Candida 

support  it.     An 

all  the  "multi 

most  immaculat 

in  the  nation  coi 

if  he  should  refi 

imperial  donatio 

Allusions  wci 
nati(  n  of  mam 
ticiuus  in  pressii 
ly  foundation  fo 
of  it  had  been  c( 
ufacturers  in  the 
been  taken  up  b 
a  party  measure 
of  influencing  th 
these  tariff  bills, 
degree  of  prote( 
pendage  of  our 
found  in  every  c 


ANNO  1828.    JOHN  QIIINOY  ADAMS,  PIimiDENT. 


101 


Komiwi  [Hoplc.  (Jo<|  forbid  timt  it  should  con- 
siinunnto  iti<  triumph  over  tlio  pulilic  iihurty,  by 
a  Hiinilnr  cattt.stropho,  tliough  even  thiit  m  an 
ovcut  liy  no  nieauN  irnprohnbic,  if  wo  continue  to 
lc«isIato  fKiriodicnlly  in  this  wny,  nml  to  ronnwt 
the   ilectiou  of  our  l^hief  Mu(j;iNtnito  with    tho 

§)U'stion  of  dividing   out   the  KjMiilH  «)f  certain 
tntcH— degraded  into  Hornau  provinces— amonir 
tho  influential  capitalists  of  tho  other  States  of 
this    Union !     Sir,  when  I  consider   that,  by  a 
single  act  like  tho  present,  from  five  to  ten  mil- 
lions of  dolinrs  may  bo  transferred  annually  from 
one  {lart  of  tho  conmumity  to  another ;  when  I 
consider  tho  .lisguise  of  disinterested  patriotism 
under  which  tho  basest  and  most  profligate  am- 
bition may  perpetralo  such   an  act  of  injustice 
and  [whtical  prostitution,  I  cannot  hesitate,  for  a 
moment,  to  pronounce  this  very  system  of  indi- 
rect bounti  •  .  tho  most  .'.tiipcndo„s  instrument 
of  corruption  ever  nlocod  in  the  hands  of  public 
functinimriia.     It    firings   ambition   and  avarice 
and  «cn!th  into  a  combination,  which  it  is  fearful 
to   onti  I  iplato,  because  it  is  almost  imjxissibie  to 
resist.    Do  wo  not  jjerceive,  at  this  very  moment 
the  extraordinary  and   melancholy  spectacle  of 
less  than  one  hundred  thousand  capitalists  by 
means  of  this  unhallowed  combination,  exercising 
an  absolute  and  desjiotic  control  over  tho  opin- 
ions of  eight  millions  of  free  citizens,  and  tho 
fortunes  and  destinies  of  ten  millions?    Sir  1 
will  not  anticipate  or  forebode  evil.     I  will  not 
permit  myself  to  beliovo  that  the  Presidency  of 
the  United  States  will  ever  bo  bought  and  sold 
by  this  system  of  bounties  and  prohibitions.    IJut 
1  must  say  that  tliero  are  certain  quarters  of  this 
Union  in  which,  if  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency 
were  to  come  forward  with  the  Ilarrisburg  tariff 
m  his  hanr  nothing  could  resist  his  pretensions 
If  his  adversary  were  opposed  to  this  unjust  sys- 
tem of  qipre.ssion.     Yes,  sir,  that  bill  would  be 
a  talisman  which  would  give  a  charmed  existence 
to  the  candidate  who  would  pledge  himself  to 
support  It.     And  although  ho  were  covered  with 
all  the     multiplying  villanios  of  nature,"  the 
most  immaculate  patriot  and  profound  statesman 
in  the  nation  could  hold  no  competition  with  him, 
If  ho  should  refuse  to  grant  this  now  species  of 
imperial  donative."  ^ 

Allusions  wore  constantly  made  to  the  combi- 
nati(  n  of  manuiacturing  capitalists  and  poli- 
ticiaus  in  pressing  this  bill.  There  was  evident- 
ly foundation  for  the  imputation.  The  scheme 
of  it  had  been  conceived  in  a  convention  of  man- 
ufacturers in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  and  had 
been  taken  up  by  politicians,  and  was  pushed  as 
a  party  measure,  and  with  the  visible  purpose 
of  influencing  the  presidential  election.  In  fact 
these  tariff  bills,  each  exceeding  the  other  in  its 
degree  of  protection,  had  become  a  rocr„lnr  an. 
pendage  of  our  presidential  electionslcoming 
round  in  every  cycle  of  four  years,  with  that  re- 


turning event.    Tho  year  181  fl  was  tho  starting 

poiiii     1820,  and   iNUt,  and  now    IH2H,  liaving 
successively  reiumcd  tho  measure,  with  succes- 
sive ■ugmentiiiions  of  dutioa.     Tho  South   be- 
lieved if  >off  impovcrishirl  to  enrich  tho  North 
by  this  syritem ;  and  ccrtjiinly  a  singiilar  and 
uiR.    .pctcd  result  hwi  been  seen  in  these  two 
section.^.      In   tho  colonial  slate,  the  Southern 
were  tho  rich  part  of  tho  colonies,  and  •  vpected 
to  do  well  in  a  siato  of  indep<'ndencc.     They  had 
tho  exports,  and  felt  secure  of  their  prosperity: 
»ot  so  of  the  North,  whoso  agricultiinil  resources 
wore  few,  and  who  expected  jirivations  from  ttie 
loss  of  British  favor.     But  in  the  first  half  cen- 
tury  after    Independence  this   expectation  was 
reversed.     Tho  wealth  of  the  North  was  enor- 
mously aggrandized :  that  of  the  South  had  do- 
dined.    Northern  towns  had  become  great  cities : 
Southern  cities  had  decayed,  or  boeomo  station- 
ary ;  and  Charleston,  tho  principal   port  f  f  the 
South,  wa.s  less  considerable   than   before  tho 
Revolution.     Tho  North  became  a  moiiey-1,  .der 
to  tho  South,  and  southern  citizens  nuuK    pil- 
grimages to  northern  cities,  to  raise  money  u,>on 
tho  hypothecation  of  their  patrimonial   estal  s. 
And  this  in  tho  face  of  a  southern  export  sin  -e 
tho  llcvolution  to  tho  value  of  eight  hundre.1 
millions  of  dollars !— a  sum  equal  to  the  product 
of  tho  Mexican  mines  since  the  days  of  Cortoz ! 
and  twice  or  thrico  the  amount  of  their  product 
in  the  same   fifty  years.    The  Southern  States 
attributed  this  result  to  the  action  of  the  federal 
government— its  double  action  of  levying  reve- 
nue upon   tho  industry  of  ono  section  of  the 
Union  and  expending  it  in  another— and  espe- 
cially to  its  protective  tariffs.    To  some  degree 
this  attribution  was  just,  but  not  to  the  degree 
assumed ;  which  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  the 
protective  system  had  then  only  been  in  force  for 
a  short  time— since  the  year  1816;  and  the  re- 
versed condition  of  the  two  sections  of  the  Union 
had  commenced  before  that  time.     Other  causes 
must  have  had  some  effect:  but  for  the  present 
we  look  to  the  protective  system ;  and,  without 
admitting  it  to  have  done  all  the  mischief  of 
which  the  South  complained,  it  had  yet  done 
enough  to  cause  it  to  be  condemned  by  every 
friend  to  equal  justice  among  the  States— by 
every  frit  .id  to  the  harmony  and  stability  of  the 
T^mon— by  all  who  detested  sectional  legislation 
—by  (Very  enemy  to  the  mischievous  combinsr 
tion  of  partisan  politics  with  national  legislation. 


102 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


And  this  was  the  feeling  with  the  mass  of  the 
democratic  members  who  voted  for  the  tariff  of 
1828,  and  who  were  determined  to  act  upon  that 
feeling  upon  the  overthrow  of  the  political  party 
which  advocated  the  protective  system ;  and 
which  overthrow  they  believed  to  be  certam  at 
the  ensuing  presidential  election. 


CHAPTER    XXXV. 

THE  rUBMC  LANDS— THEIR  PROPER  DISPOSITION 
—GRADUATED  PRICES -PRE-EMPTION  RIGHTS— 
.  DONATIONS  TO  SETTLERS. 

About  the  year  1785  the  celebrated  Edmund 
Burke  brought  a  bill  into  the  British  House  of 
Commons  for  the  sale  of  the  crown  lands,  in 
which  he  laid  down  principles  in  political  econ- 
omy, in  relation  to  such  property,  profoimdly 
sagacious  in  themselves,  applicable  to  all  sove- 
reign landed  possessions,  whether  of  kings  or 
republics — applicable  in  all  countries — and  no- 
where more  applicable  and  less  known  or  ob- 
served, than  in  the  United  States.  In  the  course 
of  the  speech  in  support  of  his  bill  he  said : 

"  Lands  sell  at  the  current  rate,  and  nothing 
can  sell  for  more.  But  be  the  price  what  it  may, 
a  great  object  is  always  answered,  whenever  any 
property  is  transferred  from  hands  which  are  not 
fit  for  that  property,  to  those  that  are.  The 
buyer  and  the  seller  must  mutually  profit  by 
such  a  bargain ;  and,  what  rarely  happens  in 
matters  of  revenue,  the  relief  of  the  subject  will 
go  hand  in  hand  with  the  profit  of  the  Exchequer. 
*  *  *  The  revenue  to  be  derived  from  the 
sale  of  the  forest  lands  will  not  be  so  considera- 
ble as  many  have  imagined ;  and  I  conceive  it 
would  be  imwise  to  scrcw  it  up  to  the  utmost, 
or  even  to  sufler  bidders  to  enhance,  according 
to  their  eagerness,  the  purchase  of  objects, 
wherein  tho  expense  of  that  purchase  may 
weaken  the  capital  to  be  employed  in  their  culti- 
vation. *  *  *  The  principal  revenue  which  I 
propose  to  draw  from  these  uncultivated  wastes, 
is  to  spring  from  the  improvement  and  popula- 
tion of  the  kingdom;  events  infinitely  more 
advantageous  to  the  revemics  of  the  crown  th.in 
the  rents  of  the  best  landed  estate  which  it  can 
hold.  *  *  *  It  is  thus  I  would  dispose  of  the 
unprofitable  landed  estates  of  tlic  crown;  throw 
them  into  the  w,'.'/.<?s  of  private  properly :  by 
wh;jh  they  will  come,  through  the  course  of  cir- 
culation and  through  the  political  secretions  of 
the  State,  into  well-regulated  revenue.    *    *    * 


Thus  would  fall  an  expensive  agency,  with  all 
the  influence  which  attends  it."     . 

I  do  not  know  how  old,  or  rather,  how  young 
I  was,  when  I  first  took  up  the  notion  that  sales 
of  land  by  a  government  to  its  own  citizens,  and 
to  the  highest  bidder,  was  false  policy ;  and  that 
gratuitous  grants  to  actual  settlers  was  the  true 
policy,  and  their  labor  the  true  way  of  extract- 
ing national  wealth  and  strength  from  the  soil. 
It  might  have  been  in  childhood,  when  reading 
the  Bible,  and  seeing  the  division  of  the  prom- 
ised land  among  the  children  of  Israel :  it  might 
have  been  later,  and  in  learning  the  operation  of 
the  feudal  system  in  giving  lands  to  those  who 
would  defend  them :  it  might  have  been  in  early 
life  in  Tennessee,  in  seeing  the  fortunes  and  re- 
spectability of  many  families  derived  from  the 
640  acre  head-rights  which  the  State  of  North 
Carolina  had  bestowed  upon  the  first  settlers. 
It  was  certainly  before  I  had  read  the  speech  of 
Burke  from  which  the  extract  above  is  taken ; 
for  I  did  not  see  that  speech  until  182G ;  and 
seventeen  years  before  that  time,  when  a  very 
young  member  of  the   General  Assembly  of 
Tennessee,  I  wa.s  fully  imbued  with  the  doctrine 
of  donations  to  settlers,  and  acted  upon  the  prin- 
ciple that  was  in  me,  as  far  as  the  case  admitted, 
in  advocating  the  pre-emption  claims  of  the  set- 
tlers on  Big  and  Little  Pigeon,  French  Broad, 
and  Nolichucky.    And  when  I  came  to  the  tlieu 
Territory  of  Missouri  in  1815,  and  saw  land  ex- 
posed to  sale  to  the  highest  bidder,  and  lead 
mines  and  salt  springs  reserved  from  sale,  and 
rented  out  for  the  profit  of  the  federal  treasury, 
I  felt  repugnance  to  the  whole  system,  and  de- 
termined to  make  war  upon  it  whenever  I  sliould 
have  the  power.    The  time  came  round  witli  my 
election  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  in 
1820 :  and  the  years   1824,  '26,  and  '28,  found 
me  doing  battle  for  an  ameliorated  system  of 
disposing  of  our  public  lands;  and  with  some 
success.     The  pre-emption  system  was  estab- 
lished, though  at  first  the  pre-emption  claimant 
was  stigmatized  as  a  trespasser,  and  repulsed  as 
a  criminal ;   the  reserved  lead  mines  and  salt 
springs,  in  the  State  of  Missouri,  were  brought 
into  market,  like  other  lands ;  iron  ore  lands,  in 
tended  to  have  been  withheld  from  sale,  were 
rescued  from  that  fate,  and  brought  into  market. 
Still  the  two  repulsive  features  of  tlic  federal 
land  system — sales  to  the  highest  bidder,  and 
donations  to  no  one — with  an  arbitrary  muiimum 


i 


m 


ANNO  1828.    JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  PRESIDENT. 


103 


price  which  placed  the  cost  of  all  lands,  good 
and  bad,  at  the  same  uniform  rate  (after  the 
auctions  were  over),  at  one  dollar  twenty-five 
cents  per  acre.    I  resolved  to  move  against  the 
whole  system,  and  especially  in  favor  of  gradu- 
ated prices,  and  donations  to  actual  and  destitute 
settlers.    I  did  so  in  a  bill,  renewed  annually 
for  a  long  time ;  and  in  speeches  wliich  had  more 
effect  upon  the  public  mind  than  upon  the  fed- 
eral legislation— counteracted  as  my  plan  was 
by  schemes  of  dividing  the  public  lands,  or  the 
money  arising  from  their  sale,  among  the  States. 
It  was  in  support  of  one  of  these  bills  that  I 
produced  the  authority  of  Burke  in  the  extract 
quoted;  and  no  one  took  its  spirit  and  letter 
more    promptly  and    entirely  than    President 
Jackson.    He  adopted  the  principle  fully,  and 
in  one  of  his  annual  messages  to  Congress  recom- 
mended that,  as  soon  as  the  public  (revolution- 
ary) debt  should  be  discharge!  (to  the  payment 
of  which  the  lands  ceded  by  the  States  were 
pledged),  that  they  should  cease  to  bk  a  sub- 
ject OF  REVENUE,  AND  BE  DISPOSED  OF  CHIEFLY 
WITH  A  VIEW  TO  SETTLEMENT  AND  CULTIVATION. 

His  terms  of  service  expired  soon  after  the  ex- 
tinction of  the  debt,  so  that  he  had  not  an  oppor- 
tunity to  carry  out  his  wise  and  beneficent  design. 
Mr.  Burke  considered   the   revenue  derived 
from  the  sale  of  crown  lands  as  a  trifle,  and  of 
no  account,  compared  to  the  amount  of  revenue 
derivable  from  the  same  lands  through  their 
settlement  and  cultivation.    He  was  profoundly 
right!  and  provably  so,  both  upon  reason  and 
experience.    The  sale  of  the  land  is  a  single 
operation.     Some  money  is  received,  and  the 
cultivation  is  disabled  to  that  extent  from  its 
improvement  and  cultivation.    The  cultivation  is 
perenmal,  and  the  improved  condition  of  the 
farmer  enables  him  to  pay  taxes,  and  consume 
dutiable  goods,  and  to  sell  the  products  which 
command  the  imports  which  pay  duties  to  the 
government,   and    this    is  the  "well-regulated 
revenue"  which  comes  through  the  course  of  cir- 
culation, and  through  the  "political  secretions" 
of  the  State,  and  which  Mr.  Burke  commends 
above  all  revenue  derived  from  the  sale  of  lands 
Does  any  one  .know  the  comparative  amount  of 
revenue  derived  respectively  from  the  sales  and 
from  tho  cultivation  of  lands  in  any  one  of  our 
new  States  where  the  federal  government  was  the 
proprietor,  and  the  auctioneerer,  of  the  lands  ^ 
and  can  he  tell  which  mode  of  raising  money  has 


j  been  most  productive  ?    Take  Alabama,  for  ex- 
ample.    How  much  has  the  treasury  received  for 
lands  sold  within  her  limits  ?  and  liow  much  in 
duties  paid  on  imports  purchased  with  the  ex- 
ports derived  from  her  soij  ?    Perfect  exactitude 
cannot  be  attained  in  the  answer,  but  exact 
enough  to  know  that  the  latter  already  excc-eds 
the  former  several  times,  ten  times  over;  and  is 
perennial  and  increasing  forever !  while  the  sale 
of  the  land  has  been  a  single  operation,  performed 
once,  and  not  to  be  repeated ;  and  disabling  the 
cultivator  by  the  loss  of  the  money  it  took  from 
him.     Taken  on  a  large  scale,  and  applied  to  the 
whole  United  States,  and  the  answer  becomes 
more  definite— but  still  not  entirely  exact.     The 
whole  annual  receipts  from  land  sales  at  this 
time  (1850)  are  about  two  millions  of  dollars :  the 
annual  receipts  from  customs,  founded  almost  en- 
tirely upon  the  direct  or  indirect  productions  of 
the  earth,  exceed  fifty  millions  of  dollars !  giving 
a  comparative  difference  of  twenty-five  to  one 
for  cultivation    over  sales;  and  triumphantly 
sustaining  Mr.  Burke  s  theory.    I  have  looked 
into  the  respective  amounts  of  federal  revenue, 
received  into  the  treasury  from  these  two  sources' 
since  the  establishment  of  the  federal  government ; 
and  find  the  customs  to  have  yielded,  in  that 
time,  a  fraction  over  one  thousand  millions  of 
dollars  net— the  lands  to  have  yielded  a  little  less 
than  one  hundred  and  thirty  millions  gross,  not 
forty  millions  clear  after  paying  all  expenses  of 
surveys,  sales  and  management.     Tliis  is  a  dif- 
ference of  twenty-five  to  one— with  the  further 
difference  of  endless  future  production  from  one 
and  no   future  production  from  the  land  once 
sold;  that  is  to  say,  the  same  acre  of  land  is 
paying  for  ever  through  cultivation,  and  pays 
but  once  for  itself  in  purchase. 

Thus  far  I  have  considered  Mr.  Burke's  theory 
only  under  one  of  its  aspects-the  revenue  as- 
pect: he  presents  another— that  of  population— 
and  here  all  measure  of  comparison  cta^es.     The 
sale  of  land  brings  no  people:  cultivation  pro- 
duces population  :  and  people  are  the  true  wealth 
and  strength  of  nations.     These  various  views 
were  presented,  and  often  enforced,  in  the  course 
of  the  several  speeches  which  I  made  in  support 
ol  my  graduation  and  donation  bills :  and,  on 
the   point  of   population,  and   of   freeholders, 
against  tenants,  1  gave  utterance  to  these  senti- 
ments : 

"  Tenantry  is  unfavorable  to  freedom.    It  lays 


104 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


!  '  "i 


the  foundation  for  separate  orders  in  society, 
annihilates  the  love  of  country,  and  weakens  the 
spirit  of  independence.  The  farming  tenant  has, 
in  fact,  no  country,  no  hearth,  no  domestic  altar, 
no  household  god.  The  freeholder,  on  the  con- 
trary, is  the  natural  supporter  of  a  free  govern- 
ment ;  and  it  should  be  the  policy  of  republics 
to  multiply  their  freeholders,  as  it  is  the  policy 
of  monarchies  to  multiply  tenants.  We  are  a 
republic,  and  we  wish  to  continue  so :  then 
multiply  the  class  of  freeholders;  pass  the  public 
lands  cheaply  and  easily  into  the  hands  of  the 
people ;  sell,  for  a  reasonable  price,  to  those  who 
are  able  to  pay ;  and  give,  without  price,  to  those 
who  are  not.  I  say  give,  without  price,  to  those 
who  are  not  able  to  pay  ;  and  that  which  is  so 
given,  I  consider  as  sold  for  the  best  of  prices ; 
for  a  price  above  gold  and  silver ;  a  price  which 
cannot  be  carried  away  by  delinquent  officers, 
nor  lost  in  failing  banks,  nor  stolen  by  thieves, 
nor  squandered  by  an  improvident  and  extrava- 
gant administration.  It  brings  a  price  above 
rubies — a  race  of  virtuous  and  independent  la- 
borers, the  true  supporters  of  their  country, 
and  the  stock  from  which  its  best  defenders  must 
be  drawn. 

'"  What  constitutes  a  State  f 

Not  liigli-rais'd  battlements,  nor  laljoreJ  rooncd, 

Thick  wall,  nor  moated  gate ; 

Nor  cities  proud,  with  spires  and  turrets  orown'd, 

Nor  Btarr'd  and  spangled  courts, 

Where  low-born  baseness  watts  perfume  to  pride: 

But  MEN  I  Idgli-ininded  men. 

Who  their  dutien  know,  but  know  their  aioirrs, 

And,  knowing,  dare  maintain  them.'  " 

In  favor  of  low  prices,  and  donations,  I  quot- 
ed the  example  and  condition  of  the  Atlantic 
States  of  this  Union — all  settled  under  liberal 
systems  of  land  distribution  which  dispensed 
almost  (or  altogether  in  many  instances)  with 
sales  for  money,     i  said : 

"  These  Atlantic  States  were  donations  from 
the  British  crown ;  and  the  great  proprietors  dis- 
tributed out  their  possessions  vvith  a  free  and 
generous  hand.  A  few  shillings  for  a  hundred 
acres,  a  nominal  quitrent,  and  gifts  of  a  hun- 
dred, five  hundred,  and  a  thousand  acres,  to  ac- 
tual settlers:  such  were  the  terms  on  which 
they  dealt  out  the  soil  which  is  now  covered  by 
a  nation  of  freemen.  Provinces,  which  now 
form  soveriiL'n  States,  were  sold  from  hand  to 
hand,  for  a  less  sum  than  the  federal  govern- 
ment now  demanils  lor  an  area  of  two  niik's 
square.  I  could  name  instances.  I  could  name 
the  State  of  I\Iaine — a  name,  for  more  reasons 
than  one,  familiar  and  agreeable  to  Missouri, 
and  whose  pristine  territory  was  sold  by  Sir 
Ferdinando  Gorges  to  the  proprietors  of  the 
Massachusetts  Bay,  for  twelve  hundred  pounds, 
provincial  money.  And  well  it  was  for  Maine 
that  she  was  so  sold ;  well  it  was  for  her  that 
the  modern  policy  of  waiting  for  the  rise,  and 


sticking  at  a  minimum  of  ^1  25,  was  not  then 
in  vogue,  or  else  Maine  would  have  been  a  desert 
now.  Instead  of  a  numerous,  intelligent,  and 
virtuous  population,  we  should  have  had  trees  and 
wild  beasts.  My  respectable  friend,  the  senator 
from  that  State  (Gen.  Chandler),  would  not 
have  been  here  to  watch  so  steadily  the  interest 
of  the  public,  and  to  oppose  the  bills  which  I 
bring  in  for  the  relief  of  the  land  claimants.  Ar.d 
I  mention  this  to  have  an  opportunity  to  do 
justice  to  the  integrity  of  his  heart,  and  to  the 
soundness  of  his  understanding — qualities  in 
which  he  is  excelled  by  no  senator — and  to  ex- 
press my  belief  that  we  will  come  together  upon 
the  final  passage  of  this  bill :  for  the  ciirdinal 
jioiuts  in  our  policy  are  the  same — economy  in 
th(  public  expenditures,  and  the  prompt  extinc- 
tion of  the  public  debt.  I  say,  well  it  was  for 
Maine  that  she  was  sold  for  the  federal  price 
of  four  sections  of  Alabama  pine,  Louisiana 
swamp,  or  Missouri  prairie.  Wei)  it  was  for 
every  State  in  this  Union,  that  their  soil  was 
sold  for  a  song,  or  given  as  a  gift  to  whomsoever 
would  take  it.  Happy  for  them,  and  for  the 
liberty  of  the  human  race,  that  the  kings  of 
England  and  the  "  Lords  Proprietors,"  did  not 
conceive  the  luminous  idea  of  waiting  for  the  rise 
and  sticking  to  a  inini mum  o(  ^l  25  per  acre. 
Happy  for  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  Ohio,  that 
they  were  settled  under  States,  and  not  under 
the  federal  government.  To  this  happy  exemp- 
tion they  owe  their  present  greatness  and  pros- 
perity. When  they  were  settled,  the  State  laws 
prevailed  in  the  acquisition  of  lands ;  and  dona- 
tions, pre-emptions,  and  settlement  rights,  and 
sales  at  two  cents  the  acre,  were  the  order  of  the 
day.  I  include  Ohio,  and  I  do  it  with  a  know- 
ledge of  what  I  say :  for  ten  millions  of  her  soil, 
— that  which  now  constitutes  her  chief  wealth  and 
strength. — were  settled  ui)on  the  liberal  princi- 
ples which  I  mention.  The  federal  system  only 
fell  upon  fifteen  millions  of  her  soil ;  and,  of  that 
quantity,  the  one  half  now  lies  waste  and  useless, 
paying  no  tax  to  the  State,  yielding  nothinn;  to 
agriculture,  desert  spots  in  the  midst  of  a  smiling 
garden,  "waiting  for  the  rise,"  and  exhibiting, in 
high  and  bold  relief,  the  miserable  folly  of  pre- 
scribing an  arbitrary  minimum  upon  that  article 
which  is  the  gift  of  God  to  man,  and  which  no 
pai-ental  government  has  ever  attempted  to  con- 
vert into  a  source  of  revenue  and  an  article  of 
merchandise." 

Against  the  policy  of  holding  up  refuse  lands 
until  they  should  rise  to  the  price  of  good  land 
and  against  the  reservation  of  saline  and  mineral 
lauds,  and  making  money  by  boiling  salt  water, 
and  digging  lead  ore,  or  holding  a  body  of  tenantry 
to  boil  and  dig,  I  delivered  these  sentim<.;nts : 

"I  do  trust  and  believe,  Mr.  President,  that 
the  E.xeoutive  of  this  free  governineiiL  will  nut 
be  second  to  George  the  Third  in  patriotism,  nor 
an  American  Congress  prove  itself  inferior  to  8 


ANNO  1828.    JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  PRESIDENT. 


103 


British  Pailiament  in  political  wisdom.    I  do 
trust  and  believe  that  this  whole  system  of  hold- 
ing up  land  for  the  rise,  endeavoring  to  make 
revenue  out  of  the  soil  of  the  country,  leasing 
and  renting  lead  mines,  salt  springs,  and  iron 
banks,  with  all  its  train  of  penal  laws  and  civil 
and  military  agents,  will  be  condemned  and  abol- 
ished.    I  trust  that  the  President  himself  will 
give  the  subject  a  place  in  his  next  message,  and 
lend  the  aid  of  his  recommendation  to  the  success 
of  so  great  an  object.     The  mining  operations, 
especially,  should  flx  the  attention  of  the  Con- 
gress.   They  are  a  reproach  to  the  age  in  which 
we  live.     National  mining  is  condemned  by  every 
dictate  of  prudence,  by  every  maxim  of  political 
economy,  and  by  the  voice  of  experience    in 
every  age  and  countr3^    And  yet  we  are  engaged 
in  that  business.      This    splendid  federal  gov- 
ernment, created  for  great  national  purposes, 
has  gone  to  work  among  the  lead  mines  of  Ui> 
per  Louisiana,  to  give  us  a  second  edition,  no 
doubt,  of  the  celebrated  "  Mississippi  Scheme  " 
of  John  Law.    For  that  scheme  was  nothing 
more  nor  less  than  a  project  of  making  money 
out  of  the    same  identical  mines.      Yes,  Mr. 
Pre^^ident,   upon    the    same    identical    theatre 
aru:^  i-    the  same  holes  and  pits,  dug  by  John 
Law's  men  in  1720;  among  the  cinders,  ashes, 
brukci)  picks,  and  mouldering  furnaces,  of  that 
celebrated   projector,  is  our  federal  government 
now  at  work ;  and,  that  no  circumstance  should 
be  wanting  to  complete  the  folly  of  such  an  un- 
dortiiking.  the  ta^k  of   extracting   "■revenue^'' 
from  these  operations,  is  confided,  not  to  the 
Treasury,  but  to  the  War  Department. 

"  Salines  and  ealt  springs  are  subjected  to  the 
same  system— reserved  from  sale,  and  leased  for 
the  purpose  of  raising  revenue.  But  I  flatter 
myself  that  I  see  the  end  of  this  branch  of  the 
system.  The  debate  which  took  place  a  few 
weeks  ago  on  the  bill  to  repeal  the  existing  duty 
upon  salt,  is  every  word  of  it  applicable  to  the 
bill  which  I  have  introduced  for  the  sale  vf  the 
reserved  salt  springs.  I  claim  the  benefit  of  it 
nccordmgly,  and  shall  expect  the  support  of  all 
tlie  advocates  for  the  repeal  of  that  tax,  when- 
ever the  bill  for  the  sale  of  the  salines  shall  be 
put  to  the  vote." 


longer  (so  far  as  lead  ore  was  concerned)  on  the 
Upper  Mississippi,  and  until  an  argument  ar- 
rived which  commanded  the  respect  of  the  legis- 
lature :  it  was  the  argument  of  profit  and  loss — an 
argument  which  often  touches  a  nerve  which  is 
dead  to  reason.    Mr,  Polk,  in  his  message  to 
Congress  at  the  session  of  1845-'46  (the  first  of 
his  administration),  stated  that  the  expenses  of 
the  system  during  the  preceding  four  years — 
those  of  Mr  Tyler's  administration— were  twen- 
ty-six thousand  one  hunuicd  and  eleven  dollars 
and  eleven  cents ;  and  the  whole  amoTint  of  rents 
received  during  the  same  period  was  six  thou- 
sand three  hundred  and  fifty-four  dollars,  and 
seventy-four  cents :  and  recommended  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  whole  system,  and  the  sale  of  the  re- 
served mines;  which  was  done;  and  thus  was 
completed  for  the  Upper  Mi  ^sissippi  what  I  had 
done  for  Missouri  near  twenty  years  before. 

The  advantage  of  giving  land  to  those  who 
would  settle  and  cultivate  it,  was  illustrated  in 
one  of  my  speeches,  by  reciting  the  case  of 
"  Granny  White  "—well  known  in  her  time  to 
all  the  population  of  Middle  Tennessee,  and  es- 
pecially to  all  who  travelled  south  from  Nash- 
ville, along  the  great  road  which  crossed  the 
"  divide  "  between  the  Cumberland  and  Harpeth 
waters,  at  the  evergreen  tree  which  gave  name 
to  the  gap— the  Holly  Tree  Gap.  The  aged 
woman,  and  her  fortunes,  were  thus  introduced 
into  our  senatorial  debates,  and  lodged  on  a  page 
of  our  parliamentary  history,  to  enlighten,  by 
her  incidents,  the 
tion: 


councils  of  national  legisla- 


Argument  and  sarcasm  had  their  effect,  in  re- 
lation to  the  mineral  and  saline  reserves  in  the 
State  in  which  I  lived— the  State  of  Missouri. 
An  act  was  passed  in  1828  to  throw  them  into 
the  mass  of  private  property— to  sell  them  like 
other  public  lands.  And  thus  the  federal  gov- 
ernment, in  that  State,  got  rid  of  a  degrading  and 
unprofitable  pursuit;  and  the  State  got  citizen 
freeholders  instead  of  federal  tenants;  and  pro- 
fitably were  developed  in  the  hands  of  individuals 
the  pursuits  of  private  industry  which  languished 
and  stagnated  in  the  hands  of  federal  agents  and 
tenants.    But  it  was  continued  for  some  time 


At  the  age  of  sixty,  she  had  been  left  a 
widow,  in  one  of  the  counties  in  the  tide-water 
region  of  North  Carolina.  Her  poverty  was  so 
extreme,  that  when  she  went  to  the  county 
court  to  get  a  couple  of  little   orphan  grandchil- 


dren bound  to  her,  the  Justices  refused  to  let 
her  have  them,  because  she  could  not  give  security 
to  keep  them  off  the  parish.  This  compelled  her 
to  emigrate ;  and  she  set  off  with  the  two  little 
boys,  upon  a  journey  of  eight  or  nine  hundred 
miles,  to  what  was  then  called  ''the  Cumberland 
Settlement."  Arrived  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Nashville,  a  generous-hearted  Irishman  (his 
name  deserves  to  be  remembered— Thomas 
McCrory)  let  her  have  a  corner  of  his  land,  on 
her  own  terms,— a  nominal  price  and  indefinite 
credit.  It  was  fifty  acres  in  extent,  and  com- 
prised the  two  faces  of  a  pair  of  confronting  hills, 
whose  precipitous  declivities  laclad  a  few  de- 
grees, and  but  a  few,  of  mathematical  perpendic- 
ularity. Mr.  B.  said  he  knew  it  well,  for  he  had 
seen  the  old  lady's  pumpkins  propped  and  sup- 


I 


I 


106 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


n 


in 


111  f,  1 1' 


ported  with  stakes,  to  prevent  their  ponderous 
weight  from  tearing  up  the  vine,  and  rolling  to 
the  bottom  of  the  hills.  There  was  just  room  at 
their  base  for  a  road  to  run  between,  and  not 
room  for  a  house,  to  find  a  level  place  for  its  foun- 
dation ;  for  which  purpose  a  part  of  the  hill  had 
to  be  dug  away.  Yet,  from  this  hopeless  begin- 
ning, with  the  advantage  of  a  little  piece  of 
ground  that  was  her  own,  this  aged  widow,  and 
two  little  grandchildren,  of  eight  or  nine  years 
old,  advanced  herself  to  comparative  wealth: 
money,  slaves,  horses,  cattle ;  and  her  fields  ex- 
tended into  the  valley  below,  and  her  orphan 
grandchildren,  raised  up  to  honor  and  indepen- 
dence :  these  were  the  fruits  of  economy  and  in- 
dustry and  a  noble  illustration  of  the  advantage 
of  giving  land  to  the  poor.  But  the  federal  gov- 
ernment would  have  demanded  sixty-two  dollars 
and  fifty  cents  for  that  land,  cash  in  hand ;  and 
old  Granny  White  and  her  grandchildren  might 
have  lived  in  misery  and  sunk  into  vice,  before 
the  opponents  of  this  bill  would  have  taken  less." 

I  quoted  the  example  of  all  nations,  ancient 
and  modern,  republican  and  monarchical,  in  fa- 
vor of  giving  lands,  in  parcels  suitable  to  their 
wants,  to  meritorious  cultivators;  and  denied 
that  there  was  an  instance  upon  earth,  except 
that  of  our  own  federal  government,  which  made 
merchandise  of  land  to  its  citizens — exacted  the 
highest  price  it  could  obtain — and  refused  to  suf- 
fer the  country  to  be  settled  imtil  it  was  paid 
for.  The  "  promised  land  "  was  divided  among 
the  children  of  Israel — the  women  getting  a  share 
where  there  was  no  man  at  the  head  of  the 
family — as  with  the  daughters  of  Manasseh.  All 
the  Atlantic  States,  when  British  colonies,  were 
settled  upon  gratuitous  donations,  or  nominal 
sales.  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  were  chiefly 
settled  in  the  same  way.  The  two  Floridas,  and 
Upper  and  Lower  Louisiana,  were  gratuitously 
distributed  by  the  kings  of  Spain  to  settlers,  in 
quantities  adopted  to  their  means  of  cultivation 
— and  with  the  whole  vacant  domain  to  select 
from  according  to  their  pleasure.  Land  is  now 
given  to  settlers  in  Canada ;  and  £30,000  ster- 
ling, has  been  voted  at  a  single  session  of  Par- 
liament, to  aid  emigrants  in  their  removal  to 
these  homes,  and  commencing  life  upon  them. 
The  republic  of  Colombia  now  gives  400  acres  to 
a  settler  :  other  South  American  republics  give 
more  or  less.    Quoting  these  examples,  I  added : 

"  Such,  Mr,  President,  is  the  conduct  of  the 
free  republics  of  the  South,  I  say  republics  : 
for  it  is  the  saiae  in  ail  of  llieiu,  and  it  would  be 
tedious  and  monotonous  to  repeat  their  numerous 
decrees.     In  fact,  throughout  the  New  World, 


from  Hudson's  Bay  to  Cape  Horn  (with  the 
single  exception  of  these  United  States),  land 
the  gift  of  God  to  man,  is  also  the  gift  of  the 
government  to  its  citizens.  Nor  is  this  wise 
policy  confined  to  the  New  World.  It  prevails 
even  in  Asia ;  and  the  present  ago  has  seen— we 
ourselves  have  seen — published  in  the  capital  of 
the  European  world,  the  proclamalion  of  the 
King  of  Persia,  inviting  Christians  to  go  to  the 
ancient  kingdom  of  Cyrus,  Cambyses  and  Dari- 
us, and  there  receive  gifts  of  land — first  rate,  not 
refuse — with  a  total  exemption  from  taxes,  and 
the  free  enjoyment  of  their  religion.  Here  is  the 
proclamation :  listen  to  it. 

The  Proclamation. 

" '  Mirza  Mahomed  Saul,  Ambassador  to  Eng- 
land, in  the  name,  and  by  the  authority  of  Ab- 
bas Mirza,  King  of  Persia,  offers  to  those  who 
shall  emigrate  to  Persia,  gratuitous  grants  of 
land,  good  for  the  production  of  wheat,  barley, 
rice,  cotton,  and  fruits, — free  from  taxes  or  contri- 
butions of  any  kind,  and  with  the  free  enjoyment 
of  their  r(jligion ;  the  king's  object  being  to 

IMPROVE  HIS  COUNTRY. 

'"London,  July  8th,  1823.'" 

The  injustice  of  holding  all  lands  at  one  uni- 
form price,  waiting  foi  the  cultivation  of  the  good 
land  to  give  value  to  the  poor,  and  for  the  poorest 
to  rise  to  the  value  of  the  richest,  was  shown  in  a 
reference  to  private  sales,  of  all  articles ;  in  the 
whole  of  which  sales  the  price  was  graduated  to 
suit  different  qualities  of  the  same  article.  The 
heartless  and  miserly  policy  of  waiting  foi 
government  land  to  be  enhanced  in  value  by  the 
neighboring  cultivation  of  private  land,  was  de- 
nounced as  unjust  as  well  as  unwise.  The  new 
States  of  the  West  were  the  sufferers  by  this  fed- 
eral land  policy.  They  were  in  a  diflerent  con- 
dition from  other  States.  In  these  others,  the 
local  legislatures  held  the  primary  disposal  of  the 
soil, — so  much  as  remained  vacant  within  their 
limits, — and  being  of  the  same  community,  ramie 
equitable  alienations  among  their  constituents. 
In  the  new  States  it  was  different.  The  federal 
government  held  the  primary  disposition  of  the 
soil ;  and  the  majority  of  Congress  (being  inde- 
pendent of  the  people  of  these  States),  was  Iciis 
heedful  of  their  wants  and  wishes.  They  wem  as 
a  stepmother,  instead  of  a  natural  mother :  and 
the  federal  government  being  sole  purchaser  from 
foreign  nations,  and  sole  recipient  of  Indian  ces- 
sions, it  became  tlie  monopolizer  of  vacant  lands 
in  the  West ;  and  this  monopolv.  like  i'll  mono- 
polies, resulted  in  hardships  to  those  upon  whom 
it  acted.    Few,  or  none  of  our  public  men,  had 


I 
J 


raised  thei 

I  came  int( 

soon  rai,scc 

a  great  a: 

federal  lan( 

sentiment 

generally,  1 

alienations 

beneficent  i 

the  membe 

should  not 

their  policy 

upon  the  p< 

federal  tith 

of  their  re 

pre-emptior 

sale  (of  so  i 

prices, — ada 

tracts,  to  b( 

has  rcmaine 

grants  to  ol 

national  anc 


CI 

CESSION  OF 
AltKANSi 

Arkansas   \ 
had  been  so 
boundarj^  wa 
Slay  1824  (c; 
delegate,  Her 
tension  of  he 
and  for  natio; 
outside    terri 
frontier  both 
the  Valley  c 
treaty  ^vhich 
merous  India 
the  South  At 
Mississippi, 
policy  to  mak 
cla.ss  State,—] 
the  Union, — a 
her  advanced  ; 
sion  was  on 
other  three  si( 


ANNO  1828.    JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  PRESIDENT. 


"107 


s  at  one  uni- 
n  of  the  good 
)r  the  poorest 
as  shown  in  a 
tides ;  in  the 
graduated  to 
article.  Tiie 
waiting  foi 
value  by  the 
land,  was  de- 
>c.  The  new 
•s  by  this  fed- 
difl'erent  con- 
e  others,  the 
isposal  of  the 
;  within  their 
inunity,  maJi) 
constituents, 
The  federal 
osition  of  the 
i  (being  inde- 
tes),  was  less 
They  were  as 
mother:  and 
irchaserfrom 
)f  Indian  ces- 
vacant  lands 
iko  Jill  mono- 
e  upon  whom 
blic  men,  had 


raised  their  voico  against  this  hard  policy  before 
I  came  into  the  national  councils.  My  own  was 
soon  raised  there  against  it :  and  it  is  certain  that 
a  great  amelioration  has  taken  place  in  our 
federal  land  policy  during  my  time :  and  that  the 
Bentiment  of  Congress,  and  that  of  the  public 
generally,  has  become  much  more  liberal  in  land 
alienations;  and  is  approximating  towards  the 
beneficent  systems  of  the  rest  of  the  world.  But 
the  members  in  Congress  from  the  new  States 


should  not  intermit  their  exertions,  nor  vary 
their  policy ;  and  should  fix  their  eyes  steadily 
upon  the  period  of  the  speedy  extinction  of  the 
federal  title  to  all  the  lands  within  the  limits 
of  their  respective  States;— to  be  effected  by 
pre-emption  rights,  by  donations,  and  by  the 
sale  (of  so  much  as  shall  be  sold),  at  graduated 
prices,— adapted  to  the  different  qualities  of  the 
tracts,  to  be  estimated  according  to  the  time  it 
has  remained  in  market  unsold— and  by  liberal 
grants  to  objects  of  general  improvement,  both 
national  and  territorial. 


CHAPTER    XXXVI. 

CESSION  OF  A   PART    OF   THE    TERRITORY    OF 
ARKANSAS  TO  TIIE  CHEROKEE  INDIANS. 

Arkansas    was    an    organized    territory,  and 
had  been  so  since  the  year  1819.     Her  western 
boundary  was  established  by  act  of  Congress  in 
May  1824  (chiefly  by  the  exertions  of  her  then 
delegate,  Henry  W.  Conway),— and  was  an  ex- 
tension of  her  existing  boundary  on  that  side; 
and  for  national  and  State  reasons.    It  was  an 
outside    territory— beyond    the   Mississippi— a 
frontier  both  to  Mexico  (then  brought  deep  into 
the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi  by  the  Florida 
treaty  which  gave  away  Texas),  and  to  the  nu- 
merous Indian  tribes  then  being  removed  from 
the  South  Atlantic  States  to  the  west  of  the 
Mississippi.    It  was,  therefore,  a  point  of  national 
policy  to  make  her  strong-to  make  her  a  first 
class  State,— both  for  her  own  sake  and  that  of 
the  Union,-and  equal  to  all  the  exigencies  of 
her  advanced  and  frontier  position.     The  exten- 
sion was  on  the  west— the  boundaries  on  the 
other  three  sides  being  fixed  and  immovable- 


and   added  a  fertile   belt— a  parallelogram  of 
forty  miles  by  three  hundred  along  her  whole 
western  border— and  which  was    necessary  to 
compensate  for  the  swamp  lands  in  front  on  the 
river,  and  to  give  to  her  certain  valuable  salt 
springs  there  existing,  and  naturally  appurtenant 
to  the  territory,  and  essential  to  its  inhabitants. 
Even  with  tliis  extension  the  territory  was  still 
deficient  in  arable  land— not  as  strong  as  her 
frontier  position  required  her  to  bo,  nor  suscepti- 
ble (on  account  of  swamps  and  sterile  districts) 
of  the  population  and  cultivation  which  her  su- 
perficial contents  and  large  boundaries  would  im- 
ply her  to  be.     Territorially,  and  in  mere  extent, 
the  western  addition  was  a  fourth  part  of  the  ter- 
ritory :  agriculturally,  and  in  capacity  for  popula- 
tion, the  addition  might  be  equal  to  half  of  the 
whole  territory ;  and  its  acquisition  was  celebrat- 
ed as  a  most  auspicious  event  for  Arkansas  at  the 
tune  that  i*^  occurred. 

In  the  month  of  May,  1828,  by  a  treaty  nego- 
tiated at  Washington  by  the  Secretary  at  War, 
Mr.  James  Barbour,  on  one  side,  and  the  chiefs  of 
the  Cherokee  nation  on  the  other,  this  new  west- 
ern boundary  for  the  territory  was  abolished— 
the  old  line  re-established :  and  what  had  been  an 
addition  to  the  territory  of  Arkansas,  was  ceded  to 
the  Cherokees.    On  the  ratification  of  this  treaty 
several  questions  arose,  all  raised  by  myself— 
some  of  principle,  some  of  expediency— as,  whether 
a  law  of  Congress  could  be  abolished  by  an  Indian 
treaty  ?  and  whether  it  was  expedient  so  to  re- 
duce, and  thus  weaken  the  territory  (and  future 
State)  of  Arkansas?     I  was  opposed  to  the 
treaty,  and  held  the  negative  of  both  questions, 
and  argued  against  them  with  zeal  and  perse- 
verance.    The  supremacy  of  the  treaty-making 
power  I  held  to  be  confined   to  subjects  within 
its  sphere,  and  quoted  "  Jefferson's  Manual,"  to 
show  that  that  was  the  sense  in  which  the  clause 
in  the  constitution  was  understood.     The  treaty- 
making  power  was  supreme ;  but  that  suprem- 
acy was  within  its  proper  orbit,  and  free  from 
the  invasion  of  the  legislative,  executive,  or  judi- 
cial department.    The  proper  objects  of  treaties 
were  international  interests,  which  neither  party 
could  regulate  by  municipal  law,  and  which  re- 
quired a  joint  consent,  and  a  double  execution,  to 
give^  it  effect.     Tried  by  this  test,  and  this  Indian 
treaty  lest  its  suprema^iy.    The  subject  was  one  of 
ordinary  legislation,  and  specially  and  exclusively 
confined  to  Congress.  It  was  to  repeal  a  law  which 


!•' 


108 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


F 

■  'ii 
■M 


Congress  had  made  in  relation  to  territory ;  and  to 
reverse  the  disposition  which  Congress  had  made 
of  a  part  of  its  territory.  To  Congress  it  be- 
longed to  dispose  of  territory ;  and  to  her  it  be- 
longed to  repeal  her  own  laws.  The  treaty 
avoided  the  word  "repeal,"  while  doing  tho 
thing :  it  used  the  word  "  abolish  " — which  was 
the  same  in  effect,  and  more  arrogant  and 
offensive — not  appropriate  to  legislation,  and 
evidently  used  to  avoid  the  use  of  a  word 
which  would  challenge  objection.  If  the  word 
"  repeal "  had  been  used,  every  one  would 
have  felt  that  the  ordinary  legislation  of  Con- 
gress was  flagrantly  invaded ;  and  the  avoidance 
of  that  word,  and  the  substitution  of  another  of 
the  same  meaning,  could  have  no  effect  in  legal- 
izing a  transaction  which  would  be  condemned 
under  its  proper  name.  And  so  I  held  the 
treaty  to  be  invalid  for  want  of  a  proper  subject 
to  act  upon,  and  because  it  invaded  the  legislar 
tive  department. 

The  inexpediency  of  the  treaty  was  in  the  ques- 
tion of  crippling  and  mutilating  Arkansas,  re- 
ducing her  lo  the  class  of  weak  States,  and  that 
against  all  the  reasons  which  had  induced  Con- 
gress, four  years  before,  to  add  on  twelve  thou- 
sand square  miles  to  her  domain ;  and  to  almost 
double  the  productive  and  inhabitable  capacity 
of  the  Territory,  and  future  State,  by  the  char- 
acter of  the  country  added.  I  felt  this  wrong 
to  Arkansas  doubly,  both  as  a  neighbor  to  my 
own  State,  and  because,  having  a  friendship  for 
the  delegate,  as  well  as  for  his  territory,  I  had  ex- 
erted myself  to  obtain  the  addition  which  had 
been  thus  cut  off.  I  argued,  as  I  thought,  con- 
clusivelj' ;  but  in  vain.  The  treaty  was  largely 
ratified,  and  by  a  strong  slaveholding  vote,  not- 
withstanding it  curtailed  slave  territory,  and 
made  soil  free  which  was  then  slave.  Anxious 
to  defeat  the  treaty  for  the  benefit  of  Arkansas, 
I  strongly  presented  this  consequence,  showing 
that  there  was,  not  only  legal,  but  actually 
slavery  upon  the  amputated  part — that  these 
twelve  thousand  square  miles  were  inhabited, 
organized  into  counties,  populous  in  some  parts, 
and  with  the  due  proportion  of  slaves  found  in  a 
Bouthern  and  planting  State.  Nothing  would 
do.  It  was  a  southern  measure,  negotiated,  on 
the  record,  by  a  southern  secretary  at  war,  in 
reality  by  the  clerk  McKinney  ;  and  voted  for 
by  nineteen  approving  slaveholding  senators 
against  four  dissenting.    The  affirmative  vote 


was:  Messrs.  Barton,  Berrien,  Bouligny,  Branch, 
Ezekiel  Chambers,  Cobb,  King  of  Alabami 
McKinley,  McLane  of  Delaware,  Macon,  Ridge- 
ly,  Smith  of  Maryland,  Smith  of  South  Caroiinft 
John  Tyler  of  Virginia,  and  Williams  of  Mis- 
sissippi. The  negative  was,  Messrs.  Benton 
Eaton,  Rowan,  and  Tazewell. — Mr.  Calhoun 
was  then  Vice-President,  and  did  not  vote ;  but 
he  was  in  favor  of  the  treaty,  and  assisted  its 
ratification  through  his  friends.  The  House  of 
Representatives  voted  the  appropriations  to  carry 
it  into  effect ;  and  thus  acquiesced  in  the  repeal 
of  an  act  of  Congress  by  the  President,  Senate, 
and  Cherokee  Indians ;  and  these  appropriations 
were  voted  with  the  general  concurrence  of  the 
southern  members  of  the  House.  And  thus 
another  slice,  and  a  pretty  large  one  (twelve 
thousand  square  miles),  was  taken  off  of  slave 
territory  in  the  former  province  of  Louisiana; 
which  about  completed  the  excision  of  what 
had  been  left  for  slave  State  occupation  after 
the  Missouri  compromise  of  1820,  and  the 
cession  to  Texas  of  contemporaneous  date,  and 
previous  cessions  to  Indian  tribes.  And  all 
this  was  the  work  of  southern  men,  who  then 
saw  no  objection  to  the  Congressional  legis- 
lation which  acted  iipon  slavery  in  terri- 
tories— which  further  curtailed,  and  even  ex- 
tinguished slave  soil  in  all  the  vast  expanse 
of  the  former  Louisiana — save  and  except  the 
comparative  little  that  was  left  in  the  State  of 
Missouri,  and  in  the  mutilated  Territory  of  Ar- 
kansas. The  reason  of  the  southern  members 
lor  promoting  this  amputation  of  Arkansas  in 
favor  of  the  Cherokees,  was  simply  to  assist 
in  inducing  their  removal  by  adding  the  best 
part  of  Arkansas,  with  its  salt  springs,  to  the 
ample  millions  of  acres  west  of  that  territorv 
already  granted  to  them;  but  it  was  a  gra- 
tuitous sacrifice,  as  the  large  part  of  the  tribe 
had  already  emigrated  to  the  seven  millions 
of  acres,  and  the  remainder  were  waiting  for 
moneyed  inducements  to  follow.  And  besides, 
the  desire  for  this  removal  could  have  no  effect 
upon  the  constitutional  jwwer  of  Congress  to 
legislate  upon  slavery  in  territories,  or  upon  the 
policy  which  curtails  ihe  boundaries  of  a  future 
slave  State. 

I  have  said  that  the  amputated  part  of  Ar- 
kansas was  an  organized  part  of  the  territory, 
divided  into  counties,  settled  and  cultivaltii. 
Now,  what  became  of  these  inhabitants  ?— their 


ANNO  1828.    JOHN  QUINOY  ADAMS,  PRESmPNT. 


109 


property  ?  and  possessions  ?  They  were  bought 
out  by  the  federal  government !  A  simultaneous 
act  was  passed,  making  a  donation  of  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  of  land  (within  the  re- 
maining part  of  Arkansas),  to  each  head  of  a 
family  who  would  retire  from  the  amputated 
part;  and  subjecting  all  to  military  removal 
that  did  not  retire.     It  was  done.    They  all 
withdrew.    Three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of 
land  in  front  to  attract  them,  and  regular  troops 
in  the  rear  to  push  them,  presented  a  motive 
power  adequate  to  its  object ;  and  twelve  thou- 
sand square  miles  of  slave  territory  was  evacu- 
ated by  its  inhabitants,  with  their  flocks,  and 
herds,  and  slaves;  and  not  a  word  was  said 
about  it ;  and  the  event  has  been  forgotten.  But 
it  is  necessary  to  recall  its  recollection,  as  an 
important  act,  in  itself,  in  relation  to  the.  new 
State  of  Arkansas— as  being  the  work  of  the 
South — and  as  being  necessary  to  be  known  in 
order  to  understand  subsequent  events. 


CHAPTER    XXXVII. 

EENEWAL  or  THE  OREGON  JOINT  OCCUPATION 
CONVENTION. 

The  American  settlement  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia,  or  Oregon,  was  made  in  1811.    It  was 
an  act  of  private  enterprise,  done  by  the  eminent 
merchant,  Mr.  John  Jacob  Astor,  of  New- York  ; 
and  the  young  town  christened  after  his  own 
name,  Astoria:  but  it  was  done  with  the  coun- 
tenance and  stipulated  approbation  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States;  and  an  officer  of 
the  United  States  navy-the  brove  Lieutenant 
Thorn,  who  was  with  Decatur  at  Tripoli,  and 
who  afterwards  blew  up   his  ship  in   Nootka 
bound    to  avoid    her  capture  by  the  savages 
(blowmg  himself,  crew  and  savages  all  into  the 
an-).-wa,s  allowed  to  command  his  (Mr.  Aster's) 
leadmg  vessel,  in  order  to  impress  upon  the  en- 
terprise the  seal  of  nationality.     This  town  was 
captured  during  the  war  of  1812,  by  a  ship  of 
^^ar  detached  for  that  purpose,  by  Commodore 
Hillyar,  commandinj.  a  British  p.qnadron  in  the 
Pacific  Ocean.     No  attempt  was  made  to  recover 
It  durmg  the  war;  and,  at  Ghent,  after  some  ef-  j 


forts  on  the  part  of  the  British  commissioners 
to  set  up  a  title  to  it,  its  restitution  was  stipu- 
lated under  the  general  clause  which  provided 
for  the  restoration  of  all   places  captured  by 
either  party.     But  it  was  not  restored.    An 
empty  ceremony  was  gone  through  to  satisfy  the 
words  of  the  treaty,  and  to  leave  the  place  in  the 
hands  of  the  British.    An  American  agent,  Mr. 
John  Baptist  Prevost,  was  sent  to  Valparaiso,  to 
go  in  a  British  sloop  of  war  (the  Blossom)  to  receive 
the  place,  to  sign  a  receipt  for  it,  and  leave  it  in 
the  hands  of  the  British.     This  was  in  the  au- 
tumn of  the  year  1818;  and  coincident  with  that 
nominal  restitution  was  the  conclusion  of  a  con- 
vention in  London  between   the  United  States 
and  British  government,  for  the  joint  occupation 
of  the  Columbia  for  ten  yeaVs— Mr.  Gallatin 
and  Mr,  Rush   the  American    negotiators— if 
those  can  be  called  negotiators  who  are  tied 
down  to  particular  mstructions.    The  jouit  occu- 
pancy was  provided  for,  and  in  these  words : 
"  That  any  country  claimed  by  either  party  on 
the  northwest  coast  of  America,  together  with  its 
harbors,  bays,  and  creeks,  and  the  navigation  of 
all  rivers  within  the  same,  be  free  and  open  for 
the  term  of  ten  years,  to  the  subjects,  citizens, 
and  vessels  of  the  two  powers ;  without  preju- 
dice to  any  claim  which  either  party  might  have 
to  my  part  of  the  country."— I  was  a  practising 
lawyer  at  St.  Louis,  no  way  engaged  in  politics, 
at  the  time  this  convention  was  published ;  but 
I  no  sooner  saw  it  than  I  saw  its  delusive  nature 
—its  one-sidedness— and  the  whole  disastrous 
consequences  which  were  to  result  from  it  to  the 
United  States ;  and  immediately  wrote  and  pub- 
lished articles  against  it:  of  which  the  following 
is  an  extract : 

"This  is  a  specimen  of  the  skill  with  which 
the  diplomatic  art  deposits  the  seeds  of  a  new 
contestation  in  the  assumed  settlement  of  an  ex- 
isting one,— and  gives  unequal  privileges  in  words 
of  equality,— and  breeds  a  serious  question,  to  be 
ended  perhaps  by  war,  where  no  question  at  all 
existed.     Every  word  of  the  article  for  this  joint 
occupation  is  a  deception  and  a  blunder--sug- 
gesting  a  belief  for  which  there  is  no  foundation 
granting  privileges  for  which  there  is  no  equiv- 
alent, and  presenting  ambiguities  which  require 
to  be  solved— peradventure  by  the  sword.    It 
speaks  as  if  there  was  a  miituality  of  countries 
on  the  northwest  coast  to  which  the  article  was 
applicable,  and  a  mutuality  of  benefits  to  accrue 
to  the  citizens  of  both  governments  by  each  occu- 
pying the  country  claimed  by  the  other.     Not 
so  the  fact.    There  is  but  one  country  in  ques- 


'13 


110 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


tion,  nnd  that  is  onr  own  ;— and  of  this  the  Brit- 
ish are  to  have  equal  possession  with  ourselves, 
and  wo  no  possession  of  theirs.  The  Columbia 
is  ours ;  Frazer's  River  is  a  British  possession  to 
which  no  American  ever  went,  or  ever  will  go. 
The  convention  gives  a  joint  rip;ht  of  occupying 
the  ports  and  harbors,  and  of  navigating  the 
rivers  of  each  other.  This  would  imply  that  each 
government  possessed  in  that  quarter,  ports,  and 
harbors,  and  navigable  rivers ;  and  were  about 
to  bring  them  into  hotch-potch  for  mutual  en- 
joyment. No  such  thing.  There  is  but  one  jmrt, 
and  that  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia— but  one 
river,  and  that  the  Columbia  itself:  and  both 
port  and  river  our  own.  We  give  the  equal  use 
of  these  to  the  British,  and  receive  nothing  in  re- 
turn. The  convention  says  that  the  "claim  "  of 
neither  party  is  to  be  prejudiced  by  the  joint 
possession.  This  .admits  that  Great  Britain  has 
a  claim— a  thing  never  admitted  before  by  us, 
nor  pretended  by  her.  At  Ghent  she  stated  no 
claim,  and  could  state  none.  Her  ministers 
merely  asked  for  the  river  as  a  boundary,  as  be- 
ing the  most  convenient ;  and  for  the  use  of  the 
harbor  at  its  mouth,  as  being  necessary  to  their 
ships  and  trade ;  but  stated  no  claim.  Our  com- 
missioners reported  that  they  (the  British  com- 
missioners) endeavored  '  to  lay  a  nest-egg '  for 
a  future  pretension ;  which  they  failed  to  do  at 
Ghent  in  1815,  but  succeeded  in  laying  in  Lon- 
don in  1818  ;  and  before  the  ten  years  are  out,  a 
full  grown  fighting  chicken  will  bo  hatched  of 
that  egg.  There  is  no  mutuality  in  any  thing. 
We  furnish  the  whole  stake  -  country,  river, 
harbor,  and  shall  not  even  maintain  the  joint 
use  of  our  own.  We  shall  be  diiven  out  of  it, 
and  the  British  remain  sole  possessors.  The  fur 
trade  is  the  object.  It  will  fare  with  our  traders 
on  the  Columbia  under  this  convention  as  it 
fared  with  them  on  the  Miami  of  the  Lakes  (and 
on  the  lakes  themselves),  under  the  British 
treaties  of  '94  and  '90,  which  admitted  British 
traders  into  our  territories.  Our  traders  will  be 
driven  out ;  and  that  by  the  fair  competition  of 
trade,  even  if  there  should  be  no  foul  play.  The 
difference  between  free  and  dutied  goods,  would 
work  that  result.  The  British  traders  pay  no 
duties :  ours  pay  above  an  average  of  fifty  per 
centum.  No  trade  can  stand  against  such  odds. 
But  the  competition  will  not  be  fair.  The  sav- 
ages will  be  incited  to  kill  and  rob  our  traders, 
and  they  will  be  expelled  by  violence,  without 
waiting  the  slower,  but  equally  certain  process, 
of  expulsion  by  underselling.  The  result  then 
is,  that  we  admit  the  British  into  our  country, 
our  river,  and  our  harbor ;  and  we  get  no  admit- 
tance into  theirs,  for  they  have  none — Frazer's 
River  and  New  Caledonia  being  out  of  the  ques- 
tion— that  they  will  become  sole  possessors  of 
our  river,  our  harbor,  and  our  country ;  and  at 
the  end  of  the  ten  years  will  have  an  admitted 
'claim  '  to  our  property,  and  the  actual  posses- 
sion of  it." 

Thus  I  wrote  in  the  year  1818,  when  the  joint 


occupation  convention  of  that  year  was  promul- 
gated,    I  wrote  in  advance  ;  and  long  before  the 
ten  years  were  out.  it  was  all  far  more  than 
verified.    Our  traders  were  not  only  driven  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River,  but  from  all 
its  springs  and  branches ;— not  only  from  all  the 
Valley  of  the  Columbia,  but  from  the  whole  re- 
gion of  the  Rocky  Mountains  between  40  and 
42  degrees;— not  only  from  all  this  mountain 
region,  but  from  the  upper  waters  of  nil  our  far 
distant  rivers— the  Missouri,  the  Yellow  Stone 
the  Big  Horn,  the  North  Platte ;  and  all  their 
mountain  tributaries.     And,  by  authentic  reports 
made  to  our  government,  not  less  than  live  Imn- 
dred  of  our  citizens  had  been  killed,  nor  less  than 
five  hundred  thousand  dollars  worth  of  goods 
and  furs  robbed  from  them;— the  British  re- 
maining the  undisturbed  possessors  of  all  the 
Valley  of  the  Columbia,  acting  as  its  masters,  and 
building  forts   from  the  sea  to  the  mountains, 
This  was  the  effect  of  the  first  joint  occiipatioD 
treaty,  and  every  body  in  the  West  saw  its  ap- 
proaching termination   with  pleasure;  but  the 
false  step  which  the  government  had  made  in- 
duced another.     They  had  admitted  a  "claim" 
on  the  part  of  Great  Britain,  and  given  her  the 
sole,  under  the  name  of  a  joint,  possession ;  and 
now  to  get  her  out  was  the  difficulty.    It  could 
not  be  done;  and  the  United  States  agreed  to  a 
further  continued  "joint "  occupation  (as  it  was 
illusively  called  in  the  renewed  convention),  not 
for  ten  years  more,  but  "  indefinitely, "  determin- 
able on  one  year's  notice  from  either  party  to 
the  other.     The  reason  for  this  indefinite,  and 
injurious  continuance,  was  set  forth  in  the  pre- 
amble to  the  renewed  convention  (Mr.  Gallatin 
now  the  sole  United  States  negotiator);  and 
recited  that  the  two  governments  "  being  desirous 
to  prevent,  as  far  as  possible,  all  hazard  of  mis- 
understanding, and  with  a  view  to  give  further 
..:me  for  maturing  measures  which  shall  have  for 
their  object  a  more  definite  settlement  of  the 
claims  of  each  party  to  the  said  territory;"  did 
thereupon  agree  to  renew  the  joint  occupation 
article  of  the  convention  of  1818,  &c.    Thus,  we 
had,  by  our  diplomacy  in  1818,  and  by  the  per- 
mitted non-execution  of  the  Ghent  treaty  in  the 
delivery  of  the  post  and  country,  hatched  a 
question  which  threatened  a  "  misunderstanding" 
between  the  two  countries ;  and    for  raaturing 
measures  for  the  settlement  of  which  indefinite 
time  was  required— and  granted— Great  Britain 


remaining, 

whole  com 

and  all  tin 

intendcil  t< 

I  was  a 

newed  con 

and  oppoj 

whii  li  I  w( 

of  the  adm 

a  remote  ol 

ami  the  del  I 

it  at  any  ti 

gentle  teniji 

and  fact ;  ti 

the  questioi 

myself  to  o 

as  well  as 

into  three  n 

executive  jc 

mcntary  hif 

The  reso 

dient  for  thi 

treat  furthc 

northwest  ( 

joint  occup! 

That  it  is 

article  in  th 

expire  upon 

pedient  for  i 

to  continue 

in  relation  t 

paration  of  i 

permanent  1 

westward  of 

est  possible 

voted  upon ; 

fication  of  th 

would  have 

negative  voi 

W.  Cobb  of 

of  Mississip] 

Illinois,  *  and 

Eighteen  ye 

got  to  the  { 

gratification  i 

and  all  the  Ui 

in  relation  tc 

seven  senatoi 

for  it  was  rat 


ANNO  1828.    JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  PRESIDENT. 


Ill 


!ar  was  promul- 
llonpbfforethe 
I  fnr  more  than 
only  (liivcii  from 
cer,  hut  from  all 
'nly  from  all  the 
m  the  whole  re- 
bi'twi'cn  4!»  and 
I  thLs  mountain 
rs  of  nil  our  far 
le  Yellow  Stone 
J;  and  all  their 
luthcntic  reports 
.1  than  five  Imn- 
ed,  nor  less  than 
worth  of  goods 
-the  British  re- 
?aors  of  all  the 
I  its  ma.sters,  and 
the  mountains, 
joint  occupatioD 
''est  saw  itsap- 
;asiire;  l)ut  the 
it  liad  made  ia- 
itted  a  '■claim'' 
id  given  her  the 
pos.session;  and 
julty.     It  could 
ites  agreed  to  a 
ation  (as  it  was 
;onvention),  not 
ely, "  deterinin- 
either  party  to 
indefinite,  and 
arth  in  the  pre- 
n  (Mr.  Gallatin 
jgotiator);  and 
"  being  desirous 
hazard  of  mLs- 
to  give  further 
;h  shall  have  for 
;tlement  of  ihe 
territory ; "  did 
oint  occupation 
&c.    Thus,  we 
md  by  the  p«r- 
Dt  treaty  in  the 
try,  hatched  a 
understanding" 
I   for  maturing 
vhich  indefinite 
—Great  Britain 


remaining,  in  the  mean  time,  roIc  occupant  of  the 
whole  country.  This  was  all  that  she  could  ask, 
and  all  that  we  could  grant,  even  if  wo  actually 
intende<l  to  give  up  the  country. 

I  was  a  member  of  the  Senate  when  this  re- 
newed convcntiuu  was  sent  in  for  ratification, 
and  oppoowl  ii  with  all  the  zeal  and  ability  of 
whii  li  I  was  master:  but  in  vain.  The  weight 
of  the  administration,  the  in  'iffercnce  of  many  to 
a  remote  object,  the  desire  to  put  olf  a  difficulty, 
and  the  delu.sive argument  that  we  could  terminate 
it  at  any  time— (a  consolation  so  captivating  to 
gentle  temperaments)— were  too  strong  for  reason 
and  fact ;  and  I  was  left  in  a  small  minority  on 
the  question  of  ratification.  But  I  did  not  limit 
myself  to  opjwsition  to  the  treaty.  I  proposed, 
as  well  as  opposed ;  and  digested  my  opinions 
into  three  resolves ;  and  had  them  spread  on  the 
executive  journal,  and  made  part  of  our  parlia- 
mentary history  for  future  reference. 

The  resolves  were :  1.  "  That  it  is  not  expe- 
dient for  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  to 
treat  further  in  relation  to  their  claims  on  the 
northwest  coast  of  America,  on  the  basis  of  a 
joint  occupation  by  their  respective  citizens.  2. 
That  it  is  expedient  that  the  joint-occupation 
article  in  the  convention  of  1818  bo  allowed  to 
expire  upon  its  own  limitation.  3.  That  it  is  ex- 
pedient for  the  government  of  the  United  States 
to  continue  to  treat  with  His  Britannic  Majesty 


CHAPTER    XXXVIII. 


PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION  OF  1828,  AND  FURTUEB 
EKKOKS  or  M0N9.  DE  TOCQUEVILLK 


in  relation  to  said  claims,  on  the  basis  of  a  se- 
paration of  interests,  and  the  establishment  of  a 
permanent  boundary  between   their  dominions 
westward  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  in  the  short- 
est possible  time. »    These  resolves  were  not 
voted  upon ;  but  the  negative  vote  on  the  rati- 
fication of  the  convention  shewed  what  the  vote 
would  have  been  if  it  had  been  taken.    That 
negative  vote   was— Messrs.  Benton,   Thomas 
W.  Cobb  of  Georgia,  Eaton  of  Tennessee,  Ellis 
of  Mississippi,  Johnson  of  Kentucky,  Kane  of 
Illinois,- and  Rowan  of   Kentucky— in  all  7. 
Eighteen  years  afterwards,  and  when  we  had 
got  to  the  cry  of  "inevitable  war,  "  I  had  the 
gratification  to  see  the  whole  Senate,  all  Congress 
and  all  the  United  States,  occupy  the  same  ground 
>n  relation  to  this  joint  occupation  on  which  only 
seven  senators  stood  at  the  time  the  convention 
lor  it  was  ratified. 


General   Jackson   and  Mr.  Adams  were  the 
candidates ;— with    the    latter,   Mr.  Cluy  (his 
Secretary  of  State),  so  intimately  associated  in 
the  public  mind,  on  account  of  the  circumstances 
of  the  previous  presidential  election  in  the  House 
of  Representatives,  that  their  names  and  interests 
were  inseparable  during  the  canvass.     General 
Jackson  was  elected,  having  received  178  elec- 
toral votes  to  83  received  by  Mr.  Adams.     Mr. 
Richard  Rush,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  the  vice- 
presidential  candidate  on  the  ticket  of  jNIr.  Adams, 
and  received  an  equal  vote  with  that  gentleman : 
Mr.  Calhoun  was  the  vice-presidential  candidate 
on  the  ticket  with  General  Jackson,  and  receiv- 
ed  a  slightly  less  vote— the  deficiency  being  in 
Georgia,  where  the  friends  of  Mr.  Crawford  still 
resented  his  believed  connection  with  the  "  A.  B. 
plot."    In   the  previous  election,  he  had  been 
neutral  between  General  Jackson  and  Mr.  Adams ; 
but  was  now  decided  on  the  part  of  the  General, 
and  received  the  same  vote  every  M'here,  except 
in  Georgia.     In  this  election  there  was  a  circum- 
stance  to   bo    known   and    remembered.     Mr. 
Adams  and  Mr.  Rush  were  both  from  the  non- 
slaveholding— General   Jackson  and    Mr.  Cal- 
houn from  the  slaveholding  States,  and   both 
large  slave  owners  themselves— and  both  receiv- 
ed a  large  vote  (73  each)  in  the  free  States— 
and  of  which  ai;  least  forty  were  indispensable  to 
their  election.    There  was  no  jealousy,  or  hos- 
tile, or  aggressive  spirit  in  the  North  at  that 
time  against  the  South  I 

The  election  of  General  Jackson  was  a  triumph 
of  democratic  principle,  and  an  assertion  of  the 
people's  right  to  govern  themselves.  That  prin- 
ciple had  been  violated  in  the  presidential  elec- 
tion in  the  House  of  Representatives  in  the  ses- 
sion of  1824-'25 ;  and  the  sanction,  or  rebuke,  of 
that  violation  was  a  leading  question  in  the  whole 
canvass.  It  was  also  a  triumph  over  the  high 
protective  policy,  and  the  federal  internal  im- 
provement policy,  and  the  latitudinous  construc- 
tion of  the  constitution ;  and  of  the  democracy 
over  the  federalists,  then  c.illcd  national  repub- 
licans ;  and  was  the  re-establishment  of  parties 
on  principle,  according  to  the  landmarks  of  the 


112 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


11!  I'l 


ffl!'' 


early  ages  of  the  government.  For  although 
Mr.  A(lani8  had  received  confldonco  and  ofRce 
from  Mr.  Madison  and  Mr.  Monroe,  and  had 
classed  with  the  democratic  party  during  the 
fusion  of  parties  in  the  "  era  of  good  feeling," 
yet  ho  had  previously  been  federal ;  and  in  the 
ro-establishment  of  old  party  lines  which  began 
to  take  place  after  the  election  of  Mr.  Adams  in 
the  House  of  Representatives,  his  affinities,  and 
policy,  became  those  of  his  former  party :  and  as 
a  party,  with  many  individual  exceptions,  they 
became  his  supporters  and  his  strength.  Gen- 
eral Jackson,  on  the  contrary,  had  always  been 
democratic,  so  classing  when  he  was  a  senator  in 
Congress  under  the  administration  of  the  first 
Mr.  Adams,  and  when  party  lines  wore  most 
st  aightly  drawn,  and  upon  principle:  and  as 
such  now  receiving  the  support  of  men  and 
States  which  took  their  political  position  at  that 
time,  and  had  maintained  it  ever  since — Mr. 
Macon  and  Mr.  Randolph,  for  example,  and  the 
States  of  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania.  And  here 
it  becomes  my  duty  to  notice  an  error,  or  a  con- 
geries of  errors,  of  Mons.  do  Tocqueville,  in  rela- 
tion to  the  causes  of  General  Jackson's  election ; 
and  which  he  finds  exclusively  in  the  glare  of  a 
military  fame  resulting  from  "  a  very  ordinary 
achievement,  only  to  bo  remembered  where  bat- 
tles are  rare."     He  says  : 

"  General  Jackson,  whom  the  Americans  have 
twice  elected  to  the  head  of  their  government,  is 
a  man  of  a  violent  temper  and  mediocre  talents. 
No  one  circumstance  in  the  whole  course  of  his 
career  ever  proved  that  he  is  qualified  to  govern 
a  free  people ;  and,  indeed,  the  majority  of  the 
enhghtened  classes  of  the  Union  1ms  always 
been  opposed  to  him.  But  he  was  raised  to  the 
Presidency,  and  has  been  maintained  in  that 
lofty  station,  .solely  by  the  recollection  of  a  vic- 
tory which  ho  gained  twenty  years  ago,  under 
the  Willis  of  New  Orleans ; — a  victory  which, 
however,  was  a  very  ordinary  achievement,  and 
which  could  only  be  renienihered  in  a  country 
where  battles  are  rare." — (^Chapter  17.) 

This  may  pass  for  American  history,  in  Europe 
and  in  a  foreign  language,  and  even  finds  abet- 
tors here  to  make  it  American  history  in  the 
United  States,  with  a  prtjface  and  notes  to  en- 
force and  commend  it:  but  America  will  find 
historians  of  her  own  to  do  justice  to  the  nation- 
al, and  to  individual  character.  In  the  mean  time 
I  have  some  knowledge  of  General  Jackson,  and 
the  American  people,  and  the  two  presidential 
elections  with  which  they  honored  the  General ; 


and  will  oppose  it,  that  is.  my  knowledge,  to  the 
flippant  and  shallow  statements  of  Mons.  do  Toc- 
queville. "  A  man  of  violent  temper.^'  I  ought 
to  know  something  about  that — contemporaries 
will  understand  the  allu-ion — and  I  can  say  that 
General  Jackson  had  :  good  temper,  kind  and 
hospitable  to  every  body,  and  a  feeling  of  protec- 
tion in  it  for  the  whole  human  race,  and  ispc- 
cially  the  weaker  and  humbler  part  of  it.  lie  had 
few  (juarrels  on  his  own  account ;  and  probably 
the  very  ones  of  which  Mons.  do  Tocqueville  had 
heard  were  accidental,  against  his  will,  and  for 
the  succor  of  friends.  "  Mediocre  talent,  and 
no  capacity  to  govern  a  free  peoj)le."  In  the 
first  place,  free  people  ai  ■  not  governed  by  any 
man,  but  by  laws.  Butt'  understand  the  phrase 
as  perhaps  intended,  that  he  had  no  capacity  for 
civil  administration,  let  the  condition  of  the  coun- 
try at  the  respective  periods  when  he  took  upj 
and  when  ho  laid  down  the  administratioii, 
answer.  He  found  the  country  in  domestic  dis- 
tress— pecuniary  distress — and  the  national  ani' 
state  legislation  invoked  by  leading  politicians  to 
relieve  it  by  empirical  remedies ; — tariils,  to  re- 
lieve one  part  of  the  community  by  taxing  the 
other ; — internal  improvement,  to  di.stribute  pub- 
lic money  ; — a  national  bank,  to  cure  the  paper 
money  evils  of  which  it  was  the  author;— the 
public  lands  the  pillage  of  brokvMi  Lank  pajwr;— 
depreciated  currency  and  ruini-J  exchanges;— 
a  million  and  a  half  of  "unavailable  funds"  in 
the  treasury  ; — a  large  public  debt ; — the  public 
money  the  prey  of  banks ; — no  gold  in  the  coun- 
try— only  twenty  millions  of  dollars  in  silver, 
and  that  in  banks  which  refused,  when  they 
pleased,  to  pay  it  down  in  redemption  of  their 
own  notes,  or  even  to  render  back  to  depositors, 
Stay  laws,  stop  laws,  replevin  laws,  baseless 
paper,  the  resource  in  half  the  States  to  save  the 
debtor  from  his  creditor ;  and  national  bankrupt 
laws  from  Congress,  and  local  insolvent  laws,  in 
the  States,  the  Ciemand  of  every  session.  Indinn 
tribes  occupying  a  half,  or  a  quarter  of  the  area  of 
southern  States,  and  unsettled  questions  of  wrong 
and  insult,  with  half  the  powers  of  Europe, 
Such  was  the  state  of  the  countr}'  when  General 
Jackson  became  President :  what  w.-m.  it  wiicn 
he  left  the  Presidency  1  Protective  tariffs,  and 
federal  internal  improvement  discarded ;  the  na- 
tional bank  left  to  expire  upon  its  own  limita- 
tion; the  public  lands  redeemed  from  tlie  pillage 
of  broken  bank  paper;  no  more  "unavailable 


I,     II 


iwlcdge,  to  the 
Mona.  do  Toe- 
Jer."  I  ought 
:oiitoinporaric8 
I  can  say  that 
ipor,  kind  and 
iling  of  protcc- 
aco,  and  ispc- 
;ofit.    Ildhiul 

and  probaljly 
'ocqiicville  hud 
5  will,  and  for 
"C  taJcnt,  and 
yple."  In  the 
irerntd  by  any 
and  the  phrase 
10  capacity  for 
on  of  the  coun- 
[1  he  took  «p, 
idininititratioi,, 
I  domestic  dis- 
le  national  ani' 
g  politicimsto 
— tarill's,  to  re- 
by  taxing  liie 
distribute  pub- 
!ure  the  paper 
>  author;— tiie 
bank  pa{)cr;- 

cxchanges  ;— 
ible  funds"  in 
it ; — the  public 
Id  in  the  coun- 
liars  in  silver, 
ed,  when  they 
mption  of  their 
k  to  depositors. 

laws,  baseless 
ites  to  save  the 
ional  bankrupt 
solvent  laws,  in 
ession.  Indian 
r  of  the  area  01 
stions  of  wrong 
-TS  of  Kuroiic, 
■  when  Cfeneral 
it  w!w  it  when 
tive  tariffs,  and 
warded;  thena- 
its  own  limita- 
Tora  the  pillage 
■e  "unavailaUe 


ANNO  1828.    JOHN  QUINCY  ADASLS,  PRESIDENT. 


funds ;  "  an  abumlant  gold  and  silver  currency  ; 
tho  public  (lel)t  pni.J  otfj    the    treasury  made 
independent  of  banks ;  tho  Indian  trilics  remov- 
ed from  tho  States ;  indemnities  obtained  from 
all  foreign  powers  for  all  past  aggressions,  and 
10  new  ones  committed ;  several  treaties  obtain- 
ed from  great  powers  that  never  would   treat 
with  us  before;  peace,  friendship,  and  commerce 
with  all  the  world ;  and  the  measures  established 
which,  after  one  great  conllict  with  the  expiring 
Bank  of  tho  United  States,  and  all  her  afliliated 
banks  in  1837,  put  an  end  to  bank  dominion  in 
the  United  States,  and  all  its  train  of  contractions 
and  expansions,  panic  and  suspension,  distress 
and  empirical  relief.     This  is  the  answer  which 
tho  respective  periods  of  tho  beginning  and  tho 
ending    of    finieral    Jackson's    administration 
gives  to  tlie  llippunt  imputation  of  no  capacity 
for  civil  government.     1  pass  on  to  the  next. 
••  The  majority  of  the  enlightened  classes  al- 
ways oppus-ed  to  him."   A  majority  of  those  clas.s- 
cs  which  Mons.  do  Tocquevillc  would  chiefly  see 
in  the  cities,  and  along  the  highways-bankers, 
brokers,  jobbers,  contractors,  politicians,  andsix>- 
culators-wero  certainly  against  him,  and  he  as 
certainly  against  them :  but  the  mass  of  the  in- 
telligence of  tho  country  was  with  him!  and 
sustained  him  :n  retrieving  the  country  from  the 
deplorable  condition  in  whidi  tho  "enlightened 
classes  "  had  sunk  it !  and  in  advancing  it  to  that 
state  of  felicity  at  home,  and  respect  abroad, 
which  has  made  it  the  envy  and  admiration  of 
the  civilized  world,  and  the  absorbent  of  popula- 
tions of  Europe.   I  pass  on.  -liaised  to  the  Pre- 
sidency and  maintained  there  solely  by  the 
recollection  of  the  victory  at  New  Ch-leans." 
Here  recollection,  and  military  glare,  i-everse  the 
action  of  their  ever  previous  attributes,  and  be- 
coine  stronger,  instead  of  weaker,  upon  the  lapse 
of  time     The  victory  at  New  Orleans  was  gain- 
ed in  the  hrst  week  of  the  year  1815 ;  and  did 
uot  bear  this  presidential  fruit  until  fourteen  and 
eighteen  years  afterwards,  and  until  three  previ- 
oiis  good  seasons  had  passed  without  production. 
There  was  a  presidential  election  in  1810,  when 
the  Victory  was  fresh,  and  the  country  ringing 
andimaginations  dazzled  with  it:  but  it  did  not 
make  Jackson  President,  or  even  bring  him  for- 

dida?  n         ;'''""  '^  ^^-^-"-^^  «^'<=n  ^  can- , 

Of  18-4  ho  became  a  candidate,  and-was  not  I 
VOL.   I.-_8 


113 


elected ;— receiving  but  1)9  electoral  vote.^  uut  of 
2(il.     In  tho  year  1828  ho  was  first  elected,  re- 
ceiving 178  out  of  201    votes;  and  in  1832  he 
was  a  second  timo  elected,  receiving  219  out 
of  288   votes.     Surely   there   must   have  been 
something  besides  an  old  military  recollection  to 
make  these  two  elections  so  diflerent  from  the 
two  former;  and  there  was!     That  something 
else  was  principle  J  and  tho  same  that  I  have 
stated  in  tho  beginning  of  this  chapter  as  cnter- 
lug  into  the  canvass  of  1828,  and  ruling  its  issue. 
I  pass  on  to  the  last  disparagement.    "A  victory 
which  was  a  very  ordinary  achievement,  and  only 
to    be  remembered   where   battles   wore  rare." 
Such  was  not  tho  battle  at  New  Orleans.     It 
was  no  ordinary  achievement.     It  was  a  victory 
of  4,000  citizens  just  called  from  their  homes 
without  knowledge  of  scientific  war,  under  a  lead- 
er as  littlo  schooled  as  themselves  in  that  parti- 
cular, without  other  advantages  than  a  slight 
field  work  (a  ditch  and  a  bank  of  earth)  hastily 
thrown    up-over    double    their    numbers    of 
British  veterans,  survivors  of  tho  wars  of  the 
French  Revolution,  victors  in  tho  Peninsula  and 
at  Toulouse,  under  trained  generals  of  the  Wel- 
lington school,  and  with  a  disparity  of  loss  never 
before  witnessed.    On  one  side  700  killed  (in- 
cluding tho  first,  second  and  tliird  generals)  • 
1400  wounded;   500  taken  prisoners.    On  the' 
other,  SIX  p,-ivates  killed,  and  seven  wounded- 
and  the  total  repul.so  of  an  invading  army  which 
instantly  tied  to  its  '-wooden  walls,"  and  never 
again  placed  a  hostile  foot  on  American  soil 
Such  an  achievement  is  not  ordinary,  much  less 
"very"  ordinary.     Does  Mons.  do  Tocqueville 
judge  the  importance  of  victories  by  tho  num- 
bers engaged,  and  the  quantity  of  blood    shed 
or  by  their  consequences  ?    If  the  former,  the 
cannonade  on  the  heights  of  Valmy  (which  was 
not  a  battle,  nor  oven  a  combat,  but  a  distant 
cannon  firing  in  which    few  were   hurt),  must 
seem  to  him  a  very  insignificant  affair.     Yet  it 
did  what  tho  marvellous  victories  of  Champau- 
bert   Jlontmirail,  Chuteau-Tliierry,  Vauchamps 
and  Montereau  could  not  do-turned  back  tho 
mvader,  and  .saved  tho  soil  of  France  from  the 
iron  hoof  of  the  conqueror's  horse!  and  wa« 
commemorated  twelve  years  afterwards  by  tho 
great  emperor  in  a  ducal  title  bestowed  upon  one 
of  Its  generals.      The  victory  at  New  Orleans 
did  what  the  connonade  at  Valmy  did-drove  back 
the  invader!  and  also  what  it  did  not  do-de- 


114 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


Btroyeil  tho  om-  fourth  part  ot  his  force.  And, 
therefore,  it  k  not  to  bo  disparaged,  and  will  not 
bo,  by  any  ono  who  judgoH  victories  by  their 
consenneiices,  instead  of  by  the  niinibers  enKaged. 
And  80  tho  victory  at  New  Orleans  will  remain 
in  history  as  ono  of  tho  great  achievements  of 
tho  world,  in  Hpite  of  tho  low  opinion  which  tho 
wrih  !■  on  American  democracy  entcrtain.s  of  it. 
But  M.-as.  do  Tocqueville's  disparagement  of 
General  Jackson,  aiid  hia  achievement,  docs  not 
stop  at  him  and  hia  victory.  It  goes  beyond 
both,  and  reaches  tho  American  people,  their  re- 
publican institutions,  and  the  elective  franchise : 
It  represents  the  people  as  incapable  of  self- 
government— as  led  oft"  by  a  little  military  glare 
to  elect  a  mnn  twice  President  who  had  not  one 
qualilicalion  for  the  place,  who  was  violent  and 
mediocre,  and  whom  the  enlightened  classes  op- 
posed :  a?l  most  unjustly  said,  but  still  to  pass 
for  American  history  in  Europe,  and  with  some 
Americans  at  home. 

Regard  for  Mons.  de  Tocqueville  is  tho  cause 
of  this  correction  of  his  errors  :  it  is  a  piece  of 
respect  which  I  do  not  extend  to  tho  riffraff  of 
European  writers  who  come  here  to  pick  up  the 
gossip  of  the  highways,  to  sell  it  in  Europe  for 
AviiLTican  history,  and  to  requite  with  defama- 
tion the  hospitalities  of  our  houses.  He  is  not 
of  that  class :  ho  is  above  it :  he  is  evidently  not 
intentionally  unjust.  But  he  is  tho  victim  of  the 
company  which  he  kept  while  among  us ;  and  his 
book  must  pay  tho  penalty  of  the  impositions 
practised  upon  him.  The  character  of  our  coun- 
try, and  the  cause  of  republican  government, 
require  his  errors  to  bo  corrected :  and,  unhap- 
pily, I  shall  have  further  occasion  to  perform 
that  duty. 


CHAPTER    XXXIX. 

EETIRINQ  OF  MK.  MACON. 

Philosophic  in  his  temperament  and  wise  in  his 
conduct,  governed  in  all  his  actions  by  reason 
and  judgment,  aud  deeply  imbued  with  Bible 
images,  this  virtuous  and  patriotic  man  (whom 
Mr.  .JcfTfrson  c-vllsxl  "  the  last  of  the  Romans)  " 
had  long  fixed  the  term  of  his  political  existence 
at  the  age  which  the  Psalmist  assigns  for  the 


limit  of  manly  life :  "  The  days  of  oiir  years  are 
threescore  years  and  ten  j  and  if  by  rea,son  of 
strength  they  bo  fourscore  years,  yet  is  their 
strength  labor  and  sorrow,  for  it  is  soon  cut  off, 
and  wo   Uy  away."     He  touched  that  ago  in 
1828  ;  and,  true  to  all  his  purposes,  he  was  true 
to  his  resolve  in  this,  and  ext  cuted  it  with  the 
quietude  and  indifference  of  an  ordinary  transac- 
tion.   Ho  was  in  the  miildleof  a  third  senatorial 
term,  and  in  the  full  possession  of  all  his  fm  ulties 
of  mind  and  body ;  but  his  time  for  retirement 
had  come — tho  time  fixed  by  himself ;  but  fixed 
ui)on  conviction  and  for  well-considered  reasons, 
and  inexorable  to  him  as  if  fixed  by  fate.    To 
the  fi  lends  who  urged  him  to  remain  to  the  end 
of  his  term,  and  who  insisted  that  his  mind  wu 
as  good  OS  ever,  he  would  answer,  that  it  was 
good  enough  yet  to  let  him  know  that  he  ought 
to  quit  office  before  his  mind  quit  him,  and  that 
he  did  not  mean  to  risk  the  fate  of  the  Archbishop 
of  Grenada.    Ho  resigned  his  senatorial  honors 
as  he  had  worn  them — meekly,  unostentatiously, 
in  a  letter  of  thanks  and  gratitude  to  the  General 
Assembly  of  his  State ; — and  gave  to  rej)oso  at 
home  that  interval  of  thought  and  quietude  which 
every  wise  man  would  wish  to  place  between  the 
turmoil  of  life  and  the  stillness  of  eternity.   He 
had  nine  years  of  this  tranquil  enjoyment,  and 
died  without  pain  or  suffering  June  29th,  1837, 
— characteristic  in  death  as  in  life.    It  was  eight 
o'clock  in  the  morning  when  he  felt  that  tlie  su- 
preme hour  had  come,  had  himself  full-dressed 
with  his  habitual  neatness,  walked  in  the  room 
and  lay  upon  the  bed,  by  turns  conversing  kind- 
ly witii  those  who  were  about  him,  and  showing 
by  his  conduct  that  he  was  ready  and  waiting, but 
hurrying  nothing.    It  was  the  death  of  Socrates. 
all  but  the  hemlock,  and  in  that  full  faith  of 
which  the  Grecian  sage  had  only  a  glimmering. 
lie  directed  his  own  grave  on  the  point  of  a  sterile 
ridge  (where  nobody  would  wish  to  plough), 
and  covered  with  a  pile  of  rough  flint-stoi.';, 
(which  nobody  would  wish  to  build  with),  deem- 
ing this  sterility  and  the  usclessness  of  this  rocii 
the  best  security  for  that  undisturbed  repose  of 
the  bones  which  is  still  desirable  to  those  wiio 
arc  indifferent  to  monuments. 
In  almost  all  strongly-marked  characters  there 

is  usually  some  incident  or  sign,  in  early  liff. 
which  shows  that  character,  and  reveals  to  the 
close  observer  the  type  of  the  future  man.  So 
it  was  with  Mr.  Macon.    His  firmness,  his  pa- 


ANKO  IIM.    JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  PRESIDENT. 


115 


ir  years  an 
y  reason  of 
yet  is  their 
soon  cut  off, 

lliut  ago  in 
he  was  true 

it  Willi  the 
iiiry  transac- 
rtl  senatorial 
I  his  fttmilticg 
r  retirement 
f;  but  fixed 
->re(l  reasons, 
by  futo.  To 
n  to  the  end 
lis  mind  was 
,  that  it  \fii 
lat  he  ought 
im,  and  that 
c  Archbishop 
torial  honors 
itentatiously, 
)  the  General 

to  rej)osoat 
lietude  which 
J  between  the 
iternity.  He 
joyment,  ami 
ic  29th,  1837, 

It  was  eight 
t  that  the  su- 
f  fuIl-dresscd 

in  the  room 
.versing  kind- 

and  showing 
d  waiting,  hut 
,h  of  Socrates, 

full  faith  of 
a  glimmering, 
int  of  a  sterile 
\  to  plough), 
;h  flint-stOL'!, 
1  with),  deem- 
3s  of  this  rock 
bed  repose  of 
to  those  wiio 

laracters  there 
in  early  liff. 
reveals  to  the 
;ure  man.  S" 
mness,  his  pa- 


triotism, his  self-denial,  hia  devotion  to  rhity 
and  disregard  of  odice  and  emolument ;  his  moii- 
e^ty,  integrity,  self-control,  and   wubji  slion  of 

oiiduct  to  tlio  convictions  of  reason  ana  the  dic- 
tates of  virtue,  all  so  steadily  exctnplified  in  a 
long  life,  W(T(!  all  shown  from  the  early  ago  of 
eighteen,  in  the  miniaturo  representation  of  indi- 
vidual action,  and  only  conflrmwl  in  the  subse- 
quent public  exhibitions  of  along,  b( -uitifld,  and 
exalted  career. 

lie  was  of  that  agi>,  and  a  student  at  Princeton 
college,  at  the  time  of  the  Declaration  of  Ameri- 
c'ln  Independence.  A  small  volunteer  corps  was 
then  on  the  Delaware.  lie  quit  his  books,  join- 
ed it,  .served  a  term,  returned  to  Princeton,  and 
resumed  his  studies.  In  the  year  1778  the  South- 
ern States  had  become  a  battle-field,  big  with 
their  own  fate,  and  pos.sibly  involving  the  i.ssun 
of  the  war.  Hritish  fleets  and  armies  appeared 
there,  strongly  supported  by  the  friends  of  the 
British  cause ;  and  the  conquest  of  the  South 
was  fully  counted  upon.  Help  was  needed  in 
these  States ;  and  Mr.  Macon,  quitting  college, 
returned  to  his  native  county  in  North  Carolina, 
joined  a  militia  company  as  a  private,  and  march- 
ed to  South  Carolina— then  the  theatre  of  the 
enemy's  operations 


Ho  had  his  share  in  all  the 
hardships  and  disasters  of  that  trying  time ;  was 
at  the  full  of  Fort  Moultrie,  surrender  of  Charles- 
ton, defeat  at  Camden ;  and  in  the  rapid  winter 
retreat  across  the  upper  part  of  North  Carolina. 
He  was  in  the  camp  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Yad- 
kin when  the  sudden  flooding  of  tliat  river,  in 
the  brief  interval  between  the  crossing  of  the 
Americans  and  the  coming  up  of  the  British,  ar- 
rested the  pursuit  of  Cornwallis,  and  enabled 
Greene  to  allow  some  rest  to  his  wearied  and 
exhausted  men.  In  this  camp,  destitute  of  every 
thing  and  with  gloomy  prospects  ahead,  a  sum- 
mons came  to  Mr.  Macon  from  the  Governor  of 
North  Carolina,  requiring  him  to  attend  a  meet- 
ing of  the  General  Assembly,  of  which  he  had 
been  elected  a  member,  without  his  knowledge, 
by  the  people  of  his  county.  He  refu.sed  to  go : 
and  the  incident  being  talked  of  through  the 
camp,  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  general. 
Greene  was  a  man  himself,  and  able  to  know  a 
man.  He  felt  at  once  that,  if  this  report  was  true, 
this  young  soldier  was  no  common  character;  and 
determined  to  verify  the  fact.  He  sent  for  the 
young  man,  inquired  of  him,  heard  the  truth, 
and  then  asked  for  the  reason  of  this  unexpected 


conduct — thi.s  prcforonoo  for  a  suffisring  camp 
over  a  comfortable  seat  in  the  flenoral  Assem- 
bly ?     Mr.  Macon  answered  him,  in  his  quaint 
and  K       "(''aus  way,  that  ho  had  seen  the  Jacea 
of  the  tiritish  many  times,  but  had  never  seen 
their  ft«cAv»,  and  meant  to  stay  in  the  army  till 
ho  did.     Greene  instantly  saw  the  material  the 
young  man   was  nui<lo  of,  and  the  handle  by 
which  he  was  to  be  worked.     That  material  waa 
patriotism;  that  handle  a  sense  of  duty;  and 
laying  hold  of  thi.s  hanillo,  he  quickly  worked 
the  young  soldier  into  a  different  conclusion  from 
the  one  that  he  had  arrived  at.     He  told  him  ho 
could  do  more  gtiod  a.s  a  member  of  the  General 
Assembly  than  as  a  soldier ;  that  in  the  army 
he  wa.s  but  one  man,  and  in  the  General  Assem- 
bly ho  might  obtain  iiuuiy,  with  the  supplies 
they  needed,  by  showing  the  destitution  and 
suffering  which  he  had  seen  in  the  camp ;  and 
that  it  was  his  duty  to  go.    This  view  of  duty 
and  usefulness  was  decisive.    Mr.  Macon  obeyed 
the  Governor's  summons  ;  and  by  his  represen- 
tations contributed  to  obtain  the  supplies  which 
enabled  Greene  to  turnback  and  face  Cornwallis, 
—fight  him,  cripple  him,  drive  him  further  back 
than  he  had  advanced  (for  Wilmington  is  South 
of  Camden),  disable  him  from  remaining  in  the 
South  (of  which,  up  to  the  battle  of  Guilford, 
he  believed  himself  to  be  master)  ;  and  sending 
him  to  Yoiktown,  where  he  was  captured,  and 
the  war  ended. 

The  philosophy  of  history  has  not  yet  laid  hold 
of  the  battle  of  Guilfonl,  its  consequences  and 
effects.  That  battle  made  the  capture  at  York- 
town.  The  events  are  told  in  every  history: 
their  connection  and  dependence  in  none.  It 
broke  up  the  plan  of  Cornwallis  in  the  South,  and 
changed  the  plan  of  Washmgton  in  the  North. 
Cornwallis  wa,«  to  subdue  the  Southern  States, 
and  was  doing  it  until  Greene  turned  upon  him 
at  Guilford.  Wasliington  was  occupied  with 
Sir  Henry  Clinton,  then  in  New- York,  with 
12,000  British  troops.  Ho  had  formed  the  heroic 
design  to  capture  Clinton  and  his  army  (the 
French  fleet  co-operating)  in  that  city,  and  there- 
by putting  an  end  to  the  war.  All  his  prepara- 
tions were  going  on  for  that  grand  consummation 
when  he  got  the  news  of  the  battle  of  Guilford, 
the  retreat  of  C-.r  iwallis  to  Wilmington,  his  in- 
ability to  keep  the  field  in  the  South,  and  his 
return  northward  through  the  lower  part  of 
Virginia.    He  saw  his  advantage — an  easier  prey 


■i 


116 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


—and  the  same  result,  if  successful.  Cornwallis 
or  Clinton,  cither  of  them  captured,  would  put 
an  end  to  the  war.  Washington  changed  his 
plan,  deceived  Clinton,  moved  rapidly  upon  the 
weaker  general,  captured  him  and  his  7000  men ; 
and  ended  the  revolutionary  war.  Tlie  battle 
of  Guilford  put  that  capture  into  Washington's 
hands ;  and  thus  Guilford  and  Yorktown  became 
connectpd ;  and  the  philosophy  of  history  shows 
their  dependence,  and  that  the  lesser  event  was 
father  to  the  greater.  The  State  of  North  Caro- 
lina gave  General  Greene  25,000  acres  of  west- 
ern land  for  that  day's  work,  now  worth  a  million 
of  dollars  ;  but  the  day  itself  has  not  yet  obtain- 
ed its  proper  place  in  A  merican  history. 

The  military  life  of  Mr.  Macon  finished  with 
his  departure  from  the  camp  on  the  Yadkin,  and 
his  civil  public  life  commenced  on  his  arrival  at 
the  General  Assembly,  to  which  he  had  been 
summoned — that  civil  public  life  in  which  he  was 
continued  above  forty  years  by  free  elections — 
representative  in  Congress  under  AYashington, 
Adams,  Jefferson,  and  JIadison,  and  long  the 
Speaker  of  the  House ;  senator  in  Congress  un- 
der Madison,  Monroe,  and  John  Quincy  Adams ; 
and  often  elected  President  of  the  Senate,  and 
until  voluntarily  declining ;  twice  refusing  to  be 
Postmaster  General  under  Jefferson  ;  never  tak- 
ing any  office  but  that  to  which  he  was  elected ; 
and  resigning  his  last  senatorial  term  when  it 
was  only  half  run.  But  a  characteristic  trait 
remains  to  be  told  of  his  military  life — one  that 
has  neither  precedent  nor  imitation  (the  example 
of  Washington  being  out  of  the  line  of  compari- 
son) :  he  refused  to  receive  pay,  or  to  accept  pro- 
motion, and  served  three  years  as  a  private 
through  mere  devotion  to  his  country.  And  all 
the  long  length  of  his  life  was  conformable  to  this 
patriotic  and  disinterested  beginning :  and  thus 
the  patriotic  principles  of  the  future  senator  were 
all  revealed  in  early  life,  and  in  the  obscurity  of 
an  unknown  situation.  Conformably  to  this  be- 
ginning, he  refused  to  take  any  thing  under  the 
modern  acts  of  Congress  for  the  benefit  of  the 
surviving  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  Revolution, 
and  voted  against  them  all,  saying  they  had  suf- 
fered alike  (citizens  and  military),  and  all  been 
rewarded  together  in  the  establishment  of  inde- 
pendence ;  that  the  debt  to  the  army  had  been 
settled  by  pay,  by  pensions  to  the  wounded,  by 
half-pay  and  land  to  the  officers ;  that  no  mili- 
tary claim  could  be  founded  on  depreciated  con- 


tinental paper  money,  from  which  the  civil 
functionaries  who  performed  service,  and  tlie  far- 
mers who  furnished  supplies,  suffered  as  much 
as  any.  On  this  principle  he  voted  against  the 
bill  for  Lafayette,  against  all  the  modern  revo- 
lutionary pensions  and  land  bounty  acts,  and 
refused  to  take  any  thing  under  them  (for  many 
were  applicable  to  himself). 

Ilis  political  principles  were  deep-rooted,  in- 
nate, subject  to  no  change  and  to  no  machinery 
of  party.  He  was  democratic  in  the  broad  sense 
of  the  word,  as  signifying  a  capacity  in  the  people 
for  self-government ;  and  in  its  party  sense,  as 
in  favor  of  a  plain  and  economical  administra- 
tion of  the  federal  government,  and  against  lati- 
tudinarian  constructions  of  the  constitution.  He 
was  a  party  man,  not  in  the  hackneyed  sense  of 
the  word,  but  only  where  principle  was  concern- 
ed ;  and  was  independent  of  party  in  all  his  so- 
cial relations,  and  in  all  the  proceedings  which 
he  disapproved.  Of  this  he  gave  a  strong  in- 
stance in  the  case  of  General  Hamilton,  whom 
he  deemed  honorable  and  patriotic ;  and  utterly 
refused  to  be  concerned  in  a  movement  proposed 
to  affect  him  personally,  though  politically  op- 
posed to  him.  He  venerated  Washington,  ad- 
mired the  varied  abilities  and  high  qualities  of 
Hamilton ;  and  esteemed  and  respected  the  emi- 
nent federal  gentlemen  of  his  time.  lie  had  af- 
fectionate regard  for  Madison  and  Monroe  ;  but 
Mr.  Jefferson  was  to  him  the  full  and  perfect 
exemplification  of  the  republican  statesman. 
His  almost  fifty  years  of  personal  and  political 
friendship  and  association  wii;h  Mr.  Randolph  is 
historical,  and  indissolubly  connects  their  names 
and  memories  in  the  recollection  of  their  friends, 
and  in  history,  if  it  docs  them  justice.  He  was 
the  early  friend  of  General  Jackson,  and  intimate 
with  him  when  he  was  a  scmator  in  Congress 
under  the  administration  of  the  elder  Mr.  Adams; 
and  was  able  to  tell  Congress  and  the  world  who 
he  was  when  he  began  to  astonish  Europe  and 
America  by  his  victories.  He  was  the  kind  ob- 
server of  the  conduct  of  young  men,  encourag- 
ing them  by  judicious  commendation  when  he 
saw  them  making  efforts  to  become  useful  and 
respectable,  and  never  noting  their  faults.  He 
was  just  in  all  things,  and  in  that  most  difficult 
of  all  things,  judging  political  opponents,— to 
whom  he  would  do  no  Avrong,  not  merely  in 
word  or  act,  but  in  thought.  He  spoke  frequent- 
ly in  Congress,  always  to  the  point,  and  briefly 


% 


ANNO  1828.    JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  PRESIDENT. 


» 
I 

4 


and  wisely ,  and  was  one  of  those  speakers  which 
Mr.  Jcflerson  described  Dr.  Franklin  to  have 
been— a  speaker  of  no  pretension  and  great  per- 
formance,—who  spoke  more  good  sense  while  he 
was  getting  up  out  of  his  chair,  and  getting  back 
into  it,  than  many  others  did  in  long  discourses  ; 
and  he  suffered  no  reporter  to  dress  up  a  speech 
for  him. 

He  was  above  the  pursuit  of  wealth,  but  also 
above  dependence  and  idleness;  and,  like  an  old 
Roman  of  the  elder  Oato's  time,  worked  in  the 
fields  at  the  head  of  his  slaves  in  the  intervals 
of  public  duty ;  and  did  not  cease  this  labor  until 
advancing  age  rendered  him  unable  to  stand  the 
hot  sun  of  summer-the  only  season  of  the  year 
when  senatorial  duties  left  him  at  liberty  to  fol- 
low the  plough,  or  handle  the  hoe.    I  think  it 
was  the  summer  of  1817,-that  was  the  last  time 
(he  told  me)  he  tried  it,  and  found  the  sun  too 
hot  for  him-then  sixty  years  of  age,  a  senator, 
and  the  refuser  of  all  office.    How  often  I  think 
of  Imn,  when  I  see  at  Washington  robustious 
men  gomg  through  a  scene  of  supplication,  tribu- 
lation, and  degradation,  to  obtain  office,  which 
he  salvation  of  the  soul  does  not  impose  upon 
the  vilest  s,nner !    His  fields,  his  flocks,  and  his 
herds  yielded  an  ample  supply  of  domestic  pro- 
ductions.   A  small  crop  of  tobacco-three  hogs- 
heads when  the  season  was  good,  two  when  bad 
-purchased  the  exotics  which  comfort  and  ne- 
cessity required,  and  which  the  farm  did  not  pro- 
duce.   He  was  not  rich,  but  rich  enough  to  dis- 
pense hospitality  and  charity,  to  receive  all  guests 
in  his  house,  from  the  President  to  the  day  la- 
borer-no other  title  being  necessary  to  enter 
lus  house  but  that  of  an   honest  man:   rich 
enough  to  bring  up  his  famUy  (two  daughters) 
as  accomplished  ladies,  and  marry  them  to  ae 

Esq.,  the  other  to  William  Eaton,  Esq.,  of  Roan 
^ke  my  early  school-fellow  and  friend  'for  more 
than  half  a  century ;  and,  above  all,  he  waa  rich 
enough  to  pay  as  he  went,  and  nev;r  to  owe  a 
dollar  to  any  man. 

.uf  r'  T^^""'^ '"  ^'^  friendships,  and  would 

It  n  •  '?  *'  '™"''  ^"*  --'d'  violaTe  no 
pomt  of  public  duty  to  please  or  oblige  him.  Of 
this  his  relations  with  Mr.  Randolph  gave  ^  si/ 
nal  instance.  He  drew  a  knife  .„tffnd  h'  ^" 
;ethe.reatP^^^^^^^^^ 
■^ome  naval  and  military  officers  for  w.  7 
spoken  in  debate,  and  deeded  ^Si/rtoThS 


117 


professions;  yet,  when  speaker  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  he  displaced  Mr.  Randolph  from 
the  head  of  the  committee  of  ways  and  means 
because  the  chairman  of  that  committee  should 
be  on  terms  of  political  friendship  with  the  ad- 
mimstration,-which  Mr.  Randolph   had   then 
ceased  to  be  with  Mr.  Jefibrson's.     He  was 
above  executive   office,  even  the    highest    the 
President  could  give;  but  not  above  the  lowest 
the  people  could  give,  takbg  that  of  justice  of  the 
peace  m  his  county,  and  refusing  that  of  Post- 
master-General at  Washington.     He  was  op- 
posed to  nepotism,  and  to  all  quartering  of  his 
connections   on  the  government;    and    in  the 
course  of  his  forty-years'  service,  with  the  abso- 
lute friendship  of  many  admbistrations  and  the 
perfect  respect  of  all,  he  never  had  office  or  con- 
I  tract  for  any  of  his  blood.    He  refused  to  be  a 
candidate  for  the  vice-presidency,  but  took  the 
p^ace  of  elector  on  the  Van  Buren  ticket  in  1836 
He  was  against  paper  money  and  the  paper  sys- 
tem, and  was  accustomed  to  present  the  strong 
argument  against  both  in  the  simple  phrase,  that 
this  was  a  hard-money  government,  made  by 
hard-money  men,  who  had  seen  the  evil  of  paper- 
money,  and  meant  to  save  their  posterity  from  it 
He  was  opposed  to  securityships,  and  held  that 
no  man  ought  to  be   entangled  in  the  affiiirs 
of  another  and  that  the  interested  parties  alone 
-those  who  expected  to  find  their  profit  in  the 
transaction-should  bear  the  bad  consequences 
as  well  as  enjoy  the  good  ones,  of  their  owi^ 
dealings     He  never  called  any  one  "friend" 
without  being  so;  and  never  expressed  faith  in 

,n°MrTf  °''^"*^°^^'"«'^  ^'thout  acting 
up  to  the  declaration  when  the  occasion  require! 
v^  ^7^'''j,"^°°st't"ting  his  friend  Weldon  N 
Edwards,  Esq.,  his  testamentary  and  sole  execu- 
tor with  large  discretionary  powers,  he  left  all 
to  his  honor,  and  forbid  him  to  account  to  any 

shol"  ''T  T  *'^  "*'^°^''  '"  ^hich  he 
should   execute  that  trust.     This  prohibition 

was  so  characteristic,  and  so  honorable  to  t  h 

event    hat  I  g,ye  it  m  his  own  words,  as  copied 
from  his  will,  to  wit :  ^ 


,41""^-^"°'"  tJ^/oJIowing,  in  my  own   h.nd- 
"iitmg,  as  a  codicil  to  this  my  last Vill  nr.Tilt 
ament,  and  direct  that  it  LTpaTt  tW-tha; 
egrT&mvef '"I'  '^?  in  fhe  honor  and  t 


'    1 


1 1 


f  -i 


118 


TniRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


i;-.'. 


ever  for  the  discharge  of  the  trust  confided  by 
me  to  him  in  and  by  the  foregoing  will. 

And  the  event  has  proved  that  his  judgment, 
as  always,  committed  no  mistake  when  it  be- 
stowed that  confidence.  He  hadhis  peculiarities— 
idiosyncracies,if  any  one  pleases-but  they  were 
born  with  him,  suited  to  him,  constituting  a  part  of 
his  character,  and  necessary  to  its  completeness. 
He  never  subscribed  to  charities,  but  gave,  and 
freely,  according  to  his  means— the  left  hand  not 
knowing  what  the  right  hand  did.    He  never 
subscribed  for  new  books,  giving  as  a  reason  to 
the  soliciting  agent,  that  nobody  purchased  his 
tobacco  until  it  was  inspected;  and  he  could 
buy  no  book  until  he  had  examined  it.    He 
would  not  attend  the  Congress  Presidential  Cau- 
cus of  1824,  although  it  was  sure  to  nommatc 
his  own  choice  (Mr.  Crawford);  and,  when  a 
reason  was  wanted,  he  gave  it  in  the  brief  answer 
that  he  attended  one  once  and  they  cheated  him, 
and  he  had  said,  that  he  would  never  attend 
another.    He  always  wore  the  same  dress— that 
is  to  say,  a  suit  of  the  same  material,  cut,  and 
color,  superfine  navy  blue-the  whole  suit  froin 
the  same  piece,  and  in  the  fashion  of  the  time  of 
the  Revolution;  and  always  replaced  by  a  new 
one  before  it  showed  age.     He  was  neat  m  his 
person,  always  wore  fine  linen,  a  fine  cambric 
stock,  a  fine  fur  hat  with  a  brim  to  it,  fair  top- 
toots— the  boot  outside  of  the  pantaloons,  on  the 
principle  that  leather  was  stronger  than  cloln. 
He  would  wear  no  man's  honors,  and  when  com- 
plimented on  the  report  on  the  Panama  mission, 
which,  as  chairman  of  the  committee  on  foreign 
relations,  he  had  presented  to  the  Senate,  he 
would  answer,  "  Yes  ;  it  is  a  good  report ;  Taze- 
well wrote  it."    Left  to  himself,  he  was  ready 
to  take  the  last  place,  and  the  lowest  seat  any 
where;  but  in  his   representative  capacity  he 
would  suffer  no  derogation  of  a  constitutional  or 
of  a  popular   right.      Thus,  when  Speaker  of 
the  House,  and  a  place  behind  the  President's 


Secretaries  had  been  assigned  him  in  some  cere- 
mony, ho  disregarded  the  programme ;  and,  as 
the  elect  of  the  elect  of  all  the  people,  took  his 
place  next  after  those  whom  the  national  vote 
had  elected.    And  in  1803,  on  the  question  to 
change  the  form  of  voting  for  President  ami 
Vice-President,  and  the  vote  wanting  one  of  tl'c 
constitutional  number  of  two  thirds,  he  resisleO 
the  rule  of  the  House  which    restricted   the 
speaker's  vote  to  a  tie,  or  to  a  vote  which  would 
make  a  tie,— claimed  his  constitutional  right  to 
vote  as  a  member,  obtained  it,  gave  the  vote, 
made  the  two  thirds,  and  carried  the  amend- 
ment.   And,  what  may  well  be  deemed  idiosyn- 
cratic m  these  days,  he  was  punctual  in  the  per- 
formance of  all  his  minor  duties  to  the  Senate, 
attending  its  sittings  to  the  moment,  attending 
all  the  committees  to  which  he  was  appointed. 
attending   all    the   funerals   of    the   members 
and  oflacers  of  the  Houses,  always  in  time  at 
every  place  where  duty  required  him ;  and  re- 
fusing double  mileage  for  one  travelling,  when 
elected  from  the  House  of  Representatives  to  the 
Senate,  or  summoned  to  an  extra  session,    lie 
was  an  habitual  reader  and  student  of  the  Bible, 
a  pious  and  religious  man,  and  of  the  ''  Baptist 
persuasion,"  as  he  was  accustomed  to  express  it. 
I  have  a  pleasure  in  recalling  the  recollections 
of  this  wise,  just,  and  good  man,  and  in  wilting 
them  down,  not  without  profit,  I  hope,  to  rising 
generations,  and  at  least  as  extending  the  know- 
ledge of  the  kind  of  men  to  whom  we  are  indebt- 
ed for  our  independence,  and  for  the  form  of 
government  which  they  established  for  us.    Mr. 
Macon  was  the  real  Cincinnatus  of  America,  the 
pride  and  ornament  of  my  native  State,  my  he- 
reditary friend  through  four    generations,  my 
mentor  in  the  first  seven  years  of  my  senatorial 
and  the  last  seven  of  his  senatorial  life;  and  a 
feeling  of  gratitude  and  of  filial  affection  ming!« 
itself  with  this  discharge  of  historical  duty  to  his 
memory. 


' 


1 


ANNO  1829.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESmENT. 


119 


1  somecere- 
mc ;  and,  as 
)le,  took  his 
ational  vote 
question  to 
esident  and 
;  one  of  tbc 
I  he  resisted 
stricted   tlie 
which  would 
mal  right  to 
re  the  vote, 
the  amend- 
med  idiosp- 
il  in  the  per- 
)  the  Senate, 
nt,  attending 
IS  appointed, 
;he   members 
s  in  time  at 
him;  and  re- 
.velling,  when 
itatives  to  the 
,  session.    lie 
:  of  the  Bible, 
the  "  Baptist 
1  to  express  it. 
e  recollections 
nd  in  wiiting 
lope,  to  rising 
ing  the  know- 
we  arc  iudebt- 
the  form  of 
d  for  us.    Mr. 
if  America,  llic 
I  State,  my  he- 
enerations,  my 
my  senatorial. 
ial  life ;  and  .i 
fectiou  mingle^ 
ical  duty  to  li- 


ADMINISTEATION  OF  AJSTDREW  JACKSON. 


CHAPTER   XL  . 

COMMENCEMENT   OP  GENERAL    JACKSON'S   AD- 
MINISTRATION. 

Os  the  4th  of  March,  1«29,  the  new  President 
was  inaugurated,   with  the  usual  ceremonies, 
and  dehvercd  the  address  which  belongs  to  the 
occasion ;  and  which,  like  all  of  its  class,  was  a 
general  declaration  of  the  political  principles  by 
which  the  new  administration  would  be  guided. 
The  general  terms  in  which  such  addresses  are 
necessarily  conceived  preclude  the  possibility  of 
minute  practical  views,  and  leave  to  time  and 
events  the  qualification  of  the  general  declarations. 
Such  declarations  are  always  in  harmony  with 
the  grounds  upon  which  the  new  President's 
election  had  been  made,  and  generally  agreeable 
to  his  supporters,  without  being  repulsive  to  his 
opponents ;  harmony  and  conciliation  being  an 
especial  object  with  every  new  administration. 
So  of  General  Jackson's  inaugural  address  on 
this  occasion.    It  was  a  general  chart  of  demo- 
cratic principles ;  but  of  which  a  few  paragraphs 
will  bear  reproduction  in  this  work,  as  being 
either  new  and  strong,  or  a  revival  of  good  old 
principles,  of  late  neglected.    Thus :  as  a  military 
man  his  election  had  been  deprecated  as  possibly 
leading  to  a  miliary  administration:  on  the  con- 
trary he  thus  expressed  himself  on  the  subject 
of  standing  armies,  and  subordination  of  the 
military  to  the  civil  authority:    'Considering 
standing  armies  as  dangerous  to  free  govern" 
ment,  in  time  of  pta<;e,  I  shall  not  seek  to  en- 
large our  present  establishment ;  nor  disregard 


that  salutary  lesson  of  political  experience  which 
teaches  that  the  military  should  be  held  subor- 
dinate to  the  civil  power. "    On  the  cardinal 
doctrine  of  economy,  and  freedom  from  publk; 
debt,  he  said :  "  Under  every  aspect  in  which  it 
can  bo  considered,  it  would  appear  that  advantage 
must  result  from  the  observance  of  a  strict  and 
faithful  economy.    This  I  shall  aim  at  the  more 
anxiously,  both  because  it  will  facilitate  the  ex- 
tinguishment of  the  national  debt— the  unneces- 
sary duration  of  which  is  incompatible  with  real 
independence; — and  because  it  will  counteract 
that  tendency  to  public  and  private  profligacy 
which  a  profuse  expenditure  of  money  by  the 
government  is  but  too  apt  to  engender."    Reform 
of  abuses  and  non-interference  with  elections, 
were  thus  enforced :  "  The  recent  demonstration 
of  public  sentunent  inscribes,  on  the  list  of  ex- 
ecutive duties,  in  characters  too  legible  to  be 
overiooked,  the  task  of  reform,  which  will  re- 
quire, particularly,  the  correction  of  those  abuses 
that  have  brought  the  patronage  of  the  federal 
government  into  conflict  with  the  freedom  of 
elections. "    The  oath  of  office  was  administered 
by  the  venerable  Chief  Justice,  Marshall,  to  whom 
that  duty  had  belonged  for  about  thirty  years. 
The  Senate,  according  to  custom,  having  been 
convened  in  extra  session  for  the  occasion,  the 
cabinet  appointments  were  immediately  sent  in 
and  eonfirmed.    They  were,  Martin  Van  Buren, 
of  New- York,  Secretaiy  of  State  (Mr.  James  A. 
Hamilton,  of  New-York,  son  of  the  late  General 
Hamilton,  being  charged  with  the  duties  of  the 
office  until  Mr.  Van  Buren  could  enter  upon, 
them);  Samuel   D.  Ingham,  of   Pennsylvania,, 


120 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


Secretary  of  the  Treasury ;  John  II.  Eaton,'  of 
Teunes.seo,  Secretary  at  War;  John  Branch,  of 
North  Carolina,  Secretary  of  the  Navy ;  John  M. 
Berrien,  of  Georgia,  Attorney  General ;  William 
T.  Larry,  of  Kentucky,  Postmaster  General ; 
those  who  constituted  the  late  cabinet,  under 
Mr.  Adams,  only  one  of  them,  (Mr.  John 
McLean,  the  Postmaster  General,)  classed  poli- 
tically with  General  Jackson ;  and  a  vacancy 
having  occurred  on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme 
Court  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Justice  Trimble,  of 
Kentucky,  Jlr.  McLean  was  appointed  to  fill  it; 
a  ad  a  further  vacancy  soon  after  occurring,  the 
d>.  vth  of  Mr.  Justice  Bushrod  Washington 
(nephew  of  General  Washington),  ]\Ir.  Henry 
Baldwin,  of  Penns3^1vania,  was  appointed  in  his 
place.  The  Twenty-first  Congress  dated  the 
commencement  of  its  legal  existence  on  the  day 
of  the  commencement  of  the  new  administration , 
and  its  members  were  as  follows : 

SENATE. 

M.UNE — John  Holmes,  Peleg  Sprague. 

New  Hampshirk— Samuel  Bell,  Levi  Wood- 
bury. 

Massachljetts— Nathaniel  Silsbee,  Daniel 
Webster. 

Connecticut— Samuel  A.  Foot,  Calvin  Willey. 

Rhode  Island— Nchcmiah  II.  Knight,  Asher 
Bobbins. 

Vermont — Dudley  Chase,  Horatio  Seymour. 

New-York- Nathan  Sanford,  Charles  E.  Dud- 
ley. 

New  Jersey— Theodore  Frelinghuysen,  Mah- 
lon  BickeijOn. 

Pen?isylv4nia~ William  Marks,  Isaac  D. 
Br.rrard, 

Delaware— John  M.  Clayton,  (  Vacant.) 

Maryland— Samuel  Smith,  Ezekiel  F.  Cham- 
bers. 

ViRGiNi.1— L.  W.  Tazewell,  John  Tyler. 

North  Carolina— James  Iredell,  {Vacant.) 

South  Carolina— William  Smith,  Robert  Y. 
Hayr.e. 

Georgia— George  M.Troup,  John  Forsyth. 

Kentucky— John  Rowan.  George  M.  Bibb. 

Tennessee— Hugh  L.  White,  Felix  Grundy. 

Ohio — Benjamin  Ruggles,  Jacob  Burnet. 

Louisiana — Josiah  S.  Jolmston,  Edward  Liv- 
ingston. 

Indiana — W'lliam  Hendricks,  James  Noble. 

Mississippi—  'owhatan  Ellis,  (Vacant.) 

Illinois— Eliad  K.  Kane,  John  McLane. 

Alabama — John  McKinley,  William  II.  King. 

Missouri — David  Barton,  Thomas  II.  Benton. 

HOUSE   OP  REPEESENTATIVES. 

Maine — John  Anderson,  Sanmel  BuUnau, 
George  Evans,  Rufus  Mclntire,  James  W.  Ripley, 
Joseph  F.  Wmgate — 6.    (  One  vacant.) 


New  Hampshire — John  Brodhcad,  Thomas 
Chandler,  Jossph  Hammons,  Jonathan  Ilarvev 
Henry  Hubbard,  John  W.  Weeks— G. 

Massachusetts — John  Bailey,  Issac  C.  B"tes 
B.  W.  Crowninshield,  John  Davis,  Henry  \y[ 
Dwight,  Edward  Everett,  Benjamin  Gorham' 
George  Grennell,  jr.,  James  L.  Hodges,  Joscpli 
G.  Kendall,  John  Reed,  Joseph  Richardson 
John  Varnum — 13.  ' 

Rhode  Island — Tristam  Burgess,  Dutee  J. 
Pearce — 2. 

Connecticut— Noyes  Barber,  Wm.  W.  Ells- 
worth, J.  W.  Huntington,  Ralph  J.  InKersoll 
W.  L.  Storrs,  EbenYoung-6.  ' 

Vermont— William  Cahoon,  Horace  Everett 
Jonathan  Hunt,  Rollin  C.  Mallary.  Benjamin 
Swift — 5. 

New- York— William  G.  Angel,  Benedict  Ar- 
nold, Thomas  Beckman,  Abraham  Bockee,  Peter 
I.  Borst,  C.  C.  Canibreleng,  Jacob  Crocheron 
Timothy  Childs,  Henry  B.  Cowles,  Hector  Craig! 
Charles  G.  Dewitt,  John  D.  Dickinson,  Jonas 
Earll,  jr.,George  Fisher,  Isaac  Finch,  Michael  Hoif- 
man,  Joseph  Hawkins,  Jehiel  II.  Halsey,  Perkins 
King,  James  W.  Lent,  John  Magee,  Hemy  C. 
Martindale,  Robert  Monell,  Thomas  Maxwell,  E, 
Norton,  Gershom  Powers,  Robert  S.  Rose,  Hen- 
ry R.  Storrs,  James  Strong,  Ambrose  Spencer 
John  W.  Taylor,  Phmeas  L.  Tracy,  Gulian.  c! 
Verplanck,  Campbell  P.  White— 34. 

New  Jersey— Lewis  Condict,  Richard  M. 
Cooper,  Thomas  H.  Hughes,  Isaac  Pierson 
James  F.  Randolph,  Samuel  Swan— 6.  ' 

Pennsylvania— James  Buchanan,  Richard 
Coulter,  Thomas  II.  Crawford,  Joshua  Evans, 
Chauncey  Forward,  Joseph  Fry,  jr.,  James  Ford, 
Innes  Green,  John  Gilmore,  Joseph  Hemphill, 
Peter  Ihrie,  jr.,  Thomas  Irwin,  Adam  King| 
George  G.  Leiper,  H.  A.  Muhlenburg,  Alem 
Marr,  Daniel  H.  Miller,  William  McCreery,  Wil- 
liam Ramsay,  John  Scott,  Philander  Stephens, 
John  B.  Sterigere,  Joel  B.  Sutherland,  Samuel 
Smith,  Thomas  H.  Sill— 25.     (One  vacant.) 

Delaware — Kensy  Johns,  jr. — 1. 

Maryland— Elias  Brown,  Clement  Dorsey, 
Benjamin  C.  Howard,  George  E.  Mitchell,  Mi- 
chael C.  Sprigg,  Benedict  I.  Semmes,  Richard 
Spencer,  George  C.  Washington,  Ephraim  K. 
WUson— 9.  ' 

Virginia— Mark  Alexander,  Robert  Allen, 
Wm.  S.  Archer,  Wm.  Armstrong,  jr.,  John  S. 
Barbour,  Philip  P.  Barbour,  J.  T.  Boulding, 
Richard  Coke,  jr.,  Nathaniel  H.  Claiborne, 
Robert  B.  Craig,  Philip  Doddridge,  Thomas 
Davenport,  William  F.  Gordon,  Lewis  Max- 
well, Charles  F.  Mercer,  William  McCoy, 
Thomas  Newton,  John  Roane,  Alexander  Smyth, 
Andrew  Stevenson,  John  Taliaferro,  James 
Trezvant- 22. 

North  Carolina— Willis  Alston,  Daniel  L 
Barringer,  Samuel  P.  Carson,  II.  W.  (^'onner, 
Edmund  Deberry,  Edward  B.  DudI  r,  Thomas 
H.  Hall,  Robert  Potter,  William  BVShepard, 
Augustine  IL  Shepperd,  Jesse  Speight,  Lewis 
W  illiams — 1 2.    (  One  vacant.) 


I 


South 
Blair,  Jo 
liam  Dr 
McDuffle 
—9. 

Georg 

Haynes, 

Wiley  Tl: 

Wayne — 

Kentu 

Thomas  ( 

R.  M.  Jol 

Chittende 

A.  Wickli 

Tennes 

Crockett, 

Johnson, 

Standifer- 

Ohio — 

William  i 

Goodenow 

Russell.  'VT 

Thomson, 

Elisha  WI 

LOUISIA 

ton,  Edwai 
Indiana 

lohn  Test- 
Alaba.m. 

on  H.  Lew 
Mississn 
Illinois 

MiSSOUR 


Michiga 
Arkansa 
Florida 

Andrew  1 
speaker  of  t 
191 ;  and  h 
Jackson,  th 
small  one  a 
thrown  awa 
didates),  am 
the  people,  i: 
tion — and  s 
not  militarj 
election. 


c 

FIRST  ANNU 
TO  Til 

The  first  ai 
being   alwaj 


ANNO  1829.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESmENT. 


I 


South  Carolina— Robert  W.  Barnwell,  James 
Blair,  John  Campbell,  Warren  R.  Davis,  Wil- 
liam Drayton,  William  D.  Martin,  George 
JIcDuffic,  William  T.  Nuckolls,  Starling  Tucker 

Georgia— Thomas  P.  Forster,  Charles  E. 
Haynes,  Wilson  Lumpkin,  Henry  G.  Lamar 
Wiley  Thompson,  Richard  H.  Wilde,  James  M.' 
Wayne— 7. 

Kentucky— James  Clark.  N.  D.  Coleman 
Thomas  Chilton,  Henry  Daniel,  Nathan  Gaither' 
R.  M.  Johnson,  John  Kinkaid,  Joseph  Lecompte 
Chittenden  Lyon,  Robert  P.  Letcher,  Charles 
A.  Wickliffe,  Joel  Yancey— 12. 
Tennessee— John  Blair,  John  Bell,   David 

Crockett,  Robert  Desha,  Jacob  C.  Isacks,  Cave 

Johnson,  Pryor  Lea,  James   K.  Polk,   Junes 

btandifer — 9. 

^J>lpo—MoTdQcai  Bartley,  Joseph  H.  Crane 

William  Croighton,  James  Findlay,  John    M. 

Goodenow,  Wm  W.  Irwin,  Wm.  Kennon,  Wm. 

Russell;  William  Stanberry,  James  Shields,  John 

lrT'^^S'J°f''P^    ^*°'=^'  Samuel   F.  Vinton, 
Elisha  Whittlesey — 14.  ' 

Louisiana- Henry  H.  Gurley,  W.  H.  Over- 
ton, Edward  D.  White— 3. 

JohnTc^i-^^^^^  Boon,  Jonathan  Jennings, 

oX"S7?3.^-  ^-  ''^^'"'  ^-  ^-  ""'^y'  ^- 

Mississippi— Thomas  Hinds— 1. 
Illinois— Joseph  Duncan — 1. 
Missouri— Spencer  PettLs— 1. 


121 


measures,  is  looked  to  with  more  interest  than 
the  inaugural  address,  confined  as  this  latter 
must  be,  to  a  declaration  of  general  principles. 
That  of  General  Jackson,  delivered  the  8th  of 
December,  1829,  was  therefore  anxiously  looked 
for;  and  did  not  disappoint  the  public  expecta- 
tion.   It  was  strongly  democratic,  and  contained 
many  recommendations  of  a  nature  to  simplify, 
and  purify  the  working  of  the  government,  and 
to  carry  it  back  to  the  times  of  Mr.  Jefferson— 
to  promote  its  economy  and  efficiency,  and  to 
maintain  the  rights  of  the  people,  and  of  the 
States  in  its  administration.     On  the  subject  of 
electing  a  President  and  Vice-President  of  the 
United  States,  he  spoke  thus  : 


DELEGATES. 

Michigan  Territory— John  Biddle— 1 
Arkansas  Territory— A.  H.  Sevier— 1 
Florida  Territory— Joseph  M.  White— 1. 

Andrew  Stevenson,  of  Virginia,  was  re-elected 
speaker  of  the  House,  receiving  152  votes  out  of 
191;  and  he  classing  politically  with  General 
Jackson,  this  large  vote  in  his  favor,  and  the 
small  one  against  Kim  (and  that  scattered  and 
thrown  away  on  several  different  names  not  can- 
didates), announced  a  pervading  sentiment  among 
the  people,  in  harmony  with  the  presidential  elec- 
tion-and  showing  that  political  principles,  and 
not  military  glare,  had  produced  the  a^eral's 
election. 


CHAPTER   XLI. 

FIE8T  ANNUAL  ME?SAGE  OP  GENERAL  JACKSON 
TO  THE  TWO  HOUSES  OF  CONGRKSa 

The  first  annual  message  of  a  new  President 
being  always  a  recommendation  of  practical 


;I  consider  it  one  of  the  most  urgent  of  mv 
duties  to  bring  to  your  attention  the  propriety 
of  amending  that  part  of  our  Constitution  which 
relates  to  the  election  of  President  and  Vice- 
President.  Our  system  of  government  was  by 
its  Iramers,  deemed  an  experiment;  and  they 
therefore,  consistently  provided  a  mode  of  reme^ 
dying  its  defects. 

"To  the  people  belongs  the  right  of  electing 
their  chief  magistrate:  it  was  never  designed 
that  their  choice  should,  in  any  case,' be  defeated, 
either  by  the  mtcrvention  of  electoral  colleges 
or  by  the  agency  confided,  under  certain  contin- 
gencies, to  the  House  of  Representatives.    Exne- 
rience  proves,  that,  in  proportion  as  agents   to 
execute  the  will  of  the  people  arc  multiplied, 
there  is  danger  of  their  wishes  being  frustrated 
Some  maybe  unfaithful:  all  are  liable  to  err 
fep  far,  therefore,  as  the  people  can,  with  conve- 
mence,  speak,  it  is  safer  for  them  to  express  their 
own  will. 

"In  this,  as  in  all  other  matters  of  public  con- 

^nf-Vf  u^  '"fjl"''''^  ^^^^  ^  ^""^  ^pediments  as 
possible  should  exist  to  the  free  operation  of  the 
public  will.  Let  us,  then,  endeavor  so  to  amend 
our  system,  as  that  the  office  of  chief  magistrate 
may  not  be  conferred  upon  any  citizen  but  in 
pursuance  of  a  fair  expression  of  the  wUl  of  the 
majority. 

mnlf  Tp  S"^  therefore  recommend  such  an  amend- 
ment of  the  constitution  as  may  remove  all  in- 
termediate agency  in  the  election  of  President 
and  Vice-President.  The  mode  may  be  so  regu- 
la  ed  as  to  preserve  to  each  State  its  presint 

i-nfhlfiT?^  '".  *^'  "^'^"''°5  and  a  failure 
in  the  first  attempt  may  be  provided  for,  by  con- 

l3cf  f^T'^  to  a  choice  between  the  two 
3nf  '^^"'^'.f  t'^^-,  In  connection  with  such  an 
t^!f.^"r"i'*  T''}"^  ''•^™  ^'^^^^^ble  to  limit  the 
service  of  the  chief  magistrate  to  a  single  term, 

Sot  bf  ^"7V'-f  y-'""''-  ''■'  however,  it  shouTd 
not  be  adopted,  it  is  wortliy  of  cor-v^nratjon 

SSl'f  f  P'^^^-'Sjon  disqualifying  for  office  the 
Representatives  m  Congress  on  whom  such  an 
election  may  have  devolved,  would  not  be 
proper. 


122 


THIRTY  YEARS*  VIEW. 


This  recommendation  in  relation  to  our  elec- 
tion system  has  not  yet  been  carried  into  effect, 
though  doubtless  in  harmony  with  the  principles 
of  our  government,  necessary  to  prevent  abuses, 
and  now  generally  demanded  by  the  voice  of  the 
people.  But  the  initiation  of  amendments  to  the 
federal  constitution  is  too  far  removed  from  the 
people.  It  is  in  the  hands  of  Congress  and  of 
the  State  legislatures ;  but  even  there  an  almost 
impossible  majority — that  of  two  thirds  of  each 
House,  or  two  thirds  of  the  State  legislatures — 
is  required  to  commence  the  amendment ;  and  a 
still  more  difficult  majority — that  of  three 
fourths  of  the  States— to  complete  it.  Hitherto 
all  attempts  to  procure  the  desired  amendment 
has  failed ;  but  the  friends  of  that  reform  should 
not  despair.  The  great  British  parliamentary 
reform  was  only  obtained  after  forty  years  of 
annual  motions  in  parliament ;  and  forty  years 
of  organized  action  upon  the  public  mind  through 
societies,  clubs,  and  speeches ;  and  the  incessant 
action  of  the  daily  and  periodical  press.  In  the 
meantime  events  arc  becoming  more  impressive 
advocates  for  this  amendment  than  any  language 
could  be.  The  selection  of  President  has  gone 
from  the  hands  of  the  people — usurped  by  irre- 
sponsible and  nearly  self-constituted  bodies — in 
which  the  selection  becomes  the  result  of  a  jug- 
gle, conducted  by  a  few  adroit  managers,  who 
baffle  the  nomination  until  they  are  able  to 
govern  it,  and  to  substitute  their  own  will  for 
that  of  the  people.  Perhaps  another  example  is 
not  upon  earth  of  a  free  people  voluntarily  relin- 
quishing the  elective  franchise,  in  a  case  so  great 
as  that  of  electing  their  own  chief  magistrate, 
and  becoming  the  passive  followers  of  an  irre 
sponsible  body — juggled,  and  baffled,  and  govern- 
ed by  a  few  dextrous  contrivers,  always  looking 
to  their  own  interest  in  the  game  which  they 
play  in  putting  down  and  putting  up  men. 
Certainly  the  convention  system,  now  more  un- 
fair and  irresponsible  than  the  exploded  congress 
caucus  system,  must  eventually  share  the  same 
fate,  and  be  consigned  to  oblivion  and  disgrace. 
In  the  meantime  the  friends  of  popular  election 
should  press  the  constitutional  amendment  which 
would  give  the  Presidential  election  to  the  peo- 
ple, and  discard  the  use  of  an  intermediate  body 
which  disregards  the  public  will  and  reduces  the 
people  to  the  condition  of  political  automatons. 
Closely  allied  to  this  proposed  reform  was 
another  recommended  by  the  President  in  rela- 


tion to  members  of  Congress,  and  to  exclude 
them  generally  from  executive  appointments* 
and  especially  from  appointments  conferred  by 
the  President  for  whom  they  voted.  The  evil 
is  the  same  whether  the  member  votes  in  tho 
House  of  Representatives  when  the  election  goes 
to  that  body,  or  votes  and  manages  in  a  Congress 
caucus,  or  in  a  nominating  convention.  The  act 
in  either  case  opens  the  door  to  corrupt  practices ; 
and  should  be  prevented  by  legal,  or  constitu- 
tional enactments,  if  it  cannot  be  restrained  by 
the  feelings  of  decorum,  or  repressed  by  public 
opinion.  On  this  point  the  message  thus  recom- 
mended : 

"  While  members  of  Congress  can  be  consti- 
tutionally appointed  to  offices  of  trust  and  profit, 
it  will  be  the  practice,  even  under  the  most  con- 
scientious adherence  to  duty,  to  select  them  for 
such  stations  as  they  are  believed  to  be  better 
qualified  to  fill  than  other  citizens ;  but  tho 
purity  of  our  government  would  doubtless  be 
promoted  by  their  exclusion  from  all  appoint- 
ments in  the  gift  of  the  President  in  whose  elec- 
tion they  may  have  been  officially  concerned.  Tho 
nature  of  the  judicial  office,  and  the  necessity 
of  securing  in  the  cabinet  and  in  diplomatic  sta- 
tions of  the  highest  rank,  the  best  talents  and 
political  experience,  should,  perhaps,  except  theso 
from  the  exclusion. 

On  the  subject  of  a  navy,  the  message  con- 
tained sentiments  worthy  of  the  democracy  in  its 
early  day,  and  when  General  Jackson  was  a 
member  of  the  United  States  Senate.  The  re- 
publican party  had  a  policy  then  in  respect  to 
a  navy :  it  was,  a  navy  for  defence,  instead  of 
CONQUEST ;  and  limited  to  the  protection  of  our 
coasts  and  commerce.  That  policy  was  im- 
pressively set  forth  in  the  celebrated  instructions 
to  the  Virginia  senators  in  the  year  1800,  m 
which  it  was  said : 

"  With  respect  to  the  navy,  it  may  be  proper 
to  remind  you  that  whatever  may  be  the  pro- 
posed object  of  its  establishment,  or  whatever 
may  be  the  prospect  of  temporary  advantages 
resulting  therefrom,  it  is  demonstrated  by  the 
experience  of  all  nations,  who  have  ventured  far 
into  naval  policy,  that  such  prospect  is  ultimate- 
ly delusive  ;  and  that  a  navy  has  ever  in  practice 
been  known  more  as  an  instrument  of  power, 
a  source  of  expense,  and  an  occasion  of  collisions 
and  wars  with  other  nations,  than  as  an  instru- 
ment of  defence,  of  economy,  or  of  protection  to 
commerce." 

These  were  the  doctrines  of  the  republican 
party,  in  the  early  stage  of  our  governraent— in 
tho  great  days  of  Jefferson  and  his  compcersi 


id  to  exclude 
ippointments; 
conferred  by 
itcd.  The  evil 
r  votes  in  tho 
e  election  goes 
in  a  Congress 
tion.  The  act 
•upt  practices ; 
kl,  or  constitu- 
restrained  by 
5sed  by  public 
JO  thus  recom- 

can  be  consti- 
ust  and  profit. 
the  most  con- 
ielect  them  for 
I  to  be  better 
;cns ;  but  tho 
[  doubtless  be 
m  all  appoint- 
in  whose  elec- 
onccrned.  Tho 
the  necessity 
diplomatic  sta- 
st  talents  and 
js,  except  these 


message  con- 
emocracy  in  its 
fackson  was  a 
uate.  The  re- 
i  in  respect  to 
JCK,  instead  of 
otection  of  our 
»olicy  was  im- 
ed  instructions 

year  1800,  in 

may  he  proper 
ly  be  the  pro- 
t,  or  whatever 
iry  advantages 
strated  by  the 
■e  ventured  far 
act  is  ultimate- 
sver  in  practice 
lent  of  power, 
on  of  collisions 
I  as  an  instru- 
f  protection  to 

the  republican 

;ovcrnment— in 

his  compeerSi 


ANNO  1829.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


123 


We  had  a  policy  then— the  result  of  thought,  of 
judgment,  and  of  experience :  a  navy  for  defence, 
and  not  for  conquest :  and,  consequently,  con- 
finable  to  a  limited  number  of  ships,  adequate  to 
their  defensive  object — instead  of  thousands, 
aiming  at  tho  dominion  of  the  seas.  That  policy 
was  overthrown  by  the  success  of  our  naval 
combats  during  the  war ;  and  the  idea  of  a  great 
navy  became  popular,  without  any  definite  view 
of  its  cost  and  consequences.  Admiration  for 
good  fighting  did  it,  without  having  the  same 
effect  on  the  military  policy.  Our  army  fought 
well  also,  and  excited  admiration;  but  without 
subverting  the  policy  which  interdicted  standing 
armies  in  time  of  peace.  The  army  was  cut 
down  in  peace:  the  navy  was  building  up  in 
peace.  In  this  condition  President  Jackson 
found  the  two  branches  of  the  service — the  army 
reduced  by  two  successive  reductions  from  a 
large  body  to  a  very  small  one — 0000  men — and 
although  illustrated  with  military  glory  yet  re- 
fusing to  recommend  an  army  increase :  the  navy, 
from  a  small  one  durmg  the  war,  becoming  large 
during  the  peace — gradual  increase  the  law — 
ship-building  the  active  process,  and  rotting 
down  the  active  effect ;  and  thus  we  have  been 
going  on  for  near  forty  years.  Correspondent 
to  his  army  policy  was  that  of  President  Jack- 
son in  relation  to  the  navy  ;  he  proposed  a 
pause  in  the  process  of  ship-building  ^^nd  ship- 
rotting.  He  recommended  a  total  cessation  of 
the  further  building  of  vessels  of  the  first  and 
second  class — ships  of  the  line,  and  frigates — 
with  a  collection  of  materials  for  future  use — 
and  the  limitation  of  our  naval  policy  to  the  ob- 
ject of  commercial  protection.  He  did  not  even 
incl-ide  coast  defence,  his  experience  having 
shown  him  that  the  men  on  shore  could  defend 
the  land.  In  a  word,  he  recommended  a  naval 
policy ;  and  that  was  the  same  which  the  re- 
publicans of  1798  had  adopted,  and  which  Vir- 
ginia made  obligatory  upou  her  senators  in 
1800  ;  and  which,  under  the  blaze  of  shining 
victories,  had  yielded  to  the  blind,  and  aimless, 
and  endless  operation  of  building  and  rotting 
peaceful  ships  of  war.    He  said  : 

"  In  time  of  peace,  we  have  need  of  no  more 
ships  of  war  than  are  requisite  to  the  protection 
of  our  commerce.  Those  not  wanted  for  this 
object  must  lay  in  the  harbors,  where,  without 
proper  covering,  they  rapidly  decay ;  and,  even 
under  the  best  precautions  for  their  preserva- 
tion, must  soon  become  useless.    Such  is  already 


the  case  with  many  of  our  finest  vessels ;  which, 
though  unfinished,  will  now  require  immense 
sums  of  money  to  be  restored  to  the  condition 
in  which  they  were,  when  committed  to  their 
proper  element.  On  this  subject  there  can  be 
but  little  doubt  that  our  best  policy  would  be, 
to  discontinue  the  building  of  ships  of  the  first 
and  second  class,  and  look  rather  to  the  jjos- 
session  of  ample  materials,  prepared  for  the 
emergencies  of  war,  than  to  the  number  of  ves- 
sels which  wo  can  float  in  a  season  of  ijcace,  as 
the  index  of  our  naval  power." 

This  was  written  twenty  years  ago,  and  by  a 
President  who  saw  what  he  described — many  of 
our  fines ;  ships  going  to  decay  before  they  were 
finished^lemanding  repairs  before  they  had 
sailed — and  costing  millions  for  which  there  was 
no  return.  We  have  been  going  on  at  the  same 
rate  ever  since — building,  and  rotting,  and  sink- 
ing millions ;  but  little  to  show  for  forty  years 
of  ship-carpentry ;  and  that  little  nothing  to  do 
but  to  cruise  where  there  is  nothing  to  catch, 
and  to  carry  out  ministers  to  foreign  courts  who 
are  not  quite  equal  to  the  Franklins,  Adamses 
and  Jeffersons — the  Pinckneys,  Ilufus  Kings, 
and  Marshalls — the  Clays,  Gallatins  and  Bay- 
ards— that  went  out  in  common  merchant  ves- 
sels. Mr.  Jeflerson  told  me  that  this  would  be 
the  case  twenty-five  years  ago  when  naval  glory 
overturned  national  policy,  and  when  a  navy 
board  was  created  to  facilitate  ship-construction. 
But  this  is  a  subject  which  will  requu-e  a  chapter 
of  its  own,  and  is  only  incidentally  mentioned 
now  to  remark  that  we  have  no  policy  with  re- 
spect to  a  navy,  and  ought  to  have  one — that 
there  is  no  middle  point  between  defence  and 
conquest — and  no  sequence  to  a  conquering  navy 
but  wars  with  the  world, — and  the  debt,  taxes, 
pension  list,  and  pauper  list  of  Great  Britain. 

The  inutility  of  a  Bank  of  the  United  States 
as  a  furnisher  of  a  sound  and  uniform  currency, 
and  of  questionable  origin  under  our  constitution, 
was  thus  stated : 

"  The  charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
expires  in  1836,  and  its  stockholders  will  most  pro- 
bably apply  for  a  renewal  of  their  privileges.  In 
order  to  avoid  the  evils  resulting  from  precipi- 
tancy in  a  measure  involving  such  important 
principles,  and  such  deep  pecuniary  interests,  I 
feel  that  I  cannot,  in  justice  to  the  parties  inter* 
ested,  too  soon  present  it  to  the  deliberate  con- 
sideration of  the  legislature  and  the  people. 
Both  the  constitutionality  and  the  expediency  of 
the  law  creating  this  bank,  are  well  ques- 
tioned by  a  large  portion  of  our  fellow-citizens ; 
and  it  must  be  admitted  by  all,  that  it  has  failed 


124 


TIIRTT  YEARS'  VIEW. 


in  the  great  end  of  establishing  a  uniform  and 
Bound  currency." 

This  is  the  clause  which  party  spirit,  and 
bank  tactics,  perverted  at  the  time  (and  which 
has  gone  into  history),  into  an  attack  upon  the 
bank— a  war  upon  the  bank— with  a  bad  mo- 
tive attributed  for  a  war  so  wanton.     At  the 
lame  time  nothing  could  be  more  fair,  and  just, 
and  more  in  consonance  with  the  constitution 
tvhich  requires  the  President  to  make  the  legis- 
lative recommendations  which  he  believes  to  be 
proper.    It  was  notice  to  all  concerned— the 
bank  on  one  side,  and  the  people  on  the  other — that 
there  would  be  questions,  and  of  high  import — 
constitutionality  and  expediency — if  the  present 
corporators,  at  the  expiration  of  their  charter, 
should  apply  for  a  renewal  of  their  privileges. 
It  was  an  intimation  against  the  institution,  not 
against  its  administrators,  to  whom  a  compliment 
was  paid  in  another  part  of  the  same  message,  in 
•scribing  to  the  help  of  their  "judicious  arrange- 
ment "  the  averting  of  the  mercantile  pressure 
which  might  otherwise  have  resulted  from  the 
«udden  withdrawal  of  the  twelve  and  a  half  mil- 
lions which  had  just  been  taken  from  the  bank  and 
ipplied  to  the  payment  of  the  public  debt.  But  of 
this  hereafter.   The  receipts  and  expenditures  were 
itated,  respectively,  for  the  preceding  year,  and 
estimated  for  the  current  year,  the  former  at  a 
fraction  over  twenty-four  and  a  half  millions — 
the  latter  a  fraction  over  twenty-six  millions— 
with  large  balances  in  the  treasury,  exhibiting 
the  constant  financial  paradox,  so  difficult  to  be 
understood,  of  permanent  annual  balances  with 
an  even,  or  even  deficient  revenue.    The  passage 
of  the  message  is  in  these  words : 

"The  half  ice  in  the  treasury  on  the  1st  of 
January,  1829,  was  five  millions  nine  hundred 
and  seventy-two  thousand  four  hundred  and 
thirty-five  dollars  and  eighty-one  cents.  The 
receipts  of  the  current  year  are  estimated  at 
twenty-four  millions,  six  hundred  and  two  thou- 
sand, two  hundred  and  thirty  dollars,  and  the 
expenditures  for  the  same  time  at  twenty-six 
millions  one  hundred  and  sixty-four  thousand 
five  hundred  and  ninety-five  dollars ;  leaving  a 
balance  in  the  treasury  on  the  1st  of  January 
next,  of  four  millions  four  hundred  and  ten  thou- 
sand and  seventy  dollars,  eighty-one  cents." 

Other  recommendations  contained  the  sound 
democratic  doctrines— speedy  and  entire  extinc- 
tion of  the  public  debt — reduction  of  custom- 
house duties — equal  and  fair  incidental  protec- 
tion to  the  great  national  interests  (agriculture, 
manufactures  and  commerce)— the  disconnection 


of  politics  and  tariffs— and  the  duty  of  retrench- 
ment by  discontinuing  and  abolishing  all  useless 
offices.  In  a  word,  it  was  a  message  of  the  old 
republican  school,  in  which  President  Jackson 
had  been  bred ;  and  from  which  he  had  never 
departed ;  and  which  encouraged  the  young  dis- 
ciples of  democracy,  and  consoled  the  old  surviv- 
ing  fathers  of  that  school. 


CHAPTER    XLII. 

THE  RECOVERY   OF  THE  DIRECT  TRADE  WITH 
THE  BRITISH  WEST  INDIA  ISLANDS. 

The  recovery  of  this  trade  had  been  a  large  ob- 
ject with  the  American  government  from  the 
time  of  its  establishment.    As  British  colonics 
we  enjoyed  it  before  the  Revolution ;  as  revolted 
colonies  we  lost  it ;  and  as  an  independent  na- 
tion we  sought  to  obtain  it  again.    The  position 
of  these  islands,  so  near  to  our  ports  and  shores 
—the  character  of  the  exports  they  received 
from  us,  being  almost  entirely  the  product  of 
our  farms  and  forests,  and  their  large  amount, 
always  considerable,  and  of  late  some  four  mil 
lions  of  dollars  per  annum— the  tropical  pro- 
ductions which  we  received  in  return,  and  the 
large  employment  it  gave  to  our  navigation- 
all  combined  to  give  a  cherished  value  to  this 
branch  of  foreign  trade,  and  to  stimulate  our 
government  to  the  greatest  exertions  to  ohtain 
and  secure  its  enjoyment ;  and  with  the  advan- 
tage of  being  carried  on  by  our  own  vessels. 
But  these  were  objects  not  easily  attainable, 
and  never  accomplished  until  the  administration 
of  President  Jackson.    All  powers  are  jealous 
of  alien  intercourse  with  their  colonies,  and  have 
a  natural  desire  to  retain  colonial  trade  in  their 
own  hands,  both  for  commercial  and  political 
reasons ;  and  have  a  perfect  right  to  do  so  if 
they  please.    Partial  and  conditional  admission 
to  trade  with  their  colonies,  or  total  exclusion 
from  them,  is  in  the  discretion  of  the  mother 
country;   and  any  participation  in  their  trade 
by  virtue  of  treaty  stipulations  or  legislative 
enactment,  is  the  result  of  concession— general- 
ly founded  in  a  sense  of  self-interest,  or  at  best 
in  a  calculation  of  mutual  advantage.    No  less 
than  six  negotiations  (besides  several  attempts 
at  "concerted  legislation")  had  been  carried  on 


between  tli 
this  subjec 
General  J 
nothing  m 
year,  or  fo 
pled  with  ' 
lego.     It  w 
General   Al 
knowledge 
(lutes  both 
of  getting  a 
right  of  Gi 
joyment  tc 
practical  ki 
Kccn  it  enj 
subjects,   lo 
pendent  stii 
the  use  nnc 
recover  it. 
foreign  relat 
becoming  P 
his  hand  to  ; 
tober,  1789- 
t  ion— in  a  le 
(ioiiverneur 
with  his  ow 
the  British  g 
iiiercial  treat 
tliat  he  made 
lution  to  alli 
trade.     Privi 
tion  ran  thu 
on  your  mine 
productions  ii 
and  bringing, 
islands  to  ou 
here  as  of  the 
It  was  a  pr 
gotiation  wit] 
instructions  t 
rIiows  that  i 
only  asked  a 
and  upon  te 
This  is  so  mi 
of  this  questio 
case,  and  espc 
Senate,  of  wl 
tions  through 
ject  was  made 
__|to  give  the  in 
1|  ton  to  Mr.  Ja 
these : 


ANNO  1829.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


T  attainable, 


between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  on 
this  subject ;  and  all,  until  the  second  year  of 
General  Jackson's  admiiii-stvation,  resulting  in 
nothing  more  than   limited  concessions  for  a 
year,  or  for  short   terms ;  und  sometimes  cou- 
pled with  conditions  which  nullified  the  privi- 
lege.   It  was  a  primary  object  of  concern  with 
General  Washington's  administration  ;   and  a 
knowledge  of  the  action  tlk^n  had  upon  it  eluci- 
dates both  the  value  of  the  trade,  the  dilBculty 
of  getting  admission  to  its  participation,  and  the 
right  of  Great  Britain  lO  admit  or  deny  its  en- 
joyment to  others.     General  Washington  had 
jjractical  knowledge  on  the  subject.     He  had 
seen  it  enjoyed,  and   lost— enjoyed  as  liritish 
subjects,  lost  as  revolted   colonies  and   inde- 
pendent states— and  knew  its  value,  both  from 
the  use  and  the  loss,  and  was  most  anxious  to 
recover  it.    It  was  almost  the  first  thing,  in  our 
foreign  relations,  to  which  he  put  his  hand  on 
becoming  President ;   and  literally  did  he  put 
his  hand  to  it.    For  as  early  as  the  14th  of  Oc- 
tober, 1789— just  six  months  after  his  inaugura 
tion— in  a  letter  of  unoflicial  instructions  to  Mr 


125 


If  to  the  actual  footing  of  our  commerce  and 
navigation  in  the  British  European  dominions 
could  be  added  the  privilege  of  carrying  directly 
from  the  United  States  to  the  British  \\\:i  In- 
dies  in  our  own  bottoms  generally,  or  of  certain 
specified  burthens,  the  articles  which  by  the  Act 
of  Parliament,  2H,  Geo.  III.,  chap,  (j,  may  Ijo 
earned  thither  in  British  bottoms,  and  of  bring- 
ing them  thence  directly  to  the  United  States  in 
American  bottoms,  this  would  afford  an  accepta- 
ble basis  of  treaty  for  a  term  not  exceedinc  fif- 
teen years." 


Gouverneur  Morris,  then  in  Europe,  written 
with  his  own  hand  (requesting  him  to  sound 
the  British  government  on  the  subject  of  a  com- 
mercial treaty  with  the  United  States),  a  point 
that  he  made  was  to  ascertain  their  views  in  re- 
lation to  allowing  us  the  "privilege"  of  this 
trade.    Privilege  was  his  word,  and  the  instruc- 
tion ran  thus:  "Let  it  be  strongly  impressed 
on  your  mind  that  the  privilege  of  carrying  our 
productions  in  our  own  vessels  to  their  islands, 
and  bringing,  in  return,  the  productions  of  those 
islands  to  our  ports  and  markets,  Ls  regarded 
here  as  of  the  highest  importance,"  &c. 

It  was  a  prominent  point  in  our  very  first  ne- 
gotiation with  Great  Britain  in  1794;  and  the 
instructions  to  Mr.  Jay,  in  May  of  that  year, 
shows  that  admission  to  the  trade  was  then 
only  asked  as  a  privilege,  as  in  the  year  '89 
and  upon  terms  of  limitation  and  condition! 
This  IS  80  material  to  the  right  understanding 
of  this  question,  and  to  the  future  history  of  the 
case,  and  especially  of  a  debate  and  vote  in  the 
Senate   of  which  President  Jackson's  instruc- 
I  ^.'7  *^™"g'^  ^^'•'  ^^»n  Buren  on  the  same  sub- 
I  jeet  was  made  the  occasion,  that  I  think  it  right 
J  to  give  the  mstructions  of  President  W""hinc. 
^tuu^^Mr.J^i„Hi,ownwordrThe;we^ 


An  aiticlo  was  inserted  in  the  treaty  in  con- 
formity to  these  principles— our  carrying  vessels 
limited  in  point  of  burthen  to  seventy  tons  and 
under ;  the  privilege  limited  in  point  of  duration 
to  the  continuance  of  the  then  existing  war  be- 
tween Great  Britain  and  the  French  Republic, 
and  to  two  years  after  its  termination  ;  and  re- 
stricted in  the  return  cargo  both  as  to  the  na- 
ture of  the  articles  and  the  port  of  their  destina- 
tion.   These  were  hard  terms,  and  precarious 
and  the  article  containing  them  was  "  suspended '' 
by  the  Senate  in  the  act  of  ratification,  in  the 
hope  to  obtain  better;  and  arc  only  quoted  here 
in  order  to  show  that  this  direct  trade  to  the 
British  West  Indies  was,  from  the  beginning  of 
our  federal  government,  only  sought  as  a  privi- 
lege, to  be  obtained  under  restrictions  and  limi- 
tations, and  subordinately  to  British  policy  and 
legislation.    This  was  the  end  of  the  first  nego- 
tiation;  five  others  were  had  ."n  the  ensuing 
thirty  years,  besides  repeated  attempts  at  "con- 
certed legislation  "-all  ending  either  abortively 
or  m  temporary  and   unsatisfactory  arrange- 
ments. ° 

The  most  important  of  these  attempts  was  in 
the  years  1822  and  1823 :  and  as  it  forms  an  es- 
sential Item  in  the  history  of  this  case,  and  shows 
besides,  the  good  policy  of  letting  "  well-enough '' 
alone,  and  the  great  mischief  of  inserting  an  ap- 
parently harmless  word  in  a  bill  of  which  no  one 
sees  the  drift  but  those  in  the  secret,  I  will  here 
give  Its  particulars,  adopting  for  that  purpose 
the  language  of  senator  Samuel  Smith,  of  Mary- 
land-the  best  qualified  of  all  our  statesmen  to 
speak  on  the  subject,  he  having  the  practical 
knowledge  of  a  merchant  in  addition  to  experi- 
ence as  a  legislator.    His  statement  is  this : 


formed  thin  'T""  "^  ^^22'  ^°°S'-''«s  ^^  '°- 
■orTh.  n  •  °  rl  "^"^  f'^"'^^"?  »'  Puriiamcnt 
tor  the  opening  of  the  colonial  ports  to  the  com- 
merce of  the  United  States.  J^  consequence^an 
act  was  passed  authorizing  the  President  (then 


1 1    t*l 
■    if 


126 


THIRTY  TEARS'  VIEW. 


1  I 


1     'f 
'i     f 


i 


*  F 


fiif  •  ^ 


Mr.  Monroo),  in  cnao  the  act  of  Parliamont  was 
satisfactory  to   him,  to  open   tlic  ports  of  the 
United  States  to  British  vessels  by  iiis  procla- 
mation.   The   act  of  Parliament  was   deemed 
satisfactory,  and  a  proclamation  was  acconiingly 
issued,  an(l  the  trade  commenced.     Unfortimate- 
\y  for  our  commerce,  and  1  think   contrary  to 
justice,  a  treasury  circular  issued,  directing  the 
collectors  to  charRO  British  vessels  entering  our 
ports  with  the  alien  tonnage  and  discriminatmg 
duties.    This  order  was  remonstrated  against  by 
the   British   minister  (I  think  Mr.  Vaughan). 
The    trade,  however,  went    on    uninterrupted. 
Congress  met,  and  a  bill  was  drafted  in  1823  by 
Mr.  Adams,  then  Secretary  of  State,  and  passed 
both  Houses,  with  little,  if  any,  debate.     I  voted 
for  it,  believing  that  it  met  in  a  spirit  of  reci- 
procity, the  British  act  of  Parliament,    This  bill, 
however,  contained  one  little  word,  '"  elsewhere," 
which  completely  defeated  all  our  expectations.  It 
was  noticed  by  no  one.    The  senator  from  Mas- 
sacluisutts  (Mr.  Webster)  may  have  understood 
its  effect.     If  he  did  so  understand  it,  he  was  si- 
lent.   The  effect  of  that  word  "  elsewhere  "  was 
to  assume  the  pretensions  alluded  to  in  the  in- 
structions to  Mr.  McLane,      (Pretension   to  a 
"  right "  in  the  trade.)     The  result  was,  that  the 
British  government  shut  their  colonial  ports  im- 
mediately, and  thenceforward.    This  act  of  1822 
gave  us  a  monopoly  (virtually)  of  the  West  In- 
dia trade.     It  admitted,  free  of  duty,  a  variety 
of  articles,  such  as  Indian  corn,  meal,  oats,  peas, 
and  beans.     The  British  government  thought 
we  entertained  a  belief  that  they  could  not  do 
without  our  produce,  and  by  their  acts  of  the 
27th  June  and  5th  July,  1825,  they  opened  their 
ports  to  all  the  world  on  terms  far  less  advan- 
tageous to  the  United  States,  than  those  of  the 
act  of  1822." 


Such  is  the  important  statement  of  General 
Smith,  Mr.  Webster  was  present  at  the  time, 
and  said  nothing.  Both  these  acts  were  clear 
rights  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain,  and  that  of 
1825  contained  a  limitation  upon  the  time  within 
which  each  nation  was  to  accept  the  privilege  it 
offered,  or  lose  the  traile  for  ever.  This  legisla- 
tive privilege  was  accepted  by  all  nations  which 
had  any  thing  to  send  to  the  British  West  Indies, 
except  the  United  States.  Mr.  Adams  did  not 
accept  the  prolfered  privilege— undertook  to  ne- 
gotiate for  better  terms— failed  in  the  attempt — 
and  lost  all.  Mr.  Clay  was  Secretary  of  State, 
Mr,  Gallatin  the  United  States  Minister  in  Lon- 
don, and  the  instructions  to  him  were,  to  insist 
upon  it  as  a  "  right "  tliat  our  produce  should  be 
admitted  on  the  same  terins  on  which  produce 
from  the  British  posscHsions  ^vere  admitted.— 
This  was  the  "elsewhere,"  &c.  The  British 
government  refused  to  negotiate ;  and  then  Mr, 


Gallatin  was  instructed  to  waive  temporarily 
the  demand  of  right,  and  accept  the  i)rivilegc 
offered  by  the  act  of  1825.  But  in  the  mean 
time  the  year  allowed  in  the  act  for  its  nccept- 
anco  had  expired,  and  Mr.  Gallatin  wan  told 
that  his  offer  was  too  late !  To  that  answer  the 
British  ministry  adhered ;  and,  from  the  month 
of  July,  1820,  the  direct  trade  to  the  llritish 
West  Indies  was  lost  to  our  citiz-ens,  leaving 
them  no  mode  of  getting  any  share  in  tliut  trade, 
either  in  sending  out  our  productions  or  receiv- 
ing theirs,  but  through  the  expensive,  tedious, 
and  troublesome  process  of  a  circuitous  voyage 
and  the  intervention  of  a  foreign  vessel.  The 
shock  and  dissatisfaction  in  the  United  States 
were  extreme  at  this  unexpected  bereavement; 
and  that  dissatisfaction  entered  largely  into  the 
political  feelings  of  the  day,  and  became  a  point 
of  attack  on  Mr.  Adams's  administration,  and  an 
element  in  the  presidential  canvass  which  ended 
in  his  defeat. 

In  giving  an  account  of  this  untowaid  event 
to  his  government,  Mr.  Jallatin  gave  an  account 
of  his  final  interview  with  Mr,  Huskisson,  from 
which  it  appeared  that  the  claim  of  "right"  on 
the  part  of  the  United  States,  on  which  Mr.  Gal= 
latin  had  been  instructed  to  "insist,"  was  "tem- 
porarily waived ;"  but  without  effect.  Irritation, 
on  account  of  old  scores,  as  expressed  Ijy  Mr 
Gallatin— or  resentment  at  our  pertinacious  perr 
sistence  to  secure  a  "right "  where  the  rest  of 
the  world  accepted  a  "  privilege,"  as  intimated 
by  Mr,  Huskisson — mixed  itself  with  the  re- 
fusal ;  and  the  British  government  adhered  to 
its  absolute  right  to  regulate  the  foreign  trade 
of  its  colonies,  and  to  treat  us  as  it  did  the  rest 
of  the  world.  The  following  are  passages  from 
Mr.  Gallatin's  dispatch,  from  London,  Scpterakr 


11,1827; 

"  Mr.  Huskisson  said  it  was  the  intention  of 
the  British  government  to  consider  the  inter- 
course of  the  British  colonies  as  being  c.xclu.'iivi- 
ly  under  its  control,  and  any  relaxation  fni 
the  colonial  system  as  an  indulgence,  to  be 
granted  on  such  terms  as  might  suit  the  policv 
of  Great  Britain  at  the  time  it  was  graiited,  I 
said  every  question  of  ri^ht  had,  on  this  occa- 
sion, been  waived  on  the  part  of  the  Unitoi 
States,  the  only  object  of  the  present  inquiry 
being  to  ascertain  whether,  as  a  matter  of  mu- 
tual convenience,  the  intercourse  might  not  be 
opened  in  a  manner  satisfactory  to  botli  conn- 
tries.  He  (Mr,  H.)  said  that  it  had  appeared  as 
if  America  had  entertained  the  opinion  that  the 


ANNO  1829.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PUESIDKNT. 


127 


Britiwh  West  Indies  could  not  exist  without  her 
supplies ;  and  that  she  niipht,  therefore,  compel 
Gnat  Britain  to  o|)on  the  intercoiirso  on  any 
terms  she  pleased.  I  disclaim"(i  any  such  belief 
or  intention  on  the  part  of  the  United  States. 
But  it  appeared  to  nic,  and  I  intimated  it,  indeed, 
to  Mr.  lluskisson,  that  lie  wan  acting  rather  un- 
der the  influence  of  irritated  feelings,  on  account 
of  past  events,  than  with  a  view  to  the  mutual 
interests  of  both  parties." 

This  was  Mr.  Gallatin's  lost  dispatch.  An 
order  in  council  was  issued,  interdicting  the  trade 
to  the  United  States;  and  ho  returned  home. 
Mr.  James  Barbour,  Secretary  at  War,  was  sent 
to  London  to  replace  him,  and  to  attempt  again 
the  repulsed  ce^"  iation;  but  without  success. 
The  British  government  refused  to  open  the  ques- 
tion :  and  thus  the  direct  access  to  this  valuable 
commerce  remained  sealed  against  us.  President 
Adams,  at  the  commencement  of  the  session  of 
Congress,  1827-28,  formally  communicated  this 
fact  to  that  body,  and  in  terms  which  showed  at 
once  that  an  insult  had  been  received,  an  injury 
sustained,  redress  refused,  and  ill-will  established 
between  the  two  governments.    Ho  said : 

"At  the  commencement  of  the  last  session  of 
Congress,  they  were  informed  of  the  sudden  and 
unexpected  exclusion  by  the  British  government, 
of  access,  in  vessels  of  the  United  States,  to  all 
their  colonial  ports,  except  those  immediately 
bordering  uix)n  our  own  territory. 

"  In  the  amicable  discussions  which  have  suc- 
ceeded the  adoption  of  this  measure,  which,  as  it 
affected  harshly  the  interests  of  the  United  States, 
became  a  subject  of  expostulation  on  our  part, 
the  principles  upon  which  its  justification  has 
been  placed  have  been  of  a  diversified  character. 
It  has  at  once  been  ascribed  to  a  mere  recurrence 
to  the  old  long-established  principle  of  colonial 
monofjoly,  and  at  the  same  time  to  a  feeling  of 
resentment,  because  the  offers  of  an  act  of  Par- 
liament, opening  the  colonial  ports  upon  certain 
conditions,  had  not  been  grasped  at  with  sufHcieut 
eagerness  by  an  instantaneous  conformity  to 
them.    At  a  subsequent  period  it  has  been  inti- 
mated that  the  new  exclusion  was  in  resentment, 
because  a  prior  act  of  Parliament,  of  1822.  open- 
ing certain  colonial  ports,  under  heavy  and  bur- 
densome restrictions,  to  vessels  of  the  United 
States,  had  not  been  reciprocated  by  an  admis- 
sion of  British  vessels  from  the  colonies,  and 
their  cargoes,  without  any  restriction  or  discrimi- 
nation whatever.     But,  be  the  motive  for  the 
mterdiction  what  it  may,  the  British  government 
have  manifested  no  disposition,  either  by  negoti- 
ation or  by  corresponding  legislative  enactments, 
to  recede  from  it  j  and  we  have  beeu  given  dis- 
tinctly to  understand  that  neither  of  the  bills 
which  were  under  the  consideration  of  Congress 
at  their  last  session,  would  have  been  deemed 


Rufflcicnt  in  their  concessions  to  have  been  reward- 
ed by  an^  relaxation  from  the  British  interdict. 
The  British  government  have  not  only  declinec' 
negotiation  uiwn  the  subject,  but,  by  the  princi- 
ple they  have  assumed  with  reference  to  it,  have 
preclucfed  even  the  means  of  negotiation.  It  be- 
comes not  the  self-resiK'ct  of  the  United  States, 
either  to  solicit  gratuitous  favours,  or  to  accept, 
as  the  grant  of  a  favor,  that  for  which  an  ample 
equivalent  is  exacted." 


This  was  the  communication  of  Mr.  Adams  to 
Congress,  and  certainly  nothing  could  bo  more 
vexatious  or  hopeless  than  the  case  which  he 
presented— an  injury,  an  insult,  a  rebuff,  and  a 
refusal  to  talk  with  us  upon  the  subject.  Nego- 
tiation, and  the  hope  of  it,  having  thus  terminat- 
ed. President  Adams  did  what  the  laws  required 
of  him,  and  issued  his  proclamation  making  known 
to  the  country  the  total  cessation  of  all  direct  com- 
merce between  the  United  States  and  the  British 
West  India  Islands. 

The  loss  of  this  trade  was  a  great  injury  to  th« 
United  States  (besides  the  insult),  and  was  at- 
tended by  circumstances  which  gave  it  the  air  of 
punishment  for  something  that  was  past.    It  was 
a  rebuff  in  the  face  of  Europe;  for  while  the 
United  States  were  sternly  and  unceremoniously 
cut  off  from  the  benefit  of  the  act  of  1825,  for 
omission  to  accept  it  within  the  year,  yet  other 
powers  in  the  same  predicament  (France,  Spain 
and  Russia)  were  permitted  to  accept  after  the 
year;  and  the  "irritated  feelings"  manifested  by 
Mr,  lluskisson  indicated  a  resentment  which  was 
finding  its  gratification.     Wo  were  ill-treated, 
and  felt  it.    The  people  felt  it.    It  was  an  ugly 
case  to  manage,  or  to  endure;  and  in  this  period 
of  its  worst  aspect  General  Jackson  was  elected 
President. 

His  position  was  delicate  and  difficult.  His 
election  had  been  deprecated  as  that  of  a  rash 
and  violent  man,  who  would  involve  us  in  quar- 
rels with  foreign  nations ;  and  here  was  a  dissen- 
sion with  a  great  nation  lying  in  wait  for  him 

prepared  to  his  hand— the  legacy  of  his  predeces- 
sor— either  to  be  composed  satisfactorily,  or  to 
ripen  into  retaliation  and  hostiUty;  for  it  was 
not  to  be  supposed  that  things  could  remain  as 
they  were.  He  had  to  choose  between  an  attempt 
at  amicable  recovery  of  the  trade  by  new  over- 
tures, or  retaliation — leading  to,  it  is  not  known 
what.  He  determined  upon  the  first  of  these  al- 
ternatives, and  Mr.  Louis  McLane,  of  Delaware, 
was  selected  for  the  delicate  occasion.    He  was 


t'    M 


\i 


Ki 


128 


THIRTY  YEAllS"  VIEW. 


sent  minister  to  London ;  nnd  in  renewing  an 
application  which  had  been  ho  lately  and  no  cate- 
gorically rejected,  some  reason  had  to  bo  given 
for  a  jxirsistanco  which  might  seem  both  impor- 
tunate and  desperate,  and  even  dellcnent  in  self- 
rospoct ;  and  that  reason  was  found  in  the  simple 
truth  that  there  had  been  a  change  of  adminis- 
tration in  the  I'nitcd  States,  and  with  it  a  change 
of  opinion  on  the  subject,  and  on  the  essential 
l)oint  of  ft  "right"  in  us  to  have  our  productions 
admitted  into  her  West  Indies  on  the  same  terms 
as  British  productions  were  received ;  that  wo 
were  willing  to  tako  the  trade  as  a  "privilege," 
and  simply  and  unconditionally,  under  the  act  of 
Parliament  of  1825.  Instructions  to  that  cfl'ect 
had  been  drawn  up  by  Mr.  Van  IJuren,  Secretary 
of  State,  under  the  special  directions  of  General 
Jackson,  who  took  this  early  occasion  to  act 
upon  his  cardinal  maxim  in  our  foreign  inter- 
course :  "  Ask  nothini;  but  what  is  right — siib- 
viit  to  nothing  wrong. "  This  frank  and  candid 
policy  had  its  effect.  The  great  object  was  ac- 
complished. The  trade  was  recovered ;  and 
what  had  been  lost  under  one  aduunistration,  and 
precariously  enjoyed  under  others,  and  been  the 
subject  of  fruitless  negotiation  for  forty  years,  and 
under  sixdifle rent  Presidents — Washington.  John 
Adams,  JelTerson,  Madison,  Jlonroe,  Quincy  Ad- 
ams— with  all  their  accomplished  secretaries  and 
ministers,  was  now  amicably  and  satisfactorily 
obtained  under  the  administration  of  General 
Jackson;  and  upon  the  basis  to  give  it  perpetu- 
ity— that  of  mutual  interest  and  actual  recipro- 
city. The  act  of  Parliament  gave  us  the  trade 
on  terms  nearly  as  good  as  those  suggested  by 
Washingto  in  1789;  fully  as  good  as  tho^e 
asked  for  by  him  in  1794 ;  better  than  those  in- 
serted in  the  treaty  of  that  year,  and  suspended 
by  the  Senate ;  and,  though  nominally  on  the 
same  terms  as  given  to  the  rest  of  the  world,  yet 
practically  better,  on  account  of  our  proximity  t6 
this  British  market;  and  our  superabundance 
of  articles  (chiefly  provisions  and  lumber)  wiiich 
it  wants.  And  the  trade  has  been  enjoyed  un- 
der this  act  ever  since,  with  such  entire  satisfac- 
tion, that  there  is  already  an  oblivion  of  the  forty 
years'  labor  which  it  cost  us  to  obtain  it ;  and  a 
generation  has  grown  up,  almost  without  know- 
ing to  whom  they  are  indebted  for  its  present 
enjoyment.  But  it  made  its  -•  n:-ativr:  ?.•  the 
time,  and  a  great  one.  The  friends  of  the  Jack- 
SOQ  administration  exulted ;  the  people  rejoiced ; 


gratification  was  general — but  not  univcfHal- 
and  these  very  iuj-tructions,  tmder  which  such 
great  and  lasting  f.dvantages  had  been  obtained 
were  made  the  (<ccassion  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States  of  rejecting  their  ostensible  author 
a.s  a  minister  to  London.  But  of  this  hcreaftei', 
The  auspicious  conclusion  of  so  delicate  an  af- 
fair was  doubtless  llrst  induced  by  (Jeneral  Jack- 
son's frank  policy  in  falling  back  ujwn  Wa-slmi"- 
ton's  ground  of  "  privilege,  "  in  contradistinction 
to  the  new  pretension  of  "  right,  *' — helped  out  a 
little,  it  may  be,  by  the  possible  after  clap  su"- 
gestcd  in  the  second  part  of  his  maxim.  Good 
sen.se  and  good  feeling  may  also  have  had  its  in- 
fluence, the  trade  in  question  being  as  desirable 
to  Great  Britian  as  to  the  United  States,  and 
better  for  each  to  carry  it  on  direct  in  their  own 
vessels,  than  circuitou.^ly  in  the  vessels  of  others; 
and  the  articles  on  each  side  being  of  a  kind  to 
solicit  mutual  exchange — tropical  productions  on 
one  part,  and  those  of  the  temperate  zone  on  the 
other.  But  there  was  one  thing  which  certainly 
contributed  to  the  good  result,  and  that  was  the 
act  of  Congress  of  May  29th,  of  which  General 
Samuel  Smith,  senator  from  Maryland,  was  the 
chief  promoter ;  and  by  which  the  President  na.s 
authorized,  on  the  adoption  of  certain  measures 
by  Great  Britian,  to  open  the  ports  of  the  United 
States  to  her  vessels  on  reciprocal  terms.  The 
effect  of  this  act  was  to  strengthen  General  Jack- 
son's candid  overture ;  and  the  proclamation 
opening  the  trade  was  issued  October  the  5tli. 
1830,  in  the  second  year  of  the  first  term  of  the 
administration  of  President  Jackson.  And  under 
that  proclamation  this  long  desired  trade  has 
been  enjoyed  over  since,  and  promises  to  be  en- 
joyed in  after  time  co-extendingly  with  the  dura 
tion  of  peace  between  the  two  countries. 


CHAPTER    XLIII. 

ESTABLISHMENT  OV  THE  GLOBE  NEWSPAPEE. 

At  a  presidential  levee  in  thc^winter  of  18'1" 
-'31,  Mr.  Duff"  Green,  editor  of  the  Tvkgrafh 
newspaper,  addressed  a  person  then  and  now  a 
respectable  rcs-S-n*-  --f  Washington  r-iy  (Mr.  J 
M.  Duncanson),  and  invited  him  to  call  at  his 
house,  as  he  had  something  to  say  to  him  which 


would  re(] 

was  made 

clo'^ed.  wl 

hi.s  (M-. 

tion  of  a  n 

tial  i'iecti( 

lie  prevent 

election,  ai 

ward  in  hi 

that  a  rupi 

Jackson  a 

ence  iiad 

about  (as 

Van  lUire 

in  print,  bi 

arrangeniei 

cratic  papc 

the  States 

known  to  t 

elusive  inte 

of  them  08 

nients  wer 

startle  the 

the  dilficul 

Mr.  ('  iliioii 

all  the  secui 

Telegraph, 

and  cry  out 

would  seem 

tion  against 

so  great,  tlia 

would  Ijo  un 

Mr.  Dunci 

in  the  excci 

charge  of  the 

flattering  ind 

to  do  so.     M 

regret  at  all 

ffiend  of  Gen 

— opj)osed  tc 

being  a  cant 

success,  if  att 

termination  t 

abandoned. 

—said  that  tl 

;md  might  no 

of 'the  first  i 

Mr.  Green  ca 

""d  him  that  a 

and  renewed  1 

editor  on  a  lib 

Vol.  ] 


ANNO  1820.     ANDUKW  JACKHON,  PRESIDENT. 


ot  universal; 
r  which  Huch 
)ecn  obtained, 
Senate  of  the 
^nsiljle  author 
his  hereafter, 
Iclicato  an  uf- 
CJeneral  Jacij. 
IH)n  Washing- 
itraUistinction 
-helped  out  a 
iftcr  clap  sug- 
uixim.  Good 
ive  had  its  in- 
g  as  desirable 
(I  States,  ami 
t  in  their  own 
sels  of  others; 
of  a  kind  to 
)roductions  on 
to  zone  on  the 
hich  certainly 
that  was  the 
(•hich  Genorai 
land,  was  the 
President  was 
tain  measures 
of  the  United 
terms.  The 
General  Jack- 
proclamation 
tobcr  the  5tli, 
st  term  of  the 
I.  And  under 
■ed  trade  has 
ises  to  be  en- 
with  the  dura 
itries. 


III. 

flEWSPAPEE. 

inter  of  ]^"''* 
10  Ttlegruph 
jn  and  now  a 
El  city  (!\rr.  J 
to  call  at  his 
to  him  which 


.     :. 


would  require  a  conllduatiul  iiiterviow.     The  call 
wax  made,  and  the  object  of  tho  interview  din- 
closed,  which  was  nothing  Icsh  tlian  to  cnRngc 
his  (AI-.  DuiicahMUM)  assistance  in  tho  execu- 
tion of  a  Hchenie  in  relation  to  tho  next  presiden- 
tial ilectitm,  ill  which  (k-ncral  Jackson  should 
lie  [jreventcd  (loui  becoming  a  candidate  for  re- 
((lection,  and  Mr.  Calhoun  Khould  bo  brought  for- 
ward in  his  place.     He  informed  .Mr.  Duncan.son 
that  a  rupture  was  impeiKJing  between  General 
Jackson  and   Mr.  Calhoun  ;  that  a  correspond- 
ence had  taken  place   hetwci'n   them,  brought 
alwut  (as  he  alleged)  by  the  intrigues  of  Mr. 
\m  lUirei ;  that  the  correspondence  was  then 
in  print,  but  its  publication  delayed  until  certain 
arrangements  could  be  made ;  that  tho  demo- 
cratic papers  at   the  most  prominent  jx.iuts  in 
tho  States  were  to  be  first  secured ;  and  men  well 
known  to  tho  people  as  democrats,  but  in  tho  ex- 
clusive interest  of  Jlr.  Calhoun,  placed  in  charge 
of  them  us  editoi.s ;  that  as  soon  as  the  arrange- 
ments  were    complete,   tho    Telegraph   would 
startle  the  country  with  the  announcement  of 
tho  difficulty   (between  General  Jackson  and 
Mr.  ('  illioun),  and  tho  motive  for  it;  and  that 
all  the  secured  presses,  taking  their  cue  from  the 
Telegraph,  would  take  sides  with  Mr.  Calhoun, 
and  cry  out  at  the  .same  time;  and  the  storm 
would  .seem  to  be  so  universal,  and  the  indigna- 
tion against  Mr.  Van  IJurcn  would  appear  to  be 
so  great,  that  even  General  Jackson's  popularitv 
would  be  unable  to  save  him. 

Mr.  Duncan.son  was  then  invited  to  take  par' 
in  tho  execution  of  this  scheme,  and  to  (nk^ 
charge  of  the  Frankfort  (Kentucky)  Argus;  and  I 
flattering  imlucemcnts  held  out  to  enconra-u  him  ; 
to  do  so.     Mr.  Duncanson  exprcs.scd  surnnse and 
regret  at  all  that  he  heard— declared  Intiisclf  the 
f'iend  of  General  Jackson,  and  of  his  re-election 
—opposed  to  all  schemes  to  prevent  him  from 
being  a  candidate  again— a  di, believer  in  their 
success,  if  attempted— and  made  known  his  de- 
termination to  reveal  the  scheme,  if  it  was  not 
abandoned.    Mr.  Green  begged  him  not  to  do  .so 
-said  that  the  plan  was  not  fully  agreed  upon; 
Hnd  might  not  be  carried  out.     This  was  the  end 
"fthe  first  interview.    A  few  davs  afterwards 
Mr.  (ireen  called  on  Mr.  Duncanson,  andinform- 
(l  lum  that  a  rupture  was  now  determined  upon 
and  renewed  his  proposition  that  he  should  take 
•i"-rg'>  •"•:  Home-  papur,  cither  as  proprietor,  or  as 
(litor  on  a  liberal  salary-one  that  would  tell  on 

Vol.  I.— 9 


129 


tho  farmers  and  mechanics  of  tho  country,  and 
made  so  cheap  as  to  go  into  v\i:Ty  workshop  and 
cabin.     Mr.  Duncan.son  wa.s  a  practical  printer 
—owned  u  good  job  ofllcc— was  doing  a  largo 
business,   especially  for   tho   dcpartment-s— and 
oidy  wished  to  remain  as  ho  wan.    Mr.  Green 
olk'red,  in  both  intcrview.s,  to  relieve  him  from 
that  concern  by  purchasing  it  from  him,  and  a.-*- 
surcd   him   that   ho   would   otherwise  lose  tho 
printing  of  the  dcpartment.s,  and  bo  sacrificed. 
Mr.  Duncan.son  again  refused  to  have  any  thing 
to  do  with  tho  schemo,  consulted   with  somo 
friond.s,  and  caused  the  whole  to  be  communicat- 
ed to  (iencral  Jack.son,     The  information  did  not 
take  tho  (Jeneral  by  surpri.so;  it  was  only  a  con- 
firmation of  what  ho  well  suspected,  and  had 
been  wi.sely  providing  against.     Tho  history  of 
[  the  movement  in  Mr.  Monroe's  cabinet,  to  bring 
hnn  before  a  military  court,  for  his  invasion  of 
Spanish  tei-ritory  during  the  Seminole  war,  had 
just  come   to  hi.s   knowledge;  the   doctrine  of 
nullification  hud  just  been  broached  in  Congress; 
his  own  patriotic  toast:  '-The  Federal  Union:' 
It  must  be  preserved  ''—had  been  delivered  ;  his 
own  intuitive  .sagacity  told  him  all  tho  rcst-tho 
breach  ^vith  Mx:  Calhoun,  tho  defection  of  the 
Telegraph,  and  the  necessity  for  a  new  paper  at 
Washington,  faithful,  fearless  and  incorruptible. 
The  Telegraph  had  been  the  central  metro- 
politan organ  of  his  friemis  and  of  tho  demo- 
cratic party,  during  the  Jong  and  bitter  canvass 
wb'< '        led  in  tho  clecJon  of  General  Jackson, 
iii'l».    Its  editor  had  been  gratified  with  the 
Inst  rich  fruits  of  victory-the  public  i)rinting 
of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress,  the  exc.-utive 
patronage,  and  the  (    •^anship  of  the  administra- 
tion.     The  paper  was  still   (in   Ls.30)   in  its 
columns,  and  to  the  public  eye,  the  advocate  u„d 
supporter  of  General   Jackson  ;   but  ho   knew 
what  was  to  happen,  and  qui.ijy  took  his  mea- 
sures to  meet  an  inevitable  contingency.     In  tho 
summer  of  1830,  a  gentleman  in  one  of  the  pub- 
lic offices  showed  him  a  paper,  the  Frankfort 
(Kentucky)  Argus,  containing  a  powerful  and 
spirited  review  of  a  certain  nullification  speech 
in  Congre.s.';.     He  inquired  for  the  author,  ascer- 
tained him  to  bo  Jlr.  Francis  P.  Blair— not  the 
editor,  but  an  occasional  contributor  to  the  Argus 
—and  had  him  written  to  on  the  subject  of  tak- 
ing charge  of  a  paper  in  Washington.     Tho  a|>- 
plication  took  ]\Ir.  Blair  by  surprise.     He  wis 
not  thinking  .  !'  changing  his  residence  and  pur- 


130 


THIRTY  YfOARS'  VIEW. 


suits.     lie  was  well  occupied  where  ho  was — 
clerk  of  the  lucrtuivo  oflice  of  the  State  Circuit 
Court  at  tlie  capital  of  the  State,  salaried  presi- 
dent of  the  Commonwealth  Bank  (hy  the  elec- 
tion of  the  legislature),  and  proprietor  of  a  farm 
and  slaves  in  that  rich  State.     But  he  was  devot- 
ed to  General  Jackson  and  his  measures,  and  did 
not  hesitate  to  relinquish  his  secure  advantages 
at  liome  to  engage  in  the  untried  business  of 
editor  at  Washington.    He  came— established  the 
Globe  newspaper — and  soon  after  associated  with 
John   C.  Hives, — a  gentleman  worthy  of  the 
association  and  of  the  confidence  of  General  Jack- 
son and  of  the  democratic  party  :  and  under  their 
management,  tlie  paper  became  the  efficient  and 
faithful  organ  of  the  administration  during  the 
whole  period  of  his  service,  and  that  of  his  suc- 
cessor, Mr.  Van  Buren.    It  was  established  in 
time,  and  just  in  time,  to  meet  the  advancing 
events  at  Washington  City.     All  that  General 
Jackson  had  foreseen  in  relation  to  the  conduct 
of  the  Telegraph,  and  all  that  had  been  com- 
municated to  him  through  i\Ir.  Duncansori,  came 
to  pass  :  and  he  found  himself,  early  in  the  first 
term  of  his  administration,  engaged  in  a  triple 
•wai- — with  nullification,  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  wliig  party: — and  must  have 
been  without  defence  or  support  from  the  news- 
paper press  at  Washington  had  it  not  been  for 
his  foresight  in  establishing  the  Globe. 


CHAPTER   XL  IV. 

LIMITATION  OF  PURLIO  LAND  SALES.  SUSPEN- 
SION OF  SURVKYS.  ABOLITION  OF  THE  OFFICE 
OF  SURVEYOU  GENERAL.  ORIGIN  OF  THE  UNI- 
TED STATES  LAND  SYSTEM.  AUTHORSHIP  OF 
THE  ANTI-SLAVERY  ORDINANCE  OF  1778.  SLA- 
VERY CONTROVERSY.  PROTECTIVE  TARIFF. 
INCEPTION  OF  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  NULLIFICA- 
TION. 


At  the  commencement  of  the  session  1829-'30, 
Mr.  Foot,  of  Connecticut,  submitted  in  the  Sen- 
ate a  resolution  of  inquiry  which  excited  much 
feeling  among  the  western  members  of  that  body. 
It  was  a  propo.sition  to  inquire  into  the  expe- 
diency of  limiting  the  sales  of  the  public  lands  to 
those  then  in  markct^to  suspond  the  surveys 
of  the  public  lands— and  to  abolish  the  office  of 
Surveyor  General.    The  effect  of  such  a  resolu- 


tion, if  sanctioned  uf)on  inquiry  and  carried  into 
legislative  effect,  would  have  been  to  check  emi- 
gration to  the  new  States  in  the  West — to  check 
the  growth  and  settlement  of  these  States  and 
territories— and  to  deliver  up  largo  portions  of 
them  to  the  dominion  of  wild  beasts.  In  that 
sense  it  was  immediately  taken  up  by  myself, 
and  other  western  members,  and  treated  as  an 
injurious  proposition — insulting  as  well  as  inju- 
rious — and  not  fit  to  be  considered  by  a  com- 
mittee, much  less  to  be  reported  upon  and  adop- 
ted. I  opened  the  debate  against  it  in  a  speech, 
of  which  the  following  is  an  extract : 

"  Mr.  Benton  disclaimed  all  intention  d  hav- 
ing any  thing  to  do  with  the  motives  of  the 
mover  of  the  resolution :  he  took  it  according  to 
its  effect  and  operation,  and  conceiving  this  to  be 
eminently  injurious  to  the  rights  and  interests 
of  the  new  States  and  Territories,  he  should  jus- 
tify the  view  which  he  had  taken,  and  the  vote 
he  intended  to  give,  by  an  exposition  of  facts 
and  reasons  which  would  show  the  disastrous 
nature  of  the  practical  effects  of  this  resolution. 

"  On  the  first  branch  of  these  effects— checii- 
ing  emigration  to  the  West — it  is  clear,  that,  if 
the  sales  are  limited  to  the  lands  now  in  marliet, 
emigration  will  cease  to  flow ;  for  these  lands 
are  not  of  a  character  to  attract  people  at  a  dis- 
tance. In  Missouri  they  are  the  refuse  of  forty 
years  picking  under  the  Spanish  Government, 
and  twenty  more  under  the  Government  of  tlu 
United  States.  The  character  and  value  of  tl)i> 
refuse  had  been  shown,  officially,  in  the  reports 
of  the  Ivegisters  and  Keceivers,  made  in  ohedionw 
to  a  call  from  the  Senate.  Other  gentlemen 
would  show  what  was  said  of  it  in  their  respec- 
tive States ;  he  would  confine  himself  to  his 
own,  to  the  State  of  ^lissouri.  and  show  it  to  be 
miserable  indeed.  The  St.  Louis  District,  con- 
taining two  and  a  quarter  millions  of  acres,  wa.s 
estimated  at  an  average  value  of  fifteen  cents  per 
acre;  the  Cape  Girardeau  District,  contaiiiinj; 
four  and  a  half  millions  of  acres,  was  estimated 
at  twelve  and  a  half  cents  per  acre  ;  the  Wes- 
tern District;  containing  one  million  and  three 
quarters  of  acres,  was  estimated  at  .sixty-two 
and  a  half  cents ;  from  the  other  two  districts 
there  was  no  intelligent  or  pertinent  return ;  but 
assuming  them  to  be  cijual  to  the  'Westoin  Dis- 
trict, and  the  average  value  of  the  lands  thiy 


contain  would  be  only  one  half  the  amount  of 
the  present  minimum  price.  This  beini;  the 
state  of  the  lands  in  Jlissouri  which  would  be 
subject  to  sale  under  the  operation  of  this  reso- 
lution, no  emigrants  would  be  attracted  to  them. 
Persons  who  remove  to  new  counti'ies  want  new 
lands,  first  choices  ;  and  if  they  cannot  get  these. 
they  have  no  sufiicient  inducement  to  move. 

'■  The  second  ill  effc-ct  to  result  from  this  re* 
lution,  supposing  it  to  ripen  into  the  mea.sures 
which  it  implies  to  be  necessary  would  be  id 


limiting  the 

Territories. 

be  the  incvit 

the  lands  no 

souri,  only  i 

I5y  conseque 

Two  tiiirds  c 

inhabitants ; 

period,'  anci 

expound  thi; 

years.    Tiiej 

are  now  in  n 

a  year ;  then 

demand  for  f 

tcr  tiieir  hea 

adapted  to  t 

lions  that  is 

immediately. 

year  for  sevei 

the  life  of  ra 

nation ;  the  c 

tivity — a  Ion 

tory  of  the 

sorrowful  in 

resolution  sh( 

••  The  third 

deliver  up  lar 

ritories  to  the 

souri.  this  sur 

of  the  State, 

.'iquai'o  miles. 

Usage  lliver, 

proaching  wit 

capital  of  the 

dl  up  to  wild 

tinguished,  ar 

pie    would   b 

would  take  i 

Divine  coram 

crease  and  ini 

ion  over  the  b 

air,   the  fish 

things  of  the  ( 

••  The  fourtl 

v.il  of  the  la 

abolishing  all 

These  offices  i 

to  abolish  the 

debate  is,  th: 

say,  offices  wl 

uient.     This 

VV^e  have  one 

know  someth 

Colonel  Jlclle 

belongs  to  tli 

point  of  scien 

the  first  ordei 

contains.     He 

drudgery  to  tl 

tion,  .ind  still 

and   this  is  i 

abolish  under 

oiiice  with  re 

The  abolition 

necessity  of  re 


ANNO  1829.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRKSIDF.NT, 


131 


limiting  the  seUlcmcnts  in  tlie  new  States  and 
Territorios.    This  limitation  of  settlement  would 
be  tiie  inevitahle  efl'ecL  of  confining  the  sales  to 
the  lanrl.s  now  in  market.     These  lands  in  Mis- 
KOiiri,  only  amount  to  one  third  of  the  State. 
liy  consequence,  only  one  third  could  be  settled. 
Two  thirds  of  the  State  would  remain  without 
inhahitants;  the  icsolution  says,  for  'a  certain 
period.'  and  the  gentlemen,   in  their  speeches, 
expound  this  certain  period  to  be  seventy-two 
years.    They  say  seventy-two  millions  of  acres 
are  now  in  market ;  that  we  sell  but  one  million 
a  year ;  tliercfore,  we  have  enough  to  supply  the 
demand  for  seventy-two  years.     It  docs  not  en- 
ter their  heads  to  consider  that,  if  the  price  was 
adapted  to  the  value,  all  this  seventy  two  mil- 
lions that  is  fit  for  cultivation  would   be  sold 
immediately.    The)'  must  go  on  <at  a  million  a 
3'ear  for  seventy-two  years,  the  Scripture  term  of 
the  life  of  man — a  long  period  in  the  age  of  a 
nation ;  the  exact  period  of  the  Babylonish  cap- 
tivity-— a  long  and  sorrowful  period  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Jews ;  and  not  less  long  nor  less 
sorrowful  in   the  history  of  the  West,  if  this 
resolution  should  take  eflect. 

'•  The  third  point  of  objection  is,  that  it  would 
deliver  up  large  portions  of  new  States  and  Ter- 
ritories to  the  dominion  of  wild  beasts.  In  Mis- 
souri, this  surrender  would  be  equal  to  two-thirds 
of  the  State,  comprising  about  forty  thousand 
squai'e  miles,  covering  the  whole  valley  of  the 
Osage  River,  besides  many  other  parts,  and  ap- 
proacliing  within  a  dozen  miles  of  the  centre  and 
capital  of  the  State.  All  this  would  be  deliver- 
ed up  to  wild  beasts :  for  the  Indian  title  is  ex- 
tinguished, and  the  Indians  goue ;  the  white  peo- 
ple would  be  excluded  from  it ;  beasts  alone 
would  take  it ;  and  all  this  in  violation  of  the 
Divine  command  to  replenish  the  earth,  to  in- 
crease and  multiply  upon  it.  and  to  have  domin- 
ion over  the  beasts  of  the  forest,  the  birds  of  the 
air,  the  fish  in  the  waters,  and  the  creeping 
things  of  the  earth. 

••  The  fourth  point  of  objection  is,  in  the  remo- 
val of  the  land  records— the  natural  eflect  of 
abolishing  all  the  offices  of  the  Surveyors  General. 
These  offices  are  five  in  number.  It  is  proposed 
to  abolish  them  all,  and  the  reason  assigned  in 
debate  is,  that  they  are  sinecures ;  that  is  to 
say,  offices  which  have  revenues  and  no  employ- 
ment. This  is  the  desciiption  of  a  sinecure. 
We  have  one  of  these  oflices  in  Missouri,  and  T 
know  something  of  it.  The  Surveyor  General, 
Colonel  Mcllee,  m  point  of  fidelity  to  his  trust 
belongs  to  the  .school  of  Nathaniel  Macon ;  in 
pomt  of  science  and  intelligence,  ho  belongs  to 
the  first  order  of  men  that  Europe  or  America 
contams.  lie  and  his  clerks  carry  labor  and 
drudgery  to  the  ultimate  point  of  hiunan  exer- 
tion, .and  still  fall  short  of  the  task  before  them  ; 
and  this  IS  an  office  which  it  is  proposed  to 
amiish  under  the  notion  of  a  -^ineeaie,  as  an 
0.  ice  with  revenues,  and  without  employment 
llie  abolition  of  these  offices  would  involve  the 
necessity  of  removing  all  their  records,  and  thus 


depriving  the  country  of  all  the  evidences  of  the 
foundations  of  all  the  land  titles.  This  would 
be  sweeping  work ;  but  the  gentleman's  plan 
would  be  incomplete  without  including  the 
Gener.al  Land  Office  in  this  city,  the  principal 
business  of  which  is  to  superintend  the  five  Sur- 
veyor General's  offices,  and  for  which  there  could 
be  but  litt'e  use  after  they  were  abolished. 

"  These  are  the  practical  effects  of  the  resolu- 
tion. Emigration  to  the  new  States  checked  ; 
their  settlement  limited  ;  a  iarge  portion  of  their 
surface  deliverer]  up  to  the  dominion  of  beasts  ; 
the  land  records  removed.  Such  are  the  injuries 
to  bo  infiicted  upon  the  new  States,  and  we,  the 
senators  from  those  States,  are  cnlled  upon  to 
vote  in  favor  of  the  resolution  which  proposes  to 
inquire  into  the  expediency  of  committing  all 
the.se  enormities !  1,  for  one,  will  not  do  it.  I 
will  vote  for  no  such  inquiry.  I  would  as  soon 
vote  for  inquiries  into  the  expediency  of  confla- 
grating cities,  of  devastating  provinces,  and  of 
submerging  fruitful  lands  under  the  waves  of  the 
ocean. 

"  I  take  my  stand  upon  a  great  moral  principle : 
that  it  is  never  right  to  inquire  into  the  expedi- 
ency of  doing  wrong. 

''  The  proposed  inquiry  is  to  do  wrong  ;  to  in- 
flict unmixed,  unmitigated  evil   upon  the  new 
States  and  Territories.     Such  inquiries  are  not 
to  be  tolerated.     Courts  of  law  will  not  sustain 
actions  which  have  immoral  foundations ;  legis- 
lative bodies  should  not  sustain  inquiries  which 
have  iniquitous  conclusions.     Courts  of  law  make 
it  an  object  to  give  public  satisfiiction  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice  ;  legislative  bodies  should 
consult  the  public  tranquillity  in  the  prosecution 
of  their  measures.     They  should  not  alarm  and 
agitate  the  country ;  yet,  this  inquiry,  if  it  goes 
on.  will  give  the  greatest  dissatisfaction  to  the 
new  States  in  the  West  and  South.  It  will  alarm 
and  agitate  them,  and  ought  to  do  it.     It  will 
connect  itself  with  other  inquiries  going  on  else- 
where— in  the  other  end  of  this  buiiding— in  the 
House   of  Representatives — to   make    the  new 
States  a  source  of  revenae  to  the  old  ones,  to  de- 
liver them  up  to  a  new  set  of  masters,  to  throw 
them  as  grapes  into  the  wine  press,  to  be  trod 
and  squeezea  as  long  as  one  drop  of  juice  could 
be  pressed  from  their  hulls.  These  measures  will 
go  together ;  and  if  that  resolution  pas.ses,  and 
this  one  passes,  the  transition   will  be  easy  and 
natural,  from  dividing  the  money  after  the  lands 
are  sold,  to  divide  the  lands  before  they  are  sold, 
and  then  to  renting  the  land  and  drawing  an  jui- 
nual  income,  instead  of  selling  it  for  a  price  in. 
hand.     The  signs  are  portentous  ;  the  crisis    is 
alarming ;  it  is  time  for  the  new  States  to  wake 
up  to  their  danger,  and  to  prepare  for  a  struggle 
which  carries  ruin  and  di.sgrace  to  them,  if  the 
issue  is  against  them." 

The  debate  spread,  and  took  an  acrimonious 
turn,  and  sectional,  imputing  to  the  quarter  of 
the  Union  from  which  it  came  an  old,  and  early 
policy  to  check  the  growth  of  the  West  at  th^ 


'  I 


(fr 


132 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


w    I 


ii 


ifl 

i    F 

outset  by  proposing  to  limit  the?  sale  of  the  west- 
em  lands  to  a  '■  clean  riddance  "  as  they  went — 
selling  no  tract  in  advance  until  all  in  the  rear 
was  sold  out.  It  so  happened  that  the  first  or- 
dinance reported  for  the  sale  and  survey  of  west- 
ern lands  in  the  Congress  of  the  Confederation, 
(1785.)  contained  a  provision  to  this  effect ;  and 
came  from  a  committee  strongly  Northern — two 
to  one,  eight  against  four ;  and  was  struck  out 
in  the  House  on  the  motion  of  southern  members, 
supported  by  the  whole  power  of  the  South.  I 
gave  this  account  of  the  circumstance  : 

''  The  ordinance  reported  by  the  committee, 
cont.iined  the  plan  of  surveying  the  public  lands, 
which  has  since  been  followed.  It  adopted  the 
scientific  principle  of  ranges  of  townships,  which 
has  been  continued  ever  since,  and  found  so 
beneficial  in  a  variety  of  ways  to  the  country. 
The  ranges  began  on  the  Pennsylvania  line,  and 
proceeded  west  to  the  Mississippi ;  and  since  the 
acquisition  of  Louisiana,  they  have  proceeded 
wjst  of  that  river ;  the  townships  began  upon 
the  Ohio  River,  and  proceeded  north  to  the  Lakes. 
The  townships  were  divided  into  sections  of  a 
mile  square,  .six  hundred  and  forty  acres  each ; 
and  the  minimum  price  was  fixed  at  one  dollar 
per  acre,  and  not  less  than  a  section  to  be  sold 
together.  This  is  the  outline  of  the  present  plan 
of  sales  and  surveys ;  and,  with  the  modifica- 
tions it  has  received,  and  may  receive,  in  gradua- 
ting the  price  of  the  land  to  the  quality,  the  plan 
is  excellent.  But  a  principle  was  incorporated 
in  the  ordinance  of  the  most  fatal  character.  It 
was,  that  each  township  should  be  sold  out  com- 
plete before  any  land  could  be  offered  in  the  next 
one!  This  was  tantamount  to  a  law  that  the 
lands  should  not  be  sold ;  that  the  country  should 
no*'  be  settled :  for  it  is  certain  that  every  town- 
ship, or  almost  every  one.  would  contain  land  un- 
fit for  cultivation,  and  for  which  no  person  would 
give  six  hundred  and  forty  dollars  for  six  hun- 
dred and  forty  acres.  The  efl'cct  of  such  a  pro- 
vision may  be  judged  by  the  fact  that  above  one 
hundred  thousand  acres  remain  to  this  day  un- 
sold in  the  first  land  district ;  the  district  of  Steu- 
benville,  in  Ohio,  which  included  the  first  range 
and  first  township.  If  that  provision  had  re- 
mained in  the  ordinance,  the  settlements  would 
not  yet  have  got  out  of  sight  of  the  Pennsylva- 
nia line.  It  was  an  unjust  and  preposterous 
provision.  It  required  the  people  to  take  the 
country  clean  before  them  ;  buy  all  as  they  went ; 
mountains,  hills,  and  swamps  ;  rocks,  glens,  and 
prairies.  They  were  to  make  clean  work,  as  the 
giant  Polyphemus  did  when  he  ate  up  the  com- 
panions of  Ulysses : 

'No  entrails,  blood,  nor  solid  bone  remains.' 

Nothing  could  he  more  iniquitous  than  such  ." 
proTision.  It  was  like  roquiring  your  guest  to  eat 
all  the  bones  on  his  plate  before  he  slioiild  have 
more  meat.     To  say  that  township  No.  1  should 


be  sold  out  complete  before  township  No.  2  should 
bo  oil'ered  for  sale,  was  like  requiring  the  hones 
of  the  first  turkey  to  be  eat  up  before  the  hrcast 
of  the  second  one  should  be  touched.  Yet  such 
was  the  provision  contained  in  the  first  oidinance 
for  the  sale  of  the  public  lands,  reported  hy  a 
committee  of  twelve,  of  which  eiglit  were  from 
the  north  and  four  from  the  south  side  of  the 
Potomac.  How  invincible  must  have  been  the 
determinaition  of  some  politicians  to  prevent  the 
settlement  of  the  West,  when  they  would  tlius 
counteract  the  sales  of  the  lands  wliich  had  just 
been  obtained  after  years  of  impoi  tunity,  for  the 
payment  of  the  public  debt ! 

"  When  this  ordinance  was  put  upon  its  pas- 
sage in  Congress,  two  Virginians,  whose  names, 
for  that  act  alone,  would  deserve  the  lasting  pa- 
titude  of  the  West,  levelled  their  blows  against 
the  obnoxious  provision.  Mr.  Grayson  moved  lo 
strike  it  out,  and  Mr.  Monroe  seconded  him ;  and, 
after  an  animated  and  arduous  contest,  they  suc- 
ceeded. The  whole  South  supported  them ;  not 
one  recreant  arm  from  the  South ;  many  scatter- 
ing members  from  the  North  also  voted  with 
the  South,  and  in  favor  of  the  infant  West;  prov- 
mg  then,  as  now,  and  as  it  always  has  been,  that 
the  West  has  true  supporters  of  her  rij^hts  and 
interests — unhappily  not  enough  of  them— in 
that  quarter  of  the  Union  from  which  the  mea- 
sures have  originated  that  several  times  threaten- 
ed to  be  fatal  to  her." 

Still  enlarging  its  circle,  but  as  yet  still  confined 
to  the  .sale  and  disposition  of  the  public  lands, 
the  debate  went  on  to  discuss  the  propiietyof 
selling  them  to  settlers  at  auction  prices,  and  at 
an  abitrary  minimum  for  all  qualities,  and  a  re- 
fusal of  donations ;  and  in  this  hard  policy  the 
North  was  again  considered  as  tlie  exacting  part 
of  the  Union — the  South  as  the  favorer  of  liberal 
terms,  and  the  generous  dispenser  of  gratuitous 
grants  to  the  settlers  in  the  new  States  and  Ter- 
ritories. On  this  point,  Mr.  Hayne,  of  South 
Carolina,  thus  expressed  himself: 

"  The  payment  of  '  a  penny,'  or  a  '  pepiier 
corn,'  was  the  stipulated  price  which  our  fathers 
along  the  whole  Atlantic  coast,  now  compo.sin?; 
the  old  thirteen  States,  paid  for  their  lands ;  and 
even  when  conditions,  seemingly  more  substan- 
tial, were  annexed  to  the  grants ;  such  for  instance 
as  '  settlement  and  cultivation  ; '  the.se  were  con- 
sidered as  substantially  complied  with,  by  the 
cutting  down  a  few  trees  and  erecting  a  log  cabin 
— the  work  of  only  a  few  day.s.  Even  these  con- 
ditions very  soon  came  to  be  considered  as  nn-iely 
nominal,  and  were  never  required  to  be  pursued, 
in  order  to  vest  in  the  grantee  the  fee  simple  ol 
the  soil.  Such  was  the  .system  under  whicii  this 
ronntvy  was  orif^iually  settled,  and  under  vliii'b 
the  thirteen  colonies  flourished  and  grew  up  li> 
that  early  and  vigorous  manhood,  which  enabled 
theni  in  a  few  years  to  achieve  their  independence ; 


ANNO  1829.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


133 


And  I  beg  gentlemen  to  recollect,  and  note  the 
fact,  th.at,  wl;ilc  they  paid  substantially  nothing- 
to  the  mother  country,  the  whole  profits  of  their 
industry  were  suffered  to  remain  in  their  own 
hands.     Now.  what,  let  tis  inquire,  was  the  rea- 
TOn  which  has  induced  all  nations  to  adopt  this 
system   in   the   settlement  of  new  countries? 
Can  it  be  any  other  than  this ;  that  it  affords  the 
only  certain  means  of  building  up  in   a  wilder- 
ness, great  and  prosperous  communities  ?     Was 
not  that  policy  founded  on  the  universal  belief, 
that  the  conquest  of  a  new  coimtry,  the  driving 
out  '•  the  savage  beasts  and  still  more  savage  men." 
cutting  down  and  subduing  the  forest,  and  en- 
countering all  the  hardships  and  privations  neces- 
sarily incident  to  the  conversion  of  the  wilder- 
ness into  cultivated  fields,  was  worth  the  fee  sim- 
ple of  the  soil  ?    And  was  it  not  believed  that 
the  mother  country  found  ample  remuneration 
for  the  value  of  the  land  .so  granted,  in  the  addi- 
tions to  her  power  and  the  new  .sources  of  com- 
raci-ce  and  of  wealth,  furnished  by  prosperous 
and  populous  States  ?     Now,  sir,  I  submit  to  the 
candid  consideration  of  gentlemen,  whether  the 
policy  so  diametrically  opposite  to  thi.s,  which  has 
been  invariably  pursued  by  the  United  States  to- 
wards the  new  States  in  the  AYest  has  been  quite 
.so  just  and  liberal,  as  we  have  been  accustomed 
10  believe.     Certain  it  is,  i^'-^  the  British  colo- 
nies to  the  north  of  us.  ano    -■      -.anish  and  French 


to  the  .south  and  vrest,  ,  -en  fostered  and 

voaied  up  under  a  very  Cilur.rtt  .system.  Lands, 
which  had  been  for  fifty  or  a  hundred  years  open  to 
every  settler,  without  any  charge  beyond  the  ex- 
pense of  the  .survey,  were,  the  mom'ent  they  fell 
"ito  the  hands  of  the  United  States,  held  up  for 
sale  at  the  highest  price  that  a  public  auction,  at 
the  most  favorable  seasons,  and  not  unfreqnently 
a  spirit  of  the  wildest  competition,  could  produce ; 
with  a  limitation  that  they  should  never  bo  .sold 
below  a  cei  tain  minimum  price ;  thus  makin"-  it 
as  It  would  seem,  the  cardinal  point  of  our  policy' 
not  to  .settle  the  country,  and  facilitate  the  forma- 
tion of  new  States,  but  to  fill  our  coffers  by  coin- 
mg  our  lauds  into  gold." 

The  debate  was  taking  a  turn  which  was  for- 
eign to  the  expectations  of  the  mover  of  the  res- 
olution, and  which,  in  leading  to  sectional  crimi- 
nations, would  only  inflame  feelings  without  lead- 
ing to  any  practical  result.     Jlr.  Webster  saw 
this;  and  to  get  rid  of  the  whole  subject,  moved 
Its  indefinite  postponement;  but  in  arguing  his 
motion  he  delivered  a  speech  which  introduced 
new  topics,  and  greatly  enlarged  the  scope,  and 
oxtende.1  the  length  of  the  debate  which  he  pro- 
posed to  terminate.    One  of  these  new  topics  n3- 
a'lredto^the  authorship,  and  the  merit  of  pass- 
^■i  t.K-  fl-,moii.s  ordinance  of  1787,  for  the  sjov- 
ernmeut  of  the  Northwestern  Territory,  and' es- 
pecially in  relation   to  the  antislavery  clause 


which   that  ordinance  contained.     Mr.  Webster 
claimed  the   merit  of  this  authorship   for  Mr. 
Nathan  Dane— an  eminent  jurist  of  Massachu- 
setts, and  avowed  that  "  it  was  carried  by  the 
North,  and  by  the  North  alone:'    I  replied, 
claiming  the  authorship  for  Mr.  Jefferson,  and 
showing  from  the  Journals  that  he  (Mr.  Jeflir- 
.son)  brought  the  mea.sure  into  Congress  in  the 
year  1784  (the  19th  of  April  of  that  year),  as 
chairman  of  a  committee,  with  the  antislavery 
clau.se  in  it,  which  Mr.  Speight,  of  North  Caroli- 
na, moved  to  strike  out;  and  it  was  struck  out 
—the  three  Southern  States  present  voting  for 
the  striking  out,  because  the  clause  did  not  then 
contain  the  provision  in  favor  of  the  recovery  of 
fugitive  slaves,  which  was  afterwards  ingrafted 
upon  it.     Mr.  Webster  says  it  was  struck  out 
becau.se  •'  nine  States  »  did  not  vote  for  its  reten- 
tion.   That  is  an  error  arising  from  confounding 
the  powers  of  the  confed.^ration.    Nine  States 
were  onlj-  required  to  concur  in  measures  of  the 
highest  import,  as  declaring  war,  making  peace 
negotiating  treaties,  &c.,-and   in  all  ordinary 
legislation  the  concurrence  of  a  bare  majority 
(seven)  wa.s  sufficient ;  and  in   this  case  there 
were  only  six  States  voting  for  the  retention. 
New  Jersey  being  erroneously  counted  by  Mr. 
Webster  to  make  seven.     If  she  had  voted  the 
number  would  have  ^  e  .  .  >ven,  and  the  clause 
would  have  stood,     ix    was  led  into  the  error  by 
seeing  the  name  of  Mr.  Dick  appearing  in  the 
call  for  New  Jersey  ;  but  New  Jersey  was  not 
present  as  a  State,  being  represented  by  only  one 
member,  and  it  requiring  two  to  constitute  the 
presence  of  a  State.     Mr.  Dick  was  indulged  with 
putting  his  name  on  the  Journal,  but  his  vote 
was  not  counted.    xMr.  Webster  says  the  ordi- 
nance reported  by  Mr.  Jefferson  in  178  i.  did  not 
pass  into  a  law.    This  is  a  mistake  again.    It 
did  pass;  and  that  within  five  days  after  the 
antislavery  clause  was  struck  out— and   that 
without  any  attempt    to    renew    that    clause, 
although    the   competent   number   (seven)   of 
non-.slaveliolding  States  were  present— the  col- 
league of  Mr.  Dick  having  joined  him,  and  con- 
stituted the  presence  of  New  Jersey.     Two  years 
afterwards,  in  July  1787,  the  ordinance  was  pass- 
ed over  again,  as  it  now  stands,  and  was  pic- 
cminently   the  work  of  the  South,     The  ordi- 
nance, as  it  now  stands,  was  reported  by  a  com- 
mittee of  five  members,  of  whom  three  were 
from  slaveholding  States,  and  two  (and  one  of 


134 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


f. 


them  the  chairman)  were  from  Virginia  alone. 
It  received  its  first  reading  the  day  it  was  re- 
ported— its  second  reading  the  next  day,  when 
one  other  State  had  appeared — the  tliird  reading 
on  the  day  ensuing;  going  through  all  the 
forms  of  legislation,  and  becoming  a  law  in  three 
days — receiving  the  votes  of  the  eight  States 
present,  and  the  vote  of  every  member  of  each 
State,  except  one ;  and  that  one  from  a  free 
State  north  of  the  rotomae.  T  cse  details  I 
verified  by  producing  the  ./ourna's,  and  showed 
under  the  dates  of  July  lltn,1787,  and  July  12th 
and  13th,  the  votes  actually  given  for  the  ordi- 
nance. The  same  vote  repealed  the  ordini.^ce 
(Mr.  Jeflerson's)  of  1784.  I  read  in  the  Senate 
the  passages  from  the  Journal  of  the  Congress 
of  the  confederation,  the  passages  which  showed 
these  votes,  and  incorporated  into  the  speech 
which  I  published,  the  extract  from  the  Journal 
which  I  produced ;  and  now  incorporate  the  same 
in  this  work,  that  the  authorship  of  that  ordi- 
nance of  1787,  and  its  passage  through  the  old 
Congress,  may  be  known  in  all  time  to  come  as 
the  indisputable  work,  both  in  its  conception  and 
consummation,  of  the  South.  This  is  the  ex- 
tract : 

THE    JOTJRNAL. 

Wednesday,  July  llth,  1787. 

"  Congress  assembled  :  Present,  the  seven 
States  above  mentioned."  (Massachusetts,  New 
York,  New  Jersey,  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
South  Carolina,  and  Georgia — 7.) 

"  The  Committee,  consisting  of  Mr.  Caning- 
ton  (of  Virginia),  Mr.  Dane  (of  Massachusetts), 
Mr.  K.  H.  Lee  (of  Virginia),  Mr.  Kean  (^of  South 
Carolina),  and  Mr.  Smith  (of  New  "Vork),  to 
whom  was  referred  the  report  of  a  committee 
touching  the  temporarj'  government  of  the  West- 
em  Territory,  reported  an  onlinanco  for  the  go- 
vernment of  the  Tei-ritory  of  the  United  States 
northwest  of  the  river  Ohio  ;  which  was  read  a 
first  time. 

"Ordered,  That  to-morrow  be  assigned  for 
the  second  reading." 

«  Thursday,  July  \2tli,  1787. 

"  Congress  assembled  :  Present,  Massachu- 
setts, New  York,  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  Vir- 
ginia, North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Geor- 
gia—(8.) 

"According  to  order,  the  oidinance  for  the 
government  of  the  Territory  of  the  United  States 
northwest  of  the  river  Ohio,  was  read  a  second 
time. 

"  Ordered,  That  to-morrow  be  assigned  for 
the  third  reading  of  said  ordinance." 


''Friday,  July  mil,  1781. 

"  Congress  assembled :  Present,  as  yesterday, 

"  According  to  order,  the  ordinance  for  tho 
government  of  the  Territorj'  of  the  United  States 
northwest  of  the  river  Ohio,  was  read  a  tliird 
time,  and  passed  as  follows.'' 

[Hero  follows  the  whole  ordinance,  in  the 
very  words  in  which  it  now  appears  anionp;  tiio 
laws  of  the  United  States,  with  the  non-slu'cry 
clause,  the  provisions  in  favor  of  schools  and 
education,  against  impairing  the  obligation  of 
contracts,  laying  tho  foundation  and  security  of 
all  these  stipulations  in  compact,  in  favor  of  re- 
storing fugitives  fiom  service,  and  repealing  tjie 
ordinance  of  23d  of  April,  1784 — the  one  report- 
ed by  Mr.  Jefferson.] 

"  On  passing  the  above  ordinance,  the  yeas 
and  nays  being  required  by  Mr.  Yates  : 

Massachusetts — Mr.  Ilolten,  aye  ;  Mr.  Dane 
aye. 

New  ^'orA;— Mr,  Smith,  aye;  Mr.  Yates, no; 
Mr.  Ilarring,  aye. 

New  Jersey — JMr.  Clarke,  aye ;  Mr.  Sclieur- 
man,  aye. 

Delaware — Mr.  Kearney,  aye ;  Mr.  Mitchell. 
aye. 

Virginia — Mr.  Grayson,  aye;  Mr.R.  H.Lcc, 
aye  ;  Mr,  Carrington,  aye. 

North  Carolina — Mr.  Blount,  aye ;  Mr,  Haw- 
kins, aye. 

South  Carolina — Mr,  Kean,  aye ;  Mr,  IIu- 
ger,  aye. 

Georgia — !Mr.  Few,  aye  ;  Mr.  Pierce,  aye. 

So  it  was  resolved  in  the  afBrmative."  (Pa^< 
754,  volume  4,) 

The  bare  reading  of  these  passages  from  tho 
Journals  of  the  Congress  of  the  old  confctlcia- 
tion.  shows  how  erroneous  Jlr.  Webster  was  in 
these  portions  of  his  speech  : 

"  At  the  foundation  of  the  constitution  of  tlic-e 
new  northwestern  States,  we  are  accn.stomsi 
sir,  to  praise  the  lawgivers  of  antiquity ;  wo 
help  to  perpetuate  the  fame  of  Solon  and  Lycur- 
gns  ;  but  I  doubt  whether  one  single  law  of  aiiv 
lawgiver,  ancient  or  modern,  has  produced  effeti- 
of  more  distinct,  marked,  and  lasting  cliaractor, 
than  the  ordinance  of  '87,  That  instrumciu. 
was  drawn  by  Nathan  Dane,  then,  and  now,  :i 
citizen  of  Massachusetts,  It  was  adopted,  a  ! 
think  I  have  understood,  without  the  sliuhtc- 
alteration ;  and  certainly  it  has  happened  to  fi> 
men  to  be  the  authors  of  a  political  meusine  oi 
more  large  and  cndviring  consequence.  It  fixod, 
for  ever,  the  character  of  the  population  in  the 
vast  regions  northwest  of  the  Ohio,  by  cxo'ml- 
ing  from  them  involuntary  servitude.  It  im- 
j)ressed  on  the  soil  itself,  while  it  was  yet  a  wil- 
derness, an  incapacity  to  bear  up  any  otiicr  tliim 
free  rrm\.  It  Inid  tho  interdict  ngairsst  person:!! 
servitude,  in  original  compact,  not  only  deeper 
I  than  all  local  law,  but  deeper,  also,  than  all  local 


constitutio 

existing,  I 

able  provii 

its  conseq) 

never  ccasi 

shail  flow, 

of  prcvcnti 

no  intellig 

to  ask  wht 

been  appli( 

a  wilderne 

gap  of  the 

would  hav 

ness  of  tha 

not  to  be  d 

produced  a 

measured  i 

extent  and 

sir,  this  gri 

north,  and 

deed,  indivi 

it  was  sup 

votes  of  th( 

had  been  { 

views  now 

was,  of  all 

her  purposi 

means  of  r 

from  her  ( 

looked  to  i\ 

She  deemed 

tiie  States  tl 

and  advanti 

adhered  to  1 

after  year,  i 

"  An  attei 

the  North  t( 

sion  of  slav( 

The  journal 

futes  such  ; 

was  made,  B 

following,  a 

Jefferson,  C 

for  a  tempoi 

which  was 

1800,  there 

untary  servi 

wise  than  ir 

party  shall 

of  North  C 

paragraph, 

the  form  tl 

stand,  as  pa 

shire.  Mass; 

cut.  New  Y( 

— seven  Stai 

land.  Virgin 

tive.     North 

sent  of  nin( 

could  not  st£ 

ly.    Mr,  Jef 

overruled  by 

"III  Marc 

of  Jfassachu 

Rhode  Islan 


ANNO  1829.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


135 


constitutions.     Under  the  circumstances   then 
existing,  I  look  upon  this  original  and  season- 
able provision,  as  a  real  good  attained.     We  see 
its  consequences  at  this  moment,  and  we  shall 
never  cease  to  see  them,  perhaps,  while  the  Ohio 
sliail  flow.     It  was  a  great  and  salutary  measure 
nf  prevention.     Sir,  I  should  fear  the  rebuke  of 
no  intelligent  gentleman  of  Kentucky,  were  I 
to  ask  whether  if  such  an  ordinance  could  have 
been  applied  to  his  own  Siate,  while  it  yet  was 
a  wilderness,  and  before  Boon  had  passed  the 
gap  of  the  Alleghany,  ho  does  not  suppose  it 
would  have  contributed  to  the  ultimate  great- 
ness of  that  commonwealth  ?     It  is,  at  any  rate, 
not  to  be  doubted,  that  where  it  did  apply  it  has 
produced  an  effect  not  easily  to  be  described,  or 
measured  in  the  growth  of  the  States,  and  the 
extent  and  increase  of  their  population.     Now, 
sir,  this  great  measure  again  was  carried  by  the 
north,  and  by  the  north  alone.     There  were,  in- 
deed, individuals  elsewhere  favorable  to  it ;  but 
it  was  supported  as  a  measure,  entirely  by  the 
votes  of  the  northern  States.     If  New  England 
had  been  governed  by  the  narrow  and  selfish 
views  now  ascribed  to  her,  this  very  measure 
was,  of  all  others,  the  best  calculated  to  thwart 
her  purposes.     It  was,  of  all  things,  the  very 
means  of  rendering  certain  a  vast  emigration 
from  her  own  population  to  the  west.     She 
looked  to  that  consequence  only  to  disregard  it. 
She  deemed  the  regulation  a  most  useful  one  to 
the  States  that  would  spring  up  on  the  territory, 
and  advantageous  to  the  country  at  large.     She 
adliored  to  the  principle  of  it  perscveringly,  year 
after  year,  until  it  was  finally  accomplished. 

"  An  attempt  has  been  made  to  transfer,  from 
the  North  to  the  South,  the  honor  of  this  exclu- 
sion of  slavery  from  the  northwestern  territory. 
The  journal,  without  argument  or  comment,  re- 
futes such  attempt.  The  cession  by  Virginia 
was  made,  March,  1784.  On  the  19th  of  April 
following,  a  committee,  consisting  of  Messrs. 
Jefferson,  Chase,  and  I'lowell,  reported  a  plan 
for  a  temporary  government  of  the  territory,  in 
which  was  this  article  :  '  that,  after  the  year 
1800,  there  shall  be  neither  slavery,  nor  invol- 
untary servitude  in  any  of  the  said  States,  other- 
wise than  in  punishment  of  crimes,  whereof  the 
party  shall  have  been  convicted.'  Mr.  Speight 
of  North  Carolina,  moved  to  strike  out  this 
paragraph.  The  qu-stion  was  put,  according  to 
the  form  then  practised:  'Shall  these  words 
stand,  as  part  of  the  plan,'  &c.  ?  New  Hamp- 
shu-e,  Massachusetts,  llhotle  Island,  Connecti- 
cut, New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania 
—seven  States,  voted  in  the  affirmative.  Jlary- 
land,  Virginia,  and  South  Carolina,  in  the  nega- 
tive. North  Carolina  was  divided.  As  the  con- 
sent of  nine  States  was  necessary,  the  words 
could  not  stand,  and  were  struck  out  according- 
ly. Mr.  Jeflerson  voted  for  the  clause,  but  was 
overruled  by  his  colleagues. 

"In  March,  the  next  year  [1785],  Mr.  King 
of  Massachusetts,  seconded  by  Mr.  Ellery  of 
Khode  Island,  proposed  the  formerly  rejected 


article,  with  this  addition :  '  And  that  this  regu- 
lation shall  be  an  article  ofcoinpact,  and  re- 
main a  fundamental  principle  of  the  constitu- 
tions between  the  thirteen  original  States,  aiid 
each  of  the  States  described  in  the  resolve,^  Ac. 
On  this  clause,  which  provided  the  adequate  and 
thorough  security,  the  eight  northern  States  at 
that  tmie  voted  affirmatively,  and  the  four 
southern  States  negatively.  The  votes  of  nine 
States  were  not  yet  obtained,  and  thus,  the  pro- 
vision was  again  rejected  by  the  southern  States. 
The  ner.severance  of  the  north  held  out,  and  two 
years  afterwards  the  object  was  attained." 


This  is  shown  to  bo  all  erroneous  in  relation  to 
this  ordinance.    It  was  not  first  drawn  by  Mr. 
Dane,  but  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  that  nearly  two 
years  before  Jlr.  Dane  came  into  Congress.     It 
was  not  passed  by  the  North  alone,  but  equally 
by  the  South— there  being  but  eight  States  pre- 
sent at  the  passing,  and  they  equally  of  the  North 
and   the  South — and  the  South  voting  unani- 
mously for  it,  both  as  States  and  as  individual 
members,  while  the  North  had  one  member  against 
it.     It  was  not  baffied  two  years  for  the  want  of 
nine  States;  if  so,  and  nine  States  had  been  neces- 
sary, it  would  not  have  been  passed  when  it  was, 
and  never  by  free  State  votes  alone.   There  were 
but  eight  States  (both  Northern  and  Southern) 
present  at  the  passing ;  and  there  were  not  nine 
free  States  in  the  confederacy  at  that  time.   There 
were  but  thirteen  in  all :  and  the  half  of  these, 
as  nearly  as  thirteen  can  bo  divided,  were  slave 
States.     The  fact  is,  that  the  South  only  delayed 
its  vote  for  the  antislavery  clause  in  the  ordi- 
nance for  want  of  the  provision  in  favor  of  re- 
covering fugitives  from  service.     As  soon  as  that 
was  added,  she  took  the  lead  again  for  the  ordi- 
nance— a  fact  which  gives  great  emphasis  to  the 
corresponding  provision  in  the  constitution. 

Mr.  AVebster  was  present  when  I  read  these 
extracts,  and  said  nothing.  He  neither  reaffirm- 
ed his  previous  statement,  that  Mr.  Dane  was 
the  author  of  the  ordinance,  and  that  '>  this  great 
measure  was  carried  by  the  North,  and  by  the 
North  alone?^  He  said  nothing ;  nor  did  he  af- 
terwards correct  the  errors  of  his  speech :  and 
they  now  remain  in  it ;  and  have  given  occasion 
to  a  very  authentic  newspaper  contradiction  of 
his  statement,  copied,  like  my  statement  to  the 
Senate,  from  the  Journals  of  the  old  Congress. 
It  was  by  Edward  Coles,  Esq.,  formerly  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  private  secretary  to  President  Madi- 
son, afterwards  governor  of  the  State  of  Illinois, 
and  now  a  citizen  of  Pennsylvania,  resident  of 


'   1 


136 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW 


Philailelpliia.  He  inmlo  his  correction  through 
tlie  National  Intelligencer,  of  Washington  City ; 
and  being  drawn  from  the  same  sources  it  agrees 
entirely  with  my  own.  And  thus  the  South  is 
entitled  to  the  cicdit  of  oi-iginating  and  pass- 
ing this  great  measure — a  circumstance  to  be  re- 
membered and  quoted,  as  showing  the  South  at 
that  time  in  taking  the  lead  in  curtailing  and  re- 
stricting the  existence  of  slavery.  The  cause  of 
Mr.  Webster's  mistakes  may  be  found  in  the 
fact  that  the  ordinance  was  three  times  before  the 
old  Congress,  and  once  (the  third  time)  in  the 
hands  of  a  committee  of  which  Jlr.  Dane  was  a 
member.  It  was  first  reported  by  a  committee 
of  three  (April,  1784)  of  which  two  were  from 
slaA'c  states,  (Mr.  Jeiferson  of  Virginia  and  Mr. 
Chase  of  Maryland,)  Mr.  Howard,  of  Rhode 
Island ;  and  this,  as  stated,  was  nearly  two  years 
before  Mr.  Dane  became  a  member.  The  auti- 
Blavery  clause  was  then  dropped,  there  being  but 
six  States  for  it.  The  next  year,  the  antislavery 
clause,  with  some  modification,  was  moved  by  Mr. 
Rufus  K  ing,  and  sent  as  a  proposition  to  a  commit- 
tee :  but  did  not  I'ipeu  into  ji  law.  Afterwards 
the  whole  ordmancc  was  pa.ssed  as  it  now  stands, 
upon  the  report  of  a  committee  of  six,  of  whom 
Mr.  Dane  was  one  ;  but  not  the  chairman. 

Closely  connected  with  this  question  of  author- 
ship to  which  jNIr.  Webster's  remarks  give  rise, 
was  another  which  excited  some  warm  discussion 
— the  topic  of  slavery — and  the  eflect  of  its  ex- 
istence or  non-existence  in  different  States.  Ken- 
tucky and  Ohio  were  taken  for  examples,  and  the 
.superior  improvement  and  population  of  Ohio 
were  attributed  to  its  exemption  from  the  evils 
of  slavery.  This  was  an  excitable  subject,  and 
the  more  so  V)ecause  the  wounds  of  the  Missouri 
controversy,  in  which  the  North  was  the  undis- 
puted aggressor,  were  still  tender,  and  hardly 
scarred  over.  Mr.  Ilayne  answered  with  warmth 
and  resented  as  a  reflection  upon  the  slave  States 
this  disadvantageous  comparison.  1  replied  to 
the  same  topic  myself,  and  said  : 

"  I  was  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  as  connected 
with  ttic  Missouri  question,  when  last  on  the 
floor.  The  senator  from  South  Carolina  [Mr. 
Ilayne]  could  see  nothing  in  the  question  before 
the' Senate,  nor  in  any  previous  jiart  of  the  de- 
bate, to  jnstil'y  the  introduction  of  that  topic. 
Neither  (.'ould  \.  lie  thought  he  saw  the  ghost 
of  the  Missouri  question  brought  in  ausong  us. 
So  did  1.  lie  was  astonished  at  the  apparition. 
I  was  not :  for  a  close  observan(;e  of  the  signs 
iu  the  AVest  had  prepared  me  for  this  develop- 


ment from  the  East.  I  was  well  prepared  for 
that  invective  against  slavery,  and  for  that  am- 
plification of  the  blessings  of  exemption  from 
slavery,  exemplified  in  the  condition  of  Ohio, 
which  the  senator  from  Massachusetts  indulged 
in,  and  which  the  object  in  view  required  to  bo 
derived  from  the  Northeast.  I  cut  tlie  root  of 
that  derivation  by  reading  a  passage  from  the 
Journals  of  the  old  Congress  ;  but  this  will  riOk 
prevent  the  invective  and  encomium  from  giing 
forth  to  do  their  ofiiec ;  nor  obliterate  the  lino 
which  was  drawn  between  the  free  State  of  Ohio 
and  the  slave  State  of  Kentucky.  If  the  only 
results  of  this  invective  and  encomium  were 
to  exalt  still  higher  the  oratorical  fame  of  the 
speaker,  I  .should  spend  not  a  moment  in  remark- 
ing upon  them.  But  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten  that 
the  terrible  Missom-i  agitation  took  its  rise  from 
the  "  substance  of  two  speeches"  delivered  on 
this  floor ;  and  since  that  time,  antislavery  speech- 
es, comjng  from  the  same  political  and  geographi- 
cal quarter,  are  not  to  be  disregarded  here.  AVhai 
was  said  vipon  that  topic  was  certainly  intended 
for  the  north  side  of  the  Potomac  and  Ohio ;  to 
the  people,  then,  of  that  division  of  the  Union, 
I  wish  to  address  myself,  and  to  disabuse  thera 
of  .some  erroneous  impressions.  To  them  1  ci\ii 
trtdy  say,  that  slavery,  in  the  abstract,  has  but 
few  advocates  or  defenders  in  the  slave-holding 
States,  and  that  slavery  as  it  is.  an  hereditary  in- 
stitution descended  upon  us  from  our  ancestors, 
would  have  fewer  advocates  among  us  than  it 
has,  if  those  who  have  nothing  to  do  witli  the 
subject  would  only  let  us  alone.  The  sentiment 
in  favor  of  .slavery  was  much  weaker  b'  fore  those 
intermeddlers  began  their  operations  than  it  is  at 
present.  The  views  of  leading  men  in  the  Nortli 
and  the  South  were  indisputably  the  same  in 
the  earlier  periods  of  our  government.  Of  this 
our  legislative  history  contains  the  highest  proof. 
The  foreign-slave  trade  was  prohibited  in  Virgi- 
nia, as  soon  .as  the  Revolution  began.  It  was  one 
of  iier  first  acts  of  sovereignty.  In  the  conven- 
tion of  that  State  which  adopted  the  federal  con- 
stitution, it  was  an  objection  to  that  instrument 
that  it  tolerated  the  African  slave-trade  for  twen- 
ty years.  Nothing  that  has  appeared  since  has 
sui'pas.sed  the  indignant  denunciations  of  this 
traffic  by  Patrick  Henry,  ticorge  Mason,  ami 
others,  in  that  convention. 

"  Sir,  1  regard  with  admiration,  that  is  to  Ray, 
with  wonder,  the  sublime  morality  of  those  wiio 
cannot  bear  the  abstract  contemplation  of  sla- 
very, at  the  distance  of  five  hundred  or  a  thou- 
sand miles  oil".  It  is  entirely  above,  that  is  to 
say,  it  allects  a  vast  s\iperiority  over  the  moral- 
ity of  the  primitive  Christian's,  the  apostles  of 
Christ,  and  Christ  himself.  Christ  and  tlie 
apostles  apjicarcd  in  a  province  of  the  Uoniaii 
empire,  when  that  empire  was  called  the  Y\omm 
world,  and  that  world  was  filled  with  shivi"^. 
Forty  millions  was  the  estimated  number,  btin^ 
onc-iourth  of  the  whole  population.  Single  ii><;i 
vidnals  held  twenty  thousand  slaves.  A  fn'«l 
man,  one  who  had  himself  been  a  slave,  died  the 


ANNO  1829.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


137 


iwssossor  of  four  thousand — such  were  the  num- 
bers.    Th3  rii^hts  of  Iho  owners  over  this  multi- 
tudt!  of  humnn  beini^s  was  that  of  life  and  death, 
witliout  protection  from  law  or  mitigation  from 
public  sentiment.     The  scourpje,  the  cross,  the 
iish-ponil,  the  den  of  the  wild  beast,  and  the 
arena  of  of  the  gladiator,  was  the  lot  of  the  slave, 
upon  the  sli<;hti'st  expression  of  the  nia.ster's  will. 
A  law  of  incredible  atrocity  made  all  slaves  re- 
sponsible with  thfir  own  lives  for  the  life  of  their 
master;  it  was   the  law  that  condemned   the 
whole  household  of  slaves  to  death,  in  case  of  the 
assassination  of  the  master — a  law  under  which 
as  many  as  four  hundred  have  been  executed  at 
a  time.     And  these  slaves  were  the  white  people 
of  Europe  and  of  Asia  Minor,  the  Greeks  and 
other  nations,  fro;n  whom  the  present  inhabitants 
of  the  world  derive  the  most  valuable  productions 
of  the  human  mind.     Christ  saw  all  this — the 
number  of  the  slaves — their  hapless  condition — 
and  their  white  color,  which  was  the  same  with 
his  own ;  yet  he  said  nothing  against  slavery ; 
lie  preached  no  doctrines  which  led  to  insurrec- 
tion and  massacre ;  none  which,  in  their  applica- 
tion to  the  state  of  things  in  our  country,  would 
authorize  an  inferior  race  of  blacks  to  extermi- 
nate that  superior  race  of  whites,  in  whose  ranks 
he  himself  appeared  upon  earth.     lie  preached 
no  such  doctrines,  but  those  of  a  contrary  tenor 
which  inculcated  the  duty  of  fidelity  and  obedi- 
ence on  the  part  of  the  slave— humanitv  and 
kindne;  j  on  the  part  of  the  master.     His  apostles 
did  the  same.     St  Paul  sent  back  a,  runaway 
slave,  Onesimus.  to  his  owner,  with  a  letter  of 
apology  and  supplication.     He  w:\s  not  the  man 
to  harbor  a  runaway,  much  less  to  entice  him 
from  his  master ;  and,  least  of  all,  to  excite  an 


insurrection. " 

This  allusion  to  the  Missouri  controversy,  and 
invective  against  the  free  States  for  their  part  in 
it,  brought  a  reply  from  Mr.  Webster,  showing 
what  their  conduct  had  been  at  the  first  introduc- 
tion of  the  slavery  topic  in  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  and  that  they  totally  refused  to 
interfere  between  master  and  slave  in  any  way 
whatever.     This  is  what  he  said : 

"  When  the  present  constitution  was  submitted 
for  the  ratification  of  the  people,  there  were  those 
who  imagined  that  the  powers  of  the  government 
which  it  proposed  to  establish  might,  perhaps  in 
some  possible  mode,  bo  exerted  in  measures  tend- 
ing to  the  abolition  of  slavery.  This  suggestion 
would,  of  course,  attract  much  attention  in  the 
southern  ronvcn:  ions.  In  that  of  Virginia,  Gover- 
nor Randolph  said: 

•■  ■  I  hope  there  is  none  here  who.  considerin"' 
tlio  subjoot  iu  the  calm  light  of  philosophy,  wifi 
make  an  objection  dishonorable  to  VirHni.-.— tha'- 
ut  the  moniont  they  are  securing  the  rights  of 
their  citizens,  an  objection  is  started,  that  there 
IS  a  spark  of  hope  that  those  unfortunate  men 


now  held  in  bondage  may.  by  the  operation  of 
the  general  government,  be  made  free. ' 

"  At  the  ven,'  first  ('ongress,  p<.titions  on  tho 
subject  were  presented,  if   I   mistake  not,  from 
difll-rent  States.     The  I'eimsylvania  society  for 
promoting  the  abolition  of  slavery,  took  a'lend, 
and    laid   before   CongrL-ss  a  menioriel.  praying 
Congress  to  promote  the  abolition  by  such  powers 
as  it  possessed.     This  memorial  was  leferred,  in 
tho  Iloitsc  of  Representativ.s,  to  a  select  commit- 
tee consistins  of  Mr.  I'oster  of  New  Hampshire; 
Mr.  Gerry  of  Ma.ssachusetts ,  Mr.  Huntington  of 
Connecticut;  Mr.  Lawrence  of  New- York;  Mr. 
Sinnickson  of   New   Jersey ;    Mr.    Hartley  of 
Penn.sylvania.  and  Mr.  Parker  of  Virginia;  all 
of  them,  sir,  as  you  will  observe,  northern  men, 
but  tho  last.     This  committee  made  a  report, 
which  was  committed  to  a  committee    '  the  whole 
house,  and   there  considered  and   discussed  on 
several  days ;  and  being  amended,  although  in 
no  material  respect,  it  was  made  to  express  throe 
distinct  propositions  on  the  subject  of  slavery 
and  the  slave-trade.     First,  in  the  words  of  the 
constitution,  that  Congress  could  not.  prior  to  the 
year  1808,  prohibit  the  migration  or  importation 
of  such  persons  as  any  of  the  States,  then  exist- 
ing, should  think  proper  to  admit.     Second,  that 
Congress  had  authority  to  restrain  the  citizens 
of  the  United  States  from  carrying  on  the  Afri- 
can slave-trade,  for  tlie   purpose  of  sujiplying 
foreign  countries.     On  this  proposition,  our  law.9 
against   those   who  engage  in  that  tr.'iffic.  are 
founded.     The  third  proposition,  and  that  which 
bears  on  the  present  question,  was  expressed  in 
the  following  terms: 

'• '  Resolved,  That  Congress  have  no  authority 
to  interfere  in  the  emancipation  of  slaves,  or  in 
tho  treatment  of  them  in  any  of  the  States;  it  re- 
maining with  tho  several  States  alone  to  provide 
rules  and  regulations  therein,  which  humanity 
and  true  policy  may  require. ' 

•'This  resolution  received  the  sanction  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  so  early  as  March,  1790. 
And  now,  sir,  the  honorable  member  will  allow 
me  to  remind  him,  that  not  only  were  the  .select 
committee  who  reported  the  resolution,  with  a 
single  exception,  all  northern  men.  but  also  that 
of  the  members  t.^en  composing  the  House  of 
Representatives,  a  large  majority,  I  believe  near- 
ly two  thirds,  wci'e  northern  m?n  also. 

"  The  house  agreed  to  insert  these  resolutions 
in  its  journal,  and.  from  that  duy  to  this,  it  has 
never  been  maintained  or  contended  that  Con- 
gress had  any  authority  to  regulate,  or  interfere 
with,  the  condition  of  slaves  in  the  several  States. 
No  northern  gentleman,  to  my  knowledire,  has 
moved  any  such  question  in  cither  house  of  Con- 
gress. 

"  The  fears  of  the  South,  whatever  fears  they 
might  have  entertained,  were  allayed  and  quieted 
by  this  early  decision;  and  so  remained,  till  they 
were  exciied  afresh,  without  cause,  but  lur  col- 
lateral and  indirect  purposes.  When  it  became 
nece,s.sary,  or  was  thought  so,  by  some  political 
persons,  to  find  an  unvarying  ground  for  the  ex- 


^1 


138 


THIRTY  YEARS*  VIEW. 


i- 


■Hi  I    i 


elusion  of  northern  men  from  ponflilenco  nnd 
from  lead  in  the  utrairs  of  the  repiililic,  tlien.  iind 
not  till  then,  the  crv  was  iiiised.  iind  tlie  feelin;.^ 
industriously  oxciteil,  that  the  influence  of  north- 
ern men  in  the  jjuhlie  coiuicils  would  cndanp;er 
the  relation  of  master  and  slave.  For  myself  I 
claim  no  other  merit  than  that  this  pro.'^s  and 
enormous  injustice  towards  the  whole  North,  ha,s 
not  wrou(i;ht  upon  uic  to  chanjro  my  opinions,  or 
my  political  conduel.  1  hope  I  am  above  violat- 
inp;  my  princnples,  even  under  the  smart  of  in- 
jury and  false  im})utationH.  Unjust  suspicions 
and  undeserved  reproach,  whatever  pcdn  I  may 
experience  from  them,  will  not  induce  me,  I  trust, 
nevertheless,  to  overstep  tholimits  of  constitution- 
al duty,  or  to  encroach  on  tlie  riphts  of  others. 
The  domestic  slavery  of  the  South  1  leave  where 
I  find  it — in  the  hands  of  their  own  governments. 
It  is  their  aflair,  not  mine.  Nor  do  I  complain 
of  the  peculiar  efl'ect  which  the  magnitude  of  that 
population  has  had  in  the  distribution  of  jiower 
under  this  federal  government.  AVe  know,  sir, 
that  the  representation  of  the  states  in  the  other 
house  is  not  equal.  AVc  know  that  great  ad- 
vantage, in  that  respect,  is  enjoyed  by  the  slave- 
holding  States ;  and  we  know,  too,  that  the  in- 
tended equivalent  for  that  advantage,  that  is  to 
say,  the  imposition  of  direct  taxes  in  the  same 
ratio,  has  become  merely  nominal ;  the  habit  of 
the  government  being  almost  invariably  to  col- 
lect its  revenues  from  other  sources,  and  in  other 
modes.  Never tlicle.ss,  I  do  not  complain :  nor 
would  I  countenance  any  movement  to  alter  this 
arrangement  of  representation.  It  is  the  original 
bargain,  the  compact — let  it  stand :  let  the  ad- 
vantage of  it  be  fully  enjoyed.  The  Union  itself 
is  too  full  of  benefit  to  be  Itazarded  in  proposi- 
tions for  changing  its  original  basis.  I  go  for  the 
constitution  as  it  is,  and  for  the  Union  as  it  is. 
But  I  am  resolved  not  to  submit,  in  silence,  to 
accusations,  either  against  myself  individually, 
or  against  the  North,  wholly  unfounded  and  un- 
just; accusations  which  impute  to  us  a  disposi- 
tion to  evade  the  constitutional  compact,  and  to 
extend  the  power  of  the  government  over  the  in- 
ternal laws  and  domestic  condition  of  the  States. 
All  such  accusations,  wherever  and  whenever 
made,  all  insinuations  of  the  cxistance  of  any 
STich  purposes,  I  know,  and  feel  to  be  groundless 
and  injurious.  And  we  mu.st  confide  in  southern 
gentlemen  themselves ;  we  must  trust  to  those 
whose  integrity  of  heart  and  magnanimity  of 
feeling  will  lead  them  to  a  desire  to  maintain  and 
disseminate  truth,  and  who  possess  the  means  of 
its  dili'usion  with  the  southern  public ;  we  must 
leave  it  to  tliera  to  disabuse  that  public  of  its 
prejudices.  But,  in  the  mean  time,  for  my  own 
part,  I  shall  continue  to  act  justly,  whether  those 
towards  whom  justice  is  exercised,  receive  it  with 
candor  or  with  contumely. " 

This  is  what  Mr.  Webster  said  on  the  subject 
of  slavery ;  and  although  it  was  in  reply  to  an  in- 
vective of  my  own,  excited  by  the  recent  agitation 


of  the  Missouri  question,  I  made  no  answer  im- 
pugning its  correctness ;  and  must  ndd  that  I 
nevci-  s.aw  any  thing  in  Mr.  Webster  inconsistent 
with  what  he  then  said ;  and  believe  that  tlio 
same  resolves  could  have  been  passed  in  the  samo 
way  at  any  time  during  the  thirty  years  that 
I  was  in  Congress. 

But  the  topic  which  became  the  leading  feature 
of  the  whole  debate ;  and  gave  it  an  interest 
which  cannot  die,  was  that  of  nullification— tho 
assumed  light  of  a  state  to  annul  an  act  of  Con- 
gress— then  first  broached  in  our  national  legis- 
lature— and  in  tho  discussion  of  which  Mr.  Wcl> 
ster  and  Mr.  llaync  wore  the  champion  speakers 
on  opposite  sides — the  latter  understood  to  be 
speaking  the  sentiments  of  the  Vice-President, 
Mr.  Calhoun.  This  new  turn  in  the  debate  was 
thus  brought  about :  Mr.  Ilayne,  in  tho  sectional 
nature  of  the  discussion  which  had  grown  up, 
made  allusions  to  the  conduct  of  New  England 
during  the  warof  1S12;  and  especially  to  th« 
assemblage  known  is  the  Hartford  Convention, 
and  to  which  designs  unfriendly  to  the  Union 
had  been  attributed.  This  gave  Mr.  AVebster 
the  rights  both  of  defence  and  of  retaliation ;  and 
ho  found  material  for  the  tli'st  in  the  character 
of  tho  as  iemblagc,  and  for  tho  second  in  the 
public  meetings  which  had  taken  place  in  Soutb 
Carolina  on  tlie  subject  of  the  tarili'— and  at 
which  resolves  were  passed,  and  propo.sitious 
adopted  significant  of  resistance  to  the  act ;  and, 
consequent)}',  of  disloj'alty  to  the  Union.  He, 
in  his  turn,  made  allusions  to  these  resolves  and 
propositions,  until  he  drew  out  Mr.  Ilayne  into 
their  defence,  and  into  an  avowal  of  what  has 
since  obtained  the  current  name  of  "  Nullifica- 
tion ;"  although  at  the  time  (during  the  debate)  it 
did  not  at  all  strike  me  as  going  the  length  which 
it  afterwards  avowed  j  nor  have  1  ever  believed 
that  Mr.  Ilayne  contemplated  disunion,  in  any 
contingency,  as  one  of  its  results.  In  entering 
upon  the  argument,  Mr.  Webster  first  summed 
up  the  doctrine,  as  ho  conceived  it  to  be  avowed, 
thus : 

"  I  understand  the  honorable  gentleman  from 
South  Carolina  to  maintain,  that  it  is  a  riRlit  of 
the  State  legislature  to  interfere,  whenever,  in 
their  judgment,  this  government  transcends  its 
constitutional  limits,  and  to  arrest  tlic  operation 
of  its  laws. 

"  r  understand  him  to  maintain  this  right,  as  a 
right  existing  under  the  constitution ;  not  as  a 
right  to  overthrow  it,  on  the  ground  of  cxtrema 


Mr.  Ilayr 
fully  deny,  t 
had  recour.s 
adopted  for 
the  Virginiii 
a  [firmed  in  ] 
tliat,  for  the 
he  would  st 
words  of  the 

"Tliat  th 
peremptorily 
of  the  federi 
compact,  to  i 
ited  by  the 
strument  coi 
valid  tlian  t 
enumerated 
of  a  delibera 
of  other  pov 
pact,  the  Sta 
right,  and  ai 
arresting  the 
taining,  withi 
ities,  rights.  \ 

Thus  were 
— eacli  speal 
his  text;  wh 
resolutions  t 
South  Carolii 
Webster,  at  ( 
practical  fori 
Carolina  doc 
New  Englani 
Hartford  Coi 

"Let  me  h 
doctrine  had 


ANNO  1829.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDKNT. 


139 


I 
'A 


necessity,  such  as  would  justify  violent  revolu- 
tion. 

"  I  understand  him  to  maintain  an  authority, 
on  the  part  of  the  8tutes,  thus  to  interfere,  for 
tlio  purpose  of  correctini;;  tno  exercise  of  power 
by  the  general  government,  of  checking  it,  and 
of  compelling  it  to  conform  to  their  opinion  of  the 
extent  of  its  powers. 

'•  I  understand  him  to  maintain  that  the  ulti- 
mate jiower  of  judging  of  the  constitutional  ex- 
tent of  its  own  autliority  is  not  lodged  exclusive- 
ly in  the  general  govennnent,  or  any  branch  of 
it;  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  the  States  may 
lawfully  decide  for  themselves,  and  each  State 
for  itself,  whether,  in  a  given  case,  the  act  of  the 
general  government  transcends  its  power. 

"  I  understand  him  to  insist  that,  if  the  exi- 
gency of  the  case,  in  the  opinion  of  any  State 
government,  require  it,  such  State  government 
may,  by  its  own  sovereign  authority,  annul  an 
act  of  the  general  government,  which  it  deems 
plainly  and  palpably  unconstitutional." 

Mr.  Ilayne,  evidently  unprepared  to  admit,  or 
fully  denj-,  the  propositions  as  broadly  laid  down, 
had  recourse  to  a  statement  of  his  own ;  and, 
adopted  for  that  purpose,  the  third  resolve  of 
the  Virginia  resolutions  of  the  year  1798— re- 
alllrmcd  in  1799.  lie  rose  immediately  and  said 
tliat,  for  the  purpose  of  being  clearly  understood, 
he  would  state  that  his  proposition  was  in  the 
words  of  the  Virginia  resolution;  and  lead  it — 

"That  this  Assembly  doth  explicitly  and 
peremptorily  declare,  that  it  views  the  powers 
of  the  federal  government  as  resulting  from  the 
compact,  to  which  the  States  are  parties,  as  lim- 
ited by  the  ])lain  .sense  and  intention  of  the  in- 
strument constituting  that  compact,  as  no  farther 
valid  than  they  are  authorized  by  the  grants 
enumerated  in  that  compact;  and  that,  incase 
of  a  deliberate,  palpable,  and  dangerous  exercise 
of  other  powers,  not  granted  by  the  .said  com- 
pact, the  States  who  are  parties  thereto  have  the 
right,  and  are  in  duty  bound,  to  interpo.se,  for 
arresting  the  progress  of  the  evil,  and  for  main- 
taining, within  their  respective  limits,  the  author- 
ities, rights,  and  liberties,  appertaining  to  them." 

Thus  were  the  propositions  stated,  and  argued 
— each  speaker  taking  his  own  proposition  for 
his  text;  which  in  the  end,  (and  as  the  Virginia 
resolutions  turned  out  to  be  understood  in  the 
South  Carolina  sense)  came  to  be  identical.  Mr. 
Webster,  at  one  point,  giving  to  his  argument  a 
practical  form,  and  showing  what  the  South 
Carolina  doctrine  would  have  accomplished  in 
New  England  if  it  had  been  acted  upon  by  the 
Hartford  Convention,  .said : 

"  Let  me  here  say,  sir,  that,  if  the  gentleman's 
doctrine  had  been  received  and  acted  upon  in 


times,  or  could 


New  England,  in  the  times  of  the  embargo  and 
non-intercour.se,  we  should  probably  not  now 
have  been  liere.  The  government  would,  very 
likely,  have  gone  to  pieces,  and  crumbled  int* 
dust.  No  stronger  ca.se  can  ever  ari.so  than  ex- 
isted under  those  laws  ;  no  States  can  ever  en- 
tertain a  clearer  conviction  than  the  Now  Eng- 
land States  then  entertained ;  and  if  they  had 
been  under  the  influence  of  that  heresy  of  opin- 
ion, as  [  must  call  it,  wliich  the  honorable  mem- 
ber espouses,  this  Union  would,  in  all  i)robabiI- 
ity,  liave  been  scattered  to  the  four  winds.  I 
ask  the  gentleman,  therefore,  to  apply  his  prin- 
ciples to  that  ca.sc ;  I  a.sk  him  to  come  forth  and 
declare,  whether,  in  his  opinion,  the  New  Eng- 
land States  would  have  been  justified  in  inter- 
fering to  break  up  the  embargo  .system,  nnder 
the  con.scientious  ojmiions  which  they  held  upon 
it  ?  Had  they  a  right  to  annul  that  law  ?  Docs 
he  admit  or  deny?  If  that  which  is  thought 
palpably  unconstitutional  in  South  Carolina, 
justifies  that  State  in  arresting  the  progress  of 
the  law,  tell  me,  whether  that  which  was  thought 
palpably  unconstitutional  also  in  Massachu.sctts, 
would  have  justified  her  in  doing  the  same  thing  ? 
Sir,  I  deny  the  whole  doctrine.  It  has  not'  a 
foot  of  ground  in  the  constitution  to  stand  on. 
No  public  man  of  reputation  ever  advanced  it  in 
Massachusett.s,  in  the  warmest 
maintain  himself  upon  it  there  at  any  time. 

lie  argued  that  the  doctrine  had  no  founda- 
tion either  in  the  constitution,  or  in  the  Vii'ginia 
resolutions— that  the  constitution  makes  the 
federal  government  act  upon  citizens  within  the 
States,  and  not  upon  the  States  themselves,  as  in 
the  old  confederation  :  that  within  their  consti- 
tutional limits  the  laws  of  Congress  were  su- 
preme— and  that  it  was  treasonable  to  resist 
them  with  force :  and  that  the  question  of  their 
constitutionality  was  to  be  decided  by  the  Su- 
preme Court.     On  this  point,  he  said : 

"The  people,  then,  sir,  erected  this  govern- 
ment. They  gave  it  a  constitution ;  and  in  that 
constitution  they  have  enumerated  the  powers 
vyhich  they  bestow  on  it.  They  have  made  it  a 
limited  government.  They  have  defined  its 
authority.  They  have  restrained  it  to  tlio  exer- 
cise of  such  powers  as  are  granted;  and  all 
others,  they  declare,  are  reserved  to  the  States 
or  to  the  people.  But,  sir,  they  have  not  stop- 
ped here.  If  they  had,'they  would  have  accom- 
plished but  half  their  work.  No  definition  can 
be  .so  clear  as  to  avoid  possibility  of  doubt ;  no 
limitation  so  preci.se  as  to  exclude  all  uncertainty. 
AVho  then  shall  construe  this  grant  of  the  peo- 
ple ?  AYho  shall  interpret  their  will,  where  it 
may  be  supposed  they  have  left  it  doubtful? 
With  wliom  do  they  repo.se  tlsis  ultiinato  right 
of  deciding  on  the  powers  of  the  government? 
Sir,  they  have  settle^  all  this  in  the  fullest  man- 
ner.    They  have  left  it  with  the  government  it- 


:t  . 


:i!.r^' 


140 


TniRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


u 


1 

!  1 

li 

n 

■ 

1 1; 

self,  in  its  nppropriato  brnnclies.  Sir.  the  very 
chief  end,  tlie  nittiu  design,  (or  which  tlio  whole, 
constitution  was  framed  and  adopted  was,  to  es- 
talilisli  a  K"veriiment  that  should  not  beol)li(red 
to  act  throuj^h  State  a'i;ency,  or  dejK-nd  on  State 
opinion  and  State  di.seretion.  The  people  had 
hod  quite  enough  of  that  kind  of  government 
under  the  confederacy.  Under  that  system,  the 
legal  action,  the  application  of  law  to  individuals, 
belonged  exclusively  to  the  States.  Congress 
could  only  recommend  ;  their  acts  were  not  of 
binding  force,  tdl  the  States  had  adopted  and 
sanctioned  them.  Are  we  in  that  condition  still  ? 
Are  we  yet  at  the  mercy  of  State  di.scretion,  and 
State  construction  ?  Sir,  if  we  are,  then  vaiti 
will  be  our  attempt  to  maintain  the  constilutioii 
under  wliich  wo  sit.  But,  sir,  the  people  have 
wisely  piovided,  in  the  constitution  itself,  a  pro- 
per, suitable  mode  and  tribunal  for  settiinir  tpies- 
tions  of  constitutional  law.  There  are,  in  the 
constitution,  grants  of  powers  to  Congress,  and 
restrictions  on  these  powers.  There  are,  also, 
prohibitions  on  the  States.  Some  authority 
must,  therefore,  necessarily  exist,  having  the 
ultimate  jurisdiction  to  fix  and  ascertain  the  in- 
terpretation of  the.se  grants,  restrictions,  and 
prohibitions.  The  constitution  has.  itself,  point- 
ed out,  ordained,  and  established,  that  authority. 
How  has  it  accomplished  this  great  and  essential 
end?  By  declaring,  .sir.  that  '  the  constitution, 
and  i..e  laws  of  the  United  States  made  in  pur- 
suance thereof,  sliall  be  the  supreme  law  of  the 
land,  any  thing  in  the  constitution  or  laws  of 
any  State  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.' 

"  This,  sir,  was  the  first  great  step.  By  this. 
the  supremacy  of  the  constitution  and  laws  of 
the  United  States  is  declared.  Tlie  people  .so 
will  it.  No  State  law  is  to  be  valid  which  comes 
in  conflict  with  the  conslitution  or  any  law  of 
the  United  States.  But  who  shall  decide  this 
question  of  interference  ?  To  wliom  lies  the  last 
appeal  ?  This,  sir,  the  constitution  itself  decides 
also,  by  declaring  '  that  the  judicial  power  shall 
extend  to  all  cases  arising  under  the  constitution 
and  laws  of  the  United  .States.'  Tlie.se  two  pro- 
visions, sir,  cover  the  whole  groimd.  They  are, 
in  tiuth,  the  key-stone  of  the  arch.  With  these, 
it  is  a  constitution  ;  without  them  it  is  a  confed- 
eracy. In  pursuance  of  these  clear  and  express 
provision.s,  Congress  established,  at  its  very  first 
session,  in  the  Judicial  Act,  a  mode  for  carrying 
them  into  full  effect,  and  for  bringing  all  ques- 
tions of  constitutional  power  to  the  final  decision 
of  the  Supreme  Court.  It  then,  sir,  became  a 
government.  It  then  had  the  means  of  self- 
protection  ;  and,  but  for  this,  it  wo.ild,  in  all  pro- 
bability, have  been  now  among  things  which  are 
past.  Having  constituted  the  government,  and 
declared  its  powers,  the  people  have  farthei' said, 
that,  since  .somebody  must  decide  on  the  extent 
of  these  powers,  the  government  shall  itself 
decide ;  subject,  always,  like  other  popular  go- 
vernments, to  it.-  re.-ponsibiiity  to  the  people. 
And  now,  sir,  I  repeat,  hc^v  is  it  that  a  State 
Icgislatuie   acquires  any  power   to    interfere? 


Wiio  or  what  gives  them  the  right  to  say  to  the 
p(0|)|i.,  '  we.  who  are  your  agents  and  .servunt.s 
for  one  purpose,  will  un<lertako  to  decide  that 
your  other  agents  and  servants,  appointed  br 
you  for  another  purpose,  liave  transcended  the 
authority  you  gave  them?'  The  reply  would 
be,  I  think,  not  impertinent:  who  made  yon 
judge  over  nnother's  .servants  ?  To  their  own 
masters  they  stand  or  fall." 

With  respect  to  the  Virginia  resolutions,  on 
which  Afr.  llayne  rolie<l,  Mr.  Webster  disputed 
the  interpretation  put  upon  them — claimed  for 
them  an  innocent  and  justifiable  meaning— and 
exempted  Afr,  Madison  I'lom  the  suspicion  of 
having  penned  a  resolution  a.sserting  the  right 
of  a  State  legislature  to  annul  an  actofCon- 
gre.s.s,  and  thereby  putting  it  in  the  power  oi'  <m 
State  to  destroy  a  form  of  government  which  ho 
had  jusi  labond  so  hard  to  establish.  To  this 
effect  he  taid: 

"  I  wish  now,  ."-ir,  to  make  a  remark  upon  thu 
Virginia  rcsolutinns  of  1798.  I  cannot  under- 
take to  say  how  these  resolutions  were  under- 
stood by  those  who  pa.s.sed  them.  Their  lan- 
guage is  not  a  little  indefinite.  In  the  ca.se  of  the 
exercise,  by  Congress,  of  a  dangerous  power,  not 
granted  to  them,  the  resolutions  assert  therij^ht 
on  the  part  of  the  State,  to  interfere,  and  ainst 
the  progress  of  the  evil.  This  is  susce))til)le  of 
more  than  one  interpretation.  It  may  mean  mi 
more  than  that  the  States  may  interfere  by  com- 
plaint and  remonstrance;  or  by  propo.sing  (otlie 
jieople  an  alteration  of  the  federal  conslitution. 
This  would  idl  be  quite  unobjectionable ;  or,  it 
may  be,  that  no  more  is  meant  than  to  assert  the 
general  right  of  revolution,  as  against  all  gov- 
ernments, in  ca.scs  of  intolerable  opfires.sion. 
This  no  one  doubts  ;  and  this,  in  my  opinion,  is 
all  that  he  who  framed  the  resolutions  could 
liave  meant  by  it :  for  I  shall  not  readily  believe 
that  he  (Mr.  Madison)  was  ever  of  opinion  that  a 
StatCj  under  the  constitution,  and  in  conformity 
with  it,  could,  upon  the  ground  of  her  own  opinion 
of  its  unconstitutionality,  however  clear  and  pal- 
pable she  might  think  the  case,  annul  a  law  of 
Congress,  so  far  as  it  should  operate  on  herself, 
by  her  own  legislative  power." 

Mr.  Ilayne,  on  his  part,  disclaimed  all  imita- 
tion of  the  Hartford  Convention ;  and  gave  (a.s 
the  practical  part  of  his  doctrine)  the  pledge  of 
forcible  resistance  to  any  attempt  to  enforce  un- 
constitutional law.s.     He  said: 

"Sir,  unkind  as  my  allusion  to  the  Hartford 
Convention  has  been  considered  by  its  supporters, 
I  apprehend  that  this  di.sclaimer  of  the  gentle- 
man will  be  regarded  as  '  the  unkindtst  cut  of 
all.  Wlien  the  gentkiiian  spoke  of  the  Ciiio- 
lina  conventions  of  Colleton  and  Abbeville,  let 
me  tell  him  that  he  spoke  of  that  which  never 


had  existe 

There  hav» 

in  tho.se  ( 

minded  an 

boast;  but 

and  when  ! 

meitsure  fo 

tell   the  g< 

that  have 

the   Ilartfi 

iihall  conse: 

find  more  f 

mended  to 

setts.    Sir. 

of  difJicultu 

from  the  ft 

oiu-  grievai 

constitutioi 

but  if  the  c 

in  a  war  to 

to  the  star 

back  the  ( 

tipon  the  r 

'•  The  ger 

out  our  .scl: 

correct  in  i 

low.s,  of  coi 

established, 

acquiesce  in 

in  its  sovei 

make  an  ap] 

to  the  consi 

State  (made 

convention,  i 

organ  of  its 

pose  now  to 

ment,  under 

not  to  resofl 

the  citizens  ( 

can  any  coll: 

State  gover 

should  deter 

stitutional    i 

government 

the  gentlemi 

can  any  man 

decision  of  a 

'  a  gro,s.s,  pal] 

constitution,' 

reign  author: 

usurpation,  t 

merely  to  re{ 

wholly  regar 

acter  of  thei 

tend  thatjur 

at  the  point  < 

are  the  Unite 

pronounced  t 

attempt  shot 

into  effect,  by 

for  from  an 

nullified  by 

lawful  and  ui 

fiTcss  should 

emancipating 


ANNO  1820.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRR^IDFNT. 


141 


had  exisa'ncc,  except  in  his  own   imafjiiiation. 
Tiicro  have,  indeiMl,  been  niwitinKS  of  tlic  peofilo 
in  those  districts,  coinposetl,  sir,   of   as   liigh- 
ininiiod  ami   patriotic  inou  as  any  country  can 
boast;  but  wu  have  had  no  'convcntioi, '  as  yet; 
and  when  Soutii  Carolina  shall  n-sort  to  -^uch  a 
measure  for  the  redress  of  her  trriovances,  let  me 
tell  the  gentleman    that,  of  all  t!ie  assemblies 
that  have  ever  been  convened  in  this  country, 
the   Hartford  Convention   is   the  very  last  we 
tihall  consent  to  take  as  an  example ;  nor  will  it 
find  more  favor  in  our  eyes,  from  beinf?  recom- 
mended to  ns  by  the  senator   from  Massachii- 
Hetts.    Sir,  we  would  scorn  to  take  advantage 
of  ditliculties  created  by  a  foreign  war,  to  wrin;? 
from  the  federal  government  a  redress  even  of 
our  grievances.     We  are  standing  up  for  our 
constitutional  rights,  in  a  time  of  profound  peace ; 
but  if  the  country  should,  unhappily,  be  involved 
in  a  war  to-morrow,  we  should  be  found  Hying 
to  the  standard  of  our  country— first  driving 
back   tlio  common  enemy,  and   then   insisting 
upon  the  restoration  of  our  right.s. 

'•  The  gentleman  iias  called  upon  us  to  carry 
out  our  scheme  practically.     Now,  .sir,  if  I  am 
correct  in  ray  view  of  this  matter,  then  it  fol- 
lows, of  course,  that  the  right  of  a  State  being 
established,  the  federal  government  is  botmd  to 
acquiesce  in  a  solemn  deci.sion  of  a  State,  acting 
m  its  sovereign  capacity,  at  least  so  far  as  (o 
make  an  appeal  to  the  people  for  an  amendment 
to  the  constitution.     This  solemn  decision  of  a 
State  (made  either  through  its  legislature,  or  a 
convention,  as  may  be  supposed  to  be  the  proper 
organ  of  its  sovereign  will--a  point  I  do  not  pro- 
pose now  to  discuss)  binds  the  federal  govern- 
ment, under  the  highest  constitutional  obligation, 
not  to  resort  to  any  means  of  coercion  against 
the  citizens  of  the  dissenting  State.     How  then 
can  any  collision  ensue  between  the  federal  anti 
State  governments,  unless,  indeed,  the  ibrmer 
should  determine  to  enforce  the  law  by  uncon- 
stitutional   means?      What   could  the  fukral 
government  do,  in  such  a  case  ?     Resort,  says 
the  gentleman,  to  the  courts  of  justice.     Now 
can  any  man  believe  that,  in  the  face  of  a  solemn 
decLsion  of  a  State,  that  an  iict  of  Con-ress  is 
a  gro<3,  palpable,  and  deliberate  vio]at':)n  of  the 
constitution,'  and  the  interposition  of  it,s  sove- 
reign authority  to  protect  its  citizens  from  the 
usurpation,  that  juries  could   be   found  ready 
mere  y  to  register  the  decrees  of  the  Congress 
wholly  regardless  of  the  unconstitutional  char- 
acter of  their  acts  ?    Will  the  gentleman  con- 
tend that  juries  are  to  be  coerced  to  find  verdicts 
at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  ?     And  if  not,  how 
are  the  L  nited  Sti.  as  to  enforce  an  act  solemnly 
pronounced  to  be  unconstitutional     But  if  the 
attempt  should  be  made  to  cany  such 'a  law 
into  etlect,  by  force,  in  what  wouUl  the  ca.se  dif- 
'irr'"]^  ,'>»  attempt  to  carry  into  ctiect  an  act 
nullilied  by  the  courts,  or  to  do  anv  otlmr  uu- 
lawtul  and  unwarrantable  act  .^     Suppose  Con- 
gress should  pass  an  agrarian  law,  or  a  law 
wiiancipating  our  slaves,  or  should  commit  any 


otlur  grcss  violation  of  our  constitutional  rights, 
will  any  gentleman  contend  that  the  decision  of 
every  branch  of  the  federal  government,  in  favor 
of  .such  laws,  could  prevent  the  States  from  de- 
claring them  null  and  void,  and  protecting  their 
citizens  from  their  operation  ? 

•'  Sir,  if  Congress  should  ever  attempt  to  en- 
force any  such  laws,  they  would  put  themselves 
so  clearly  in  the  wrong,  that  no  one  could  doubt 
the  right  of  the  State  to  exert  its  protecting 
jjowcr. 

"  Sir,  the  gentleman  has  alluded  to  that  por- 
tion of  the  militia  of  South  Carolina  with  which 
I  have  the  honor  to  be  connected,  and  a.skcd 
how  they  would  act  in  the  event  of  the  nullifi- 
cation of  the  tariff  law  by  the  State  of  South 
Carolina  ?  The  tone  of  the  gentleman,  on  this 
subject,  did  not  seem  to  mo  as  respectful  as  I 
could  have  desired,  i  hope,  sir,  no  imputation 
was  int"nded. 

[Mr.  Vebster:  "Not  at  all;  just  the  re- 
verse."] 

"Well,  sir,  the  gentleman  asks  what  their 
leaders  would  ho  able  to  read  to  them  out  of 
(Joke  upon  Littleton,  or  any  other  law  book,  to 
justify  their  enterprise  ?  Sir,  let  me  assure  the 
gentleman  that,  whenever  any  attempt  shall  be 
made  from  any  quarter,  to  enforce  unconstitu- 
tional law.s,  clearly  violating  our  essential  rights 
our  leaders  (whoever  they  may  bej  will  not  Iv 
found  reading  black  letter  from  the  musty  pa^es 
of  old  law  books.  They  will  look  to  the  con.sti- 
tution,  and  when  called  upon,  by  the  .soverei'-'n 
authority  of  the  State,  to  preserve  and  pioteJjt 
the  rights  secured  to  them  by  the  charter  of 
their  liberties,  they  will  succeed  in  dcfendint: 
them,  or  '  p.  rish  in  the  last  ditch.' " 

I  do  not  preteud  to  give  the  arguments  of  the 
gentlemen,  or  even  their  substance,  but  merely 
to  state  their  propositions  and  their  conclusions. 
For  myself,  I  did  not  believo  in  any  thing  serious 
in  the  new  interpretation  given  to  the  \'irginia 
resolutions— did  not  believe  in  any  thing  practi- 
cal from  nullification— did  not  believe  in  Ibrciblo 
resistance  to  the  tariff  laws  from  South  Carolina 
—did  not  believe  in  any  scheme  of  disunion- 
believed,  and  still  believe,  in  the  patriotism  of 
Mr.  Hayne  :  and  as  he  came  into  the  argunwnt 
on  my  side  in  the  article  of  the  public  lands,  so 
my  wishes  were  with  him,  and  I  helped  him 
where  I  could.     01  this  desire  to  help,  and  disbe- 
lief in  disunion.  I  gave  proof,  in  ridiculing,  as 
well  a,s  T  could,  Mr.  Webster's  fine  peroration 
to  liberty  and  union,  and  really  thought  it  out 
of  place— a  fine  piece  of  rhetoric  misplaced,  for 
want  of  circumstances  to  justify  it.    He  had 
concluded  thus : 

"  When  my  eyes  shall  Le  turned  to  beho'd, 
for  the  last  time,  the  sun  in  heaven,  may  I  not  see 


142 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


him  sJiiniii};  on  the  broken  and  dishonored  frag- 
ini'iits  of  a  once  (glorious  ['iiion  ;  on  IStntos  dis- 
severed, disconlant,  hoUidorent ;  on  a  laii'l  rent 
with  civil  feuds,  or  (henched.  it  may  be,  in  fra- 
ternal blood  !  Lrt  tlicir  last  feeble  anil  Uncering 
(ilanei".  rather,  behold  the  poi  j^eoiiH  ensign  of  the 
republic,  now  known  and  honored  througiiout 
the  earth,  still  full  high  advanced,  its  arms  and 
troiihies  streaming  in  their  original  lustre,  not  a 
stri|)o  erased  or  poUult  d,  nor  a  sin?;le  star  ob- 
scured, bciii-iug  for  its  motto  no  sueii  miserable 
iTiterni|,'alory  as.  What  is  all  this  worth?  Nor 
(liDso  other  words  of  delusion  and  folly,  Liberty 
first,  and  Union  afterwards:  hut  every  where, 
s{)reail  all  over  in  charae'er-  of  living  light,  blaz- 
ing on  all  its  ample  fold  is  they  float  over  the  sea 
and  over  the  land,  and  m  cver\  wind  under  the 
whole  heavens,  that  other  sentiment,  dear  to  every 
true  American  heart — I.'berty  and  Union,  now 
and  forever,  one  and  insi  parable  I  " 

These  were  noble  sentiments,  oratorieally  ex- 
pressed, but  too  elaborately  and  too  artistically 
composed  for  real  grief  in  presence  of  a  great  ca- 
lamity— of  which  calamity  T  saw  no  sign  ;  and 
therefore  deemed  it  a  fit  subject  for  gentle  casti- 
gation :  and  essayed  it  thus : 

I  proceed  to  a  diflerent  theme.  Among  the 
novelties  of  this  debate,  is  that  part  of  the  speech 
of  the  senator  from  Massachusetts  which  dwells 
with  such  elaboration  of  declamation  and  orna- 
ment, ui)on  the  love  and  blessings  of  union — 
the  hatred  and  horror  of  di.sunion.  It  was  a 
part  of  the  senator's  speecli  which  brought  into 
full  play  the  favorite  Ciceronian  figuie  of  ampli- 
fication. It  was  up  to  the  rule  in  that  particu- 
lar. But,  it  seemed  to  me,  that  there  was  an- 
other rule,  and  a  higher,  and  a  precedent  one. 
which  it  s  iolated.  It  was  the  rule  of  propriety ; 
that  rule  which  requires  the  fitness  of  things  to 
be  considered ;  which  requires  the  time,  Jie 
place,  the  subject,  and  the  auiliencc,  to  be  con.sid- 
ered;  and  condemns  the  delivery  of  the  argu- 
ment, and  all  its  flowers,  if  it  fails  in  congru- 
ence to  these  particulars.  I  thought  the  essay 
upon  union  and  disunion  had  so  failed.  It  came 
to  ns  when  we  were  not  prepared  for  it ;  when 
there  was  nothing  in  the  Senate,  nor  in  the  coun- 
try to  grace  its  introduction ;  nothing  to  give,  or 
to  receive,  effect  to,  or  from,  the  impiussioned 
.scene  that  wc  witnessed.  It  may  be,  it  was  the 
prophetic  cry  of  the  distracted  daughter  of  Pri- 
am, breaking  into  the  council,  and  alarming  its 
tranquil  members  with  vaticinations  of  the  fall 
of  Troy  :  but  to  me,  it  all  sounded  like  the  sud- 
den proclamation  for  an  earthquake,  when  the 
suu,  the  earth,  the  air,  announced  no  such  prodi- 
gy ;  when  all  the  elements  of  nature  were  at 
rest,  and  sweet  repose  pervading  the  world. 
There  was  a  time,  and  you,  and  I,  and  all  of  us, 
dill  see  it,  sir,  when  such  a  speech  would  have 
found,  in  its  delivery,  every  attribute  of  ft  just 
and  rigorous  propriety  !  It  was  at  a  time,  when 
the  tive-atriped  banner  was  waving  over  the  laud 


of  the  North!  when  the  Hartford  Oonvcni ion 
was  in  session  I  when  the  language  in  tlu!  (Mi,i. 
tol  was,  "  Peaceably,  if  we  can  ;  forcibly,  if  wo 
must  I  "  when  the  cry,  out  of  doors,  was  "thi 
Potomac  the  boundary ;  the  negro  States  by 
themselves!  The  Alleghanies  tlie  bounilnrv 
the  Western  savages  by  themselves !  The  Mm- 
sippi  the  boundary,  let  Missouri  bo  governed  by 
a  prefect,  or  given  up  as  a  haunt  for  wild  beasts '" 
That  time  was  the  Ht  oc(!a.sion  for  this  specoh  • 
and  if  it  had  been  delivered  then,  either  in  the 
hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  or  in  the 
den  of  the  Hartford  Convention,  or  in  the  bi"h- 
way  among  the  bearers  and  followers  of  the 
Jive-striped  banner,  what  ctfects  mustitnotlwive 
produced  !  What  terror  an<l  consternation  among 
the  plotters  of  disunion  !  Hut,  here,  in  this  loyal 
and  quiet  assemblage,  in  this  season  of  general 
tranquillity  and  universal  allegiance,  the  whole 
perfoiniance  has  lost  its  fllect  for  want  of  attin- 
ity,  (;ounection,  or  relation,  to  any  subject  de- 
pending, or  .senliineiit  expressed,  in  the  Henate; 
for  want  of  any  application,  or  reference,  to. any 
event  impending  in  the  country." 

I  do  not  quote  this  passage  for  n:  y  (hjng 
that  I  now  see  out  of  place  in  thit  perora- 
tion ;  but  for  a  quite  dillcrent  purpose— for 
the  purpose  of  showing  that  I  was  slow  to 
believe  in  any  design  to  subvert  this  Union— 
that  at  the  time  of  this  great  debate  (February 
and  March,  18;50)  I  positively  discredited  it. 
and  publicly  proclaimed  my  incredulity,  I  diil 
not  want  to  believe  it.  I  repulsed  the  belief.  1 
pushed  aside  every  circumstance  that  Mr.  Web- 
ster relied  on,  and  softened  every  expression  that 
Mr.  Ilayno  used,  and  considered  him  as  limiting 
(practically)  his  threatened  resistance  to  the  tariff 
act,  to  the  kind  of  resistance  which  Virginia 
made  to  the  alien  and  sedition  laws — which  was 
an  appeal  to  the  reason,  judgment  and  feelings 
of  the  other  States — and  which  had  its  cflect  in 
the  speedy  repeal  of  those  laws.  Mr.  Calhoun 
had  not  then  uncovered  his  position  in  relation  to 
nullification.  I  knew  that  Mr.  Webster  was 
speaking  at  him  in  all  that  he  said  to  Mr.  llaync: 
but  I  would  believe  nothing  against  him  except 
upon  his  own  showing,  or  undoubted  evidence. 
Although  not  a  favorite  statesman  with  inc,  I  felt 
admiration  for  his  high  intellectual  endowments, 
and  respect  for  the  integrity  and  purity  of  his 
private  life.  Mr.  Ilaync  I  cordially  lovil;  and 
believed,  and  still  believe,  in  the  loyalty  of 
his  intentions  to  the  Union.  They  were  both 
fro^n  the  .'^.outh — th.at  fih-tor  Oarnlina.  nf  wliidi 
the  other  was  my  native  State,  and  in  both  of 
which  I  have  relatives  and  hereditary  friends— 


ANNO  1830.     ANDRKW  JACKSON,  I'RKSIDKNT. 


143 


dOorivmilioii 
a  in  the  n\,\. 
>ri'ibly,  if  we 
rs,  WHS,  "tin 
•o  StttU'H  by 
0  boiindnrv; 
s!    ThoMiH- 

J,'0V(TI1(!(1  liy 

wil(ll)oa.s(s'''' 
tliis  spotrh; 
citluT  in  the 
vos,  or  in  tlic 
•  in  (licliinh- 
owors  of  the 
iiHtit  not  have 
•nntion  among 
c,  in  this  loyal 
m  of  general 
CO,  tliu  whole 
want  of  atlin- 
y  subject  tie- 
thc  Senate; 
.'renci>,  to  any 


lor  niiy  thing 
thai  perora- 
piupose— for 
was  slow  ti) 
this  Union— 
ite  (February 
Jiscredited  it, 
dulity,  I  (lid 
the  belief.  I 
hat  Mr.  Web- 
xprcssion  that 
im  ns  limiting 
ICC  to  tlie  tariff 
hich  Virginia 
s — which  was 
t  and  feelings 
id  its  effect  in 
Mr.  Calhoun 
n  in  relation  to 
Webster  was 
toMr.  Ilaync: 
it  him  except 
btcd  evidence, 
with  mc,  I  felt 
1  endowments, 
purity  of  hia 
ly  lov'-d;  and 
e  loyalty  of 
ey  were  both 
ilin.o.  nf  wliich 
id  in  both  of 
tary  friends— 


and  for  whirh  I  .still  have  tlio  aflcctionn  which 
none  but  tho  wicked  ever  hwe  for  the  land  of  tlitir 
birth:  ami  I  felt  as  they  did  in  all  that  rolatcs 
to  tho  tarill'— except  (heir  remedy,  J!ut  enou;>;h 
for  the  prpNcnt.  Tho  occasion  will  come,  wdiun 
wo  arrive  at  the  nractical  application  "f  tho  mo- 
dern nullification  doc-trine,  to  vindicate  tho  con- 
stitution from  the  political  solecism  of  contaiuinj,; 
within  itself  a  suicidal  principle,  and  to  vindi- 
cate the  Virgim'a  n  soliitionH,  and  their  authors 
(and,  in  their  own  language),  from  tho  "  unarchi- 
cal  and  prcpontcrom  "  interpretation  which  has 
lieen  put  upon  their  words. 


CUAPTER    XLV. 

BEPEAL  01''  THE  SALT  TAX. 

A  TAX  on  Salt  i.s  an  odious  measure,  hated  by 
all  people  and  in  all  time,  und  justly,  because 
being  an  article  of  prime  necessity,  in<lispcnsahlc 
to  man  and  to  beast,  ami  bountifully  furnished 
them  by  tho  Giver  of  all  good,  tho  cost  should 
not  be  burthencd,  nor  the  u.se  bo  stinted  by  gov- 
ernment regulation  ;  and  the  princijiloa  of  fair 
ta.xation  would  require  it  to  bo  spared,  because 
it  is  an  agent,  and  a  great  one,  ia  the  develop- 
ment of  many  branches  of  agricultural  and  me- 
chanical industry  which  add  to  the  wealth  of 
tho  country  and  produce  revenue  from  the  ex- 
ports and  consumption  to  which  they  give  rise. 
People  hate  tho  salt  tax,  because  they  are  obliged 
to  have  the  salt,  and  cannot  evade  the  tax :  gov- 
ernments love  tho  tax  for  tho  same  reason— be- 
cause people  are  obliged  to  pay  it.     This  would 
seem  to  apply  to  governments  despotic  or  mo- 
narchial,  and  not  to  those  which  arc  rcpresentu- 
tive  and  popular.     But  representative  govern- 
ments sometimes  have  calamities— war  for  exam- 
ple-when  subjects  of  taxation  diminish  as  need 
for   rcvcnuo  increases:   and    then    representa- 
tive government.^,  like  other.s,  must  resort  to  the 
objects  which  will  supr>ly  its  necessities.     This 
ha.s  twice  been  the  ca,so  with  the  article  of  .salt 
m  the  United  States.    The  duty  on  that  article 
was  carried  up  to  a  high  tax  in  the  quasi  war 
with  France  (1798),  having  been  small  before- 
aud  then  only  imposed  as  a  war  measure— to 
cease  as  .soon  as  the  war  was  over.    But  all  gov- 


emmentN  work  alike  on  the  "inposition  and  ro- 
Icaso  of  taxes— easy  to  get  Uicin  on  in  a  time  of 
necessity— hard  to  get  thom  off  wl»en  tho  neces- 
sity has  passed.  So  of  (his  first  war  tox  on 
salt.  Tho  "  sjKK-k  of  war  "  with  Fran(-o,  visible 
above  the  horizon  in  '98,  soon  sunk  below  it ; 
and  tho  sunshine  of  peace  prevailed,  Ip  tlu; 
year  18U0— two  years  uflcr  the  duty  was  raised 
to  its  maximum— tho  countries  were  on  the  most 
friendly  terms  ;  but  it  was  not  until  1807,  and 
under  the  whole  power  of  Mr.  JeflTerson's  ad- 
ministration, that  this  temporary  tax  was  abol- 
ished ;  and  with  it  the  whole  system  of  fishing 
bounties  aud  allowancs  founded  upon  it. 

In  the  war  of  1812,  at  the  commencement  of 
the  war  with  Great  Britain   it  was  renewed, 
with  its  concomitant  of   fishing  bounties  and 
allowances;  but  still  as  a  temporary  measure 
limited  to  tho  termination  of  tho  war  wluch  in- 
('■I  ;o(l  it.  -,nd  one  year  thereafter.     The  war  tcr- 
riiniited  in  :815,  and  the  adilitional  year  expired 
u   '"^16;  b:;;   boforo  tho  year  was  out,  tho  tax 
v>-is    ;onMii",d,  not  for  a  definite  period,  but 
wit,     :!    >.ime— on  tho  s()ecious  argument  that, 
if  a  tuno  was  fixed,  it  would  bo  difflcult  to  get  it 
oiX  before  tho  time  was  out :  but  if  unfixed  it 
would  be  easy  t  j  get  it  off  at  any  time :  and  all 
agreed  that  that  was  to  bo  soon— that  a  tempo- 
rary continuance  of  all  the  taxes  was  ncccssaiy 
until  the  revenue,  deranged  by  the  war,  should 
become  rcgtdar  and  adequate.     It  was  continued 
on  this  specious  argument— and  remained  in  lull 
until  General  Jaoksou'.s  administration— and,  in 
part,  until  this  day  (18.j())— tho  fishing  boun- 
ties and  allowances  in  full :  and  that  is  tho  work- 
ing of  all  governments  in  the  levy  and  repeal  of 
taxes.     I  found  the  salt  tax  in  full  force  when  I 
caino  to  the  Senate  in  1820,  strengthened  by 
time,  sustained  by  a  manufacturing  interest,  and 
by  the  fishing  interest  (which  made  the  tax  a 
source  of  profit  in  the  supposed  return  of  tho 
duty  iu  the  shape  of  bounties  and  allowances)  : 
and  by  the  whole  American  system ;  which  took 
the  tax  into  its  keeping,  as  a  protection  to  a 
branch  of  home  industry.     [  found  efTorts  being 
made  in  each  House  to  suppress  this  burthen 
upon  a  prime  necessary  of  lifej  and,  in  the  ses- 
sion   1829-'30,  delivered  a  speech  in  support 
of  the  laudable  endeavor,  of  which  these  arc 
some  parts : 

"  Mr.  Benton  commenced  his  speech,  by  say- 
ing that  he  was  no  advocate  for  unprofitable  de- 


^11 


t 

f 

■    11 


1 

T 

9 

"  ~49H 

^^^^^1 

•^ 

^H 

"  ^~^T■ 

^^H 

IBOBtellJ-B. 

'^'-- 

^l^^l 

144 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


'    'M 


bate,  and  had  no  ambition  to  add  his  name  to 
the  catalogue  of  barren  orators ;  but  that  there 
were  or  ses  in  which  speaking  did  good  ;  cases  in 
which  moderate  abilities  produced  great  results ; 
and  he  believed  the  question  of  repealing  the 
salt  tax  to  be  one  of  those  cases.     It  had  cer- 
tainly been  so  in  Ei^gland.     There  the  salt  tax 
had  been  overthrown  by  the  labors  of  plain  men, 
under  circuniatances  much  more  unfavorable  ^o 
their  undertaking  than  exist  here.     The  English 
salt  tax  had  continued  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years.      It  was  cherished  by  the  ministry,  to 
whom  it  yielded  a  million  and  a  half  sterling  of 
revenue ;  it  was  defended  by  the  domestic  salt 
makers,  to  whom  it  gave  a  monopoly  of  the 
home  market ;  it  was  consecrated  by  time,  hay- 
ing subsisted  for  five  generations ;  it  was  forti- 
fied by  the  habits  of  the  people,  who  were  born, 
and  had  grown  gray  under  it ;  and  it  was  sanc- 
tioned by  the  necessities  of  the  State,  which  re- 
quired every  resource  of  rigorous  taxation.     Yet 
it  was  overthrown ;  and  the  overthrow  M'as  ef- 
fected by  two  debates,  conducted,  not  by  the 
orators  whose  renown  has  filled  the  world — not 
by  Sheridan,  Burke,  Pitt,  and  Fox— but  by  plain, 
business  men— Mr.  Calcraft,  Mr.  Curwen,  and 
Mr.  Egerton.     These  patriotic  members  of  the 
British  Pa -liament  commenced  the  war  upon  the 
British  salt  tax  in  1817,  and  finished  it  in  1822. 
They  commenced  with  the  omens  and  auspices 
all  against  them,  and  ended  with  complete  suc- 
cess.    They  abolished  the  salt  tax  in  toto.    They 
swept  it  all  off,  bravely  rejecting  all  compro- 
mises when  they  had  got  their  adversaries  half 
vanquished,  and  carrying  their  appeals  home  to 
the  people,  until  they  had  roused  a  spirit  before 
which  the  ministry  quailed,  the  monopolizers 
trembled,  the  Parliament  gave  way,  and  the  tax 
fell.     This  example  is  encouraging ;  it  is  full  of 
consolation  and  of  hope ;  it  shows  what  zeal  and 
perseverance  can  do  in  a  good  cause :  it  shows 
that  the  cause  of  truth  and  justice  is  triumphant 
when  its  advocates  are  bold  and  faithful.     It 
leads  to  the  conviction  that  the  American  salt 
tax  will  fall  as  the  British  tax  did,  as  soon  as 
the  people  shall  see  that  its  continuance  is  a 
burthen  to  them,  without  adequate  advantage  to 
the  government,  and  that  its  repeal  is  in  their 
ovm  hands. 

"  The  enormous  amount  of  the  tax  was  the 
first  point  to  which  Mr.  B.  would  direct  his  at- 
tention. He  said  it  was  near  '  hree  hundred  per 
cent,  upon  Liverpool  blown,  and  four  hundred 
per  cent,  upon  alum  salt ;  but  as  the  Liverpool 
was  a  very  inferior  salt,  and  not  much  used  in 
the  West,  he  would  confine  his  observations  to 
the  salt  of  Portugal  and  the  West ',  ndics,  called 
by  the  general  name  of  alum.  The  import  price 
of  this  salt  was  from  eight  to  nine  cents  a  bush- 
el of  fifty-six  pounds  each,  and  tie  duty  uijon 
that  bushel  was  twenty  cents,  lle.e  was  a  tax 
of  upwards  of  two  hundred  per  cent.  Then  the 
merchant  had  his  profit  upon  the  duty  ar;  •.■•ell 
as  the  cost  of  the  article :  and  when  it  went 
through  the  hands  of  .severui.  merchants  before 


it  got  to  the  consumer,  each  had  his  profit  upon 
it ;  and  whenever  this  profit  amounted  to  iifty 
per  cent,  upon  the  duty,  it  was  upwards  of  one 
hundred  per  cent,  upon  the  salt.  Then,  the 
taritt"  laws  have  deprived  the  consumer  of  thirty- 
four  pounds  in  the  bushel,  by  substituting  weitjht 
for  measure,  and  that  weigb<^  a  false  one.  The 
true  weight  of  a  measured  busnei  of  alum  salt 
is  eighty-four  pounds ;  but  the  British  tariff 
laws,  for  the  sake  of  multiplying  the  bushels, 
and  increasing  the  product  of  the  tax,  substi^ 
tuted  weight  for  measure  ;  and  our  tariff"  laws 
copied  after  them,  and  adopted  their  standard 
of  fifty-six  pounds  to  the  bushel. 

"Mr.  B.  entered  into  statistical  details,  to  show 
the  aggregate  amount  of  this  tax,  which  he  .statr 
ed  to  be  enormous,  and  contrary  to  every  princi- 
ple of  taxation,  even  if  taxes  were  so  necessary 
as  to  justify  the  taxing  of  salt.  He  stated  the 
importation  of  foreign  salt,  in  1829,  at  six  mil- 
lions of  bushels,  round  numbers ;  the  value  seven 
hundred  and  fifteen  thousand  dollars,  and  the 
tax  at  twenty  cents  a  bushel,  one  million  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  the  merchant's  prol'it 
upon  that  duty  at  fifty  per  cent,  is  six  hundred 
thousand  dollars ;  and  the  secret  or  hidden  tax, 
in  the  shape  of  false  weight  for  true  nieasuie,  at 
the  rate  of  thirty  pounds  in  the  bushel,  was  four 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  Here,  then, 
is  taxation  to  the  amount  of  about  two  millions 
and  a  quarter  of  dollars,  upon  an  article  cosJting 
seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  doUaivs,  and 
that  article  one  of  prime  necessity  and  universal 
use,  ranking  next  after  hread,  in  the  catalogue 
of  articles  for  human  subsistence. 

"  The  distribution  of  this  enormous  tax  upon 
the  different  sections  of  the  Union,  was  the  next 
object  of  Mr.  B.'s  inquii-y ;  and,  for  this  puipose. 
he  viewed  the  Union  under  three  great  divisions 
—the  Northeast,  the  South,  and  the  West.  To 
the  northeast,  and  especially  to  some  parts  of  it, 
ho  considered  the  salt  tax  to  bo  no  burthen,  but 
rather  a  benefit  and  a  money -making  businoss, 
The  fishing  allowances  and  bounties  produced 
this  ellcct.  In  consideration  of  the  salt  duty,  the 
curers  and  exporters  of  fish  are  allowed  money 
out  of  the  treasury,  to  the  amount,  as  it  was 
intended,  of  the  salt  duty  paid  by  them ;  but  it 
has  been  proved  to  be  twice  as  much.  The  an- 
nual i"  i  lowance  is  about  two  hundi-ed  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars,  and  the  aggregate  drawn  frou. 
il.:.  treasury  ^'nce  the  first  imposition  of  the  .salt 
duty  in  1789  is  shown  by  the  treasury  returns 
to  be  five  millions  of  dollars.  Much  of  thi.s  is 
drawn  by  undue  means,  as  is  shown  by  the  re- 
port of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  at  tlic 
commencement  of  the  present  session,  page  ciglit 
of  the  annual  report  on  the  finances.  The  Nortii- 
east  makes  much  salt  at  homo,  and  chieily  by 
solar  evaporation,  which  fits  it  for  curing  fish 
and  provisions,  Aluch  of  it  is  proved,  by  the 
returns  of  the  salt  makers,  to  be  used  iu  the  fi.sh- 
cries,  while  the  fisheries  are  drawing  money  from 
the  treasury  under  the  laws  which  intended  U' 
indemnify  them  for  the  duty  paid  on  foreign  sail. 


To  this  s( 

is  not  felt 

"Letu! 

there  are 

allowance! 

sumers  ai 

foreign  su 

blown.    1 

cents  a  bu 

than  that i 

and  direct! 

of  their  c 

upon  the  S 

"  The  ^^l 

audit  will 

most  opprc 

domestic  i 

quantity,   ; 

greatest  pu 

— curing  p 

supply  is  ii 

u.sed.     The 

West  Indie 

ugal,  eight 

West  could 

Orleans,  if 

sequence  of 

half  cents  p 

import  price 

per  bushel  t 

of  the  valle 

price,  resolv 

made  up:  ] 

the  salt.    2 

or  ten  cents 

4.  Sixteen  c 

isville.    5.  ] 

merchant's  ] 

his  whole  oui 

for  a  bushel 

no  duty,  and 

measure  abo 

leans,  by  the 

weight,  for  ( 

brought  up  < 

of  thirty-thi 

weight.    It 

heaviest  upo 

pose  that  the 

West  wants 

and  two  grea 

for  export^  ai 

alum  salt,  an 

cause  the  prii 

Twenty  cents 

cents  a  buslie 

that  which  cc 

ception  in  the 

is  much  grea 

much  more  tl 

South,  the  'W 

ances  on  aco 

be  fair  in  the 

not  rc-export( 

unfair  in  the 

Vol.  : 


ANNO  1830.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


145 


To  this  section  of  the  Union,  then,  the  salt  tax 
is  not  felt  as  a  burthen. 

"  Let  us  proceed  to  the  South.  In  this  section 
there  are  but  few  salt  works,  and  no  bounties  or 
allowances,  as  there  are  no  fisheries.  The  con- 
sumers are  thrown  almost  entirely  upon  the 
foreign  supply,  and  chiefly  use  the  Liverpool 
blown.  The  import  price  of  this  is  about  fifteen 
cents  a  bushel ;  the  weight  and  strength  is  less 
than  that  of  alum  salt;  and  the  tax  falls  heavily 
and  directly  upon  the  people,  to  the  whole  amount 
of  their  consumption.  It  is  a  heavy  burthen 
upon  the  South. 

"  The  West  is  the  last  section  to  be  viewed, 
and  It  will  be  found  to  be  the  true  seat  of  the 
most  oppressive  operations  of  the  salt  tax.  The 
domestic  supply  is  high  in  price,  deficient  in 
quantity,  and  altogether  unfit  for  one  of  the 
greatest  purposes  for  which  salt  is  there  wanted 
—curing  provisions  for  exportation.  A  foreign 
supply  is  indispensable,  and  alum  salt  is  the  kind 

w    :  t''^^'^  ''"P°''*  P"^*^  °f  'his  kind,  from  the 
West  Indies,  is  nine  cents  a  bushels ;  from  Port- 
ugal, eight  cents  a  bushel.     At  these  prices,  the 
West  could  be  supplied  with  this  salt  at  New 
Orleans,  if  the  duty  was  abolished ;  but,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  duty,  it  costs  thirty-seven  and  a 
halt  cents  per  bushel  there,  being  four  times  the 
import  price  of  the  article,  and  seventy-five  cents 
per  bushel  at  Louisville  and  other  central  parts 
of  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.     This  enormous 
price,  resolved  into  its  component  parts,  is  thus 
made  up:  1.  E,ght  or  nine  cents  a  bushel  for 
the  salt.    2.  Twenty  cents  for  duty.     3.  Eight 
or  ten  cents  for  merchant's  profit  at  New  Orleans 
4.  hixteen  or  seventeen  cents  for  freight  to  Lou- 
isville.   5    Fifteen  or  twenty  cents  for  the  second 
merchant's  profit,  who  counts  his  per  centum  on 
his  whole  outlay     In  all,  about  seventy-five  cents 
for  a  bushel  of  fifty  pounds,  which,  if  there  was 
no  duty,  and  the  tariff  regulations  of  wei-ht  for 
measure  abolished,  would  be  bought  in  New  Or- 
kan.s  by  the  nieasured  bu.hel  of  eighty  pounds 
weight  for  eight  or  nine  cents,  and  would  be 
brought  up  the  river,  by  steamboats,  at  the  rate 

lilt  ^f  ?.'  ""'^  ^  *^'"'  ^'^"t^  P'^'-  hundred 
weight     It  thus  appears  that  the  salt  tax  falls 
neaviest  upon  the  West.     It  is  an  error  to  sup- 
pose that  the  South  is  the  greatest  sufferer.     The 
west  wants  it  for  every  purpose  the  South  does 
and  two  great  purposes  besides-curing  provision 
for  export,  and  salting  stock.     The  West  uses 
a  urn  salt,  and  on  this  the  duty  is  heaviest,  be- 
cause the  pnce  is  lower,  and  the  weight  greater 
Twenty  cents  on  salt  which  costs  eight  fr  r^ne 
^"  «\bushel  is  a  much  heavier  duty  than  on 
hat  which  costs  fifteen  cents;  and  then  the  de° 
ception  m  the  substitution  of  weight  for  measure 
is  much  greater  in  alum  salt,  which  wShs  so 
SoS  Zr  w";  *'°  I^--P-l  blown.  \T  U  : 
„  °"    '  the  West  receives  no  bounties  or  allow- 
ances on  account  of  the  salt  dntio..    This  mvv 
be  fair  ,u  tfie  South,  where  the  imported  sau'  i 

unfair ^n  the  West  where  the  exportation  of 


beef,  pork,  bacon,  cheese,  and  butter,  is  prodigi- 
ous, and  the  foreign  salt  re-exported  upon  the 
whole  of  it. 

"Mr.  B.  then  argued,  with  great  warmth,  that 
the  provision  curers  and  exporters  were  entitled 
to  the  same  bounties  and  allowances  with  the  ex^ 
porters  of  fish.    The  claims  of  each  rested  upon 
the  same  principle,  and  upon  the  principle  of  all 
drawbacks— that  of  a  reimbursement  of  the  duty 
which  was  paid  on  the  imported  salt  when  re-ex- 
ported on  fish  and  provisions.    The  same  princi- 
ple covers  the  beef  and  pork  of  the  farmer,  which 
covers  the  fish  of  the  fisherman ;  and  such  was 
the  law  in  the  beginning.    The  first  act  of  Con- 
gress, in  the  year  1789,  which  imposed  a  duty 
upon  salt,  allowed  a  bounty,  in  lieu  of  a  draw- 
back, on  beef  and  pork  exported,  as  well  as  fish. 
Ihe  bounty  was  the  same  in  each  case;  it  was 
five  cents  a  quintal  on  dv  ed  fish,  five  cents  a 
barrel  on  pickled  fish,  and  ilveon  beef  and  pork 
As  the  duty  on  salt  was  increased,  the  bounties 
and  allowances  were  increased  also.     Fish  and 
salted  beef  and  pork  fared  alike  for  the  first 
twenty  years. 

"They  fared  alike  til]  the  revival  of  the  salt 
tax  at  the  comment     cnt  of  the  late  war.    Then 
they  parted  company ;  bounties  and  allowances 
were  continued  to  the  fisheries,  and  dropped  on 
beef  and  pork;  and  this  has  been  the  case  ever 
since.    The  exporters  of  fish  are  now  drawing  at 
the  rate  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars 
per  annum,  as  a  reimbursement  for  their  salt  tax  • 
while  exporters  of  provisions  draw  nothin"-     The 
aggregate  of  the  fishing  bounties  and  allowances 
actually  drawn  from  the  treasury,  exceeds  five 
millions  of  dollars;  while  the  exporters  of  pro- 
visions,  who  get  nothing,  would  have  been  en- 
titled to  draw  a  greater  sum;  for  the  export  in 
salted  provisions  exceeds  the  value  of  exported 

_  "  Mr.  B.  could  not  quit  this  part  of  his  sub- 
ject without  endeavoring  to  fix  the  attention  of 
the  benate  upon  the  provision  trade  of  the  West 
He  took  this  trade  in  its  largest  .sense,  as  includ- 
ing the  export  trade  of  beef,  pork,  bacon,  cheese, 
aud  butter,  to  foreign  countries,  especially  tho 
West  Indies;  the  domestic  trade  to  th- Lower 
Mississippi  and  the  Southern  States;  the  neigh- 
borhood trade,  as  supplying  the  towns  in  the  up- 
per Mates,  the  miners  in  Missouri  and  the  irnner 
MLssissippi,  the  army  and  the  navy;  and  the 
various  profes.sions,  which,  being  otherwise  em- 
ployed did  not  raise  their  own  provisions.     Tho 
amount  of  this  trade,  in  this  comprehensive  view 
was  prodigious,  and  annually  increasing,  and  in- 
volving^n  Its  current  almost  the  entire  population 
of  the  West,  either  as  the  growers  and  makers 
J2      P'^^l"''""^'  the  curers,  exporters,  or  con- 

tZT-  i^/™°""*  «*"''^  scarcely  be  ascer- 
tained What  was  exported  from  New  Orleans 
was  shown  to  be  great;  but  it  was  onlv  a  fr«rv 
uon  of  the  V,  jiole  trade.  He  declared  it  to  be  en- 
titled to  the  favorable  consideration  of  Congress 
and  that  the  repeal  of  the  salt  duty  w«S  the 
greatest  favor,  if  an  act  of  justice  ought  to  come 


WTir 

'   fll 

! 


146 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


under  the  name  of  favor,  which  could  be  ren- 
dered it,  as  the  salt  was  necessary  in  growing 
the  hogs  and  cattle,  as  well  as  in  preparing  the 
beef  and  pork  for  market.     A  reduction  in  the 
price  of  salt,  next  to  a  reduction  in  the  price  of 
land,  was  the  greatest  blessing  which  the  federal 
government  could  now  confer  upon  the  West. 
Mr.  B.  referred  to  the  e>  ample  of  England,  who 
favored  her  provision  ci;rers,  and  permitted  them 
to  import  alum  salt  free  of  duty,  for  the  encou- 
ragement of  the  provision  trade,  even  when  her 
own  salt  manufacturers  were  producing  an  abun- 
dant and  superfluous   supply  of  common  salt. 
He  showed  that  she  did  more ;  that  she  extend- 
ed the  same  relief  and  encouragement  to  the 
Irish ;  and  he  read  from  the  British  statute  book 
an  act  of  the  British  Parliament,  passed  in  1807, 
entitled   'An  act  to  encourage   the  export  of 
salted  beef  and  pork  from  Ireland.'  which  allow- 
ed a  bounty  of  ten  pence  sterling  on  every  hund- 
red weight  of  beef  and  pork  so  exported.  In  con- 
sideration of  the  duty  paid  on  the  salt  which 
was  used  in  the  curing  of  it.     lie  stated,  that, 
at  a  later  period,  the  duty  had  been  entirely  re- 
pealed, and  the  Irish,  in  common  with  other 
British  subjects,  allowed  a  free  trade  with  all 
the  world,  in  salt ;  and  then  demanded,  in  the 
most  emphatic  manner,  if  the  people  of  the  West 
could  not  obtain  from  the  American  Congress 
the  justice  which  the  oppressed  Irish  had  pro- 
cured from  a  British  Parliament,  composed  of 
hereditary  nobles,  and   filled  with  representa- 
tives of  rotten  boroughs,  and  slavish  retainers 
of  the  king's  ministers. 

"  The  '  American  system '  has  taken  the  salt 
tax  under  its  shelter  and  protection.  The  prin- 
ciples of  that  system,  as  I  imderstand  them,  and 
practise  upon  them,  are  to  tax,  through  the  cus- 
tomhouse,  the  foreign  rivals  of  our  own  essential 
productions,  when,  by  that  taxation,  an  adequate 
supply  of  the  same  article,  as  good  and  as  cheap, 
can  be  made  at  home.  These  were  the  princi- 
ples of  the  system  (Mr.  B.  said)  when  he  was 
initiated,  and,  if  they  had  changed  since,  he  had 
not  changed  with  them  ;  and  he  apprehended  a 
promulgation  of  the  change  would  produce  a 
schism  amongst  its  followers.  Taking  these  to  be 
the  principles  of  the  system,  let  the  salt  tax  be 
brought  to  its  test.  In  the  first  place,  the  do- 
mestic manufacture  had  enjoyed  all  possible  pro- 
tection. The  duty  was  near  three  hundred  per 
cent,  on  Liverpool  salt,  and  four  hundred  upon 
alum  salt ;  and  to  this  must  be  added,  so  far  as 
relates  to  all  the  interior  manufactories,  the  pro- 
tection arising  from  transportation,  frequently 
equal  to  two  or  three  hundred  per  cent.  more. 
This  great  and  excessive  protection  has  been  en- 
joyed, without  interruption,  for  the  last  eighteen 
years,  and  partially  for  twenty  years  longer. 
This  surely  is  time  enough  for  the  trial  of  a  man- 
ufacture which  requires  but  little  skill  or  expe- 
rience to  carry  it  on.  Now  for  the  results.  Have 
the  domestic  uiauufactoriys  produced  uu  ade- 
quate supply  for  the  country  ?  They  have  not ; 
nor  half  enough.    The  production  of  the  last 


year  (1829)  as  shown  in  the  returns  to  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury,  is  about  five  millions  of 
bushels ;  the  importation  of  foreign  salt,  for  the 
same  period,  as  shown  by  the  custom-house  re- 
turns, is  five  million  nine  hundred  and  forty-five 
thousand  five  hundred  and  forty-seven  bushels. 
This  shows  the  consumption  to  be  eleven  mil- 
lions of  bushels,  of  which  five  are  domestic. 
Here  the  failure  in  the  essential  particular  of  an 
adequate  supply  is  more  than  one  half.  In  the 
next  place,  how  is  it  in  point  of  price  ?  Is  the 
domestic  article  furnished  as  cheap  as  the 
foreign?  Far  from  it,  as  alrendy  shown,  and 
still  further,  as  can  be  shown.  The  price  of  the 
domestic,  along  the  coast  of  the  Atlantic  States, 
varies,  at  the  works,  from  thirty-seven  and  a 


half  to  fifty  cents;  in  the  interior,  the  usual 
prices,  at  the  works,  are  from  thirty-three  and  a 
third  cents  to  one  dollar  for  the  bushel  of  fifty 
pounds,  which  can  nearly  be  put  into  a  half 
bushel  measure.  Tlio  prices  of  the  foreign  salt, 
at  the  import 
house  returns 


cities,  as  shown  in  the  custom- 
for  1829,  are,  for  the  Liverpool 


blown,  about  fifteen  cents  for  the  bushel  of  fifty- 
six  pounds ;  for  Turk's  Island  and  other  West 
India  salt,  about  nine  cents ;  for  St.  Ubes  and 
other  Portugal  salt,  about  eight  cents  ;  for  Span- 
ish salt.  Bay  of  Biscay  and  Gibraltar  about 
peven  cents;  from  the  Island  of  Malta,  six  cents. 
Leaving  out  the  Liverpool  salt,  which  is  made 
by  boiling,  and,  therefore,  contains  slack  and 
bittern,  a  septic  ingredient,  which  promotes  putre- 
faction, and  renders  tliat  salt  unfit  for  curing 
provisions,  and  which  is  not  used  in  the  West, 
and  the  average  price  of  the  strong,  pure,  alum 
salt,  made  by  solar  evaporation,  in  hot  climates, 
is  about  eight  cents  to  the  bushel.  Here,  then, 
is  another  lamentable  failure.  Instead  of  being 
sold  as  cheap  as  the  foreign,  the  domestic  salt  is 
from  four  to  twelve  titnes  the  price  of  alum  salt. 
The  last  inquiry  is  as  to  the  quality  of  the 
domestic  article.  Is  it  as  good  as  the  foreign? 
This  is  the  most  essential  application  of  the  test; 
and  here  again  the  failure  is  decisive.  The  do- 
mestic salt  will  not  cure  provisions  for  exporta- 
tion (the  little  excepted  which  is  made,  in  the 
Northeast,  by  solar  evaporation),  nor  for  con- 
sumption in  the  South,  nor  for  long  keeping  at 
the  army  posts,  nor  for  voyages  with  the  navy. 
For  all  these  purpo.ses  it  is  worthless,  and  use- 
less, and  the  provisions  which  are  put  up  in  it 
are  lost,  or  have  to  be  repacked,  at  a  gieat  ex- 
pense, in  alum  salt.  This  fact  is  well  knowr 
throughout  the  West,  where  too  many  citizens 
have  paid  the  penalty  of  trusting  to  domestic 
salt,  to  be  duped  or  injured  by  it  any  longer. 

"  And  here  he  submitted  to  the  Senate,  that 
the  American  system,  without  a  gross  departure 
from  its  original  principles,  could  not  cover  this 
duty  any  longer.  It  has  had  the  full  benefit  of 
that  system  in  high  duties,  imposed  for  a  long 
time,  on  foreign  salt ;  it  had  not  produced  an 
adequate  supply  for  the  country,  nor  half  a  sup- 
ply ;  nor  at  as  cheap  a  rate,  by  three  hundred  or 
one  thousand  per  cent. ;  and  what  it  did  supply, 


so  far  fron 

even  be  u 

important 

amount  of 

eign  count 

thousand 

barrels  of  i 

two  milhor 

of  pounds  ( 

ply  for  the 

in  the  Sout 

"It  cann 

the  uses  of 

England,  it 

salt  was  n 

fattening  of 

it  was  a  pre 

stored  moul 

wholesome 

available  as 

makers  neec 

salt.     No  qi 

people  must 

the  duty  u] 

burthen  up( 

advantage  t( 

"Mr.  B.  s 

could  be  us 

duiy,  which 

England ;  ai 

real  force,  \ 

American  sj 

into  the  serv 

were;  and  h 

committee  oi 

It  was  the  st 

salt  manufai 

was  sworn  ai 

'  I  will  comm 

gave  u[)ou  th 

establish  the 

portance  of  tl 

extent  of  Brii 

and  the  consii 

ant  upon  it  1 

stated  that  th 

state,  and  tha 

it  cannot  be  d 

men  with  all 

titled  to  the  p 

British  manu 

common  with 

try,  they  are  i 

ticuiar  from  a 

manufacturers 

to  see  a  prohil 

"  Such  was 

facturers.     Tii 

ital,  the  deprc 

number  of  per 

port,  the  duty 

tho  nec(!Rsity  f 

Kalt,  and  tlie 

than  tiie  count 

Ijackod  them  w 


ANNO  1830.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


to  the  Sec- 
millions  of 
salt,  for  the 
«-house  re- 
d  forty-fi^e 
en  bushels, 
eleven  rail- 
e  domestic 
icular  of  an 
i\{.    In  the 
;e?    Is  the 
ap   as   the 
shown,  and 
price  of  the 
.ntic  States, 
even  and  a 
,  the  usual 
three  and  a 
shel  of  fifty 
into  a  half 
foreign  salt, 
the  custom- 
e  Liverpool 
Hhel  of  fifty, 
other  West 
t.  Ubes  and 
s ;  for  Span- 
altar,  about 
ta,  six  cents, 
ich  is  made 
s  slack  and 
motes  putre- 
t  for  curing 
n  the  West, 
;,  pure,  alum 
hot  climates, 
Here,  then, 
ead  of  being 
nestic  salt  is 
of  alum  salt, 
ality  of  the 
the  foreign? 
1  of  the  test: 
re,    The  do- 
for  exporta- 
made,  in  the 
nor  for  con- 
5  keeping  at 
th  the  navy. 
ess,  and  use- 
put  up  in  it 
it  a  great  ex- 
well  knowr 
nany  citizens 
to  domestic 
ly  longer. 
}  Senate,  that 
OSS  depai'ture 
ot  cover  this 
ill  benefit  of 
ed  for  a  long 
produced  an 
ar  half  a  sup- 
>e  hundred  or 
it  did  supply, 


147 


so  fai  from  being  equal  in  quantity,  could  not 
even  be  used  as  a  substitute  for  the  great  and 
important  business  of  the  provision  trade.  The 
amount  of  .so  much  of  that  trade  as  went  to  for- 
eign countries,  Mr.  B.  showed  to  be  sixty-six 
thousand  barrels  of  beef,  fifty-four  thousand 
barrels  of  pork,  two  millions  of  pounds  of  bacon, 
two  millions  of  pounds  of  butter,  and  one  million 
of  pounds  of  cheese ;  and  he  considered  the  sup- 
ply for  the  army  and  navy,  and  for  consumption 
in  the  South,  to  exceed  the  quantity  exported. 

"It  cannot  be  necessary  here  to  dilate  upon 
the  uses  of  salt.    But,  in  repualing  that  duty  in 
England,  it  was  thought  worthy  of  notice  that 
salt  was  necessary  to  the  health,  growth,  and 
fattenmg  of  hogs,  cattle,  sheep,  and  horses ;  that 
it  was  a  preservative  of  hay  and  clover,  and  re- 
stored moulded  ard  flooded  hay  to  its  good  and 
wholesome  state,  and  made  even  straw  and  chaff 
available  as  food  for  cattle.     The  domestic  salt 
makers  need  not  .■^peak  of  protection  against  alum 
salt.     No  quantity  of  duty  will  keep  it  out.  The 
people  must  have  it  for  the  provision  trade ;  and 
the  duty  upon  that  kind  of  salt  is  a  grievous 
burthen  upon  them,  without  being  of  the  least 
advantage  to  the  salt  makers. 


"Mr.  B.  said,  there  was  no  argument  which 
could  be  used  here,  in  favor  of  continuin"-  this 
duiy,  which  was  not  used,  and  used  in  vain  in 
England ;  and  many  -vere  used  there,  of  much 
real  force,  which  cannot  be  used  here.     The 
American  system,  by  name,  was  not  impressed 
mto  the  service  of  the  tax  there,  but  its  doctrines 
were;  and  he  read  a  part  of  the  report  of  the 
committee  on  salt  duties,  in  1817,  to  prove  it 
It  was  the  statement  of  the  ngcnt  of  the  British 
salt  manufacturers,  Mr.  William   Home   wlio 
was  sworn  and  examined  a';  a  witness.     He  said  • 
'  I  will  commence  by  referring  to  the  evidence  l" 
gave  uiiou  the  subject  of  rock  salt,  in  order  to 
establish  the  presumption  of  the  national  im- 
portance of  the  salt  trade,  arising  from  the  large 
extent  of  British  capital  employed  in  the  trade 
and  the  considerable  number  of  persons  depend- 
ant upon  It  for  support.    I,  at  the  same  time 
stated  that  the  salt  trade  was  in  a  very  depressed 
state,  and  that  it  continued  to  fall  off.     I  think 
It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  suit  trade  in  com- 
mon with  all  staple  British  manufactures,  is  en- 
titled to  the  protection  of  government;  and  the 
iintish  manufacturers  of  salt  consider  that  in 
common  with  other  manufacturers  of  this  coun- 
ry  they  are  entitled  to  such  protection,  in  par- 
teular  from  a  competition  at  home  with  foreiffn 
man„factur(=rs;  and.  in  consequence,  they  hope 
to  see  a  prohibitory  uuty  on  foreign  skit.' 

Such  was  the  petition  of  the  British  manu- 
fKjurers.     They  urged  the  amount  of  their  c^^ 

nuiikr  of  persons  dependent  upon  it  for  sun- 
C^.:^£!^.^V^^"4  to  pitTt, 

^u,^d-tStri^th^^-^i^S 

than  the  country  could  consume.     The  minStrv 
Wk«l  them  with  a  call  for  the  conti^urce  of 


the  revenue,  one  million  five  hundred  thousand 
pounds  sterling,  derived  from  the  salt  tax ;  and 
with  a  threat  to  lay  that  amount  upon  some- 
thing else,  if  it  was  taken  off  of  salt.    All  would 
not  do.     Mr.  Calcraft,  and  his  friends,  appealed 
to  the  rights  and  interests  of  the  people,  as  over- 
ruling considerations  in  questions  of  taxation. 
They  denounced  the  tax  itself  as  little  less  than 
impiety,  and  an  attack  upon  the  goodness  and 
wisdom  of  God,  who  had  filled  the  bowels  of  the 
earth,  and  the  waves  of  the  sea,  with  salt  for  the 
use  and  blessing  of  man.  and  to  whom  it  was  de- 
nied, its  use  clogged  and  fettered,  by  odious  and 
abominable  taxes.    They  demanded  the  whole 
repeal ;  and  when  the  ministry  and  the  manu- 
facturers, overpowered  by  the  voice  of  the  peo- 
ple, offered  to  give  up  three  fourths  of  the  tax, 
they  bravely  resisted  tha^proposition,  stood  out 
for  total  repeal,  and  carried  it. 

"Mr.  B.  could  not  doubt  a  like  result  here,  and 
he  looked  forward,  with  infinite  satisfaction,  to 
the  era  of  a  free  trade  in  salt.     The  first  efibot 
ot  such  a  trade  would  be,  to  reduce  the  price  of 
alum  salt,  at  the  import  cities,  to  eight  or  nine 
cents  a  bushel.    The  second  effect  would  be  a 
return  to  the  measured  bushel,  by  getting  rid 
ot  the  tariff  regulation,  which  substituted  weight 
for  measure,  and  reduced  eighty-four  pounds  to 
fifty.    The  third  effect  would  be,  to  establish  a 
great  trade,  carried  on  by  barter,  between  the 
inhabitants  of  the  United  States  and  the  people 
ot  the  countries  which  produce  alum  salt,  to  the 
mlinito  advantage  and  comfV       <-  both  parties. 
He  examined  the  operation    u      ns  barter  at 
New  Orleans.    He  said,  this  pu.e  and  superior 
salt,  made  entirely  by  solar  evaporation,  came 
from    countries   which    were  deficient    in    the 
articles  of  food,  in  which  the  West  abounded. 
It  came  from  the  West  Indies,  from  the  coasts 
ot  Spain  and  Portugal,  and  from  places  in  the 
Mediterranean;  all  of  which  are  at  this  time 
consumers  of  American   provisions,  and   take 


from  us  beef,  pork,  bacon,  rice,  corn,  corn  meal, 
flour,  potatoes,  &c.    Their  salt  costs  them  almost 
nothing      It  is  made  on  the  sea  beach  by  the 
power  of  the  sun,  with  little  care  and  aid  from 
man.    It  is  brought  to  the  United  States  as 
ballast,  costing  nothing  for  the  transportation 
across  the  sea.    The  duty  alone  prevents  it  from 
coming  to  the  United  States  in  the  most  un- 
bounded quantity.    Remove  the  duty,  and  the 
trade  would  be  prodigious.    A  bushel  of  com  is 
worth  more  than  a  sack  of  salt  to  the  half- 
starved  people  to  whom  the  sea  and  the  sun 
give  as  much  ot  this  salt  as  they  will  rake  up 
and  pack  away.     Thp  levee  at  New  Orleans 
would  be  covered-the  warehouses  would  be 
crammed  with  salt;  the  barter  trade  would  be- 
come extensive  and  universal,  a  bushel  of  corn, 
or  of  potatoes,  a  few  pounds  of  butter,  or  a  few 
pounds  of  beef  or  n-n-k  ,..o!jM  ni,-.i^=-  -.  -    7 
;^»'c.nu.  i\      1    ",  ^^   -)  "0»i»i  puiCuast;  a  sack 
ot  salt,  the  steamboats  would  bring  it  up  for  a 
ttifle;  and  all  the  upper  States  of  the  Great 
Valley,  where  salt  is  so  scarce,  so  dear,  and  so 
mdispensablo  for  rearing  stock  and  curing  pro- 


i' 


148 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


visions,  in  addition  to  all  its  obvious  uses,  would 
be  cheaply  and  abtindnntly  supplied  with  that 
article.  Mr.  B.  conchided  with  saying,  that, 
next  to  the  reduction  of  the  price  of  public  lands, 
and  the  free  use  of  the  earth  for  labor  and  culti- 
vation, he  considered  the  abolition  of  the  salt  tax, 
and  a  free  trade  in  foniqn  salt,  as  the  greatest 
blessing  which  the  I'oleral  government  could 
now  bestow  upon  the  pi  oplo  of  the  West." 


CHAPTER    XLVI. 

BIRTHDAY  OF  MR.  JEFFERSON,  AND  THE  DOC- 
TRINE OF  NULLIFICATION. 

Tjra  anniversary  of  the  birthday  of  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son (April  13th)  was  celebrated  this  year  by  a 
numerous  company  at  Washington  City.  Among 
the  invited  guests  present  were  the  President  and 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  three  of  the 
Secretaries  of  departments— Messi  s.  Van  Buren, 
Eaton  and  Branch— and  the  Postmaster-General, 
Mr.  Barry— and  numerously  attended  by  mem- 
bers of  both  Houses  of  Congrcs«  and  by  citizens. 
It  was  a  subscription  dinner ;  and  as  the  paper 
imported,  to  do  honor  to  the  memory  of  Mr  Jef- 
ferson as  the  founder  of  the  political  school  to 
which  the  subscribers  belonged.  In  that  sense 
I  was  a  subscriber  to  the  dinner,  and  attended 
it ;  and  have  no  doubt  that  the  mass  of  the  sub- 
scribers acted  under  the  same  feeling.  There 
was  a  full  assemblage  when  I  arrived,  and  I  ob- 


served gentlemen  standing  about  in  clusters  in 
the  ante-rooms,  and  talking  with  animation  on 
something  apparently  serious,  and  which  seemed 
to  engross  their  thoughts.  I  soon  discovered 
what  it  was— that  it  came  from  the  promulgation 
of  the  twenty-four  regular  toasts,  whicli  savor- 
ed of  the  new  doctrine  of  nullification ;  and  which, 
acting  on  some  previous  misgivings,  began  to 
spread  the  feeling,  that  the  dinner  was  got  up 
to  inaugurate  that  doctrine,  and  to  make  Mr. 
Jefferson  its  father.  Many  persons  broke  off, 
and  refused  to  attend  further  ;  but  the  company 
was  still  numerous,  and  ardent,  as  was  proved 
by  the  number  of  volunteer  votes  given— above 
eighty— in  addition  to  the  twenty-four  regulars; 
and  the  numerous  and  animated  speeches  deliver- 
ed—the report  of  the  whole  proceedings  ulliisg 
eleven  newspaper  columns.  When  the  regular 
toasts  were  over,  the  President  was  called  upon 


for  a  volunteer,  and  gave  it — the  one  which  elec- 
trified the  country,  and  has  become  historical : 
'•'Our  Federal  Union:  It  must  be  preserved," 
This  brief  aud  simple  sentiment,  receiving  em- 
phasis and  interpretation  from  all  the  attendant 
circumstances,  and  from  the  feeling  which  had 
been  spreading  since  the  time  of  Mr.  Webster's 
speech,  was  received  by  the  public  as  a  procla- 
mation from  the  President,  to  announce  a  plot 
against  the  Union,  and  to  summon  the  people  to 
its  defence.    Mr.  Calhoun  gave  the  next  toast ; 
and  it  did  not  at  all  allay  the  suspicions  which 
were  crowding  every  bosom.    It  was  this :  "  The 
Union :  next  to  our  Liberty  the  most  dear :  may 
we  all  remember  that  it  can  only  be  preserved  by 
respecting  the  rights  of  the  States,  and  distribut- 
ing equally  the  benefit  and  burthen  of  the  Union." 
This  toast  touched  all  the  tender  parts  of  the 
new  question— liberty  before  union— oji/i/  to  be 
preserved— <S/a<fi  n'^A/s— inequality  of  burthens 
and  benefits.    These  phrases,  connecting  them- 
selves with  Mr.  Ilayne's  speech,  and  with  pro- 
ceedings and  publications  in  South  Carolina,  un- 
veiled NULLIFICATION,  as  a  Hcw  and  distinct  doc- 
trine in  the  United  States,  with  Mr.  Calhoun  for 
its  apostle,  and  a  new  party  in  the  field  of  which 
he  was  the  leader.    The  proceedings  of  the  day 
put  an  end  to  all  doubt  about  the  justice  of  Mr. 
Webster's  grand  peroration,  and  revealed  to  the 
public  mind  the  fact  of  an  actual  design  tending  to 
dissolve  the  Union. 

Mr  Jefferson  was  dead  at  that  time,  and  could 
not  defend  himself  from  the  use  which  the  new 
party  made  of  his  name— endeavoring  to  make 
him  its  founder ;— and  putting  words  in  his  mouth 
for  that  purpose  which  he  never  spoke.  He 
happened  to  have  written  in  his  lifetime,  and 
without  the  least  suspicion  of  its  future  great 
materiality,  the  facts  in  relation  to  his  concern  in 
the  famous  resolutions  of  Virginia  and  Kentucky, 
and  which  absolve  him  from  the  accusation 
brought  against  him  since  his  death.  He  counsel- 
led the  resolutions  of  the  Virginia  General  Assem- 
bly ;  and  the  word  nullify,  or  nullification,  is  not 
in  them,  or  any  cquivaLnl,  word :  he  drew  the 
Kentucky  resolutions  of  1798 :  and  they  are  equal- 
ly destitute  of  the  same  phrases.  He  had  no- 
thing to  do  with  the  Kentucky  resolutions  of 
1799j  in  which  the  word  '^  nullification,'"  and  as 
t!ie  "  rightful  remedy,"  is  found ;  and  upon  which 
the  South  Carolina  school  relied  as  their  main  ar- 
gument—and from  which  their  doctrine  took  its 


name,    Wei 

so  wrote  (as 

without  fore 

William  C.  ( 

letter  is  in  V 

ed  corrcsponi 

cate  himself, 

would  be  nee 

argumentativ 

constitutional 

which  he  die 

he  left  u  fri( 

was  laid  low 

long  and  intii 

gator,  and  em 

solute  credcnc 

Madison,  who 

quarto  yolumi 

ington  City,  h 

already  used. 

sive.    He  full3 

attempt  "  of  i, 

Mr.  Jefferson  i 

SI/.''  (Page  28 

he  left  behind 

rescue  of  his 

tive  State  of  V 

unanimously. 

to  make  Jlr.  , 

colossal  hcrcsi/ 

imputation,  an( 

thing  in  the  Vi) 

port  South  Can 

tion.    These  tei 

but  the  nullifiei 

Instead  of  bein/ 

as  his  sincere  di 

never  been  hear 

great  man — ben 

honor  which  gra 

it,  and  which  th 

of  his  principles 


CHAI 

EEGUL 

The  constitution 
Congress  the  pofl 
foreign  nations. 


ANNO  1830.    ANDREW  JACK80N,  PRESIDENT, 


149 


name.    Well,  ho  had  nothing  to  do  with  it !  and 
80  wrote  (as  a  mere  matter  of  information,  and 


without  foreseeing  its  future  use),  in  a  letter  to 
William  C.  Cabell  shortly  before  his  death.  This 
letter  is  in  Volume  III.,  page  ^129,  of  his  publish- 
ed corrcspondeneo.  Thus,  he  left  enough  to  vindi- 
cate himself,  without  knowing  that  a  vindication 
would  be  necessary,  and  without  recurring  to  the 
argumentative  demonstration  of  the  peaceful  and 
constitutional    remedies    which    the  resolutions 
which  he  did  write,  alone  contemplated.     But 
he  left  u  friend  to  stand  up  for  him  when  he 
was  laid  low  in  his  grave— one  qualified  by  his 
long  and  intimate  r.spociation  to  be  his  compur- 
gator, and  entitled  from  his  character  to  the  ab- 
solute credence  of  all  mankind.     I  speak  of  Mr. 
Madison,  who,  in  various  letters  published  in  a 
quarto  volume  by  Mr.  J.  C.  Maguire,  of  Wash- 
ington City,  has  given  the  proofs  which  I  have 
already  used,  and  added  others  equally  conclu- 
sive.    He  fully  overthrows  and  justly  resents  the 
attempt  "  of  tlie  nullijiers  to  v.ake  the  name  of 
Mr.  Jefferson  the  pedestal  of  their  colossal  here- 
sy.'"  (Page  fJ8C :  letter  to  Mr,  N.  P.  Trist.)    And 
he  left  behind  him  a  State  also  to  come  to  the 
rescue  of  his  assailed  integrity— his  own  na- 
tive State  of  Virginia-whose  legislature  almost 
unanimously,    immediately    after   the    attempt 
to  make  Mr.  Jefferson  ''the  pedestal  of  this 
colossal  heres!/»  passed  resolves  repulsing  the 
imputation,  and  declaring  that  there  was  no- 
thing in  the  Virginia  resolutions  '98  '99.  to  sup- 
port South  Carolina  in  her  doctrine  of  nullifica- 
tion.   These  testimonies  absolve  Mr.  Jefferson- 
but  the  nullifiers  killed  his  birthday  celebrations ! 
Instead  of  being  renewed  annually,  in  all  time 
as  his  sincere  disciples  then  intended,  they  have 
never  been  heard  of  since  !  and  the  memory  of  a 
great  man-benefactor  of  his  species-has  lost  an 
honor  which  grateful  posterity  intended  to  pay 
It,  and  which  the  preservation  and  dissemination 
of  his  principles  require  to  be  paid. 


CHAPTER    XLVII. 

EEGDLATION  OP  COMMERCE 

The  constitution  of  the  United  States  gives  to 
Congress  the  power  to  regulate  commerce  with 
foreign  nations.    That  power  has  not  yet  been 


executed,  in  the  sense  intended  by  the  constitu- 
tion :  for  the  commeicial  treaties  made  by  the 
President  and  the  Senate  are  not  the  legislative 
regulation  intended  in  that  grant  of  power ;  nor 
are  the  tariff  laws,  whether  for  revenue  or  pro- 
tection, any  the  more  so.    They  all  miss  the  ob- 
ject, and  the  mode  of  operating,  intended  by  the 
constitution  in  that  grant— the  true  nature  of 
which  was  explained  early  in  the  life  of  the  new 
federal  government  by  those  most  comi)etentto 
do  it— Mr.  Jefferson,  Mr,  Madison,  and  Mr.  Wm, 
Smith  of  South  Ciirolina,— and  in  the  form  most 
considerate  and  responsible.    Mr.  Jefferson,  as 
Secretary  of  State,  in  his  memorable  report  "On 
the  restrictions  and  privileges  of  the  commerce 
of  the  United  States  in  foreign  countries ; "  Mr. 
Madison  in  his  resolutions  as  a  member  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  in  the  year  1793,  "For 
the  regulation  of  our  foreign  commerce;'^'  and 
m  his  speeches  in  support  of  his  resolutions; 
and  the  speeches  in  reply,  chiefly  by  Mr.  Wil- 
liam Smith,  of  South  Carolina,  speaking  (as  it  was 
held),  the  sense  of  General  Hamilton;  so  that  in 
the  .speeches  and  writing  of  these  three  early 
members  of  our  government  (not  to  speak  of 
many  other  able  men  then  in  the  House  of  Eep- 
resentatives),  we  have  the  authentic  exposition 
of  the  meaning  of  the  clause  in  question,  and  of 
Its  intended  mode  of  operation :  for  they  all 
agreed  in  that  view  of  the  subject,  though  differ- 
ing about  the  adoption  of  a  system  which  would 
then  have  borne  most  heavily  upon  Great  Brit- 
ain.   The  plan  was  defeated  at  that  time,  and 
only  by  a  very  small  majority  (52  to  47),— the 
defeat  effected  by  the  mercantile  influence,  which 
favored  the  British  trade,  and  was  averse  to  any 
discrimination  to  her  disadvantage,  though  only 
intended  to  coerce  her  into  a  commercial  treaty— 
of  which  we  then  had  none  with  her.    After- 
wards the  system  of  treaties  was  followed  up 
and  protection  to  our  own  industry  extended  in- 
cidentally through  the  clause  in  the  constitution 
authorizing  Congress  to  "Lay  and  collect  taxes 
duties,  imports   and  excises,"  &c.    So  that  the 
power  granted  in  the  clause,  "  To  regulate  com- 
merce with  foreign  nations,"  has  never  yet  been 
exereised  by  Congress  :-aneglect  or  omission,  the 
more  remarkable  as,  besides  the  plain  and  obvious 
fairness  and  benefit  of  the  regulation  intended, 
the  power  conA-rred  hy  that  clause  was  the  po- 
tential moving  cause  of  forming  the  present  con- 
stitution, and  creating  the  present  Union. 


I. 


150 


TUIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


The  principle  of  the  regulation  was  to  be  that 
of  reciprocity— that  is,  that  trade  was  not  to  be 
free  on  one  side,  and  fettered  on  the  other — that 
goods  were  not  to  be  taken  fron>  a  foreign  coun- 
try, free  of  duty,  or  at  a  low   •  ',te,  unless  that 
country  should  take  soni  ;thing  from  us,  also 
free,  or  at  a  low  rate.    And  the  mode  of  acting 
was  by  discriminating  in  the  imposition  of  duties 
between  those  which  had,  and  had  not,  commer- 
cial treaties  with  us — the  object  to  bo  accom- 
plished by  an  act  of  Congress  to  that  effect ; 
which  foreign  nations  might  meet  either  by  leg- 
islation in  their  imposition  of  duties;  or,  and 
which  is  preferable,  by  treaties  of  specified  and 
limited  duration.     My  early  study  of  the  theory, 
and  the  working  of  ijur  government — so  often 
different,  and  sometimes  opposite — led  me    to 
understand  the  regulation  clause  in  the  constitu- 
tion, and  to  admire  ;iu(  approve  it:    and  ».s  m 
the  beginning  of  '.itneral  Jackso\i'-  iflministra- 
tion,  I  foresaw  the  speedy  extinci' 'H  of  t'n  pulv- 
lic  debt,  and  the  consequent  release  of  gre?.r.  vurt 
of  our  foreign  impovls  from  duty,  I  -\ islir;*!   tv>  j 
be  ready  to  derive  all  the  benefit  from  !.'.;'  evunt } 
which  would  lo.sult  ft'om  the  doable  j  rocess  of 
receiving  many  articles  freo  which  were  then 
taxed,  and  of  sending  abroad  many  av  tides  free 
which  were  now  met  by  heavy  taxation.    With 
this  view,  I  brought  a  ^ilt  into  the  Senate  in  the 
session  i829-'30,  to  revive  the  policy  of  Mr. 
Madison"?  resolutions  of  1703 — without  effbct 
then,  but  n^ithout  despair  of  eventual  success. 
And  still  wishiiij:  to  see  that  policy  revived,  and 
seeing  near  at  hand  a  favorable  opportunity  for 
it  in  the  approaching  extinction  of  our  present 
public  debt — (and  I  wish  I  could  add,  a  return 
to  economy  in  the  administration  of  the  govern- 
ment)— and  consequent  large  room  for  the  reduc- 
tion and  abolition  of  duties,  T  here  produce  some 
passages  from  the  speeob  I  delivered  on  my  bill 
of  1830,  preceded  by  sonw  p»,ssages  from  Mr. 
Madison's  speech  of  1793.  m  support  of  his  res- 
olutions, and  showing  his  view  of  their  policy 
and  operation — not  of  their  ronstitutionality,  for 
of  that  there  was  no  question :  and  his  com- 
plaint was  that  the  identical  clause  in  the  consti- 
tution wliich  caused    the   constitution    to  be 
framed,  had  then  remained  four  years  without 
execution.    He  said : 


that  the  commerce  of  the  United  States  is  not, 
at  this  day,  on  that  respectable  footing  to  which 
frovii  its  nature  and  importance,  it  is  entitled! 
He  recurred  to  its  situation  previous  to  the  adop. 
tioi'   of  the  constitution,  when  conflicting  sys- 
tems prevailed  in  the  ditierent  States.    The  then 
existing  state  of  things  gave  rise  to  that  conven- 
tion of  delegates  from  the  different  parts  of  the 
Union,  w  ho  met  to  deliberate  on  some  g  n  ru' 
principles  for  the  regulation  of  commerce  n hiih 
mi;4ht  be  conducive,  in  their  operatiiti,  to  tjig 
getieral  welfare,  and  that  such  measm-ts  sl,iia!d 
be  adopted  as  would  conciliate  the  Vritnd.hip 
and  good  faith  of  those  countries  who  rci-f:  d^. 
poso.'il  to  enter  into  the  ncarc?o  comme.oiai  ccr 
i.eclions  with  us.    But  what  has  been  t!ie  result 
of   the  system  whicii  has  been  purs  .>.d  ever 
since?    What  is  Iho  present  situation  of  oi;r 
comme  c  •  ?    From  the  situation  in  which  we  find 
oursi'U'ts  after  foi'i   years'   experiment/iie  ob- 
sei-ved,  that  it  appeareti  incuinbent  on  the  Uni- 
ted States  to  see  whether  tboy   ccuuu  net  now 
take  measures  promotive  of  tho'?o  objects,  foi 
which  the  government  was  in  a  [T.-at  degjoe  in- 
stituted.    Pleasures  of  modtriitioti,  firnmeiis  n] 
decision,  he  was  persUUded,  were  mns'  nucossai-j 
to  b:  adopted,  in  order  to  narrow  the  sphere  of 
our  commerce  with  those  nations  who  see  proper 
not  to  meet  us  on  terms  of  reciprocity. 

"Mr.  M.  took  a  general  view  o?  the  probable 
effects  which  the  adoption  of  something  like  the 
resolutions  he  had    proposed,   -.vould  produce, 
They  would  produce,  respecting  many  articles 
imported,   a  competition   which    would  enable 
countries  who  did  not  now  supply  us  with  those 
articles,  to  do  it,  and  would  increase  the  encou- 
ragement on  such  as  we  can  produce  within  our- 
selves.    We  should    also  obtain  an  equitable 
share  in  carrying  our  own  produce  ;  we  should 
enter  into  the  field  of  competition  on  equal  terms, 
and  enjoy  the  actual  benefit  of  advantages  which 
nature  and  the  spirit  of  our  people  entitle  us  to. 
"  He  adverted  to  the  advantageous  situation 
this  country  is  entitled  to  stand  in,  considering 
the  nature  of  our  exports  and  returns,     3ur  ex- 
ports are  bulky,   and    therefore  must  employ 
much  shipping,  which  might  be  nearly  all  our 
own :  our  exports  are  chiefly  necessaries  of  hfe, 
or  raw  materials,  the  food  for  the  manufacturers 
of  other  nations.     On  the  contrary,  the  chief  of 
what  we  receive  from  other  countries,  we  can 
either  do  without,  or  produce  substitutes. 

"  It  is  in  the  power  of  the  United  States,  he 
conceived,  by  exerting  her  natural  rights,  with- 
out violating  the  rights,  or  even  the  equitable 
pretensions  of  other  nations — by  doing  no  more 
than  most  nations  ilo  for  the  protection  of  their 
interests,  and  much  less  than  sonie.  to  make  her 
interests  respected ;  for,  what  >>'«■  receive  from 
other  nations  are  but  luxurie;'  In  ;y,  which,  if 
we  choose  to  throw  aside,  we  x  .Id  deprive  part 
of  the  manufacturers  of  tl    .-e  .uxuries,  of  even 


"Mr.  Madison,  after  some  general  oiy  ::Ta- 
tions  on  the  report,  entered  into  a  more  particu- 
lar consideration  of  the  subject.     He  remarked 


bread,  if  we  are  forced  '  .J  contest  ol  liii- 
denial.  This  being  the  u-ie.  our  country  may 
make  her  enemies  feel  the  i.xn;nt  of  her  power 


ANNO  1830.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


151 


States  ia  not, 
>ting  to  which, 
it  is  entitled, 
us  to  the  adop- 
Dnflicting  sys- 
tes.    The  then 

0  thatconven- 
it  parts  of  the 
some  gtn.Tu' 
nmeice,  whioh 
irati'!(i,'t<>  tlio 

»SI'"VS   FiiiUlil 

the  Iritnii  hip 
■who  V'cifc  tlia- 

mntiioiai  cw 

been  the  result 

purs  .v.il  ever 

;iiation  of  oiir 

1  which  we  find 
iriment,  he  ob- 
it on  the  Uiii- 
oiUii  not  now 
so  objects,  for 
r..>at  degroein- 
ti,  firmness  n\ 
U'jw  necessary 
■  the  sphere  of 

wlio  see  proper 
•ocity. 

'"  the  probable 
ii-ihing  like  the 
A-ould  produce, 
;  many  articles 

would  enable 
y  ii.s  with  those 
case  the  encou- 
luce  within  our- 
n  an  equitable 
uce ;  we  should 
1  on  equal  terms, 
Ivant.iges  which 
le  entitle  us  to, 
igeous  situation 
1  in,  considering 
turns,  Jur  ex- 
e  must  employ 
}  nearly  all  our 
cessaries  of  life, 
e  manufacturers 
iry,  the  chief  of 
luntrics,  we  can 
bstitutes. 
nited  States,  he 
ral  rights,  with- 
in the  equitable 
r  doing  no  more 
•otection  of  their 
me,  to  make  her 
\f/v.  receive  from 
.  to  U-;  which,  if 
■ild  deprive  part 
iuxuries,  of  even 

contest  of  ,'cif- 
lur  country  may 
nt  of  her  power 


We  stand,  with  respect  to  the  nation  exporting 
those  hixuries,  in  the  relation  of  an  opulent  in- 
dividual to  the  laborer,  in  producing  the  super- 
fluities for  his  accommodation ;  the  former  can 
do  without  these  luxuries,  the  consumption  of 
which  gives  bread  to  the  latter. 

"  Jle  did  not  propose,  or  wi.sh  that  the  United 
States  should,  at  present,  go  .so  far  in  the  line 
which  his  resolutions  point  to,  as  they  might  go. 
T!;o  extent  to  which  the  principles  involved  in 
tl.'O.se  resolutions  should  be  carried,  will  depend 
U)  on  filling  up  the  blanks.  To  go  the  very  ex- 
tt-iii  of  tho  principle  immediately,  might  be  in- 
c  nvenient.  He  wi.'.hcd,  only,  that  the  Legi.sla- 
t'lre  should  mark  out  the  ground  on  which  we 
think  we  can  stand ;  perhaps  it  may  produce 
the  effect  wished  for,  without  unnecessary  irrita- 
tion; we  need  not  at  first,  go  every  length. 

"  Another  consideration  would  induce  him,  he 
fiaid,  to  be  moderate  in  filling  up  the  blanks — 
not  to  wound  public  credit.  He  did  not  wish  to 
risk  any  sensible  diminution  of  the  public  revenue. 
He  believed  that  if  the  blanks  were  filled  with 
judgment,  the  diminution  of  the  revenue,  from  a 
diminution  in  the  quantity  of  imports,  would  be 
counterbalanced  by  the  increase  in  the  duties. 
"  The  last  resolution  he  had  proposed,  he  said, 
in  a  manner,  distinct  from  the  rest.     The 


IS,  .      .  ,  .... 

aation  is  bound  by  the  most  sacred  obligation, 
he  conceived,  to  protect  the  rights  of  its  citizens 
against  a  violation  of  them  from  any  quarter ;  or, 
if  they  cannot  protect,  they  are  bound  to  repay 
the  damage. 

"  It  is  a  fact  authenticated  to  this  House  by 
communications  from  tho  Executive,  that  there 
are  regulations  established  by  .some  European 
nations,  contrary  to  the  law  of  nation,s,  by  which 
our  property  is  seized  and  disposed  of  in  such  a 
way  that  damages  have  accrued.  AVe  are  bound 
either  to  obtain  reparation  for  the  injustice,  or 
compensate  the  damage.  It  is  only  in  the  first 
instance,  no  doubt,  that  the  burden  is  to  be 
thrown  upon  the  United  States.  The  proper  de- 
partment of  govarnment  will,  no  doubt,  take  pro- 
per steps  to  obtain  redress.  The  justice  of  foreign 
nations  will  certainly  not  permit  them  to  deny 
reparation  when  the  breach  of  the  law  of  nations 
evidently  appears ;  at  any  rate,  it  is  just  that  the 
individual  should  not  suffer.  He  believed  the 
amount  of  the  damages  that  would  come  within 
the  meaning  of  this  resolution,  would  not  be  very 
considerable." 

Reproducing  these  views  of  Mr.  Madison,  and 
with  a  desire  to  fortify  myself  with  his  authority, 
the  better  to  produce  a  future  practical  effect,  I 
now  give  the  extract  from  my  own  speech  of 
1830: 

"  Mr.  Benton  said  he  rose  to  ask  the  leave  for 
which  he  gave  notice  on  Friday  last ;  and  in  do- 
ing so,  he  meant  to  avail  himself  of  the  parlia- 
mentary rule,  seldom  foiiowed  here,  but  familiar 

m  the  place  from  whence  we  drew  our  rules 

the  British  Pn'  liaraent — and  strictly  right  and 


proper,  when  an}-  thing  new  or  unusual  is  to  be 
proposed,  to  state  the  clauses,  and  make  an  ex- 
position of  the  principles  of  his  bill,  before  he 
submitted  the  formal  motion  for  leave  to  bring 
it  in. 

•'  The  tenor  of  it  is,  not  to  abolLsh,  but  to  pro- 
vide for  the  abolition  of  duties.     This  phrase- 
ology announces,  that  something  in  addition  to 
the  statute — s'  me  power  in  addition  to  that  of 
the  legislature,  is  to  be  concerned   in  accom- 
plishing the  abolition.    Then  the    duties    for 
abolition  are  described  as  unnecessary  ones ; 
and  under  this  idea  is  included  the  twofold  con- 
ception, that  they  are  useless,  either  for  the  pro- 
tection of  domestic  industry,  or  for  supplying 
the  treasury  with  revenue.    The  relief  of  the 
people  from  sixteen  millions  of  taxes  is  based 
upon  the  idea  of  an  abolition  of  twelve  millions 
of  duties ;  the  additional  four  millions  being  the 
merchant's  profit  uiwn  the  duty  ho  advances ; 
which  profit  the  people  pay  as  a  part  of  the  tax, 
though  the  government  never  receives  it.     It  is 
the  merchant's  compensation  for  advancing  the 
duty,  and  is  the  same  as  his  profit  upon  the 
goods.    The  improved  condition  of  the  four  great 
branches  of  national  industry  is  presented  as  the 
thiid  object  of  the  bill;  and  their  relative  im- 
portance, in  my  estimation,  classes  itself  accord- 
ing to  the  order  of  my  arrangement.    Agricul- 
ture, as  furnishing  the  means  of  .subsistence  to 
man,  and  a.s  the  foundation  of  every  thing  else, 
is  put  foremost;   manufactures,   as  preparing 
and  fitting  things  for  our  use,  stands  second  •, 
cornmerce,  us  exchanging   the  superfluities  of 
different  countries,  comes  next ;  and  navigation, 
as  furnishing  the  chief  means  of  carrying  on 
commerce,  closes    the  list  of   the  four  great 
branches  of  national  industry.     Though  classed 
according  to  their  respective  importance,  neither 
branch  is  disparaged.     They  are  all  great  inter- 
ests—all connected— all  dependent  upon  each 
other — friends  in  their  nature — for  a  long  time 
friends  in  fact,  under  the  operations  of  our  go- 
vernment :  and  only  made  enemies  to  each  o'.,her, 
as  they  now  are  by  a  course  of  legislation,  which 
the  approaching  extinguishment  of  the  public 
debt  presents  a  fit  opportunity  for  reforming 
and  ameliorating.     The  title  of  my  bill  declares 
the  intention  of  the  bill  to  improve  the  condition 
of  each  of  them.     The  abolition  of  sixteen  mil- 
lions of  taxes  would  itself  operate  a  great  im- 
provement in  the  condition  of  each  ;  but  the  in- 
tention of  the  bill  is  not  limited  to  that  inciden- 
tal and  consequential  improvement,  great  as  it 
may  be ;  it  proposes  a  positive,  direct,  visible, 
tangible,   and  countable  benefit  to  each;  and 
this  I  shall  prove  and  demonstrate,  not  in  this 
brief  illustration  of  the  title  of  mv  bill,  but  at 
the  proper  places,  in  the  course  of  "the  examina- 
tion   into  its  provisions  and  exposition  of  its 
principles. 

"I  will  now-  proceed  with  the  bill,  reading  each 
section  in  its  order,  and  making  the  remarks 
upon  it  which  are  necessary  to  explain  its  object 
and  to  illustrate  its  operation. 


I 


i 


t.    ff 


t  r 


•^fei 


152 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


"I 


The  First  Section. 

*'  That,  for  the  term  of  ten  years,  from  and  af- 
ter the  first  day  of  January,  in  tlie  year  1832, 
or,  as  soon  thereafter  as  may  be  agreed  upon 
between  the  United  States  and  any  foreign  pow- 
er, the  duties  now  payable  on  the  importation  of 
the  following  articles,  or  such  of  them  as  may  be 
agreed  upon,  shall  cea.so  and  d  ^ermine,  or  be 
reduced,  in  favor  of  such  countries  cS  sliall,  liy 
treaty,  grant  equivalent  advantages  to  tlie  agri- 
culture, manufactures,  commerce,  and  navigation, 
of  the  United  States. 

"  This  section  contains  the  principle  of  abolish- 
ing duties  by  the  joint  act  of  tiie  legislative  and 
executive  departments.  The  idea  of  equiva- 
lents, which  the  section  also  presents,  is  not 
new,  but  has  for  its  sanction  high  and  venerated 
authority,  of  which  I  shall  not  fail  to  avail  my- 
self That  we  ought  to  have  equivalents  for 
abolishing  ten  or  twelve  millions  of  duties  on 
foreign  merchandise  is  most  clear.  Such  an 
abolition  will  be  an  advantage  to  foreign  powers, 
for  which  they  ought  to  compensate  us,  by  ro- 
ducing  duties  to  an  equal  amount  upon  our  pro- 
ductions. This  is  what  no  law,  or  separate  act 
of  our  own,  can  command.  Amicable  arrange- 
ments alone,  with  foreign  owers,  can  effect  it ; 
and  to  free  such  arrangements  from  serious,  per- 
haps insuperable  difficulties,  it  would  be  neces- 
sary first  to  lay  a  foundation  for  them  in  an  act 
of  Congress.  This  is  what  rny  bill  proposes  to 
do.  It  proposes  that  Congress  shall  select  the 
articles  for  abolition  of  duty,  and  then  leave  it  to 
the  Executive  to  extend  the  provisions  of  the  act 
to  such  powers  as  will  grant  us  equivalent  ad- 
vantages. The  articles  enumerated  for  abolition 
of  duty  are  of  kinds  not  made  in  the  United 
States,  so  that  my  bill  presents  no  ground  of 
alarm  or  uneasiness  to  any  branch  of  domestic 
industry. 

"  The  acquisition  of  equivalents  is  a  striking 
feature  in  the  plan  which  I  propose,  and  for  that 
I  ha^e  the  authority  of  him  whose  opinions  will 
never  be  invoked  in  vain,  while  republican  prin- 
ciples have  root  in  our  soil.  I  speak  of  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson, and  of  his  report  on  the  commerce  and 
ncvigation  of  the  United  States,  in  the  year  '93, 
an  extract  from  which  I  will  read." 

The  Extract. 

"  Such  being  the  restrictions  on  the  commerce 
and  navigation  of  the  United  States,  the  question 
is,  in  what  way  they  may  best  be  removed,  mod- 
ified, or  counteracted  ? 

"As  to  commerce,  two  methods  occur.  1. 
By  friendly  arrangements  with  the  several  na- 
tions with  whom  these  restrictions  exist :  or,  2. 
By  the  separate  act  of  our  own  legislatures,  for 
countervailing  their  effects. 

"  There  can  be  no  doubt,  but  that,  of  these 
two,  friendly  arrangements  is  the  most  eligible. 
Instead  of  embarrassing  commerce  under  piles 
of  regulating  laws,  duties,  and  prohibitions,  could 
it  be  relieved  from  all  its  shackles,  in  all  parts 


of  the  world — could  every  country  be  emplojcd 
in  producing  that  whi<;h  nature  has  best  fitted  it 
to  produce,  and  each  be  free  to  exchange  with 
othera  mutual  surplusses,  for  mutual  wants, 
the  greatest  mass  possible  would  then  be  pro- 
duccd,  of  those  things  which  contribute  to  hu- 
man life  and  human  happiness,  the  numbers  of 
mankind  would  bo  increased,  and  their  condition 
bettered. 

"  Woidd  even  a  single  nation  begin  with  the 
United  States  this  system  of  fi'ee  conmierce,  it 
would  be  advisable  to  begin  it  with  that  nation ; 
since  it  is  one  by  one  only  that  it  can  be  extend- 
ed to  all.  Wiiere  the  circumstances  of  either 
party  render  it  expedient  to  levy  a  revenue,  by 
way  of  impost  on  commerce,  its  freedom  mi)i;ht 
be  modified  in  that  particular,  by  mutual  and 
equivalent  measures,  preserving  it  entire  in  all 
others. 

"  Some  nations,  not  yet  ripe  for  free  com- 
merce, in  all  its  extent,  might  be  willing  to  mol- 
lify its  restrictions  and  regulations,  for  us,  in 
proportion  to  the  advantages  which  an  inter- 
course with  us  might  offer.  Particularly  they 
may  concur  with  us  in  reciprocating  the  duties 
to  be  levied  on  each  side,  or  in  compensating  any 
excess  of  duty,  by  equivalent  advantaj^es  of 
another  nature.  Our  commerce  is  certainly  of 
a  character  to  entitle  it  to  favor  in  most  coun- 
tries. The  commodities  we  offer  are  either  ne- 
cessaries of  life,  or  materials  for  manufacture,  or 
convenient  subjects  of  revenue ;  and  we  take  in 
exchange  either  manufactures,  when  they  have 
received  the  last  finish  cf  art  and  industry,  or 
mere  luxuries.  Such  customers  may  reasonably 
expect  welcome  and  friendly  treatment  at  every 
market — customers,  too,  whose  demands,  increas- 
ing with  their  wealth  and  population,  nuist  very 
shortly  give  full  employment  to  the  whole  indus- 
try of  any  nation  whatever,  in  any  line  of  supply 
they  may  get  into  the  habit  of  calling  for  from  it. 

"  But,  should  any  nation,  contrary  to  our 
wishes,  suppose  it  may  better  find  its  advantage 
by  continuing  its  system  of  prohibitions,  daHes, 
and  regulations,  it  behooves  us  to  protec.  oar 
citizens,  their  commerce  and  navigation,  by 
counter  prohibitions,  duties,  and  regulations, 
also.  Free  commerce  and  navigation  are  not  to 
be  given  in  exchange  for  restrictions  and  vexa- 
tions ;  nor  are  they  likely  to  produce  a  relaxa- 
tion of  them." 

"  The  plan  which  I  now  propose  adopts  the 
idea  of  equivalents  and  retaliation  to  the  whole 
extent  recommended  by  Mr.  Jefferson.  It  dif- 
fers from  his  plan  in  two  features :  first,  in  the 
mode  of  proceeding,  by  founding  the  treaties 
abroad  upon  a  legislative  act  at  home ;  secondly, 
in  combining  protection  with  revenue,  in  select- 
ing articles  of  exception  to  the  system  of  free 
trade.  This  degree  of  protection  he  admitted 
himself,  at  a  later  period  of  his  life.  It  corres- 
ponds with  the  recommendation  of  I're.sideut 
Washington  to  Congress,  in  the  year  '90,  and 
with  that  of  our  present  Chief  Magistrate,  to 


ourselves, 

session  of 

"  I  will 

fit  which 

abolition  < 

all  the  art 

one  third, 

them.    L( 

and  then  1 

pays  out  ii 

deduct  nee 

average  of 

eluded,  wi 

him.    Thi 

one  branc 

To  this  mi 

to  secure 

the  two  be 

diases  at  1 

abroad,  wil 

tages  whicl 

"Lotus 

manufactur 

better  marl 

time.    Whi 

facts  reply, 

shillings  st 

which  is  ter 

equivalent  t 

visions ;  anc 

ly  taxes,  ev 

send  to  hei 

subject  to  a 

king  the  sol 

to  the  nece 

agents  will  f 

other  article 

a  transit  du 

ascend  the  I 

the  interior. 

great  provisii 

usually  pay 

our    bacon, 

pound;  live  ] 

meal,  lumbe: 

every  thing 

the  different 

or  exceeding 

United  State 

millions  of  t 

manufactures 

assumed  that 

the  shape  of 

these  exports 

agriculture. 

condition.    Ii 

home  lemand 

foreign  marke 

strictions,  per 

duties,  wherev 

exported  entit 

Jn  the  list  of  e 

1828  was  aboi 

ing  domestic  c 

of  dollars  J  soj 


ANNO  1880.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


153 


ourselves,  at  the  commencement  of  the  present 
session  of  Congress. 

"  I  will  not  now  stop  to  dilate  iiix)n  the  bene- 
fit which  will  result  to  every  family  from  an 
abolition  of  (li:ties  which  will  enable  them  to  get 
all  the  articles  enumerated  in  my  bill  for  about 
one  third,  or  one  half  less,  than  is  now  paid  for 
them.    Let  any  one  read  over  the  list  of  articles 
and  then  look  to  the  sum  total  which   ho  now- 
pays  out  annually  for  them,  and  from  that  sum 
deduct  near  fifty  per  cent.,  which  is  about  the 
average  of  the  duties  and  merchant's  profit  in- 
cluded, with  which  they  now  come  charged  to 
him.     This  deduction  will   be  his  .saving  under 
one  branch  of  my  plan— the  abolition  clause. 
To  this  must  be  added  the  gain  under  the  clause 
to  secure  equivalents  in  foreign  markets,  and 
the  two  bemg  added  together,  the  saving  in  pur- 
chases at  home  being  add>jd  to  the  gain  in  sales 
abroad,  wdl  give  the  true  measure  of  the  advan- 
tages which  my  plan  presents. 

"Let  us  now  see  whether  the  agriculture  and 
manufactures  of  the  United  States  do  not  require 
better  markets  abroad  than  they  possess  at  this 
tmie.     What  is  the  state  of  these  markets'?    Let 
facts  reply.     England  imposes  a  duty  of  three 
shillings  sterling  a  pound  upon  our  tobacco 
which  IS  ten  times  its  value.     She  imposes  duties 
equivalent  to  prohibition  on  our  grain  and  pro- 
visions ;  and  either  totally  excludes,  or  enormous- 
ly taxes,  every  article,  except  cotton,  that  we 
send  to  her  ports.     In  France,  our  tobacco  is 
subject  to  a  royal  monopoly,  which  makes  the 
king  the  sole  purchaser,  and  subjects  the  seller 
to  the  necessity  of  taking  the  price  which  his 
agents  will  give.    In  Germany,  our  tobacco,  and 
other  artic  es,  arc  heavily  dutied,  and  liabie  to 
a  transit  duty,  in  addition,  when  they  have  to 
ascend  the  Rhine,  or  other  rivers,  to  penetrate 
the  interior.    In  the  West  Indies,  which  is  our 
great  provision  market,  our  beef,  pork,  and  flour 
usually  pay  fiom  eight  to  ten  dollars  a  barrel : 
our    bacon,  from   ten  to   twenty-five   cents  a 
pound;  live  hogs,  eight  dollars  each;  corn,  corn- 
meal,  lumber,    whiskey,   fruit,  vegetables,  and 
every  thing  else,  m  proportion;  the  duties  in 
the  different  islands,  on  an  average,  equalling 

mn  ni  f  t'"  Y-""  *=''P°'"*  ^^°"t  forty-five 
millions  of  domestic  productions,  exclusive  of 
manufactures,  annually;  and  it  may  be  safely 
^sumed  that  we  have  to  pay  near  that  sum  il 

he  shape  of  duties,  for  the  privilege  of  selling 
these  exports  in  foreign  markets.  So  much  for 
agriculture.  Our  manufactures  are  in  ™he  same 
iZo  r*  f  "^"y  branches  they  have  met  the 
home  lemand,  and  are  going  abroad  in  search  of 

reign  markets.  They  meet  with  vexatious  re- 
strictions, peremptory  exclusions,  or  oppressive 
ov  r/  ''?''T:r  '\'y  K°-  ^he  quantity  Edy 
n  ?h S^.'"  '^''"  *'*'™  *«  "^"°"^1  consideratS 

2  was.?:?r'''-  -7,^'''  ^^^'^'^  ^-J"^  fc"; 
,v    ,  '"^^^  f.^°"t  ''ve  millions  of  dollars,  compris- 

oTi?"l'^""«"!'  *°  th°  »°>0"nt  of' a  Son 


QfddUr7  Zr      2'       ,,    »™""nt  ot  a  million 
W  doUarb ;  soap  and  candles,  to  the  value  of  nine 


liundred   thousand   dollars;   boots,   shoos    and 
saddlery,  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  ;'hat« 
three  hundred  thousand  dollars ;  cabinet,  coach' 
and  other  wooden  work,  six  hundred  thousand 
c  0  ars  ;  glass  and  iron,  three  hundred  thousand 
dollars;   and    numerous  smaller  items.      This 
large  amount  of  manufactures  pays  their  value 
in  some  instances  more,  for  the  privilege  of  being 
sold  abroad;  and,  what  is  worse,  they  are  totally 
excluded  from  several  countries  from  which  wc 
buy  largely.     Such  restrictions  and  impositions 
are  highly  injurious  to  our  manufactures;  and 
It  IS  mcontcstably  true,  the  amount  of  exports 
prove  It,  that  what  most  of  them  now  need  is  not 
more  protection  at  homo,  but  a  better  market 
abroad ;  and  it  is  one  of  the  objects  of  this  bill  to 
obtain  such  a  market  for  them. 

"It  appears  to  me  [said  Mr.  B.]  to  be  a  fair 
and  practicable  plan,  combining  the  advantages 
of  legislation  and  negotiation,  and  avoiding  the 
objections  to  each.     It  consults  the  sense  of  the 
people,  m  leaving  it  to  their  Representatives  to 
say  on  what  articles  duties  shall  be  abolished  for 
their  relief;  on  what  they  shall  be  retained  for 
protection  and  revenue;  it  then  secures  the  ad- 
vantage of  obtaining  equivalents,  by  referring  it 
to  the  Executive  to  extend  the  benefit  of  the  ab- 
olition to  such  nations  as  shall  reciprocate  the 
favor,     lo  such  as  will  not  reciprocate,  it  leaves 
every  thing  as  it  now  stands.     The  success  of 
this  plan  can  hardly  bo  doubted.     It  addresses 
tsell  to  the  two  most  powerful  passions  of  the 
human  heart— interest  and  fear;  it  applies  itself 
to  the  strongest  principles  of  human  action- 
profit  and  loss.    For,  there  is  no  nation  with 
whom  we  trade  but  will  be  benefited  by  the  in- 
creased trade  of  her  staple  productions,  which 
will  result  from  a  free  trade  in  such  productions; 
none  that  would  not  be  crippled  by  the  loss  of 
such  a  trade,  which  loss  would  be  the  immediate 
ettect  of  rejecting  our  system.     Our  position  en- 
ables us  to  command  the  commercial  system  of 
the  globe ;  to  mould  it  to  our  own  plan,  for  the 
bcneht  of  the  world  and  ourselves.    The  ao- 
proaching  extinction  of  the  public  debt  puts  it  in- 
to our  power  to  abolish  twelve  millions  of  duties 
and  to  set  free  more  than  one-half  of  our  entire 
commerce.    We  should  not  forego,  nor  lose  the 
advantages  of  such  a  position.    It  occurs  but  sel- 
dom  in  the  life  of  a  nation,  and  once  missed,  is 
irretrievably  gone,  to  the  generation,  at  least,  that 
saw  and  neglected  the  golden  opportunity.     We 
have  complained,  and  justly,  of  the  burthens 
upon  our  exports  in  foreign  countries ;  a  part  of 
our  tariff  system  rests  upon  the  principle  of  reta- 
liation for  the  injury  thus  done  us.     Retaliation, 
heretofore,  has  been  our  only  resource :  but  re- 
ciprocity of  mjuries  is  not  the  way  to  enrich  na- 
tions any  more  than  individuals.     It  is  an  '  un- 
profitable  contest,'  under  every  aspect.     But 
the  present  conjuncture,  pavment.  of  the  nuhlic 
debt,  in  Itself  a  rare  and  almost  unprecedented 
occurrence  in  the  history  of  nations,  enables  us 
to  enlarge  our  system ;  to  present  a  choice  of  al- 
ternatives:  one  fraught  with  relief,  the  other 


lii] 
'f  T 


■E-' 


li:' 


154 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


i        ' 


presontinc  a  burthen  to  foit^pn  nations.     The 
participation, or  exchisioii  from  forty  millions  of 
free  trade,  annually  increaHinp;,  would  not  admit 
of  a  second  thought,  in  the  head  of  any  nation 
with  which  we  trade.     To  say  nothing  of  her 
gains  in  the  participation  in  su  h  a  coinmerre, 
what  would  he  her  loss  in  the  exclusion  from  it? 
How  would  England,  France,  or  Germany,  bear 
the  loss  of  their  linen,  silk,  or  wine  trade,  with  ! 
the  United  States?     How  could  Tuba,  St.   Do- 
mingo, or  Brazil,  bear  the  loss  of  their  roirou  f  idu 
with  us  ?     They  could  not  bear  it  at  all      i/eeji 
and  essential  injury,  ruin  of  indu.stry  soditiont*, 
and  bloodshed,  and  the  overthrow  of  adininistra- 
tions,  would  be  the  consequence  of  such  loss. 
Yet  such  loss  would  be  inevitable  (and  not  to 
the  few  nations,  or  in  the  articles  only    v  hich  I 
have  mentioned,  for  I  have  put  a  few  mstances 
only  by  way  of  example),  but  to  every  nation 
with  whom  we  trade,  that  would  not  fail  into 
our  system,  and  througliout  the  whole  list  of  es- 
sential articles  to  which  our  abolition  extends. 
Our  present  heavy  duties  would  continue  in  force 
against  such  nations;  thev  Mould  be  abolished 
in  favor  of  their  rivals.     \\  <■  would  say  to  them, 
in  the  language  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  free  trade  and 
navigation  is  not  to  be  ti'  on  in  exchange  for  re- 
strictions   and   vexatious!      But   I    feel   entire 
confidence  that  it  would  not  be  necessary  to  use 
the  language  of  menace  or  coercion.     Amicable 
representations,  addressed  to  their  ,-ense  of  self- 
interest,  would  be  more  agreeable,  and  not  less 
effectual.     The  plan  cannot  fail !     It  is  scart«ly 
within  the  limits  of  possibility  that  it  should 
fail !     And  if  it  did,  what  then  1    We  have  lost 
nothing.     We  remain  as  wo  were.     Our  present 
duties  are  still  in  force,  and  CougT'-ss  can  act 
upon  them  one  or  two  years  hence,  in  any  way 
they  please. 

"  Here,  then,  is  the  peculiar  r'icommendation  i 
to  my  plan,  that,  while  it  .seaires  a  chance,  little  j 
short  of  absolute  certainty,     f  procurin-  an  abo- 1 
lition  of  twelve  millions  of  duties  upon  our  ex-  j 
ports  in  foreign  countries,  in  return  for  an  aboli-  j 
tion  of  twelve  nyllions  of  duties  upon  imports 
from  them,  ii  exposes  nothing  to  risk  ;  tLi    'bo- 
lition  of  duty  upon  the  foreign  article  here  Imng 
contingent  upon  the  acquisition  of  the  equivalent 
advantage  abroad. 

"I  close  this  exposition  of  the  principle'  of 
my  bill  with  the  single  remark,  that  these  treati-'s 
for  the  mutual  abolition  of  duties  should  be  for 
limited  terms,  say  for  seven  or  ten  years,  to  give 
room  for  the  modifications  which  time,  and  the 
varying  pursuits  of  industry,  may  show  to  be 
necessary.  Upon  this  idea,  the  bill  is  framed, 
and  the  period  of  ten  years  inserted  by  way  of 
suggestion  and  exemplification  of  the  plan.  Ano- 
ther feature  is  too  obvious  to  need  a  remark,  that 
the  time  for  tlr  commencement  of  the  abolition 
of  duties  is  left  to  the  Executive,  who  can  ac- 
commodate it  to  the  state  of  the  revenue  and  the 
extinction  of  the  public  debt." 

The  plan  which  I  proposed  in  this  speech  adopt- 


ed the  principle  of  Mr.  Madison's  resolutions, 

but  reversed  theii   action.     Tho  discrimination 

which  ho  proposed  was  a  levy  of  five  or  ten  pur 

cent,  more  on  the  imp'  -ts  from  countries  which 

did  notentor  into  our  pn'i'tsitions  for  reciprocity; 

my  plan,  as  being  the  same  thing  in  substance, 

and  less  invidious  iu  form,  wu^  a  levy  of  five  or 

vi.  M  •    cent,  less  on  the  commerce  of  the  rccip- 

1    I  ati",'!,    latlons — thereby   holding  out  .an  in- 

'  1  11   1)1  ,ut  and  a  benefit,  instead  of  a  threat  and 

a  penalty. 


CH  APTEK    XL  V  III. 

ALUM  SALT.  THE  ABOLITION  OF  THE  DUTY  UPON 
IT,  AND  REPEAL  OF  THE  FISHING  BOUNTY  AND 
ALLOWANCES  FOUNDED  ON  IT. 


I  LOOK  upon  a  salt  tax  as  a  curse — as  some- 
thing worse  than  a  political  blunder,  great  as 
that  is— as  an  impiety,  in  stinting  the  use,  and 
enhancing  the  cost  by  taxation,  of  an  article 
which  God  has  made  necessary  to  the  health  and 
comfort,  and  almost  to  the  life,  of  every  animat- 
ed being— the  poor  dumb  animal  which  can  only 
manifest  its  wants  in  mute  signs  and  frantic  ac- 
tions, as  well  as  the  rational  and  speakin;     ,: 
who  can  thank  the  (Creator  for  his  goodness,  and 
curse  the   legislator  that   mars  its  enjoyment. 
There  is  a  mystery  in  salt.     It  was  use,  in  holy 
sacrifice  from  the  earliest  day  ;  and  i  j  this  time 
in  the  Oriental  countries,  the  '  *  -anger  lodging  in 
the  houi-o,  cannot  kill  or  rob  while  in  it,  after  lit 
I  has  tasted  the  master's  salt.    The  disciples  of 
Christ  were  ca     d  by  their  master  the  saltof  the 
ea/th.    Sacrr      nd  profane  history  abound  'fl in- 
stances of  peijple  refusing   to  fight  against  the 
kings  who  had  given  them  salt :  and  this  myste- 
rious deference  for  an  article  po  essential  to  man 
and  beast  tak.s  it  out  of  tlic  class  -..f  ordinary 
productions,  and  carrii  s  it  up  close  to  those  vi- 
tal elements— '  r<   J,  water,  fire,  air— which  Pro- 
vidence 1  vs  made  esbontial  to  life,  and  spnail 
every  wl'     ',  th:       raving  nature    i"iy  find  its 
supply  >'    iiou        int,  and  withou    tax.    The 
venerable  Mr.  Ma-oon  considered  n     It  tax  in: 
sacrilegious  point  '■(  view— as  break;      a  sacred 
law— and  fough'   against  ours   as  long  as  his 
public  life  lasted;  and  I,  his  disciple,  not  discs- 
teemed  by  him,  commenced  iighlmg  by  his  side 
against  the  odious  imposition;  and  have contin- 


s  resolutions, 
Jiscriinination 
Ivo  or  ten  per 
untricH  wliich 
ir  reciprocity : 
in  substance, 
levy  of  live  or 
'  of  the  rccip- 
5  out  .an  in- 
a  threat  and 


III. 

IE  DUTY  UPON 
J  BOUNTY  AND 


irsc — as  sonie- 
nder,  great  >, 
g  the  use,  ami 
of  an  article 
the  health  and 
every  aiiiinat- 
which  can  only 
1  and  frantic  ac- 

speakiii 
s  goodness,  and 
its  enjoyment. 
'as  11  si",  in  holy 
,nd  t  I  this  timf 
ingcr  lodging  ir 
lu  in  it,  after  lit 
Che  disciples  of 
;r  the  salt  of  the 
ry  aboum'.  ''a  in- 
ght  against  the 
and  this  myste- 
essential  to  man 
lass  of  ordinary 
ose  to  those  vi- 
air— whif 'i  Pro- 
life,  and  sprcil 
'e    ti^ny  find  its 
houi  tax.    The 
sd  !i    'It  tax  in 
reakij      a  sacred 
as  long  8s  his 
isciple,  not  disos- 
htiiig  by  his  side 
and  have  contin- 


ANNO  1880.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


ued  it  since  his  death,  and  shall  continue  it  un- 
til the  tax  censes,  or  my  political  life  tenninates. 
Many  are  my  speechoM,  and  reiwrts,   against  it 
in  my  .senatorial  life  of  thirty  years ;  and  omong 
other  speeches,  one  limited   to  a  particular  kind 
of  salt  not  made  in  the  United  States,  and  indis- 
pens.t.Ie  to  dried  or  pickled  pr.^visions.     This  is 
the  all!   1  salt,  made  by  solar  evaporation  out  of 
sea  wttU  r ;  and  being  a  kind  not  produced  at 
horn.',  mdhspensablo  and   incapable  of  substitute. 
It  had  a  legitimate  r'aim  to  exemption  from  thJ 
canons  of  the  Amerir.in  system.     That  system 
protc(  cd    homemade   fire-boiled  common   salt 
because  It  had  a  foreign  rival:  wo  had   no  sun- 
made  crystallized  salt  at  home;  and  therefore  had 
nothing  to  protect  in  taxing  the  foreign  art-cle 
I  had  fail    l-wo  had  all  failed-in  our  attempts 
to  abolish  the  salt  tax  generally:    I  determined 
to  attempt  the  abolition  of  the  alum  salt  duty  se- 
parately; and  with  it,  the  fishing  bounties  and 
allowances   founded   upon    it:    and   brought   a 
bill  into  the  Senate  to  accomplish  that  object 
The  fishing  bounties  and  allowances  being  claim- 
ed by  souir,  as  a  bounty      navigation  (in  which  ' 
point  of  view  the   would  oe  as  uncon.stitutional 
as  unjust),  I  was  under  the  necessity  of  tracing 
their  origin,  as  being  founded  on  the  id.     of  a 
drawlu, k  of  the  duty  paid  on  the  salt  put  upon 
the  exported  HWed  or  pickled  fish-commencin.^ 
with  the  ..It  tax,  a-  '  ad;   .ted  to  the  amount  of 
the  tax-riGing  with       iucrea.se  and  falling  with 
■tsfall-and  tluit,  inth.    -eginning  allowed  to  the 
exportation  .         .kled    beef  nnd  pork,  to  the 
samedegre^     am  upo,       .esai;     principle  that 


155 


the  hountie,-,  a.- ■?  allc 
the  fisheries.      In  the  oi, 
purpose,  I  spoke  as  follows 


w  le  (•   tended  to 
'uced   for  this 


nf '1?  ^^  ■•'*'  ^^^  ^^?^^^^  "'"^  supposed  necessity 
of  rehearsing  me  a  lecture  upon  the  importam 
of  the  fashc.  ,e.s,  I  wUl  premise  that  I  ffve  somo 
acquaintance  with  the  subject-that  I  know  t"  o 
duce''?bi"  ^"  ""^""'^'?'  f""-  th«  f«°d  they  pro- 
fh-vi  r™"',*'^'^  '''"''^  the  mMers 
sans  i^tf  -t?  «^mployment  they  give  to  arti- 
sans m  tin  ouildmg of  vessels;  andthecons.  np- 
ties^f  ^'^''™'  '^Pl^'""'^  ^^^  the  boun- 
ties, at  the  commencement  of  our  present  r^n,. 

m::t!^:i^  '''''''  *^^  ^~^"*''^'  -« "<>  ^r 

and  't       H  ^"'-•""i-ag^mer  i  of  navigation 

St  if  th^''{K-^'''«  ^^'°'^  *''^™  »Pon  the  re- 
ferl/  ol"?  ^''''[^'y  °f  State  (Mr.  Jef- 
ier.-,on).        al.so  know  that  our  ^=shii  -   '-   -m 

t'es  and  dlo.ances  go,  in  no    nar  Ho ?." 

branch  of  fishing    to'^bch  L'Btiti^S     ive 


mo  'i"nty--whaling— because  it  is  the  best 
Ml.'         '■  manners;  and  the  interests  of  nav- 

til  'v*'*'"'  P""':'Ptt'   "lycC   in  promoting 

n^hUi,.  No  part  of  our  bounties  and  allow- 
a!..^es  go  to  our  whale  ships,  becuu.sc  they  do 
not  consume  foreign  salt  on  which  they  havo 
paid  duty,  and  reclaim  it  as  drawback.  I  havo 
also  read  the  six  dozen  acts  of  Congress,  general 
and  particular  pa..Hcd  in  the  la.st  forty 'y ears- 

tLTan;.  nV°  ^''^  '"<^>Vrely-giving^li.  boun- 
ties and  allowances  which  it  is  my  present  pur- 
pose to  abohsh,  with  the  alum  .salt  dut/on 
which  al  t  us  superstructure  of  legislative  en- 
actment ,s  bu.lt  up.  I  say  the  salt  tax.  and  ."- 
pecmlly  the  tax  on  alum  salt  (which  is  the  kind 
required  for  the  fisheries)  i.s  L  fo.indation  of 
all  these  bounties  and  allowances ;  and  that  as 
hey  grew  up  together,  it  is  fair  and  regular  that 
they  should  sink  and  fall  together.  I  recite  a 
dozenof  the  acts:  thus:  ^   rtcito  a 

M.  Act  of  Congress  1789,  grants  five  cents 
a  barrel  on  pickled  fls/i  and' salted  provisions 
^l^'T'AV'''"'^  °"  ^™''  «sh  ex;orte3 
I  fho  H.  ff «  """'  ^l^^'l"'  ''*>"  «'■  "  drawback  of 
(  the  duties  imposed  on  the  importation  of  the  .salt 

I       <  J Vt\"^  ^"'^'^  ^^h  ""'J  provisions. 
I  bushei.         ^^^  *""  '*'''  "*  ^^**  *""'''  ^'"^  ''•^'^ts  a 
"  \  Act  of  1790  increases  the  bounty  in  lieu  of 
drawback  to  ten  cents  a  barrel  on  pickle     lish 

5?fed"fsh'^ir'",^f ' ''''  'r  ^^"t«  -^^tJt 

fo^twelJ^con^^at^lS"^'  '^'"^  "'^"  ^^-^ 

"  \  Act  of  1792  repeals  the  bounty  in  lieu  of 

dra  vback  on  dried  fish,  and  in  lieu  of  tha    and 

thnrir"™"  n*"""  ''"^  equivalent   therefo;.  au- 
thor zes  an  al  owance  to  be  paid  to  vessels  in  the 
cod  fLs^iery  (dried  fish)  at  the  rate  of  one  dollar 
and  fif^  cents  a  ton  on  vessels  of  twenty  to 
thirty  tons;  with  a  limitation  of  one  hundred 
'  a^y  TeS^  '"""'"'^  '''  '^'  ''^^'^''  allowance  to 
J^^'i^  supplementary  act,  of  the  same  year, 
lowancT  ^  ^'  ''"*•  *'  '""''  ^'"^  «^  '^''"^  '^- 
"5.  Act  of  1797  increase's  the  bounty  on  salt- 
ed provisions  to  eighteen  cents' a   barrel      on 
pHjled  fi.sh  to  twenty-two  cents  a   barrel  •'  and 
adds  thirty-three  and  a  third  pe,  cent  to  the  S- 
owance  m  favor  of  the  cod-fishmg  ve';.  °  "  Du 
H  Halt,  at  the  same  time,  being  rai..    jtwen. 
cents  a  bushel.  '        ^  "^° 

^(4U;;i^al^2iS:'::^^£™s 

inotbe-u'ny™''^  V    ^the'seallowSsi 

time  tb^n  tr  ' '"      '""""^'^  ''«r  =1  longer 

'  t'me  than  the  poudent  duties  on  salt   re- 

>ectively.  for  nh,.  he  .said  additional  alow- 

nceswei    granteci  all  1.  navabin 

S.Ac^  of  mi  i  peals  all  laws  laying  a  du- 

on  imported  salt,  and  for  paying  bounties  on 

tlxe  exportation  of  -kled  fi^and  Sd  pro" 


i-i 


i 


156 


THIRTY  YEAIIH'  VIEW. 


I      t. 


TisinnN,  im<l  nmkin)?  iillowanrcs  to  rtshlng  vcbscIh 
—Mr.  Jctlerson  hfiiin  then  President. 

"•J.  Act  of  l«l;5  pven  a  bounty  of  twenty 
cents  a  bnrrel  on  piekled  llsh  exportetl,  iind  al- 
lows to  tlie  co(l-llsl)in);  vcsscIh   at   tlie   rate   of 
two  dollars  and  forty  cents  the  ton  for   vessels 
between  twenty  ami  thirty  tons    four  dollars  a 
ton  for  vessels  above  thirty,  with  a  limitation  of 
two  tmndred  and  seventy-two   dollars   for  the 
high  4  allowance  ;  and  a  proviso,  that  no  boun- 
ty or  allowance  .should  be  paid   unless   it  was 
proved  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  collector  that 
the  fish  was  wholly  cured  with  foreign  salt,  and 
tiio  duty  on  it  secured  or  paid.     The  salt  duty, 
at  the  rate  of  twenty  cents  a  busiiel,  was  re- 
vived as  a  war  tax  at  the  same  time.     Bounties 
on  salted  provisions  were  onntted.  ,,010 

"  10.  Act  of  1810  continued  the  act  of  1«U 


in  force,  which,  being  for  the  war  only,  would 
otherwise  have  expired. 

"11.  Act  of  1819  incrca.'ses  the  allowance  to 
vessels  in  the  cod  fishery  to  three  liars  and 
fifty  cents  a  ton  on  vcs.sels  from  five  to  thirty ; 
to  four  dollars  a  ton  on  vessels  above  thirty  tons ; 
with  a  limitation  of  three  hundred  and  sixty  dol- 
lars for  the  maximinn  allowance. 

"12.  Act  of  1828  authorizes  the  mackerel 
fishing  vessels  to  take  out  licen.ses  like  the  cod- 
fishing  vessels,  under  which  it  is  reported  by 
the  vigilant  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  that  mo- 
ney is  illegally  drawn  by  the  mackerel  vessels— 
the  newsfiapers  say  to  the  amount  of  thirty  to 
fifty  till...  md  dollars  per  annum. 

"These  recitals  of  legislative  enactments  are 
sufficient  to  prove  that  the  fishing  bounties  an.  I 
allowances  are  bottomed  upon  the  salt  duty,  and 
must  stand  or  fall  with  that  duty.  I  will  now 
give  my  reasons  for  proposing  to  abolish  tlie  du- 
ty on  alum  salt,  and  will  do  it  in  the  simplest 
form  of  narrative  statement ;  the  reasons  them- 
selves being  of  a  nature  too  Veighty  and  obvi- 
ous to  need,  or  even  to  admit,  of  coloring  or  ex- 
aggeration from  arts  of  speech. 

"  1.  Because  it  is  an  article  of  indispensable 
necessity  in  the  provision  trade  of  the  United 
States.     No  beef  or  pork  for  the  army  or  navy, 
or  for  consumption  in  the  South,  or  for  exporta- 
tion abroad,  can  be  put  up  except  in  this  kind  of 
salt.    If  put  up  in  common  salt  it  is  rejected 
absolutely  by  the  commissaries  of  the  army  and 
navy,  and  if  taken  to  the  South  must  be  repacked 
in  alum  salt,  at  an  expen.so  of  one  dollar  and 
twelve  and  a  half  cents  a  barrel,  before  it  is  ex- 
ported, or  sold  for  domestic  consumption.    Ihe 
quantity  of  provisions  which  require  tliis  salt,  and 
must  have  it,  is  prodigious,  and  annually  increas- 
ing.   The  exports  of  1828  were,  of  beef  sixty -six 
thousand   barrels,   of  pork  fifty-four  thousand 
barrels,  of  bacon  one  million  nine  hundred  thou- 
sand pounds  weight,  butter  and  cheese  two  mil- 
•:;.-,n  pounds  weight.     The  vahic  of  these  articles 
as  two  millions  and  a  quarter  of  dollars,     lo 
this  amount  must  be  added  the  supply  for  the 
army  and  navy,  and  all  that  was  sent  to  the 
South  for  home  consumption,  every  pound  of 


which  had  to  bo  cured  in  this  kind  of  salt,  fop 
common  salt  will  not  euro  it.  Tho  Western 
country  is  the  great  producer  of  provisions ;  and 
there  is  scarcely  a  farmer  in  the  whole  extent  of 
that  vast  region  whose  interest  does  not  re(|iiiro 
a  prompt  repeal  of  the  duty  on  this  description 

of  salt.  , .    , .         ,  .     , 

'•  2.  Because  no  salt  of  this  kind  is  made  m  the 
United  Slates,  nor  any  rival  to  it,  or  sul).stitut8 
for  it.  It  is  a  foreign  importation,  brought  fi  m 
various  islands  in  the  West  Indies,  belonging  to 
England.  Fi  ance,  Spain,  and  Denmark  ;  and  from 
IJ.sbon,  St.  L'bcs,  Oibraltar,  the  Bay  of  Biscay, 
and  Liverpool.  Tho  principles  of  the  protoctui;? 
sy  in  do  not  extend  to  it:  for  no  quantity  of 
p'l,  Action  can  produce  a  homo  supi)ly.  Tho 
present  duty,  which  is  far  beyond  the  rM  .inal 
limit  of  protection,  has  been  in  force  neiii  lliiity 
years,  and  has  not  produced  a  pound.  Wo  are 
still  thrown  exclusively  u{)On  the  foreign  supply. 
The  principles  of  the  protecting  system  can  only 
apply  to  common  salt,  tho  product  of  which  |g 
considerable  in  the  United  States;  anduiion  that 
kind,  the  present  duty  is  proposed  to  bo  left  in 
full  force. 

'•  3.  Because  tho  duty  is  enormous,  and  quad- 
ruples the  price  of  tho  salt  to  the  farmer.  Tho 
original  value  of  salt  is  about  fifteen  cents  the 
measured  bushel  of  eightv-four  pounds.  But 
the  tariir  substitutes  weight  for  measure,  and 
fixes  Hiul  weight  at  fifty-six  pounds,  instead  of 
.■ighty-four.  Upon  that  fifty-six  pounds,  a  -iuly 
of  twenty  cents  is  laid.  Upon  this  duty,  the  re- 
tail merchant  has  his  profit  of  eight  or  ten  cents, 
and  then  reduces  his  l,n  hel  from  fifty-six  to  fifty 
pounds.  The  consequence  of  all  ...se  operations 
is  that  the  farmer  pays  about  three  times  11s 
m'uch  for  a  weighed  bushel  of  fifty  pounds,  as 
ho  would  have  paid  for  a  measured  bushel  of 
eighty-four  pounds,  if  this  duty  had  never  been 
imposed.  . 

'•  4.  Because  the  duty  is  unequal  in  its  opera- 
tion, and  falls  heavily  on  some  parts  of  the  com- 
munity, and  produces  profit  to  others.    It  is  a 
heavy  tax  on  the  farmers  of  the  West,  who  ex- 
port provisions ;  and  no  tax  at  all,  but  rather  a 
source  of  profit,  to  that  branch  of  the  fisheries  to 
which  the  allowances  of  the  vessels  apply.    Ex- 
porters of  provisions  have  the  same  claim  to  these 
allowances  that  exporters  of  fish  have.    Both 
claims  rest  upon  tho  same  principle,  and  upon 
the  principle  of  all  drawbacks,  that  of  refunding 
the  duty  paid  on  tho  imported  salt,  which  is  re- 
exported on  salted  fish  and  provisions.    The  .'lame 
principle  covers  the  beef  and  pork  of  tho  farmer 
which  covers  the  fish  of  the  fisherman  ;  and  such 
was  the  law,  as  I  have  shown,  for  the  first  eigh- 
teen years  that  these  bounties  and  allowances 
were  authorized.    Fish  and  provisions  fared  alike 
from  1789  to  1807.    Bounties  and  aUowances 
bean  upon  them  together,  and  fell  together;  on 
the  repeal  of  the  salt  tax,  in  tiie  second  terra  «! 
Mr  Jeflerson's  administration.     At  the  renewal 
of  the  salt  tax,  in  181.%  at  the  commencement  of 
the  late  war,  they  parted  c      nany,  and  the  law, 


In  tho  ex 

of  one  n 

fishing  ii 

drcd  am 

the  truasi 

cent,   wh 

much,  at 

draw  moi 

treasury. 

"5.  Be 

duo  nmoi: 

uniliT  the 

of  diit\  fl 

Tho  ainoi 

way  is    t 

and   fifty 

on   at  th. 

thousand 

augmciitin 

the  legal 

proved  in 

quantity  c 

Miith  tho  ( 

exported,  ■ 

the  year 

millions  of 

Uiillions  of 

suppose  al 

salt  upon  (• 

the  value  of 

with  tho  va 

exported. 

and  forty-c 

duty  on  abt 

fish;  makiii 

On  this  has; 

u.sed  on  exj 

hundred  th 

tlie  increasi: 

creasing  exf 

given  perioc 

same,  .vouli 

1820,  three 

four  hundi «( 

exported,   ai 

thousand  sev 

paid  for  the 

in  1828,  two 

two  hundred 

exported,  am 

sand  one  huii 

the  commuta 

the  fact  that 

the  treasury 

anccs,  bottoii 

is  expressly 

Treasury  (Mi 

finances,  at  t 

session  of  Coi 

port.] 

_  "0.  Becaus 
tion  of  one  of 
constitution  0 


ANNO  1880.    ANDREW  JACKBON,  PRIiilDENT. 


In  the  exact  sense  of  the  prove  rb,  has  rnadr  <UU 
of  Olio  and  flesh  of  the  other  ever  sineo.  The 
flshing  interest  is  now  (irfiwuip;  about  two  hun- 
dred and  nrty  thousand  (h.IIurs  annually  frmri 
the  treasury ;  tlie  provision  raisers  draw  not  a 
cent  whdo  thov  export  more  (ban  double  as 
much,  and  ought,  unon  the  same  prin(^in)  •  to 
draw  more  than  double  as  much  money  ftom  the 
treasury. 

"5.  BecauHo  it  is  the  means  of  drawini,'  an  un- 
due amount  of  money  from  the  public  treasury 
und.'r  tt^e  idea  of  n„  equivalent  for  the  .IniwbaA 
Of  dul^  on  the  salt  used  in  the  curing  offish. 
Iho  amount  of  money  actually  drawn  in  that 
way   H    about    four    millions    seven    hundred 
and   lifty  thousand  dollars,  and   is  now  Koiwi 
on   at  the    rate  of   two    lu.ndred    and    lifty 
thousand   dollars  per   annum,   and  constantly 
augmenting     That  this  amount  is  more   than 
the  legal    idea  recognizes,  or  contemplates    is 
proved  m  various  way ..     1.  Bv  comparing  'the 
quanti  y  of  salt  supposed  to  l.avo  been  used 
wth  the  quantity  of  fish  known  to  have  been' 
exported,  within  a  given  year.     This  test,  for 
the  year   1828,  would   exf.ibit   about  seventy 
mi  ions  of  i,oun(  s  weight  of  salt  on  nlmit  forty 
millions  of  jiounds  weight  of  fish.     This  would 
suppose  about  a  pound  and  three  .luarters  of 
salt  upon  (.ach  pound  of  (Ish.    2.  By  comparing 
the  value  of  the  s,dt  supposed  to  have  been  use.f 
with   hovahteoi  the  fish  known  to  have  been 
exported.     This  test  would  give  two  hundred 
and  forty-eight  thousand  dollars  for  tl"e   sa 
duty  on  about  one  million  of  <Iollars'  worth  of 
fish;  making  the  duty  one  fourth  of  its  value 
On   his  basis,  the  amount  of  the  duty  on  the  .salt 
used  on  exported  provisions  would-be  near^ix 
hundred  thousand  dollars.      3.  By  comparing 
the  increasing  allowances  for  salt  with  the  de- 
creasing exportation  of  fish.     This  test  fbr  two 
g.ven  periods,  the  ,ate  of  allowanc    &  the 
amo,    vould  prodtice  this  result:  In  theVar 
1820  three  hundred  and  twenty-one  thousand 
four  hand,  0.1  and  nineteen  quintals  of  dSfish 
exporte.     and   .-ne  hundred  and   ninety-cil  ht 
thousan,  seven  hundred  and  twenty-four  dolhars 
p.    for  he  commutation  of  th..  salt  drawback 
n  1828,  two  hundred  and  sixty-five  thousand 
two  hundred  and  seventeen  quinfals  of  driei  fish 
exported,  and  two  hundred  and  thirty-niiiithou- 
sand  one  hundred  and  forty-flve  dollars  paid  for 
he  commutation.    These  comparisons  establish 
ho  IT  ""^'  r'^'y  ''  unlawfully  ,lmwn  K 
he  treasury  by  means  of  these  fishing  a/w 
ances,  bottomed  on  the  salt  duty,  and  that  fact 
IS  expressly  stated    by  the    Secretarv  of  K 
Treasury  (Mr  Inghaml  in  his  repSt  Ln  tie 
finances,  at  the  commencement  of  the  present 
^on  of  Congress.    [See  page  eight  of  Cl* 

..  '"(J.  Because  it  has  hppnme  i  nmnf^oi    •  i 


157 


«  bich  declares  that  duticM,  toxos,  and  excises 
sliall  be  uniform  throughout  tlie  rnion.  There 
i«  no  unilormiiy  i„  the  opi-iation  of  this  tax. 

and  fills  the  ,«,cketsof  others.  It  returns  to 
some  five  times  as  much  as  ihey  j.ay,  and  to 
others  It  returns  not  u  cent.  ItgivJi.otle 
sh.ng  interest  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars  per  annum,  ami  not  a  cent  to  the  farm- 
ing interest,  which,  upon  the  same  principle 
would  bo  ei.t.tle,l  to  «ix  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars  per  annum. 

bnl'i  "T"-"'  *''i'  '.'"^^  """"  '■•^"t"  "P«n  ft  f'il«o 
basi.._a  basis  which  makes  it  the  interest  of 
one  part  of  the  Union  to  keep  it  up,  wMc  ft  is 
u.  interest  of  other  parts  to  get  rid  of  it.  It  is 
he  interest  of  the  West  to  abolish  this  duty :  i? 
■s  the  interest  of  the  Northeast  to  perpetuate  it. 

moLvT' •/'•''' r"*-'^  ^y'^'^  the  latter  makes 

'oney  by  ,t ;  and  a  tax  that  becomes  a  money- 

"mking   business  is  a  solecism  of  the  hiH.it 

onler  of  absurdity.     Yet  such  is  the  fact   "£ 

Woitheast  a  brilliant  opportunity  to   manifest 
their  disinterested  affection  to  the  We.sl   by  Sv- 

wl'J'f ""h"?  f""?"'  '■"  ^'"^  t''-^.  t«  relieve  uL 
Wes^t  from  the  burthen  it  imposes  Upon  her. 

,n„f  ■  n  ",'•""•  '.'"^  '^^"^"-'"^  0^  t''«  'J»ty  will  not 
materia  ly  dimmish  the  revenue,  nor  delay  tl^ 
extinguishmeni  of  the  public  debt.  It  is  J  tax 
carrying  money  out  of  the  treasury,  as  well  as 
bringing  ,t  in.  The  issue  is  two  hundred  and 
illy  thousand  dollars,  perhaps  the  full  amount 
which  accrues  on  the  kind  of  salt  to  which  the 
abolition  extends.  The  duty,  and  te  fish  n° 
allowances  bottomed  upon  it,  falling  togetS  as 
they  did   when   Mr.  Jeffer-son  was   Prescient 

rflitSr^'^  ''^'^  ''^  "--^  «^  --e 

in  'It  J^'f "'°  l*  '''''°""''  *«  ""  unhappy  period 
m  the  history  of  our  government,  and  came  to 
us,  in  its  present  magnitude,  in  company  with 
an  odious  and  repudiated  set  of  measu^resf  Tho 
maximum  of  twenty  cents  a  bushel  on  .salt  vZ 
ZiZf'"  year '98,  and  was  the  fruit  of  Tl!^ 

.  ffit  Ki'  ^^  '"'^^'K  P"''  "^^"t-  Joans,  the  stamp 
;Tmo  or  n  '^  ""t"^"'^"'  ^"""^  t^«  «'*nding  army  il 
time  of  peace     It  was  one  of  the  contrivances 

from  tL      •     ^"'.P*^':^"^  for  extorting  money 

anTsnh^d^T^^^''  ^""^  *^'  '"PP"''*  "^  "^^^  «tronJ 
and  splend  d  government  which  was  then  the 
chenshed  vision  of  so  many  exalted  headT  The 
•formmg  hand  of  Jefferson  overthrew  it,  and  all 
tlie  superstructure  of  fishing  allowance  which 
war  c"td  iirb''  The  eligenciesTf  ti^S 
IZ  VTiil^tZhj^'lV^^^  ^0^  the  term  of  tho 


!*»,..•  I  ~-'~'"^^  i"»  i"u  term  01  tno 
otbnV.  '.  "'^'-■''?^*  of  some,  and  the  neglect  of 
others,  have  permitted  it  to  continue  ever  since. 
I  is  now  our  duty  to  sink  it  a  second  time.  We 
Ko.ess  to  be  clisciples  of  the  Jeflersonian  school  j 
t^.V  Jf-V"P  ^"^  °"'  P'-ofession,  and  complete  the 
task  which  our  master  set  us." 


It, I  fj 
*    i' 


it 


158 


THIRTY  TEARS'  VIEW. 


CHAPTER    XLIX. 

BANK  OF  THE  UNITKD  STATES. 


It  has  been  already  shown  that  General  Jack- 
son in  his  first  annual  message  to  Congress,  call- 
ed in  question  both  the  constitutionality  and 
expediency  of  the  national  bank,  in  a  way  to 
■'how  bim   averse   to  the  institution,  and   dis- 
posed to  see  the  federal  government  carried  on 
without  the  aid  of  such  an  assistant.    In  the 
same  message  he  submitted  the  question  to  Con- 
gress that,  if  such  an  institution  is  deemed  es- 
sential to  the  fiscal  operations  of  the  govern- 
ment, whether  a  national  one,  founded  upon  the 
credit  of  the  government,  and  its  revenues,  might 
not  be  devised,  which  would  avoid  all  constitu- 
tional difficulties,  and  at  the  same  time  secure  all 
the  advantages  to  the  government  and  country 
that  were  expected  to  result  from  the  present 
bank     I  was  not  in  Washington  when  this  mes- 
sage was  prepared,  and  had  had  no  conversation 
wUhthe  President  in  relation  to  a  substitute  for 
the  national  bank,  or  for  the  currency  which  it  fur-  ^ 
nished.  and  which  having  a  general  circulation  , 
was  better  entitled  to  the  character  of  "  nation- 
al" than  the  issues  of  the  local  or  State  banks. 
We  knew  each  other's  opinions  on  the  qu<  ...ion  of 
a  bank  itself:  but  had  gone  no  further.    I  had 
never  mentioned  to  him  the  idea  of  reviving  the 
gold  currency— then,  and  for  twenty  years— ex- 
tinct in  the  United  Stotes :  nor  had  1  mentioned 
to  him  the  idea  of  an  independent  or  sub-trea- 
sury—that  is  to  say,  a  government  treasury  un- 
connected with  any  bank-and  which  was  to 
have  the  receiving  and  disbursing  of  the  public 
moneys.    When  these  ideas  were  mentioned  to 
him  he  took  them  at  once ;  but  it  was  not  until 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States  should  be  disposed 
of  that  any  thing  could  be  done  on  these  two 
subjects ;  and  on  the  latter  a  process  had  to  be 
gone  through  in  the  use  of  local  banks  as  depos- 
itories of  the  public  moneys  which  required  sev- 
eral years  to  show  its  issue  and  inculcate  its  les- 
son.   Though  strong  in  the  confidence  of  the 
people   the  President  was  not  deemed  strong 
enough  to  encounter  all  the  banks  of  all  the 
States  at  once.    Temiwrizing  wa^s  indispensable 
—and  even  the  conciliation  of  a  part  of  them. 
Hence  the  deposit  syEtcm-or  some  years'  us. 


of  local  banks  as  fiscal  agents  of  the  govern- 
ment—which gave  to  the  institutions  so  selected, 
the  invidious  appellation  of  "  pet  banks  ;  "  mean- 
ing that  they  were  government  favorites. 

In  the  mean  time  the  question  which  the  Presi- 
dent had  submitted  to  Congress  in  relation  to  a 
government  fiscal  agent,  was  seized  upon  as  an 
admitted  design  to  establish  a  government  bank 
—stigmatized  at  once  as  a  "  thousand  times  more 
dangerous  "  than  an  incorporated  national  bank- 
and  held  up  to  alarm  the  country.  Committees  in 
each  House  of  Congress,  and  all  the  public  press 
in  the  interest  of   the  existing  Bank  of  tlio 
United  States,  took  it  up  in  that  sense,  and  vehe- 
mently inveighed  against  it.     Under  an  instruc- 
tion to  the  Finance  Committee  of  the  Senate,  to 
report  upon  a  plan  for  a  unifor-a  currency,  and 
under  a  reference  to  the  Committee  of  Ways  and 
Means  of  the  House,  of  that  part  of  the  Presi- 
dent's  message  which  related  to  the  bank  and  its 
currency,  most  ample,  elaborate  and  argumenta- 
tive reports  were  made— wholly  repudiating  all 
the  suggestions  of  the  President,  and  sustaining 
the  actual  Bank  of  the  United  States  under  every 
aspect  of  constitutionality  and  of  expediency: 
and  strongly  presenting  it  for  a  renewal  of  its 
i  charter.  These  reports  were  multiplied  without 
'  regard  to  expense,  or  numbers,  in  all  the  varie- 
ties  of  newspaper  and  pamphlet  publication; 
and  lauded  to  the  skies  for  their  power  and  ex- 
cellence, and  triumphant  refutation  of  all  the 
President's  opinions.    Thus  was  the  "  war  of  the 
bank"  commenced  at  once,  in  both  Houses  of 
Congress,  and  in  the  public  press ;  and  openly  at 
the  instance  of  the  bank  itself,  which,  forgetting 
its  position  as  an  institution  of  the  government, 
for  the  convenience  of      e  government,  set  itself 
up  for  a  power,  and  struggled  for  a  continued 
existence-in  the  shape  of  a  new  cLarter-asa 
question  of  its  own,  and  almost  as  a  right.   It 
allied  itself  at  the  same  time  to  the  pohtical  par- 
ty opposed  to  the  President,  joined  in  all  th^ir 
schemes  of  protective  tariff,  and  national  inter- 
nal improvement :  and  became  the  head  of  the 
American  system.    With  its  moneyed  and  politi- 
cal pcwer,  and  numerous  interested  affiliations 
and  its  control  over  other  banks,  brokers  and 
money  dealers,  it  ^vas  truly  a  power,  and  agreat 
one :  and.  in  answer  to  a  question  put  by  t.cn^ 
ral  Smith,  of  Maryland,  chairman  of  tl,e  Finance 
Committee  of  the  Senate  already  mentioned  (ana 
appended  with  other  questions  and  answers  to 


^ 


that  repo 

a  power  ii 

destroy  tl 

their  abs( 

control  th( 

a  spirit  of 

view  to  en 

tution  as  g 

tion  was : 

any  of  th 

"  Never-:' 

Biddle  wer 

hanks  whL 

an  exertic 

have  been 

And  more 

licved,  whe 

but  are  suf 

This  was  pi 

to  injure  an 

thousand  bs 

was  a  powei 

nearly  all  tl 

tories:  and 

good ;  and  \ 

trusted  to  ai 

or  to  any  go 

much  less  to 

irresponsible 

^■iew  of  the  c 

tion  had  not 

the  time ;  an 

ernment  stru 

plifications  w 

generation  oi 

and  aflerwarc 

power  to  trar 

of  national  cj 


c 

EEl 

I  AM  led  to  gi 

?  tliis  head,  from 

I  ville  has  fallen 

\  propagated  thro 

■  republican  gov 

power  itself  is  I 


!  govern- 
I  selected, 
; "  mean- 

3S. 

the  Prcsi- 
ation  to  a 
[)on  as  an 
»ent  bank 
imes  more 
al  bank — 
imittees  in 
iiblic  press 
ik  of  the 
,  and  vche- 
iH  instruc- 
Senate,  to 
rcncy,  and 
Ways  and 
the  Presi- 
ank  and  its 
irgumenta- 
idiating  all 
I  sustaining 
under  every 
3xpedicncy ; 
ewal  of  its 
icd  without 
1  the  varie- 
publication ; 
ver  and  ex- 
1  of  all  the 
"war  of  the 
h  Houses  of 
ind  openly  at 
ih,  forgetting 
government, 
ent,  set  itself 
a  continued 
charier— as  a 
a  right.    It 
political  par- 
d  in  all  th?ir 
ational  inter- 
head  of  the 
yed  and  politi- 
;d  affiliations, 
,  brokers  and 
er,  and  a  great 
put  by  Ocne- 
of  the  Finance 
uentioncd  (and 
id  answers  to 


ANNO  1830.    ANDREW  JACKSON.  PRESIDENT. 


that  report),  Mr.  Biddle,  the  president,  showed 
a  power  in  the  national  bank  to  save,  relieve  or 
destroy  the  local  banks,  which  exhibited  it  as 
their  absolute  master ;  and,  of  course  able  to 
control  them  at  will.    The  question  was  put  in 
a  spirit  of  friendship  to  the  bank,  and  with  a 
view  to  enable  its  president  to  exhibit  the  insti- 
tution as  great,  just  and  beneficent.    The  ques- 
tion was :  «  Has  the  bank  at  anytime  oppressed 
any  of  the  State  banks?"  and  the  answer- 
«  Never-y    And,  as  if  that  was  not  enough  Mr 
Biddle  went  on  to  say:  ^^  There  are  very  few 
hanks  which  might  not  have  been  destroyed  by 
an  exertion  of  the  power  of  the  bank.    None 
have  been  injured.     Many  have  been  saved 
And  more  have  been,  and  arc  constantly  re- 
hevcd,  when  it  is  found  that  they  are  solvent 
but  are  suffering  under  temporary  difficulty.'' 
This  was  proving  entirely  too  much.     A  power 
to  injure  and  destroy— to  relieve  and  to  save  the 
thousand  banks  of  all  the  States  and  Territories 
was  a  power  over  the  business  and  fortunes  of 
nearly  all  the  people  of  those  States  and  Terri- 
tories :  and  might  be  used  for  evil  as  well  as  for 
good ;  and  was  a  power  entirely  too  larg-  to  be 
trusted  to  any  man,  with  a  heart  in  his  bosom- 
or  to  any  government,  responsible  to  the  people  • 
much  less  to  a  corporation  without  a  soul   and 
irresponsible  to  heaven  or  earth.    This  was  a 
view  of  the  case  which  the  parties  to  the  ques- 
tion had  not  foreseen ;  but  which  was  noted  at 
the  tnne ;  and  which,  in  the  progress  of  the  px)v- 
ernment  struggle  with  the  bank,  received  exem- 
plifications which  will  be  remembered  bv  the 
generation  of  that  day  while  memory  Lts  • 
and  afterwards  known  as  long  as  history  has 
power  to  transmit  to  posterity  the  knowledge 
ot  national  calamities. 


CHAPTER     L. 

RKMOVALS  FKOM  OFFICE. 

fht'holl  f '  ^Z  "-  -*''''"'"^'^''  ''^^ination  of 

vJle  has  fallen  in  relation  to  it,  and  which  he  has 

^agated  throughout  Kurope  to  ,hep„iw 

I  ^^''  '^'^^''  "^^t  g^'^erally  understood  among 


ourselves  as  laid  down  by  Mr.  Jefi-ersonj  and 
has  been  sometimes  abused,  and  by  each  party 
but  never  to  the  degree  supposed  by  Mens,  de 
Tocqueville.    He  says,  in  his  chapter  8  on  Amer- 
ican democracy:  "Mr.  Quincy  Adams,  on  his 
entry  into  office,  discharged  the  majority  of  the 
individuals  who  had  been  appointed  by  his  pre- 
decessorj  and  I  am  not  aware  that   General 
Jackson  allowed  a  single  removable  functionary 
employed  in  the  public  service  to  retain  hisplmi 
beyond  the  first  year  which  succeeded  his  elec- 
tion."   Of  course,  all  these  imputed  sweeping  re- 
movals were  intended  to  be  understood  to  have 
been  made  on  account  of  party  politics-for  dif- 
ference of  political  opinion-and  not  for  miscon- 
duct, or  unfitness  for  office.     To  these  classes  of 
removal  (unfitnessand  misconduct),  there  could 
be  no  objection  :  on  the  contrary,  it  would  have 
been  misconduct  in  the  President  not  to  have  re- 
moved in  such  cases.    Of  political  removals,  for 
difference  of  opinion,  then,  it  onlj'  remains  to 
speak;  and  of  those  officials   appointed  by  his 
predecessor,  it  is  probable  that  Mr.  Adams  did 
not  remove  one  for  political  cause ;  and  that  M 
de  Tocqueville,  with  respect  to  him,  is  wrong  to 
the  whole  amount  of  his  assertion. 

I  was  a  close  observer  of  Mr.  Adams's  admin- 
istratjon,  and  belonged  to  the  <.,t>osition,  which 
was  then  keen  and  powerful,  and  permitted  no- 
thing to  escape  which  could  be  rightfully  (some- 
times wrongfully)  employed  against  him  :  yet  I 
never  heard  of  this  accusation,  and  have  no 
knowledge  or  recollection  at  this  time  of  a  sin- 
gle instance  on  which  it  could  be  founded.    Mr 
Adams's  administration  was  not  a  case,  m  fact  in 
which  such  removais-for  difference  of  political 
opmion-could  occur.     They  only   take   place 
when  the  presidential  election  is  a  revolution  of 
parties;  and  that  was  not  the  case  when  Mr 
Adams  succeeded  Mr.  Monroe.    He  belonged  tJ 
the  Monroe  administration,  had  occupied  the 
first  place  m  the  cabinet  during  its  whole  double 
term  of  eight  years ;  and  of  curse,  stood  in  con- 
currence with,  and  not  in  opposition  to,  Mr.  Mon- 
roe s  appointments.    Besides,  party  lines  were 
confused,  and  nearly  obliterated  at  that  time.  It 
was  called  "  the  era  of  good  feeling."    Mr  Ad- 
ams was  himself  an  illustration  of  that  feeling. 
He  had  been  of  the  federal  nartv-b-nn^hf  rar 
ly  mto  public  lifeassuch-a  minister  abroad  and 
a  senator  at  home  as  such;  but  having  divided 
irom  his  party  in  giving  support  to  several  prom- 


.,■1 


K 


/ 


,13 


i  « 


{.  rXtim^aimtiSui 


160 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


inent  measures  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  administration, 
he  was  afterwards  several  times  nommated  by 
Mr.  Madison  as  minister  abroad;  and  on  the 
election  of  Mr.  Mon-oe  he  was  invited  from 
London  to  be  made  his  Secretary  of  State-where 
he  remained  tiU  his  own  election  to  the  Presiden- 
cy    There  was,  then,  uo  case  presented  to  him 
for  political  removals;  and  in  fact  none  such 
were  made  by  him  ;  so  that  the  accusation  of  M. 
de  Tocqueville,  so  far  as  it  applied  to  iMr.  Adams,  is 
wholly  erroneous,  and  inexcusably  careless. 

With  respect  to  General  Jackson,  it  is  about 
enually  so  in  the  main  assertion-thc  assertion 
that  he  did  not  allow  a  .ingle  removable  func- 
tionary to  remain  in  oflif  o  beyond  the  first  year 
after  his  election.     On  the  contrary,  there  were 
entire  classes-all  those  whose  functions  partook  , 
of  the  judicial-which  he  never  touched.     Boards  1 
of  commissioners  for  adjudicating  land  titles; 
commissioners    lor    adjudicating    claims   under 
indemnity  treaties;   judges  of   the   territorial 
courts;  justices  of  the  District  of  Columbia; 
none  of  these  were  touched,  either  in  the  first  or 
m  any  subsequent  year  of  his  admmistration, 
except  a  solitary  judge  in  one  of  the  territories  ; 
and  he  not  for  political  cause,  but  on  specific 
complaint,  and  after  taking  the  written  and  re- 
sponsible opinion  of  the  then  Attorney  General 
Mr  Grundy.    Of  the  seventeen  diplomatic  func- 
tionaries abroad,  only  four  (three  ministers  and 
one  charg6  des  affaires)  were  recalled  in  the  first 
year  of  his  administration.    In  the  departments 
at  Washington,  a  majority  of  the  incumbents  re- 
mained opposed  to  him  during  liis  administration. 
Of  the  near  eight  thousand  deputy  postmasters 
in  the  United  States,  precisely  four  hundred  and 
ninetv-one  wore  removed  in  the  time  mentioned 
by  Mons.  de  Tocqueville,  and  they  for  all  causes 
ifor  every  variety  of  causes.    Of  the  whole 
number  of  removable  officials,  amounting   to 
many  thousands,  the  totality  of  remoA-als  was 
about  six  hundred  and  ninety  and  they  for  all 
causes.     Thus  the  government  archives  contra- 
dict Mons.  de  Tocqueville,  and  vindicate  General 
Jackson's  administration  from  the  reproach  cast 
upon  it.    Yet  lie  came  into  office  under  circum- 
stances well  calculated  to  excite  him  to  make  re- 
movals.   In  the  first  place,  none  of  his  political 
fripnds.  though  constituting  a  great  majority  of 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  had  been  ai- 
pointed  to  office  during  the  preceding  administra- 
tion ;  and  such  an  exclusion  could  not  be  justified 


on  any  consideration.    His  election  was,  in  some 
degree,  a  revolution  of  parties,  or  rather  a  re-estab- 
lishment of  parties  on  the  old  line  of  federal  and 
democratic.    It  was  a  change  of  administration, 
in  which  a  change  of  government  functionaries, 
to  some  extent,  became  a  right  and  a  duty ;  but 
still  the  removals  actually  made,  when  political, 
were  not  merely  for  opinions,  but  for  conduct 
under  these  opinions;  and,  unhappily,  there  was 
conduct  enough  in  too  many  officials  to  justify 
their  removal.    A  lar-e  proportion  of  them,  in- 
cluding all  the  new  appointments,  were  inimical 
to  General  Jackson,  and  divided  against  him  on 
the  re-establishment  of  the  old  party  lines ;  and 
many  of  them  actively.    Mr.  Clay,  holding  the 
first  place  in  Mr.  Adams's  cabinet,  took  the  field 
I  against  him,  travelled  into  different  States,  de- 
claimed against  him  at  public  meetings ;  and  d^ 
precated  his  election  as  the  greatest  of  calam- 
ities.   The  subordinates  of  the  government,  to  a 
great  degree,  followed  his  example,  if  not  in 
public  speeches,  at  least  in  public  talk  and  news- 
paper articles ;  and  it  was  notorious  that  these 
subordinates  were  active  in  the  presidcntal  elec- 
tion.   It  was  a  great  error  in  them.    It  chang- 
ed their  position.    By  their  position  all  admin- 
istrations were  the  same  to  them.     Their  duties 
were  ministerial,  and  the  same  under  all  Presi- 
dcnis.    They  were  noncombatants.    By  engag- 
ing in  the  election  they  became  combatant,  and 
subjected  themselves  to  the  law  of  victory  and 
defeat— reward  and  promotion  in  one  case,  loss 
of  place  in  the  other.     General  Jackson,  then, 
on  his  accession  to  the  Presidency,  was  in  a  new 
situation  with  respect  to  parties,  dillerent  from 
that  of  any  President  since  the  time  of  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson, whom  he  took  for  his  model,  and  whose 
r  .:le  he  followed.    He  made  many  removals,  anu 
for  cause,  but  not  so  many  as  not  to  leave  a  ma- 
1  jority  in  office  against  him-even  in  the  execu- 
tive departments  in  Washington  City. 

Mr.  Jefferson  had  early  and  anxiously  studied 
the  question  of  removals.  He  was  the  farst 
President  that  had  occasion  to  make  thein,  and 
with  him  the  occasion  was  urgent.  His  election 
was  a  complete  revolution  of  parties,  and  ^vhou 
elected,  he  found  himself  to  be  almost  the  only 
man  of  his  party  in  office.  The  democracy  ha^ 
beeu  totally  excluded  from  federal  appointment 
during  the  administratioTi  of  his  predecessor;  al- 
,  most  all  offices  were  in  the  hands  of  his  poim- 
cal  foes.    I  recollect  to  have  heard  an  officer  ot 


vi 


& 
t 


the  army  s 
in  the  servi 
type  of  the 
his  party  n 
tered;  reqi 
portionate  1 
office;  and 
of  his  friend 
ment.  Tlie 
which  now 
presidential 
— was  not  t 
now,  were  ; 
and  the  onl 
which  tliej 
Mr.  Jeffersc 
its  aspects 
and  of  part; 
his  friends,  i 
The  fundam 
was  to  have 
the  control 
in  the  hands 
were  only  tc 
that  there  si 
imputed  del 
"  pei  sonal   i 


))  <( 


m 


pacity, 
'■  partisan  eh 
of  the  electiv 
of  some  brai 
opjwsed  to  li 
Jcflerson,  co 
was  so  writt* 
liis  inaugural 
four  days  a 
wrote  to  Mr, 

"Some  re 
They  must  b 
ly.  and  bottc 
heix'iit  disqui 
the  line  botw 
yet  settled,  a 
niinistiation 
we  sliall  {)roc 
according  to 
make. " 

On  the  23( 
first  month  o 
\vroto  thus  t( 

"  Good  mej 
a  difTerence  o 
so  far  as  the 

Vol. 


ANXO  1830.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


161 


IS,  in  somfi 
a  re-estab- 
'ederal  and 
inistration, 
nclionaries, 

duty;  but 
in  political, 
'or  conduct 
',  there  was 
is  to  justify 
)f  them,  in- 
ere  inimical 
linst  him  on 
f  lines ;  and 
holding  the 
ook  the  field 
t  States,  do- 
ngs ;  and  d^ 
!st  of  calam- 
!rnmcnt,  to  a 
le,  if  not  in 
,1k  and  ncws- 
us  that  these 
;sidontal  elec- 
ti.    It  chang- 
3n  all  admin- 

Their  duties 
ider  all  Presi- 
?.  By  engas- 
jmbatant,  and 
}f  victory  and 
one  case,  loss 
Jackson,  then, 
,  was  in  a  new 

diilerent  from 
mo  of  ^Ir.  Jef- 
dcl,  and  whose 
f  removals,  and 
;  to  leave  a  ma- 
\  in  the  execu- 
City. 
ixiously  studied 

was  the  tirst 
nake  them,  ai:d 
,t.  His  election 
rties,  and  ^vhcu 
ilniost  the  only 
!  democracy  had 
ral  appointment 
nrcdi'cessor ;  al- 
.ds  of  his  poW'- 
M-d  an  officer  of 


the  army  say  that  there  was  but  one  field  officer 
in  the  service  favorable  to  him.     This  was  the 
type  of  the  civil  service.     Justice  to  himself  and 
his  party  required  this  state  of  things  to  b  ?  al- 
tered ;  required  his  friends  to  have  a  share  pro- 
portionate to  their  numbers  in  the  distribution  of 
office ;  and  required  him  to  have  the  assistance 
of  his  friends  in  the  administration  of  the  govern- 
ment.   The  four  years'  limitation  law — the  law 
which  now  vacates  within  the  cycle  of  every 
presidential  term  the  great  mass  of  the  offices 
—was  not  then  in  force.     Resignations  then,  as 
now,  were  few.     Removals  were  indispensable, 
and  the  only  question  was  the  principle  upon 
which  they  should  be  made.     This  question, 
Jlr.  Jefferson  studied  anxiously,  and  under  all 
its  aspects  of  principle  and  policy,  of  national 
and  of  party  duty ;  and  upon  consultation  with 
his  friends,  settled  it  to  his  and  their  satisfaction. 
The  fundamental  principle  was,  that  each  party 
was  to  have  a  share  in  the  ministerial  offices, 
the  control  of  each  branch  of  the  service  being 
in  the  hands  of  the  administration ;  that  removals 
were  only  to  be  made  for  cause ;  and,  of  course, 
that  there  should  be  inquiry  into  the  truth  of 
imputed  delinquencies.     "Official  misconduct," 
'•peisonal   misconduct,"   "negligence,"    "inca- 
pacity,""  inherent  vif3  in   the  appointment," 
'•  partisan  electioneering  beyond  the  fair  exercise 
of  the  elective  franchise ; "  and  where  "  the  heads 
of  some  branches  of  the  service  were  politically 
oi)iK)sed  to  his  administration  " — these,  with  Mr. 
Jefl'crson,  constituted  the  law  of  removals,  and 
was  so  written  down  by  him  immediately  after 
liis  inauguration.     Thus,  March  7th,  1801— only 
four  days  after  his  induction    into  office — he 
wrote  to  Jlr.  Monroe : 


"Somo  removals,  I  know,  must  be  made. 
They  must  be  as  few  as  possible,  done  gradual- 
ly, and  bottomed  on  some  malversation,  or  in- 
liereiit  disqualification.  Where  we  should  draw 
tlie  line  between  retaining  all  and  none,  is  not 
yet  settleii.  and  will  not  be  until  we  get  our  ud- 
niinistiation  together;  and,  perhaps,  even  then 
we  shall  proceed  i)  tatons,  balancing  our  measures 
according  to  the  impression  we  perceive  them  to 
make. " 

On  the  23d  of  March,  1801,  being  still  jn  the 
lirst  month  of  his  administration,  Mr.  Jefferson 
\note  ihur,  to  Gov.  Giles,  of  Virginia: 

"  Good  men.  to  whom  there  is  uo  objection  but 
a  difference  of  political  opinion,  practised  on  only 
so  far  as  the  right  of  a  private  citizen  will  justi- 
VOL.    1.— 11 


fy,  are  not  proper  subjects  of  removal,  except  in 
the  case  of  attorneys  and  marshals.  The  courts 
being  so  decidedly  federal  and  irremovable,  it  is 
believed  that  republican  attorneys  and  marshals, 
being  the  doors  of  entrance  into  the  courts,  are 
indispensably  necessary  as  a  shield  to  the  repub- 
lican part  of  our  fellow-citizens ;  which,  I  believe, 
is  the  main  body  of  the  people.  " 

Six  days  after,  he  wrote  to  Elbridge  Gerry, 
afterwards  Vice-President,  thus : 

"Mr.  Adams's  last  appointments,  when  he  knew 
he  was  appointing  counsellors  and  aids  for  me,  not. 
for  himself,  I  set  aside  as  fast  as  depends  on  me. 
Officers  who  have  been  guilty  of  gross  abuse  of 
office,  such  as  marshals  packing  juries,  &c.,  I 
.shall  now  remove,  as  my  predecessors  ought  in 
justice  to  have  done.  The  instances  will  be  few, 
and  governed  by  strict  rule,  and  not  party  pas- 
sion. The  right  of  opinion  shall  suffer  no  inva- 
sion from  me.  Those  who  have  acted  well  have 
nothing  to  fear,  however  they  may  have  differed 
from  me  in  opinion :  those  who  have  done  ill, 
however,  have  nottiing  to  hope ;  nor  .shall  I  fail 
to  do  justice,  lest  it  should  be  ascribed  to  that 
difference  of  opinion. " 

To  Mr.  Lincoln,  his  Attorney-General,  still 
writing  in  the  first  year  of  his  adnu'nistration,  he 
saj's : 

"  I  still  think  our  orighial  idea  as  to  office  is 
best;  that  i.s,  to  depend,  for  obtaining  a  just  par- 
ticipation, on  deaths,  resignations  and  delinquen- 
cies.    This  will  least  affect  the  tranquillity  of  the 
people,  and  prevent  their  giving  into  the  sugges- 
tion of  our  enemies— that  ours  has  been  a  contest 
for  office,  not  for  principle.     This  is  rather  a  slow 
operation,  but  it  is  sure,  if  we  jiursue  it  steadily, 
which,  however,  has  not  been  done  with  the  un- 
deviating  resolution  I  could  have  wished.     To 
the.se   means  of  obtaining  a  just   share  in  the 
transaction  of  the  public  business,  shall  be  added 
one  more,  to  wit,  removal  for  electioneering  ac- 
tivity, or  open  and  industrious  opposition  to  the 
principles  of  the  present  government,  legislative 
and  executive.     Every  ofiicer  of  the  goverhment 
may  vote  at  elections  according  to  his  conscience ; 
but  we  should  betray  the  cause  committed  to  our 
care,  were  we  to  peiniit  the  influence  of  official 
patronage  to  bo  u.sed  to  overthrow  that  cau.se. 
Your  pi'esent  situation  will  enable  you  to  judge 
of  i)romiuent  ollenders  in  your  State  in  the  case 
of  tlie  present  election.     I  pray  you  w  ,';eek  them, 
to  nmrk  them,  to  be  quite  sure  of  your  ground, 
that  we  may  commit  no  errors  or  wronas ;  and 
leave  the  rest  to  me.     I  have  been  uiged  to  remove 
Mr.  Whittemore,  the  surveyor  of  Gloucester,  on 
grounds  of  neglect  of  duty  and  industrious  oppo- 
sition ;  yet  no  facts  are  so  distinctly  charged  as 
to  make  the  step  sure  which  we  should  take  in 
j  tiii.',.     Vv  ill  you  lake  the  trouble  to  mtisfy  your- 
self on  the  point?" 

This  was  the  law  of  removals  as  laid  down  by 


m 


162 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


Mr.  Jefferson,  and  practised  upon  by  him,  but . 
not  to  the  extent  that  his  principle  required,  or 
tliat  public  outcry  indicated.     lie  told  me  him- 1 
self,  not  long  before  his  death  (Christmas,  1824),  | 
that  he  had  never  done  justice  to  his  own  party 
— had  never  given  them  the  share  of  office  to 
which  there  numbers  entitled  them— had  failed 
to  remove    many  who    deserved    it.  but  who 
were  spared  through  the  intercession  of  friends 
and  concern  for  their  distressed  families.     Gene- 
ral Jackson  acted  upon  the  rule  of  Mr.  Jefferson, 
but  no  doubt  was  often  misled  into  departures 
from  the  rule ;  but  never  to  the  extent  of  giving 
to  the  party  more  than  their  due  proportion  of 
office,  according  to  their  numbers.     Great  cla- 
mor was  raised  against  him.  and  the  number  of 
so-called  •'  removals  "  was  swelled  by  an  abuse 
of  the  term,  every  case  being  proclaimed  a  "  re- 
moval, ■'  where  he  refused  to  reappoint  an  ex- 
incumbent  whose  term  had  expired  under  the 
four  years'  limitation  act.     Far  from  universal 
removals  for  opinion's  sake,  General  Jackson,  as 
I  have  already  said,  left  the  majority  of  his  op- 
ponents in  office,  and  re-appointed  many  such 
whose  tcims  had  expired,  and  who  had  approved 
themselves  faithful  officers. 

Having  vindicated  General  Jackson  and  Mr. 
Adams  from  the  reproach  of  Mons.  de  Tocque- 
villc.  and  having  shown  that  it  was  neither  a 
principle  nor  a  practice  of  the  Jeff.-.rson  school 
to  remove  officers  for  political  opinions,  I  now 
feel  bound  to  make  the  declaration,  that  the  doc- 
trine of  that  school  has  been  too  much  departed 
from  of  late,  and  by  both  parties,  and  to  the  ^reat 
ictrimcnt  of  the  right  and  proper  working  of  the  i 
government.  _    . 

The  practice  of  removals  for  opinion's  sake  Is  , 
becoming  too  common,  and  is  reducing  our  pr';  | 
gidtntial  elections  to  what  Mr.  Jefferson  dopre- 
cated,  "  a  contest  of  office  instead  of  principle,  " 
and  converting  the  victories  of  each  party,  so  fa'- 
as  office  is  concerned,  into  the  political  e, a  .li- 
nation  of  the  other ;  as  it  was  in  Great  Lritain 
between  the  whigs  and  tories  in  the  bitter  (!on- 
tests  of  one  hundred  years  ago,  and  when  the 
victor  made  a  '■  clean  sweep  "  of  the  vanquished, 
leaving  not  a  wreck  behind.  Mr.  Macaulay  thus 
describes  one  of  those  "  sweepings:  " 

"  A  jiersecution,  such  as  had  never  been  known 
before,  ami  lias  iievor  been  known  wnee,  rajiod  in 
every  public  department.  Great  numbers  of 
bumble  and  laborious  clerks  were  deprived  of 


their  bread,  not  because  they  had  neglected  their 
duties,  not  because  they  had  taken  an  active  part 
against  the  ministry,  but  merely  because  they 


had  owed  they  situations  to  some  (whig)  noble- 
man who  was  against  the  peace.  The  proscrip- 
tion extended  to  tidewaiters,  to  doorkeepers. 
One  poor  man,  to  whom  a  pen.sion  had  been  givtn 
for  his  gallantry  in  a  fight  with  smugglers,  wa.s 
deprived  of  it  because  he  had  been  befriended  Ijy 
the  (whig)  Duke  of  Grafton.  An  aged  widow, 
who,  on  account  of  her  husband's  services  in  the 
navy,  had,  many  years  before,  been  made  house- 
keeper in  a  public  office,  was  dismissed  from  her 
situation  because  she  was  distantly  connected 
by  marriage  with  the  (whig)  Cavendish  family  " 

This,  to  be  sure,  was  a  tory  proscription  of 
whigs,  and  therefore  the  less  recommendable  aa 
an  example  to  either  party  in  the  United  States, 
but  too  much  followed  by  both— to  the  injury 
of  individuals,  the  damage  of  the  public  service, 
the  corruption  of  elections,  and  the  degradation 
of  government.     De  Tocqueville  quotes  removals 
as  a  reproach  to  our  government,  and  although 
untrue  to  the  extent  he  represented,  the  evil  has 
become  worse  since,  and  is  true  to  a  sufficient 
extent  to  demand  reform.     The  remedy  is  found 
in  Mr.  Jefferson's  rule,  and  in  the  four  years' 
limitation  act  which  has  since  been  passed;  and 
under  which,  with  removals  for  cause,  and  some 
deaths,  and  a  few  resignations,  an  ample  field 
would  be  found  for  new  appointments,  without 
the  harshness  of  general  and  sweeping  removal.?. 
I  consider  "  sweeping"  removals,  as  now  prac- 
tised by  both  parties,  a  great  political  evil  in  mir 
country,  injurious  to  individuals,  to  the  public 
service,  to  the  purity  of  elections,  and  to  the 
harmony  and  union  of  the  people.     Certainly, 
no  individual  has  a  right  to  an  office :  no  one 
has  an  estate  or  property  in  a  public  employ- 
ment ;  but  when  a  mere  ministerial  worker  in  a 
subordinate  station  has  learned  its  duties  by  ex- 
perience, and  approved  his  fidelity  by  his  cun- 
duct,  it  is  an  injury  to  the  public  service  to  ex- 
I  change  him  for  a  novice,  whose  only  title  to  the 
j  place  may  be  a  political   badge  or  a  partisui 
service.     It  is  exchanging  experience  for  inexpe- 
rience, tried  ability  for  untried,  and  destroying 
incentive  to  good  conduct  by  destroying  its  re- 
ward.    To  the  party  displaced  it  is  an  injur}', 
having  become  a  proficient  in  that  business,  ex- 
pecting to  remain  in  it  during  good  behavior,  and 
finding  it  difficult,  at  an  advanced  ago,  and  with 
I  fixed  habits,  to  begin  a  new  careor  in  .souu  new 
I  walk  of  life.    It  converts  elections  into  scram- 


i  ^J  J 


ANIfO  1830.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


163 


bles  for  office,  and  degrades  the  government  into 
an  office  for  rewards  and  punishments ;  and  di- 
vides the  people  of  the  Union  into  two  adverse 
parties — each  in  its  turn,  and  as  it  becomes  dom- 
inant, to  strip  and  proscribe  the  other. 

Our  government  is  a  Union.     We  want  a 
united  people,  as  well  as  united  Slates— wmi^di 
for  benefits  as  well  as  for  burdens,  and  in  feeling 
as  well  as  in  compact ;  and  this  cannot  be  while 
one  half  (each  in  its  turn)  excludes  the  other 
from  all  share  in  the  administration  of  the  gov- 
ernment.    Mr.  Jefferson's  principle  is  perfect, 
and  reconciled  public  and  private  interest  with 
party  rights  and  duties.     The  party  in  power  is 
responsible  for  the  well-working  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  has  a  right,  and  is  bound  by  duty  to 
itself,  to  place  its  friends  at  the  head  of  the  dif- 
ferent branches  of  the   public  service.     After 
that,  and  in  the  subordinate  places,  the  opposite 
party  should  have  its  share  of  employment ;  and 
this  Mr.  Jefferson's  principle  gives  to  it.     But 
as  tliere  are  offices  too  subordinate  for  party 
proscription,  so  there  are  others  too  elevated  and 
national  for  it.    This  is  now  acI<nowledged  in 
the  army  and  navy,  and  formerly  was  acknow- 
ledged in  the  diplomatic  department ;  and  should 
be  again.     To  foreign  nations  we  should,  at  least, 
be  one  people— an  undivided  people,  and  that  in 
pence  as  well  as  in  war.     Mr.  Jefferson's  prin- 
ciple reached  this  ease,  and  he  acted  upon  it. 
His  election  was  not  a  signal  gun,  fired  for  the 
recall  of  all  the  ministers  abroad,  to  be  succeeded 
incontinently  by  partisans  of  its  own.     Mr.  Ru- 
fiis  King,  the  most  eminent  of  the  federal  minis- 
ters abroad,  and  at  the  most  cmi.ient  court  of 
Europe,  that  of  St.  James,  remained  at  his  p  jst 
for  two  years  after  the  revolution  of  parties  in 
1800 ;  and  until   he  requested   his  ow  recall,  i 
treated  all  the  while  with  respect  and  confidence,  j 
and  intrusted  with  a  negotiation  which  he  con- 
ducted to  its  conclusion.      Our  early  diplomatic 
policy,  cschewii .     all   foreign  entanglement,  re- 
jecter! the  offi(     jf  "minister  re.sident."    That 
early  republican  policy  would  have  no  perma- 
nent representation  at  foreign  courts.     The  "  en- 
voy extraordinary  and  minister  plouii.oL.'iit.ary," 
called  out  on  an  emergent  occasion  and  to  return 
home  as  soon  as  the  emergency  w^.-  ../er  was 
tlie  only  minister  known  to  our  earl_y  history ;  and 
then  the  mission  was  usually  n  mixed  one.  com- 
posed of  both  parties.    And  so  it  should  be 
again.    The  present  permanent  supply  and  per- 


petual succession  of  "  envoys  extraordinary  and 
ministers  plenipotentiary "  is  a  fraud  upon  the 
name,  and  a  breach  of  the  old  policy  of  the  gov- 
ernment, and  a  hitching  on  American  diplomacy 
to  the  tail  of  the  diplomacy  of  Europe.  It  is  the 
actual  keeping  up  of  '=  ministers  resident"  under 
a  false  name,  and  contrary  to  a  wise  and  vener 
able  policy;  and  requires  the  reform  hand  of 
the  House  of  Representatives.  But  this  point 
will  require  a  chapter  of  its  own,  and  its  elucida- 
tion must  be  adjourned  to  another  and  a  separate 
place. 

Mons.  de  Tocqueville  was  right  in  the  princi- 
ple of  his  reproach,  wrong  in  the  extent  of  his 
application,  but  would  have  been  less  wrong  if 
he  had  written  of  events  a  dozen  years  later.  I 
deprecate  the  effect  of  such  sweeping  removals 
at  each  revolution  of  parties,  and  believe  it  is 
having  a  deplorable  effect  both  upon  the  purity 
of  elections  and  the  distribution  of  office,  and 
taking  both  out  of  the  hands  of  the  people,  and 
throwing  the  management  of  one  and  the  en- 
joyment of  the  other  into  most  unfit  hands.  I 
consider  it  as  working  a  deleterious  change  in 
the  government,  making  it  what  Mr.  Jefferson 
feared :  and  being  a  disciple  of  his  school,  and 
believing  in  the  soundness  and  nationality  of  the 
rule  which  he  laid  down,  I  deem  it  good  to  re- 
call it  solemnly  to  public  recollection — for  the 
profit,  and  hope,  of  present  and  of  future  times. 


CHAPTER     LI. 

lyDIAN  SOVEREIGNTIES  WITHIN  THE  STATES. 


A  POLITICAL  movement  on  the  pa'-t  of  some  of 
the  southern  tribes  of  Indians,  brought  up  a  new 
question  between  the  States  and  those  Indians, 
which  called  for  the  interposition  of  the  federal 
government.  Though  still  called  Indians,  their 
primitive  and  equal  government  had  lost  its 
form,  and  had  become  an  oligarchy,  governed 
chiefly  by  a  few  white  men,  called  half-breeds, 
because  there  was  a  tincture  of  Indian  blood  in 
their  veins.  These,  in  some  instances,  sat  up 
governments  within  the  States,  and  claimed  sov- 
ereignty and  dominion  withiu  their  limits.  The 
States  resisted  this  claim  and  extended  their  laws 
and  jurisdiction  over  them.    The  federal  govern- 


6-' 


s.ii-'MVIi  i 


164 


TniRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


:;!|[ 

1:!ii 


I) 


1     w 


mcnt  was  appealed  to ;  and  at  the  comincnce- 
mcnt  of  the  session  of  1829-'30,  in  his  first  an- 
nual message,  President  Jackson  brought  the 
subject  before  the  two  Houses  of  Congress, 
thus: 

"  Tlie  condition  and  ulterior  destiny  of  the 
Indian  tribes   within  the  limits  of  some  of  our 
States,  have  become  objects  of  much  interest  and 
importance.     It  has  long  been  the  policy  of  gov-  i 
crnmeut  to  introduce  among  them  tlie  arts  of 
civilization,  in  the  hope  of  gradually  reclaiming 
them  from  a  wandeiing  life.     This  policy  has, 
however,  been  coupled  with  another,  wholly  in- 
compatible with   its   success.     Professing  a  de- 
sire to  civilize  and  settle  them,  we  have,  at  the 
same  time,  lost  no  opportunity  to  purchase  their 
lands  and  thrust  them  further  into  the  wilder- 
ness.    By  this  means  they  have  not  only  been 
kept  in  a  waiKL'ring  state,  but  been  led  to  look 
upon  us  as  unjust,  and  indiiferent  to  their  (iite. 
Thus,  though  lavish  in  its  exjjenditures  upon  the 
subject,  government  has  constantly  defeated  its 
own  poli.y,  and  the  Indians,  in   general,  reced- 
ing further  and  further   to   the  West,  have   re- 
t     I'd  their  savage  habits.     A  portion,  however, 
Jie   southern   tribes,   having  mingled  much 
•with  the  whites,  and  made  some  progress  iu  the 
arts  of  civilized   life,  have  lately  attempted  to 
erect  an  independent  government  within  the  lim- 
its of  Georgia  and   Alabama.      These  States, 
claiming  to  be  the  only  sovereigns  within  their 
territories,  extended  their  laws  over  the  Indians ; 
which  induced  the  latter  to  call  upon  the  United 
States  for  protection. 

"  Under  these  circnmstances,  the  question  pre- 
sented was,  whether  the  general  government  had 
a  right  to  sustain  those   p'^ople  in  their  preten- 
sions?    The    constitution    daclar^s,    that    "no 
new  .States  shall  be  formed  or  erected  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  any   other   State,"  without  the 
consent  of  its  legislature.     If  the  general  gov- 
eniment  is  not  permitted  to  tolerate  the  erection 
of  a  confederate  State  within   the   territovy   of 
one  of  the  members  of  this  Ur=^n,  against  \icr 
consent,  much  less  could  it  alIo\     i  foreign  and  i 
independent  government  to  estabnsh  itself  there.  \ 
Georgia  became  a  member  of  the  confederacy 
which  eventuated  in  our  federal  u.iion,  as  a  sov- 
ereign State,  always  asserting  her  claim  to  cer- 
tain  limits ;  which,  having  been  originally   de- 
fined in  her  colonial  charter,  and  subscciuently 
recognized  in  the  treaty    of  peace,  she  has  ev"r 
since  continued  to  enjoy,  except  as   they  have 
been  circumscribed  by  her  own  voluntaiy  trans- 
fer of  a  portion  of  her  territory  to  the  United 
States,  in  the  articles  of  cession  of  1802.     Ala- 
bama was  admitted  into  the  Union  on  the  same 
footing  with  the  original   States,  witli   bounda- 
ries which  were  prescribed  by  Congress.    There 
is  no  constiluLionai,  conventional,  or  kpai  pro- 
▼ision,  which  allows  them  less  power  over  the 
Indians  within  their  borders,  than  is  possessed 
by  M;une  or  New- York.     Would  the  people  of 


i^Iaine  permit  the  Penobscot  tribe  to  erect  an 
independent  government  within  their  Stale? 
and,  unless  thej  did,  would  it  not  be  the  duty 
of  the  general  government  to  support  them  in 
resisting  such  a  mi.'asure  ?  Would  the  peo])leof 
New-York  i)ermit  each  remnant  of  the  Six  Na- 
tions within  her  borders,  to  declare  itself  an  in^ 
dependent  people,  under  the  protection  of  th« 
United  States  ?  Could  the  Indians  establish  a 
separate  republic  on  each  of  their  reservations 
in  Ohio  ?  And  if  they  were  so  dispo.scid,  would 
it  be  the  duty  of  this  government  to  protect 
them  in  the  attempt  ?  If  the  principle  invohed 
in  the  obvious  answer  to  tliese  questions  \k 
abandoned,  it  will  follow  that  the  objects  of  tiiLs 
government  are  reversed ;  and  that  it  hiis  be- 
come a  part  of  its  duty  to  aid  in  destroying  the 
States  which  it  was  established  to  protect, 

"  Actuated  by  this  view  of  the  subject,  I  in- 
formed the  Indians  inhabiting  parts  of  (u'orjri.i 
and  Alabama,  tiiat  their  attemjit  to  estabii.sh  im 
independent  government  would  not  be  counte- 
nanced by  the  Executive  of  the  United  States; 
and  advised  them  to  emigrate  beyond  the  ]\Iis.siij- 
sippi,  or  submit  to  the  laws  of  those  States." 


Having  thus  refused  to  sustain  these  soa'J\ern 
tribes  in  their  attempt  to  set  up  independent 
■Governments  within  the  States  of  Alabama  and 
Georgia,  and  foreseeing  an  unequal  and  disagree- 
able contest  between  the  Indians  and  tlic  States, 
the  President  recommended  the  passage  of  an 
act  to  enable  him  to  provide  for  their  removal  to 
the  west  of  the  Mississippi.     It  was  an  old  poli- 
cy, but  party  spirit  now  took  hold   of  it,  and 
strenuously  resisted  the  pa.'^sage  of  the  act,    it 
was  one  of  the  closest,  and  most  earnestly  con- 
tested questions  of  the  session ;  and  finally  car- 
ried by  an  inconsiderable  majority.     The  sum  of 
I  $500,000  was  appropriated  to  defray  the  expeu- 
I  ses  of  treating  with  them  for  an  exchange,  or  sale 
of  territory  ;  and  under  this  act,  and  with  the 
]  ample  means  which  it  placed  at  the  disposal  of 
i  the  President,  the  removals  were  eventually  ef- 
j  fectcd ;  but  with  great  difficulty,  chiefly  on  ac 
I  count  of  a  foreign,  or  outside  influence  from  pol- 
iticians  and  intrusive  philanthropists.     Gcorga 
was  the  State  where  this  question  took  its  most 
■serious  form.     The  legislature  of  the  State  laid 
off  the  Cherokee  country  into  counties,  and  jire- 
parc<l  to  exercise  her  laws   within   them.    'Hw 
Indians,  besides  resisting  through  their  political 
friends  in  Congi-ess,  took  counsel  and  legal  ad- 
vice, with  a  view  to  get  the  question  into  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States.     Mr,  Win, 
the  late  Attorney  General  of  the  United  State.«, 
was  rctaintd  in  their  cause,  and  addres,sed  a  com 


■fi 


municatioi 

prising  hii 

"agreed  c! 

ion  of  th( 

proposal,  a 

wliy  tlie  S 

tending  he 

had  becom 

"half  bre( 

who  posses 

ing  under  | 

without,  w 

dence  with! 

remaining  i 

beyond   th( 

"  So  long  ai 

live  habits, 

States  und( 

nient  they  i 

laws.    Sucl 

eause  it  woi 

of  life,  the  ( 

and  the  ki 

with  those  I 

power  of   1 

among  the  ( 

la;vs,  custor 

subjected  tli 

prossive  of  | 

is  notliing  s 

chariicter  of 

upon  them,  i 

was  this  stal 

tory  upon  G 

sovereignty  1 

ment  witiiin 

gent,  or  igno 

passed  no  lai 

security,  or  j 

has  been  th 

to  separate  tl 

informed  Ind 

of  citizenshij 

forming  its  c 

privileges ;  a 

probability  o 

ant  and  idle, 

where  the  im 

accordance  w 

people." 

With  respe 
this  question. 


ANNO  1830.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


165 


munication  to  tho   Governor  of  the  State,  ap- 


prising him  cf  the  fact ;  and  proposing  that  an 
"  agreed  case  "  should  be  made  up  for  tho  decis- 
ion of  the  court.     Gov.  Gilmer  declined  this 
proposal,  and  in  his  answer  gave  as  the  reason 
wliy  tlic  State  had  taken  the  decided  step  of  ex- 
tending her  jurisdiction,  that  the  Cherokee  tribe 
had  become   merged  in   its  management  in  the 
"half  breeds"    or  des-ccndants  of  white  men 
who  possessed  \  r^alth  and  intelligence,  and  act- 
ing under  political  and  fanatical  instigations  from 
without,  were  disposed  to  perpetuate  their   resi- 
dence within  the  State,— (the  part  of  them  still 
remaining  and  refusing  to  join   their  half  tribe 
beyond  the  Mississippi).     The  governor  said: 
"So  long  as  the  Cherokees  retained  their  primi- 
tive habits,  no  disposition   was  shown  by  the 
States  under  the  protection  of  whose  govern- 
ment they  resided,  to  make  them  subject  to  their 
laws.    Such  policy  would  have  been  cruel ;  be- 
eausc  it  would  have  interfered  with  their  habits 
of  life,  the  enjoyments  peculiar  to  Indian  people 
and  the  kind  of  government  which    accorded 
with  those  habits  and  enjoyments.     It  was  the 
power  of   the    whites,   and  of   their  children 
among  the  Cherokees,  that  destroyed  the  ancient 
laivs,  customs  and  authority  of  the  tribe    and 
subjected  the  nation  to  the  rule  of  that  most  op- 
pressive of  governments — an  oligarchy.     There 
is  nothing  surprising  in  this  resi  t.     From  tlie 
character  of  the  people,  and  the  cause    .,,-..'  ating 
upon  tliem,  it  could  not  have  been  othei  Wi.se.   It 
was  this  state  of  things  that  rendered  it  obliga- 
tory upon  Georgia  to  vindicate  the  rights  of  her 
sovereignty  by  abolishing  all  Cherokee  govern- 
ment within  its  limits.     Whether  of  the  intelli- 
gent, or  ignorant  class,  the  State  of  Georgia  has 
passed  no  laws  violative  of  the  liberty,  personal 
security,  or  private  property  of  any  Indian.     It 
has  been  the  object  of  humanity,  and  wisdom,    he  said 
to  separate  the  two  classes  (the  ignorant,  and  the 
informed  Indians)  among  them,  giving  the  rights 
of  citizenship  to  those  who  are  capable  of  per- 
forming its  duties  and   properly  estimating  its 
privileges  ;  and  increasing  the  enjoyment  anrl  the 
probability  of  future  improven-nt  to  the  ignor- 
ant and  idle,  by  removing  them  to  a  situation 
where  the  inducements  to  action  will  be  more  in 
accordance  with  the  character  of  the  Cherokee 
people." 

With  respect  to  the  foreign  interference  with 
this  question,  by  politicians  of  other  States  and 


pseudo  philanthropists,  the  only  efifect  of  which 


WiS to  bringui)onsubaltern agents  thepuni.sliineut 
which  the  laws  inflicted  upon  its  violatois,  the 
governor  said  ;     "  It  is  well  known  that  tlie  ex- 
tent of  the  jurisdiction  of  Georgia,  and  the  pol- 
icy of  removing  the  Cherokees  and  other  Indiana 
to  the  west  of  tho  Mississippi,  have  become  party 
questions.     It  is  believed  that  the  Cherokees  in 
Georgia,  had  determined  to  unite  with  that  por- 
tion of  the  tribe  who  had  removed  to  the  west  of 
the  Mississippi,  if  the  policy   of  the   President 
was  sustained  by  Congress.     To  prevent  this  re- 
sult, as  soon  as  it  became  highly  probable  that 
the  Indian  bill  would  pass,  the  Cherokees  were 
persuaded  that  the  right  of  self-government  could 
be  secured  to  them  by  the  power  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  in  defiance  of  the  leg- 
islation of  the  general  and  State  governments. 
It  was  not  known,  however,  until  the  receipt  of 
your  letter,  that  the  spirit  of  resistance  to  the 
laws  of  the  State,  and  views  of  the  United  States, 
which  has  of  late  been  evident  among  the  Indi- 
ans, had  in  any  manner  been  occasioned  by  your 
advice."     Mr.  Wirt  had  been  professionally  em- 
ployed by  the  Cherokees  to  bring  their  case  be- 
fore the  Supremo  Court ;  but  as  he  classed  polit- 
ically with  the  party,  which  took  sides  with  the 
Indians  against  Georgia,  the  governor  was  the 
less  ceremonious,  or  reserved  in  his  reply  to  him. 
Judge  Clayton,  in  whose  circuit  the  Indian 
counties  fell,  at  his  first  charge  to  the  grand  jury 
assured  the  Indians  of  protection,  warned  the  in- 
termeddlers  of  the  mischief  they  were  were  do- 
ing, and  cf  the  '.iutility  of  applying  to  tie  Su- 
prr.ne  Court.     IlesJd:    "  My  other  purpose  is 
to  ap{.  -is: :-,  u-i  ?.  India!  -, ;  thai  they  are  not  to  be  oppres- 
sed, as  hr-- b.;cn  «igely  foretold:  that  the  same 
justice  wh:j:.  -vill  be  meted  to  the  citizen  shall  be 
meted  to  them."     With  respect  to  intermeddlers 
■'  Meetings  have  been  held  in  all  direc- 
tions,   to  e.. press  opinions  on   the  conduct  of 
Georgia,  and  Georgia  alone  —when  her  adjoining 
sister  States  had  lately  done  precisely  the  same 
thing;    and  which  she  and  they  had  done,  in 
the  rightful  exercise  of  their  State  sovereignty." 
The  jud<:;e  even  showed  that  one  of  these  intru- 
sive philanthropists  had  endeavored  to  interest 
European  sympathy,  in  behalf  of  the  Cherokees ; 
and  quoted  from  the  address  of  the  reverend  Mr. 
luicr,  c;t  *\cw-i;orK,  to  the  i-'oreigu  Mist^uiary 
Society  in  London:    "That  if  the  cause  of  the 
negroes  in  the  West  Indias  was  interesting  t* 


^^  It  ^1 


. 


166 


TUIRTY  YEAIIS'  VIEW. 


that  auditory— and  deeply  interesting  it  ought 
to  be— if  the  pop\ilation  in  Ireland,  groaning  be- 
neath the  degradation  of  superstition— excited 
their  sympathies,  he  trusted  the  Indians  of  North 
America  would  also  be  considered  as  the  objects 
of  their  Christian  regard.     He  was  grieved,  how- 
ever, to  state  that  there  were  those  in  America, 
who  acted  towards  them  in  a  dillerent  spirit ;  and 
he  lamented  to  say  that,  at  this  very  moment,  the 
State  of  Georgia  was  seeking  to  subjugate  and 
destroy  the  liberties  both  of  the  Creeks  and  the 
Cherokees;    the  former  of  whom  possessed  in 
Georgia,  ten  millions  of  acres  of  land,  and  the 
latter  three  millions."    In  this  manner  European 
sympathies  were  sought  to  bo  brought  to  bear 
upon  the  question  of  removal  of  the  Indians— a 
political  and  domestic  question,  long  since  resolv- 
ed upon  by  wise  and  humane  Ameiican  states- 
men—and for  the  benefit  of  the  Indians  them- 
selves, as  well  as  of  the  States  in  which  they 
were.    If  all  that  the  reverend  missionary  utter- 
ed had  been  true,  it  would  still  have  been  a  very 
improper  invocation  of  European  sympathies  in 
an  American  domestic  question,  and  against  a  set- 
tled governmental  policy :  but  it  was  not  true. 
The  Creeks,  with  their  imputed  ten  millions  of 
acres,  owned  not  one  acre  in  the  State ;  and  had 
not  in  five  years— not  since  the  treaty  of  cession 
in   1825:  which  shows  the  recklessness  with 
which  the  reverend  suppliant  for  foreign  sympa- 
thy, spoke  of  the  people  and  States  of  his  own 
country.    The  few  Cherokees  who  were  there, 
instead  of  subjugation  and  destruction  of  their 
liberties,  were  to  be  paid  a  high  price  for  their 
land,  if  they  chose  to  join  their  tribe  beyond  tlie 
Mississippi ;  and  if  not,  they  were  to  be  protect- 
ed like  the  white  inhabitants  of  the  counties  they 
lived  in.     With  respect  to  the  Supreme  Court, 
the  judge  declared  that  he  should  pay  no  atten- 
tion to  its  mandate— holding  no  writ  of  error  to 
lie  from  the  Supreme  Court  of  tb.-  United  States 
to  his  State  Court— but  would  execute  the  sen- 
tence of  the  law,  whatever  it  might  be,  in  defiance 
of  the  Supreme  Court ;  and  such  was  the  fact. 
Instigated  by  foreign  interference,   and  relying 
upon  its  protection,  one  George  Tassels,  of  In- 
dian descent,  committed  a  homicide  in  resisting 
the  laws  of  Geojgia- was  tried  for  murder  -con- 
yicted — condemned — and  sentenced  to  be  hanged 
ou  a  given  day.  A  writ  of  error,  to  bring  thecasft 
before  itself,  was  obtained  from  the  Supreme  Court 


of  the  United  States ;  and  it  was  proposed  by  tho 
counsel,  Mr.  Wirt,  to  try  tho  whole  question  of 
the  right  of  Georgia,  to  exercise  jurisdiction  over 
the  Indiana  and  Indian  country  within  her  lim- 
its, by  the  trial  of  this  writ  of  error  at  Wash- 
ington ;  and  for  that  purpose,  and  to  save  the  te- 
dious forms  of  judicial  proceedings,  he  retpiesttd 
the  governor  to  con.sent  to  make  up  an  "  agrted 
case"  for  the  coiisideration  and  decision  of  that 
high  court.     This  proposition  Governor  Gilmer 
declined,  in  firm  but  civil  terms,  saying :  "Your 
suggestion  that  it  would  be  convenient  and  sat- 
isfactory if  yourself,  the  Indians,  and  ttie  gov- 
ernor would  make  up  a  law  case  to  be  submit- 
ted to  the  Supremo  Court  for  tho  determination 
of  the  question,  whether  the  legislature  of  Geor- 
gia has  competent  authority  to  pass  laws  for  tlie 
government  oi"  the  Indians  residing  within  its 
limits,  however  courteous  the  manner,  and  concilia- 
tory the  phraseology,  cannot  but  be  considered  as 
exceedingly  disresi)e.^tful  to  the  government  of  the 
State.    No  one  knows  better  than  your.self,  that 
the  governor  would  grossly  violate  his  duty,  and 
exceed  his  authority,  by  complying  with  such  a 
suggestion ;  and  that  both  the  letter  and  the  .'^pint 
of  the  powers  conferred  by  the  constitution  upon 
the  Supreme  Court  forbid  its  ac\judging  such  u 
case.     It  is  hoped  that  the  efforts  of  the  general 
government  to  execute  its  contract  with  Gcorgii', 
(the  compact  of  1802),  to  secure  the  continuance 
and  advance  the  happiness  of  the  Indian  tribes, 
and  to  give  quiet  to  the  country,  may  be  so  ef- 
fectually successful  as  to  prevent  the  necessity  of 
any  further  intercourse  upon  the  subject."    And 
there  was  no  further  intercourse.     The  day  fur 
the  execution  of  Tassels  came  round:  he  was 
hanged :  and  the  writ  of  the  Supreme  Court  was 
no  more  heard  of.     The  remaining  Cherokees  af- 
terwards made  their  treaty,  and  removed  to  the 
west  of  the  Mississippi ;  and  that  was  the  end  of 
the  political,  and  intrusive  philanthropical  inter- 
fertjnce  in  the  domestic  policy  of  Georgia.    One 
Indian  hanged,  some  missionaries  imprisoned,  the 
writ  of  the  Supreme  Court  disregarded,  the  In- 
dians removed:  and  the  political  and  pseudo- 
I  philanthropic  intermeddlcrs  left  to  the  reflection 
I  of  having  done  much  mischief  in  assutuiug  to 
become  the  defenders  and  guardians  of  a  race 
I  which  the  humanity  of  cur  laws  and  people  were 
!  treating  with  parental  kindness. 


\m 


i      y 


^ms 


ANNO  1831.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


167 


scd  by  th« 
ucstion  of 
iction  over 
in  liiT  lini- 

at  AVash- 
;avo  the  te- 
I  requested 
in  '•  agrtcil 
ion  of  that 
lor  Gilmer 
ng;  "Your 
nt  and  sat- 
d  the  gov- 
be  suljuiit- 
terniinatiou 
ire  of  Geor- 
aws  for  the 
;  within  its 
and  concilia- 
onsidered  as 
unent  of  the 
)urself,  that 
is  duly,  and 
with  such  a 
,nd  the  spirit 
itution  upon 
ging  such  a 
'  the  general 
?ith  Georgi?, 
:  continuance 
idian  tribes, 
lay  be  soef- 
!  necessity  of 
jjc'ct."    And 
The  day  fur 
ind:  he  was 
ne  Court  was 
;;!herokcos  af- 
noved  to  the 
as  the  end  of 
-epical  inter- 
eorgia.    One 
iprisoned,  the 
rded,  the  In- 

and  pseudo- 
the  reflection 

assuming  to 
ans  of  a  race 
d  people  were 


CHAPTER    LII. 

VETO  ON  TUE  MAYaVILLE  EGAD  BILL. 

Tins  was  the  third  veto  on  tho  subject  of  federal 
internal  improvements  within  the  States,  and  by 
three  diflerent  Presidents.     The  first  was  L .  .  ". 
Madison,  on  tho  bill  "  to  set  apart,  and  pledge 
certain  funds  for  constructing  roads  and  canals, 
and  improving  tho  navigation  of  watercourses, 
in  order  to  facilitate,  promote,  and  give  security 
to  internal  commerce  among  the  several  States : 
and  to  render  more  easy  and  less  expensive  the 
n:.!aiis  and  provisions  of  the  common  defence  " — 
a  very  long  title,  and  even  argumentative — as  if 
afraid  of  the  President's  veto — which  it  received 
in  a  message  with  the  reasons  for  disapproving 
it,    Tho  second  was  that  of  Mr.  Monroe  on  the 
Cnniherland  Road  bill,  which,  with  an  abstract 
of  his  reasons  and  arguments,  has  already  been 
given  in  this  View.    This  third  veto  on  the  same 
subject,  and  from  President  Jackson,  and  at.a 
time  when  internal  improvement  by  the  federal 
government  had  become  a  point  of  party  division 
and  a  part  of  the  American  system,  and  when 
concerted  action  on  the  public  mind  had  created 
for  it  a  degree  of  popularity :  this  third  veto  un- 
der such  circumstances  was  a  killing  blow  to  the 
system— which  has  shown  but  little,  and  only 
occasional  vitality  since.     Taken   together,  the 
three  vetoes,  and  the  three  messages  sustaining 
tliem,  and  the  action  of  Congress  upon  them  (fiir 
in  no  instance  did  the  House  in  which  they  origi- 
nated pass  the  bills,  or  either  of  them,  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  vetoes),  may  be  considered  as  embra- 
cing all  the  constitutional  reasoning  upon  the 
question ;  and  enough  to  be  studied  by  any  one 
who  wishes  to  make  himself  master  of  the  sub- 
ject. 


CHAPTER    LIII. 

RUPTURE   BETWEEN  PRESIDENT  JACKSON,  AND 
VICE-PKESIDENT  CALHOUN. 

With  the  quairels  of  public  men  history  has 
no  concern,  except  a,s  they  enter  into  public  con- 
duct, and  influence  public  events.  In  such  case, 
and  as  the  cause  of  such  events,  these  quarrels 


belong  to  history,  which  would  be  an  empty  tale, 
devoid  of  interest  or  instruction,  without  the  de- 
velopment of  tho  causes,  and  consequences  of 
the  acta  which  it  narrates.  Division  among 
chiefs  has  always  been  a  cause  of  mischief  to  their 
country ;  and  when  so,  it  is  tlie  duty  of  history 
to  show  it.  That  mischief  points  the  moral  of 
much  history,  and  has  been  made  the  subject  of 
the  greatest  of  poems : 

"  Aehlllos'  wratli,  to  Orccco  tho  direftil  spring 
Of  woes  unnuuibered " 

About  the  beginning  of  JIarch,  in  tho  year 
1831,  a  pamphlet  appeared  in  Washington  City, 
issued  by  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  addressed  to  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  to  explain  the  cause 
of  a  difference  which  had  taken  place  between 
himself  and  General  Jackson,  instigated  as  tho 
pamphlet  alleged  by  Mr.  Van  Burcn,   and  in- 
tended to  make  mischief  between  the  first  and  sec- 
ond officers  of  tho  government,  and  to  effect  the 
political  destruction  of  him.sclf  (Mr.  Calhoun)  for 
the  benefit  of  the  contriver  of  the  quarrel— tho 
then  Secretary  of  State ;  and  indicated  as  a  candi- 
date for  the  presidential  succession  upon  tlie  termi- 
nation of  General  Jack.son's  service.     It  was  the 
same  pamphlet  of  which  Mr.  Duncan.son,  as  here- 
tofore related,  had  received  previous  notice  from 
Mr.  Duff  Green,  as  V    ng  in  print  in  his  office, 
but  the  publication  delayed  for  the  maturing  of 
the  measures  which  were  to  attend  its  appear- 
ance ;   namely :    the  change  in  the  course  of  the 
Telegraph;  its  attacks  upon  General  Jackson 
and  Mr.  Van  Buren ;  the  defence  of  Mr.  Calhoun ; 
and  the  chorus  of  the  affiliated  presses,  to  bo  en- 
gaged "  in  getting  up  the  storm  which  even  the 
popularity  of  General  Jackson  could  not  stand. " 
The  pamphlet  was  entitled,  '•  Correspondence 
between  General  Andrew  Jackson  atd  John  C. 
Calhoun,  President  and   Vice-Presv  ent  of  the 
United  States,  on  the  subject  of  the  course  of  the 
latter  in  the  deliberations  of  the  cabinet  of  Mr. 
Monroe  on  the  occurrences  of  the  Seminole  war;" 
and  its  contents  consisted  of  a  prefatory  address 
and  a  number  of  letters,  chiefly  from  Mr.  Calhoun 
hini.self,  and  his  friends— the  General's  share  of 
tho  correspondence  being  a  few  brief  notes  to 
ascertain  if  Mr,  Crawford's  statement  was  true  ? 
and,  being  informed  that,  substantially,  it  was, 
to  decline  any  further  correspondence  with  Mr. 
Calhoun,  and  to  promise  a  full  public  reply  when 
he  had  the  leisure  for  the  purpose  and  access  to 


f#WTO 


lit 

i 


168 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


I'M ''I' 


it , 


lisp  V 


the  proofs.  His  words  were :  *'  In  your  and  Mr. 
Crawford's  dispute  1  have  no  interest  whatever; 
but  it  may  bewino  necessary  for  nic  hereafter, 
when  I  shall  have  more  leisure,  anu  the  docu- 
ments at  liand,  to  place  the  -ubject  in  its  proper 
light — to  notice  the  historical  fa~ts  and  icLi- 
ences  in  your  conimunication — which  will  give 

a  very  ditVerent  view  V'  the  subject 

Undiistnndinjj  you  now,  no  furthti  communi- 
tatioii  with  you  on  this  subject  is  necessary." 
And  none  further  appears  from  Gen- 
eral Jackson. 

But  the  general  did  what  ho  had  intimatc«l  he 
would— drew  up  a  sustained  reply,  showing  the 
subject  in  a  diflcrent  light  from  that  in  which 
Mr.  Calhoun's  letters  had  presented  it;  and 
quoting  vouchers  for  all  that  he  said.  The  case, 
as  made  out  in  the  published  pamphlet,  stood 
before  the  public  as  that  of  an  intrigue  on  the 
part  of  Mr.  Van  Buren  to  supplant  a  rival— of 
which  the  President  was  the  dupe— Mr.  Calhoun 
the  victim— and  the  country  the  sufferer :  and 
the  modus  opcmndi  of  the  intrigue  was,  to  dig 
up  the  buried  proceedings  in  Mr.  Monroe's  cabi- 
net, in  relation  to  a  proposed  court  of  inquiry  on 
the  general  (at  the  instance  of  Mr.  Calhoun), 
for  his  alleged,  unauthor*  wd,  and  illegal  opera- 
tions in  Florida  during  the  Seminole  war.  It 
was  this  case  which  the  general  f  u    himself 

iting 

•'  was 

and. 


bound  to  confront — and  did  ;  and  ir 
which  ho  showed  that  Mr.  Calbovin  is'-iu'a'. 
the  sole  cause  of  breaking  their  iiicnti.-!  i]i; 
couscfiucntly,  the  sole  cause  of  all   Oh    conse- 
quences which  resulted  from  that  breach.    Up 
to  that  time— up  to  the  date  of  the  discovery  of 
Jlr.  Calhoun's  now  admitted  part  in  tlie  proposed 
measure  of  the  court  of  inquiry— that  gentleman 
luvl  been  the  general's  beau  ideal  of  a  states- 
man and  a  man—"  the  noblest  work  of  God,"  as 
he  I'lblicly  expressed  it  in  a  toast:    against 
whom  he  would  believe  nothing,  to  whose  friends 
he  gave  an  equal  voice  in  the  cabinet,  whom  he 
consulted  as  if  a  member  of  his  administration ; 
and  whom  ho  actually  preferred  for  his  successor. 
This  reply  to  the  pamphlet,  entitled  "y!)i  f.r^w- 
silion  of  Mr,  Callwuti's  course  towards  Gene- 
ral Jackson,''^  though  written    above   twenty 
years   ago,  and    intended  for    publication,  has 
never  before  been  given  to  the  public.     ItS4)ub- 
licatiou  becomes  essential  now.    It  belongs  to  a 
dissension  between  chiefs  which  has  disturbed 
the  harmony,  and  loosened  the  foundations  of  the 


Union  ;  and  of  which  the  view,  on  one  side,  was 
|)ublished  in  pamphlet  at  the  time,  legisten  d  in 
the  weeklies  and  aimuals,  prin'  \  in  many  pa- 
pers, carried  into  the  Congress  debates,  espe- 
cially on  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Van  Buren ;  and 
so  made  a  part  of  the  piililic  history  of  the  times 

to  be  used  as  historical  miiterW  in  nllff  time. 

The  introductory  paragrapli  to  the  "  E.v  osit      ' 
shows  that  it  was  intended  for  immediate  pui 
cation,  but  with  a  fueling  of  repugnance  to  tin 
exhibition  of  the  chief  magistrate  a.s  a  newspn- 
per  writer:  which  feeling  in  the  end  [im.^mi 
naled,  and  delayed  the  publication  until  the  ex 
piration  of  his  office— and  afterwards,  until  his 
death.     But  it  was  preserved  to  fultil  its  origi- 
nal purpose,  and  went  in  its  manuscript  for^  to 
Mr.  Francis  P.  Blair,  the  literary  legatee  of  i 
eral  Jackson;  and  by  him  was  turned  over 
me  (with  trunks  full  of  other  jiapers)  to  be  used 
in  this  Thirty  Years'  View.     It  had  been  ])m\- 
ously  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Amos  Kendall,  as  iia- 
tcrial  for  a  life  of  Jackson,  which  he  had  begun 
to  write,  and  was  by  him  made  known  to  Mr. 
Calhoun,  who  declined  ^•furnishing  any  fur- 
ther information  on  the  subject.''^  *    It  is  in  the 
fair  round-hand  writing  of  a  clerk,  slightly  in- 
terlined in  the  general's   hand,  the   narrative 
sometimes  in   the  first   and   sometimes  in  the 
third  person;  vouchers  referred  to  and  showu 
for  every  allegation;   and  signed  by  the  gen- 
eral in  bis  own  well-known  hand.     Its  mat- 
ter consists  of  thi-ee  parts :  1.  The  justification 
of  himself,  under   the   law  of  nations  and  tlie 
treaty  with  Spain  of  1795,  for  taking  military 
possession  of  Florida  in  1818.     2.  Tlie  same  jus- 
tification, under  the  orders  of  Mr.  Monroe  and 
his  Secretary  at  "War  (Mr.  Calhoun).    3.  The 


♦  Mr.  Kendall's  letter  to  the  author  is  in  these  words: 
"December 29, 1853— In  reply  to  your  note  just  rectived, 
I  have  to  state  that,  wishing  to  <lo  exact  justice  tonlliiKliin 
my  Life  of  Oeni-ral  Jackson,  I  addrossod  a  note  to  Mr.  Cal- 
lioiin  statlnK  to  him  in  substance,  that  I  was  in  Ilo^spv-iul.  of 
the  evidences  on  which  the  general  based  liis  inipiitation  of 
duplicity  touching  his  course  in  Mr.  Monroes  cid.inet  upon 
the  Florida  war  question,  and  inquiring  whether  it  wa,s  bis 
desire  to  furnish  any  furtlier  information  on  thesuliioct,(irrcst 
upon  that  which  wiu  already  before  the  public  (in  his  publica- 
tion). A  few  days  afterwards,  the  Hon.  Di.\on  II.  Lewis  told 
mo  that  Mr.  Cullioun  had  received  my  letter,  ami  had  ^■que^te.l 
liim  toasli  mo  what  was  the  nature  of  the  evidences  anion;! 
General  Jaclvson's  papers  to  which  I  alluded.  I  stated  tboni  to 
liim.  as  embodied  in  General  Jaclcson'8  '  Kxposition,'  to  uliiili 
you  refer.  Mr.  Lewis  afterwards  informed  me  I'not  Mi.  Uinoutt 
■  liiMl  concluded  to  let  the  matter  rest  as  it  was.  U  bis  is  all  t!i« 
'  answer  I  ever  reccWod  ftom  Mr.  Calliuun. ' 


» 


stateraeut  < 
him  (the  p 
inole  '  ar,  a 
and  ill  the 
gave  ri.se. 
Jackson,  or 
only  the  tw 
View.  To 
tion  of  the  . 
references  ( 
which  liavin 
are  foun 
text ;  iind  al 
plaint  ;i2;aiE 
representatii 
claims. 


"It  will  l 
ence  with  M 
I  engaged,  i 
hand,  to  givi 
condi  in  tl 
pn  in 

,icii  thi 

Altlioug 

iject,  engi 

I    '  public  di 

tioe,  yel  1 
houn,  from 
my  conduct 
hension  of  n 
oorrcspouJer 
oils  fiionds  ii 
ill  compliaiie 
to  my  fellov 
witli  the  doci 
'"  I  am  awi 
wlio  deem  it 
this  nation  si 
pear  before  t 
cate  his  cond 
result  from  t 
isuppo-sed  an.i 
of  the  first 
whom  it  is  si 
may  ije  well 
ferent  ojiinioi 
tliat  thy  cour 
jiidjmiL'nt  of 
coiiforinity  w 
the  spirit  of  i 
quires  tliat  tl 
man,  liow  eh 
should  be  f.iii 
eiission  and  d 
conviction  I  h 

mt  Wiallillg  t 

life  to  be  cone 
iliict  in  connc 
respoadeuce  : 


4f  # 


ANN-O  IflSl      ANDREIV  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


169 


0  side,  wM 
igistcicd  II, 

1  nmnj  pa- 
iiitcs,  espc- 
Buron;  nnd 
if  the  times 

after  tiniv. 
Hx  osif     ' 
dirtte  pill 
mce  to  tli< 
a  a  iH'wspii 
I'l  (in  I, /III! 
lUil  the  c.\ 
Is,  until  his 
ill  its  01  igi- 
ript  forr':  to 
;atc'c  of  I . 
Tied  over 
i)  to  be  used 
been  prcvi- 
[idall,as    ;a- 
;  had  begun 
nown  to  .Mr. 
tg  0)1  y  fur- 
It  is  in  the 
,  slightly  in- 
he  narrative 
times  in  the 
)  and  sIiowlI 
by  the  gcn- 
1.     Its  mat- 
I  justification 
ions  and  tlie 
dng  military 
riie  same  jus- 
Jlonroe  and 
un).    3.  The 

hese  words: 
ne  just  received, 
Slice  to  nil  nitli  in 
note  to  Mr-  Cal- 
in  IMl^se-•iu^J  of 
lis  imputation  of 
bo's  ciiiiinet  upon 
hotlifi-  it  was  liij 
:lii>6iil'.ioct,orrest 
lic(inliispiib!loa- 
on  II.  Lcwi'i  told 
im\  li:i<l  n<iue.-ttil 
.  cviiliMices  liiiioiii! 
I  stntcil  tliom  to 
[lo.sition,'  to  «lil('li 
a  liiiii  Ml.  Caliiotm 
8.    TliiJ  is  »11  tt« 


rttatemi.  of  Mr.  Calln>iin'.«i  condu  t  towards 
him  (the  g  ^ral)  in  all  that  affair  ot  the  Sem- 
inole •  ar,  an<l  in  the  movements  in  the  cabinet, 
and  ill  the  two  Houses  of  Conprps.<!,  to  which  it 
gave  rise.    All  these  parts  Ik  to  air -of 

Jackson,  or  a  history  of  the  Senii  le  war;  * 
only  the  two  latter  come  witliin  tlte  scope  of  tli 
View.  To  tliiso  two  piirt.s,  thi  this  publi'' i 
tion  of  the  E.vp'  ition  is  confined — omitting  the 
refi^renccs  to  the  voijrhers  in  the  appendix — 
which  having  been  examined  (^  ho  essi  lial  mes) 
arc  foiin  in  every  particular  to  stain  the 
text;  11 'id  also  omitting  a  separate  head  of  com- 
plaint a2;ainst  Mr.  Cnlhoun  on  account  of  lin 
representations  in  n  a  to  South  Carolina 
claims. 

"EXPOSITION. 


firm  and  enlightened  consideration  of  my  fellow 
citizens. 


[Hero  follows  a  justille    i 
conduct  under  the  law  of  , 
orders  to  Gen.  Qainos,  hi 


'tiof  Gen.  Jackson'd 

MS,  and  under  the 

iecessor  in  tiu 


of  orders  issued  by 


command.] 

'■  Such  was  the  gradatii 
the  government.  At  first  they  instructed  their 
general  ^  not  to  pass  the  line.'  He  is  next  in- 
structed to  ^e.veii  i.-ic  a  sound  discretion  as  to 
the  necessity  of  crossing  the  line,''  lie  is  then 
directed  to  consider  himself  ^  at  liberty  tomarch 
Oil 088  the  Florida  tine,'  but  to  halt,  and  re- 
port to  the  depui  unent  in  ca.so  the  Indians 
^should  sht         thei)i""h'ea  undir   "    Spanish 


"  It  will  be  reoollocted  that  in  my  correspond- 
rme  with  Mr.  t'.ilhoun  which  he  has  published, 
1  enj:a;jred,  when  tb"  documents  should  be  at 
hand,  to  give  a  stateinei>t  of  facts  respecting  my 

condi      in  the  Seminole  campaign,  which  would _ 

pre'        t  in  a  very  diff^-rent  light  from  the  one  ;  Governor  Brbb,"of  Aiabama,'datcd  the 
h  thit  gentleman  ha      laced  it. 


fort.'     Final  ,y,  after 
cious  ma8.sacif  of  the 
constituting  the  ) 
order  a  new  ^ti 
him  to  '  adopt  th 
an  end  to  the  co 
rial  "lines,"  or 
houn's  own  unth 
by  him,  is  forcibl 


I     ng  informed  of  the  atrb 

■      '■'■■  men  and  children 

1  tenant  Scott,  they 

iie  field,  and  direct 

try   measures  to  put 

iihout  regard  to  ternto- 

uiish   forts."  '     Mr.  Cal- 

ding  of  the  order  issued 

and  clearly  explained  in  a  let- 


Although  the  time  I  an  to  devote  to  the 

ijeet,  engrossed  as  1  am  ,  discharge  of 
I  ■  public  duties,  is  entire! j  m  luequate  to  do  it 
■Ikii.  yel  from  the  cour.ve  ])iiisued  by  Mr.  Cal- 
liotin,  from  the  frequent  misrepresentations  of 
my  conduct  on  that  occasion,  from  the  misappre- 
hension of  my  motives  for  entering  upon  that 
eorres])ondenec,  from  the  solicitations  of  numer- 
ous friends  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  and 
ill  comiilianee  with  that  engagement,  I  present 
to  my  fellow-citizens  the  following  statement, 
with  the  documents  on  which  it  rests. 

"  I  am  aware  that  there  are  some  among  u.s 
wiio  itiam  it  unfit  that  the  chief  magistrate  of 
tliis  nation  shoald,  under  any  circumstances,  ap- 
pear before  the  public  in  this  manner,  to  vindi- 
cate his  conduct.  These  opinions  or  feelings  may 
result  from  too  great  fastidiousness,  or  from  a 
supposed  analogy  between  his  station  and  that 
of  the  first  magistrate  of  other  countries,  of 
whom  it  is  said  they  can  do  no  wrong,  or  they 
may  be  well  founded.  I,  however,  entertain  dif- 
ferent oilinioas  on  this  subject.  It  seems  to  me 
that  the  course  I  now  take  of  appealing  to  the 
judgment  of  my  fellow-citizens,  if  not  in  exact 
conformity  with  past  usage,  at  least  springs  from 
tliu  spirit  of  our  popular  institutions,  which  re- 
quires that  the  conduct  and  character  of  every 
wan,  liow  elevated  soever  may  be  his  station 
should  bo  f.iirly  and  freely  submitted  to  the  dis- 
cission and  decision  of  the  people.  Under  this  ; 
conviction  I  have  acted  heretofore,  and  now  act, 
not  wishing  this  or  any  other  part  of  my  publit- 
life  to  be  concealed.  I  present  my  whole  con- 
duct in  connection  with  the  subject  of  that  cor- 
respondence m  this  form,  to  the  indulgent  but 


ter  written  by  him  in  reply  to  the  inquiries  of 
■■■"■■"  ,  "  ■  ■  13th  of 
May,  1818,  in  which  he  says  :—  '  General  Jack- 
son is  vested  with  full  power  to  conduct  the 
war  as  he  may  think  best.' 

"  These  orders  were  received  by  General  Jack- 
son at  Na,shville,  on  the  night  of  the  12th  Janu- 


ary, 1818,  and  he  instantly  took 
carry  them  into  effect. 


measures  to 


"  In  the  mean  time,  however,  he  had  received 
copies  of  the  orders  to  General  Gaines,  to  take 
possession  of  Amelia  Island,  and  to  enter  Flori- 
da, but  halt  and  report  to  the  department,  in 
case  the  Indians  sheltered  themselves  under  a 
Spanish  fort.  Approving  the  policy  of  the  for- 
mer, and  perceiving  in  the  latter,  dangers  to  the 
army,  and  injury  to  the  country,  on  the  Gth  of 
January  he  addres.sed  a  confidential  letter  to  the 
President,  frankly  disclosing  his  views  on  both 
subjects.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  that  let- 
ter, viz. : — 

"NAsnvaLE,  6th  Jan.,  1818. 
"  Sir  ■  -A  few  days  since,  I  received  a  letter 
from  J  Secretaiy  of  War,  of  the  17th  ult., 
with  inclosures.  Your  order  of  the  19th  ult. 
through  him  to  Brevet  Major  General  Gaines  to 
enter  the  territory  of  Spain,  and  chastise  the 
ruthless  savages  who  have  been  depredating  on 
the  property  and  lives  of  our  citizens,  will  meet 
not  only  the  approbation  of  your  country,  but  the 
ajiprobation  of  Heaven.  Will  you  however  permit 
me  to  suggest  the  catastrophe  that  might  arise  by 
General  Gaines's  compliance  with  the  last  clause 
of  your  order '?  Suppose  the  case  that  the  In- 
dians are  beaten ;  they  take  refuge  either  in 
Pensacola  or  St.  Augustine,  which  open  their 
gates  to  them:  to  profit  by  his  victory,  General 
Gaines  pursues  the  fugitives,  and  has  to  halt  bo* 


Ip'^ 


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170 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


fore  the  garrison  until  he  can  communicate  with 
his  government.  In  the  mean  time  the  militia 
grow  restless,  and  he  is  left  to  defend  himself 
by  the  regulars.  The  enemy,  with  the  aid  of 
their  Spanish  friends,  and  VVoodbine's  British 
partisans,  or,  if  you  please  with  Aurey's  force, 
attacks  him.  What  may  not  be  the  result? 
Defeat  and  massacre.  Permit  me  to  remark 
that  the  arms  of  the  United  States  must  be 
carried  to  any  point  within  the  limits  of  Bast 
Florida,  where  an  enemy  is  permitted  and  pro- 
tected, or  disgrace  attends. 

"The  Executive  Government  have  ordered, 
and,  as  I  conceive,  very  properly.  Amelia  Island 
to  be  taken  possession  of.  This  order  ought  to 
be  carried  into  execution  at  all  hazards,  and  si- 
multaneously the  whole  of  East  Florida  seized^ 
and  held  as  an  indemnity  for  the  outrages  or 
Spain  upon  the  property  of  our  citizens.  This 
done,  it  puts  all  opposition  down,  secures  our  cit- 
izens a  complete  indemnity,  and  saves  us  from  a 
war  with  Great  Britain,  or  some  of  the  conti- 
nental powers  combined  with  Spain.  This  can 
be  done  mthout  implicating  the  government. 
Let  it  be  signified  to  rue  through  any  channel 
(say  Mr.  J.  Rhea),  that  the  possession  of  the 
Florida^  would  be  desirable  to  the  United 
States,  and  in  sixty  days  it  will  be  accom- 
plished. 

"  The  order  being  given  for  the  possession  of 
Amelia  Island,  it  ought  to  be  executed,  or  our 
enemies,  internal  and  external,  will  use  it  to  the 
disadvantage  of  the  government.  If  our  troops 
i°nter  the  territory  of  Spain  in  pursuit  of  our 
Indian  enemy,  all  opposition  that  they  meet 
with  must  be  put  down,  or  we  will  be  involved 
in  danger  and  disgrace. 

"  I  have  the  honor,  &c. 

"  ANDREW  JACKSON. 
"  James  Monroe,  President  U.  S. 

"  The  course  recommended  by  General  Jack- 
son in  this  letter  relative  to  the  iiccupation  of  the 
Floridas  accords  with  the  policy  which  dictated 
the  secret  act  of  Congress.  He  recommended 
no  more  than  the  President  had  a  right  to  do. 
In  consequence  of  the  occupation  of  Amelia  Isl- 
and by  the  officers  of  the  Colombian  and  Mexican 
governments,  and  the  attempt  to  occupy  the 
whole  province,  the  President  had  a  right,  under 
the  act  of  Congress,  to  order  General  Jackson  to 
take  possession  of  it  in  the  name  of  the  United 
States.  He  would  have  been  the  more  justifiable 
in  doing  so,  because  the  inhabitants  of  the  pro- 
vince, the  Indian  subjects  of  the  King  of  Spain, 
whom  he  was  bound  not  only  by  the  laws  of  na- 
tions, but  by  treaty  to  restrain,  were  in  open  war 
with  the  United  States. 

"  Mr.  Calhoun,  the  Secretary  of  War,  was  the 
first  man  who  read  this  letter  after  its  reception 
at  V/ashington  In  a  letter  frmrs  Mr,  M«nr<^. 
to  General  Jackson,  dated  2Ist  December,  1818, 
pubUshed  in  the  Calhoun  corespondence,  page 
44,  is  the  following  account  of  the  reception, 
opening  and  perusal  of  this  letter,  viz. :  ■  V  our  let- 


ter of  January  6th,  was  received  while  I  was  se. 
riously  indisposed.  Observing  that  it  was  from 
you,  I  handed  it  to  Mr.  Calhoun  to  read,  after 
reading  one  or  two  lines  only  myself.  The  order 
to  you  to  take  command  in  that  quarter  had  bu- 
fore  been  issued.  He  remarked  after  perusin<» 
the  letter,  that  it  was  a  confidential  one  relating 
to  Florida,  which  I  must  answer, ' 

"  In  accordance  with  the  advice  of  Mr.  Calhcun, 
and  availing  himself  of  the  sugger-tion  contained 
in  the  letter,  Mr.  Monroe  sent  for  Mr.  John 
Rhea  (then  a  member  of  Congress),  showed  him 
the  confidential  letter,  and  requested  him  to 
answer  it.  In  conformity  vrith  this  request  Mr. 
Rhea  did  answer  the  letter,  and  informed  General 
Jackson  that  the  President  had  shown  liim  the 
confidential  letter,  and  requested  him  to  state  that 
he  approved  of  its  suggestions.  This  answer  was 
received  by  the  general  on  the  second  night  he 
remained  at  Big  Creek,  which  is  four  miles  in 
advance  of  Hartford,  Georgia^  and  before  his 
arrival  at  Fort  Scott,  to  take  command  of  tho 
troops  in  that  quarter. 

"  General  Jackson  had  already  received  or- 
ders, vesting  him  with  discretionary  powers  in 
relation  to  the  measures  necessary  to  put  an 
end  to  the  war.  He  had  informed  the  President 
in  his  confidential  letter,  that  in  his  judgment  it 
was  necessary  to  seize  and  occupy  the  whole  of 
Florida.  This  suggestion  had  been  considered 
by  Mr.  Calhoun  and  the  President,  and  approv- 
ed. From  this  confidential  correspondence  before 
he  entered  Florida,  it  was  understood  on  both 
sides,  that  under  the  order  received  by  him  he 
would  occupy  the  whole  province,  if  an  occasion 
to  do  so  should  present  itself;  as  Mr.  Calhcun 
wrote  to  Governor  Bibb,  he  was  '  authorized  to 
conduct  the  war  as  he  thought  best ; '  and  how 
he  '  thought  best '  to  conduct  it  was  then  made 
known  to  the  Executive,  and  approved,  before 
he  struck  a  blow. 

"  In  the  approval  given  by  Mr.  Monroe  upon 
the  advice  of  Mr.  Calhoun  to  the  suggestions  of 
General  Jackson,  he  acted  in  strict  obedience  to 
the  laws  of  his  country.  By  the  secret  act  of 
Congress,  the  President  was  authorized,  under 
circumstances  then  existing,  to  seize  and  occupy 
all  Florida.  Orders  had  been  given  which  were 
sufficiently  general  in  their  terms  to  cover  that 
object.  The  confidential  correspondence,  and 
private  understanding,  made  them,  so  far  as  re- 
garded the  paities.  as  etfectuall^  orders  to  take  aid 
occupy  the  Province  of  Florida  as  if  that  ob- 
ject had  been  declared  on  their  face. 

"  Under  these  circumstances  General  Jackson 
entered  Florida  with  a  perfect  right,  according 
to  international  law,  and  the  constitution  and 
laws  of  his  country,  to  take  possession  jf  the 
whole  territory.  Ho  was  clothed  with  all  tho 
power  of  the  President,  and  authorized  '  to  con- 
duct the  war  as  he  thought  best,'  He  had  or- 
dera  as  general  and  comprehensive  as  words 
could  make  them:  he  had  the  confidential  appro- 
bation of  the  President  to  his  cofidential  rccom- 
1  mendation  to  seize  Florida :  and  he  entered  tho 


ANNO  1830.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


171 


received  o^ 


roved,  before 


province  with  the  full  knowledge  that  not  only 
justice  and  policy  but  the  laws  of  his  country, 
apd  the  orders  of  the  President  as  publicly  and 
privately  explained  and  understood,  would  justi- 
fy him  in  expelling  every  Spanish  garrison,  and 
extending  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States 
over  every  inch  of  its  territory. 

"'Nevertheless,  General  Jackson,  from  his 
knowledge  of  the  situation  of  affairs  in  Florida, 
expected  to  find  a  justification  for  himself  in  the 
conduct  of  the  Spanish  authorities.  On  the  con- 
trary, had  he  found  on  entering  the  province 
that  the  agents  and  oflBcers  of  Spain,  instead  of 
instigating,  encouraging  and  supplying  the  Indi- 
ans, had  used  all  the  means  in  their  power  to 
prevent  and  put  an  end  to  hostilities,  he  would  not 
have  incurred  the  responsibility  of  seizing  their 
fortresses  and  expelling  them  from  the  country. 
But  he  wrote  to  the  President,  and  entered  upon 
the  campaign  with  other  expectations,  and  in 
these  he  was  not  disappointed. 

"  As  he  approached  St.  Marks  it  was  ascer- 
tained that  it  was  a  place  of  rendezvous  and  a 
source  of  supply  for  the  Indians.  Their  councils 
had  been  held  within  its  walls :  its  storehouses 
were  appropriated  to  their  use :  they  had  there 
obtained  supplies  of  ammunition :  there  they  had 
found  a  maket  for  their  plunder:  and  in  the  com- 
mandant's family  resided  Alexander  Arbuthnot, 
the  chief  instigator  of  the  war.  Moreover,  the 
negroes  and  Indians  under  Ambrister  threatened 
to  drive  out  the  feeble  Spanish  garrison  and  take 
entire  possession  of  the  fort,  as  a  means  of  protec- 
tion for  themselves  and  annoyance  to  the  United 
States.  In  these  circumstances  General  Jackson 
found  enough  to  justify  him  in  assuming  the  re- 
sponsibility of  seizing  and  occupying  that  post 
with  an  American  garrison. 

"The  Indians   had   been  dispersed,  and  St. 
Marks  occupied.    No  facts  had  as  yet  appeared 
which  would  justify  General  Jackson  in  assum- 
ing the  responsibility  of  occupying  the  other 
Spanish  posts  in  Florida.  •  He  considered  the 
war  as  at  an  end,  and  was  about  to  discharge  a 
considerable  portion  of  his  force,  when  he  was  in- 
formed that  a  portion  of  the  hostile  Indians  had 
been  received,  fed  and  supplied  by  the  Spanish 
authorities  in  Pensacola.     He  therefore  directed 
his  march  upon  that  point.    On  his  advance  he 
received  a  letter  from  the  governor,  dejiouncing 
his  entry  into  Florida  as  a  violent  outrage  on 
the  rights  of  Spain,  requiring  his  immediate  re- 
treat from  the  Territory,  and  threatening  in  case 
of  refdsal  to  use  force  to  expel  him.     This  dec- 
laration of  hostilities  on  the  part  of  the  Spanish 
authorities,  instead  of  removing,  tended   to  in- 
crease the  necessity  for  the  General's  advance, 
becauso  it  was  manifest  to  both  parties  that  if 
the  American  army  then  left  Florida,  the  Indians, 
under  the  belief  that  there  they  would  always 
find  a  safe  retreat,  would  commence  their  bloody 
incursions  upon  our    frontiers  with  redoubled 
fury ;  and  General  Jackson  was  warned  that  if 
ho  left  any  portion  of  his  army  to  restrain  the 
Indians,  and  retired  with  his  main  force,  the 


Spaniards  would  be  openly  united  with  the  In- 
dians to  expel  the  whole,  and  thus  it  became  aa 
necessary  in  order  to  terminate  the  war  to  de- 
stroy or  capture  the  Spanish  force  at  Pensacola 
as  the  Indians  themselves.  In  this  attitude  of 
the  Spanish  governor,  and  in  the  fact  that  the 
hostile  Indians  were  received,  fed,  clothed,  fur- 
nished with  munitions  of  war,  end  that  their 
plunder  was  purchascrl  in  Pensacola,  General 
Jackson  found  a  justification  for  seizing  that 
post  also,  and  holding  it  in  the  name  of  the  Uni- 
ted States. 

"  St.  Augustine  was  still  in  the  hands  of  the 
Spaniards,  and  no  act  of  the  authorities  or  peo- 
ple of  that  place  was  known  to  General  Jackson 
previous  to  his  return  to  Tennessee,  which  would 
sustain  him  in  assuming  the  responsibility  of 
occupying  that  city.  However,  about  the  7th 
of  August,  1818,  he  received  information  that  the 
Indians  were  there  also  received  and  supplied. 
On  that  day,  therefore,  he  issued  an  order  to 
General  Gaines,  directing  him  to  collect  the  evi- 
dences of  these  facts,  and  if  they  were  well  found- 
ed, to  take  possession  of  that  place.  The  fol- 
lowing is  an  extract  from  that  order : 

'• '  I  have  noted  with  attention  Major  Twiggs' 
letter  marked  No.  5.  I  contemplated  that  the 
agents  of  Spain  or  the  officers  of  Fort  St.  Augus- 
tine would  excite  the  Indians  to  hostility  and 
furnish  them  with  the  means.  It  will  be  neces- 
sary to  obtain  evidence  substantiating  this  fact, 
and  that  the  hostile  Indians  have  been  fed  and 
furnished  from  the  garrison  of  St.  Augustine. 
This  being  obtained,  should  you  deem  your  force 
sufficient,  you  will  proceed  to  take  and  garrison 
with  American  troops.  Fort  St.  Augustine,  and 
hold  the  garrison  prisoners  until  you  hear  from 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  or  transport 
them  to  Cuba,  as  in  your  judgment  under  exist- 
ing circumstances  you  may  think  best.' 

"  An  order  had  some  time  before  been  given  to 
the  officer  of  ordnance  at  Charleston,  to  have  in 
readiness  a  battery  train,  and  to  him  General 
Gaines  was  referred. 

"  The  order  to  take  St.  Augustine  has  oflen 
been  adduced  as  evidence  of  General  Jackson's 
determination  to  do  as  lie  pleased,  without  re- 
gard to  the  orders  or  wishes  of  his  government. 
Though  justifiable  on  the  ground  of  self-defence, 
it  would  never  have  been  issued  but  for  the  con- 
fidential orders  given  to  General  Gaines  and 
Colonel  Bankhead.  to  take  possession  of  Amelia 
Island  forcibly,  if  not  yielded  peaceably,  and 
when  possessed,  to  retain  and  fortify  it ;  and  the 
secret  understanding  which  existed  between  him 
and  the  government,  in  consequence  of  which  he 
never  doubted  that  he  was  acting  in  compliance 
with  the  wishes,  and  in  accordance  with  the 
orders  and  expectations  of  the  President  and  Sec- 
retary of  War. 

''  To  show  more  conclusively  the  impressiona 
under  which  General  Jackson  acted,  reference 
should  be  had  to  the  fact  that,  after  the  captur* 
of  the  Spanish  forts,  ho  instructed  Captain  Gads- 
den to  prepa,ro  and  report  a  plan  for  the  permar- 


i    i 


f .   i       liJr 


172 


THIRTY  TEARS'  VIEW. 


Iiiii 


nent  defence  of  Florida,  which  was  agreeable  to 
the  confidential  orders  to  General  Gaines  and 
Col.  Bankhead  before  referred  to.  Of  this  he 
informed  the  Secretary  of  Wf.r  in  a  dispatch 
dated  2d  June,  1818,  of  which  the  following  is 
an  extract : — 

" '  Captain  Gadsden  is  instructed  to  prepare 
and  report  on  the  necessary  defences  as  far  as 
the  military  reconnoissances  he  has  taken  will 
permit,  accompanied  with  plans  of  existing 
works ;  what  additions  or  improvements  are 
necessary,  and  what  new  works  should,  in  his 
opinion,  be  erected  to  give  permanent  security 
to  this  important  territorial  addition  to  our 
republic.  As  soon  as  the  report  is  prepared, 
Captain  Gadsden  will  leceive  orders  to  repair  to 
Washington  City  with  some  other  documents 
which  I  may  wish  to  confide  to  his  charge.' 

"  This  plan  was  completed  and  forwarded  to 
Mr.  Calhoun  on  the  10th  of  the  succeeding  Au- 
gust, by  Captain  Gadsden  himself,  with  a  letter 
from  General  Jackson,  urging  the  necessity  not 
only  of  retaining  possession  of  St.  Marks,  but 
Pensacola.  The  following  is  a  part  of  that  let- 
ter: 

" '  Captain  Gadsden  will  also  deliver  you  his 
report  made  in  pursuance  of  my  order,  accompa- 
nied with  the  plans  of  the  fortifications  thought 
necessary  for  the  defence  of  the  Floridas,  in  con- 
nection with  the  hne  of  defence  on  our  Southern 
frontier. 

" '  This  was  done  under  the  belief  that  the 
government  will  never  jeopardize  the  safety  of 
the  Union,  or  the  security  of  our  frontier,  b)'  sur- 
rendering those  posts,  and  the  possession  of  the 
Floridas,  unless  upon  a  sure  guaranty  agreeable 
to  the  stipulations  of  the  articles  of  capitulation, 
that  will  msure  permanent  peace,  tranquillity  and 
security  to  our  Southern  frontier.  It  is  believed 
that  Spain  can  never  furnish  this  guaranty.  As 
long  as  there  are  Indians  in  Florida,  and  it  is 
possessed  by  Spain,  they  will  be  excited  to  war, 
and  the  indiscriminate  murder  of  our  citizens,  by 
foreign  agents  combined  with  the  oflBcers  of 
Spain.  The  duplicity  and  conduct  of  Spain  for 
the  last  six  years  fully  prove  this.  It  was  on  a 
belief  that  the  Floridas  would  be  held,  that  my 
order  was  given  to  Captain  Gadsden  to  make  the 
report  he  has  done.' 

"Again:  'By  Captain  Gadsden  you  will  re- 
ceive some  letters  lately  inclosed  to  me,  detailing 
the  information  that  the  Spaniards  at  Fort  St. 
Augustine  are  again  exciting  the  Indians  to  war 
aga,in8t  us,  and  a  copy  of  my  order  to  General 
Gaines  on  this  subject.  It  is  what  I  expected, 
and  proves  the  justice  and  sound  policy  of  not 
only  holding  the  posts  we  are  now  in  possession 
of,  but  of  possessing  ourselves  of  St.  Augustine. 
This,  and  this  alone  can  give  us  peace  and  secu- 
rity on  "  our  Southern  frontier." ' 

"  It  is  thus  clearly  shown  that  in  taking  pos- 
session of  St.  Marks  and  Pensacola,  and  giving 
orders  to  take  St.  Augustine,  I  was  acting  within 
the  letter  as  well  as  spirit  of  my  orders,  and  in 
accordance  with  the  secret  understanding  be- 


tween the  government  and  myself,  and  under  a 
full  persuasion  that  these  fortresses  would  never 
again  be  permitted  by  our  government  to  pass 
under  the  dominion  of  Spain.  From  the  time  of 
writing  my  confidential  letter  of  the  6th  of  Jan« 
uary  to  the  date  of  this  dispatch,  the  lOth  of 
August,  1818, 1  never  had  an  intimation  that  the 
wishes  of  the  government  had  changed,  or  that 
less  was  expected  of  me,  if  the  occasion  should 
prove  favorable,  than  the  occupation  of  the  whole 
of  Florida.  On  the  contrary,  either  by  their 
direct  approval  of  my  measures,  or  their  silence, 
the  President  and  Mr.  Calhoun  gave  me  reason 
to  suppose  that  I  was  to  be  sustained,  and  that 
the  Floridas  after  being  occupied  were  to  be  held 
for  the  benefit  of  the  United  States.  Upon  re- 
ceiving my  orders  on  the  11th  of  January,  I  took 
instant  measures  to  bring  into  the  field  a  suiB- 
cient  force  to  accomplish  all  the  objects  suggested 
in  my  confidential  letter  of  the  6th,  of  which  I 
informed  the  War  Department,  and  Mr.  Calhoun 
in  his  reply  dated  29th  January,  1818,  after  the 
receipt  of  my  confidential  letter,  and  a  full  know- 
ledge and  approbation  of  my  views  says : — 

"  '  The  measures  you  have  taken  to  bring  an 
efficient  force  into  the  field  are  approbated,  and 
a  confident  hope  is  entertained  that  a  speedy 
and  successful  termination  of  the  Indian  war  will 
follow  your  exertions.' 

"  Having  received  further  details  of  my  pre- 
parations, not  only  to  terminate  the  Seminole 
war,  but,  as  the  President  and  his  Secretary  well 
knew,  to  occupy  Florida  also,  Mr.  Calhoun  on 
the  6th  February,  writes  as  follows: — 

" '  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt 
of  your  letter  of  the  20th  ult.,  and  to  acquaint 
you  with  the  entire  approbation  of  the  President 
of  all  the  measures  you  have  adopted  to  termi- 
nate the  rupture  with  the  Indians.' 

"  On  the  13th  of  May  following,  with  a  full 
knowledge  that  I  intended  if  -j  favorable  occasion 
presented  itself  to  occupy  Florida,  and  that  the 
design  had  the  approbation  of  the  President,  Mr. 
Calhoun  wrote  to  Governor  Bibb,  of  Alabama,  the 
letter  already  alluded  to,  concluding  as  follows:— 

" '  General  Jackson  is  vested  with  full  powers 
to  conduct  the  war  in  the  manner  he  may  deem 
best.' 

"  On  the  25th  of  March,  1818, 1  informed  Mr. 
Calhoun  that  I  intended  to  occupy  St.  Marks, 
and  on  the  8th  of  April  I  informed  hun  that  it 
was  done. 

"  Not  a  whisper  of  disapprobation  or  of  doubi 
reached  me  from  the  government. 

"  On  the  5th  May  I  wrote  to  Mr.  Calhoun 
that  I  was  about  to  move  upon  Pensacola  with 
a  view  of  occupying  that  place. 

"  Again,  no  reply  was  ever  given  disapproving 
or  discountenancing  this  movement. 

"On  the  2d  of  June  I  informed  Mr.  Calhoun 
that  I  had  on  the  24th  May  entered  Pensacola, 
and  on  the  28th  had  received  the  surrender  of  the 
Barrancas. 

"  Again  no  reply  was  given  to  this  letter  ex 
pressing  any  disapproval  of  these  acts. 


and  under  a 
I  would  never 
ment  to  pass 
n  the  time  of 
e  6th  of  Jan. 
,  the  loth  of 
ation  that  the 
nged,  or  that 
casion  should 
I  of  the  whole 
her  by  their 
their  silence, 
re  mo  reason 
tied,  and  that 
ere  to  be  held 
s.  Upon  re- 
nuary,  I  took 
)  field  a  suffi- 
!cts  sugfjested 
h,  of  which  I 
Mr.  Calhoun 
^8,  after  the 
I  a  full  know- 
says  : — 
to  bring  an 
srobated,  and 
hat  a  speedy 
dian  war  will 

Is  of  my  pre- 
the  Seminole 
iecretary  well 
.  Calhoun  on 

ge  the  receipt 
i  to  acquaint 
the  President 
ted  to  terrai- 

:,  with  a  full 
able  occasion 
and  that  the 
resident,  Mr. 
Alabama,  the 
as  follows:— 
1  full  powers 
le  may  deem 

nformed  Mr. 
y  St.  Marks, 
him  that  it 

,  or  of  doubt 

Mr.  Calhoun 
nsacola  with 

disapproying 

Mr.  Calhoun 
1  Pensacola, 
render  of  the 

lis  letter  ex 

its. 


jANNO  1829.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


In  fine,  froni  the  receipt  of  the  President's 

S  hrlT^^M  "^nu"'  '""''•«<'  6th  January, 
1818  through  Mr.  Rhea,  until  the  receipt  of  the 
President's    private    letter,   dated    19th   July 
1818,  Irer-eived  no  instructions  or  intimations 
from  the  government  public  or  private  that  mv 
operations  mFlorKla  were  other  than  such  as  I 
the  President  and  Secretary  of  War  expected 
and  approved.     I  had  not  a  doubt  that  I  had 
acted  in  every  respect  in  strict  accordance  with 
tT^r^'u':?'"^  that  without  publicly  avowing 
that  they  had  authorized  my  measures  they  werf 
ready  at  all  times  and  under  all  circumstances 
to  sustain  me;  and  that  as  there  were  sound 

of  Fonda   they  would  m   pursuance  of  their 
private  understanding  with  me  retain  it  as  i,^- 
demnity  for  the  spoliations  committed  by  Snan- 
i,sh  subjects  on  o.^  citizens,  and  as  security  fJr 
the  peace  of  our  Southern  frontier.     I  -vas  w  1 1 
mg  to  rest  my  vindication  for  taking  the  posts" 
on  the  hostile  conduct  of  their  ofBcerl  andgS 
sons,  bearing  all  the  responsibility  myself -but  T 
expected  my  government  would  fu^l   in   their 
claims  upon  Spam,  and  the  danger  to  which  our 
frontier  would  agaii,  be  exposed,  sufficient  rea- 

SonTspr  '^""""°"  *^^™  '■"*« «-  p- 

,  '•  It  was  late  in  August  before  J  received  official 
mformation  of  the  decision  of  the  government  to 
restore  the  posts,  and  about  the  same  tiZTJi 

had  been  divided  in  relation  to  the  course  nu?- 
sued  by  me  in  Florida;  and  also  an  ex  ract  of  a 

ment  had  been  made  m  the  cabinet  .igainst  me 
which  was  attributed  to  Mr.  Crawford^rwhkh 
extract  It  IS  expressly  stated  that  I 'had  been 

I™  Tdi  '^  if'''''  >^-^-  «'//--  and 
All.  Adams.    Being  convinced  that  tho  course  I 

had  pursued  was  justified  by  considerations  of 

K'%?^"'^'>"  ^  ^'^^^  «f  naSfby  the 
Btate  of  things  to  which  I  have  referred,' and  by 
the  instructions,  intimations,  and  acquiescence 
of  the  government,  and  believing  that  the  lat"er 
htiSr"™T'iV^"  ''''  membeifo? 
by  MrcrifrH"'''^'''f  ^  *'?^*  '"*=^  "  movement 
forefln  to^^  Iv  ^- "."'^''^  ""  considerations 
nhnfcSl  VZ  P"'''l°, '"terests,  and  personally 
mimical  to  me;  and  therefore,  after  these  nulf- 

b  ^ecabfnlf  t'"'™'^"""^^^^'^'^'  had  occurred 

t^at  Mr  rr«y„7'  ^'V^  ^^'^'^'l  'Jid  believe 
inai  Mr.  Crawford  was  bent  on  my  destrurtinn 

and  was  the  author  of  the  movem^Jt  in  th"  5 

StS^'th' Vf-'r^'^-    I  '"^^  niore  readily 
entertained  this  belief  in  relation  to  him  fin 

occasion  to  say  I  did  him    niustice^  becansA  if 

pXSonf  ^'^^^ J  ^^^"''^  suTprST  ny 
from  ei^^pr  ll  P"°'«^  «'•  ^^nsure  me  could  come 

S  s:  t^^iTa''"i"  ""'^  ?^^«""'  - ' 

dent  my  oj4?lr|Sf  ugh?  foT 
^en,  and  had  offered  to  take  it  iJ^Se  wouW 
g've  me  an  intimation  through  Mr.  Rhea  that  it 


173 


Sven'^'lff^^  'l^fo-.^'hich  intimation  w7« 
given ,  that  they  had  given  me  orders  broad 
enough  to  sanction  all  that  was  done  ;  that  Mr 
Calhoun  had  expressly  interpreted  thise  ordeiS 
as  vesting  me  'with  tliill  power  to  conduct  the 
I  war  as  he  (I)  might  think  best ;'  that  they  had 
expressly  approved  of  all  my  preparations  a^d 
m  silence  witnessed  all  my  operations     Ker 
the=e  circumstances  it  was  impossible  for  me  to 
believe,   whatever  change  might    have  Taken 
place  m  their  views  of  pSblic  policy,  that  elthe? 
the  President  or  Mr.  Calhoun  could  have  ori^i- 
natcd  or  countenanced  any  proposition  tend  n-^ 
to  cast  censure  upon  me,  much  less  to  vwZcl 
my  arrest,  trial,  and  punishment.  ^ 

1  n."  ^^T'^  '*'*'*'''  and  statements  could  have 
left  room  for  a  doubt  in  relation  to  Mr?CalhoSs 

me  had  other  evidence  of  a  nature  perfectly 
conclusive  In  August,  1818.  Colonel  A.  P  IlaynT 
rn..pector  General  of  the  Southern  Division  who 

onfrTM'"K'^'^^'>™P''''S".  came  to  WasW- 
ton   0  settle  his  accounts,  and  resign  his  staffau- 
pointment  in  the  army.     He  was  The  f?l  ow  HH 
zen  and  friend  of  Mr.Ulhoun.  and  held   onVtLt 
personal  interviews  with  him  for  some  weeks  ?n 
settling  h,s  accounts.     On  the  24th  September  hS 
addressed  a  letter  to  me,  stating  that  he  had 
closed  h,s  pub  ic  accounts 'entirely^to  his  .satist 
tSgs  iemar'ki' -"  ''  ^"'"^  '^""'^'^  ""'«"«  "^^'^ 
J^U^f  ''°'-'"'''  *.''®  administration  has  thoughf 
?X  £  VrV  '".""'  ["'-^Pi'^^oble.     They 
retain  St.  Marks,  and  m  the  same  breath  wi 
up  Pensacola.    Who  can  comprehend  this"   Th, 
American  nation  possesses  discernment,  and  will 
judge  ror  the.nsclv.>s.     Indeed,  sir,  I  fear  tha 
Mr  Monroe  h.^    .    no  present' occasion  vLS 
0  the  opinion  c        o^.  o    ,,,t  him.     I  cannot  be- 
l.eve  that  it  ,s  the  result  of  his  own  honest  con- 
victions.     Mr.  Calhoun  certainly  thinks  IfhZ 
altogether,   although  after  the%lecision   of  ^ij 
cal,iuet,   he  must  of  course  nominally  suppor 

S'i  if\  ^t''"  '^""''•'     ^"'i  '"  another  leUer 
dated  21st  January,  1819,  he  says :  'Since  I E 
saw  you  I  have  travelled  through  West  m  d  Ea 
lennessee    through   Kentuckyt  through    oSo 
through  the  western  and  eastJrn  part°of  Penn.' 
sylvania  and  the  whole  of  Virginia-have  been 
much  ,n  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia,  and  S 
united  voice  of  the  people  of  those  State.s  and 
town.s  (and  I  have  taken  great  pains  to  inform 
myse  f )  approve  of  your  conduct  in  every  respect 
And  the  people  of  the  United  States  at-larTcn- 
tertain  precisely  the  same  opinion  «'ith  the"  neo- 
t'oM-'T  ^T'-    ^'.r'  theadminis;  atC 
Adams^    Mr.  Monroe  is  yonr  friend.    He  has 
Identified  yoM  with  himself.    After  the  mos?  ma! 
ture  retiecfon  and  deliberation  upon  all  o    your 
operations,  he  has  covered  your  conduct.     But  J 
am  candid  to  confess  that  he  did  not  adopt  this 
me  of  conduct  fin  my  mind)  as  soon  as  hi  ought 
to  have  done.    kr.  Adams  has  done  honor  to 
his  country  and  himself.' 


FVilj 


'    -i 

I, 

5  ,'   ' 

1              >    '  J 

Hf  1    '•> 

,1   .     i    '^^ 

^J 

i              i 

,  ^ 

i         r 

:M 

( 

... 

>          I 

T 

'           ■ 

:!■ 

1 

-n 

174 


THIRTY  TEARS'  VIEW. 


"  Colonel  Ilayne  is  a  man  of  honor,  and  did 
not  intend  to  deceive ;  I  had  no  doubt,  and  have 
none  now.  that  he  derived  hia  impressions  from 
conversations  with  Mr.  Calhoun  himself;  nor 
have  I  any  doubt  that  Mr.  Calhoun  purposely 
conveyed  those  impressions  that  they  might  be 
communicated  to  me.  Without  other  evidence 
than  this  letter,  how  could  I  have  understood 
Mr.  Calhoun  otherwise  than  as  approving  my 
whole  conduct,  and  as  having  defended  me  in 
the  cabinet?  How  could  I  have  understood  any 
seeming  dis.sent  in  his  official  communications 
otherwise  than  as  arising  from  his  obligation  to 
give  a  'nominal  support'  to  the  decision  of  the 
cabinet  which  in  reality  he  disapproved  ? 

"  The  reply  to  my  confidential  letter,  the  ap- 
proval of  my  preparations,  the  silence  of  Mr. 
Calhoun  during  the  campaign,  the  jnmity  of  Mr. 
Crawford,  the  language  of  the  newspapers,  the 
letters  of  Colonel  Kayne,  and  other  letters  of 
similar  import  from  other  gentlemen  who  were 
on  familiar  terms  with  the  Secretary  of  War, 
left  no  doubt  on  my  mind  that  Mr.  Calhoun 
approved  of  my  conduct  in  the  Seminole  war 
'  altogether  ; '  had  defended  me  against  an  attack 
of  Air.  Crawford  in  the  cabinet,  and  was,  through- 
out the  struggle  in  Congress  so  deeply  involving 
my  character  and  fame,  my  devoted  and  zealous 
friend.  This  impression  was  confirmed  by  the 
personal  kindness  of  Mr.  Calhoun  towards  me, 
during  my  visit  to  this  city,  pending  the  proceed- 
ings of  Congress  relative  to  the  Seminole  war, 
and  on  every  after  occasion.  Nor  was  such  con- 
duct confined  to  me  alone,  for  however  incon- 
sistent with  his  proposition  in  the  cabinet,  that 
I  should  '  be  punished  in  some  form,'  or  in  the 


language  of  Mr.  Adams,  as  to  what  passed  there 
'  that  General  Jackson  should  be  brought  to 
trial,'  in  several  conversations  with  Colonel  Rich- 
ard M.  Johnson,  while  he  was  preparing  the 
counter  report  of  the  Military  Committee  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  Mr.  Calhoun  always 
spoke  of  me  with  respect  and  kindness,  and  ap- 
proved of  my  coune. 

"So  strong  was  my  faith  in  lur.  Calhoun's 
friendship  that  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Lacock, 
shortly  after  he  had  made  his  report  upon  the  Se- 
minole war  in  the  Senate,  to  an  important  office, 
although  inexplicable  to  me,  did  not  shake  it. 

"  I  was  informed  by  Mr.  Rankin  (member  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  from  Mississippi), 
and  others  in  1823  and  1824,  once  in  the  presence 
of  Colonel  Thomas  H.  Williams  (of  Mississippi) 
of  the  Senate,  that  I  had  blamed  Mr.  Crawford 
unjustly  and  that  Mr.  Calhoun  was  the  instigator 
of  the  attacks  made  upon  me :  yet  in  consequence 
of  the  facts  and  circumstances  already  recapitu- 
lated tending  to  prove  Mr.  Calhoun's  approval  of 
my  course,  I  could  not  give  the  assertion  the  least 
credit. 

"  Again  in  1825  Mr.  Cobb  told  me  that  I 
blamed  Mr.  Crawford  wrongfully,  both  for  the 
attempt  to  injure  me  in  the  cabipet,  and  for  hav- 
ing an  agency  in  framing  the  resolutions  which 
he  (Mr.  Cobb)  offered  in  Congress  censuring 


my  conduct  in  the  Seminole  war.  He  stated  on 
the  contrary  that  Mr.  Crawford  was  opposed  to 
those  resolutions  and  always  asserted  that 
'  General  Jackson,  had  a  sufficient  defmice 
whenever  he  chose  to  make  it,  and  that  the  at- 
tempt to  censure  him  would  do  him  good,  and 
recoil  upon  its  authors  ;'  yet  it  was  impossible 
for  me  to  believe  that  Mr.  Calhoun  had  been  my 
enemy;  on  the  contrary  I  did  not  doubt  that 
he  had  been  my  devoted  friend,  not  only  through 
all  those  difficulties,  but  in  the  contest  for  the 
Presidency  which  ended  in  the  election  of  Mr. 
Adams. 

"  In  the  Spring  of  1828  the  impression  of  Mr. 
Calhoun's  rectitude  and  fidelity  towards  mo 
was  confirmed  by  an  incident  which  occurred 
during  the  progress  of  an  effort  to  reconcile  all 
misunderstanding  between  him  and  Mr.  Craw- 
ford and  myself.  Colonel  James  A.  Hamilton 
of  New- York  inquired  of  Mr.  Calhoun  himself, 
at  Wa.shington,  'whether  at  any  meeting  of  Mr. 
Monroe's  cabinet  the  propriety  of  arresting  Gen- 
eral Jackson  for  any  thing  done  during  the  Sem- 
inole war  had  been  at  any  time  discussed  ? '  Mr. 
Calhoun  T'eplied, '  Never :  such  a  measure  was 
not  thought  of,  much  less  discussed.  The  only 
point  before  the  cabinet  was  the  answer  to  be 
given  to  the  Spanish  government.'  In  conse- 
quence of  this  conversation  Colonel  Hamilton 
wrote  to  Major  Lewis,  a  member  of  the  Nashville 
committee,  that  'the  Vice-President,  who  you 
know  was  the  member  of  the  cabinet  best  ac- 
quainted with  the  subject,  told  me  General  Jack- 
son's arrest  was  never  thought  of,  much  less 
discussed. '  Information  of  this  statement  re- 
newed and  strengthened  the  impression  relative 
to  the  friendship  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  which  I  had 
entertained  from  the  time  of  the  Seminole  war. 
"  In  a  private  letter  to  Mr.  Calhoun  dated 
25th  May,  1828,  written  after  the  conversation 
with  Colonel  Hamilton  had  been  communicated 
to  me,  I  say  in  relation  to  the  Seminole  war : 

" '  I  can  have  no  wish  at  this  day  to  obtain  an  ex- 
planation of  the  orders  under  which  I  acted  whilst 
charged  with  the  campaign  against  the  Seminole 
Indians  in  Florida.  I  viewed  them  when  received 
as  plain  and  explicit,  and  called  for  by  the  situation 
of  the  country.  I  executed  them  faithfully,  and 
was  happy  in  reply  to  my  reports  to  the  Depart- 
ment of  War  to  receive  your  approbation  for  it' 
"  Again :  '  The  fact  is,  I  never  had  the  least 
ground  to  believe  (preyious  to  the  reception  of 
Air.  Monroe's  letter  of  19th  July,  1818)  that 
any  difference  of  opinion  between  the  govemraect 
and  myself  existed  on  the  subject  of  n  •  powers. 
So  far  from  this,  to  the  communications  which  I 
made  showing  the  construction  which  I  placed 
upon  them,  there  was  not  only  no  difference  of 
opinion  indicated  in  the  replies  of  the  Executive. 
but  as  far  as  I  received  replies,  an  entire  approval 
of  the  measures  vmch  I  had  adopted. ' 

"  This  W"°  addres.°.ed  direct!^  from  me  to  Mr. 
Calhoun,  in  Majr,  1828.  In  lus  reply  Mr.  Cal- 
houn does  not  mfonn  me  that  I  was  in  error. 
He  does  not  tell  me  that  he  disapproved  my  con 


ANNO  1830.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


duct,  and  thought  I  ought  to  huve  been  punished 
for  a  violation  of  orders.  He  docs  not  inform 
me  that  he  or  any  other  had  proposed  in  the 
cabinet  council  a  court  of  inquiry,  or  any  other 
court,  lie  says  nothing  inconsistent  with  the 
miiire'jsion  already  made  upon  my  mind— noth- 
ing u-hicli  might  not  liavo  been  expected  from  one 
who  had  been  obliged  to  give  a 'nominal  sup- 
port (0  a  decision  which  he  disapproved.  His 
reply,  dated  10th  July,  1828,  is  in  these  words : 

••  Any  discussion  of  them '(the  orders) 'now 
I  ajrree  >Mtii  you,  would  be  unnecessary.     They 
air  mutters  of  history,  and  must  be  left  to  the 
l-i.st..rmi.  as  they  stand.    In  fact  I  never  did  sup- 
pose that  the  justification  of  yourself  or  the  eov- 
ei  nment  depen(^d  on  a  critical  construction  of 
h.  m.    It  IS  suflScient  for  both  that  they  were 
honestly  issued,  aad  honestly  executed,  without 
involving  the  question  whether  they  wereexccu- 
ed  strictly  in  accordance  with  the  intention  that 

IrZnTr/''"^!-  ''°".'='*  ^"'^  P'^t'-iotic  motives 
ar<^  a  that  can  be  required,  and  I  never  doubted 
that  they  existed  on  both  sides. ' 

iC^\T'''%''^l^^^l  impossible  for  me  to  conceive 
that  Mr  Calhoun  had  urged  in  cabinet  council  a 
court  of  inquiry  with  a  view  to  my  ultimate 
punishment  for  violation  of  orders  which  he  ad- 
mitted were  'honestly  executed,^  espeomUy  as 


175 


were 


he  never  doubted  that  my  'motives' 
IM  and  patriotic. '  After  this  letter  I 
could  not  have  doubted,  if  I  had  before,  that 
Mr.  Calhoun  had  zealously  vindicated  my  'hon- 
a'  in"f  tr*""^'"'  *^*'  i°  Mr.  Monroe's  cabinet 
a  a  1  -t  the  supposed  attacks  of  Mr.  Crawford, 
a.  liad  long  before  been  announced.  I  could 
no  have  doubted  that  Mr.  Calhoun  'thought 
«.h  me  altogether,' as  I  had  been  informed  by 

thSv  rT'-  \T^^  °°'  '^''^^  <=°nceived 
that  Mr.  Calhoun  had  ever  called  in  question 
my  compHance  with  my  orders,  when^sa^s 
he  mver  did  suppose'  that  ray  'm^tifim/inn 
depended  on  a  critical  construc'iiorof^them  ' 
and  'hat  it  was  sufficient  that  they  were 
honestly  executed.'  ^ 

"By  the  unlimited  authority  conferred  on  1 
me  hj  my  orders;  by  the  writing  and  reSion  ' 
of  my  confidential  letter  and  the  Inswer  thereto 

S'.fof^^n*^'■•^'^''^°""'  ^y  '^'  positive  ip? 
pro^al  of  all  my  preparatory  measures  and  the 
mlence  of  the  government  during  my  operation- 
by  uncontradicted  publications  in  1^™' 

friendfof  Mr' P  *!f  """^"T  "^ ^^"'^  through  the 
.anion  fn  r  F'^^*^,'^"?'  V  Mr.  Calhoun's  dec- 
mratiou  to  Colonel  Hamilton ;  and  finally  by 
his  own  assurance  that  he  never  doubted  the 
honesty  or  patriotism  with  which  I  PVf.r„f «^ 
my  orders, /hich  he  '  deeZlsi^Jenr^^^ 

striaiy  VI  accordance  with  t/ie  intention  that 

tl^Ji  'y'^K^  ^'^  authorized  to  l^ieve 
and  did  believe  that  Mr.  Calhoun  had  been  mv 
devoted  friend,  defending  on  all  no^ZvTZul 

war' wtlJtTp^/'"'^  '^""'^*  in'the  sSle 
war.     vv  It h  these  impress bns  I  entered  nnnn  ♦  l,^ 

diBchargeofthedutiesofPresidenVnM^^^rsSt 


.  Recent  disclosures  prove  that  these  impre* 
Piona  were  entirely  erroneous,  and  that  Mr.  Cal- 
S^  n'™«elf  was  the  author  of  the  proposition 
made  in  the  cabinet  to  subject  mo  to  a  court  of 
inquiry,  with  a  view  to  my  ultimate  punishment 
for  a  violation  of  orders.  """leni 

''My  feelings  towards  Mr.  Calhoun  continued 
of  the  most  friendly  character  until  my  suspi- 
cions  of  his  fairness  were  awakened  by  the  fol- 
low-ing  mcident  The  late  Marshal  of  the  District 
of  Columbia  (Mr.  Tench  Ringold),  conversing 
with  a  friend  of  mine  in  relation  to  tht  Seminoll 
war,  spoke  m  strong  terms  of  Mr.  Monroe's 
support  of  me ;  and  upon  being  informed  that  I 
had  always  regarded  Mr.  Calhoun  as  my  firm 
a,nd  undeviating  friend  and  supporter,  and  par- 

that  vr/r.  Calhoun  was  the  first  man  to  move  in 
me  cabinet  Jor  my  punishment,  and  that  he 
was  against  me  on  that  subject.  Informed  of 
this  conversation,  and  recurring  to  the  repeated 
declarations  that  had  been  made  to  me  WdS 
fcrent  persons  and  at  different  times,  that  Mr. 
who  h".H'  ''"i  "?^  ^^'-  ^'•^"''■«'-^.  ^^  th«  person 

tha  hnk  K  ^^■'?r?/  *'^'  mysterious  opposition 
that  had  shown  itself,  particularly  among  those 

S  r  Tk  ^«"'»  t«  be  the  friendsnnd  partisans  of 
Mr.  Calhoun  and  that  the  measures  which  I  had 
recommended  to  the  consideration  of  CongresV 

Sation  .'?..  PP^^f  '^  ^"'^  ''''^''^  the  afprS 
bation  of  the  people,  were  neglected  or  opposed 
n  that  quarter  whence  I  had  a  right  to  believe 
ttfedT/dt'l'd  *>-°,b-"ght  foiLrd  and  sus! 
ml,.f 'I- [  T^J^T,'"''  *"  ^^e  the  written  state- 
ment which  I  had  been  informed  Mr.  Crawford 
had  made  in  relation  to  the  proceedings  of  the 

fe'r     t\?'1/™|''V'^''.^^'-*'^^  ''«  truf  charac- 
ter.   I  sought  and  obtained  it,  in  the  manner 

heretofore  stated,  and  immediately  sent  it  to  Mr 
Calhoun,  and  asked  him  frankly  whether   t  wm 
Zr^tV^'Si''"'  -^-"^"on^given  in'if  ^^ 
I  T/      L  ?f  ^"^'^'^'■'  ^*^'<=h  he  has  given  to 
the  world,  mdeed,  as  I  have  before  stated,   sur- 
Iprised  nay   astonished  me.    I  had  always  re- 
fused to  believe,  notwithstanding  the  various  As- 
surances I  had  received,  that  Mr.  Calhoun  couTd 
esVnnnrr'l''''  '^^  *^^*  ^"^^  whicSe  pS- 
him^lTtn^   '  ""^  J"!!.'""  ''"^  ''°"«'-  imposed  upon 
S  offi^  P'-^POse  the  punishment  of  a  subordi- 
nate officer  for  the  violation  of  orders  which 
TsTe' rff'tl^  discretionary  as  to  pemrm? 
^Ll  V   :  i'^'^o"")  informed  Governor  Bibb 

the  fr^vf V.^'  ^^"^ ""'  ^'  '^''y  think  best.'   But 
the  fact  that  he  so  acted  has  been  affirmed  by 


*  Mr.  Calhoun  in  his  conversation  with  Colonel  H.mllion 

«y  or  arresting  g;„;„:i  ^:::r:;:;:^^!: 

Sl'v  '^"^'^^'"'"''""'^  time  dlscuLd."    He 

wp^ies  "Never;  sncha  measure  was  not  thoughtof,  much  1^ 


e   I' 


•']  ."'8 


r 


176 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


"  That  Mr.  Calhoun,  with  his  knowledge  of 
facts  and  circumstances,  should  have  dared  to 
make  such  a  proposition,  can  only  be  accounted 
tor  from  the  sacredly  confidential  character 
whii  h  he  attaches  to  the  proceedings  of  a  cabinet 
council.  His  vie^rs  of  this  subject  are  strongly 
expressod  in  his  printed  correspondence,  page  15. 
'  I  am  not  at  all  surprised,'  says  he,  '  that  Mr. 
Crawford  should  feel  that  he  stands  in  need  of 
an  apology  for  betraying  the  deliberations  of  the 
cabinet.  It  is,  I  believe,  not  only  the  first  in- 
stance in  our  country,  but  one  of  a  very  few 
instances  in  any  country,  or  any  age,  that  an  in- 
dividual has  felt  himself  absolved  from  the  high 
obligations  which  honor  and  duty  impose  on  one 
situated  as  he  was.'  It  was  under  this  veil, 
which  he  supposed  to  be  for  ever  impenetrable, 
that  Mr.  Calhoun  came  forward  and  denounced 
those  measures  which  he  knew  were  not  only 
impliedly,  but  positively  authorized  by  the  Presi- 
dent himself.  He  proposed  to  take  preparatory 
steps  for  the  punishment  of  General  Jackson, 
whose  ^honest  and  patriotic  motives  he  n?,ver 
doubted,''  for  the  violation  of  orders  which  he 
admits  were  '  Iwnestly  executed.^    That  he  ex- 


to  be  given  to  the  SpanUh  government.^    By  the  last  branch 
of  the  answer  the  denial  Is  made  to  embrace  the  whole  subject 
In  any  form  it  might  have  assumed,  and  therefore  deprives  Mr. 
Calhoun  of  all  grounds  of  cavil  or  escape  by  alleging  that  he  on- 
ly proposed  a  military  inquiry,  and  not  an  arrest,  and  thot  be 
did  not  therefore  answer  the  inquiry  In  the  negative.    But 
again  when  Colonel  Hamilton  submitted  to  Mr.  Calhoun  his  re- 
collection of  the  conversation  that  Mr.  Calhoun  might  correct 
it  if  erroneous,  and  informed  him  tliat  he  did  so  because  he  In- 
tended to  communicate  In  to  Major  Le  ivls,  Mr.  Calhoun  did  not 
question  the  correctness  of  Colonel  Hamilton's  recollection  of 
the  nonvcrsatlou  ;  he  does  not  qualify  or  alter  It ;  he  does  not 
say,  as  In  fVanknes.  he  was  bound  to  do—"  It  Is  true,  the  propo- 
sition to  arret  General  .Jackson  was  not  discussed,  but  an  Inqui- 
ry Into  his  conduct  in  that  war  was  discussed  on  a  proposition 
to  that  end  made  by  me."    He  does  not  say  that  the  answer  to 
the  Spanish  government  wasnot  the  only  point  before  the  cab- 
inet, but  he  endeavors,  without  denying  as  was  alleged  by  Colo- 
nel Hamilton  that  this  part  of  the  conversation  was  understood 
between  them  to  be  confidential,  to  prevent  him  from  making 
It  public,  and  to  that  end  and  that  alone  he  writes  a  letter  of  ten 
pages  on  the  sacredness  of  cabinet  deliberations.    Why.  let  us 
ask,  did  Mr.  Calhoun  upon  reflection  feel  so  much  solicitudo  to 
prevent  a  disclosure  of  hisanswer  to  Colonel  Hamilton,  which  if 
true  could  not  injure  him  ?  At  first,  aithoiigli  put  upon  his  guard 
he  admits  that  this  part  of  the  conversation  was  not  confidential, 
although  it  referred  to  what  was,  as  well  as  what  was  not  done 
In  cabinet  council.     The  reason  is  to  be  found  In  his  former  in- 
volutions, and  in  the  fact  that  tlie  answer  wi\8  not  true,  and  in 
his  apprelienslon  tliat  if  that  answer  was  made  public,  Mr. 
Crawford,  who  entertained  the  worst  opinions  of  Mr.  Calhoun, 
and  who  had  suffered  In  General  .Jackson's  opinion  on  this  sub- 
ject, would  liniiiediiitely  disclose  the  whole  truth,  as  he  has  since 
done ;  and  that  thus  the  veil  worn  out,  of  the  sacredness  of  cabi- 
net deliberations  under  which  Mr.  Calhoun  upon  second  thought 
had  endeavored  to  conceal  himself,  would  be  raised,  and  he 
would  be  exposed  to  public  indignation  and  scorn.    This  could 
ttionc  m  the  mollv-  '*r  tils  extreme  Rn-<i?ty  to  prevent  Cjilone! 
Hamilton  from  communicating  the  result  of  an  inquiry  made 
ky  him  from  the  bejtand  purest  motives,  to  the  persons  who 
bad  prompted  that  inquiry  from  like  moUves. 


pected  to  succeed  with  his  proposition  so  long  as 
there  was  a  particle  of  honor,  honesty,  or  pru- 
dence left  to  President  Monroe,  is  not  to  be  ima- 
gined. The  movement  was  intended  for  some 
future  contingency,  which  perhaps  Jlr.  Calhoun 
him.self  only  can  certainly  explain. 

"  The  shape  in  which  this  proposition  was  made 
is  variously  statctl.  Mr.  Calhoun,  in  the  printed 
correspondence,  page  15,  says:  'I  was  of  the 
impression  that  you  had  exceeded  your  orders, 
and  acted  on  your  own  responsibility,  but  I 
neither  questioned  your  patriotism  nor  your  mo- 
tives. Believing  that  where  orders  were  1™!!."!- 
cended,  investigation  as  a  matter  of  course  oupht 
to  follow,  as  due  in  justice  to  the  govenuiient 
and  the  officer,  unless  there  bo  strong  roa.sons 
to  the  contrary,  I  came  to  the  Icabinef]  meet- 
ing under  the  impression  that  tne  usual  course 
ought  to  be  pursued  in  this  case,  which  I  sup- 
ported by  presenting  fully  and  freely  all  the 
arguments  that  occurred  to  me.' 

"  Mr.  Crawford,  in  his  letter  to  Mr.  Forsyth, 
published  in  the  same  correspondence,  page  9, 
says :  '  Mr.  Calhoun's  proposition  in  the  cabinet 
was.  that  General  Jackson  should  be  punished 
in  some  form,  or  reprehended  in  some  form,  I  am 
not  positively  certain  which.' 

'•  Mr.  Adams,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Crawford, 
dated  30th  July,  1830,  says :  '  The  main  point 
upon  which  it  was  urged  that  General  Jackson 
should  be  brought  to  trial,  wa.s,  that  he  had 
violated  his  orders  by  taking  St.  Marks  and 
Pensacola.' 

"  Mr.  Crowninshield,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Cra\T^ 
ford,  dated  25th  July,  1830,  says:  '1  remem- 
ber too,  that  Mr.  Calhoun  was  severe  upon  the 
conduct  of  General  Jackson,  but  the  words  par 
ticularly  spoken  have  slipped  my  memory.' 

"  From  the  united  testimony  it  appears  tliat 
Mr.  Calhoun  made  a  proposition  for  a  court  of 
inquiry  upon  the  conduct  of  General  Jackson, 
upon  the  charge  of  having  violated  his  orders  in 
taking  St.  Marks  and  Pensacola,  with  a  view  to 
his  ultimate  trial   and  punishment,  and  that  he 
was  severe  in  his  remarks  upon  that  conduct. 
But  the  President  would  listen  to  no  such  pro- 
position.    Mr.   Crawford,   in   his  letter  to  Mr. 
Calhoun,  dated  2d  October,  1830,  says:  'You 
remembered  the  excitement  which  your  propo- 
sition produced  in  the  mind  and  on  the  feelings 
of  the  President,  and  did  not  dare  to  asl<  hiin 
any  question  tending  to  revive  his  recoilecMon 
of  that  proposition.'     This  excitement  was  very 
natural.     Hearing  the  very  member  of  liis  cabi- 
net whom  he  had  consulted  upon  the  subject  of 
General  Jackson's  confidential  letter,  and  who 
hud  advi.sed  the  answer  which  had  a[iproved  be- 
forehand the  capture  of  St.  JIarks  and  Pensacola, 
and  who  on  the  8th  September,  1818,  wrote  to 
General  Jackson,  that  '  St.  Marks  will  be  re- 
tained till  Spain  shall  be  ready  to  garrison  il 
with  a  sufficient  force,  and  Fort  Gadsden,  and 
any  other  position  in  East  or  West  Florida  with- 
in the  Indian  country,  which  may  be  deemed 
eligible,  will  be  retained  so  long  as  there  is  anj 


ANNO  1830.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


177 


e  form,  I  am 


danger,  which,  it  i.s  hoped,  will  aflbrd  the  desired 
aecurity,'  niako  a  pmposition  which  went  to 
stamp  hi.s  character  with  treachery,  by  the  pun- 
ishment of  General  Jackson  for  tho.so  very  actH 
it  wa.s  impossible  that  Mr.  Monroe  should  not 
bo  exoitcd.     lie  must  have  been  more  than  hii- 


...,       ..„  .   „        ^.^^,.     *i«\y|\>      (.llUll       llli- 

man,  or  les.s,  to  have  beheld  Mr.  Calhoun  utter- 
ing violent  philippics  against  General  Jackson 
for  those  acts,  without  the  sti-ongest  emotion. 

'Mr.  Calhoun's  proposition  was  rejected,  as 
he  knew  it  would  bo,  and  he  came  from  behind 
the  veil  of  cabinet  secrecy  all  smiles  and  profe.s- 
sions  of  regard  and  friendship  for  (Jeueral  Juck- 
mm\    It  wiLs  then  that  by  his  deceitful  conver- 
sations lie  induced  Colonel  llayne  and  others  to 
inform  General  Jackson,  that  so  far  lioin  think- 
ing tliat  he  had  violated  his  orders  and  ought  to 
be  punished,  he  di.sapproved  and  only  noininaUv 
supported  the  more  friendly  decision  of  the  cabi- 
net, and  thought  with  him  altogether!     There 
was  no  half-way  feeling  in  his  friendship !    So 
complete  and  entire  was  the  deception,  that  while 
General  Jackson  was  passing  through  Virginia 
the  next  winter  on  his  way  to  Washington,  he 
toasted    'Jo/m    C.   Calhoun,'    as   'an    honest 
man,  the  noblest  work  of  God.'    AVho    can 
paint  tiie  workings  of  the  guilty  Calhoun's  soul 
when  he  read  that  toast ! ! 

'•  ii\xt  Mr.  Calhoun  was  not  content  with  the 
attack  made  by  him  upon  General  Jackson's 
character  and  fame  in  the  dark  recesses  of  Mr. 
Monroe's  cabinet.  At  the  next  session  of  Con- 
gress the  same  subject  was  taken  in  hand  in 
i)oth  houses.  Mr.  Cobb  came  forward  with  his 
resolutions  of  censure  in  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives, where,  after  a  long  discussion,  the  assail- 
ants were  signally  defeated.  Mr.  Lacock  headed 
a  comnuttee  m  the  Senate  which  was  en^ao-ed  in 
the  alfair  from  the  18th  December,  1818  to  the 
24tli  February,  1819,  when  they  made  a'  report 


tull  ol  bitterness  agamst  General  Jackson  It 
charged  him  with  a  violation  of  the  laws  and 
constitution  of  his  country ;  disobedience  of 
orders;  disregard  of  the  principles  of  him.anity, 
and  almost  every  crime  which  a  military  man 
can  commit.  "^ 

'•  It  was  not  suspected  at  the  time  that  this 
report  owed  any  of  its  bitterness  to  Mr.  Calhoun 
yet  that  such  was  the  fact  is  now  susceptible  of 
the  strongest  proof! 

"While  the  attacks  upon  General  Jackson 
were  m  progress  in  Congress  his  presence  in  the 
city  was  thought  to  be  necessary  by  his  friends. 
Colonel  lobert  Butler,  then  in  Washington 
wrote  to  hnn  to  that  effect.  A  few  davs  after- 
wards Mr.  Cilhoun  accosted  him,  and  asked  him 
in  an  abrupt  manner  why  he  had  written  to 
general  Jackson  to  come  to  the  city.  Colonel 
Sutler  answered,  '  that  he  might  see  thit  ius- 

!;;l?r  '^''"u°  ^^  >  P^''-'^""-'  ^^'-  <''aJhoun 
turned  from  him  without  speaking  another  word 
wim  an  air  of  anger  and  vexation  u-hj  •{.  m-^jg 
«u  indelible  impression  on  the  colonei's"  mind 

bnf?„'!.?  T"'  ^r^^  ^^'^^  *'^  ^'^  "ot  desire, 
but  rather  feared  General  Jackson's  jresence  in 

Vol,  I. — 12 


the  city.  Colonel  Butler's  letter  to  General 
Jackson,  dated  the  fJth  Juno,  1831,  is  in  these 
words : 

'■ '  When  in  Washington  in  the  winter  of  1818 
-  in.  finding  the  course  which  Congress  apjieared 
to  be  taking  on  the  Seminole  question,  I  wrote 
you  that  I  estecme<l  it  necessary  that  you  should 
be  present  at  Washington.     Having  done  so,  I 
communicated  this  fact  to  our  friend  Bionaugh, 
who  held  the  then  Secretary  of  War  in  high  esti- 
mation.    The  succeeding  evening,  while  "^at  the 
t  rench  Jlinister'.s  he  came  to  me  and  inquired 
m  a  tou'j  .somewhat  abrupt,  what  could  induce 
me  to  write  for  General  Jack.son  to  come  to  the 
city— (lironaugh  having  informed  him  that  I  had 
(lone  so)— to  which  I  replied,  perhaps  as  sternly, 
•thathiviny  vi  person  have  Justice  done  him.'* 
1  he  Secretary  turifed  on  his  heel,  and  so  ended 
the  conversation  ;  but  there  was  a  something  in- 
explicable m  the  countenance  that  subsequent 
events  have  given  meaning  to.     After  your  arri- 
val at  Washington,  we  were  on  a  visit  at  the 
Secretary's,  and  examining  a  n)ap~(the  Yellow 
Stone  expedition  of  the  Secretary's   being  the 
subject  of  conversation)— Mr.    Lacock,   of  the 
Senate,  was  announced  to  the  Secretary,  who  re- 
marked—'Do  not  let  him  come  in  now,  General 
Jackson  is  here,  but  will  soon  be  gone,  when  I 
ca.i  see  him."     There  was  nothing  strange  in  all 
this  ;  but  the  whispered  manner  and  apparent 
agitation  fastened  on  my  mind  the  idea  that  Mr. 
Calhoun  and  Lacock   understood  each  other  on 
the  Seminole  matter.     Such  were  my  impres- 
sions at  the  time.' 

'•On  my  arrival,  however,  in  January,  1819 
Mr.  Calhoun  treated  me  with  murked  kindness! 
Ihe  laf  er  part  of  Colonel  Butler's  letter,  as  to 


I. ".   u.-ui,ivi  n  ivnur,  iis    to 

Mr.  Lacock.  is  confirmed  by  my  own  recollection 
that  one  day  when  Mr.  Calhoun  and  myself 
were  together  in  the  \Var  Department,  the  mes- 
senger announced  Mr.  Lacock  at  the  door :  Mr. 
Calhoun,  in  a  hurried  ma'  .:r,  pronounced  the 
name  of  General  Jackson  .-  Mr.  Lacock  did 
not  come  m.  This  circumsti  nee  indicated  an 
intimacy  between  them,  but  I  inferred  nothing 
from  It  unfavorable  to  Mr.  Calhoun. 

'■In  speaking  of  my  confidential  letter  to  Mr. 
Monroe  (printed  coirespondence,  page  19)  Mr 
Calhoun  st.  *es,  that  after  reading  it  when  re-' 
ceived.  'I  thought  no  more  of  it.  Long  after  I 
think  it  was  at  the  commencement  of  the  next 
session  of  Congress,  I  heard  .some  allusion  which 
brought  that  letter  to  my  recollection.  It  was- 
from  a  quarter  which  induced  me  to  believe  that 
It  came  from  Mr.  Crawford.  I  called  and  r.,en- 
tioned  It  to  Mr.  iMonroe,  and  found  that  hu  had 
entirely  forgotten  the  letter.  After  searching- 
some  time  he  found  it  among  some  other  pa- 
pers, pnd  read  it,  as  he  told  me,  for  the  first, 
time.' 

"  The  particular  ^quarter '  whence  the  ' allit- 
S'ron^  which  called  up  the  recollection  of  this 
cenfidential  letter  came,  Mr.  Calhoun  has  not 
thought  proper  to  state.  Probably  it  was  Mr. 
Lacock,  who  was  the  friend  of  Mr.  Cravrfbrd. 


VL    1 


i 


178 


TITTRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


Probably  he  applied  to  Mr.  Ciilhonn  for  infor- 
mation, and  Mr.  Culh(.un  went  to  the  I'rosifient, 
and  requested  a  sij!;ht  -if  that  letter  that  he 
might  communicate  its  lontents  to  Mr.  Lacock. 
Mr.  Lacock  was  appoir'^d  upon  the  committee 
on  the  Seminole  war,  on  the  18th  December. 
On  the  2lHt  'f  that  '/lonth  the  recollection  of 
the  confidential  Icttf  r  «-aa  first  in  the  mind  of 
Mr.  Monroe,  for  on  vhat  day,  in  a  letter  to  (Jen- 
eral  Jackson,  he  K>fcs  an  account  of  its  recep- 
tion, and  the  disposition  made  of  it.  Probably, 
therefore,  it  waa  about  the  time  that  Mr.  Lacock 
undertook  the  investigation  of  this  affair  in  the 
Senate,  and  that  it  was  for  his  information  that 
Mr.  Calhoun  called  on  Mr.  Monroe  to  inquire 
about  this  letter. 

"  Nay,  it  is  certain  that  the  existence  and 
contents  of  this  letter  were  about  that  time 
communicated  to  Mr,  Lacock:  that  he  con- 
versed freely  and  repeatedly  with  Mr.  Calhoun 
upon  the  whole  subject:  that  he  was  informed 
of  all  that  had  passed:  the  views  of  the  I^usi- 
dent,  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  the  cabinet,  anil 
that  Mr.  Calhoun  cc'.ncided  with  Mr.  Lacock 
in  all  his  views. 

"  These  fiicts  are  stated  upon  the  authority 
of  Mr.  Lacock  him-felf. 

"  The  motives  of  these  secret  communications 
to  Mr.  Lacock  by  Mr.  Calhoun  cannot  be  mis- 
taken.    By  communicating  the  contents  of  the 
confidential  letter,   and  withholding  the  fact 
that  an  approving  answer  had  been  returned, 
he  wished  to  impress  Mr.  Lacock  with  the  be- 
lief that  General  Jackson  had  predetermined 
before  he  entered  Florida,  to  seize  the  Spanish 
posts,  right  or  wrong,  with  orders  or  without. 
Acting  under  this  impression,  he  would  be  pre- 
pared to  discredit  and  disbelieve  all  General 
Jackson's  explanations  and  defences,  and  put 
the  worst  construction  upon  every  circumstance 
disclosed  in  the  investigation.     By  this  perfidy 
General  Jackson  was  deprived  of  all  opportu- 
nity to  make  an  effectual  defence.     To  him  Mr. 
Calhoun  was  all  smiles  and  kindness.     He  be- 
lieved him  bis  friend,  seeking  by  all   proper 
means,  in  :)ub!ic  and  private,  to  shield  him  from 
the  attacks  of  his  enemies.     Having  implicit 
confidence  in  Mr.  Calhoun  and  the  President, 
he  would  sooner  have  endured  the  tortures  of 
the  inquisition  than  have  disclosed  their  answer 
to  his  letter  through  Mr.  Rhea.    The  tie  which 
he  felt,  Mr.  Calhoun  felt  not.    He    did  not 
scruple  to  use  one  side  of  a  correspondence  to 
destroy  a  man,  his  friend,  who  confided  in  him 
with  the  faith  and  affection  of  a  brother— when 
Tie  knew  that  man  felt  bound  by  obligations 
from  which  no  considerations  short  of  a  know- 
ledge of  liis  own  perfidy  could  absolve  him,  to 
hold  the  other  side  in  eternal  silence.     General 
Jackson  had  no  objection  to  a  disclosure  of  the 
whole  correspondence.    There  was  nothing  in  it 
of  which  he  was  ashamed,  or  which  on  his  own 
account  b«  wished  to  conceal.    Public  policy 
made  it  inexpedient   that    the  world  should 
kxiow  at  that  time  hovf  far  the  government  had 


approved  beforehand  of  his  proceedings.  But 
had  he  known  that  Mr.  Calhoun  was  attempt- 
ing to  destroy  him  l)y  secretly  using  one  sida 
of  the  correspondence,  he  would  have  been  jus- 
tified by  the  laws  of  eelf-defencc  in  making 
known  the  other.  He  saw  not^  heard  not,  ima- 
gined not,  that  means  so  perfidious  and  dishon- 
orable were  in  use  to  destroy  him.  It  ncvir 
entered  his  confiding  heart  that  the  hand  ho 
shook  with  the  cordiality  of  a  warm  friend  wa8 
secretly  pointing  out  to  his  enemies  the  path  l)y 
which  they  might  ambuscade  and  destroy  him. 
He  was  incapable  of  conceiving  that  the  honeyed 
tongue,  which  to  him  spake  nothing  but  kind- 
ness, was  secretly  conveying  poison  info  th» 
cars  of  Mr.  Lacock,  and  other  members  of  Con- 
gress. It  could  not  enter  his  mind  that  his 
confidential  letters,  the  secrets  of  the  cabinet, 
and  the  opinions  of  its  members,  were  all  se- 
cretly arrayed  against  him  by  the  friend  in 
whom  he  implicitly  confided,  misinterjireted 
and  distorted,  without  giving  him  an  opportu- 
nity for  self  defence  or  explanation. 

"  Mr.  Calhoun's  object  was  accomplished,  Mr. 
Lacock  made  a  report  far  transcending  in  bit- 
terness any  thing  which  even  in  the  opinion  of 
General  Jackson's  enemies  the  evidence  seemed 
to  justify.  This  extraordinary  and  unaccount- 
able severity  is  now  explained.  It  proceeded 
from  the  secret  and  perfidious  representations 
of  Mr.  Calhoun,  based  on  General  Jackson's  con- 
fidential letter.  Mr.  Lacock  ought  to  be  par- 
tially excused,  and  stand  before  the  world  com- 
paratively justified.  For  most  of  the  injustice 
done  by  his  report  to  the  soldier  who  had 
risked  all  for  his  country,  Mr.  Calhoun  is  tin 
responsible  man. 

"  As  dark  as  this  transaction  is,  a  shade  is 
yet  to  be  added.  It  was  not  enough  that  Gen- 
eral Jackson  had  been  deceived  and  betrayed 
by  a  professing  friend ;  that  the  contents  of  his 
confidential  correspondence  had  been  secretly 
communicated  to  his  open  enemies,  while  all  in- 
formation of  the  reply  was  withheld:  it  was 
not  enough  that  an  official  report  overllowinp; 
with  bitterness  had  gone  out  to  the  world 
to  blast  his  fame,  which  must  stand  for  ever 
recorded  in  the  history  of  his  country.  Lest 
some  accident  might  expose  the  evidences  of 
the  understanding  under  which  he  acted,  and 
the  duplicity  of  his  secret  accuser,  means  must 
be  taken  to  procure  the  destruction  of  the  an- 
swer to  the  confidential  letter  through  Mr, 
Rhea.  They  were  these.  About  the  time  Mr. 
Lacock  made  his  report  General  Jackson  and 
Mr.  Rhea  were  both  in  the  city  of  Washington. 
Mr.  Rhea  called  on  General  Jackson,  as  he  said, 
at  the  request  of  Mr.  Monroe,  and  begged  him 
on  his  return  home  to  burn  his  reply.  He  said 
the  President  feared  that  by  the  death  of  Gen- 
eral Jackson,  or  some  other  accident,  it  might 
fall  into  the  hands  of  those  who  would  make  an 
improper  use  of  it.  He  therefore  conjured  ium 
by  the  friendship  which  had  always  existed  be- 
tween them  (and  by  hie  obligations  as  a  brother 


ANNO  1830.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


mason)  to  destroy  it  on  his  return  to  Nashville. 
Utlievinj?  Mr.  Monroe  and  Mr.  Calhonn  to  be 
his  devoted  friends,  and  not  deeming  it  jxmnibli' 
that  any  incident  could  occur  which  woidd  re- 
quire or  justify  its  use,  he  pave  Mr.  lUiea  the 
promise  ho  solicited,  and  accordingly  alter  his  re 


179 


pro'i"  , r,-j  — .  ...„.v- 

tiirnto  Nashville  he  burnt  Mr.  Rhea's  letter,  and 
on  his  letter-book  opposite  the  copy  of  his  confi- 
dential letter  to  Mr.  Monroe  made  this  entry  :— 
'"  .I//-.  Iihfa''n  letter  in  answer  is  burnt  thia 
I'M  April,  181'.).' 

".Mr.  Calhoun's  management  was  thus  far 
completely  triumphant.     lie   had   secretly  as- 
sailed General  Jackson  in  cabinet  council,  and 
cau.H'd  it  to  be  nubliciv  annoimced  that  ho  was 
his  friend.     While   the   confiding  soldier  was 
toasting  him  as  '  an   honest  man,  the  noblest 
work  of  God,'  he  was  betraying  his  confiden- 
tial correspondence   to  his  enemy,  and  laying 
the  basis  of  a  document  which  was  intended  to 
blast  his  fime  and  ruin  his  character  in  the  es- 
timation of   his  countrymen.      J.est  accident 
should  bring  the  truth  to  light,  and  expose  his 
duplicity,  he  procures   through   the  President 
and  Mr.  Rhea  the  destruction  of  the  approving 
answer  to   the  confidential   letter.     Mr.  Rhc^ 
was  an  old  man  and  General  Jackson's  health 
feeble.    In  a  few  j'ears  all  who  were  supposed 
to  have  any  knowledge  of  the  reply  would  be  in 
their  graves.     Every  trace  of  the  approval  given 
beforehand   by  the  government  to  the  opera- 
tions of  General  Jackson  would  soon  be  obliter- 
ated, and  the  undivided   responsibility  would 
forever  rest  on  his  head.     At  least,  should  acci- 
dent or  policy  bring  to  light  the  duplicity  of 
Mr.  Calhoun,  he  might  deny  all  knowledge  of 
this  reply,  and  challenge  its  production.     He 
might  defend  his  course  in  the  cabinet  and  ex- 
tenuate his  disclosures  to  Mr.  Lacock,  by  main- 
taining before  the  public  that  lie  had  always 
believed  General  Jackson  violated   his  orders 
and  ought  to  have  been  punished.    At  the  worst 
the  written  reply  if  once  destroyed  could  never 
be  recalled  from  the  flames ;  and  should  Gen- 
eral Jackson  still  be  living^  his  assertion  tiight 
not  be  considered  more  conclusive   t:    '.    Mr, 
Calhoun's  denial.    In  any  view  it  was  u.  sizable 
to  him  that  this  letter  should  be  destroyed  and 
through  his  managemeut,  as  is  verily  believed 
It  was  destroyed.  ' 

''Happily  however  for  the  truth  of  historv 
and  the  cause  of  public  justice,  the  writer  of  tlie 
reply  IS  still  alive;  and  from  a  journal  kept  at 
the  time,  is  able  to  give  an  accurate  account  of 
this  transaction.  He  testifies  directly  to  the 
writing  of  the  letter,  to  its  contents,  and  the 
means  taken  to  secure  its  destruction.  Jud"-e 
Overton,  to  whom  the  letter  was  con6dentialTy 
shown,  testifies  directly  to  the  existence  of  the 
letter,  and  to  the  fact  that  General  Jackson  af- 
terwards told  him  it  was  destroyed. 

"Tho?e,  with  the  statement  of  General  Jack- 
son himself,  and  the  entry  in  his  letter-book 
wtiich  was  seen  by  several  persons  many  years 
ago,  fix  these  facts  beyond  a  doubt. 


Certainly  the  history  of  the  world  scarcely 
I  presents  a  parallel  to  this  transaction.     It  has 
I  been  seen  with  what  severity  Mr.  (klhonn  de- 
nounced  Mr.  Crawford  for  revealing  the  secret 
I  proceedings  of  the  cabinet:  with  what  justice 
i  may  a  retort  of  tenfold  severity  be   made  upon 
I  him,  when   ho   not   only   reveals    to   Mr.   F,a- 
cock    the  proceedings  of  the  cabinet,  but  the 
confidential  letter  of  a  confiding  friend,  not  for 
the  benefit  of  that  friend,  but  through  misrep- 
resentation of  the  transaction  and  concealment 
of  the  reply,  to  aid  his  enemies  in  accomplish- 
ing his  destruction.     It  was  doubtless  expected 
that   Mr.  Lacock  would  produce  a  document 
which  would  overwhelm  General  Jackson  and 
destroy  him  in  public  estimation.     In  that  event 
the  proceedings  of  the  cabinet  would  no  longer 
have  been  held  sacred.     The  erroneous  impres- 
sion made  on  the  public  mind  would  have  ben 
corrected,   and   the  world  have  been  informal 
that  Mr.  Calhoun  not  only  disapproved  tlie  acts 
of  General  Jackson,  but  had  in  the  civbinot  at- 
tempted in  vain  to  procure  his  punishment.    As 
the  matter  stood,  the  responsibility  of  attacking 
the  General  rested  on  Mr.  Crawford,  and  had  the 
decision  of  the  people  been  different,  the  responsi- 
bility of  de)eii(lu)g  him  would  have  been  thrown 
exclusively  upon  Mr.  Adams,  and  Mr.  Calhoun 
would  have  claimed  the  merit  of  the  attack.   Rut 
until  the  public  should  decide,  it  was  not  pru- 
d'"".*  to  lose  the  friendship  of  General  Jackson 
which  might  be  of  more  service  to  Mr.  Calhoun 
than  the  truth.     It  was  thus  at  the  sacrifice  of 
every   principle  of  honor  and  friendship  that 
Mr.  Calhoun  managed  to  throw  all  responsibil- 
ity on  his  political  rivals,  and  profit  by  the  ro 
suit  of  these  movements  whatever  it  might  bo. 
It  cannot  be  doubted,  however,  that  Mr.  Cal- 
houn expected  the  entire  prostration  of  Gene- 
ral Jackson,  and  managed  to  procure  the  destruc- 
tion of;  Mr.  Rhea's  letter,  for  the  purpose  of 
disarming  the  friend  he  had  betraj'ed,  that  he 
might,  with  impunity  when  the  public  should 
have  pronounced  a  sentence  of  condemnation 
have  come  forward  and  claimed  the  merit  of' 
having  been  the  first  to  denounce  him. 

"The people  however  sustained  General  Jack- 
son against  the  attacks  of  all  his  enemies,  pub- 
lic and  private,  open  and  secret,  and  therefore  it 
became  convenient  for  Mr.  Calhoun  to  retain 
his  mask,  to  appear  as  the  friend  of  one  whom 
the  people  had  pronounced  their  friend,  and  to 
let  Mr,  Crawford  bear  the  unjust  imputation  of 
having  assailed  him  in  the  cabinet. 

"It  must  be  confessed  that  the  mask  was 
worn  with  consummate  skill.  Mr.  Calhoun  was 
understood  by  all  of  General  Jackson's  friends 
to  be  his  warm  and  able  defender.  When  in 
1824,  Mr,  Calhoun  was  withdrawn  from  'the 
lists  as  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  the  im- 
pression made  on  the  friends  of  Geneml  J.nck- 
son  was  that  he  did  it  to  favor  the  election  of 
their  favorite,  when  it  is  believed  to  be  suscep- 
tible of  proof  that  he  secretly  flattered  the 
friends  of  Mr.  Adams  with  the  idea  that  he  yms 


■:ir' 


ll 

li 

Km 

p 

"1 

1 

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fi 

'( 

,1 

180 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


fil' 


IhiAi 


with  them.  Tt  ia  certain  that  for  the  Vice- 
Presidency  ho  continued  to  secure  nearly  all 
the  Adams  votes,  most  of  the  Jacltson  votes, 
and  even  half  of  the  Clay  votes  in  Kentucliy. 
But  never  did  the  frieutU  of  (Jeneral  Juekson 
doubt  his  devotion  to  their  cause  in  that  con- 
test, until  the  publication  of  his  correspondence 
with  General  Jackson.  In  a  note,  page  7,  he 
undeceives  them  by  snyinp; : 

"'When  my  name  was  withdrmvn  from  the 
list  of  presidential  candidntes,  I  assumed  a  per- 
fectly n'Mitral  position  between  (ieneral  .lack- 
Bon  and  Mr.  Adams.  I  was  decidedly  opposed 
to  a  con(j;rcssional  caucus,  as  both  those  pi'utle- 
nien  were  also,  and  as  I  bore  very  friendly  per- 
sonal and  political  relations  to  both,  I  would 
have  been  well  satisfied  with  the  election  of 
either.' 

"  I  have  now  piven  a  faithfid  detail  of  the  cir- 
cumstances and  facts  which  transpired  touching 
my  movements  in  Florida,  during  the  Scrainolo 
campaign. 

"  When  Mr.  Calhoun  was  secretly  misintcr- 
pretinpj  my  views  and  conduct  through  Mr. 
Speer  to  the  citizens  of  South  Carolina,  I  had 
extended  to  him  my  fullest  confidence,  inas- 
miich  as  I  consulted  him  as  if  he  were  one 
of  my  cabinet,  showed  him  the  written  rules 
by  which  my  administration  was  to  be  gov- 
erned, which  he  apparentlv  approved,  received 
flora  him  the  strongest  professions  of  fiiend- 
ship,  so  much  so  that  I  would  have  scorned 
even  a  suggestion  that  he  was  capable  of  such 
unworthy  conduct. 

"ANDREW  JACKSON." 

Such  is  the  paper  which  General  Jackson 
left  behind  him  for  publication,  and  which  is  so 
essential  to  the  understanding  of  the  events  of 
the  time.     From  the  rupture  between  General 
Jackson  and  Mr.  Calhoun  (beginning  to  open 
in  1830,  and  breaking  out  in  1831),  dates  ca- 
lamitous events  to  this  country,  upon  which 
history  cannot  shut  her  eyes,  and  which  would 
be  a  barren  relation  without  the  revelation  of 
their  cause.  Justice  to  Mr.  ^lonroe  (who  seemed 
to  hesitate  in  the  cabinet  about  the   proposition 
to  censure  or  punish  Gen.  Jackson),  requires  it 
to  be  distinctly  brought  out  that  he  had  cither 
never  read,  or  had  entirely  forgotten  General 
Jackson's  confidential   letter,  to  be  answered 
through  the  venerable  representative  from  Ten- 
nessee (Mr.  John  Rhea),  and  the  production  of 
which  in  the  cabinet  had  such  a  decided  influ- 
ence on  Mr.  Calhoun's  proposition — and  against 
it.     This  is  well  told  in  the  let' jr  of  Mr.  Craw- 
ford to  Mr.  Forsyth — us  enforced  in  the  "Expo- 
sition," and  referred  to  in  the  "  correspondence," 
but  deserves  to  be  reproduced  in  Mr.  Cravy ford's 


own  words.     He  says :  "  Indeed,  my  own  view* 
on  the  subject  had  undergone  a  material  clinnpo 
after  the  cabinet  had  been  convened.  Mr.  Calhoun 
made  some  allusion  to  a  letter  the  fienernl  hiul 
written   to  the   President,  who  had  forgotten 
that  ho  had  received  such  a  letter,  but  said  if 
he  had  received  such  an  one,  he  could  find  it; 
and  went  directly  to  his  cabinet  and  brought  tho 
letter  out.     In  it  General  Jackson   approved  of 
the  determination  of  the  (.rovernment  to  break  up 
Amelia  Island  and  Galveston  ;  and  ga^e  it  also 
as  his  opinion  that  the  Floridas  should  be  taken 
by  the  United  States.     He  added  it  might  be  a 
delicate  matter  for  the  Executive  to  decide ;  but 
if  the  President  approved  of  it,  he  had  only  to 
give  a  hint  to  some  confidential  member  of  Con- 
gress, sny  Mr.  Johnny  Ray  (Rhea),  and  he  would 
do  it,  and  take  the  responsibility  of  it  on  him- 
self.    I  asked  the  President  if  the  letter  had 
been   answered.     lie  replied.  No ;  for  that  ho 
had  no  recollection  of  having  received  it.    I 
then  said  that  I  had  no  doubt  that  General  Jack- 
son, in  taking  Pensacola,  believed  he  was  doing 
what  the  Executive  wished.    After  *hat  letttT 
was  produced  unanswered  I  should  have  opposed 
the  infliction  of  punishment  upon  the  General, 
who  had  considered  the  silence  of  the  President 
as  a  tacit  consent.    Yet  it  was  after  this  letter 
was  produced  and  read  that  Mr.  Calhoun  made 
his  proposition  to  tho  cabinet  for  punishing  the 
General.     You  may  show  this  letter  to  Mi .  Cal- 
houn, if  you  please."    It  was  shown  to  him  by 
General  Jackson,  as  shown  in  the  '■  correspond- 
ence," and  in  the  "  Exposition ;"  and  is  only  re- 
produced here  for  the  sake  of  doing  justice  to 
Mr.  Monroe. 


CHAPTER   LIV. 

BREAKING  UP  OF  THE  CABINET,  AND  APPOIST- 
MENT  OF  ANOTHER. 

The  publication  of  Mr.  Calhoun's  pamphlet  was 
quickly  followed  by  an  event  which  seemed  to 
be  its  natural  consequence — that  of  a  breaking 
up,  and  reconstructing  the  President's  cabinet. 
Several  of  its  members  classed  as  the  political 
friends  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  could  hurdl)  expect 
to  remain  as  ministers  to  General  Jackson 
while  adhering  to  that  gentleman.    The  Secre- 


ANNO  1881.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


m 


tory  of  State,  Mr.  Van  Buren,  was  In  the  cate- 
gory of  future  prcsidcntiul   anpiraiits;  and  in 
that  character  obnoiioiiH  to  Mr.  Calhoun,  and 
Ikcuuic  the  cause  of  attacks  upon   th<>  Prcai- 
dfiit.    Ho  dt'ttrniined  to  resign ;  and  tiiat  de- 
termination carried  with  it  the  voluntary,  or 
*)l)iiKatory  resiRnationH  of  nil  the  others — each 
one  of  whom  puhlished  luH  reasons  fur  his  act. 
Mr.  Eaton,  Secretary  at  War,  placed  hia  upon 
tlie  ground  of  original  disinclination  to  take  the 
|il.ice,  and  a  design  to  quit  it  at  tlie  first  suita- 
ble moment — which  he  believed  had  now  arriv- 
ed.   Mr.  Ingham.  .Secretary  of  the   Treasury, 
Mr.  Ilranch,  of  the  Navy,  and  Mr.  Berrien,  At- 
torney General,  placed  theirs  \ip(jn  the  ground 
of  compliance  with  the  President's  wishes.     Of 
the  three  latter,  the  two  first  classed  as  the 
friends  of  Mr.  Calhoun  ;  the  Attorney  General, 
on  this  occasion,  was  considered  as  favoring 
him,  but  not  of  his  political  party.     The  unplea- 
wnt    business    was    courteously  conducted — 
Uansacted  in  writing  as  well  as  in  personal 
<onversations,  and  all  in  terms  of  the  utmost 
lecorum.     Far  from  attempting  to  find  an  ex- 
tuse  for  his  conduct  in  the  imputed  misconduct 
»f  the  retiring  yecretaries,  the  President  gave 
them  letters  of  respect,  in  which  he  bore  testi- 
mony to    their  acceptable   deportment  while 
associated  with  him,  and  i)laced  the  required 
resignations  exclusively  on  the  ground  of  a  de- 
termination  to   reorganize    his  cabinet.     And, 
m  fact,  that  determination  became  unavoidable 
after  the  appearance  of   Mr.  Calhoun's  pam- 
phlet.   After  that  Mr.  Van  Buren  could  not  re- 
main, as  being  viewed   under  the  aspect  of 
'■  Mordecai,  the  Jew,  sitting  at  the  king's  gate." 
Jlr.  Eutou,  as  his  supporter,  found  a  reason  to 
do  what  he  wished,  in  following  his  example. 
The  supporters  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  howsoever  unex- 
ceptionable their  conduct  had  been,  and  might 
be,  could  neither  expect,  nor  desire,  to  remain 
among   the    Presidents  confidential  advisers 
after  the  broad  rupture  with  that  gentleman. 
Mr.  Barry,  Postmaster  General,  and  the  first 
of  that  office  who   had    been  called   to  the 
cabmet  councils,  and  classing  as  friendly  to 
Mr.  Van  Buren,  did  not  resign,  but  soon  had 
his  place  vacated  by  the  appointment  of  min- 
ister to  Spain.    Mr.  Van  Bureu's  resignation 
was  soon  followed  by  the  appointrncr.t  nf  5S5iii- 
ister  to  London;   and  Mr.  Eaton  was  made 
Governor  of  Florida ;  and,  on  the  early  death 


of  Mr.  Barry,  became  his  Bucccssor  at  M»< 
drid. 

The  new  cabinet  was  composed  of  Edward 
Livingston  of  Louisiana,  Secretary  of  State} 
Louis  McLane  of  Delaware  (recalled  from  the 
London  mission  for  that  puq)o,«e).  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury ;  Lewis  Cass  of  Ohio,  Secretary 
at  War;  Levi  Woodbury  of  New  Ifampshire, 
Secretary  of  the  Navy ;  Amos  Kendall  of  Ken- 
tucky,  Postmaster    General;    Boger    Brooke 
Taney  of  Maryland,  Attorney  General.    This 
change  in  the  cabinet  made  a  great  ligiire  in  the 
party  politics  of  the  day,  and  filled  all  the  oppo- 
sition newspapi   s,  and  hud  many  sinister  rea- 
sons assigned  for  it — all  to  the   prejudice  of 
General  Jackson,  and    Mr.   Van   Buren  —  to 
which  neither  of  them  replied,  though  having 
the  easy  means  of  vindication  in  their  hand^- 
the  former  in  the  then  prepared-"  Exposition" 
which  is  now  first  given  to  the  public — the  lat- 
ter in  the  testimony  of  General  Jackson,  also 
first  published  in  this  Tihrty  Yeako    V'iew, 
and  in  the  history  of  the  real  cause  of  the  breach 
between  General  Jackson  and  Mr.  Calhoun, 
which  the  "  Exposition  "  contains.    Mr.  Craw- 
ford was  also  sought  to  be  injured  in  the  pub- 
lished "  correspondence,"  chieflj'  as  the  alleged 
divulger,  and  for  a  wicked  purpose,  of  the  pro- 
ceedings in  Mr.  Monroe's  cabinet  in  relation  to 
the  proposed  military  court  on  General  Jackson. 
Mr.  Calhuun  arraigned  him  as  the  divulger  of 
that  cabinet  Kocret,  to  the  faithful  keeping  of 
which,  as  well  as  of  all  the  cabinet  proceedings, 
every  member  of  that  eouii'il  is  most  strictly 
enjoined.    Mr.  Crawford's  an- iver  to  this  ar- 
raignment was  brief  and  pointed.    He  denied 
the  divulgation — affirmed  that  the  disclosure 
had  been  made  immediately  after  the  cabinet 
consultation,  in  a  letter  sent  to  Nashville,  Ten- 
nessee, and  published  in  a  paper  of  that  city,  in 
which  the  facts  were  reversed — Mr.  Crawford 
being  made  the  mover  of  the  court  of  inquiry 
proposition,  and  Mr.  Crlhoun  the  defender  of 
the  General ;  and  he  expresed  his  belief  that 
Mr.  Calhoun  procured  that  letter  to  be  written 
and  published,  for  the  purpose  of  exciting  Gen- 
eral Jackgon  against  him ;   (which  belief  the 
Exposition  seems  to  confirm) — and  declaring 
that  he  only  spoke  of  the  cabinet  proposition 
after  the  publicatioii  of  that  lottof,  aud  for  tb^ 
purpose  of  contradicting  it,  and  telling  the  fiict, 
that  Mr.  Calhoun  made  the  proposition  for  tiw 


iff 


182 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


i 


li 


tw.;. . 


court,  and  that  Mr.  Adams  and  himself  resisted, 
and  defeated  it.  His  words  were  :  "  My  apol- 
ogy for  having  disclosed  what  passed  in  a  cabi- 
net meeting,  i%  this :  In  the  summer  after  that 
meeting,  an  extract  of  a  letter  from  Washing- 
ton was  published  in  a  Nashville  paper,  in  which 
it  was  stated  that  I  had  proposed  to  arrest 
General  Jackson,  but  that  he  was  triumphantly 
defended  by  Mr.  Calhoun  and  Mr.  Adams. 
This  letter  I  have  always  believed  was  written 
by  Mr.  Calhoun,  or  by  his  direction.  It  had 
the  desired  effect.  General  Jackson  became 
extremely  inimical  to  me,  and  friendly  to  Mr. 
Calhoun.  In  stating  the  arguments  of  Mr. 
Adams  to  induce  Mr.  Monroe  to  support  Gen- 
eral Jackson's  conduct  throughout,  adverting 
to  Mr.  Monroe's  apparent  admission,  that  if  a 
young  officer  had  acted  so,  he  might  be  safely 
punished,  Mr..  Adams  said — that  if  General 
Jackson  had  acted  so,  that  if  he  had  been  a 
subaltern  officer,  shooting  was  too  good  for 
hivi.  This,  however,  w^as  said  with  a  view  of 
driving  Mr.  Monroe  to  an  unlimited  support  of 
what  General  Jackson  had  done,  and  not  with 
an  unfriendly  view  to  the  General.  Mr.  Cal- 
houn's proposition  in  the  cabinet  was,  that 
General  Jackson  should  be  punished  in  some 
form,  I  am  not  positive  which.  As  Mr.  Cal- 
houn did  not  propose  to  arrest  General  Jack- 
son, I  feel  confident  that  I  could  not  have  xiade 
use  of  that  word  in  mv  relation  to  you  of  the 
circumstances  which  transpired  in  the  cabinet." 
This  was  in  the  letter  to  JMr.  Forsyth,  of  April 
30th,  1830,  and  which  was  shown  to  General 
Jackson,  and  by  him  communicated  to  Jlr.  Cal- 
houn; and  which  was  the  second  thing  that 
brought  him  to  suspect  Mr.  Calhoun,  having 
repulsed  all  previous  intimations  of  his  hostility 
to  the  General,  or  been  quieted  by  Mr.  Cal- 
houn's answers.  The  Nashville  letter  is  strong- 
ly presented  in  the  "  Exposition "  as  having 
^ome  from  Mr.  Calhoun,  as  believed  by  Mr. 
Crawford. 

Upon  the  publication  of  the  "correspond- 
ence," the  Telegraph,  formerly  the  Jackson 
organ,  changed  '.ts  com"sc,  as  had  been  revealed 
to  Mr.  Duncanson— came  out  for  Mr.  Calhoun, 
and  against  General  Jackson  and  Mr.  Van  Bu- 
ren,  followed  by  all  the  affiliated  presses  which 
awaited  its  lead.  The  Globe  took  the  stand 
for  which  it  was  established ;  and  became  the 
fiiithful,  fearless,   incorruptible,  and  powerful 


supporter  of  General  Jackson  and  his  adminis* 
tration,  in  the  long,  vehement,  and  evcntfiU 
contests  in  which  he  became  engaged. 


CHAPTER    LV. 

MILITARY  ACADEMY. 

The  small  military  establishment  of  the  United 
States  seemef'.  to  be  almost  in  a  state  of  dissolu- 
tion about  this  time,  from  the  frequency  of  de- 
sertion ;  and  the  wisdom  of  Congress  was  taxed 
to  find  a  remedy  for  the  evil.  It  could  devise 
no  other  than  an  increase  of  pay  to  the  rank 
and  file  and  non-commissioned  officers ;  which 
upon  trial,  was  found  to  answer  but  little  pur- 
pose. In  an  army  of  6000  the  desertions  wen 
1450  in  the  year ;  and  increasing.  Mr.  Macon 
from  his  home  in  North  Carolina,  having  hii 
attention  directed  to  the  subject  by'  the  debatej 
in  Congress,  wrote  me  a  letter,  in  which  he  Iai() 
his  finger  upon  the  true  cause  of  these  deser 
tions,  and  consequently  showed  what  should  bi 
the  true  remedy.    He  wrote  thus : 

"Why  does  the  army,  of  late  years,  deser' 
more  than  formerly  ?  Because  the  officers  have 
been  brought  up  at  West  Point,  and  not  aniong 
the  people.  Soldiers  desert  because  not  attach- 
ed to  the  service,  or  not  attached  to  the  officers. 
West  Point  cadets  prevent  the  promotion  of 
good  sergeants,  and  men  cannot  like  a  servicft 
which  denies  them  promotion,  nor  like  officers 
who  get  all  the  commissions.  The  increase  of 
pay  will  not  cure  the  evil,  and  nothing  but  pro- 
motion will.  In  the  Revolutionary  army,  we 
had  many  distinguished  officers,  who  entered 
the  army  as  privates. " 

This  is  wisdom,  and  besides  carrying  convic- 
tion for  the  truth  of  all  it  says,  it  leads  to  re- 
flections upon  the  nature  and  effects  of  our  na- 
tional military  school,  which  extenu  beyoui' 
the  evil  which  was  the  cause  of  writing  it.  Since 
the  act  of  1812,  which  placed  this  institution 
upon  its  present  footing,  giving  its  students  a 
legal  right  to  appointment  (as  constructed  and 
practised),  it  may  be  assumed  that  there  is  not 
a  government  in  Europe,  and  has  been  none 
since  the  commencement  of  the  French  revolu- 
tion (when  the  nobles  had  pretty  nearly  a  mo- 
nopoly of  army  appointments),  so  unfriendly 
to  the  rights  of  the  people,  and  giving  such  un« 


ANNO  1831.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


183 


due  advantages  to  some  parts  of  the  cominu 
nity  over  the  rest.  Officers  can  now  rise  from 
the  ranl'S  in  all  the  countries  of  Europe — in 
Austria,  Russia,  Prussia,  as  well  as  in  Great 
Britain,  of  which  there  are  constant  and  illus- 
trious examples.  Twenty-three  marshals  of 
the  empin  rose  from  the  ranks — among  them 
Ney,  Mass  >na,  Oudinot,  Murat,  Soult,  Berna- 
dotte.  In  Great  Britain,  notwithstanding  her 
Royal  MiUtary  College,  the  largest  part  of  the 
commissions  are  now  given  to  citizens  in  civil 
life,  and  to  non-commissioned  officers.  A  re- 
turn lately  made  to  parliament  shows  that  in 
eighteen  years — from  1830  to  1847 — the  number 
of  citizens  who  received  commissions,  was  1,26G ; 
the  number  of  non-commissioned  officers  pro- 
moted, was  446  ;  and  the  number  of  cadets  ap- 
pointed from  the  Royal  Military  College  was 
473.  These  citizen  appointments  were  exclusive 
of  those  who  purchased  commissions — another 
mode  for  citizens  to  get  into  the  British  a  , 
and  which  largely  increases  the  number  in  tuat 
class  of  appointments — sales  of  commissions, 
with  the  approbation  of  the  government,  being 
there  valid.  But  exclusive  of  purchased  commis- 
sions during  the  same  period  of  eighteen  years, 
the  number  of  citizens  appointed,  and  of  non- 
commissioned officers  promoted,  were,  together, 
nearly  four  times  the  number  of  government 
cadets  appointed.  Now,  how  has  it  been  in  our 
se.  \  he  during  any  equal  number  of  years,  or  all 
i  he  years,  since  the  Military  Academy  got  into 
full  operation  under  the  act  of  1812  ?  I  confine 
the  inquiry  to  the  period  subsequent  to  the  war  of 
1812,  for  during  that  war  there  were  field  and 
general  officers  in  service  who  came  from  (uvil 
life,  and  who  procured  the  promotion  of  many 
meritorious  non-commissioned  officers  ;  the  act 
not  having  at  first  been  construed  to  exclude 
them.  Ilowmany?  Few  or  none,  of  citizens  ap- 
pointed, or  non-commisioned  officers  promoted 
— only  in  new  or  temporary  corps — the  others 
being  held  to  belong  to  the  government  cadets. 
I  will  mention  two  instances  coming  within 
my  own  knowledge,  to  illustrate  the  difficulty 
of  obtaining  a  commission  for  a  citizen  in  the 
regular  regiments — one  the  case  of  the  late  Capt. 
Herriiann  Thorn,  son  of  Col.  Thorn,  of  New- 
York.  The  young  man  had  applied  for  the  place 
of  cadet  at  West  Point ;  und  not  being  able  to 
obtain  it,  and  having  a  strong  military  turn,  he 
sought  service  in  Europe,  and  found  it  in  Aus- 


tria ;  and  was  admitted  into  a  hussar  regiment 
on  the  confines  of  Turkey,  without  commission, 
but  with  the  pay,  clothing,  and  ration  of  a  cor- 
poral; with  the  privilege  of  associating  with 
officers,  and  a  right  to  expect  a  conrimission  if 
he  proved  himself  worthy.  These  are  the  exact 
terms,  substituting  sergeant  for  corporal,  on 
which  cadets  were  received  into  the  army,  and 
attached  to  companies,  in  Washington's  time. 
Young  Thorn  proved  himself  to  be  worthy ;  re« 
ceived  the  commission ;  rose  in  five  years  to  the 
rank  of  first  lieutenant;  when,  the  war  breaking 
out  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico,  he 
asked  leave  to  resign,  was  permitted  to  do  so, 
and  came  home  to  ask  service  in  the  regular  ar- 
my of  the  United  States.  Ilis  application  w&b 
made  through  Senator  Cass  and  others,  he  only 
asking  for  the  lowest  place  in  the  gradation  of 
officers,  so  as  not  to  interfere  with  the  right  of 
promotion  in  any  one.  The  application  was  re- 
fused on  the  ground  of  illegality,  he  not  having 
graduated  at  West  Point.  Afterwards  I  took 
up  the  case  of  the  young  man,  got  President  Polk 
to  nominate  him,  sustained  the  nomination  be- 
fore the  Senate ;  and  thus  got  a  start  for  a  young 
officer  who  soon  advanced  himself,  receiving  two 
brevets  for  gallant  conduct  and  several  wounds 
in  the  great  battles  of  Mexico ;  and  was  after- 
wards drowned,  conducting  a  detachment  to 
Cahfornia,  in  crossing  his  men  over  the  great 
Colorado  of  the  West. 

Thus  Thorn  was  with  difficulty  saved.  The 
other  case  was  that  of  the  famous  Kit  Carson 
also  nominated  by  President  Polk.  I  was  not 
present  to  argue  his  case  when  he  was  rejected, 
and  might  have  done  no  good  if  I  had  been,  tho 
place  being  held  to  belong  to  a  cadet  that  was 
waiting  for  it.  Carson  was  rejected  because  he 
did  not  come  through  the  AVcst  Point  gate.  Be- 
ing a  patriotic  man,  he  has  since  led  many  ex- 
peditions of  his  countrymen,  and  acted  as  guide 
to  the  United  States  officers,  in  New  Mexico^ 
where  he  lives.  lie  was  a  guide  to  the  detach- 
ment that  undertook  to  rescue  the  unfortunate 
Mrs.  Wliite,  whose  fate  excited  so  much  com- 
miseration at  the  time ;  and  I  have  the  evidence 
that  if  he  had  been  commander,  the  rescue  would 
have  been  eflectcd,  and  the  unhappy  woman 
saved  from  massacre. 

This  rule  of  appointment  (the  graduates  of 
the  academy  to  take  all)  may  now  be  considered 
the  law  of  the  laud,  so  settled  by  construction 


184 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


and  senatorial  acquicscsnce ;  and  consequently 
that  no  American  citizen  is  to  enter  the  regular 
army  except  through  the  gate  of  the  United 
States  Military  Academy ;  and  few  can  reacli 
that  gate  except  through  the  weight  of  a  family 
eonnection,  a  political  influence,  or  the  instru- 
mentality of  a  friend  at  court.  Genius  in  ob- 
scurity has  no  chance ;  and  the  whole  tendency 
of  the  institution  is  to  make  a  governmental,  and 
not  a  national  army.  Appointed  cadet  by  the 
President,  nominated  ofBcer  by  him,  promoted 
upon  his  nomination,  holding  commission  at  his 
pleasure,  receiving  his  orders  as  law,  looking  to 
him  as  the  fountain  of  honor,  the  source  of  pre- 
ferment, and  the  dispenser  of  agreeable  and  pro- 
fitable employment — these  cadet  officers  must 
naturally  feel  themselves  independent  of  the 
people,  and  dependent  upon  the  President ;  and 
be  irresistibly  led  to  acquire  the  habits  and  fel- 
ings  which,  in  all  ages,  have  rendered  regulaf  ar- 
mies obnoxious  to  popular  governments. 

The  instinctive  sagacity  of  the  people  has 
long  since  comprehended  all  this,  and -conceived 
an  aversion  to  the  institution  which  has  mani- 
fested itself  in  many  demonstrations  against  it 
— sometimes  in  Congress,  sometimes  in  the 
State  legislatures,  alwaj'S  to  be  met,  and  trium- 
phantly met,  by  adducing  Washington  as  the 
father  and  founder  of  the  institution. — No  ad- 
duction could  be  more  fallacious.  Washington 
is  no  more  the  father  of  the  present  West  Point 
than  he  is  of  the  present  Mount  Vernon.  The 
West  Point  of  his  day  was  a  school  of  engineer- 
ing and  artillery,  and  nothing  more ;  the  cadet  of 
his  day  was  a  young  soldier,  attached  to  a  com- 
pany, and  serving  with  it  in  the  field  and  in  the 
?amp,  "  with  the  pay,  clothing,  and  ration  of  ser- 
',cant"  (act  of  1794) ;  and  in  the  intervals  of  ac- 
•ive  service,  if  he  had  shown  an  inclination  for  the 
profession,  and  a  capacity  for  its  higher  launch- 
es, then  he  was  sent,  j-^  the  "discretion"  of  the 
President,  to  West  Point,  to  take  instruction  in 
those  higher  branches,  namely,  artillery  and  engi- 
neering, and  nothing  more.  All  the  drills  both  of 
officer  and  private — all  the  camp  duty — all  the 
trainings  in  the  infantry,  the  cavalry,  and  the  rifle 
—were  then  left  to  be  taught  in  the  field  and 
the  camp — a  better  school  than  any  academy  ; 
and  under  officers  who  were  to  lead  them  into 
action — better  teachers  than  any  school-room 
professors.  And  all  without  any  additional 
expense  to  the  United  States. 


All  was  right  in  the  time  of  Washington,  and 
afterwards,  up  to  the  act  of  1812.  None  became 
cadets  then  but  those  who  had  a  stomach  for 
the  ha.-^ships,  as  well  as  taste  for  the  pleasures 
of  a  soldier's  life — who,  like  the  Young  Norral 
on  the  Grampian  Hills,  had  felt  the  soldier's 
blood  stir  in  their  veins,  and  longed  to  be  off  to 
the  scene  of  war's  alarms,  instead  of  standing 
guard  over  flocks  and  herds.  Cadets  were  not 
then  sent  to  a  superb  school,  with  the  emolu- 
ments of  officers,  to  remain  four  years  at  public 
expense,  receiving  educations  for  civil  as  well  as 
military  life,  with  the  right  to  have  commis- 
sions and  be  provided  for  by  the  government ; 
or  with  the  secret  intent  to  quit  the  service  as 
soon  as  they  could  do  better — which  most  of 
them  soon  do.  The  act  of  1812  did  the  mis- 
chief ;  and  that  insidiously  and  by  construction, 
while  ostensibly  keeping  up  the  old  idea  of  o- 
dets  serving  with  their  companies,  and  only  de- 
tached when  the  President  pleased,  to  get  in- 
struction at  the  academy.  It  runs  thus :  "  The 
cadets  heretofore  appointed  in  the  service  of  the 
United  States,  whether  of  artillery,  cavalry,  rifle- 
men, or  infantry,  or  may  be  in  future  appointed 
or  hereinafter  provided,  shall  at  no  time  exceed 
250 ;  that  they  may  be  attached,  at  the  discre- 
tion of  the  President  of  the  United  States  as 
students  to  the  Military  Academy ;  and  be  sub- 
ject to  the  established  regulations  thereof." 

The  deception  of  this  clause  is  in  keeping  up 
the  old  idea  of  these  cadets  being  with  their 
companies,  and  by  the  judgment  of  the  Presi- 
dent detached  from  their  companies,  and  attach- 
ed, as  students,  to  the  Military  Academy.  The 
President  is  to  exercise  a  "  discretion,"  by 
which  the  cadet  is  transferred  for  a  while  fioni 
his  company  to  the  school,  to  be  there  as  a  stu- 
dent ;  that  is  to  say,  like  a  student,  but  still 
retaining  his  original  character  of  quasi  officer 
in  his  company.  This  change  from  camp  to 
school,  upon  the  face  of  the  act,  was  to  be,  as 
formerly,  a  question  for  the  President  to  decide, 
dependent  for  its  solution  upon  the  military 
indications  of  the  young  man's  character,  and 
his  capacity  for  the  higher  branches  of  the  ser- 
vice; and  this  only  permissive  in  the  President. 
He  "may"  attach,  &c.  Now,  all  this  is  illu- 
sion. Cadets  are  not  sent  to  companies,  whe« 
ther  of  artillery,  infantry,  cavalry,  or  riflemen. 
The  President  exercises  no  "  discretion  "  about 
detaching  theto  from  their  company  and  atttch- 


ANNO  1831.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


185 


ing  them  as  students.  They  pre  appointed  as 
students,  and  go  right  off  '  -'chool,  and  get 
four  years'  education  ai  public  expense, 

whether  they  have  any  tapt.,  Jor  military  life,  or 
not.  That  is  the  first  large  deception  under 
the  act :  others  follow,  until  it  is  all  deception. 
Another  clause  says,  the  cadet  shall  "  sign  arti- 
cles, with  the  consent  of  his  parent  or  guardian, 
to  serve  five  years,  unless  sooner  discharged." 
This  is  deceptive,  suggesting  a  service  which  has 
no  existence,  and  taking  a  bond  for  what  is  not 
(0  be  performed.  It  is  the  language  of  a  sol- 
dier's enlistment,  where  there  is  no  enlistment ; 
and  was  a  fiction  invented  to  constitutionalize 
the  act.  The  language  makes  the  cadet  an  en- 
listed soldier,  bound  to  serve  the  United  States 
the  usual  soldier's  term,  when  this  paper  sol- 
dier—this apparent  private  in  the  ranks — is  in 
reality  a  gentleman  student,  with  the  emolu- 
ments of  an  officer,  obtaining  education  at  pub- 
lic expense,  instead  of  carrying  a  musket  in  the 
ranks.    The  whole  clause  is  an  illusion,  to  use 


no  stronger  term,  and  put  in  for  a  purpose 
which  the  legislative  history  of  the  day  well 
explains ;  and  that  was,  to  make  the  act  consti- 
tutional on  its  face,  and  enable  it  to  get  through 
the  forms,  and  become  a  law.    There  were  mem- 
bers who  denied  the  constitutional  right  of 
Congress  to  establish  this  national  eleemosy- 
nary university ;  and  others  who  doubted  the 
policy  and  expediency  of  officering  the  army  in 
this  manner.    To  get  over  these  objections,  the 
selection  of  the  students  took  the  form,  in  the 
statute,  of  a  soldier's  enlistment ;  and  in  fact 
they  sign  articles  of  enlistment,  like  recruits, 
but  only  to  appease  the  constitution  and  satisfy 
scruples ;  and  I  have  myself,  in  the  early  pe- 
riods of  my  service  in  the  Senate,  seen  the  ori- 
ginal articles  brought  into  secret  session  and 
exhibited,  to  prove  that  the  student  was  an 
enlisted  soldier,  and  not  a  student,  and  there- 
fore constitutionally  in  service.    The  term  of 
five  years  being  found  to  be  no  term  of  service 
at  all,  as  the  student  might  quit  the  service 
within  a  year  after  his  education,  which  many 
of  them  did,  it  was  extended  to  eight ;  but  still 
without  effect,  except  in  procuring  a  few  years 
of  unwilling  service  from  those  who  mean  to 
1"'t ;  as  the  greater  part  do.    I  was  told  by  an 
officer  in  the  time  of  the  Mexican  war  that,  of 
thirty-six  cadets  who  had  graduated  and  been 
commissioned  at  the  same  time  with  iiimself, 


there  were  only  about  half  a  dozen  then  in  ser- 
vice ;  so  that  this  great  national  establishment 
is  mainly  a  school  for  the  gratuitous  education 
of  those  who  have  influence  to  get  there.  The 
act  provides  that  these  students  are  to  \m)  in- 
structed in  the  lower  as  well  as  the  higher 
branches  of  the  military  art;  they  are  to  be 
"  trained  and  taught  all  the  duties  incident  to 
a  regular  camp."  Now,  all  this  training  and 
teaching,  and  regular  camp  duty,  was  done  in 
Washington's  time  in  the  regular  camp  itself 
and  about  as  much  better  done  as  substance  is 
better  than  form,  and  reality  better  than  imita- 
tion, with  the  advantage  of  training  each  officer 
to  the  particular  arm  of  the  service  to  which  he 
was  to  belong,  and  in  which  he  would  be  ex- 
pected to  excel. 

Gratuitous  instruction  to  the  children  of  the 
living  is  a  vicious  principle,  which  has  no  foun- 
dation in  reason  or  precedent.    Such  instruc- 
tion, to  the  children  of  those  who  have  died 
for  their  country,  is  as  old  as  the  first  ages  of 
the  Grecian  republics,  as  we  learn  from  the 
oration  which  Thucydides  puts  into  the  mouth 
of  Pericles  at  the  funeral  of  the  first  slain  of 
the  Peloponnesian  war :  and  as  modem  as  the 
present  British  Military  Royal  Academy ;  which, 
although  royal,  makes  the  sons  of  the  living 
nobility  and  gentry  pay ;  and  only  gives  gratu- 
itous instruction  and  support  to  the  sons  of 
those  who  have  died  in  the  public  service.  And 
so,  I  believe,  of  other  European  military  schools. 
These  are  vital  objections  to  the  institution ; 
but  they  do  not  include  the  high  practical  evil 
which  the  wisdom  of  Mr.  Macon  discerned,  and 
with  which  this  chapter  opened — namely,  a  mo- 
nopoly of  the  appointments.    That  is  effected 
in  the  fourth  section,  not  openly  and  in  direct 
terms  (for  that  would  have  rendered  the  act  un- 
constitutional on  its  face),  but  by  the  use  of 
words  which  admit  the  construction  and  the 
practice,  and  therefore  make  the  law,  which  now 
is,  the  legal  right  of  the  cadet  to  receive  a  com 
mission  who  has  received  the  academical  diplo 
ma  for  going  through  all  the  classes.    This  gives 
to  these  cadets  a  monopoly  of  the  offices,  to  the 
exclusion  of  citizens  and  non-commissioned  offi- 
cers ;  and  it  deprives  the  Senate  of  its  constitu- 
tional share  in  innkinD>  fVi»°<>  nrxnr^intm^T^tc     t»^ 

a  "  regulation,"  the  academic  professors  are  to 
recommend  at  each  annual  examination,  five 
cadets  in  each  class,  on  account  of  their  particu* 


186 


TIIIIITY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


11 


liFB' 


-1  Wll     - 


lar  merit,  whom  the  President  is  to  attach  to 
companies.    This  ixpunges  the  Senate,  opens 
the  door  to  that  favoritism  which  natural  pa- 
rents find  it  hard  to  repress  among  their  own 
children,  and  which  is  proverbial  among  teach- 
ers.   By  the  constitution,  and  for  a  great  pub- 
lic purpose,  and  not  as  a  privilege  of  the  body, 
the  Senate  is  to  have  an  advising  and  consenting 
power  over  the  array  appointments :  by  practice 
and  construction  it  is  not  the  President  and  Sen- 
ate, but  the  President  and  the  academy  who 
appoint  the  officers.    The  President  sends  the 
student  to  the  academy:  the  academy  gives  a 
diploma,  and  that  gives  him  a  right  to  the  com- 
mission—the Senate's  consent  being  an  obliga- 
tory form.    The  President  and  the  academy 
are  the  real  appointing  power,  and  the  Senate 
nothing  but  an  office  for  the  registration  of  their 
appointments.    And  thus  the  Senate,  by  con- 
struction of  a  statute  and  its  own  acquiescence, 
has  ceased  to  have  control  over  these  appoint- 
ments :  and  the  whole  body  of  army  officers  is 
fast  becoming  the  mere  creation  of  the  Presi- 
dent and  of  the  military  academy.    The  effect 
of  this  mode  of  appointment  will  be  to  create  a 
governmental,  instead  of  a  national  army ;  and 
the  effect  of  this  exclusion  of  non-commissioned 
officers  and  privates  from  promotion,  will  be  to 
degrade  the  regular  soldier  into  a  mercenary, 
serving  for  pay  without  affection  for  a  country 
which  dishonors  him.    Hence  the  desertions 
and  the  correlative  evil  of  diminished  enlistments 
on  the  part  of  native-bom  Americans. 

Courts  of  law  have  invented  many  fictions  to 
facilitate  trials,  but  none  to  give  jurisdiction. 
The  jurisdiction  must  rest  upon  fact,  and  so 
should  the  constitutionality  of  an  act  of  Con- 
gress ;  but  this  act  of  1812  rests  its  constitu- 
tionality upon  fictions.  It  is  a  fiction  to  sup- 
pose that  the  cadet  is  an  enlisted  soldier — a 
fiction  to  suppose  that  he  is  attached  to  a  com- 
pany and  thence  transferred,  in  the  "  discretion  " 
of  the  President,  to  the  academy — a  fiction  to 
suppose  that  he  is  constitutionally  appointed  in 
the  army  oy  the  President  and  Senate.  The 
very  title  of  the  act  is  fictitious,  giving  not  the 
least  hint,  not  even  in  the  convenient  formula 
of  "  other  purposes  "  of  the  great  school  it  was 
about  to  create. 

It  is  entitled,  "An  act  making  further  j-ro- 
vision  for  the  corps  of  engineers ; "  when  five 
out  of  the  six  sections  which  it  contains  go  to 


make  further  provision  for  two  hundred  and  fit 
ty  students  at  a  national  military  and  civil  uni- 
versity. As  now  constituted,  our  academy  is 
an  imitation  of  the  European  military  schools, 
which  create  governmental  and  not  national  of- 
fice! s — which  make  routine  officers,  but  cannot 
•eate  military  genius — and  which  block  up  the 
way  against  genius — especially  barefooted  ge- 
nius— such  as  this  country  abounds  in,  and 
which  the  field  alone  can  develope.  "  My  chil- 
dren, " — the  French  generals  were  accustomed 
to  say  to  the  young  conscripts  during  the  Rev- 
olution— "  My  children,  there  are  some  captains 
among  you,  and  the  first  campaign  will  show 
who  they  are,  and  they  shall  have  their  places." 
And  such  expressions,  and  the  system  in  which 
they  are  founded,  have  brought  out  the  milita- 
ry genius  of  the  country  in  every  age  and  na- 
tion, and  produced  such  officers  as  the  schools 
can  never  make. 

The  adequate  remedy  for  these  evils  is  to  ^^ 
peal  the  act  of  1812,  and  remit  the  academy  to 
its  condition  in  Washington's  time,  and  as  en- 
larged by  several  acts  up  to  1812.  Then  no 
one  would  wish  to  become  a  cadet  but  he  that 
had  the  soldier  in  him,  and  meant  to  stick  tc 
his  profession,  and  work  his  way  up  from  the 
"  pay,  ration,  and  clothing  of  a  sergeant,"-  to  the 
rank  of  field-officer  or  general.  Struggles  fur 
West  Point  appointments  would  then  cease, 
and  the  boys  on  the  "Grampian  Hills''  would 
have  their  chance.  This  is  the  adequate  reme- 
dy. If  that  repeal  cannot  be  had,  then  a  sub- 
ordinate and  half-way  remedy  may  be  found  iu 
giving  to  citizens  and  non-commissioned  officers 
a  share  of  the  commissions,  equal  to  what  they 
get  in  the  British  service,  and  resturing  the 
Senate  to  its  constitutional  right  of  rejecting  as 
well  as  confirming  cadet  nominations. 

These  are  no  new  views  with  me.  I  have 
kept  aloof  from  the  institution.  During  the 
almost  twenty  years  that  I  was  at  the  head  of 
the  Senate's  Committee  on  Military  AiTairs, 
and  would  have  been  appropriately  a  "  visitor" 
at  West  Point  at  some  of  the  annual  examina- 
tions, I  never  accepted  the  function,  .and  have 
never  even  seen  the  place.  I  have  been  always 
against  the  institution  as  now  established,  and 
have  long  intended  to  bring  my  views  of  it  be- 
fore the  country  ;  and  now  fulfil  that  intea. 
tion. 


ANXO  1831.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRBSIDENT. 


187 


CHAPTER    LVI. 

BANK  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.— NON-EENEWAL 
OF  CUABTEB. 


From  the  time  of  President  Jackson's  intima- 
tions against  the  rechartcr  of  the  Bank,  in  the 
annual  message  of  1829,  there  had  been  a  cease- 
less and  pervadiag  activity  in  behalf  of  the 
Bank  in  all  parts  of  the  Union,  and  in  all  forms 
—in  the  newspapers,  in  the  halls  of  Congress, 
in  State  legislatures,  even  in  much  of  the  pe- 
riodical literature,  in  the  elections,  and  in  the 
conciliation  of  presses  and  individuals — all  con- 
ducted in  a  way  to  operate  most  strongly  upon 
the  public  mind,  and  to  conclude  the  question 
in  the  forum  of  the  people  before  it  was  brought 
forward  in  the  national  legislature.     At  the 
same  time  but  little  was  done,  or  could  be  done 
on  the  other  side.    The  current  was  all  setting 
one  way.    I  determined  to  raise  a  voice  against 
it  in  the  Senate,  and  made  several  efforts  be- 
fore I  succeeded — the  thick  array  of  the  Bank 
friends  throwing  every  obstacle  in  my  way,  and 
even  friends  holding  me  back  for  the  regular 
course,  which  was  to  wait  until  the  application 
for  the  renewed  charter  to  be  presented ;  and 
tlien  to  oppose  it.    I  foresaw  that,  if  this  course 
was  followed,  the  Bank  would  triumph  with- 
out a  contest — that  she  would  wait  until  a 
majority  was  installed  in  both  Houses  of  Con- 
gress—then present  her  application— hear  a  few 
barren  speeches  in  opposition  ;— and  then  gal- 
lop the  renewed  charter  through.    In  the  session 
of  1830,  '31, 1  succeeded  in  creating  the  first  op- 
portunity of  delivering  a  speech  against  it;  it  was 
done  a  little  irregularly  by  submitting  a  nega- 
tive resolution  against  the  renewal  of  the  char- 
ter, and  taking  the  opportunity  while  asking 
leave  to  introduce  the  resolution,  to  speak  fully 
against  the  re-charter.    My  mind  was  fixed  up- 
on the  cliaracter  of  the  speech  which  I  should 
make— one   which    should    avoid    the  beaten 
tracks  of  objection,  avoid  all  settled  points, 
avoid  the  problem    of  constitutionality— and 
take  up  the  institution  in  a  practical  sense,  as 
having  too  much  power  over  the  people  and  the 
government,— over  business  and  politics— and 
wo  much  disposed  to  exercise  that  power  to  the 
prejudice  of  the  freedom  and  equality  which 
•hould  prevail  ia  a  republic,  to  be  allowed  to 


exist  in  our  country.    But  I  knew  it  was  not 
sufficient  to  pull  down :  we  must  build  up  also. 
The  men  of  1811  had  committed  a  fatal  error, 
when  mos*  wisely  refusing  to  re-charter  the  in- 
stitution of  that  day,  they  failed  to  provide  a 
substitute  for  its  currency,  and  fell  back  upon 
the  local  banks,  whose  inadequacy  speedily  made 
a  call  for  the  re-establishment  of  a  national 
bank.    I  felt  that  error  must  be  avoided— that 
another  currency  of  general  circulation  must  be 
provided  to  replace  its  notes  j  and  I  saw  that 
currency  in  the  gold  coin  of  the  constitution, 
then  an  ideal  currency  in  the  United  States, 
having  been  totally  banished  for  many  years  by 
the  erroneous  valuation  adopted  in  the  time  of 
Gen.  Hamilton,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.    I 
proposed  to  revive  that  currency,  and  brought 
it  forward  at  the  conclusion  of  my  first  speech 
(February,  1831)  against  the  Bank,  thus: 

"  I  am  willing  to  see  the  charter  expire,  with- 
out providing  any  substitute  for  the  present 
bank.    I  am  willing  to  see  the  currency  of  the 
federal  government  left   to  the  hard  money 
mentioned  and  intended  in  the  constitution ;  I 
am  willing  to  have  a  hard  money  government, 
as  that  of  France  has  been  since  the  time  of 
assignats  and  mandats.    Every  species  of  pa- 
per might  be  left  to  the  State  authorities,  un 
recognized  by  the  federal  government,  and  only 
touched  by  it  for  its  own  convenience  when 
equivalent  to  gold  and  silver.    Such  a  currency 
filled  France  with  the  precious  metals,  whep 
England,  with  her  overgrown  bank,  was  a  prey 
to  all  the  evils  of  unconvertible  paper.    It  fur- 
nished money  enough  for  the  imperial  govern- 
ment when  the  population  of  the  empire  waa 
three  times  more  numerous,  and  the  expense 
of  government  twelve  times  greater,  than  the 
population  and  expenseu  of  the  United  States  ; 
and,  when  France  possessed  no  mines  of  gold  or 
silver,  and  was  destitute  of  the  exports  which 
command  the  specie  of  other  countries.     The 
United  States  possess   gold  mines,  now  yield- 
ing half  a  million  per  annum,  with  every  pros- 
pect of  equalling  those  of  Peru.    But  this  is 
not  the  best  dependence.    We  have  what  is  su- 
perior to  mines,  namely,  the  exports  which  com- 
mand the  money  of  the  world ;  that  is  to  say, 
the  food  which  sustains  life,  and  the  raw  mate- 
rials wliich  sutitain  manufactures.     Gold  and 
silver  is  the  best  currency  for  a  republic;  it 
suits  the  men  of  middle  property  and  the  work- 
ing people  best ;  and  if  I  was  going  to  establish 
a  working  man's  party,  it  should  be  on  the  ba- 
sis of   hard  money:— a   hard   money    party, 
against  a  paper  party." 

In  the  speech  which  I  delivered,  I  quoted  co- 
piously  from  British  speakers— not  the  brilliant 
rhetoricians,  but  the  practical,  sensible,  upright 


188 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


1^  -» 


business  men,  to  whom  countries  are  usually  in- 
debted for  all  beneficial  legislation :  the  Sir  Hen- 
ry Parnells,  the  Mr.  Joseph  Humes,  the  Mr. 
Edward  Ellicee,  the  Sir  William  Pulteneys;  and 
men  of  that  class,  legislating  for  the  practical 
concerns  of  life,  and  merging  the  orator  in  the 
man  of  business. 

THK  SPEECH — EXTKACTS. 

"  Mr.  Benton  commenced  his  speech  in  sup- 
port of  the  application  for  the  leave  he  was  about 
to  ask,  with  a  justification  of  himself  for  bringing 
forward  the  question  of  renewal  at  this  time, 
when  the  charter  had  still  five  years  to  run ; 
and  bottomed  his  vindication   chiefly  on  the 
right  he  possessed,  and  the  necessity  he  was  un- 
der to  answer  certain  reports  of  one  of  the  com- 
mittee of  the  Senate,  made  iu  opposition  to  cer- 
tain resolutions  relative  to  the  bank,  which  he 
had  submitted  to  the  Senate  at  former  sessions, 
and  which  reports  he  had  not  had  an  opportunity 
of  answering.     He  said  it  had  been  his  fortune, 
or  chance,  some  three  years  ago,  to  submit  a  re- 
solution in  relation  to  the  undrawn  balances  of 
public  money  in  the  hands  of  the  bank,  and  to 
accompany  it  with  some  poor  remarks  of  unfa- 
vorable implication  to  the  future  existence  of 
that  institution.    My  resolution  [said  Mr.  B.] 
was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Finance,  who 
made  a  report  decidedly  adverse  to  all  my  views, 
and  eminently  favorable  to  the  bank,  both  as  a 
present  and  future  institution.    This  report  came 
on  the  13th  of  May,  just  fourteen  days  before 
the  conclusion  of  a  six  months'  session,  when  all 
was  hurry  and  precipitation  to  terminate  the 
business  on  hand,  and  when  there  was  not  the 
least  chance  to  engage  the  attention  of  the  Sen- 
ate in  the  consideration  of  any  new  subject. 
The  report  was,  therefore,  laid  upon  the  table 
unanswered,  but  was  printed  by  order  of  the 
Senate,  and  that  in  extra  numbers,  and  widely 
dittused  over  the  country  by  means  of  the  news- 
paper press.    At  the  commencement  of  the  next 
session,  it  being  irregular  to  call  for  the  consid- 
eration of  the  past  report,  I  was  under  the  ne- 
cessity to  begin  anew,  and  accordingly  submitted 
my  resolution  a  second  time,  and  that  quite 
early  in  the  session ;  say  on  the  first  day  of 
January.    It  was  my  wish  and  request  that  this 
resolution  might  be  discussed  in  the  Senate,  but 
the  sentiment  of  the  majority  was  diflerent,  and 
a  second  reference  of  it  was  made  to  the  Finance 
Committee.   A  second  report  of  the  same  purport 
with  the  first  was  a  matter  of  course ;  but  what 
did  not  seem  to  me  to  be  a  matter  of  course  was 
this ;  that  this  second  report  should  not  come 
in  until  the  20th  day  of  February,  just  fourteen 
days  again  before  the  end  of  the  session,  for  it 
was  then  the  short  session,  and  the  Senate  as 
much  pinched  as  beibre  for  lime  to  finish  the 
business  on  hand.    No  answer  could  be  made  to 

it,  but  the  report  was  printed,  with  the  former 
report  ai»peiKled  to  it ;  and  thus,  united  like  the 


Siamese  twins,  and  with  the  apparent,  but  no< 
real  sanction  of  the  Senate,  they  went  forth  to- 
gether to  make  the  tour  of  the  Union  in  the  co- 
lumns of  the  newspaper  press.    Thus.  I  was  a 
second  time  out  of  court ;  a  second  time  non- 
suited for  want  of  a  replication,  when  thcr« 
was  no  time  to  file  one.    I  had  intendid  to  be- 
gin de  novo,  and  for  the  third  time,  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  ensuing  session ;  but,  happily,  was  an- 
ticipated and  prevented  by  the  annual  message 
of  the  new  President  [General  Jackson],  whicii 
brought  this   question  of  renewing  the  bank 
charter  directly  before  Congress.    A  reference 
of  this  part  of  the  message  was  made,  of  course, 
to  the  Finance  Committee :  the  committee,  of 
course,  again  reported,  and  with  increased  ardor, 
in  favor  of  the  bank.     Unhappily  this  tbird  re- 
port, which  was  an  amplification  and  reiteration 
of  the  two  former,  did  not  come  in  until  the  ses- 
sion was  four  months  advanced,  and  when  the 
time  of  the  Senate  had  become  engrossed,  and  its 
attention  absorbed,  by  the  numerous  and  impor- 
tant subjects  which  had  accunmlated  upon  the 
calendar.     Printing  in  extra  numbers,  general 
circulation  through  the  newspaper  press,  and  no 
answer,  was  the  catastrophe  of  this  third  refer- 
ence to  the  Finance  Committee.     Thus  was  I 
nonsuited  for  the  third  time.    The  fourth  ses- 
sion has  now  come  round ;  the  same  subject  is 
again  before  the  same  committee  on  the  refer- 
ence of  the  part  of  the  President's  second  annual 
message  which  relates  to  the  bank ;  and,  doubt- 
less, a  fourth  report  of  the  same  import  with  the 
three  preceding  ones,  may  be  expected.    But 
when  ?  is  the  question.    And,  as  I  cannot  answer 
that  question,  and  the  session  is  now  two  thirds 
advanced,  and  as  I  have  no  disposition  to  be  cut 
oft"  for  the  fourth  time,  I  have  thought  proper  to 
create  an  occasion  to  deliver  my  own  sentiments, 
by  asking  leave  to  introduce  a  joint  resolution, 
adverse  to  the  tenor  of  all  the  reports,  and  to 
give  my  reasons  against  them,  while  supporting 
my  application  for  the  leave  demanded;  a  course 
of  proceeding  which  is  just  to  myself  and  unjust 
to  no  one,  since  all  are  at  liberty  to  answer  me. 
These  are  my  personal  reasons  for  this  step,  and 
a  part  of  my  answer  to  the  objection  that  I  have 
begun  too  soon.    The  conduct  of  the  bank,  and 
its  friends,  constitutes  the  second  branch  of  my 
justification.     It  is  certainly  not '  too  soon '  for 
them,  judging  by  their  conduct,  to  engage  in  the 
question  of  renewing  the  bank  charter.    In  .vnd 
out  of  Congress,  they  all  seem  to  be  of  one  ac- 
cord on  this  point.     Three  reports  of  coinmii- 
tees  in  the  Senate,  and  one  from  a  committee  of 
the  House  of  Roprescntatives,  have  been  made 
in  favor  of  the  renewal ;  and  all  these  rei)orts, 
instead  of  being  laid  away  for  future  use— in- 
stead of  being  stuck  in  pigeon  holes,  and  labelled 
for  future  attention,  as  things  coming  forth  pre- 
I  maturely,  and  not  wanted  for  present  service— 
■  have,  on  the  contrary,  been  universally  receivca 
i  by  the  bank  and  its  friends,  in  one  great  tempest 
I  of  applause ;  greeted  with  every  species  of  &o 
1  clamation ;  reprinted  in  most  of  the  papers,  and 


AXXO  1831.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  I'RIvSIDENf. 


evrry  cfTort  made  to  give  the  widest  difTusion, 
and  the  hiy;hest  ed'ert,  to  the  ar<;iinicnt8  they 
contain.    In  addition  to  this,  and  at  tlie  present 
session,  within  a  few  (hiys  past,  three  thousand 
cojiics  of  the  exposition  of  the  aH'airs  of  the  Banit 
have  hcon  printed  by  order  of  tiie  two  Houses,  a 
tliinp;  never  before  done,  and  now  intended  to  bla- 
zon the  merits  of  the  bank.     [.Mr.  Smith,  of  Mary- 
land, here  expressed  some  olssent  to  tlr's  state- 
mont;  but  .Nfr.  B.  affirmed  its  correctness  in  sub- 
stance if  not  to  the  letter,  and  continued.]     This 
does  not  look  as  if  the  bank  advocates  uiou?;ht 
it  was  too  soon  to  discuses  the  question  of  renew- 
ing the  charter;  and,  upon  this  exhibition  of 
their  sentiments,  I  shall  rest  the  assertion  and 
the  proof,  that  they  do  not  think  so.     The  third 
branch  of  my  justification  rests  upon  a  .sense  of 
public  duty ;  upon  a  sense  of  what  is  Just  and 
advantageous  to  the  people  in  general,  and  to  the 
debtor^;  and  .stockholders  of  the  bank  in  pai'ticu- 
lar.    The  renewal  of  the  charter  is  a  question 
which  concerns  the  people  at  large;  and  if  they 
are  to  have  any  hand  in  the  decision  of  this  ques- 
tion—if they  are  even  to  know  what  is  done  be- 
fore it  is  done,  it  is  high  time  that  they  and  their 
representatives  in  Congress  should  understand 
each  other's  mind  upon  it.     The  charter  has  but 
five  years  to  run ;  and  if  renewed  at  all,  will 
probably  be  at  some  short  pei'iod,  say  two  or 
three  years,  before  the  time  is  out,  and  at  any 
time  sooner  that  a  chance  can  be  seen  to  gallop 
the  renewal  through  Congress.     The  people, 
therefore,  have  no  time  to  lose,  if  they  mean  t() 
have  any  hand  in  the  decision  of  this  great  ques- 
tion.   To  the  bank  itself.  i<  must  bo  advantage- 
ous, at  least,  if  not  desirable,  to  know  its  fate  at, 
once,  that  it  may  avoid  (if  there  is  to  be  no  re- 
newal) the  trouble  and  expense  of  multiplying 
branches  upon  the  eve  of  dissolution,  and  the 
risk  and  inconvenience  of  extending  loans  be- 
yond the  term  of  its  existence.     To  the  debtors 
upon  mortgages,  and  indefinite  accommodations. 
It  must  be  also  advantageous,  if  not  desirable,  to 
be  notified  in  advance  of  the  end  of  their  in- 
dulgences:  so  that,  to  every  interest,   public 
and  private,  political   and   pecuniary,  general 
find  particular,  full  discussion,  and  seasonable 
decision,  is  just  and  proper. 

'•I  hold  myself  justified,  Mr.  President,  upon 
the  reasons  given,  for  proceeding  in  my  present 
application ;  but,  a>  example  is  sometimes  more 
authoritiitive  than  reason,  I  will  take  the  liberty 
to  produce  one,  which  is  as  high  in  point  of  au- 
thority as  it  is  appropriate  in  point  of  applica- 
tion and  which  happens  to  fit  the  case  before 
the  Senate  as  completely  as  if  it  had  been  made 
for  It.  I  speak  of  what  has  lately  been  done  in 
the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain.  It  so  happens 
that  the  charter  of  the  Bank  of  England  is  to 
expire,  upon  its  own  limitation,  nearly  about 
the  same  time  with  the  charter  of  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States,  namelj',  in  the  year  1833; 
and  as  far  ^ack  as  1824,  no  less  than  nine  years 
before  its  expiration,  the  question  of  its  renewal 
was  debated,  and  that  with  great  freedom,  in  I 


18» 


the  British  House  of  Commons.  I  will  read 
some  extracts  from  thirt  debate,  as  the  fairest 
way  of  presenting  the  example  to  the  Senate, 
and  the  most  ellectual  mode  of  securing  to  my- 
self the  advantage  of  the  sentiments  expressed 
by  British  statesman. 

77ie  Extracts. 

"'Sir  Henry  Parnoll.— The  House  should  no 
longer  delay  to  turn  its  attention  to  the  expe- 
diency of  renewing  the  charter  of  the  Bank  of 
England.  Heretofore,  it  had  been  the  regular 
custom  to  renew  the  charter  several  years  before 
the  existing  charter  had  expired,  the  last  re- 
newal was  made  when  the  existing  charter  had 
eleven  years  to  run :  the  jiresent  charter  had 
nine  years  only  to  continue,  and  he  felt  very 
anxious  to  prevent  the  makingof  any  agreement 
between  the  government  and  the  banl^for  a  re- 
newal, without  a  full  examination  of  the  policy 
of  again  conferring  upon  the  Bank  of  England 
any  exclusive  privilege.  The  practice  had  been 
for  government  to  nialce  a  secret  arrangement 
with  the  bank;  to  submit  it  immediately  to 
the  proprietors  of  the  bank  for  their  approba- 
tion, and  to  call  upon  the  House  the  next  day 
to  confirm  it,  without  affording  any  opportunity 
of  fair  deliberation.  S<  much  information  had 
been  obtained  upon  the  banking  trade,  and  upon 
the  nature  of  currency  in  the  last  fifteen  years, 
that  it  was  particularly  necessary  to  enter  upon 
a  full  investigation  of  the  policy  of  renewing  the 
bank  charter  before  any  negotiation  should  bo 
entered  upon  between  the  government  and  the 
bank ;  and  lie  trusted  the  government  would  not 
commence  any  such  negotiation  until  the  sense 
of  Parliament  had  been  taken  on  this  important 
subject.' 

'• '  Mr.  Ilume  said  it  was  of  very  great  impor- 
tance that  his  majesty's  ministers  should  take 
immediate  steps  to  free  themselves  fioin  the 
ti-ammels  in  which  they  had  long  been  held  by 
the  bank.  As  the  interest  of  money  was  now 
nearly  on  a  level  with  what  it  was  when  the 
bank  lent  a  large  sum  to  government,  he  hoped 
the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  would  not  Ji.s- 
ten  to  any  application  for  a  renewal  of  the  bank 
charter,  but  would  pay  off  every  shilling  that 
had  been  borrowed  from  the  bank.  ***** 
Let  the  country  gentlemen  recollect  that  the 
bank  was  now  acting  as  ])awn-br()ker  on  a  laigo 
scale,  and  lending  money  on  estates,  a  system 
entirely  contrary  to  tiie  oricinal  intention  of 
that  institution.  ******  'nu  hoped,  before 
the  expiration  of  the  charter,  that  a  regular  in 
quiry  wouhi  be  made  into  the  whole  subject. ' 

'"Mr.  Edward  Ellice.  It  (the  Bank  of  Eng- 
land) is  a  great  monopolizing  body,  enjoying 
privileges  which  belonged  to  no  other  corpora- 
tion, and  no  other  class  of  his  majesty's  sub« 
jects.  *******  He  hoped  that  tlie  exclu- 
sive charter  would  never  again  be  granted ;  and 
that  the  conduct  of  the  bank  during  th  last  ten 
or  twelve  years  would  make  goverum   -t  very 


5,      ■    ftl\       „ 


190 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


Pi 


M'.iili    ii 


1     '  ,! 


cautions  how  they  entertained  any  such  propo- 
sitions. The  right  honorable  Chancellor  of  the 
Kxchequer  [Mr.  Robinson]  had  protested  ajjainst 
the  idea  of  straining  any  point  to  the  prejudice 
of  the  bank  ;  he  thought,  however,  that  the  bank 
had  very  little  to  complain  of,  when  their  stock, 
after  all  their  pa.«t  profit'^,  was  at  238.' 

"'The  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  depre- 
cated the  discussion,  as  leading  to  no  practical 
result.' 

"'.Mr.  Alexander  Baring  objected  to  it  as 
premature  and  unnecessary.' 

"Sir  William  Pulteney  (in  another  debate). 
The  prejudices  in  favor  of  the  present  bank 
have  proceeded  from  the  long  habit  of  consider- 
ing it  as  a  sort  of  pillar  which  nothing  can 
shake.  *  ♦**•*♦  The  bank  has 
been  supported,  and  is  still  supported,  by  the 
fear  and  terror  which,  by  means  of  its  mono- 
poly, it  has  had  the  power  to  inspire.  It  is 
well  known,  that  there  is  hardly  an  extensive 
trader,  a  manufacturer,  or  a  banker,  either  in 
London,  or  at  a  distance  from  it,  to  whom  the 
bank  could  not  do  a  serious  injury,  and  could 
often  bring  on  even  iiisolvenc)'.  *  *  *  ♦  * 
I  consider  the  power  given  by  the  monopoly  to 
be  of  the  nature  of  all  f)ther  despotic  power, 
which  corrupts  the  despot  as  much  as  it  cor- 
rupts the  .<5lave.  *  *  *  *  "  *  It  is  in 
the  nature  of  man,  that  a  monopoly  must  neces- 
sarily be  ill-conducted.  ******* 
Whatever  language  the  [private]  bankers  may 
feel  themselves  obliged  to  hold,  yet  no  one  can 
believe  that  they  have  any  satisfaction  in  being, 
and  continuing,  under  a  dominion  which  has 
proved  so  grievous  and  so  disastrous.  *  *  * 
*  *  *  I  can  never  believe  that  the  mer- 
chants and  bankers  of  this  country  will  prove 
unwilling  to  emancipate  themselves,  if  they  can 
do  it  without  risking  the  resentment  of  the 
bank.  No  man  in  France  was  heard  to  com- 
plain, openly,  of  the  Bastile  while  it  existed. 
The  merchants  and  bankers  of  this  country 
have  the  blood  of  Englishmen,  and  will  be  hap- 
py to  relieve  themselves  from  a  situation  of 
perpetual  terror,  if  they  could  do  it  consistently 
with  a  due  regard  to  their  own  interest.' 

"  Here  is  authority  added  to  reason — the  force 
of  a  great  example  added  to  the  weight  of  un- 
answerable reasons,  in  favor  of  early  discussion ; 
Bo  that,  I  trust,  I  have  etiectually  put  aside  that 
old  and  convenient  objection  to  the  '  time,' 
that  most  flexible  and  accommodating  objection, 
which  applies  to  .all  seasons,  and  all  subjects, 
and  is  just  as  available  for  cutting  otf  a  late  de- 
bate, because  it  is  too  late,  as  it  is  for  stifling  an 
early  one,  because  it  is  too  early. 

"But,  it  is  said  that  the  debate  will  injure 
the  stockholders ;  that  it  depreciates  the  value 
of  their  property,  and  that  it  is  wrong  to  sport 
with  the  vested  rights  of  individuals.  This 
complaint,  supposing  it  to  come  from  the  stock- 
holders themselves,  is  both  absurd  and  ungrate- 
ful. It  '  =<  absurd,  because  the  stockholders,  at 
least  so  many  of  them  as  are  not  foreigners, 


must  have  known  when  they  accepted  a  charter 
of  liniited  duration,  that  the  approach  of  its 
xpiration  would  renew  the  debate  upon  the 
propriety  of  its  existence ;  that  every  citizen 
had  a  right,  and  every  public  man  was  under 
an  obligation,  to  declare  his  sentiments  fieely; 
that  there  was  nothing  in  the  charter,  nume- 
rous as  its  peculiar  privileges  were,  to  exempt 
the  bank  from  that  freedom  of  speech  and  writ- 
ing, which  extends  to  all  our  public  nll'airsj 
and  that  the  charter  was  not  to  be  renewed 
here,  as  the  Bank  of  England  charter  had  for- 
merly been  renewed,  by  a  private  arrangement 
among  its  friends,  suddenly  produced  in  Con- 
gress, and  galloped  through  without  the  know- 
ledge of  the  country.  1'he  American  part  of 
the  stockholders  (for  I  would  not  reply  to  tlie 
complaints  of  the  foreigners)  must  have  known 
all  this ;  and  known  it  when  they  accepted  the 
charter.  They  accepted  it,  subject  to  this  known 
consequence ;  and,  therefore,  the  complaint 
about  injuring  their  property  is  absurd.  That 
it  is  ungrateful,  must  be  apparent  to  ail  who 
will  reflect  upon  the  great  privileges  which 
these  stockholders  will  have  enjoyed  for  twenty 
years,  and  the  large  profits  they  have  already 
derived  from  their  charter.  They  have  been 
dividing  seven  per  cent,  per  annum,  unless  when 
prevented  by  their  own  mismanagement;  and 
have  laid  up  a  real  estate  of  three  millions  of 
dollars  for  future  division;  and  the  money 
which  has  done  these  handsome  things,  instead 
of  being  diminished  or  impaired  in  the  process, 
is  still  worth  largely  upwards  of  one  hundred 
cents  to  the  dollar :  say,  one  hundred  and  twen- 
ty-five cents.  For  the  peculiar  privileges  which 
enabled  them  to  make  these  profits,  the  stoclc- 
holders  ought  to  be  grateful :  but,  like  all  per- 
sons who  have  been  highly  favored  with  undus 
benefits,  they  mistake  a  privilege  for  a  right— a 
favor  for  a  duty — and  resent,  as  an  attack  upon 
their  property,  a  refusal  to  prolong  their  undue 
advantages.  There  is  no  ground  for  these  com- 
plaints, but  for  thanks  and  benedictions  rather, 
for  permitting  the  bank  to  live  out  its  number- 
ed days!  That  institution  has  forfeited  its 
charter.  It  may  be  shut  up  at  any  hour.  It 
lives  from  day  to  day  by  the  indulgence  of  those 
whom  it  daily  attacks ;  and,  if  any  one  is  igno- 
rant of  this  fact,  let  him  look  at  the  case  of  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States  against  Owens  and 
others,  decided  in  the  Supreme  Court,  and  re- 
ported in  the  2d  Peters. 

"[Here  Mr.  B.  read  a  part  of  this  case,  show- 
ing that  it  was  a  case  of  usury  at  the  rate  of 
forty-six  per  cent,  and  that  Mr.  Sergeant,  coun- 
sel for  the  bank,  resisted  the  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  upon  the  ground  that  it  would 
expose  the  charter  of  the  bank  to  forfeiture; 
and  that  the  decision  was,  nevertheless,  given 
upon  that  ground ;  so  that  the  bank,  being  con- 
victed of  taking  usurj-,  in  violation  of  its  char- 
ter, was  liable  to  be  deprived  of  its  charter,  at 
any  time  that  a  scire  facias  should  issue  against 
it] 


bilitv  of  anv 


hunk  to  draw 


AXN'O  1831.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


191 


"Mr.  n.    ..    'mod.     Before  I   proceed  to  the 
consideration  of  the  resolution,  I  wish  to  be  hi- 
dulired  in  adverting?  to  a  rule  or  principle  of 
par!iain{'iiti\ry  practice,  which  it  is  only  neces- 
gary  to  road  now  in  order  to  avoid  the  possi- 
bility o*"  any  necossity  for  reenrrinj^  to  it  hcro- 
nftiT.     It  is  the  rnle  which  forbids  any  member 
to  be  present — wliich,  in  fact,  reqnires  him  to 
withdraw— during  the  discussion  of  anj'  ques- 
tion in  which  his  private  interest  may  be  con- 
rcnii'd ;  and  authorizes  the  expurgation  from 
tlie  Joiniial  of  any  vote  which  may  have  been 
given  under  the  predicament  of  an  interested 
motive.    I  demand  that  the  Secretary  of  the 
Senate  may  read  the  rule  to  which  I  allude. 
" [The  .Secretary  read  the  following  rule  :] 
"'Where  the  private  interests  of  a  member 
arc  concerned  in  a  bill  or  question,  he  is  to 
withdraw.     And  where  such  an  interest  has 
api)oared,  his  voice  has  been  disallowed,  even 
alter  a  division.    In  a  case  so  contrary,  not  only 
to  the  laws  of  decency,  but  to  the  fundamental 
principles  of  the  social  compact,  which  denies 
to  any  man  to  bu  a  judge  in  his  own  cause,  it  is 
for  the  honor  of  the  House  that  this  rule,  of 
immomoi-ial  observance,  should  be  strictly  ad- 
hered to.' 

'•  Fiml. :  Mr.  President,  T  object  to  the  renewal 
of  the  charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
because  I  look  upon  the  bank  as  an  institution 
t.jo  preat  aiul  poweiful  to  be  tolerated  in  a  gov- 
ernment of  free  and  equal  laws.  Its  power  is 
timt  of  tlie  purse ;  a  power  more  potent  than 
tliat  of  the  sword  ;  and  this  power  it  possesses 
to  a  degree  and  extent  that  will  enable  this 
bank  to  draw  to  itself  too  much  of  the  political 
power  of  this  Union  ;  and  too  much  of  the  in- 
dividual property  of  the  citizens  of  these  States. 
The  money  jjower  of  the  bank  is  both  direct 
and  indirect. 

"  [The  A'ice-rresidcnt  here  intimated  to  Jlr. 
Benton  tliat  he  was  out  of  order,  and  had  not  a 
right  to  go  into  the  merits  of  the  bank  upon 
the  motion  which  he  had  made.  Mr.  Benton 
begged  pardon  of  the  Vice-President,  and  re- 
spectfully insisted  that  he  was  in  order,  and  had 
a  right  to  proceed.  lie  said  he  was  proceeding 
upon  the  parliamentary  rule  of  asking  leave  to 
bring  in  a  joint  resolution,  and,  in  doing  which, 
he  had  a  right  to  state  his  reasons,  which  rea- 
sons constituted  his  speech;  that  the  motion 
was  debatable,  and  the  whole  Senate  might 
answer  him.  The  Vice-President  then  directed 
Mr.  Benton  to  proceed.] 

"Mr.  B.  esumed.  The  direct  power  of  the 
bank  is  now  prodigious,  and  in  the  event  of  the 
renewal  of  the  charter,  must  speedily  become 
boundless  and  uncontrollable.  The  bank  is  now 
authorized  to  own  eflects,  lands  inclusive,  to  the 
amount  of  fifty-five  millions  of  dollars,  and 
to  issue  notes  to  the  amount  of  thirty-five 
millions  more.  This  makes  ninety  millions ; 
and,  in  addition  to  this  vast  sum,  there  is  an 
opening  for  an  unlimited  increase :  for  there  is 
a  dispensation  in  the  charter  to  issue  as  many 


more   notes   as  Congress,  by  law,  may  permit. 
This  ofjens  the  door  to  boundless  emissions ;  for 
what  can  \k'  more  unbounded  than  the  will  and 
pleasure  of  successive  Congresses  ?     The  indi- 
rect power  of  the  bank  cannot  be  stated  in  fig- 
ures; but  it  ciin  be  shown  to  be  immense.     In 
the  first  place,  it  has  the  keeping  of  the  public 
moneys,  now  amounting  to  twenty-six  millions 
per  annum    (the   Post   Oflice  Department  in- 
cluded), and  the  gratuitous  use  of  tlie  undrawn 
balances,  large  enough  to  constitute,  in  them- 
selves, the  capital  of  a  great  State  bank.     In 
the  next  place,  its  promissory  notes  arc  receiv- 
able, by  law,  in  purchase  of  all  property  owned 
by  the  United  States,  and   in   payment  of  all 
debts  due   them;   and   this  may  increase   its 
power  to  the  amount  of  the  annual  revenue,  by 
creating  a  demand  for  its  notes  to  that  amount. 
In  the  third  i)lace,  it  wears  the  name  of  the 
L'nited  States,  and  has  the  federal  government 
tor  a  partner ;  and  this  name,  and  this  partner- 
ship, identifies  the  credit  of  the  bank  with  the 
credit  of  the  Union.     In  the  fourth  place,  it  is 
armed  with  authority  to  disparage  and  discred- 
it the  notes  of  other  banks,  by  excluding  them 
from  all   payments  to  the  United  States ;  and 
this,  added  to  all  its  other  powers,  direct  and 
indirect,  makes  this  institution  the  uncontroll- 
able monarch  of  the  moneyed  system  of  the 
Union.    To  whom  is  all  this  power  granted?    To 
a  company  of  private  individuals,  many  of  them 
foreigners,  and  the  mass  of  them  residing  in  a 
remote  and  narrow  corner  of  the  Union,  uncon- 
nected by  any  sympathy  with  the  fertile  regions 
of  the  Great  Valley,  in  which  the  natural  power 
of  this  Union— the  power  of  numbers— will  be 
found  to  reside  long  before  the  rene\\ed  term 
of  a  second  charter  would  expire.     By  whom 
is  all  this  power  to  be  exercised  ?     By  a  direc- 
tory of  seven  (it  may  be),  governed  by  a  major- 
ity, of  four  (it  may  be) ;  and  none  of  tliese 
elected  by  the  people,  or  responsible  to  them. 
Where  is  it  to  be  exercised  ?     At  a  single  city 
distant  a  thousand    miles  from   some  of  the' 
States,  receiving  the  produce  of  none  of  them 
(except  one)  ;  no  interest  in  the  welfare  of  any 
of  them  (except  one) ;  no  commerce  with  the 
people ;  with  branches  in  every  State  ;  and  every 
branch  subject  to  the  secret  and  absolute  orders 
of  the  supreme  central  head :  thus  constituting 
a  system  of  centralism,  hostile  to  the  federative 
principle  of  our  Union,  encroaching  upon  the 
wealth  and  power  of  the  States,  and  organized 
upon  a  principle  to  give  the  highest  effect  to  the 
greatest  power.     This  mass  of  power,  thus  con- 
centrated, thus  ramified,  and  thus  directed,  must 
necessarily  become,  under  a  prolonged  existence 
the  absolute  monopolist  of  American  money,  the 
sole  manufacturer  of  paper  currency,  and  the 
sole  authority  (for  authority  it  will  be)  to  which 
the  federal  government,  the  State  governments, 
the  great  cities,  corporate  bodies,  mercliants, 
traders,  and  every  private  citizen,  mu.st,  of  ne- 
cessity apply,  for  every  loan  which  their  exigen- 
cieb  may  demand.    '  The  rich  ruleth  the  poor, 


'!  , 


.g 


IE 


ir 


192 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


and  the  borrower  is  the  Borvant  of  the  lender.' 
Such  are  the  words  of  Holy  Writ;  and  if  tiic 
authority  of  the  Bible  a<lmitted  of  corroboration, 
the  history  of  the  world  is  at  hand  to  Rive  it. 
But  I  will  not  cite  the  history  of  the  world,  but 
one  eminent  example  only,  and  that  of  a  nature 
BO  high  and  commandinp;,  as  to  include  all  others ; 
and  so  near  and  recent,  as  to  be  directly  appli- 
cable to  our  own  situation.  I  si^ak  of  wliat 
happened  in  Great  Britain,  in  the  year  17U5, 
wlien  the  Bank  of  England,  by  a  brief  and  un- 
ceremonious letter  to  Mr.  Pitt,  such  as  a  miser 
would  write  to  a  prodigal  in  a  pinch,  gave  the 
proof  of  what  a  great  moneyed  power  could  do, 
and  would  do,  to  promote  its  own  interest,  in  a 
crisis  of  national  alarm  and  difticulty.  1  will 
read  the  letter.  It  is  exceedingly  short;  for 
after  the  compliments  are  (miitled,  there  ure  but 
three  lines  of  it.  It  is,  in  fact,  about  as  long  as 
a  sentence  of  execution,  leaving  out  the  prayer 
of  the  judge.    It  runs  thus : 

" '  It  is  the  wish  of  the  Court  of  Directors  that 
the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  would  settle 
his  arrangements  of  finances  for  the  jjresent 
year,  in  such  manner  as  not  to  depend  upon  any 
further  assistance  from  them,  beyond  what  is 
already  agreed  for.' 

"Such  were  the  words  of  this  memorable 
note,  sufficiently  explicit  and  intelligible ;  but 
to  appreciate  it  fully,  we  must  know  what  was 
the  condition  of  Great  Britain  at  that  time  ? 
Remember  it  was  the  year  1795,  and  the  begin- 
ning of  that  year,  than  which  a  more  porten- 
tous one  never  opened  upon  the  British  em- 
pire. The  war  with  the  French  republic  had 
been  raging  for  two  years ;  Spain  had  just  de- 
clared war  against  Great  Britain ;  Ireland  was 
bursting  into  rebellion ;  the  fleet  in  the  Nore 
was  in  open  mutiny ;  and  a  cry  f(ir  the  reform 
of  abuses,  and  the  reduction  of  taxes,  resounded 
through  the  land.  It  was  a  season  of  alarm 
and  consternation,  and  of  imminent  actual  danger 
to  Great  Britain;  and  this  was  the  moment 
which  the  Bank  selected  to  notify  the  minister 
that  no  more  loans  were  to  be  expected !  What 
was  the  effect  of  this  notification  ?  It  was  to 
paralyze  the  government,  and  to  subdue  the 
minister  to  the  purposes  of  the  bank.  From 
that  day  forth  Mr.  Pitt  became  the  minister  of 
the  bank ;  and,  before  two  years  were  out,  he 
had  succeeded  in  bringing  all  the  departments 
of  government,  King,  Lords,  and  Connnons,  and 
the  Privy  Council,  to  his  own  slavish  condition. 
He  stopped  the  specie  pajments  of  the  bank, 
and  made  its  notes  the  lawful  currency  of  the 
land.  In  1707  he  obtained  an  order  in  council 
for  this  purpose ;  in  the  same  year  an  act  of 
parliament  to  confirm  the  order  for  a  month, 
and  afterwards  a  series  of  acts  to  continue  it  for 
twenty  years.  This  was  the  re'pn  of  the  bank. 
For  twenty  years  it  was  a  dominant  power  in 
England ;  and,  during  that  dispstrous  period,  the 
public  debt  was  increased  about  £  100,000,000 
sterling,  equal  nearly  to  two  thousand  millions 
of  dollars,  and  that  by  paper  loans   from  a 


bank  which,  according  to  its  own  declarations, 
had  not  a  shilling  to  lend  at  the  comnuncemeiit 
of  the  jxriod  !     1  omit  the  rest.     I  i^ay  notiiinn 
of  the  general  subjugation  of  the  country  Imnksi, 
the  rise  in  the  price  of  food,  the  decline  in  waLcs. 
the  increase  of  crimes  and  taxes,  the  ninltfjiii- 
cation  of  lords  and  beggars, and  the  fiightful  de- 
moralization of  society.     I  omit  all  this.    I  only 
seize  the  prominent  figure  in  the  picture,  tliiit 
of  a  government  arrested  in  the  midst  of  wiir 
and  danger  by  the  veto  of  a  moneyed  corpoiu- 
tion ;  and  only  j)ennitted  to  go  on  upon  cundi. 
tion  of  assuming  the  odium  of  stopping  ppccio 
payments,  and  sustaining  the  promissory  ikjIci 
of  an  insolvent   bank,  as  the  lawful  currtucy 
of  the  land.     This  single  feature  suffices  to  lix 
the  character  of  the  times ;  for  when  the  pov- 
ernment  becomes  the  '  servant  of  the  ioiidei',' 
the  people  themselves  become  its  slaves.   Caiiini 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  if  re-charttiid, 
act  in  the  same  way  I    1 1  certainly  can,  and 
just  as  certainly  will,  when  time  and  ojijiortii- 
nity  shall  serve,  and  interest  may  pronqit.    It 
is  to  no  jnirpoKe  that  gentlemen  may  come  for- 
ward, and  vaunt  the  character  of  the  United 
States  Bank,  and  proclaim  it  too  just  and  nur- 
ciful  to  oppress  the  state.     I  must  be  permit- 
ted to  repudiate  both  the  pledge  and  the  \n-Mv. 
The  security  is  insufficient,  and  the  encomium 
belongs  to  Constantinople.     There  were  eiioiiiib 
such  in  the  British  Parliament  the  year  beriro, 
nay,  the  day  before  the  bank  stopped ;  yet  tliuir 
pledges  and  praises  neither  prevented  the  si  ip 
page,  nor  made  good  the  damage  that  ensued. 
There  were  gentlemen  in  our  Congress  to  plcdiru 
themselves  in  1810  for  the  then  expiring  Iwnk, 
of  which  the  one  now  existing  is  a  second  iiml 
deteriorated  edition ;  and  if  their  securit}>liiii 
had  been  accepted,  and  the  old  bank  re-charlci- 
ed,  we  should  have  seen  this  government  {irtit- 
ed  with  a  note,  about  August,  1814 — about  tl  o 
time  the  British  were  burning  this  capitol— o!' 
the  same  tenor  with  the  one  received  by  tliC 
younger  Pitt  in  the  year  171)5  ;  for,  it  is  incon- 
testable, that  that  bank  was  owned  by  men  wlio 
would  have  glorified  in  arresting  the  govern- 
ment, and  the  war  itself,  for  want  of  money. 
Happily,  the  wisdom  and  patriotism  of  Jeii'er- 
son,  under  the  providence  of  God,  prevented 
that  infamy  and  ruin,  by  preventing  the  re- 
newal of  the  old  bank  charter, 

"  Secomlhj.  1  object  to  the  continuance  of  (his 
bank,  because  its  tendencies  arc  dangerous  and 
pernicious  to  the  government  and  the  [leoiile. 
"  What  are  the  tendencies  of  a  great  moneyed 
power,  connected  with  the  government,  and 
controlling  its  fiscal  operations '?  Are  tliey  not 
dangerous  to  every  interest,  public  and  privata 
— political  as  well  as  pecuniary  ?  1  say  tiicy 
are  ;  and  briefly  enumerate  the  heads  of  eacli 
mischief, 

"1.  Such  a  bank  tends  to  eubjugate  the  gov 
ernment,  as  I  ha^  e  already  shown  in  the  histo' 
ry  of  what  happened  to  the  British  minister  ii 
the  year  1795. 


ANNO  1881.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


193 


"2.  It  tends  to  collusions  bctweon  the  gov- 
emment  and  the  bank  in  the  tem-s  of  the  loans, 
as  has  Ix'tn  fullv  oxporienced  in  England  in  those 
frauds  upon  tho  woplo,  and  insults  upon  the 
underetatdinf,',  called  three  per  cent,  loans,  in 
which  tho  ffovernment,  for  about  X50  borrow- 
ed, bccaino  liable  io  jMvy  XIOO. 

"3.  It  tends  to  create  public  debt,  by  facilitat- 
ing public  loans,  and  substitiitine  unlimited 
supplies  of  paper^  for  limited  supplies  of  coin. 
The  British  debt  is  bom  of  tho  Bank  of  Eng- 
land. That  bank  was  chartered  in  1C94,  and 
was  nothing  more  nor  less  in  tho  beginning, 
than  an  act  of  Parliament  for  the  incorpo- 
ration of  a  company  of  subscribers  to  a  gov- 
ernment loan.  Tho  loan  was  £1,200,000  ; 
the  interest  £80,000  ;  and  tho  expenses  of 
management  £4,000.  And  this  is  the  birth 
and  origin,  the  germ  and  nucleus  of  that 
debt,  which  is  now  £900.000,000  (the  un- 
funded items  included),  wnich  bears  an  in- 
terest of  £30,000,000,  and  costs  £200,000  for 
annual  management. 

"4.  It  tends  to  beget  and  prolong  unnecessary 
wars,  by  furnishing  the  means  of  carrying  them 
on  without  recurrence  to  the  people.  England 
is  the  ready  example  for  this  calamity.  Her 
wars  for  the  restoration  of  the  Capet  Bourbons 
were  kept  up  by  loans  and  subsidies  created  out 
of  bank  paper.  The  people  of  England  had  no 
interest  in  these  wars,  which  cost  them  about 
£000,000,000  of  debt  in  twenty-five  years,  in 
addition  to  the  supplies  raised  within  the  year. 
The  kings  she  put  back  upon  the  French  throne 
were  not  able  to  sit  on  it.  Twice  she  put  them 
on ;  twice  they  tumbled  oflF  in  the  mud ;  and 
all  that  now  remains  of  so  much  sacrifice  of  life 
and  money  is,  the  debt,  which  is  eternal,  the 
taxes,  which  are  intolerable,  tho  pensions  and 
titles  of  some  warriors,  and  the  keeping  of  the 
Capet  Bourbons,  who  are  returned  upon  their 
hands. 

"5.  It  tends  to  aggravate  the  inequality  of  for- 
tunes i  to  make  the  rich  richer,  and  the  poor 
poorer ;  to  multiply  nabobs  and  paupers ;  and 
to  deepen  and  widen  tho  gulf  which  separates 
Dives  from  Lazarus.  A  great  moneyed  power 
is  favorable  to  great  capitalists ;  for  it  is  the 
principle  of  money  to  favor  money.  It  is  unfa- 
vorable to  small  capitalists ;  for  it  is  tho  princi- 
ple of  money  to  eschew  the  needy  and  unfortu- 
nate. It  is  injurious  to  the  laboring  classes ; 
because  they  receive  no  favors,  and  have  the 
price  of  the  property  they  wish  to  acquire 
raised  to  the  paper  maximum,  while  wages  re- 
main at  the  silver  minimum. 

'■6.  It  tends  to  make  and  to  break  fortunes,  by 
the  fliuc  and  reflux  of  paper.  Profuse  issues, 
and  sudden  contractions,  perform  this  opera- 
tion, which  can  be  repeated,  like  planetary  and 
pestilential  visitations,  in  every  cycle  of  so 
many  years ;  at  every  periodical  return,  trans- 
Iprr^ng  millinjip,  from  the  actual  possessors  of 
property  to  the  Neptunes  who  preside  over  the 
flux  and  reflux  of  paper.    The  last  operation  of 

Vol.  I.— 13 


this  kind  performed  by  tho  Bank  of  England, 
about  five  years  ago,  was  described  by  Mr. 
Alexander  Baring,  in  tho  Houho  of  Commons, 
in  terms  which  are  entitled  to  tho  knf)wledgo 
and  remembrance  of  American  citizens.  I  will 
read  his  description,  which  Is  brief,  but  impres- 
sive. After  (lesciibiug  tho  profuse  issues  of 
1H23-24,  he  jMiinted  tho  reaction  in  the  follow- 
ing terms : 

" '  Thov,  therefore,  all  at  once,  gave  a  sudden 
jerk  to  the  horse  on  whose  neck  they  had  bo- 
fore  Buflercd  tho  reins  to  hang  loose.  They 
contracted  their  issues  to  a  considerable  extent. 
Tho  change  was  at  once  felt  throughout  the 
country.  A  fi.>w  days  before  that,  no  one  knew 
what  to  do  with  his  money ;  nowj  no  one  knew 
where  to  get  it.  *  ♦  ♦  ♦  The  London  bankers 
found  it  necessary  to  follow  the  same  course 
towards  their  country  correspondents,  and  these 
again  towards  their  customers,  pnd  each  indi- 
vidual towards  his  debtor.  The  consequence 
was  obvious  in  the  late  panic.  Every  one, 
desirous  to  obtain  what  was  duo  to  him,  ran  to 
his  banker,  or  to  any  other  on  whom  ho  had  a 
claim ;  and  even  those  who  had  no  immediate 
use  for  their  mone^,  took  it  back,  and  let  it  lie 
unemployed  in  their  pockets,  thinking  it  unsafe 
in  othei-s'  hands.  The  eflect  of  this  alarm  was, 
that  houses  which  were  weak  went  immediately. 
Then  went  second  rate  houses;  and,  lastly, 
houses  which  were  solvent  went,  because  their 
securities  were  unavailable.  Tho  daily  calls  to 
which  each  individual  was  subject  put  it  out  of 
his  power  to  assist  his  neighbor.  Men  were 
known  to  seek  for  assistance,  and  that,  too, 
without  finding  it,  who,  on  examination  of  their 
aftiiirs,  were  proved  to  be  worth  200,000  pounds, 
—men,  too,  who  held  themselves  so  secure,  that, 
if  asked  six  months  before  whether  they  could 
contemplate  such  an  event,  they  would  have  said, 
it  would  be  impossible,  unless  the  sky  should 
fall,  or  some  other  event  equally  improbable- 
should  occur.' 

"This  is  what  was  done  in  England  fivoyear». 
ago,  it  is  what  may  be  done  here  in  every  five 
years  to  come,  if  tho  bank  charter  is  renewed. 
Sole  dispenser  of  money,  it  cannot  omit  the 
oldest  and  most  obvious  means  of  amassmg 
wealth  by  tho  fiux  and  reflux  of  paper.  The 
game  will  be  in  its  own  hands,  and  the  only 
answer  to  be  given  is  that  to  which  I  have  al- 
luded: 'The  Sultan  is  too  just  and  merciful  to. 
abuse  his  power.' 

"  Thirdly.  I  object  to  the  renewal  of  the  char-  • 
ter,  on  account  of  tho  exclusive  privileges,  and 
anti-republican  monopoly,  which  it  gives  to  the 
stockholders.  It  gives,  and  that  by  an  act  of 
Congress,  to  a  company  of  individuals,  the  ex- 
clusive legal  privileges : 

"  1.  To  carry  on  the  trade  of  banking  upon 
the  revenue  and  credit,  and  in  the  name,  of  the 
United  States  of  America. 

"  2.  To  pay  the  I'eveuuea  of  tho  Union  in  their 
own  promissory  notes. 

"3.  To  hold  the  moneys  of  the  United  States 


4% 


•  :],fi 


¥t 


194 


THIRTY 


_- jriiil  '! 


L 


ik  depr^eit,  witl-     it  rtnlrfkiiincotnpcnsatlon  for  the 
undraw  I)  f/fllw 

"  t   To  disc.    -t.  w»|»ni|fc  til'    nrtti'8  of 

uthr*   •••nki^V  ■  •"xcii  •'»"?  thorn  ttdrn  th**  col- 
lectU*  k4  kht  fbdertl  rc\  «»««• 

"6.  f»»  Md  real  esiafifl,  weeifo  rents,  aiid 
IVtain  «  <M)dy  of  tenantry. 

"tt.  To  deal  in  pawns,  nicrchanduie,  and  bills 
of  exciiaiigt' 

•*  7  Tt.  establish  branches  in  tht  States  with- 
<Hti  iivBsr  consent. 

"  8.  f  0  '"<  ''Tompt  from  liability  on  the  failure 
of  the  bfciik. 

'9.  To  have  the  United  States  for  a  partner. 
"  10.  To  have  foreigners  for  partners. 
"  11.  To  bo  exempt  from  the  n-gnlar  adminis- 
tration of  justice  for  the  violations  of  their  charter. 
"  12.  To  have  all  these  exclusive  privileges 
secured  to  them  as  a  monopoly,  in  a  pledge  of 
the  public  faith  not  to  grant  the  like  privileges 
to  any  other  company. 

"  These  ore  the  privileges,  and  this  the  mo- 
nopoly of  the  bank.  Now,  let  us  examine  them, 
and  ascertain  their  effect  and  bearing.  Let  us 
contemplate  the  magnitude  of  the  power  which 
they  create ;  and  ascertain  the  compatibility  of 
this  power  with  the  safety  of  this  republican 
govenuncnt,  and  the  rights  and  interests  of  its 
fi-ee  and  equal  constituents. 

"  1.  The  name,  the  credit,  and  the  revenues 
of  the  United  States  are  given  up  to  the  use  of 
this  company,  and  constitute  in  themselves  an 
immense  capital  to  bank  upon.  The  name  of 
the  United  States,  like  that  of  the  King,  is  a 
tower  of  strength ;  and  this  strong  tower  is  now 
an  outwork  to  defend  the  citadel  of  a  moneyed 
corporation.  The  credit  of  the  Union  is  incal- 
culable ;  and,  of  this  credit,  as  going  with  the 
name,  and  being  in  partnership  with  the  United 
States,  the  same  corporation  now  has  possession. 
The  revenues  of  the  Union  are  twenty-six  mil- 
lions of  dollars,  including  the  post-office ;  and  all 
this  is  so  much  capital  in  the  hands  of  the  bank, 
because  the  revenue  is  received  by  it,  and  is 
payable  in  its  promissory  notes. 

"  2.  To  pi>y  the  revenues  of  the  United  States 
in  their  o\\  >  notes,  until  Congress,  by  law,  shall 
otherwise  direct.  This  is  a  part  of  the  charter, 
incredible  and  extraordinary  as  it  may  appear. 
The  promissory  notes  of  the  bank  are  to  be 
received  in  payment  of  every  thing  the  United 
States  may  have  to  sell — in  discharge  of  every 
debt  due  to  her,  until  Congress,  by  law,  shall 
otherwise  direct ;  so  that,  if  this  bank,  like  its 
prototype  in  England,  should  stop  payment,  its 
promissory  n  'tes  would  still  be  receivable  at 
every  cusiom- '  '.;se,  land-oflBce,  post-office,  and 
by  every  collect  •  i  itnblic moneys,  throughout 
the  Union,  u.>tii  ..  x  >  a  shal'  meet,  pass  a 
repealmglaw,ana  r»j  nl^atc  .t.e  repeal.  Other 
banks  depend  itpua  ?b-  ir  s...  lit  for  the  rroeiva- 
Kiii*Y rjf +l|ojp ji(^i'/**». '  K.'^'ti,. , fiiyored  ir*;-.  ^lition 
has  law  on  its  fci'io,  ab>.  a  chartered  nght  to 
eompel  the  reception  of  its  paper  by  the  federal 
government.     The  immediate  consequence  of 


this  cxtraonlinar^  privilege  is,  that  the  United 
States  becomes  virtually  bound  to  stand  .''ectirity 
for  the  hank,  as  much  so  as  if  she  had  signed  i 
bond  to  that  etibet ;  and  must  stand  forwani  to 
sustain  the  institution  in  all  eniergencitH,  In 
oriterto  save  her  own  revenue.  This  is  whut 
has  (tlready  happened,  some  ten  years  at^o,  in 
the  f-^riy  progress  of  the  bank,  and  whti;  the 
immense  an!  given  it  by  the  federal  govrnrticnt 
enabled  it  to  survive  the  crisis  of  its  own  .vcr- 
whelming  mismanagement. 

■(.  To  hold  the  moneys  of  the  United  States 
'.     deposit,  without  making   compensation  for 

tin    use  of  the  undrawn  balances This  jg  a 

right  which  I  deny ;  but,  as  the  bank  claimg  it 
and,  what  is  more  material,  enjoys  it;  and  a« 
the  people  of  the  United  States  have  suirercd 
to  a  vast  extent  in  consequence  of  this  claim 
and  enjoyment,  I  shall  not  hesitate  to  set  it 
down  to  the  account  of  the  bank.  Let  iia  then 
examine  the  value  of  this  privilege,  and  its  ef- 
fect upon  the  interest  of  the  community ;  and, 
in  the  first  place,  let  us  have  a  full  and  accurate 
view  of  the  amount  of  these  undrawn  balnnas 
from  the  establishment  of  the  bank  to  the  pre- 
sent day.     Here  it  is  !    Look  !    Read  I 

"  Sec,  Mr.  President,  what  masses  of  money 
and  always  on  hand.  The  paper  is  covered  ali 
over  with  millions :  and  yet,  for  all  these  viwt 
sums,  no  interest  is  allowed  ;  no  compensation 
is  made  to  the  United  States.  The  Bank  of 
Engliuid,  for  the  undrawn  balances  of  the  pub- 
lic money,  has  mads  an  equitable  compensation 
to  the  British  government ;  namely,  a  perma- 
nent loan  of  half  a  million  sterling,  and  a  tem- 
porary loan  of  three  millions  for  twenty  years, 
without  interest.  Yet,  when  I  moved  for  a 
like  compensation  to  the  Untied  States,  the 
proposition  was  utterly  rejected  by  the  J'inance 
Committee,  and  treated  as  an  attempt  to  vio- 
late the  charter  of  the  bank.  At  the  same 
time  it  is  incontestable,  that  the  United  States 
have  been  borrowing  these  undrawn  balances 
from  the  bank,  and  paying  an  interest  upon 
their  own  money.  I  think  we  can  identify  one 
of  these  loans.  Let  us  try.  In  May,  1824,  Con- 
gress authorized  a  loan  of  five  millions  of  dollars 
to  pay  the  awards  under  the  treaty  with  Spain, 
commonly  called  the  Flor-'J  trooty.  The  bank 
of  the  United  States  toJ\  tUu,  loan,  and  paid 
thv  money  for  the  United  Ft«  '■•.''  i  *  iinuary  and 
March,  1825.  Inlooki'  ■:  '  ,» .  t,  .'>  i  itemen.'  of 
undrawn  balances,  it  wili  be  seen  that  they 
amounted  to  near  four  millions  at  the  end  of  the 
first,  and  six  millions  at  the  end  of  the  second 
quarter  of  that  year.  The  inference  is  irresist- 
iblCj  and  I  leave  every  senator  to  make  it ;  only 
adding,  that  we  have  paid  $1,409,375  in  interest 
upon  that  loan,  either  to  the  bank  or  its  trans- 
ferrees.  This  is  a  strong  case ;  but  1  have  a 
stronger  one.  It  is  known  to  every  body,  tliat 
the  United  States  subscribed  seyen  niillious  to 
the  capital  stock  of  the  bank,  for  which  she 
gave  her  stock  note,  bearing  an  interest  of  five 
per  cent,  per  annum.    I  have  a  statement  fxoni 


ANNO  mi.     ANDREW  JACK80N.  PRKRIDENT. 


195 


t  tho  United 
tnnd  r^eciirity 
hiui  HigncU  I 
il  forward  to 
L-rcencifii,  in 
This  ia  whit 
>'earH  ago,  in 
><1  wlu'ii  the 
I  Kov^rnrncnt 
its  own  ,ver- 

nitcd  Stated 
lensation  for 
I. — This  if)  a 
mlt  clnimg  it, 
8  it;  and  a« 
mvo  HutlVrcd 
)f  this  claim 
ate  to  set  it 
Let  118  then 
?o,  and  its  ef- 
nunity ;  and, 
and  accurate 
iwn  balonas, 
k  to  the  pre- 
ead ! 

ses  of  nionej' 
is  covered  all 
H  these  TRHt 
:ompensntion 
rhe  Bank  of 
i  of  the  pub- 
compensation 
ely,  a  perma- 
g,  and  a  tcm- 
;wenty  years, 
moved  for  a 
1  States,  the 

Y  the  Finance 
empt  to  vio- 
At  the  same 
Jnited  States 
iwn  balances 
nterest  upon 
1  identify  one 
ly,  1824,  Con- 
ons  of  dollars 

Y  with  Spain, 
y.  The  bank 
au,  and  paid 
'  i^miiaryand 

.temen.'  of 
3n  that  they 
the  end  of  tho 
af  the  second 
ace  is  irresist- 
makeit;  only 
!75  in  interest 
:  or  its  trans- 
)ut  I  have  a 
ry  body,  tlrnt 
'n  millions  to 
or  which  she 
itercst  of  five 
tatement  from 


thu  llcfi;iMt(>r  of  tht  TrMmrf, 

pears  that,  np  to  tho  30lli  (hi 


%  ttom  wUeh  it  ap- 

rcars  tiKU,  lip  to  iiu»  .imii  liiiy  of  June  hist  the 
'nitod  States  bad  paid  four  millions  seven  niiri- 
dri'il  and  twenty-tlve  thouHaiid  dollors  in  ii,\it'r- 
eKt  u|Miri  that  note;  when  it  is  proved  by  the 
statiiiuiit  of  baiuiict'S  t-xbibited,  that  the  iffiil^d 
StiiU'w,  for  tho  whole  |K'ri<xl  in  which  that  inter- 
CNt  was  accniiiijt,  had  tho  half,  or  the  « I  .')!•,  and 
oiic»(  the  double,  of  these  seven  millions  i      the 
hands  of  the  bunk.     This  is  a  stroiiRor  case  than 
that  of  the  five  million  loan,  but  it  ia  not  thu 
stroiip'st.    Tho  stronj^est  case  is  this:  in  the 
year  1H17,  when  tho  bank  went  into  operation, 
the  I'liited  States  owed,  among  other  debts,  a 
sum  of  a)H)ut  fourteen  millions  and  tlircc-(|uar- 
tcrs,  bearing  an  interest  of  three  |h.t  cent.     In 
the  saiii !     lai.  tho  commissioners  of  tho  sink- 
ing fuiii  w"(!  ' 'thori-  I'd  by  an  act  of  Congross 
to  purrlia.se  ili.it  stock  at  sixty-ttvo  per  cent., 
which  wiw  then  its  market  price.     Under  this 
aiitlii  r  (y,  tho  amount  of  about  one  million  and 
a  half  was  purchased  ;  the  remainder,  amount- 
ing to  about  thirteen  million.^  and  a  quarter, 
has  continued  unpurchased  to  this   day ;  and, 
after  costing  tho  United  States  about  six  mil- 
lions in  interest  since  1817,  tho  stock  has  risen 
about  four  millions  in   value;  that   is  to  say, 
from  sixty-five  to  nearly   ninety-five.     Now, 
here  is  a  clear  loss  of  ten  millions  of  dollars  to 
the  United  States.    In  1817  .she  could  have  paid 
olf  thirteen  millions  and  a  quarter  of  debt,  with 
eight  millions  and  a  half  of  dollars  :  now,  after 
paying  six  millions  of  interest,  it  would  require 
twelve  millions  and  a  half  to  pay  off  the  same 
debt,    liy  referring  to  tho  statement  of  undrawn 
balances,  it  will  be  seen  that  tho  United  States 
had,  during  the  whole  year  1817.  an  average 
sum  of  above  ten  millions  of  dollars  in  tho 
hands  of  tho  bank,  being  a  million  and  a  half 
more  than  enough  to  have  bought  in  the  whole 
of  the  three  per  cent,   stock.    The   question, 
therefore,  naturally  comes  up.  why  was  it  not 
applied  to  the  redemption  of  these  thirteen  mil- 
lions and  a  quarter,  according  to  the  authority 
contained  in  the  act  of  Congress  of  that  year  ? 
Certainly  the  bank  needed  the  money ;  for  it 
was  just  getting  into  operation,  and  was  as  hard 
run  to  escape  bankruptcy  about  that  time,  as 
any  bank  that  ever  was  saved  from  the  brink  of 
destruction.    This  is  tho  largest  injury  which 
\ve  have  sustained,  on  account  of  accommodat- 
ing the  bank  with  the  gratuitous  use  of  these 
vast  deposits.    But,  to  show  myself  impartial, 
I  will  now  state  the  smallest  case  of  injury 
that  has  come  within  my  knowledge:  it  is  tho 
case  of  the  boma^  of  fifteen  hundred  thousand 
dollars  which  the  bank  was  to  pay  to  the  United 
States,  in  three  equal  instaliiu  nts,  for  the  pur- 
chase of  its  charter.     Nominally,  this  bomishos 
been  paid,  but  out  of  what  moneys  ?     Certainly 
out  of  our  own  ;  for  the  statement  shows  ',ar 
money  was  them,  and  further,  shows  that  it  is 
still  there ;  for,  on  the  30th  day  of  June  last, 
which   is   the   latest   return,   there  wa^    still 
82,550,604  in  the  hands  of  the  bank,  which 


is  above  ^750,000  more  than  the  amount  of 
tho  bottiui. 

"  One  word  more  upon  the  subject  of  tlice 
balances.     It  is  now  two  years  since  I  made  an 
effori   f«>  rewMil  the  4th  gection  of  tlie  Sinking 
Fund  act  i<t  1817  ;  a  section  which  was  intemkd 
to  limit  the  « mount  of  surplus  monev  which 
mighl  '«  kept  in  the  treasury,  to  two     lilUonB 
of  dollars ;  but,  by  tho  power  of  construction, 
was  made  to  autli(»nze  the  keeping  of  two  luil- 
lioiM  in  addition  to  the  surplus.     I  wishe((  to 
rep<    1  this  sectioii,  which-bad  thu*  been  con- 
strued into  tho  reverse  of  its  intention,  and  to 
revive  the  first  section  of  the  Sinking  Fund  act 
of  17911,  which  dirt'cted  the  whole  of  the  .surplus 
on  hiuid  to  be  applied,  at  the  end    i  each  year, 
to  the  payment  of  the  public  debt.    My  argument 
was  this :  that  there  was  no  necessity  to  ki  op 
any  surplus ;  that  the  reveniie.  coming  in  as  fast 
as  it  went  out,  was  like  a  jierennial  fountain, 
which  you  might  drain  to  the  last  drop,  and  not 
exhaust ;  for  the  plac(!  of  the  last  drop  would  be 
supplied  the  instant  it  was  out.     And  I  sup- 
ported  this  reasoning   by  a   reference   to  tho 
annua!  treasury  reports,  which  always  exhibit 
a  surplus  of  four  or  five  millions ;  and  which 
were  equally  in  tho  treasury  the  whole  year 
round,  as  on  the  lest  day  of  c  ory  year.     This 
was  the  argument,  which  in  fact  nvailed  nothing ; 
but  now  I  have  mathematical  pri  of  of  the  truth 
of  my  position.     Look  at   this    statement  of 
balances;  look  for  the  year  181',)   and  you  will 
find  but  three  hundred  thousand  n  Uara  on  hand 
for  that  year;  look  still  lower  for  i  •<21,and  you 
will  find  this  balance  but  one  hundreii  and  eighty- 
two  thousand  dollars.    And  what  u  us  the  con- 
sequence?   Did  the  Government     top?    Did 
tho  wheels  of  the  State  chariot  cease  to  turn 
round  in  those  years  for  want  of  treasury  oil? 
Not  at  all.    Every  thing  went  on  ;  s  well  as 
before ;  the  operations  of  the  treasui     were  as 
perfect  and  regular  in  those  two  year-  of  insig- 
nificant balances,  as  in  1817  and  1818,     hen  five 
and  ten  millions  were  on  hand.     This    -  proof; 
this  is  demonstration;  it   is  the  im   ibitable 
evidence  of  tho  senses  which  conclud.  -  argu- 
ment,  and   dispels   uncertainty ;    and,    is   my 
proposal  for  the  repeal  of  the  4th  Sectioi   of  the 
Sinking  Fund  act  of  1817  was  enacted    nto  a 
law  at  the  last  session  of  Congress,  up  a  the 
recommendation  of  the  Secretary  of  the   Trea- 
sury, a  vigilant  and  exemplary  ofiicer,  1   trust 
that  the  repeal  will  be  acted  upon,  and  th^.t  the 
bank  platter  will  be  wiped  as  clean  of  ft  deral 
money  in  1831,  as  it  was  in  1821.    Such  clean- 
taking  from  that  dish  will  allow  two  or  three 
millions  more  to  go  to  the  reduction  of  the  ps  Mic 
debt ;  and  there  can  be  no  danger  in  taking  the 
last  dollar,  as  reason  and  experience  both  pi  ve. 
But,  to  quiet  every  apprehension  on  this  pi  ut 
to  silence  the  last  suggestion  of  a  possibility  of 
sny  teinporar}"  deficit,  I  i-ccur  to  a  proviai  ,;n 
contained  in  two  different  clauses  in  the  bank 
charter,  copied  from  an  amendment  in  the  charter 
of  the  Bunk  of  England,  and  expressly  made^  at 


f 


H 


-   in 


,1       i 


196 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


the  instance  of  the  ministry,  to  moot  the  con- 
tingency of  a  temporary  deficiency  in  the  annual 
revenue.  The  English  provision  is  this:  that 
the  government  may  borrow  of  the  bank  half 
a  million  sterling,  at  any  time,  without  a  special 
act  of  parliament  to  authorize  it.  The  provision 
in  our  charter  is  the  same,  with  the  single  sub- 
stitution of  dollars  for  pounds.  It  is,  in  words 
and  intention,  a  standing  authority  to  borrow 
that  limited  sum,  for  the  obvious  purpose  of 
preventing  a  constant  keeping  of  a  sum  of 
money  in  hand  as  a  reserve,  to  meet  contingen- 
cies which  hardly  ever  occur.  This  contingent 
authority  to  effect  a  small  loan  has  often  been 
used  in  England — in  the  United  States,  never ; 
possibly,  because  there  has  been  no  occasion  for 
it;  probably,  because  the  clause  was  copied 
mechanically  from  the  English  charter,  and 
without  the  perception  of  its  practical  bearingi 
Be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  certainly  a  wise  and 
prudent  provision,  such  as  all  governments 
should,  at  all  times,  be  clothed  with. 

"  If  any  senator  thinks  that  I  have  exagge- 
rated the  injury  suffered  by  the  United  States, 
on  account  of  the  uncompensated  masses  of 
public  money  in  the  hands  of  the  bank,  I  am 
now  going  to  convince  him  that  he  is  wrong. 
I  am  going  to  prove  to  him  that  I  have  under- 
stated the  case;  that  I  have  purposely  kept 
back  a  large  part  of  it ;  and  that  justice  requires 
a  further  development.  The  fact  is,  that  there 
are  two  different  deposits  of  public  money  in  the 
bank ;  one  in  the  name  of  the  Treasurer  of  the 
United  States,  the  other  in  the  name  of  disbursing 
officers.  The  annual  average  of  the  former  has 
been  about  three  and  a  half  millions  of  dollars, 
and  of  this  I  have  said  not  a  word.  But  the 
essential  character  of  both  deposits  is  the  same ; 
they  are  both  the  property  of  the  United  States ; 
both  permanent;  both  available  as  so  much 
capital  to  the  bank ;  and  both  uncompensated. 

"  I  have  not  ascertained  the  average  of  these 
deposits  since  1817,  but  presume  it  may  equal 
the  amount  of  that  bonus  of  one  million  five 
hundred  thousand  dollars  for  which  we  sold  the 
charter,  and  which  the  Finance  Committee  of 
the  Senate  compliments  the  bank  for  paying  in 
three,  instead  of  seventeen,  annual  instalments ; 
and  shows  how  much  interest  they  lost  by  doing 
so.  Certainly,  this  was  a  disadvantage  to  the 
bank. 

"  Mr.  President,  it  does  seem  to  me  that  there 
is  something  ominous  to  the  bank  in  this  contest 
for  compensation  on  the  undrawn  balances.  It 
is  the  very  way  in  which  the  struggle  began  in 
the  British  Parliament  which  has  ended  in  the 
overthrow  of  the  Bank  of  England.  It  is  the 
way  in  which  the  struggle  is  beginning  here. 
My  resolutions  of  two  and  three  years  ago  are 
the  causes  of  the  speech  which  you  now  hear ; 
and,  as  I  have  reason  to  helievOj  some  others 
more  worthy  of  your  hearing,  which  will  come 
at  the  proper  time.  The  question  of  compensa- 
tion for  balances  is  now  mixing  itself  up  here, 
ite  in  England,  with  the  question  of  renewmg 


the  charter;  and  the  two,  acting  together,  will 
fall  with  combined  weight  upon  the  public  mind, 
and  certainly  eventuate  here  as  they  did  there. 

"  4.  To  discredit  and  disparage  the  notes  of  all 
other  banks,  by  excluding  them  from  the  collec- 
tion of  the  federal  revenue.  This  results  from 
the  collection — no,  not  the  collection,  b\it  the 
receipt  of  the  revenue  having  been  communicated 
to  the  bank,  and  along  with  it  the  virtual  exe- 
cution of  the  joint  resolution  of  181G,  to  regulate 
the  collection  of  the  federal  revenue.  The  exe- 
cution of  that  resolution  was  intended  to  be 
vested  in  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury— a 
disinterested  arbiter  between  rival  banks;  but 
it  may  be  considered  as  virtually  devolved 
upon  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  power- 
fully increases  the  capacity  of  that  institution  to 
destroy,  or  subjugate,  all  other  banks.  This 
power  to  disparage  the  notes  of  all  other  lianks, 
is  a  power  to  injure  them ;  and,  added  to  all  the 
other  privileges  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
is  a  power  to  destroy  them !  If  any  one  doubts 
this  assertion,  let  him  read  the  answers  of  the 
president  of  the  bank  to  the  questions  put  to 
him  by  the  chairman  of  the  Finance  Committee. 
These  answers  are  appended  to  the  ccmmittce's 
report  of  the  last  session  in  favor  of  the  bank, 
and  expressly  declare  the  capacity  of  the  federal 
bank  to  destroy  the  State  banks.  The  worthy 
chairman  [Mr.  Smith,  of  Md.]  puts  this  ques- 
tion ;  '  Has  the  bank  at  any  time  oppressed  any 
of  the  State  banks.'  The  president  [Mr. 
Biddle],  answers,  as  the  whole  world  would 
answer  to  a  question  of  oppression,  that  it  never 
had;  and  this  response  was  as  much  as  the 
interrogatory  required.  But  it  did  not  content 
the  president  of  the  bank ;  he  chose  to  go  further, 
and  to  do  honor  to  the  institution  over  which 
he  presided,  by  showing  that  it  was  as  just  and 
generous  as  it  was  rich  and  powerful.  He, 
therefore,  adds  the  following  words,  for  which, 
as  a  seeker  after  evidence,  to  show  the  alarming 
and  dangerous  character  of  the  bank,  I  return 
him  my  unfeigned  thanks :  '  There  are  very  few 
barks  which  might  not  have  been  destroyed  by 
an  exertion  of  the  power  of  the  bank.' 

"  This  is  enough !  proof  enough !  not  for 
me  alone,  but  for  all  who  are  unwilling  to  see  a 
moneyed  domination  set  up — a  moneyed  oli- 
garchy established  in  this  land,  and  the  entire 
Union  subjected  to  its  sovereign  will.  The 
power  to  destroy  all  other  banks  is  admitted 
and  declared ;  the  inclination  to  do  so  is  known 
to  all  rational  beings  to  reside  with  the  power ! 
Policy  may  restrain  the  destroying  faculties  for 
the  present;  but  they  exist;  and  will  come 
forth  when  interest  prompts  and  policy  permits. 
They  have  been  exercised;  and  the  general 
prostration  of  the  Southern  and  Western  banks 
attest  the  fact.  They  will  be  exercised  (the 
chf)rter  being  renewed),  and  the  remaininsr  State 
banks  will  be  swept  with  the  besom  of  destruc- 
tion. Not  that  all  will  have  their  signs  knocked 
down,  and  their  doors  closed  up.  Far  worse  than 
that  to  many  of  them.    Subjugation,  in  prefer- 


AKNO  1831.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


197 


ence  to  destruction,  will  be  the  fate  of  many. 
Every  planet  must  have  its  satellites;  every 
tyranny  must    have    its   instniments ;   every 
knight  is  followed  by  his  squire ;  even  the  king 
of  beasts,  the  royal  quadruped,  whose  roar  sub- 
dues the  forest,  must  have  a  small,  subservient 
animal  to  spring  his  prey.    Just  so  of  this 
imperial  bank,  when  installed  anew  in  its  for- 
midable and  lasting  power.     The  State  banks, 
spared  by  the  sworJ,  will  be  passed  under  the 
yoke.    They  will  become  subordinate  parts  in 
the  great  machine.    Their  place  in  the  scale  of 
subordination  will  be  one  degree  below  the  rank 
of  the  legitimate  branches ;  their  business,  to 
perform  the  work  which  it  would  be  too  disre- 
putable for  the  legitimate  branches  to  perform. 
This  will  be  the  fate  of  the  State  banks  which 
are  allowed  to  keep  up  their  signs,  and  to  set 
open  their  doors ;  and  thus  the  entire  moneyed 
power  of  the  Union  would  fall  into  the  hands  of 
one  single  institution,  whose   inexorable   and 
invisible  mandates,  emanating  from  a  centre, 
would  pervade  the  Union,  giving  or  withholc'.ing 
money  according  to  its  own  sovereign  will  and 
absolute  pleasure     To  a  fiivored  State,  to  an 
individual,  or  a  class  of  individuals,  favored  by 
the  central  power,  the  golden  stream  of  Pactolus 
would  flow  direct.    To  all  such  the  munificent 
mandates  of  the  High  Directory  would  come, 
as  the  fabled  god  made  his  terrestrial  visit  of  love 
and  desire,  enveloped  in  a  shower  of  gold.    But 
to  others— to  those  not  favored — and  to  those 
hated— the  mandates  of  this    same  directory 
would  be  as  '  the  planetary  plague  which  hangs 
its  poison  in  the  sick  air;'  death  to  them! 
death  to  all  who  minister  to  their  wants  !    What 
a  state  of  things  !    AVhat  a  condition  for  a  con- 
fpderacy  of  States !    What  grounds  for  alarm 
and  terrible  apprehension,  when  in  a  confede- 
racy of  such  vast  extent,  so  many  independent 
States,  so  many  rival  commercial  cities,  so  much 
sectional  jealousy,  such  violent  political  parties, 
such  fierce  contests  for  power,  there  should  be 
but  one  moneyed  tribunal,  before  which  all  the 
rival  and  contending  elements  must  appear !  but 
one  single  dispenser  of  money,  to  which  every 
citizen,  every  trader,   every  merchant,  evcrv 
manufacturer,  every  planter,  every  corporation, 
every  city,  every  State,  and  the  federal  govern- 
ment Itself,  must  apply,  in  every  emergency,  for 
the  most  indispensable  loan !  and  this,  in  the 
face  of  the  fact,  that,  in  every  contest  for  hu- 
man rights,  the  great  moneyed  institutions  of 
the  world  have  uniformly  been  found  on  the  side 
ot  kings  and  nobles,  against  the  lives  and  liberties 
ol  the  peoples 

"5.  To  hold  real  estate,  receive  rents,  and  re- 
tam  a  body  of  tenantry.  This  privilege  is  hos- 
tile to  the  nature  of  our  republican  government, 
and  inconsistent  with  the  nature  and  design  of 
a  banking  institution,  llepublics  want  froe- 
iwiders,  not  landlords  and  tenants ;  and,  except 
the  cori)orators  in  this  bank,  and  in  theBritish 
tost  India  Company,  there  is  not  an  incorpora- 
ted body  of  landlords  in  any  country  upon  the 


face  of  the  earth  whose  laws  emanate  from  a 
legislative  body.    Banks  are  instituted  to  pro- 
mote trade  and  industry,  and  to  aid  the  govern- 
ment and  its  citizens  with  loans  of  money.    The 
whole  argument  in  favor  of  banking— every  ar- 
gument in  favor  of  this  bank— rests  upon  that 
idea.    No  one,  when  this  charter  was  granted, 
presumed  to  speak  in  favor  of  incorporating  a 
society  of  landlords,  especially  foreign  landlords 
to  buy  lands,  build  houses,  rent  tenements,  and 
retain  tenantry.    Loans  of  money  was  the  ob- 
ject in  view,  and  the  purchase  of  real  estate  is 
incompatible  with  that  object.    Instead  of  re- 
maining bankers,  the  corporators  may  turn  land 
speculators :  instead  of  having  money  to  lend 
they  may  turn  you  out  tenants  to  vote.   To  an  ap^ 
plication  for  a  loan,  they  may  answer,  and  answer 
truly,  that  they  have  no  money  on  hand ;  and  the 
reason  may  be,  that  they  have  laid  it  out  in  land. 
This  seems  to  be  the  case  at  present.    A  com 
mittee  of  the  legislature  of  Pennsylvania  haa 
just  applied  for  a  loan ;   the  president  of  the 
bank,  nothing  loth  to  make  a  loan  to  that  great 
State,  for  twenty  years  longer  than  the  charter 
has  to  exist,  expresses  his  regret  that  he  can- 
not lend  but  a  limited  and  inadequate  sum.     The 
funds  of  the  institution,  he  says,  will  not  permit 
It  to  advance  more  than  eight  millions  of  dollars. 
And  why  ?  because  it  has  invested  three  millions 
in  real  estate !  To  this  power  to  hold  real  estate, 
IS  superadded  the  means  to  acquire  it.    The  bank 
is  now  the  greatest  moneyed  power  in  the 
Union;  in  the  event  of  the  renewal  of  its  char- 
ter, it  will  soon  be  the  sole  one.    Sole  dispenser 
of  monej-,  it  will  soon  be  the  chief  owner  of  pro- 
perty.   To  unlimited  means  of  acquisition,  would 
be  united  perpetuity  of  tenure ;  for  a  corporation 
never  dies,  and  is  free  from  the  operation  of  the 
laws  which  govern  the  descent  and  distribution  of 
real  estate  in  the  hands  of  individuals.    The  lim- 
itations in  the  charter  are  vain  and  illusory. 
They  insult  the  understanding,  and  mock  the 
credulity  of  foolish  believers.    The  bank  is  first 
limited  to  such  acquisitions  of  real  estate  as  are 
necessary  to  its  own  accommodation ;  then  comes 
a  proviso  to  undo  the  limitation,  so  far  as  it  con- 
cerns purchases  upon  its  own  mortgages  and 
executions!    This   is  the  limitation  upon  the 
capacity  of  such  an  institution  to  acquire  real 
estate.     As  if  it  had  any  tiling  to  do  but  to  make 
loans  upon  mortgages,  and  push  executions  upon 
judgments !     Having  all  the  money,  it  would  be 
the  sole  lender ;  mortgages  being  the  road  to 
loans,   all  borrowers  must  travel    that   road. 
When  birds  enough  are  in  the  net,  the  fowler 
draws  his  string,  and  the  heads  are  wrung  ofl". 
So  when  mortgages  enough  are  taken,  the  loans 
are  called  in ;  discounts  cease ;  curtailments  are 
made;    failures    to    pay  ensue;    wTits    issue; 
judgments  and  executions  follow;  all  the  mort- 
gaged premi,-.e.s  arc  for  pale  at  once ;  and  thu  at- 
torney of  the  bank  appears  at  the  elbow  of  the 
marshal,  sole  bidder  and  sole  purchaser. 

"  What  is  the  legal  effect  of  this  vast  capacity 
to  acquire,  and  this  legal  power  to  retain,  real 


198 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


estate  ?    Is  it  not  the  creation  of  a  now  species 
of  mortmain?    And  of  a  kind  more  odious  and 
dangerous  than  that  mortmain  of  the  church 
which  it  baffled  the  English  Parliament  so  many 
ages  to  abolish.    The  mortmain  of  the  church 
was  a  power  in  an  ecclesiastical  corporation  to 
hold  real  estate,  independent  of  the  laws  of  dis- 
tribution and  descent:  the  mortmain  of  the  bank 
is  a  power  in  a  lay  corporation  to  do  the  same 
thing.    The  evil  of  the  two  tenures  is  identical ; 
the  difference  between  the  two  corporations  is 
no  more  than  the  difference  between  parsons  and 
money-changers;  the  capacity  to  do  mischief 
incomparably  the  greatest  on  the  part  of  the  lay 
corporators.    The  church  could  only  operate 
upon  the  few  who  were  thinking  of  the  other 
world ;  the  bank,  upon  all  who  are  imnu' sod  in 
the  business  or  the  pleasures  of  this.    The  means 
of  the  church  were  nothing  but  prayers ;  the 
means  of  the  bank  is  money !    The  church  re- 
ceived what  it  could  beg  from  dying  sinners ;  the 
bank  may  extort  what  it  pleases  from  the  whole 
living  generation  of  the  just  and  unjust.    Such 
is  the  parallel  between  the  mortmain  of  the  two 
corporations.    They  both  end  in  monopoly  of 
estates  and  perpetuity  of  succession;  and  the 
bank  is  the  greatest  monopolizer  of  the  two. 
Monopolies  and  perpetual  succession  are  the  bane 
of  republics.    Our  ancestors  took  care  to  provide 
against  them,  by  abolishing  entails  and  primo- 
geniture.   Even  the  glebes  of  the  church,  lean 
and  few  as  they  were  in  most  of  the  States,  fell 
under  the  republican  principle  of  limited  tenures. 
All  the  States  abolished  the  anti-republican  ten- 
ures ;  bui  Congicss  re-establishes  them,  and  in 
a  manner  more  dangerous  and  offensive  than  be- 
fore the  Revolution.    They  are  now  given,  not 


with  rice  ?  '  '  The  Mameluke.' — And  thus  have 
I  been  answered,  in  the  towns  and  cities  referred 
to,  with  the  single  exception  of  the  name  of  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States  substituted  for  that 
of  the  military  scourge  of  Egypt.  If  this  is  done 
under  the  first  charter,  what  may  not  be  expect- 
ed under  the  second?  If  this  is  done  while 
the  bank  is  on  its  best  behavior,  what  may  she 
not  do  when  freed  from  all  restraint  and  deliver- 
ed up  to  the  boundless  cupidity  and  remorseless 
exactions  of  a  moneyed  corporation  ? 

"  6.  To  deal  in  pawns,  merchandise,  and  bills 
of  exchange.  I  hope  the  Senate  will  not  require 
me  to  read  dry  passages  from  the  charter  to 
prove  what  I  say.  I  know  I  speak  a  thing  mar- 
ly incredible  when  I  allege  that  this  bank,  in 
addition  to  all  its  other  attributes,  is  an  incorpo- 
rated company  of  pawnbrokers !  The  allegation 
staggers'  belief,  but  a  reference  to  the  charter  will 
dispel  incredulity.  The  charter,  in  the  first  pari. 
forbids  a  traffic  in  merchandise ;  in  the  after 
part,  permits  it.  For  truly  this  instrument 
seems  to  have  been  framed  upon  the  principles 
of  contraries ;  one  principle  making  limitations, 
and  the  other  following  alter  with  provisos  to 


generally,  but  to  few ;  not  to  natives  only,  but 
to  foreigners  also ;  for  foreigners  are  large  own- 
ers of  this  bank.  And  thus,  the  principles  of 
the  Revolution  sink  before  the  privileges  of  an 
incorporated  company.  The  laws  of  the  States 
fall  before  the  mandates  of  a  central  directory 
in  Philadelphia.  Foreigners  become  the  land- 
lords of  free-born  Americans ;  and  the  young 
and  flourishing  towns  of  the  United  States  are 
verging  to  the  fate  of  the  family  boroughs  which 
belong  to  the  great  aristocracy  of  England. 

"  Let  no  one  say  the  bank  will  not  avail  itself 
of  its  capacity  to  amass  real  estate.  The  fact  is, 
it  has  already  done  so.  I  know  towns,  yea, 
cities,  and  could  name  them,  if  it  might  not  seem 
invidious  from  this  elevated  theatre  to  make  a 
public  reference  to  their  misfortunes,  in  which 
this  bank  already  appears  as  a  dominant  and 
engrossing  proprietor.  I  have  I  Jen  in  places 
where  the  answers  to  inquiries  for  the  owners 
of  the  most  valuable  tenements,  would  remind 
vou  of  the  answers  given  by  the  Egyptians  to 
"rsimilar  questions  from  the  French  officers,  on 
their  march  to  Cairo.  You  recollect,  no  doubt, 
sir  the  dialogue  to  which  1  allude:  ^Who 
owns  that  palace  ? '  '  The  Mameluke ; '  '  W  ho 
this  country  house  ? '  '  The  Mameluke ; '  '  These 
gardens?'  'The  Mameluke;'  "That field  covered 


undo  them.     Thus  is  it  with  lands,  as  I  have 
just  shown ;  thus  is  it  with  merchandise,  as  I 
now  show.    The  bank  is  forbidden  to  deal  in 
merchandise— proviso,  unless   in  the  case   of 
goods  pledged  for  money  lent,  and  not  redeonieG 
to  the  day ;  and,  proviso,  again,  unless  for  goods 
which  shall  be  the  proceeds  of  its  lands.    With 
the  help  of  these  two  provisos,  it  is  clear  that 
the  hmitation  ie  undone;  it  is  clear  that  the 
bank  is  at  liberty  to  act  the  pawnbroker  and 
merchant,  to  any  extent  that  it  pleases.    It  may 
say  to  all  the  merchants  who  want  loans,  Pledge 
your  stores,  gentlemen  1    They  must  do  it,  or 
do  worse ;  and,  if  any  accident  prevents  redemp- 
tion on  the  day,  the  pawn  is  forfeited,  and  tlie 
bank  takes  possession.     On  the  other  hand,  it 
may  lay  out  its  rents  for  goods ;  it  may  sell  its 
real  estate,  now  worth  three  millions  of  dollars. 
for  goods.     Thus  the  bank  is  an  incorporated 
company  of  pawnbrokers  and  merchants,  as  well 
as  an  incorporation  of  landlords  and  land-specu- 
lators ;  and  this  derogatory  privilege,  like  the 
others,  is  copied  from  the  old  Bank  of  England 
charter  of  1094.     Bills  of  exchange  are  also  sub- 
jected to  the  traffic  of  this  bank.     It  is  u  tratlic 
unconnected  with  the  trade  of  banking,  dan.tcr- 
ous  for  a  great  bank  to  hold,  and  now  operati'^.!: 
most  injuriously  in  the  South  and  Wist.    It  is 
the  process  which  drains  these  quarters  of  tlid 
Union  of  their  gold  and  silver,  and  stifles  the 
growth  of  a  fair  commerce  m  the  products  of  the 
country.     The  merchants,  to  make  I'eniittances, 
buy  bills  of  exchange  from  the  bniucli  banks, 
instead  of  buying  produce  from  the  larniers. 
The  bills  are  paid  for  in  gold  and  silver ;  and. 
eventually,  the  gold  and  silver  are  tent  to  tlie 
mother  I'-ank,  or  to  the  lir.iiiehe.s  in  the  K!i>tei'n 
cities,  either  to  meet  these  bills,  or  to  reiilenis^h 
j  their  coffers,  and  to  furnish  vast  loans  t(J  lavontc 
States  or  individuals.    The  bills  sell  cheap,  say 


ANNO  1831.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


199 


a  fraction  of  one  per  cent ;  they  are,  therefore, 
a  good  remittance  to  the  merchant.  To  the  bank 
the  operation  is  doubly  good ;  for  even  the  half 
of  one  per  cent,  on  bills  of  exchange  is  a  great 
profit  to  the  institution  which  monopolizes  that 
business,  while  the  collection  anu  delivery  to 
the  branches  of  all  the  hard  money  in  the  coun 


try  is  a  still  more  considerable  advantage.  Under 
this  system,  the  best  of  the  Western  banks — I 
do  not  speak  of  those  which  had  no  foundations, 
and  sunk  under  the  weight  of  neighborhood 
opinion,  but  those  which  deserved  favor  and 
confldencc — sunk  ten  years  ago.  Under  this  sys- 
tem, the  entire  West  is  now  undergoing  a  silent, 
general,  and  invisible  drain  of  its  hard  money  ; 
and,  if  not  quickly  arrested,  these  States  will 
soon  be,  so  far  as  the  precious  metals  are  con- 
cerned, no  more  than  the  empty  skin  of  an  im- 
molated victim. 

"7.  To  establish  branches  in  the  different 
States  without  their  consent,  and  in  defiance  of 
their  resistance.    No  one  can  deny  the  degrad- 
ing and  injurious  tendency  of  this  privilege.    It 
derogates  from  the   sovereignty   of  a  State; 
tramples  upon  her  laws;  injures  her  revenue 
and  commerce;  lays  open  htr  government  to 
the  attacks  of  centralism;  impairs  the  property 
of  her  citizens ;  and  fastens  a  vampire  on  her 
bosom  to  suck  out  her  gold   and  silver.    1. 
It  derogates  from  her  sovereignty,  because  the 
central  institution    may  impose  its  intrusive 
branches  upon  the  State  without  her  consent, 
and  in  defiance  of  her  resistance.    This  has  al- 
ready been  done.    The  State  of  Alabama,  but 
four  years  ago,  by  a  resolve  of  her  legislature, 
remonstrated  against  the  intrusion  of  a  branch 
upon  her.     She  protested  against  the  favor. 
Was  the  will  of  the  State  respected  ?    On  the 
contrary,  was   not  a  branch    instantaneously 
forced  upon  her,  as  if,  by  the  suddenness  of  the 
action,  to  make  a  striking  and  conspicuous  dis- 
play of  the  omnipotence  of  the  bank,  and  the 
nullity  of  the  State  ?    2.  It  tramples  upon  her 
laws;  because,  according  to  the  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  the  bank  and  all  its  branches  are 
wholly  independent  of  State  legislation ;  and  it 
tramples  on  them  again,  because  it  authorizes 
foreigners  to  hold  lands  and  tenements  in  every 
State,  contrary  to  the  laws  of  many  of  them ; 
and  because  it  admits  of  the  mortmain  tenure, 
which  is  condemned  by  all  the  republican  States 
in  the  Union.    3.  It  injures  her  revenue,  because 
the  bank  stock,  under  the  decision  of  the  Su- 
preme Court,  is  not  liable  to  taxation.    And 
thus,  foreigners,  and  non-resident  Americans, 
who  monopolize  the  money  of  the  State,  who 
hold  its  best  lands  and  town  lots,  who  med- 
dle  ill  its   elections,  and   suck  out   its  gold 
and  silver,  and    perform    no   military    duty, 
are  exempted  from  paying  taxes,  in  proportion 
to  their  wealth,  for  the  support  of  the  State 
tt-hoso  laws    they   trample    upon,   and  whose 
benefits  they  usurp.    4.  It  subjects  the  Stete 
to  the  dangerous  manoeuvres  and  intrigues  of 
centralism,  by  means  of  the  tenants,  debtors, 


bank  officers,  and  bank  money,  which  the  cen- 
tral directory  retain  in  the   State,  and  may 
embody  and  direct  against  it  in  its  elections, 
and  in  its  legislative  and  judicial  proceedings. 
5.  It  tends  to  impair  the  property  of  the  citizens, 
and,  in  some  instances,  that  of  the  States,  by 
destroying  the  State  banks  in  which  they  have 
invested  their  money.    6.  It  is  injurious  to  the 
commerce  of  the  States  (I  speak  of  the  West- 
em   States),  by  substituting  a  trade  in  bills 
of  exchange,  for  a  trade  in   the  products  of 
the  country.    7.  It  fastens  a  vampire  on  the 
j'->som  of  the  State,  to  suck  away  its  gold  and 
silver,  and  to  co-operate  with  the  course  of 
trade,  of  federal  legislation,  and  of  exchange,  in 
draining  the  South  and  West  of  all  their  hard 
money.    The  Southern  States,  with  their  thirty 
millions  of  annual  exports  in  cotton,  rice,  and 
tobacco,  and  the  Western  States,  with   their 
twelve  millions  of  provisions  and  tobacco  ex- 
ported from  New  Orleans,  and  five  millions 
consumed  in  the  South,  and  on  the  lower  Mis- 
sissippi,—that  is  to  say,  with  three  fifths  of  the 
marketable  productions  of  the  Union,  are  not 
able  to  sustain  thirty  specie  paying  banks ;  while 
the  minority  of  the  States  north  of  the  Potomac, 
without  any  of  the  great  staples  for  export,  have 
above  four  hundred  of  such  banks.   These  States, 
without  rice,  without  cotton^  without  tobacco, 
without  sugar,  and  with  less  flour  and  provisions, 
to  export,  are  saturated  with  gold  and  silver; 
while  the  Southern  and  Western  States,  with 
all  the  real  sources  of  wealth,  are  in  a  state  of 
the  utmost  destitution.    For  this  calamitous 
reversal  of  the  natural  order  of  things,  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States  stands  forth  pre-eminently 
culpable.    Yes,   it  is   pre-eminently   culpable ! 
and  a  statement  in  the  '  National  Intelligencer ' 
of  this  morning  (a  paper  which  would  overstate 
no  fact  to  the  prejudice  of  the  bank),  cites  and 
proclaims  the  fact  which  proves  this  culpability. 
It  dwells,  and  exults,  on  the  quantity  of  gold 
and  silver  in  the  vaults  of  the  United  States 
Bank.    It  declares  that  institution  to  be  '  over- 
burdened' with  gold  and  silver ;  and  well  may  it 
be  so  overburdened,  since  it  has  lifted  the  load 
entirely  from  the  South  and  West.    It  calls  these 
metals  '  a  drug '  in  the  hands  of  the  bank  ;  that 
is  to  say,  an  article  for  which  no  purchaser  can 
be  found.    Let  this  '  drug,'  like  the  treasures  of 
the  dethroned  Dey  of  Algiers,  be  released  from 
the  dominion  of  its  keeper ;  let  a  part  go  back 
to  the  South  and  West,  and  the  bank  will  no 
longer  complain  of  repletion,  nor  they  of  de- 
pletion. 

"8.  Exemption  of  the  stockholders  from  indi- 
vidual liability  on  the  failure  of  the  bank.  This 
privilege  derogates  from  the  common  law,  is  con- 
trary to  the  principle  of  partnerships,  and  inju- 
rious to  the  rights  of  the  community.  It  is  a 
peculiar  privilese  ^ranted  by  law  to  these  corpo- 
ratorsj  and  exempting  themfrom  liability,  except 
in  their  corporate  capacity,  and  to  the  amount  of 
the  assets  of  the  corporation.  Unhappily  these 
assets  are  never  asaez,  that  is  to  say,  enough, 


0 


* 


-■  { 

■        i 

rr. 

1 

HI 

i. 

■  -'^'  '■■ 

1 

^^K^H 

200 


THIRTYYEARS'  VIEW. 


when  occasion  comes  for  recurring  to  them. 
When  a  bank  fails,  its  assets  are  always  less 
than  its  debts ;  so  that  responsibility  fails  the 
instant  that  liability  accrues.  Let  no  one  say 
that  the  bank  of  the  United  States  is  too  great 
to  fail.  One  greater  than  it,  and  its  prototype, 
has  failed,  and  that  in  our  own  day,  and  for 
twenty  years  at  a  time ;  the  Bank  of  England 
failed  in  1797,  and  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
was  on  the  point  of  failing  in  1819.  The  same 
cause,  namely,  stockjobbing  and  overtrading, 
carried  both  to  the  brink  of  destruction;  the 
same  means  saved  both,  namely,  the  name,  the 
credit,  and  the  helping  hand  of  the  governments 
which  protected  them.  Yes,  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States  may  fail;  and  its  stockholders 
live  in  splendor  upon  the  princely  estates  ac- 
quired with  its  notes,  while  the  industrious  classes, 
who  hold  these  notes,  will  be  unable  to  receive  a 
shilling  for  them.  This  is  unjust.  It  is  a  vice 
in  the  charter.  The  true  principle  in  banking 
requires  each  stockholder  to  be  liable  to  the 
amount  of  his  shares ;  and  subjects  him  to  the 
summary  action  of  every  holder  on  the  failure  of 
the  institution,  till  he  has  paid  up  the  amount  of 
his  subscription.  This  is  the  true  principle.  It 
has  prevailed  in  Scotland  for  the  last  century, 
and  no  such  thing  as  a  broken  bank  has  been 
known  there  in  all  that  time. 

"  9.  To  have  the  United  States  for  a  partner. 
Sir,  there  is  one  consequence,  one  result  of  all 
partnerships  between  a  government  and  indi- 
viduals, which  .should  of  itself,  and  in  a  mere 
mercantile  point  of  view,  condemn  this  associa- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  federal  government.  It 
is  the  principle  which  puts  the  strong  partner 
forward  to  bear  the  burden  whenever  the  con- 
cern is  in  danger.  The  weaker  members  flock 
to  the  strong  partner  at  the  approach  of  the 
storm,  and  the  necessity  of  venturing  more  to 
save  what  he  has  already  staked,  leaves  him  no 
alternative.  He  becomes  the  Atlas  of  the  firm, 
and  bears  all  upon  his  own  shpulders.  This  is 
the  principle  :  what  is  the  fact  1  Why,  that  the 
United  States  has  already  been  compelled  to 
sustain  the  federal  bank;  to  prop  it  with  her 
revenues  and  its  credit  in  the  trials  and  crisis  cf 
ils  eai'!y  administration.  I  pass  over  other  in- 
stances of  the  damage  suffered  by  the  United 
States  on  account  of  this  partnership ;  the  im- 
mense standing  deposits  for  which  we  receive  no 
compensation ;  the  loan  of  five  millions  of  our 
own  money,  for  which  we  have  paid  a  million 
and  a  half  in  mterest;  the  five  per  cent,  stock 
note,  on  which  we  have  paid  our  partners  four 
million  .seven  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars  in  interest ;  the  loss  of  ten  millions  on 
the  three  per  cent,  stock,  and  the  ridiculous  ca- 
tastrophe of  the  miserable  bonus,  which  has 
been  paid  to  us  with  a  fraction  of  our  own 
money :  I  pass  over  all  this,  and  come  to  the 
point  of  a  direct  loss,  as  a  partner,  in  the  divi- 
den<Is  upon  the  stock  itself.  Upon  this  naked 
point  of  [)rofit  and  loss,  to  be  decided  by  a  rule 
m  arithmetic,  we  have  sustained  a  direct  and 


heavy  loss.  The  stock  held  by  the  United  States, 
as  every  bodj  knows,  was  subscribed,  not  paid. 
It  was  a  stock  note,  deposited  for  seven  millions 
of  dollars,  bearing  an  interest  of  five  per  cent. 
The  inducement  to  this  subscription  was  the  se- 
ductive conception  that,  by  paying  five  j)er  cent, 
on  its  note,  the  United  States  would  clear  four 
or  five  per  cent,  in  getting  a  dividend  of  eight  or 
ten.  This  was  the  inducement ;  now  for  the  re- 
alization of  this  fine  conception.  Let  us  see  it. 
Here  it  is ;  an  official  return  from  the  Register 
of  the  Treasury  of  interest  paid,  and  of  dividends 
received.    The  account  stands  thus : 

Interest  paid  by  the  United  States,  $4,725,000 
Dividends  received  by  the  United  States,  4,029,426 


Loss  to  the  United  States, 


($95,574 


"  Disadvantageous  as  this  partnership  must  be 
to  the  United  States  in  a  moneyed  point  of  view, 
there  is  a  far  more  grave  and  serious  aspect 
under  which  to  view  it.  It  is  the  political  aspect. 
resulting  from  the  union  between  the  bank  and 
the  government.  This  union  has  been  tried  in 
England,  and  has  been  found  there  to  be  just  as 
disastrous  a  conjunction  as  the  union  between 
church  and  state.  It  is  the  conjunction  of  the 
lender  and  the  borrower,  and  Holy  Writ  has  told 
us  which  of  these  categories  will  be  master  of 
the  other  But  suppose  they  agree  to  drop  rival- 
ry, and  unite  their  resources.  Suppose  they 
combine,  and  make  a  push  for  political  power: 
how  great  is  the  mischief  which  they  may  not 
accomplish  !  But,  on  this  head,  I  wish  to  use 
the  language  of  one  of  the  brightest  patriots  of 
Great  Britain ;  one  who  has  shown  himself,  in 
these  modern  days,  to  be  the  worthy  successor 
of  those  old  iron  barons  whose  patriotism  com- 
manded the  unpurchasable  eulogium  of  the  elder 
Pitt.  I  speak  of  Sir  William  Pulteney,  and  his 
speech  against  the  Bank  of  England,  in  1797. 

"the  speech  : — EXTRACT. 

"•I  have  said  enough  to  show  that  govern- 
ment has  been  rendered  dependent  on  the  bank, 
and  more  particularly  so  in  the  time  of  war ;  and 
though  the  bank  has  not  yet  fallen  into  the  hands 
of  ambitious  men,  yet  it  is  evident  that  it  might, 
in  such  hands,  assume  a  power  sufficient  to  con- 
trol and  overawe,  not  only  the  ministers,  but 


king,  lords,  and  commons. 


*    *    * 


As  the  bank  has  thus  become  dangerous  to  gov- 
ernment, it  might,  on  the  other  hand,  by  uniting 
with  an  ambitious  minister,  become  the  means 
of  establishing  a  fourth  estate,  sufficient  to  in- 
volve this  nation  in  irretrievable  slavery,  and 
ought,  therefore,  to  be  dre.idod  as  much  as  a  cer- 
tain East  India  bill  was  justly  dreaded,  at  a  pe- 
riod not  very  remote.     I  will  not  say  that  the 

I  present  minister  (the  younger  Pitt),  by  en- 
deavoring, at  this  crisis,  to  fake  the  Bank  of 
England  under  his  protection,  can  have  any 
view  to  make  use,  hereafter,  of  that  engine  to 

i  perpetuate  his  own  power,  and  to  enable  him  to 


ANNO  1831.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


201 


domineer  over  our  constitution :  if  that  could  bo 
supposed,  it  would  only  show  that  men  can  en- 
tertain a  very  different  train  of  ideas,  when  en- 
deavoring to  overset  a  rival,  from  what  occurs  to 
them  when  intending  to  support  and  fix  them- 
selves. My  object  is  to  secure  the  country 
against  all  risk  either  from  the  bank  as  opposed 
to  government,  or  as  the  engine  of  ambitious 


men 


"  And  this  is  my  object  also.  I  wish  to  secure 
the  Union  from  all  chance  of  harm  from  this 
bank.  I  wish  to  provide  against  its  friendship 
as  wel'  as  its  enmity — against  all  danger  from 
its  hug,  as  well  as  from  its  blow.  I  wish  to 
provide  against  all  risk,  and  every  hazard ;  for 
if  this  risk  and  hazard  were  too  great  to  be  en- 
countered by  King,  Lords,  and  Commons  in 
Great  Britain,  they  must  certainly  be  too  great 
to  be  encountered  by  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  who  are  but  commons  alone. 

"  10.  To  have  foreigners  for  partners.    This 
Mr.  President,  will  be  a  strange  story  to  be  told 
in  the  West.    The  downright  and  upright  people 
of  that  unsophisticated  region  believe  that  words 
mean  what  they  signify,  and  that '  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States '  is  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States.    How  great  then  must  be  their  astonish- 
ment to  learn  that  this  belief  is  a  false  concep- 
tion, and  that  this  bank  (its  whole  name  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding)  is  just  as  much  the 
bank  of  foreigners  as  it  is  of  the  federal  govern- 
inent.    Here  I  would  like  to  have  the  proof— a 
list  of  the  names  and  nations,  to  establish  this 
almost  incredible  fact.    But  I  have  no  access 
except  to  public  documents,  and  from  one  of 
these  I  learn  as  much  as  will  answer  the  present 
pinch.    It  is  the  report  of  the  Committee  of 
Ways  and  Means,  in  the  House  of  Kepresenta- 
tives,  for  the  last  session  of  Congress.    That  re- 
port admits  that  foreigners  own  seven  millions 
of  the  stock  of  this  bank ;  and  every  body 
knows  that  the  federal  government  owns  seven 
millions  also. 

"Thus  it  is  proved  that  foreigners  are  as 
deeply  interested  in  this  bank  as  the  United 
States  itself.    In  the  event  of  a  renewal  of  the 
charter  they  will  be  much  more  deeply  interest- 
ed than  at  present ;  for  a  prospect  of  a  rise  in 
the  stock  to  two  hundred  and  fifty,  and  the  un- 
settled state  of  things  in  Europe,  will  induce 
them  to  make  great  investments.    It  is  to  no 
purpose  to  say  that  the  foreign  stockholders 
cannot  be  voters  or  directors.    The  answer  to 
that  suggestion  is  this :  the  foreigners  have  the 
money  J  they  pay  down  the  cash,  and  want  no 
accommodations ;  they  ai-e  lenders,  not  borrow- 
ers; and  in  a  great  moneyed  institution,  such 
stockholders  must  have  the  greatest  influence, 
ine  name  of  this  bank  is  a  deception  upon  the 
public.    It  is  not  the  bank  of  the  federal  gov- 
ernment, as  its  name  would  import,  nor  of  the 
htates  which  compose  this  Union ;  but  chiefly 
ot  private  individuals,  foreigners  as  well  as  na- 
tives, denizens,  and  naturalized  subjects.    They 
own  twenty-eight  mUlions  of  the  stock,  the  fed- 


eral government  but  seven  millions,  and  these 
seven  are  precisely  balanced  by  the  stock  of  tho 
aher.s.    Ihe  federal  government  and  the  alicna 
are  equal,  owning  one  fifth  each;   and  there 
would  be  as  much  truth  in  calling  it  the  Eng- 
hsh  Bank  as  tho  Bank  of  the  United  States. 
[  JNow  mark  a  few  of  the  privileges  which  this 
charter  gives  to  these  foreigners.    To  be  land- 
holders m  defiance  of  the  State  laws,  which 
forbid  aliens  to  hold  land;  to  be  landlords  by 
incorporation,  and  to  hold  American  citizens 
tor  tenants ;  to  hold  lands  in  mortmain ;  to  be 
pawnbrokers  and  merchants  by  incorporation ;  to 
pay  the  revenue  of  the  United  States  in  their  own 
notes;  in  short,  to  do  every  thing  which  I  have 
endeavored  to  point  out  in  the  long  and  hideous 
list  of  exclusive  privileges  granted  to  this  bank. 
It  I  have  shown  it  to  be  dangerous  for  the  United 
States  to  be  in  partnership  with  its  own  citi- 
zens, how  much  stronger  is  not  the  argument 
against  a  partnership  with  foreigners  ?    What 
a  prospect  for  loans  when  at  war  with  aforeiim 
power,  and  the  subjects  of  that  power  largo 
owners  of  the  bank  here,  from  which  alone,  or 
from  banks  liable  to  be  destroyed  by  it,  we  can 
obtain  money  to  carry  on  the  war !    What  a 
state  of  things,  if,  in  the  division  of  political 
parties,  one  of  these  parties  and  the  foreigners 
coalescing,  should  have  the  exclusive  control  of 
all  the  money  in  the  Union,  and,  in  addition  to 
the  money,  should  have  bodies  of  debtors,  ten- 
ants, and  bank  officers  stationed  in  all  the  States 
with  a  supreme  and  irresponsible  system  of 
centralism  to  direct  the  whole !    Dangers  from 
such  contingencies  are  too  great  and  obvious  to 
be  insisted  upon.    They  strike  tho  common 
sense  of  all  mankind,  and  were  powerful  consid- 
erations with  the  old  whig  republicans  for  the 
non-renewal  of  the  charter  of  1791.    Mr.  Jeffer- 
son and  the  whig  republicans  staked  their  po- 
litical existence   on  the  non-renewal  of  that 
charter.    They  succeeded ;  and,  by  succeeding, 
prevented  the  country  from  being  laid  at  the 
mercy  of  British  and  ultra-federalists  for  funds 
to  carry  on  the  last  war.    It  is  said  the  United 
States  lost  forty  millions  by  using  depreciated 
currency  during  the  last  war.    That,  probably 
IS  a  mistake  of  one  half    But  be  it  so !    For 
what  are  forty  millions  compared  to  the  loss  of 
the  war  itself— compared  to  the  ruin  and  infa- 
my of  having  the  government  arrested  for  want 
of  money— stopped  and  paralyzed  by  the  recep- 
tion of  such  a  note  as  the  younger  Pitt  received 
from  tho  Bank  of  England  in  1795  ? 
_  "  11.  Exemption  from  due  course  of  law  for 
violations  of  its  charter.— This  is  a  privilege 
which  affects  the  administration  of  justice,  and 
stands  without  example  in  the  annals  of  repub- 
lican legislation.     In  the  case  of  all  other  delin- 
quents, whether  persons  or  corporations,  the 
laws  take  their  course  against  those  who  offend 
them.    It  is  the  right  of  every  c'tizen  to  set  the 
laws  in  motion  against  every  offender ;  and  it  ia 
the  constitution  of  the  law,  when  set  in  motion, 
to  work  through,  like  a  machine,  regardless  or 


%  I        tl 


202 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


powers  and  principalities,  and  cutting  down  the 
guilty  which  may  stand  in  its  way.    Not  so  in 
the  case  of  this  bank.     In  its  behalf,  there  are 
barriers  erected  between  the  citizen  and  his  op- 
pressor, between  the  wrong  and  the  remedy,  be- 
tween the  law  and  the  offender.    Instead  of  a 
right  to  sue  out  a  scire  facias  or  a  quo  war- 
ranto, the  injured  citizen,  with  an  humble  peti- 
tion in  his  hand,  must  repair  to  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  or  to  Congress,  and  crave 
their  leave  to  do  so.    If  leave  is  denied  (and 
denied    it  will  be  whenever  the  bank  has  a 
peculiar  friend  in  the  President,  or  a  majority 
of  such  friends  in  Congress,  the  convenient  pre- 
text being  always  at  hand  that  the  general  wel- 
fare requires  the  bank  to  be  sustained),  he  can 
proceed  no  further.     The  machinery  of  the  law 
cannot  be  set  in  motion,  and  the  great  offender 
laughs  from  behind  his  barrier  at  the  impotent 
resentment  of  its  helpless  victim.     Thus  the 
bank,  for  the  plainest  violations  of  its  charter, 
and  the  greatest  oppressions  of   the  citizen, 
may  escape  the  pursuit  of  justice.    Thus  the 
administration  of  justice  is  subject  to  be  stran- 
gled in  its  birth  for  the  shelter  and  protection 
of  this  bank.    But  this  is  not  all.    Another  and 
most  alarming  mischief  results  from  the  same 
extraordinary  privilege.     It  gives  the  bank  a 
direct  interest  in  the  presidential  and  congres- 
sional elections :  it  gives  it  need  for  friends  in 
Congress  and  in  the  presidential  chair.     Its  fate, 
its  very  existence,  may  often  depend  upon  the 
friendship  of  the  President  and  Congress ;  and, 
in  such  cases,  it  is  not  in  human  nature  to  avoid 
using  the  immense  means  in  the  hands  of  the 
bank  to  influence  the  elections  of  these  officers. 
Take  the  existing  fact— the  case  to  which  I  al- 
luded at  the  commencement  of  this  speech. 
There  is  a  case  made  out,  ripe  with  judicial 
evidence,  and  big  with  the  fate  of  the  bank.    It 
is  a  case  of  usury  at  the  rate  of  forty-six  per 
cent.,  in  violation  of  the  charter,  which  only 
admits  an  interest  of  six.    The  facts  were  ad- 
mitted, in  the  court  below,  by  the  bank's  de- 
murrer;  the    law  was  decided,  in  the  court 
above,  by  the  supreme  judges.     The  admission 
concludes  the  facts ;  the  decision  concludes  the 
law.     The  forfeiture  of  the  charter  is  estab- 
lished ;  the  forfeiture  is  incurred ;  the  applica- 
tion of  the  forfeiture  alone  is  wanting  to  put  an 
end  to  the  institution.     An  impartial  President 
or  Congress  might  let  the    laws    take  their 
course ;  those  of  a  different  temper  might  inter- 
pose their  veto.     What  a  crisis  for  the  bank ! 
It  bch(jlds  the  sword  of  Damocles  suspended 
over  its  head !     What  an  interest  in  keeping 
those  away  who  might  suffer  the  hair  to  be 

'12.  To  have  all  these  unjust  privileges  secured 
to  the  corporators  as  a  monopoly,  by  a  pledge  of 
the  public  faith  to  charter  no  other  bank.— This 
is  the  must  hideous  feature  in  tbo.  whole  mass  of 
deformity.  If  these  banks  are  beneficial  institu- 
tions, why  not  several  1  one.  at  least,  and  each 


independent  of  the  other,  to  each  great  section  of 
the  Union?  If  malignant,  why  create  one? 
The  restriction  constitutes  the  monopoly,  and 
renders  more  invidious  what  was  suflBciently 
hateful  in  itself.  It  is,  indeed,  a  double  monop- 
oly, legislative  as  well  as  banking ;  for  the  Con- 
gress of  1816  monopolized  the  power  to  grant 
these  monopolies.  It  has  tied  up  the  hands  of 
its  successors ;  and  if  this  can  be  done  on  ono 
subject,  and  for  twenty  years,  whjr  not  upon  all 
subjects,  and  for  all  time  ?  Here  is  the  form  of 
words  which  operate  this  double  cngrossmeut  of 
our  rights :  '  No  other  bank  shall  be  established 
by  any  future  law  of  Congress,  during  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  corporation  hereby  enacted,  for 
which  the  faith  of  Congress  is  hereby  pledged;' 
with  a  proviso  for  the  District  of  Columbia. 
And  that  no  incident  might  be  wanting  to  com- 
plete the  title  of  this  charter,  to  the  utter  repro- 
bation of  whig  republicans,  this  compound  mo- 
nopoly, and  the  very  form  of  words  in  which  it 
is  conceived,  is  copied  from  the  charter  of  the 
Bank  of  England  '.—not  the  charter  of  William 
and  Mary,  as  granted  in  1694  (for  the  Bill  of 
Rights  was  then  fresh  in  the  memories  of  Eng- 
lishmen), but  the    charter  as   amended,  and 


that  for  money,  in  the  memorable  reign  of 
Queen  Anne,  when  a  tory  queen,  a  tory  minis- 
try and  a  tory  parliament,  and  the  apostle  of 
toryism,  in  the  person  of  Dr.  Sacheverell,  with 
his  sermons  of  divine  right,  passive  obedience, 
and  non-resistance,  were  riding  and  ruling  over 
the  prostrate  liberties  of  England !  This  is  the 
precious  period,  and  these  the  noble  authors, 
from  which  the  idea  was  borrowed,  and  the  very 
form  of  words  copied,  which  now  iigure  in  the 
charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  consti- 
tuting that  double  monopoly,  which  restricts  at 
once  the  powers  of  Congress  and  the  rights  of 

the  citizens.  ,.,./.. 

"  These,  Mr.  President,  are  the  chief  of  the 
exclusive  privileges  which  constitute  the  monop- 
oly of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.     I  have 
spoken  of  them,  not  as  they  deserved,  but  as  my 
abilities  have  permitted.    I  have  shown  you  that 
they  are  not  only  evil  in  themselves,  but  copied 
from  an  evil  example.    I  now  wish  to  show  you 
that  the  government  from  which  we  have  made 
this  copy  has  condemned  the  original ;  and,  af- 
ter showing  this  fact,  I  think  I  shall  be  able  to 
appeal,  with  sensible  effect,  to  all  liberal  minds, 
to  follow  the  enlightened  example  of  Great  Bn- 
tain  in  getting  rid  of  a  dangerous  and  invidiius 
institution,  after  having  followed  her  pernicious 
example  in  assuming  it.    For  this  purpose,  1  wili 
have  recourse  to  proof,  and  will  read  from  Brit- 
ish state  papers  of  1826.    I  will  read  extracts 
from  the  correspondence  between  Earl  Liver- 
pool, first  Lord  of  the  Treasury,  and  ilr.  Rob- 
inson. Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  on  the  one 
side,  and  the  Governor  and  Deputy  Governor 
nf  the.  Bank  of  England  on  the  other ;  the  sub- 
ject being  the  renewal,  or  rather  non-reuewal, 
of  the  charter  of  the  Bank  of  England. 


Second  commi 


ANNO  1881,    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PP.ESIDlilNT. 


203 


t  section  of 
reate  one? 
lopoly,  and 
sutBciently 
ble  nionop- 
3r  the  Con- 
or to  grant 
le  hands  of 
lone  on  one 
ot  upon  all 
:ho  form  of 
rossineut  of 
established 
ig  the  con- 
enacted,  for 
ly  pledged ;' 
Columbia, 
ing  to  com- 
utter  repro- 
npound  mo- 
in  which  it 
arter  of  the 
'  of  William 
the  Bill  of 
•ies  of  Eng- 
lended,  and 
le  reign  of 
tory  minis- 
e  apostle  of 
everell,  with 
e  obedience, 
ruling  over 
This  is  the 
ble  authors, 
and  the  very 
igure  in  the 
tates,  consti- 
i  restricts  at 
he  rights  of 

chief  of  the 
e  the  monop- 
;es.  I  have 
3d,  but  as  my 
jwn  you  that 
s,  but  copied 
to  show  you 
e  have  made 
nal ;  and,  af- 
11  be  able  to 
ibcral  minds, 
of  Great  Bri- 
and  invidiius 
ler  pernicious 
lurpose,  I  wil' 
id  from  Brit- 
read  extracts 
n  Earl  Liver- 
and  Jlr.  Rob- 
r,  on  the  one 
uty  Governor 
ler;  the  sub- 
'  non-reuewal, 
and. 


Communications  from  the  First  Lord  of  the 
Treasury  and  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  to 
the  Governor  and  Deputy  Govern&r  of  the 
Bank  of  England. — Extracts. 

" '  The  failures  which  have  occurred  in  Eng- 
land, unaccompanied  as  they  have  been  by  the 
same  occurrences  in  Scotland,  tend  to  prove  that 
there  must  have  been  an  unsolid  and  delusive 
system  of  banking  in  one  part  of  Great  Britain, 
and  a  solid  and  substantial  one  in  the  other.  * 
♦  ♦  ♦  In  Scotland,  there  are  not  more  than 
thirty  banks  (three  chartered),  and  these  banks 
liave  stood  firm  amidst  all  the  convulsions  of  the 
money  market  in  England,  and  amidst  all  the  dis- 
tresses to  which  the  manufacturing  and  agricultu- 
ral interests  in  Scotland,  as  well  as  in  England, 
have  occasionally  been  subject.  Banks  of  this  de- 
scription must  necessarily  be  conducted  upon  the 
generally  understood  and  approved  principles  of 
banking.  *  *  *  *  The  Bank  of  England 
may,  perhaps,  propose,  as  they  did  upon  a  for- 
mer occasion,  the  extension  of  the  term  of  their 
exclusive  privilege,  as  to  the  metropolis  and  its 
neighborhood,  beyond  the  year  1833,  as  the 
price  of  this  concession  [immediate  surrender  of 
exclusive  privileges].  It  would  be  very  much 
to  be  regretted  that  they  should  require  any 
such  condition.  *  *  *  *  It  is  obvious,  from 
what  passed  before,  that  Parliament  will  never 
agree  to  it.  *  *  *  *  Such  privileges  are 
out  of  fashion ;  and  what  expectation  can  the 
bank,  under  present  circumstances,  entertain 
that  theirs  will  be  renewed?' — Jan.  13. 


Answer  of  the  Court  of  Directors. — Extract. 

" '  Under  the  uncertainty  in  which  the  Court 
of  Directors  find  themselves  with  respect  to  the 
death  of  the  bank,  and  the  efiect  which  they 
may  have  on  the  interests  of  the  bank,  this 
court  cannot  feel  themselves  justified  in  recom- 
mending to  the  proprietors  to  give  up  the  privi- 
lege which  they  now  enjoy,  sanctioned  and  con- 
firmed as  it  is  by  the  solemn  acts  of  the  legis- 
lature.'— Jan.  20. 

Second  communication  from  the  Ministers, — 
Extract. 

'"The  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury  and  Chan- 
cellor of  the  Exchequer  have  considered  the  an- 
swer of  the  bank  of  the  20th  instant.  They 
cannot  but  regret  that  the  Court  of  Directors 
should  have  declined  to  recommend  to  the  Court 
of  Proprietors  the  consideration  of  the  paper  de- 
livered by  the  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury  and  the 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  to  the  Governor 
and  Deputy  Governor  on  the  13th  instant.  The 
statement  contained  in  that  paper  appears  to 
the  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury  and  the  Chan- 
cellor uf  the  Exchequer  so  full  and  explicit  on 
all  the  points  to  which  it  related,  that  they 
have  nothing  further  to  add,  although  they 
would  have  been,  and  still  are,  ready  to  answer, 


as  £ar  as  possible,  any  specific  questions  which 
might  be  put,  for  the  purpose  of  removing  the 
uncertainty  in  which  the  court  of  directors  state 
themselves  to  be  with  respect  to  the  details  of 
the  plan  suggested  in  that  paper.'— /aH.  23, 

Second  answer  of  the  Bank.— Extract. 

" '  The  Committee  of  Treasury  [bank]  having 
taken  into  consideration  the  paper  received  from 
the  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury  and  the  Chan- 
cellor of  the  Exchequer,  dated  January  23d,  and 
finding  that  His  Majesty's  ministers  persevere  in 
their  desire  to  propose  to  restrict  immediately 
the  exclusive  privilege  of  the  bank,  as  to  the 
number  of  partners  engaged  in  banking  to  a 
certain  distance  from  the  metropolis,  and  also 
continue  to  be  of  opinion  that  Parliament  would 
not  consent  to  renew  the  privilege  at  the  expira- 
tion of  the  period  of  their  present  charter; 
finding,  also,  that  the  proposal  by  the  bank  of 
establishing  branch  banks  is  deemed  by  His 
Majesty's  ministers  inadequate  to  the  wants  of 
the  country,  are  of  opinion  that  it  would  be 
desirable  for  this  corporation  to  propose,  as  a 
basis,  the  act  of  Cth  of  George  the  Fourth,  which 
states,  the  conditions  on  which  the  Bank  of 
Ireland  relinquished  its  exclusive  privileges  ;  this 
corporation  waiving  the  question  of  a  prolonga- 
tion of  time,  although  the  committee  [of  the 
bank]  cannot  agree  in  the  opinion  of  the  First 
Lord  of  the  Treasury  and  the  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer,  that  they  are  not  making  a  consider- 
able sacrifice,  adverting  especially  to  the  Bank 
of  Ireland  remaining  in  possession  of  that  privi- 
lege five  years  longer  than  the  Bank  of  England.' 
— January  25. 

"  Here,  Mr.  President,  is  the  end  of  all  the 
exclusive  privileges  and  odious  monopoly  of  the 
Bank  of  England.  That  ancient  and  powerful 
institution,  so  loug  the  haughty  tyrant  of  the 
moneyed  world — so  long  the  subsidizer  of  kings 
and  ministers— so  long  the  fruitful  mother  of 
national  debt  and  useless  wars — so  long  the 
prolific  manufactory  of  nabobs  and  paupers — so 
long  the  dread  dictator  of  its  own  terms  to 
parliament — now  droops  the  conquered  wing, 
lowers  its  proud  crest,  and  quails  under  the 
blows  of  its  late  despised  assailants.  It  first 
puts  on  a  courageous  air,  and  takes  a  stand  upon 
privileges  sanctioned  by  time,  and  confirmed  by 
solemn  acts.  Seeing  that  the  ministers  could 
have  no  more  to  say  to  men  who  would  talk  of 
privileges  in  the  nineteenth  century,  and  being 
reminded  that  parliament  was  inexorable,  the 
bully  suddenly  degenerates  into  the  craven,  and, 
from  showing  tight,  calls  for  quarter.  The  di- 
rectors condescend  to  beg  for  the  smallest  rem- 
nant of  their  former  power,  for  five  years  only ; 
for  the  city  of  London  even ;  and  offer  to  send 
branches  into  all  quarters.  Denied  at  every 
point,  the  subdued  tyrant  acquiesces  in  his  fate ; 
a,nnounces  his  submission  to  the  spirit  and  intel- 
ligence of  the  age ;  and  quietly  sinks  down  into 


i^ 


204 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW, 


the  humblo,  but  safe  and  useful  condition  of  a 
Scottish  provincial  bank. 

"  And  hero  it  is  profitable  to  pause  ;  to  look 
back,  and    see   by   what   means  this  ancient 
and  powerful  institution — this  Babylon  of  the 
banking  world — was  so  suddenly  and  so  totally 
prostrated.    Who  did  it?    And  with  what  weap- 
ons ?    Sir,  it  was  done  by  that  power  which  is 
now  regulating  the  affairs  of  the  civilized  world. 
It  was  done  by  the  power  of  public  opinion, 
invoked  by  the  working  members  of  the  British 
parliament.    It  was  done  by  Sir  Henry  Parnell, 
who  led  the  attack  upon  the  Wellington  minis- 
try, on  the  night  of  the  16th  of  November ;  by 
Sir  William  Pulteney,  Mr.  Grenfell,  Mr.  Hume, 
Mr.  Edward  Ellice,  and  others,  the  working 
members  of  the  House  of  Commons,  such  as  had, 
a  few  years  before,  overthrown  the  gigantic  op- 
pressions of  the  salt  tax.    These  are  the  men 
who  have  overthrown  the  Bank  of  England. 
They  began  the  attack  in  1824,  under  the  dis- 
couraging cry  of  too  soon,  too  soon — for  the 
charter  had  then  nine  years  to  run  !  and  ended 
with  showing  that  they  had  began  just  soon 
enough.    They  began  with  the  ministers  in  their 
front,  on  the  side  of  the  bank,  and  ended  with 
having  them  on  their  own  side,  and  making 
them  co-operators  in  the  attack,  and  the  instru- 
ments and  inflicters  of  the  fatal  and  final  blow. 
But  let  us  do  justice  to  these  ministers.   Though 
wrong  in  the  beginning,  they  were  right  in  the 
end  ;  though  monarchists,  they  behaved  like 
republicans.    They  were  not  Polignaca.    They 
yielded  to  the  intelligence  of  the  age ;  they 
yielded  to  the  spirit  which  proscribes  monopolies 
and  privileges,  and  in  their  correspondence  with 
the  bank  directors,  spoke  truth  and  reason  and 
asserted  liberal  principles,  with  a  point  and 
power  which  quickly  put  an  end  to  dangerous 
and  obsolete  pretensions.    They  told  the  bank 
the  mortifying   truths,  that    its  system    was 
unsolid  and   delusive — that  its  privileges  and 
monopoly  were  out  of  fashion — that  they  could 
not  be  prolonged  for  five  years  even — nor  suf- 
fered to  exist  in  London  alone ;  and,  what  was 
still  more  cutting,  that  the  banks  of  Scotland, 
which  had  no  monopoly,  no  privilege,  no  con- 
nection with  the  government,  which  paid  interest 
on  deposits,  and  whose  stockholders  were  re- 
sponsible to  the  amount  of  their  shares — were 
the  solid  and  substantial  banks,  which  alone  the 
public  interest  could  hereafter  recognize.    They 
did  their  business,  when  they  undertook  it,  like 
true  men ;  and,  in  the  single  phrase,  '  out  of 
fashion,''  achieved  the  most  powerful  combina- 
tion of  solid  argument  and  contemptuous  sar- 
casm, that  ever  was  compressed  into  three  words. 
It  is  a  phrase  of  electrical  power  over  the  senses 
and  passions.    It  throws  back  the  mind  to  the 
reigns  of  the  Tudors  and  Stuarts — the  termagant 
Elizabeth  and  the  pedagogue  James — and  rouses 
within  us  all  the  shame  and  rage  we  havo.  beer. 
accustomed  to  feel  at  the  view  of  the  scandalous 
sales  of  privileges  and  monopolies  which  were 
tho  disgrace  and  oppression  of  these  wretched 


times.  Out  of  fashion  !  Yes ;  even  in  England 
the  land  of  their  early  birtk  and  late  protection! 
And  shall  thej  remam  in  fashion  here  ?  Shall 
republicanism  continue  to  wear,  in  America,  the 
antique  costume  which  the  doughty  champions 
of  antiquated  fashion  have  been  compelled  tc 
doff  in  England  ?  Shall  English  lords  and  ladi(  ^ 
continue  to  find,  in  the  Bank  of  the  Unit(  ! 
States,  the  imjust  and  odious  privileges  whitli 
they  can  no  longer  find  in  the  Bank  of  England  ? 
Shall  the  copy  .survive  here,  after  the  original 
has  been  destroyed  there?  Shall  the  yoiinp 
whelp  triumph  in  America,  after  the  old  lion 
has  been  throttled  and  strangled  in  England? 
No !  never !  Tho  thing  Is  impossible !  The 
Bank  of  the  United  States  dies,  as  the  Bank  of 
England  dies,  in  all  its  odious  points,  upon  (he 
limitation  of  its  charter ;  and  the  only  circum- 
stance of  regret  is,  that  the  generous  deliverance 
is  to  take  effect  two  years  earlier  in  the  Rritish 
monarchy  than  in  the  American  republic.  It 
came  to  us  of  war — it  will  go  away  with  peace. 
It  was  bom  of  the  war  of  1812 — it  will  die  in 
the  long  peace  with  which  the  world  is  blessed. 
The  arguments  on  which  it  was  created  will  no 
longer  apply.  Times  have  changed ;  and  the 
policy  of  the  republic  changes  with  the  times. 
The  war  made  the  bank ;  peace  will  unmake  it. 
The  baleful  planet  of  fire,  and  blood,  and  every 
human  woe,  did  bring  that  pestilence  upon  us ; 
the  benignant  star  of  peace  shall  chase  it  away." 

This  speech  was  not  answered.  Confident  in 
its  strength,  and  insolent  in  its  nature,  the  great 
moneyed  power  had  adopted  a  system  in  which 
she  persevered,  until  hard  knocks  drove  her  out 
of  it :  it  was  to  have  an  anti-bank  speech  treated 
with  the  contempt  of  silence  in  the  House,  and 
caricatured  and  belittled  in  the  newspapers ;  and 
according  to  this  system  my  speech  was  treated. 
The  instant  it  was  delivered,  Mr.  Webster  called 
for  the  vote,  and  to  be  taken  by  yeas  and  nays, 
which  was  done ;  and  resulted  differently  from 
what  was  expected — a  strong  vote  against  the 
bank — 20  to  23 ;  enough  to  excite  uneasiness, 
but  not  enough  to  pass  the  resolution  and  le- 
gitimate a  debate  on  the  subject.  The  debate 
stopped  with  the  single  speech ;  but  it  Avas  a 
speech  to  be  read  by  the  people— the  masses— 
the  millions ;  and  was  conceived  and  deliv?rcii 
for  that  purpose ;  and  was  read  by  them ;  and 
has  been  complimented  since,  as  having  crippled 
the  bank,  and  given  it  the  wound  of  which  it 
afterwards  died ;  but  not  within  the  year  and  a 
day  which  would  make  the  slayer  responsible 
for  the  homicide.  The  list  of  yeas  and  nays 
was  also  iavoi-able  to  the  effect  of  the  .^pec-ch. 
Though  not  a  party  vote,  it  was  sufiBcieutly  so 
to  show  how  it  stood— the  mass  of  the  democ- 


racy agar 
democrats 

"  Yeas. 

Brown,  I) 

Ifavnc,   Ii 

Nailford,  S 

White,  W( 

"  Nays.- 

Clayton,  I 

ricks,    Joh 

Noble,  Rol 

Silsbce,  Sm 

-23." 


EREOR  OF  : 
THE  ] 

I  HAVE  had 
errors  of  Mo 
upon  Ameri 
thority  in  ] 
several  langi 
p    made  authori 
V    into  English 
I    preface  to  re 
:    a  view  to  enli 
to  democratic 
■    candid  intent 
prejudice  of 
must  do  it  g 
abroad,  if  not 
of  this  kind- 
representative 
of  his  work,  w 
the  members 
Congress,  atti 
to  the  Senate, 
difference  in  tl 
members— the 
and  the  legislai 
says  :— 

"Onenterinj 
*t  ashington,  or 
"leaner  of  tha 
'I'.'^ntly  does  e 
"■'thin  its  wal 
*'Moiire  indivic 
•'-^'ociations  to  t 
lawyer.=,  men  in 
II  ty  the  lower  cla 
If  which  educatio] 


ANNO  1881.    ANDREW  JACKSON.  PRESIDENT. 


vcn  in  England, 
late  protection. 
n  here  ?  Shall 
n  America,  the 
;hty  champions 
1  compelled  tv 
lords  and  ladio 
of  the  Unit(  1 
rivilepx's  which 
nk  of  England  ? 
ter  the  original 
lall  the  young 
!r  the  old  lion 
id  in  England  ? 
iposBible !  The 
as  the  Bank  of 
loints,  upon  dit 
ic  only  circura- 
rous  deliverance 
r  in  the  Britinh 
.n  republic.  It 
ray  with  peace. 
J — it  will  die  in 
rorld  is  blessed. 
created  will  no 
nged ;  and  the 
idth  the  times, 
will  unmake  it. 
ilood,  and  every 
ilence  upon  us ; 
chase  it  away." 

I.  Confident  in 
lature,  the  great 
ystem  in  which 
;s  drove  her  out 
k  speech  treated 
the  House,  and 
ewspapers ;  and 
ech  was  treated. 
.  Webster  calkd 
yeas  and  nays, 
iifferently  from 
ote  against  the 
cite  uneasiness, 
olution  and  ie- 
ct.  The  debate 
li ;  but  it  was  a 
— the  masses— 
d  and  delivered 
I  by  them ;  and 
having  crippled 
und  of  which  it 
1  the  year  and  a 
yer  responsible 
yeas  and  nays 
t  of  the  ^peecli. 
i  sufficiently  so 
s  of  the  democ- 


racy again.st  the  bank— the  mass  of  the  anti 
democrats  against  it.    The  names  were  :— 

i."^'''n~r*^*'''"'k^'"'"*'"^'  Benton.  Bibb 
Brown,  D.ckerson    Dudley,   Forsyth,  Grundy 

llayne,   Iredell     King,   McKinlev    PninHovfr.-  I  t-    '^'"i ".'  "'"'  '-'-■"eoraiea  men  in   j 

Sanford  Smith  of  S.  C.',  TazewdfTroSn  Tver'   ,f ""^'^  ""^  indmnal  is  to  lye  foSnl  i„ 

White,  Woodbury— 20.  '        ^'  ^   ^>  '  ""'^^  "^^  """^a^l  "'o  ''1""  "f  " ••"       " 

"  NAVS.-Mes.srs.  Barton,  Bell,  Bumot,  Chase 
Clayton  Roc ',  Frclmghuysen,  Holmes,'  Hemi: 
neks,  Johnston,  Knight,  Livingston,  '  Mais 
Noble,  Bobbins,  Robinson,  Buggies,  feeymour' 
Silsbee,  Smith  of  Md.,  Spr^o/^eb  terfSy' 


: 


CHAPTER    LVII. 

ERROR  OF  DE  TOCQUEVILLE,  IX  RELATION  TO 
THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES 

r  HAVE  had  occasion  several  times  to  notice  the 
errors  of  Monsieur  de  Tocqueville,  in  his  work 
upon  American  democracy.    That  work  is  au- 
thority in  Europe,  where  it  has  appeared  in 
several  languages;  and  is  sought  by  some  to  be 
made  authority  here,  where  it  has  been  translated 
mto  English,  and  published  with  notes,  and  a 
preface  to  recommend  it.    It  was  written  with 
a  view  to  enlighten  European  opinion  in  relation 
to  democratic  sovernmeut,  and  evidently  with  a 
candid  mtent;  but  abounds  with  errors  to  the 
prejudice  of  that  form  of  government,  which 

must   o;t  great  mischief,  both  at  home  and 

md,  If  not  corrected.    A  fundamental  erj 

of  tins  kind-one  which  goes  to  the  root  of 

rresentaive  government,  occurs  in  chapters 

the  members  comprising  the  two  Houses  of 
Co  gross,  attributing  an  immense  superiority 

othe  Senate,  and  discovering  the  cause  of  the 
difference  in  the  different  modes  of  elect  n.  the 
•nem  ers-the  popular  elections  of  the  lut. 

nd  the  legislative  elections  of  the  Senate     iS 


205 

the  renresentatives  of  the  people  do  not  alw.v- 

tratM,  «nd  statesmen  ofS  S        ,  ""*"■ 

.bio  p>rn«,„cn,„^  «.te'^r*E„"^'  Th*" 
then,  IS  the  cause  of  this  .trance  cralrut  ?  Zl 
why  are  the  most  able  citiztZ^  i„tTr      ,■ 

fflho  Li  MS'",  f^'"'''^'  ™»nate 
so  -tartL^^aSelTari,/?  '^Z''  'f  ™'  """ 

operates  an  important  chantro  fn  If  i       V  -^^ 

whieh  disturb  oi.  ?ho"4^"„terSLC7" 
mo.^  fri^uSS;  „t",'£'f  »Vl^W  body 


i  ^'''^^^iToViSS  f  .fc-ntativesat 

I  -eanor'of  Ct^reSf Tstemi^/^t -'^^^r  de- 

qmntly  docs  nnf  rV.L  '*'"-"'"iy'     -Ihc  eye  fre- 

'^ithin^s  waHs     luT' ^  '"^^  «''  ^'''^brity 

«bsonre  indMduals    ir"'^""'  ^"^  «^™««t  »» 

,a  •■i^=ociatio,"s  o  themin      tf  """'"'  P''^'^^"*  "» 

I  lawyers  rwl -mil^       '  ^'""^ ''''^  mostly  vilL^n-. 

If -i^'ch  education  is  ver^gSaI,'rtyS7h;? 


The  whole  tenor  of  these  paragraphs  is  to 
disparage  the  democracy-to  disparage  dmo- 
oratic  government-to  attack  fundameVy  2 
pnncjpleof  popular  election  itself.    They  dTs! 
qualify  the  people  for  self-government  hoU 
them  to  be  incapable  of  exercising  the  elective 
franchise,  and  predict  thedownfall'of  our  rpub 
•can  sys  em,  if  that  franchise  is  not  still  fuXr 
restricted,  and  the  popular  yote-the  votTof 
the  peop  e-reduced  to  the  subaltern  choice  of 
persons  to  vote  for  them.     These  are  profound 
errors  on  the  part  of  Mons.  de  Tocquev  Ue 
which  require  to  be  exposed  and  correctedT  "d 
e  correction  of  which  comes  within  the  C 

the  people  for  self-government,  and  the  advantage 
of  extending-instead  of  restrictmg-the  privi- 


I 


206 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


I  t' 


lege  of  the  direct  vote.  He  eccms  to  look  upon 
the  members  of  the  two  Houses  as  diflercnt 
orders  of  beings — different  classes — a  higher  and 
a  lower  class  ;  the  former  placed  in  the  Senate 
by  the  wisdom  of  State  legislatures,  the  latter 
In  the  House  of  Representatives  by  the  folly  of 
the  people — when  the  fact  is,  that  they  are  not 
only  of  the  same  order  j»ud  class,  but  mainly  the 
same  individuals.  The  Senate  is  almost  entirely 
made  up  out  of  the  House  !  and  it  is  quite  cer- 
tain that  every  senator  whom  Mons.  de  Tocque- 
ville  had  in  his  eye  when  he  bestowed  such 
encomium  on  that  body  had  come  from  the 
House  of  Representatives !  placed  there  by  the 
popular  vote,  and  afterwards  transferred  to  the 
Senate  by  the  legislature  ;  not  aa  new  men  just 
discovered  by  the  superior  sagacity  of  that  body, 
but  as  public  men  with  national  reputations,  al- 
ready illustrated  by  the  operation  of  popular 
elections.  And  if  Mons.  do  Tocqueville  had 
chanced  to  make  his  visit  some  years  sooner,  he 
would  have  seen  almost  every  one  of  these  sena- 
tors, to  whom  his  exclusive  praise  is  directed, 
actually  sitting  in  the  other  House. 

Away,  then,  with  his  fact !  and  with  it,  away 
with  all  his  fanciful  theory  of  wise  elections  by 
small  electoral  colleges,  and  silly  ones  by  the 
people  !  and  away  with  all  his  logical  deductions, 
from  premises  which  have  no  existence,  and 
which  would  have  us  still  further  to  "refine 
popular  discretion,"  by  increasing  and  extending 
the  number  of  electoral  colleges  through  which 
it  is  to  be  filtrated.  Not  only  all  vanishes,  but 
his  praise  goes  to  the  other  side,  and  redounds 
to  the  credit  of  popular  elections;  for  almost 
every  distinguished  man  in  the  Senate  or  in  any 
other  department  of  the  government,  now  or 
heretofore — from  the  Congress  of  Independence 
down  to  the  present  day — has  owed  his  first 
elevation  and  distinction  to  popular  elections — 
to  the  direct  vote  of  the  people,  given,  without 
the  intervention  of  any  intermediate  body,  to  the 
visible  object  of  their  choice ;  and  it  is  the  same 
in  other  countries,  now  and  always.  The  Eng- 
lish, the  Scotch  and  the  Irish  have  no  electoral 
colleges ;  they  vote  direct,  and  are  never  without 
their  ablest  men  in  the  House  of  Commons. 
The  Romans  voted  direct ;  and  for  five  hundred 
years — until  lair  elections  were  detsroyed  by 
force  and  fraud — never  failed  to  elect  consuls  and 
praetors,  who  carried  the  glory  of  their  country 
beyond  the  point  at  which  they  had  found  it. 


The  American  people  know  this — know  that 
iwpidar  election  has  given  thent  every  eminent 
public  man  that  they  have  ever  had — that  it  is 
the  safcHt  and  wisest  mode  of  political  election- 
most  frt  from  intrigiie  and  corruption ;  and  in- 
stead  oi  further  restricting  that  mode,  and  re- 
ducing the  masses  to  mere  electors  of  electors 
they  are,  in  fact,  extending  it,  and  altering  con- 
stitutions to  carry  elections  to  the  people,  which 
were  formerly  given  to  the  general  assoiiiblies, 
Many  States  furnish  examples  of  this.  Even 
the  constitution  of  the  United  States  has  been 
overruled  by  universal  public  sentiment  in  the 
greatest  of  its  elections — that  of  President  and 
Vice-Pre:  lent.  The  electoral  colK  j,'e  by  that 
instrumeiit,  both  its  words  and  intent,  was  to 
have  been  an  independent  body,  exercising  its  omi 
discretion  in  the  choice  of  these  high  officprs. 
On  the  contrary,  it  has  been  reduced  to  a  mere 
formality  for  the  registration  of  Ji  3  votes  which 
the  people  prepare  and  exact.  Thi'  speculations 
of  Monsieur  de  Tocqueville  are,  therefore,  ground- 
lesK  ;  and  must  be  hurtful  to  representative  gov- 
ernment in  Europe,  where  the  facts  are  un- 
known ;  and  may  be  injurious  among  ourselves 
where  his  book  is  translated  into  English,  with 
a  preface  and  notes  to  recommend  it. 

Admitting  that  there  might  be  a  difference 
between  the  ap^  trrance  of  the  two  Houses,  and 
between  their  tJent,  .-vt  the  time  that  Mons.  de 
Tocqueville  looked  in  upon  them,  yet  that  dif- 
ference, so  far  as  it  might  then  have  existed, 
was  accidental  and  temporary,  and  has  already 
vanished.  And  so  far  as  it  may  have  appeared, 
or  may  appear  in  other  times,  the  diTerence  in 
favor  of  the  Senate  may  be  found  in  causes  very 
diffarent  from  those  of  more  or  less  judgment 
and  virtue  in  the  constitueucies  which  elect  the 
two  Houses.  The  Senate  is  a  smaller  body,  and 
therefore  may  be  more  decorous ;  it  is  composed 
of  older  men,  and  therefore  should  be  graver, 
its  members  have  usually  served  in  the  highest 
branches  of  the  State  governments,  and  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  therefore  should 
be  more  experienced;  its  terms  of  service  are 
longer,  and  therefore  give  more  time  for  talent 
to  mature,  and  for  the  measures  to  be  carried 
which  confer  fame.  Finally,  the  Senate  is  in 
great  part  composed  of  the  pick  of  the  House, 
and  therefore  gains  double — by  brilliant  acces- 
sion to  itoelf  and  abstractiou  from  the  other. 
These  are  causes  enough  to  account  for  any  o«" 


ANNO  1831.    ANDUKW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT 


casional,  or  jfcnora!  difference  which  may  show 
itwif  in  the  decoriim  or  ability  of  the  two 
IIoiise8.  Hut  there  is  another  cause,  which  is 
found  in  the  practice  of  some  of  the  States— the 
caucus  syst'.-m  and  rotation  in  office— which 
brings  in  men  unknown  to  the  iwoplo,  and  turns 
them  out  as  they  begin  to  bo  useful ;  to  bo  suc- 
ceeded by  other  new  beginners,  who  are  in  turn 
turned  out  to  make  room  for  more  new  ones ; 
all  by  virtue  of  arrangements  which  look  to  in' 
dividual  interests,  and  not  to  the  public  good. 

The  injury  of  these  changes  to  the  business 
qualities  of  the  House  and  the  Interests  of  the 
State,  is  readily  conceivable,  and  very  visible  in 
the  delegations  of  States  where  they  do,  or  do 
not  prevail— in  some  Sorthern  and  some  Nouth- 
ern  States,  for  example.    To  name  them  might 
seem  invidious,  and  is  not  necessary,  the  state- 
ment of  the  general  fact  being  sufficient  to  indi- 
cate an  evil  which  requires  correction.    Short 
terms  of  service  are  good  on  account  of  their  re- 
sponsibility, and  two  years  is  a  good  legal  term  • 
but  every  contrivance  is  vicious,  and  also  incon- 
sistent with  the  re-cligibility  permitted  by  the 
constitution,  which  prevents  the  people  from 
continuing  a  member  as  long  as  they  deem  him 
useful  to  them.    Statesmen  are  not  improvised 
.n  any  country;  and  in  our  own,  as  well  as  in 
Great  Britain,  great  political  reputations  have 
only  been  acquired  after  long  service-20, 30  40 
and  even  50  years;  and  great  measures  have 
only  been  carried  by  an  equal  number  of  years 
of  persevering  exertion  by  the  same  man  who 
commenced  them.    Earl  Grey  and  Major  Cart- 
wright-I  take  the  aristocratic  and  the  demo- 
cratic leaders  of  the  movement-only  carried 
Uritish  parhamentry  reform  after  forty  years 
of  annual  consecutive  exertion.    They  organized 
the  Society  for  Parliamentry  Reform  in  1792 
and  carried  the  reform  in  1832-di8franchisinf; 
56  burgs,  half  disfranchising  31  others,  enfran- 
ch.6ing41  new  towns;  and  doubling  the  number 
01  voters  by  extending  the  privilege  to  £10 
householders-extorting,  perhaps,  the  greatest 
concession  from  power  and  corruption  to  popular 
nght  tha  was  ever  obtained  by  civil  and  legal 
2"«-    Yet  this  was  only  d.    -  upon  forty 
years  continued  annual  exertions.    Two  men 
did  It,  but  It  took  them  forty  years 

!      ^JT7.  emaucipation,  corn  law  re- 

1^     peal,  abohUon  of  the  slave  trade,  and  many 


307 


others;  each  requiring  a  lifetime  of  continu.>a 
exertion  from  devoted  men.    Short  service,  and 
not  popular  eknition,  is  the  evil  of  the  House  of 
Representatives;  and  this  becomes  more  appar- 
ent  by  contrast-contrast  between  the  North 
and  the  South-the  caucus,  or  rotary  system 
not  prevailing  in  the  South,  and  useful  members' 
bcmg  usually  continued  from  that  quarter  as 
long  as  useful;  and  thus  with  fewer  members 
usually  showing  a  greater  number  of  men  who 
have  attained  a  distinction.  Monsieur  de  Tocque- 
v.lle  is  profoundly  wrong,  and  d.«3s  great  injury 
to  democratic  government,  as  his  theory  coun- 
tenances the  monarchial  idea  of  the  incapacity 
of  the  people  for  self-government.    They  are 
with  us  the  best  and  safest  depositories  of  the 
political  elective  power.    They  have  not  only 
furnished  to  the  Senate  its  ablest  membe™ 
through  the  House  of  llepresentatives,  but  have 
sometimes  repaired  the  injustice  of  State  legis- 
latures, which  repulsed  or  discarded  some  emi- 
nent men.    The  late  Mr.  John  Quincy  Adams, 
after  forty  years  of  illustrious  service-after  hav- 
ing been  minister  to  half  the  great  courts  of  Eu- 
rope a  senator  in  Congress,  Secretary  of  State 
and  President  of  the  United  Staies-in  the  full 
possession  of  all  his  great  faculties,  was  refused 
an  election  by  the  Massachusetts  legislature  to 
the  United  States  Senate,  where  he  had  served 
thirty  years  before.    Refused  by  the  legisl^ 
ture,  he  was  taken  up  by  the  people,  sent  to  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  served  there  to 
octogenarian  age-attentive,  vigilant  and  capa- 
ble-an  example  to  all,  and  a  match  for  half  the 
House  to  the  last.    The  brilliant,  incorruptible 
sagacious  Randolph-friend  of  the  people,  of  the 
constitution,  of   economy  and  hard  money- 
!  scourge  and  foe  to  all  corruption,  plunder  and 
jobbing-had  nearly  the  same  fate;  dropped 
from  the  Senate  by  the  Virginia  general  assem- 
bly, restored  to  the  House  of  Representatives 
by  the  people  of  his  district,  to  remain  there  till 
following  the  example  of  his  friend,  the  wise 
Macon,  he  voluntarily  withdrew.    I  name  no 
more,  confining  myself  to  instances  of  the  illus- 
trious dead. 

I  have  been  the  more  particular  to  correct 
this  error  of  De  Tocqueville,  because,  while  dis- 
paraging  democratic  government  generally  it 
especially  disijarages  th.it  branch  of  our  gove'ra- 
ment  which  was  intended  to  be  the  controlling 
part.     Two  clauses  of  the  constitution— one 


208 


THIRTY  YEAIW'  VIEW. 


I  Itt 


ii  i 


Toating  tho  IIouuo  of  Representatives  with  the 
Bolo  power  of  originating  revenue  bills,  the  other 
with  the  sole  power  of  impeachment — sufficient- 
ly attest  the  high  function  to  which  that  House 
wa«  appointed.    They  are  both  borrowed  from 
the  British  constitution,  where  their  eifect  has 
been  seen  in  controlling  the  course  of  the  whole 
government,  and  bringing  great  criminals  to  the 
bar.    No  sovereign,  no  ministry  holds  out  an 
hour  against  tho  decision  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons,   Though  an  imperfect  representation  of 
the  people,  even  with  the  great  ameliorations  of 
tho  reform  act  of  1832,  it  is  at  once  tho  demo- 
cratic branch,  and  the  master-branch  of  tho 
British  government.     Wellington  administra- 
tions have  to  retire  before  it.    Bengal  Gover- 
nors-General have  to  appear  as  criminals  at  its 
bar.    It  is  tho  theatre  which  attracts  tho  talent, 
the  patriotism,  the  high  spirit,  and  the  lofty  am- 
bition of  the  British  empire ;  and  the  people  look 
to  it  as  the  master-power  in  the  working  of  tho 
government,  and  the  one  in  which  their  will  has 
weight.    No  rising  man,  with  ability  to  acquire 
a  national  reputation,  will  quit  it  for  a  peeri^je 
and  a  seat  in  the  House  of  Lords.    Our  House 
of  Representatives,  with  its  two  commanding 
prerogatives  and  a  perfect  representation,  should 
not  fall  below  the  British  House  of  Commons 
in  the  fulfilment  of  its  mission.    It  should  not 
become  second  to  tho  Senate,  and  in  the  begin- 
ning it  did  not.    For  tho  first  thirty  years  it 
was  the  controlling  branch  of  tho  government, 
and  the  one  on  whose  action  the  public  eye  was 
fixed.    Since  then  the  Senate  has  been  taking 
the  first  place,  and  people  have  looked  less  to 
the  House.    This  is  an  injury  above  what  con- 
cerns the  House  itself.    It  is  an  injury  to  our 
institutions,  and  to  the  people.    Tho  high  func- 
tions of  the  House  were  given  to  it  for  wise  pur- 
poses— for  paramount  national  objects.    It  is 
the  immediate  representation  of  the  people,  and 
should  command    their  confidence   and    their 
hopes.    As  the  sole  originator  of  tax  bills,  it  is 
the  sole  dispenser  of  burthens  on  the  people, 
and  of  supplies  to  the  government.    As  sole  au- 
thors of  impeachment,  it  is  the  grand  inquest  of 
the  nation,  and  has  supervision  over  all  official 
delinquencies.     Duty  to  itself,  to  its  high  func- 
tions, to  the  people,  to  the  constitution,  and  to 
the  character  of  democratic  government,  require 
it  to  resume  aud  uiuiutaiu  its  cuutiulliug  place 
•"ii  the  machinery  and  working  of  our  federal 


government:  and  that  is  what  it  has  commenc- 
ed doing  in  tho  last  two  or  three  scHKionH— and 
with  happy  resultB  to  tho  economy  of  the  pub- 
lie  service — and  in  preventing  an  increase  of  the 
evils  of  our  diplomatic  representation  abroad. 


CHAPTER    LVIII. 

THE  TWENTY-SECOND  C0NQKES8. 

This  body  commenced  its  first  session  the 
5th  of  December,  1831,  and  terminated  that  ses- 
sion July  17th,  1832;  f»nd  for  this  session  alone 
belongs  to  tho  most  memorable  in  tho  annals  of 
our  government.  It  was  tho  one  at  which  the 
great  contest  for  tho  renewal  of  the  charter  of 
tho  Bank  of  tho  United  States  was  brought  on, 
and  decided — enough  of  itself  to  entitle  it  to  last- 
ing remembrance,  though  replete  with  other  im- 
portant measures.  It  embraced,  in  the  list  of 
members  of  the  two  Houses,  much  shining  talent, 
and  a  great  mass  of  useful  ability,  and  among 
their  names  will  be  found  many,  then  most  emi- 
nent in  the  Union,  and  others  destined  to  be- 
come 80.    The  following  are  tho  names : 

SENATE. 

Maine— John  Holmes,  Peleg  Sprague. 

New  Hampshire — Samuel  Bell,  Isaac  Hill. 

Massachusetts — Daniel  Webster,  Nathaniel 
Silsbeo. 

Rhode  Island — Nehemiah  R.  Knight,  Ashcr 
Robbins. 

Connecticut — Samuel  A.  Foot,  Gideon  Tom- 
linson. 

Vermont— Horatio  Seymour,  Samuel  Pren- 
tiss. 

New-York— Charles  E.  Dudley,  Wm.  Marcy. 

New  Jersey— M.  Dickerson,  Theodore  Fre- 
linghuysen. 

Pennsylvania- Geo.  M.  Dallas,  Wm.  Wil- 
kins. 

Delaware— John  M.  Clayton,  Arnold  Nau- 
dain. 


ler 


Maryland— E.  F.  Chambers,  Samuel  Smith 
Virginia— Littleton  W.  Tazewell,  John  Ty- 

North  Carolina- B.  Brown,  W.  P.  Man- 
gum. 

South  Carolina— Robert  Y.  Ilayne,  S.  D. 
Miller. 

Georgia— Georpo  M.  Troup,  John  Forsyth. 

Kentucky— George  M.  Bibb,  Henry  Clay.^ 

Tennessee- Fefix  Grundy,  Hugh  L.  White. 

Ohio— Benjamin  Ruggles,  Thomas  Ewing. 


ANNO  1881.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRPiilDENT. 


haH  comnicno- 
scHKioiiN— and 
\y  of  the  pub- 
ncrcoHc  of  the 
tiun  abroiul. 


[II. 

QKESS. 

;  scfiBion  the 
mtcd  that  Bcs- 
8  Ncssion  alone 
I  tho  annals  of 

at  which  the 
ho  charter  of 
IS  brought  on, 
ititlc  it  to  last- 
(vith  other  im- 

in  tho  list  of 
Hhining  talent, 
ty,  and  among 
;hen  most  cmi- 
lestined  to  be- 
namcs: 


pragiie. 
1,  Isaac  Hill, 
iter,  Nathaniel 

Knight,  Asher 
;,  Gideon  Tom- 
Samuel  Pten- 

y,  Vm.  Marcy. 
Theodore  Fre- 

las,  Wm.  Wil- 

1,  Arnold  Nau- 

Samuel  Smith. 
[\-ell,  John  Ty 

1,  W.  P.  Man- 

Hayne,  S.  D. 

rohn  Forsyth. 
Elcnry  Clay.^ 
ngh  L.  White, 
imas  Ewing. 


nun, 


LouiHiANA — J.  S.  JohnMton,  l}<'o.  A.  Wnggik- 


S09 


ten 


ner 


Indiana— William  Hendn.kH,  Rolwrt  llanra 

MiM!ti»»iFPi— Powhatiui  l<.llia,  Geo.  Poin 

r. 

Illinois— Fiias  K.  Kane.  John  M.  Robinson 

Aladama— VVilliaia   II.  Kinj?,  Gabriel  Moore 

Missouri— Thomiw   II.   Hcnton,  Ale.t.  Buck- 


noUSK   OF  BEI'K     SENTATIVES. 

From  Maine — John  Anderson,  James  Hates 
George  Kvans^  Cornelius  Holland,  Leonard  Jar- 
vis,  Edward  Kavanogh   RufuH  Mcfntire. 

Nkw  IIamphiiikk— John  Hrodhead,  Thomas 
Chandler,  Joseph  Hammons,  Henry  Hubbard 
JoKeph  M.  Harper,  John  W.  Weeks.  ' 

Massachusetts— John  Quincy  Adams  Na- 
than Appleton,  Isaac  C.  Bates,  (k-orge  N.  Briinrs 
Rufus  Choato,  Henry  A.  8.  Dearborn,  John 
iJavis,  Edward  Everett,  George  Grennell,  jun., 
James  L  Hodges,  Joseph  0.  Kendall,  John 
Kccd.    (One  vacancy.) 

Uhoue  Island— Tristam  Burgess,  Dntee  J 
Penrce. 

CoNNKCTicuT— Noyos  Barber,  William  W 
Ellsworth,  Jabez  W.  Huntington,  Kalph  I  In- 
gersoll,  William  L.  Storrs,  Ebenezer  Young 

V'EHMrNr-Honmn  Allen,  William  Gaboon 
Horace  Everett,  Jonathan  Hunt,  William  Slade' 

New  YoRK-William  G.  Angel,  Gideon  11. 
Barstow,  Joseph  Bouck,  William  Babcock,  John 
r.  Bergen,  John  C.  Brodhead,  Samuel  Beards- 
ley,  John  A.  Collier,  Bates  Cooke,  C.  C.  0am- 
brekng  John  Dickson,  Charles  Dayan,  Ulysses 
F.  Doubleday,  William  Hogan,  Micha^el  Hoff- 
man, Freeborn  O.  Jewett,  John  King,  Gerrit  Y 
Lansing,  James  Lent,  Job  Pierson,  Nathaniel 
Pitcher,  Edmund  H.  Pendleton.  E.lward  C.  Reed 
Erastus  Root,  Nathan  Soule,  John  W.  Taylor' 

L  WK-.J;-  ^'■*''^'  ^""''"  ^-  Verplanck,  Frede- 
ric Whittlesey  8amuel  J.  Wilkin,  Grattan  H. 

S  wtrSwer'^"  ^  '^'''•''  ^"'•«"  ^-^'  ^- 
New  JEusEY-Lewis  Condict,  Silas  Condict 

Kr  H^^KT'■'  '^^^'""^  II.  Hughes,  James 
Mtz  Randolph,  Isaac  Southard. 

PKNNsvi.vANiA--Robert  Allison,  John  Banks 
S„f  ?"i;'^'  -lohn  C.  Bucher,  Thomas  H 
Crawford  Richard  Coulter,  Harmar  Denny 
Uwis  Dewart,  Joshua  Ev'ans,  James  Ford 
Mm  Gdmore,  William  Ileiste;,  Henry  Horn' 
Peter  Ihr.o  jun.,  Adam  King,  Henry  King.  J S 

L  i""M  M^''/'  ^'^'J^  Henry  ".LAlShlen 
oerg,  1.  M.  McKennan,  David   Potts,  jun    An- 
Jrew  Stewart,  Samuel  A.  Smith,  Phi  anier  Ste- 
Ph^s  Joel  B.  Sutherland.  John  G.  Watmough. 
•Delaware— John  J.  Milligan. 

Jen  fr'"r\°~?'T'"'"    ^-   ""^''''d,  Daniel 

£edSt  T   Sn  ^-  ^T'   G^S""^^    ^-   ^^f'tchell, 
Benedict  I.  Semmes,  John  S.  Spence,  Francis 

thiS.     "^^  ^-  ^^'^^hington,?.  T.'h  Wo^! 

Wnii!!^"*c*T^^'"''  Alexander,  Robert  Allen 
William^S.  Archer^William  A'nnstrong,  John 


S.  Barbour,  Thomoa  T.  Bouldin,  Nathaniel  H. 
Ua  borne  Rolnrt  CraiK,  Joseph  W.  Chinn, 
■chard  Coke,  jun.,  Thomas  Davenport,  PhiliJ 
i)od.-  dp,  Wm.  F.  Gor.J  n,  Charles  C.  John- 
ston John  Y.  Mason,  Ix-wis  Maxwell,  CharleB 

t\  ^Tf!^^"""""  ^''^^''•y.  'Ihomaii  Newton. 
John  M.  Patton,  John  J.  Roane,  Andrew  Sto- 
venson.  ' 

NoHTii  CAiiouNA-Dan'l  L.  Harringer,  Laugh- 
,     "etfj'/ne,  John  Branch,  Samuel    P.  Carson 
cnry  W.  Conner  Thomas  H.  Hall,  Micajah  T 

vv"m-  "*'«  "l^r  '^-  ^^''^^"y^  Abraham  Renchor, 
VVilliam  B.Shepard,  Augustine  H.  Shepperd, 
Jesse  Speight,  Lewis  Williams.  "     ^ 

South  CAROUNA-Rol)ort  W.  Barnwell,  Jas. 
Bla.r,  Warren  R.  Davis,  William  Drayton,  John 
;.  ^^^^^r^-3-  ^'"ffln. 'I'homas  r' MitchelL 
<.eorgo  McDufBe,  Wm.  T.  Nuckolls. 

({KOHoiA-Thomas  F.  Foster,  Henry  G.  U- 
mar.  1  anie  Newnan,  Wiley  Thomp.son,  Richard 
H.  v\  ilde,  James  M.  Wayne.  ( (hw  vacancy.) 
KENTucKv-John  Adair,  Chilt.m  Allan,  Hen- 
ry Duniel  Nathan  Gaither,  Albert  (J.  Hawes, 
vnn  •J"'{"««".  J°«eph  Lecompte,  Chittenden 
';V«n.  ^Hobert  P.  Letcher,  Thomas  A.  Mar- 
>lmll,  Christopher  Tompkins,  Charles  A.  Wick- 

Tennessee— Thomas  D.  Arnold,  John  BelL 
John  Blair,  William  Fitzgerald,  AVilliam  Hall, 
Jacob  C.  Isacks,  Cave  Johnson,  James  K.  Polk 
James  Standifer.  ' 

wm""";;"^"'?''  "•  ^'■*"'''  Eleutheros  Cooko 
William  Crejghton,  jun.,  Thomas  Corwm,  Jamo. 
Fmdlav,  William  W.  Irwin,  William   KennZ 

Stanberry,  John  Thomson,  Joseph  Vance,  i^^m- 
uel  F.  Vinton,  Elisha  Whittlesev-  ' 

n-^p^'^^^r^^u"^-  ^""^'^'  I'i'i'emon  Thom- 
as,  Edward  D.  W  bite. 

McCart^^''""''"'^^''''"'  '^''''"  ^""''  Jonatiiaa 
Mississippi— Franklin  E.  Plummer. 
Illinois — Joseph  Duncan, 

Samud  w!  MaSr"'  "'  ^"^^'  '^'^^^  ^^  ^^^"^ 
Missouri— William  H.  Ashley. 

DELEOATEa. 


Michigan— Austin  E.  Wing. 
Arkan-sas- Ambrose  H.  Sevier. 
Florida— Joseph  M.  White. 


Andrew  Stevenson,  Esq.,  of  Virginia,  was  re- 
elected  speaker ;  and  both  branches  of  the  body 
being  democratic,  they  were  organized,  in  a 
party  sense,  as  favorable  to  the  administration 
althoiig»-  the  most  essential  of  the  committees, 
when  the  Bank  question  unexpectedly  sprung 
up,  were  found  to  be  on  the  side  of  that  institu- 
tion, Tn  his  message  to  the  two  Houses,  the 
President  presented  a  condensed  and  general 
view  ofour  relations,  political  and  commercial, 


210 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


'       ^ 


with  foreign  nations,  from  which  the  leading 
passages  arc  here  given : 

"  After  our  transitu  n  from  the  state  of  coionies 
to  that  of  an  independent  nation,  many  points 
were  foun3  necessary  to  be  settled  between  us 
and  Great  Britain.  Among  them  was  the  de- 
marcation of  boundaries,  not  described  with  suf- 
ficient precision  in  the  treaty  of  peace.  Some  of 
the  lines  that  divide  the  States  and  territories  of 
the  United  States  from  the  British  provinces, 
have  been  definitively  fixed.  That,  however, 
which  separates  us  from  the  provinces  of  Cana- 
da and  New  Brunswick  to  the  North  and  the 
East,  was  still  in  dispute  when  I  came  into 
office.  But  I  found  arrangements  made  for  its 
settlement,  over  which  I  had  no  control.  The 
commissioners  who  had  been  appointed  under 
the  provisions  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  having 
been  unable  to  agree,  a  convention  was  made 
with  Great  Britain  by  my  immediate  predecessor 
in  office,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
Senate,  by  which  it  was  agreed  '  that  the  points 
of  difference  which  have  arisen  in  the  settlement 
of  t>ie  boundary  line  between  the  American  and 
British  dominions,  as  described  in  the  fifth  arti- 
cle of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  shall  be  referred,  as 
therein  provided,  to  some  friendly  sovereign  or 
State,  who  shall  be  invited  to  investigate,  and 
make  a  decision  upon  such  points  of  difference :' 
and  the  King  of  the  Netherlands  having,  by  the 
late  President  and  his  Britannic  Majesty,  been 
designated  as  such  friendly  sovereign,  it  became 
my  duty  to  carry,  with  good  faith,  the  agree- 
ment, so  made,  into  full  effect.  To  this  end  I 
cauatd  all  the  measures  to  be  taken  which  were 
necessary  to  a  full  exposition  of  our  case  to  the 
sovereign  .arbiter;  and  nominated  as  minister 
plenipote  tiary  to  his  court,  a  distinguished 
citizen  of  the  State  most  interested  in  the  ques- 
tion, and  wlio  had  been  one  of  the  agents  previ- 
ously employed  for  settling  the  controversy.  On 
the  10th  day  of  January  last,  His  Majesty  the 
King  of  the  Netherlands  delivered  to  the  pleni- 
potentiaries of  the  United  States,  and  of  Great 
Britain,  his  written  opinion  on  the  case  referred 
to  him.  The  papers  in  relation  to  the  subject 
will  be  communicated,  by  a  special  message,  to 
the  proper  branch  of  the  government,  with  the 
perfect  confidence  that  its  wisdom  will  adopt 
such  measures  as  will  secure  an  amicable  settle- 
ment of  the  controversy,  without  infringing  any 
constitutional  right  of  the  States  immediately 
interested. 

"  In  my  message  at  the  opening  of  the  last 
session  of  Congress,  I  expressed  a  confident  hope 
that  the  justice  of  our  claims  upon  France,  urged 
as  they  Tvere  with  perseverance  and  signal  ability 
by  our  minister  there,  would  finalh- be  acknowl- 
edged. This  hope  has  been  realized.  A  treaty 
hos  been  signed,  which  will  immediately  be 
laid  before  the  Senate  for  its  approbation  ;  and 
which,  containing  stipulations  that  require  legis- 
lative acts,  must  have  the  concurrence  of  both 
Houses  before  it  can  be  carried  into  effect. 


"  Should  this  treaty  receive  the  proper  sanc- 
tion, a  source  of  irritation  will  be  stopped  that 
has,  for  so  many  years,  in  some  degree  alienated 
from  each  other  two  nations  who,  from  interest 
as  well  as  the  remembrance  of  early  associations 
ought  to  cherish  the  most  friendly  relations— an 
encouragement  will  be  given  for  perseverance  in 
the  demands  of  justice,  by  this  new  proof,  tha* 
if  steadily  pursued,  they  will  be  listened  'o — an^ 
admonition  will  De  offered  to  those  powers 
if  any,  which  may  be  inclined  to  evade  them' 
that  they  will  never  be  abandoned.  Above  alL 
a  just  confidence  will  be  inspired  in  our  fellow- 
citizens,  that  their  government  will  exert  all  the 
powers  with  which  they  have  invested  it,  in 
support  of  their  just  claims  upon  foreign  nations; 
at  the  same  time  that  the  frank  acknowledg- 
ment and  provision  for  the  payment  of  those 
which  were  addressed  to  our  equity,  although 
unsupported  by  legal  proof,  affords  a  practical 
illustration  of  our  submission  to  the  Divine  rule 
of  doing  to  others  what  we  desire  they  should 
do  unto  us. 

"Sweden  and  Denmark  having  made  compen- 
sation for  the  irregularities  committed  by  their 
vessels,  or  in  their  ports,  to  the  perfect  satisfac- 
tion of  the  parties  concerned,  and  having  re- 
newed the  treaties  of  commerce  entered  into 
with  them,  our  political  and  commercial  rela- 
tions with  those  powers  continue  to  be  on  the 
most  friendly  footing. 

"  Witti  Spain,  our  differences  np  to  the  22d  of 
February,  1819,  were  settled  by  the  treaty  of 
Washington  of  that  date ;  but,  at  a  subsequent 
period,  our  commerce  with  the  states  formerly 
colonies  of  Spain,  on  the  continent  of  America, 
was  annoyed  and  frequently  interrupted  by  her 
public  and  private  armed  ships.  They  captured 
many  of  our  vessels  prosecuting  a  lawful  com- 
merce, and  sold  them  and  their  cargoes ;  and  at 
one  time,  to  our  demands  for  restoration  and 
indemnity,  opposed  the  allegation,  that  they  were 
taken  in  the  violation  of  a  blockade  of  all  the 
ports  of  those  states.  This  blockade  was  de- 
claratory only,  and  the  inadequacy  of  the  force 
to  maintain  it  was  so  manifest,  that  this  allega- 
tion was  varied  to  a  charge  of  trade  in  contraband 
of  war.  This,  in  its  turn,  was  also  found  un- 
tenable ;  and  the  minister  whom  I  sent  with 
instructions  to  press  for  the  reparation  that  was 
due  to  our  injured  fellow-citizens,  has  transmitted 
an  answer  to  his  demand,  by  which  the  captures 
are  declared  to  have  been  legal,  and  arc  justified 
because  the  independence  of  the  states  of  America 
never  having  been  acknowledged  by  Spain,  she 
had  a  right  to  prohibit  trade  with  them  undei 
her  old  colonial  laws.  This  ground  of  defence 
was  contradictory,  not  only  to  those  which  had 
been  formerly  alleged,  but  to  the  uniform  prac- 
tice and  established  laws  of  nations ;  and  had 
been  abandoned  by  Spain  herself  in  the  conven- 
tion which  granted  indemnity  to  British  subjects 
for  captures  made  at  the  same  time,  under  the 
same  circumstances,  and  for  the  same  allegations 
with  those  of  which  we  complain. 


ANNO  1831.    ANDREW  JAOKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


211 


« I,  however,  indulge  the  hope  that  further' 
reflection  will  lead  to  other  views,  and  feel  con-  ' 
fident,  that  when  his  Catholic  Majesty  shall  be  ^ 
convinced  of  the  justice  of  the  claim,  his  desire  i 
to  preserve  friendly  relations  between  the  two  ' 
countries,  which  it  is  my  earnest  endeavor  to  I 
maintain,  will  induce  him  to  accede  to  our  de-  ' 
mand.     I  have  therefore  dispatched  a  special 
messenger,  with  instructions  to  our  minister  to 
bring  the  case  once  more  to  his  consideration  ; 
to  the  end  that  if,  which  I  cannot  bring  my«elf 
to  believe,  the  same  decision  that  cannot  but 
be  deemed  an  unfriendly  denial  of  justice,  should 
he  persisted  m,  the  matter  may,  before  your  ' 
adjournment,  be  laid  before  you,  the  constitu- 
tiona.  judges  of  what  is  proper  to  be  done  when 
negotiation  for  redress  of  injury  fails. 

"The  conclusion  of  a  treaty  for  indemnity 
with  France,  seemed  to  present  a  favorable  op- 
portunity to  renew  our  claims  of  a  similar  nature 
on  other  powers,  and  particularly  in  the  case  of 
those  upon  Naples;  more  especially  as,  in  the 
course  of  former  negotiations  with  that  power 
our  failure  to  induce  Prance  to  render  us  justice 
was  used  as  an  argument  against  us.  The 
desires  of  the  merchants  who  were  the  principal 
sufferers  have  therefore  been  acceded  to,  and  a 
mission  has  been  instituted  for  the  special  pur- 
pose of  obtaining  for  them  a  reparation  already 
too  long  delayed.     This  measure  havin"  been 


resolved  on,  it  was  put  in  execution  without 
waiting  for  the  meeting  of  Congress,  because  the 
state  of  Europe  created  an  apprehension  of 
Sectuaf  ""^'^*  '^'^^^  rendered  our  application 

"Our  demands  upon  the  government  of  the 
iwo  hicilics  are  of  a  peculiar  nature.  The  in- 
juries on  which  they  are  founded  are  not  denied 
nor  are  the  atrocity  and  perfidy  under  which 
those  injuries  were  perpetrated  attempted  to  be 
extenuated.  The  sole  ground  on  which  indem- 
nity has  been  refused  is  the  alleged  illegality  of 
he  tenure  by  which  the  monarch  who  made  the 

unfounded  in  any  principle  of  the  law  of  nations 
-now  universally  abandoned,  even  by  those 
powers  upon  whom  the  responsibility  for  acts  of 

tonably  be  given  up  by  his  Sicilian  Majisty 
S.rir"'r'.'  """  '''f''^  an  impulse  from  that 
arfsnldT  f  h«°°'-.*»^,  rS'^rd  to  justice  which 
Zmlt  ^,J»f  c  erize  him ;  and  I  feel  the  fullest 
oouhdence  that  the  talents  of  the  citizen  com- 

The  ^f  1  ?'■  ^^f  P"'.P°'^  '^'"  Pl«^e  before  him 
lil  ,  n™'  u^''"''  '"J"'"''^  ""«<^"«  "1  such  a 
ight  as  will  enable  me,  betbre  your  adjournment 

sturecl""p  '^''  "'^^  '"^■'^  ^^"^  a<ijusted  and 
secured.  Precise  instructions,  to  the  effect  of 
onnging  the  negotiation  to  a  speedy  issue  have 
been  given,  and  will  be  obeyed        ^         ' 

p„,:"  ?^  '^i«  ^^o<=^<^'i^  of  Terceira,  some  of  the 
rurruj;ucsc  ricet  cai.tured  several  of  our  vessels 
and  committed  other  excesses,  for  which  rena- 
ntion  was  demanded;  and  I  w'as onThe  point'of 
dispatching  an  armed  force,   to  prevent  any 


recurrence  of  a  similar  violence,  and  protect  our 
citizens  in  the  prosecution  of  their  lawful  com- 
merce when  oflBcial  assurances,  on  which  I  relied, 
made  the  sailing  of  the  ships  unnecessary-.  Since 
that  period  frequent  promises  have  been  made 

fnflL  i  '"t!!""^^  '''^"  ^"^  g'^'e°  f"r  the  injuries 
inflicted  and  the  losses  sustained.    In  the  pep- 
lomance  there  has  been  some,  perhaps  unavoid- 
able, delay;  but  I  have  the  fullest  confidence 
that  miy  earnest  desire  that  this  business  may  at 
once  be  closed,  which  our  minister  has  been 
msti-ucted  strongly  to  express,  will  very  soon  be 
gratified.    I  have  the  better' groum"  for  thil 
hope  from  the  evidence  of  a  friendly  d.  ^position 
which  that  government  has  shown  by  ai- actual 
reduction  m  the  duty  on  rice,  the  produce  of  our 
southern  States,  authorizing  the  anticipation  that 
this  important  article  of  our  export  will  soon  be 
admitted  on  the  same  footing  with  that  produced 
by  the  most  favored  nation. 

fJ!^^'^'',*''^  *',*^'^'"  P^^^'^'"^  «f  Europe,  we  have 
fortunately  had  no  cause  of  discussions  for  the 
redress  of  injuries.    With  the  Empire  of  the 
Kussias,  our  political  connection  is  of  the  most 
tnendly  and  our  commercial  of  the  most  liberal 
Rind.     We  enjoy  the  advantages  of  navigation 
and  trade,  given  to  the  most  favored  nation ;  but 
it  has  not  yet  suited  their  policy,  or  perhaps  has 
not  been  found  convenient  from  other  consider- 
ations, to  give  stability  und  reciprocity  to  those 
pi'vileges,  by  a  commercial  treaty.    The   111- 
health  of  the  minister  last  year  charged  with 
making  a  proposition  for  that  arrangement,  did 
not  permit  him  to  remain  at  St.  Petersburg; 
and   the  attention  of  that  government,  durin- 
the  whole  of  the  period  since  his  departure 
having  been  occupied  by  the  war  in  which  it 
was  engaged,  we  have  been  assured  that  nothing 
could  have  been  effected  by  his  presence.    A 
minister  will  soon  be  nominated,  as  well  to  effect 
tins  iinportant  object,  as  to  keep  up  the  relations 
ot  amity  and  good  understanding  of  which  we 
have  revived  so  many  assurances  and  proofs 
DredeTO       'P'^"'^'  Majesty  and  the  Emperor  his 

.    "  The  treaty  with  Austria  is  opening  to  us  an 
important  trade  with  the  hereditary  dominions 
t\l    .  ^JPPfror,  the  value  of  which  has  been 
hitherto  httle  known,  and  of  course  not  suffi- 
ciently appreciated.    While  our  commerce  finds 
an  entrance  into  the  south  of  Germany  by  means 
ot  this  treaty,  those  we  have  formed  with  the 
Hanseatic  towns  and  Prussia,  and  others  now  in 
negotiation,  will  open  that  vast  country  to  the 
enterprising  spirit  of  our  merchants  on  the  north  • 
a  country  abounding  in  all  the  materials  for  a 
mutually  beneficial  commerce,  filled  with  en- 
liglitened  and  industrious  inhabitants,  holding 
an  important  place  in  the  politics  of  Europe  and 
to  which  we  owe  so  many  valuable  citizens. 
The  ratification  .>f  the  treaty  with  the  Pone  was 
sent  to  be  exchanged  by  the  gentleman  appointed 
our  charge  d'aflaires  to  that  court.    Soiue  diffi- 
culties occu^ed  on  his  arrival;  but  at  the  date 
ot  lus  last  official  dispatcli,  he  supposed  they  had 


V  -''] 


I': 

14 


212 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


been  obviated,  and  tliat  there  was  every  prospect 
of  the  exchange  being  speedily  effected. 

"  This  finishes  the  connected  view  I  have 
thought  it  proper  to  give  of  our  political  and 
commercial  relations  in  Europe.  Every  effort 
in  my  power  will  be  continued  to  strengthen  and 
extend  them  by  treaties  founded  on  principles 
of  the  most  perfect  reciprocity  of  interest,  neither 
asking  nor  conceding  any  exclusive  advantage, 
but  liberating,  as  far  as  it  lies  in  my  power,  the 
activity  and  industry  of  our  fellow-citizens  from 
the  shackles  which  foreign  restrictions  may  im- 
pose. 

"To  C'jina  and  tlie  East  Indies,  our  commerce 
continues  in  its  usual  extent,  and  with  increased 
facilities,  which  the  credit  and  capital  of  our 
merchants  afford,  by  substituting  bills  for  pay- 
ments in  specie.  A  daring  outrage  having  been 
committed  in  those  seas  by  the  plunder  of  one 
of  our  merchantmen  engaged  in  the  pepper  trade 
at  a  port  in  Sumatra,  and  the  piratical  perpetra- 
tors belonging  to  tribes  in  such  a  state  of  society 
that  the  usual  course  of  proceeding  between 
civilized  nations  could  not  be  pursued,  I  forth- 
with dispatched  a  frigate  with  orders  to  require 
immediate  satisfaction  for  the  injury,  and  in- 
demnity to  the  sufferers. 

"  Few  changes  have  taken  place  in  our  con- 
nections with  the  '"ndependent  States  of  America 
since  my  last  communication  to  Congress.  The 
ratification  of  a  commercial  treaty  with  the 
United  Republics  of  Mexico  has  been  for  some 
time  under  deliberation  in  their  Congress,  but 
was  still  undecided  at  the  date  of  our  last  dis- 
patches. The  unhappy  civil  commotions  that 
have  prevailed  there,  were  undoubtedly  the 
cause  of  the  delay ;  but  as  the  government  is 
now  said  to  be  tranquillized,  we  may  hope  soon 
to  receive  the  ratification  of  tijo  treaty,  and  an 
arrangement  for  the  demarcation  of  the  bounda- 
ries between  uS.  In  the  mean  time,  an  im- 
portant trade  has  been  opened,  with  mutual 
benefit,  from  St.  Louis,  in  the  State  of  Missouri, 
by  caravans,  to  the  interior  provinces  of  Mexico. 
This  commerce  is  protected  in  its  progress 
through  the  Indian  countries  by  the  troops  of 
the  United  States,  which  have  been  permit- 
ted to  escort  the  caravans  beyond  our  boun- 
daries to  the  settled  part  of  the  Mexican  ter- 
ritory. 

"  From  Central  America  I  have  received  assu- 
rances of  the  most  friendly  kind,  and  a  grati- 
fying application  for  our  good  oftices  to  remove 
a  supposed  indisposition  towards  that  govern- 
ment in  a  neighboring  state :  this  application 
was  immediately  and  successfully  complied  with. 
They  gave  us  also  the  pleasing  intelligence,  that 
differences  which  had  prevailed  in  their  internal 
affairs  had  been  peaceably  adjusted.  Our  treaty 
with  this  republic  continues  to  be  faithfully  ob- 
served, and  promises  a  great  and  beneficial  com- 
merce between  the  two  countries  ;  a  commerce 
of  the  greatest  importance,  if  the  magnificent 
project  of  a  ship  canal  throinih  the  dominions 
of  that  state,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific 


Ocean,  now  in  serious  contemplation,  shall  'oe 
executed. 

"  I  have  great  satisfaction  in  communicating 
the  success  which  has  attended  the  exertions  of 
our  minister  in  Colombia  to  procure  a  very  con- 
siderable reduction  in  the  duties  on  our  flour  in 
that  republic.  Indemnity,  also,  has  been  stipu- 
lated for  injuries  received  by  our  merchants  from 
illegal  seizures ;  and  renewed  assurances  arc 
given  that  the  treaty  between  the  two  countries 
shall  be  faithfully  observied. 

"  Chili  and  Peru  seem  to  be  still  threatened 
with  civil  commotions ;  and,  until  they  shall  be 
settled,  disorders  may  naturally  be  apprehended 
requiring  the  constant  presence  of  a  naval  force 
in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  to  protect  our  fisheries  and 
guard  our  commerce. 

"  The  disturbances  that  took  place  in  the  Em- 
pire of  Brazil,  previously  to,  and  immediately 
consequent  upon,  the  abdication  of  the  late  Em- 
peror, necessarily  suspended  any  effectual  appli- 
cation for  the  redress  of  some  past  injuries  suf- 
fered by  our  citizens  from  that  government, 
while  they  have  been  the  cause  of  others,  in 
which  all  foreigners  seem  to  have  participated. 
Instructions  have  been  given  to  our  minister 
there,  to  press  for  indemnity  due  for  losses  occa- 
sioned by  these  irregularities,  and  to  take  care 
that  our  fellow-citizens  shall  enjoy  all  the  privi- 
leges stipulated  in  their  favor,  by  the  tieaty 
lately  made  between  the  two  powers ;  all  whicii, 
the  good  intelligence  that  prevails  between  our 
minister  at  Rio  Janeiro  and  the  regency  gives 
us  the  best  reason  to  expect. 

"  I  should  have  placed  Buenos  Ayres  on  the 
list  of  South  American  powers,  in  reispect  to 
which  nothing  of  importance  affecting  us  vas  to 
be  communicated,  but  for  occurrences  which  iiave 
lately  taken  place  at  the  Falkland  Islands,  in 
which  the  name  of  that  republic  has  been  used 
to  cover  with  a  show  of  authority  acts  injurious 
to  our  commerce,  and  to  the  property  and  liber- 
ty of  our  fellow-citizens.  In  the  course  of  the 
present  year,  one  of  our  vessels  engaged  in  the 
pursuit  of  a  trade  which  we  have  always  enjoy- 
ed without  molestation,  has  been  captured  by  a 
band  acting,  as  they  pretend,  under  the  authority 
of  the  government  of  Buenos  Ayres.  I  have 
therefore  given  orders  for  the  dispatch  of  an  arm- 
ed vessel,  to  join  our  squadron  in  those  seas,  and 
aid  in  affording  all  lawful  protection  to  our  trade 
which  shall  be  necessary;  and  shall,  wiJiout 
delay,  send  a  minister  to  inquire  into  the  nature 
of  the  circumstances,  and  also  of  the  claim,  if  any, 
that  is  set  up  by  that  government  to  those  isl- 
ands. In  the  mean  time,  I  submit  the  ca^^e  to 
the  consideration  of  Congress,  to  the  end  that  they 
may  clotlie  the  Executive  with  such  authority 
and  means  as  they  may  deem  necessary  fur  pro- 
viding a  force  adequate  to  the  complete  protec- 
tion of  our  fellow-citizens  fishing  and  trading  in 
those  seas, 

"  This  rapid  sketch  of  our  foreign  relations,  it 
is  hoped,  fellow-citizens,  may  be  of  some  use  in 
so  much  of  youi-  legislation  as  may  bear  on  that 


tions. 


ANNO  1831.    .^NDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


213 


regency  gives 


important  subject ;  while  it  affords  to  the  coun- 
try at  lai-ge  a  source  of  high  gratificaton  in  the 
contemplation  of  our  political  and  commercial 
connection  with  the  rest  of  the  world.  At  peace 
with  all— having  subjects  of  future  difference 
with  few,  and  those  susceptible  of  easy  adjust- 
ment— extending  our  commerce  gradually  on  all 
sides,  and  on  none  by  any  but  the  most  liberal 
and  mutually  beneficial  means— we  may,  by  the 
blessing  of  Providence,  hope  for  all  that  national 
prosperity  which  can  be  derived  from  an  inter- 
course with  foreign  nations,  guided  by  those 
eternal  principles  of  justice  and  reciprocal  good 
will  which  are  binding  as  well  upon  States  as 
the  individuals  of  whom  they  are  composed. 

'•I  have  great  satisfaction  in  making  this 
statement  of  our  affairs,  l^ecause  the  course  of 
our  national  policy  enables  me  to  do  it  without 
any  indiscreet  exposure  oi  what  in  other  govern- 
ments is  usually  concealed  from  the  people. 
Having  none  but  a  straightforward,  open  course 
to  pursue—guided  by  a  single  principle  that  will 
bear  the  strongest  light— we  have  happily  no 
political  combinations  to  form,  no  alliances  to 
entangle  us,  no  complicated  interests  to  consult; 
and  in  subjecting  all  we  have  done  to  the  con- 
sideration of  our  citizefts,  and  to  the  inspection 
of  the  world,  we  give  no  advantage  to  other  na- 
tions, and  lay  ourselves  open  to  no  injury." 

Tliis  clear  and  succinct  account  of  the  state  of 
our  foreign  relations  makes  us  fully  acquainted 
with  these  affairs  as  they  then  stood,  and  presents 
a  view  of  questions  to  be  settled  with  several 
powers  which  were  to  receive  their  solution 
from  the  firm  and  friendly  spirit  in  which  they 
would  be  urged.  Turning  to  our  domestic  con- 
cerns, the  message  thus  speaks  of  the  finances; 
showing  a  gradual  increase,  the  rapid  extinction 
of  the  public  debt,  and  that  a  revenue  of  27|  mU- 
lions  was  about  double  the  amount  of  all  expen- 
ditures, exclusive  of  wlmt  that  extinction  absorb- 
ed: 


1829,  to  the  1st  of  January  next,  which  is  less 
than  three  years  since  the  administration  has 
been  placed  in  my  hands,  will  exceed  forty  mil- 
lions of  dollars."  ^ 

On  the  subject  of  government  insolvent  debt- 
ors, the  message  said : 

"In  my  annual  message  of  December,  1829, 1 
had  the  honor  to  recommend  the  adoption  of  a 
more  liberal  policy  than  that  which  then  prevail- 
ed towards  unfortunate  debtors  to  the  govern- 
ment ;  and  I  deem  it  my  duty  again  to  invite 
your  attention  to  this  subject.     Actuated   by 
similar  views.  Congress  at  their  last  session  pass- 
ed an  act  for  the  relief  of  certain  insolvent  debt- 
ors of  the  United  States :  but  the  provisions  of 
that  law  have  not  been  deemed  such  as  were 
adequate  to  that  relief  to  this  unfortunate  class 
of  our  fellow-citizens,  which  may  be  safely  ex- 
tended to  them.    The  points  in  which  the  law 
appears  to  be  defective  will  be  particularly  com- 
municated by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury :  and 
I  take  pleasure  in  recommending  such  an  exten- 
sion of  Its  provisions  as  will  unfetter  the  enter- 
prise of  a  valuable  portion  of  our  citizens  and 
restore  to  them  the  means  of  usefulness  to  them- 
selves and  the  community." 

Recurring  to  his  previous  recommendation  in 
favor  of  giving  the  election  of  President  and  Vice- 
President  to  the  direct  vote  of  the  people,  the 
message  says : 


"The  state  of  the  public  finances  will  be  fullv 
shown  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  the 
report  which  he  will  presently  lay  before  you. 
I  will  here,  however,  congratulate  you  upon  their 
prosperous  condition.  The  revenue  received  in 
the  present  year  will  not  fall  short  of  twenty- 
seven  million  seven  hundred  thousand  dollars: 
and  the  expenditures  for  all  objects  other  than 
the  public  debt  will  not  exceed  fourteen  million 
s«en  hundred  thousand.  The  payment  on  ac- 
count of  the  principal  and  interest  of  the  debt, 
M^  f'^^f '  '^^'^  '^^''"•''^  sixteen  millions  and 
arS  1  f  ^°"fs:  agi-'^ater  sum  than  has  been 
applied  to  that  obiect.  out  of  thp  reve"'if>  i"  any 

iZT'it  *^'  ™''^'-K«'n™t  of  the  sinking'fund, 
thpSft^'  ^r  y"^"'  following  immediately 
thereafter.  The  amount  which  will  have  been 
apphcd  to  th.  public  debtfrom  the4thof  Mardi" 


I  have  heretofore  recommended  amendments 
of  the  federal  constitution  giving  the  election 
of  President  and  Vice-President  to  the  people 
and  limiting  the  service  of  the  former  to  a 
single  term.  So  important  do  I  consider  these 
changes  m  our  fundamental  law,  that  I  cannot 
m  accordance  with  my  sense  of  duty,  omit  to 
press  them  upon  the  consideration  of  a  new  Con- 
gress. For  my  views  more  at  large,  as  well  in 
relation  to  these  points  as  to  the  disqualification 
of  members  of  Congress  to  receive  an  office  from 
a  President  in  whose  election  they  have  had  an 
official  agency,  which  I  proposed  as  a  substitute, 
1  refer  you  to  my  former  messages." 

And  concludes  thus  in  relation  to  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States : 

'•Entertaining  the  opinions  heretofore  express- 
ed in  relation  to  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
as  at  present  organized,  I  felt  it  my  duty,  m  my 
former  messages,  frankly  to  disclose  them,  in  or- 
der that  the  attention  of  the  legislature  and  the 
people  should  be  seasonably  directed  to  that  im- 
portant subject,  and  that  it  might  be  considered 
and  finally  disposed  of  in  a  manner  best  calcula- 
ted to  promote  the  ends  of  the  constitution,  and 
subserve  the  public  interests.  Having  thus  con- 
scientiously discJiarged  a  constitutional  duty,  I 
deem  it  proper,  on  this  occasion,  without  a  more 
particular  reference  to  the  views  of  the  subject 


11 


<!i 


te       ii 


214 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


then  expressed,  to  leave  it  for  the  present  to  the 
investigation  of  an  enlightend  people  and  their 
representatives." 


CHAPTER     LIX. 

BEJKOTION  OF  ME.  VAN  BUREN,  MINISTER  TO 
ENGLAND. 

At  the  period  of  the  election  of  General  Jackson 
to  the  Presidency,  four  gentlemen  stood  prominent 
in  the  political  ranks,  cacn  indicated  by  his  friends 
for  the  succession,  and  each  willing  to  be  the 
General's  successor.  They  were  Messrs.  Clay 
and  Webster,  and  Messrs.  Calhoun  and  Van 
Buren ;  the  two  former  classing  politically  against 
General  Jackson — the  two  latter  with  him.  But 
an  event  soon  occurred  to  override  all  political 
distinction,  and  to  bring  discordant  and  rival 
elements  to  work  together  for  a  common  object. 
That  event  was  tho  appointment  of  Mr.  Van 
Buren  to  be  Secretary  of  State — a  post  then  look- 
ed upon  as  a  stepping-stone  to  the  Presidency — 
and  the  imputed  predilection  of  General  Jackson 
for  hint.  This  presented  him  as  an  obstacle  in 
thi  path  of  the  other  three,  and  which  the  inter- 
est of  each  required  to  be  got  out  of  t'le  way. 
The  strife  first,  and  soon,  began  in  the  cabinet, 
where  Mr.  Calhoun  had  several  friends ;  and  Mr. 
Van  Buren,  seeing  that  General  Jackson's  ad- 
ministr{>.tion  was  likely  to  be  embarrassed  on  his 
account,  determined  to  resign  his  post — having 
first  seen  the  triumph  of  the  new  administration 
in  the  recovery  of  the  British  West  India  trade, 
and  the  successful  commencement  of  other  nego- 
tiations, which  settled  all  outstanding  diflBculties 
with  other  nations,  and  shed  such  lustre  upon 
Jackson's  diplomacy.  He  made  known  his  de- 
sign to  the  President,  and  his  wish  to  retire  from 
the  cabinet — did  so — received  the  appointment 
of  minister  to  London,  and  immediately  left  the 
United  States ;  and  the  cabinet,  having  been  from 
the  beginning  without  harmony  or  cohesion,  was 
'issolved — some  resigning  voluntarily,  the  rest 
under  requisition — as  already  related  in  the  chap- 
ter on  the  dissolution  of  the  cabinet.  The  volun- 
tary resigning  members  were  classed  as  friends 
to  Mr.  Van  Buren,  the  involuntary  as  opposed 
to  him.  and  two  of  them  ^Messrs.  Intrham  and 
Branch)  as  friends  to  Mr.  Calhoun;  and  be- 
came, of  course,  alienated  from  General  Jackson. 


I  was  particularly  grieved  at  this  breach  betweeii 
Mr.  Branch  and  the  President,  having  known 
him  from  boyhood — been  school-fellows  together 
and  being  well  acquainted  with  his  inviolable 
honor  and  long  and  faithful  attachment  to  Gene- 
ral Jackson.  It  was  the  complete  extinction  of 
the  cabinet,  and  a  new  one  was  formed. 

Mr.  Van  Buren  had  nothing  to  do  with  this 
dissolution,  of  which  General  Jackson  has  borne 
voluntary  and  written  testimony,  to  be  used  in 
this  chapter;  and  also  loft  behind  him  a  written 
account  of  the  true  cause,  now  first  published 
in  this  Thirty  Years'  View,  fully  exonerating 
Mr.  Van  Buren  from  all  concern  in  that  evert 
and  showing  his  regret  that  it  had  occurred.  But 
the  whole  catastrophe  was  charged  upon  him  by 
his  political  opponents,  and  for  the  unworthy 
purpose  of  ousting  the  friends  of  Mr.  Calhoun 
and  procuring  a  new  set  of  members  entirely  de- 
voted to  his  interest.  This  imputation  was  ne- 
gatived by  his  immediate  departure  from  the 
country,  setting  out  at  bnce  upon  his  mission, 
without  awaiting  the  action  of  the  Senate  on  his 
nomination.  This  was  in  the  summer  of  1831. 
Early  in  the  ensuing  session — at  its  very  com- 
mencement, in  fact — his  nomination  was  sent  in, 
and  it  was  quickly  perceptible  thai  there  was  to 
be  an  attack  upon  him — a  combined  one ;  the 
three  rival  statesmen  acting  in  concert,  and  each 
backed  by  all  his  friends.  No  one  outside  of  the 
combination,  myself  alone  excepted,  could  believe 
it  would  be  successful.  I  saw  they  were  masters 
of  the  nomination  from  the  first  day,  and  would 
reject  it  when  they  were  ready  to  i  .vhibit  a  case 
of  justification  to  the  country :  and  so  informed 
General  Jackson  from  an  early  period  in  the  ses- 
sion. The  numbers  were  sufiicient :  the  diflBculty 
was  to  make  up  a  case  to  satisfy  the  people ;  and 
that  was  found  to  be  a  tedious  business. 

Fifty  days  were  consumed  in  these  prelimi- 
naries— to  be  precise,  fifty-one ;  and  that  in 
addition  to  months  of  preparation  before  the 
Senate  met.  The  preparation  was  long,  but  the 
attack  vigorous;  and  when  commenced,  the 
business  was  finished  in  two  days.  There  were 
about  a  dozen  set  speeches  against  him,  from  as 
many  dififereut  speakers — about  double  the  num- 
ber that  spoke  against  Wafren  Hastings— and 
but  four  off-hand  replies  for  him ;  and  it  was 
evident  that  the  threo  chiefs  had  brought  up  all 
their  friends  to  the  work.  It  was  an  unprece- 
dented array  of  numbers  and  talent  against  one 


ANNO  1882.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


215 


ncert,  and  each 


individual,  and  he  absent, — and  of  such  amenity 
of  manners  as  usually  to  disarm  political  oppo- 
sition of  all  its  virulence.  The  causes  of  objection 
were  supposed  to  be  found  in  four  different  heads 
of  accusation ;  each  of  which  was  elaborately 
urged : 

1.  The  instructions  drawn  up  and  signed  by 
Mr.  Van  Buren  as  Secretary  of  State,  under  the 
direction  of  the  President,  and  furnished  to  Mr. 
McLane,  for  his  guidance  in  endeavoring  to  re- 
open the  negotiation  for  the  West  India  trade. 

2.  Making  a  breach  of  friend.;hip  between  the 

first  and  second  officers  of  the  government 

President  Jackson  and  Vice-President  Calhoun 
—for  the  purpose  of  thwarting  the  latter,  and 
helping  himself  to  the  Presidency. 

3.  Breaking  up  the  cabinet  for  the  same  pur- 
pose. 

4.  Introducing  the  system  of  "proscription" 
(removal  from  office  for  opinion's  sake),  for  the 
same  purpose. 

A  formal  motion  was  made  by  Mr.  Holmes 
of  Maine,  to  raise  a  committee  with  power  to 
send  for  persons  and  papers,  administer  oaths, 
receive  sworn  testimony,  and  report  it,  with  the 
committee's  opinion,  to  the  Senate;   but  this 
looked  so  much  like  preferring  an  impeachment 
as  well  as  trying  it,  that  the  procedure  was 
dropped;  and  all  reliance  was  placed  upon  the 
numerous  and  elaborate  speeches  to  be  delivered 
all  carefully  prepared,  and  intended  for  publica- 
tion, though  delivered  in  secret  session.   Rejection 
of  the  nomination  was  not  enough— a  killing  off 
in  the  public  mind  was  intended ;  and  therefore 
the  unusual  process  of  the  elaborate  preparation 
and  intended  publication  of  the  speeches.    All 
the  speakers  went  through  an  excusatory  for- 
mula, repeated  with  equal  precision  and  gravity ; 
abjuring  all  sinister  motives;  declaring  them- 
selves to  be  wholly  governed  by  a  sense  of  public 
duty ;  describing  the  pain  which  they  felt  at 
arraigning  a  gentleman    whose   manners   and 
deportment  were  so  urbane ;  and  protesting  that 
nothmg  but  a  sense  of  duty  to  the  country  could 
force  them  to  the  reluctant  perfonnance  of  such 
a  painful  ta^k.    The  accomplished  Forsyth  com- 
plimented, in  a  way  to  be  perfectly  understood 
this  excess  of  patriotism,  which  could  voluntarily 
inflict  so  much  self-distress  for  the  sake  of  the 
public  good;  and  I,  most  unwittingly,  brought 
the  misery  of  one  of  the  gentlemen  to  a  sudden 
and  ridiculous  conclusion  by  a  chance  remark. 


It  was  Mr.  Gabriel  Moore,  of  Alabama,  who  sat 
near  me,  and  to  whom  I  said,  when  the  vote  was 
declared,  "You  have  broken  a  minister,  and 
elected  a  Vice-President."  He  asked  how  ?  and 
I  told  him  the  people  would  see  nothing  in  it 
but  a  combination  of  rivals  against  a  competitor, 
and  would  pull  them  all  down,  and  set  him  up. 
"Good  God !  "  said  he,  «  why  didn't  you  tell  me 
that  before  I  voted,  and  I  would  have  voted  the 
other  way."  It  was  only  twenty  minutes  be- 
fore, for  he  was  the  very  last  speaker,  that  Mr. 
Moore  had  delivered  himself  thus,  on  this  very- 
interesting  point  of  public  duty  against  private 
feeling  : 

"Under  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case  not- 
withstanding the  able  views  which  have  been 
presented,  and  the  impatience  of  the  Senate  I 
teel  It  a  duty  incumbent  upon  me,  not  only  in 
justifacation  of  myself,  and  of  the  motives  which 
govern  me  m  the  vote  which  I  am  about  to  give 
but,  also,  m  justice  to  the  free  and  independent 
people  whom  I  have  the  honor  in  part  to  repre- 
sent, that  I  should  set  forth  the  reasons  which 
have  reluctantly  compelled  me  to  oppose  the 
confirmation  of  the  present  nominee.  Sir  it  ia 
proper  that  I  should  declare  that  the  evidence 
adduced  against  the  character  and  conduct  of 
the  late  Secretary  of  State,  and  the  sources  from 
which  this  evidence  emanates,  have  made  an 
impression  on  my  mind  that  will  require  of  me 
m  the  conscientious  though  painful  discharco  o^ 
my  duty,  to  record  my  vote  against  his  nomina- 
tion." 


The  famous  Madame  Roland,  when  mounting 
the  scaffold,  apostrophized  the  mock  statue  upon 
it  with  this  exclamation:  «0h  Liberty!  how 
many  crimes  are  committed  in  thy  name!" 
After  what  I  have  seen  during  my  thirty  years 
of  inside  and  outside  views  in  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  I  feel  qualified  to  paraphrase  the 
apostrophe,  and  exclaim:  "Oh  Politics  I  how 
much  bamboozling  is  practised  in  thy  game ! " 

The  speakers  against  the  nomination  were 
Messrs.  Clay,  VTebster,  John  M.  Clayton,  Ewing 
of  Ohio,  John  Holmes,  Frelinghuysen,  Poindex- 
ter.  Chambers  of  Maryland,  Foot  of  Connecticut 
Governor  MOler,  and  Colonel  Hayne  of  South 
Carolina,  and  Governor  Moore  of  Alabama— just 
a  dozen,  and  equal  to  a  full  jury.  Mr.  Calhoun, 
as  Vice-President,  presiding  in  the  Senate,  could 
not  speak ;  but  he  was  understood  to  be  per- 
sonated by  his  friends,  and  twice  gave  the 
casting  vote,  nno  interlocutory,  against  the  nomi- 
nee— a  tie  being  contrived  for  that  purpose,  and 
the  combined  plan  requiring  him  to  be  upon  the 


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216 


THIRTY  YEARS*  VIEW. 


record.  Only  four  spoke  on  the  side  of  the 
nomination ;  General  Smith  of  Maryland,  Mr. 
Forsyth,  Mr.  Bedford  Brown,  and  Mr.  Marcy. 
Messrs.  Clay  and  "Webster,  and  their  friends, 
chiefly  confined  themselves  to  the  instructions 
on  the  West  India  trade ;  the  friends  of  Mr. 
Calhoun  paid  most  attention  to  the  cabinet  rup- 
ture, the  separation  of  old  friends,  and  the  sys- 
tem of  proscription.  Against  the  instructions  it 
was  alleged,  that  they  begged  as  a  favor  what 
was  due  as  a  right ;  that  they  took  the  side  of 
Great  Britain  against  our  own  country;  and 
carried  our  party  contests,  and  the  issue  of  our 
party  elections,  into  diplomatic  negotiations  with 
foreign  countries ;  and  the  following  clause  from 
the  instructions  to  Mr.  McLane  was  quoted  to 
sustain  these  allegations : 

"In  reviewing  the  causes  which  have  preceded 
and  more  or  less  contributed  to  a  result  so  much 
regrettedj  there  will  be  found  three  grounds 
opon  which  we  are  most  assailable :  1.  In  cur 
too  long  and  too  tenaciously  resisting  the  right 
of  Great  Britain  to  impose  protecting  duties  in 
her  colonies.  2.  In  not  relieving  her  vessels 
from  the  restriction  of  returning  direct  from  the 
United  States  to  the  colonics  after  permission 
had  been  given  by  Great  Britain  to  our  vessels 
to  clear  out  from  the  colonies  to  any  other  than 
a  British  port.  And,  3.  In  omitting  to  accept 
the  terms  offered  by  the  act  of  Parliament  of 
July,  1825,  after  the  subject  had  been  brought 
before  Congress  and  deliberately  acted  upon  by 
our  government.  It  is,  without  doubt,  to  the 
combined  operation  of  these  (three)  causes  that 
we  are  to  attribute  the  British  interdict ;  you 
will  therefore  see  the  propriety  of  possessing: 
yourself  fully  of  all  the  explanatory  and  miti- 
gating circumstances  connected  with  them,  that 
you  may  be  able  to  obviate,  as  far  as  practicable, 
the  unfavorable  impression  which  they  have 
produced." 

This  was  the  clause  relied  upon  to  sustain  the 
allegation  of  putting  his  own  country  in  the 
wrong,  and  taking  the  part  of  Great  Britain,  and 
truckling  to  her  to  obtain  as  a  favor  what  was 
duo  as  a  right,  and  mixing  up  our  party  contests 
with  our  foreign  negotiations.  The  fallacy  of 
all  these  allegations  was  well  shown  in  the  re- 
plies of  the  four  senators,  and  especially  by 
General  Smith,  of  Maryland ;  and  has  been  fur- 
ther shown  in  the  course  of  this  work,  in  the 
chapter  on  the  recovery  of  the  British  West  In- 
dia trade.  But  there  was  a  document  at  that 
time  in  the  Department  of  State,  unknown  to 
the  friends  of  Mr.  Van  Buren  in  the  Senate, 
which  would  not  only  have  exculpated  him,  but 


turned  the  attacks  of  his  assailants  against  them, 
selves.  The  facts  were  these:  Mr.  Gallatin, 
while  minister  at  London,  on  the  subject  of  this 
trade,  of  course  sent  home  dispatches,  addressed 
to  the  Secretary  of  State  (Mr.  Clay),  in  which 
lie  gave  an  account  of  his  progress,  or  rather  of 
the  obstacles  which  prevented  any  progress  m 
the  attempted  negotiation.  There  were  two  of 
these  dispatches,  one  dated  September  22  1826 
the  other  November  the  14th,  1827.  The  latter 
had  been  communicated  to  Congress  in  full  and 
printed  among  the  papers  of  the  ca.se ;  of  the 
former  only  an  extract  had  been  communicated 
and  that  relating  to  a  mere  formal  point.  It  so 
happened  that  the  part  of  this  dispatch  of  Sep- 
tember, 1826,  not  communicated,  contained  Mr. 
Gallatin's  report  of  the  causes  which  led  to  the 
refusal  of  the  British  to  treat — their  refusal  to 
permit  us  to  accept  the  terms  of  their  act  of 
1825,  after  the  year  limited  for  acceptance  had 
expired — and  which  led  to  the  order  in  council 
cutting  us  off  from  the  trade ;  and  it  so  happened 
that  this  report  of  these  causes,  so  made  by  Mr. 
Gallatin,  was  the  original  from  which  Mr.  Van 
Buren  copied  his  instructions  to  Mr.  McLane ! 
and  which  were  the  subject  of  so  much  censure 
in  the  Senate.  I  have  been  permitted  by  Mr. 
Everett,  Scnretary  of  State  under  President  Fill- 
more—(Mr.  Webster  would  have  given  me  the 
same  permission  if  I  had  applied  during  his 
time,  for  he  did  so  in  every  case  that  I  cycr 
asked) — to  examine  this  dispatch  in  the  Depart- 
ment of  State,  and  to  copy  from  it  whatever  I 
wanted ;  I  accordingly  copied  the  following ; 

"  On  three  points  we  were  perhaps  vulnerable. 

"  1.  The  delay  of  renewing  the  negotiation. 

"  2.  The  omission  of  having  revoked  the  re- 
striction on  the  indirect  intercourse  when  that 
of  Great  Britain  had  ceased. 

"  3.  Too  long  an  adherence  to  the  opposition 
to  her  right  of  laying  protecting  duties.  This 
might  have  been  given  up  as  soon  as  the  act  of 
1825  passed.  These  are  the  causes  assigned  for 
the  late  measure  adopted  towards  the  United 
States  on  that  subject ;  and  they  have,  un- 
doubtedly, had  a  decisive  effect  as  far  as  relates 
to  the  order  in  council,  assisted  as  they  were 
by  the  belief  that  our  object  was  to  compel  this 
country  to  regulate  the  trade  upon  our  own 
terms." 

This  was  a  passage  in  the  unpublished  part 
of  that  dispatch,  and  it  shows  itself  to  be  the 
original  from  which  Mr.  Van  Buren  copied,  sub- 
stituting the  milder  term  of  "assailable"  where 


ANNO  1832.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


Mr.  Gallatin  had  applied  that  of  "vulnerable" 
U  Mr,  Adams's  administration.  Doubtless  the 
contents  of  that  dispatch,  in  this  particular, 
were  entirely  forgotten  by  Mr.  Clay  at  the  time 
he  spoke  against  Mr.  Van  Buren,  having  been 
received  by  him  above  four  years  before  that 
time.  They  were  probably  as  little  known  to 
the  rest  of  the  opposition  senators  as  to  our- 
selves 5  and  the  omission  to  communicate  and 
print  them  could  not  have  occurred  from  any 
design  to  suppress  what  was  material  to  the 
debate  in  the  Senate,  as  the  communication  and 
printing  had  taken  place  long  before  this  occa- 
sion of  using  the  document  had  occurred. 

The  way  I  came  to  the  knowledge  of  this 
omitted  paragraph  was  this  :   When  engaged 
upon  the  chapter  of  his  rejection,  I  wrote  to 
Mr.  Van  Buren  for  his  view  of  the  case ;  and 
he  sent  mo  back  a  manuscript  copy  of  a  speech 
which  he  had  drawn  up  in  London,  to  be  de- 
livered in  New- York,  at  some  "  public  dinner," 
which  his  friends  could  get  up  for  the  occasion ; 
but  which  he  never  delivered,  or  published, 
partly  from  an  indisposition  to  go  into  the 
newspapers  for  character — much  from  a  real 
forbearance  of  temper — and  possibly  from  see- 
ing, on  his  return  to  the  United  States,  that  he 
was  not  at  all  hurt  by  his  fall.    That  manu- 
script speech  contained  this  omitted  extract 
and  I  trust  that  I  have  used  it  fairly  and  benefi- 
cially for  the  right,  and  without  invidiousness  to 
the  wrong.    It  disposes  of  one  point  of  attack ; 
but  the  gentlemen  wei-e  wrong  in  their  whole 
broad  view  of  this  British  "West  India  trade 
question.  Jackson  took  the  "Washington  ground, 
and  he  and  "Washington  were  both  right.    The 
enjoyment  of  colonial  trade  is  a  privilege  to  be 
solicited,  and  not  a  right  to  be  demanded ;  and 
the  terms  of  the  enjoyment  are  questions  for 
the  mother  country.     The  assailing  senators 
were  wrong  again  in  making  the  instructions  a 
matter  of  attack  upon  Mr.  Van  Buren.    They 
were  not  his  instructions,  but  President  Jack- 
eon's.   By  the  constitution  they  were  the  Presi- 
dent's, and  the  senators  derogated  from  that 
instrument  in  treating  his  secretary  as  their 
author.    The  President  alone  is  the  conductor 
of  our  foreign   relations,  and  the  dispatches 
signed  by  the  Secretaries  of  State  only  have 
force  as  coming  from  him,  and  are  usually  au- 
thenticated by  the  formula,  "/  am  instructed 
by  tlie  President  to  say,"  &c,  &c.    It  was  a 


217 


constitutional  blunder,  then,  in  the  senators  to 
treat  Mr.  Van  Buren  as  the  author  of  these  in- 
structions ;  it  was  also  an  error  in  point  of  fact. 
General  Jackson  himself  specially  directed 
them  ;  and  so  authorized  General  Smith  to 
declare  in  the  Senate— which  he  did. 

Breaking  up  the  cabinet,  and  making  dissen- 
sion between  General  Jackson  and  Mr.  Cal- 
houn, was  the  second  of  the  allegations  against 
Mr.  Van  Buren.  Repulsed  as  this  accusation 
has  been  by  the  character  of  Mr.  Van  Buren, 
and  by  the  narrative  of  the  "Exposition,"  it  has 
yet  to  receive  a  further  and  most  authoritative 
contradiction,  from  a  source  which  admits  of 
no  cavil— from  General  Jackson  himself— in  a 
voluntary  declaration  made  after  that  event 
had  passed  away,  and  when  justice  alone  re- 
mained the  sole  object  to  be  accomplished.  It 
was  a  statement  addressed  to  "  Martin  Van  Bu- 
ren, President  of  the  United  States,"  dated  at 
the  Hermitage,  July  31st,  1840,  and  ran  in 
these  words : 


"  It  was  my  intention  as  soon  as  I  heard  that 
Mr.  Calhoun  had  expressed  his  approbation  of 
the  leading  measures  of  your  administration, 
and  had  paid  you  a  visit,  to  place  in  your  pos- 
session the  statement  which  I  shall  now  make ; 
but  bad  health,  and  the  pressure  of  other  busi- 
ness have  constantly  led  me  to  postpone  it. 
What  I  have  reference  to  is  the  imputation  that 
has  been  sometimes  thrown  upon  you,  that  you 
had  an  agency  in  producing  the  controversy 
which  took  place  between  Mr.  Calhoun  and  my- 
self, in  consequence  of  Mr.  Crawford's  disclosure 
of  what  occurred  in  the  cabinet  of  Mr.  Monroe 
relative  to  my  military  operations  in  Florida 
during    his    admmistration.     Mr.    Calhoun  is 
doubtless  already  satisfied  that  he  did  you  in- 
justice in  holding  you  in  the  slightest  degree 
responsible  for  the  course  I  pursued  on  that  oc- 
casion :  but  as  there  may  be  others  who  may 
still  be  disposed  to  do  you  injustice,  and  who 
may  hereafter  use  the  circumstance  for  the  pur- 
pose of  impairing  both  your  character  and  his, 
I  think  it  my  duty  to  place  in  your  possession 
the  following  emphatic  declaration,  viz. :    That 
I  am  not  aware  of  your  ever  saying  a  word  to 
me  relative  to  Mr.  Calhoun,  which  had  a  ten- 
dency to  create  an  interruption  of  my  friendly 
relations  with  him: — that  you  ivere  not  con- 
sulted in  any  stage  of  the  correspondence  on 
the  subject  of  his  conduct  in  the  cabinet  of  Mr. 
Monroe  ,—and  that,  after  this  correspondence 
became  piiblic,  the  only  sentiment  you  ever  ex- 
pressed to  me  about  it  was  that  of  deep  regret 
that  it  should  have  occurred.    You  are  at  lib- 
erty to  show  this  letter  to  Mr.  Calhoun  and 
make  what  other  use  of   it  you  may  think 


218 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


proper  for  the  purpose  of  correcting  the  erro- 
neous impressions  which  have  prevailed  on  this 
subject." 

A  testimony  more  honorable  than  this  in  be- 
half of  a  public  man,  was  never  delivered,  nor 
one  more  completely  disproving  a  dishonorable 
imputation,  and  showing  that  praise  was  due 
where  censure  had  been  lavished.  Mr.  Van 
Buren  was  not  the  cause  of  breaking  up  the  cabi- 
net, or  of  making  dissension  between  old  friends, 
or  of  raking  up  the  buried  event  in  Mr.  Monroe's 
cabinet,  or  of  injuring  Mr.  Calhoun  in  any  way. 
Yet  this  testimony,  so  honorable  to  him,  was 
never  given  to  the  public,  though  furnished  for 
the  purpose,  and  now  appears  for  the  first  time 
in  print. 

Equally  erroneous  was  the  assumption,  taken 
for  granted  throughout  the  debate,  and  so  exten- 
sively and  deeply  impressed  upon  the  public 
mind,  that  Mr.  Calhoun  was  the  uniform  friend 
of  General  Jackson  in  the  election — his  early 
supporter  in  the  canvass,  and  steadfast  adherent 
to  the  end.  This  assumption  has  been  rebutted 
by  Mr.  Calhoun  himself,  who,  in  his  pamphlet 
against  General  Jackson,  shows  that  he  was  for 
himself  until  withdrawn  from  the  contest  by 
Mr.  Dallas  at  a  public  meeting,  in  Philadelphia, 
in  the  winter  of  1823 — 4 ;  and  after  that  was 
perfectly  neutral.  His  words  are :  "  W/ien  my 
name  was  withdrawn  from  Ihe  list  of  presi- 
dential candidates,  I  assumed  a  perfectly  -neu- 
tral position  between  Gen.  Jackson  and  Mr. 
Adams?''  This  clears  Mr.  Van  Buren  again,  as 
he  could  not  make  a  breach  of  friendship  where 
none  existed,  or  supplant  a  supporter  w^here 
there  was  no  support :  and  that  there  was  none 
from  Mr.  Calhoun  to  Gen.  Jackson,  is  now  au- 
thentically declared  by  Mr.  Calhoun  himself. 
Yet  this  head  of  accusation,  with  a  bad  motive 
assigned  for  it,  was  most  perseveringly  urged 
by  his  friends,  and  in  his  presence,  throughout 
the  whole  debate. 

Introducing  the  "  New- York  system  of  pro- 
scription" into  the  federal  government,  was  the 
last  of  the  accusations  on  which  Mr.  Van  Bu- 
ren was  arraigned ;  and  was  just  as  unfoundec! 
as  all  the  rest.  Both  his  temper  and  his  judg- 
ment was  against  the  removal  of  faithful  offi- 
cers because  of  difference  of  political  opinion,  or 
even  for  political  conduct  against  himself— as 
the  whole  tenor  of  his  conduct  very  soon  after, 
and  when  he  became  President  of  the  United 


States,  abundantly  showed.  The  departments 
at  Washington,  and  some  part  of  every  State  in 
the  Union,  gave  proofs  of  his  forbearance  in  this 
particular. 

I  have  already  told  that  I  did  rot  speak 
in  the  debate  on  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Vnn 
Buren ;  and  this  silence  on  such  an  occasion  may 
require  explanation  from  a  man  who  does  not 
desire  the  character  of  neglecting  a  friend  in  a 
pinch.  I  had  strong  reasons  for  that  abstinence 
and  they  were  obliged  to  be  strong  to  produce 
it.  I  was  opposed  to  Mr.  Van  Buren's  going  to 
England  as  minister.  He  was  our  intended  can- 
didate for  the  Presidency,  and  I  deemed  such  a 
mission  to  be  prejudicial  to  him  and  the  party 
and  apt  to  leave  us  with  a  candidate  weakened 
with  the  people  by  absence,  and  by  a  residence 
at  a  foreign  court.  I  was  in  this  state  of  mind 
when  I  saw  the  combination  formed  against 
him,  and  felt  that  the  success  of  it  would  be  his 
and  our  salvation.  Rejection  was  a  bitter  medi- 
cine, but  there  was  health  at  the  bottom  of  the 
draugiht.  Besides,  I  was  not  the  guardian  of 
Messrs.  Clay,  Webster,  and  Calhoun,  and  was 
quite  willing  to  see  them  fall  into  the  pit  which 
they  were  digging  for  another.  I  said  nothing 
in  the  debate  j  but  as  soon  as  the  vote  was  over 
I  wrote  to  Mr.  Van  Buren  a  very  plain  letter, 
only  intended  for  himself,  and  of  which  I  kept 
no  copy ;  but  having  applied  for  the  original  for 
use  in  this  history,  he  returned  it  to  me,  on  the 
condition  that  I  should  tell,  if  I  used  it,  that  in 
a  letter  to  General  Jackson,  he  characterized  it 
as  "  honest  and  sensible."  Honest,  I  knew  it 
to  be  at  the  time  j  sensible,  I  believe  the  event 
has  proved  it  to  be ;  and  that  there  was  no  mis- 
take in  writing  such  a  letter  to  Mr.  Van  Buren, 
has  been  proved  by  our  subsequent  intercourse. 
It  was  dated  January  28,  1832,  and  I  subjoin  it 
in  full,  as  contemporaneous  testimony,  and  as  an 
evidence  of  the  independent  manner  in  which  I 
spoke  to  my  friends — even  those  I  wasendtavor- 
ing  to  make  President.    It  ran  thus : 

"  Your  faithful  correspondents  will  have  in- 
formed you  of  the  event  of  the  25th.  Nobody 
would  believe  it  here  until  after  it  happened,  but 
the  President  can  bear  me  witness  that  I  pre- 
pared him  to  expect  it  a.month  ago.  The  public 
will  only  understand  it  as  a  political  movement 
against  a  rival ;  it  is  right,  however,  that  you 
should  know  that  without  an  auxiliary  cause 
the  political  movement  against  you  would  not 
have  succeeded.    There  were  gentlemen  voting 


ANNO  1881.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


219 


against  you  who  would  not  have  done  so  except 
for  a  reason  which  was  strong  and  ciear  in  their 
own  minds,  and  which  (it  would  bo  improper  to 
diHScmblc)  'm'-   hurt  you  in  the  estimation  of 
many  candil    \nd  disinterested  people.    After 
saying  this  miuh,  I  must  also  say,  thi.t  I  look 
upon  this  head  of  objection  as  temporary,  dying 
out  of  itself,  and  to  be  swallowed  up  in  the 
current  and  accumulating  topics  of  the  day. 
You  doubtless  know  what  is  best  for  yourself, 
and  it  does  not  become  mo  to  make  suggestions ; 
but  for  myself,  when  I  find  myself  on  the  bridge 
of  liodi,  I  neither  stop  to  parley,  nor  turn  back 
to  start  again.    Forward,  is  the  word.    Some 
say,  make  you  governor  of  New- York ;  I  say, 
you  have  been  governor  before :  that  is  turning 
back.    Some  say,  come  to  the  Senate  in  place 
of  some  of  year  friends;  I  say,  that  of  itself  will 
be  only  parleying  with  the  enemy  while  on  the 
middle  of  the  bridge,  and  receiving  their  fire. 
The  vice-presidency  is  the  only  thing,  and  if  a 
place  in  the  Senate  can  be  coupled  with  the  trial 
for  that,  then  a  place  in  the  Senate  might  be 
desirable.    The  Baltimore  Convention  will  meet 
in  the  month  of  May,  and  I  presume  it  will  be 
in  the  discretion  of  your  immediate  friends  in 
New-York,  and  your  leading  friends  here,  to 
have  you  nominated ;  and  in  all  that  affair  I 
think  you  ought  to  be  passive.    'For  Vice- 
President,'  on  the  Jackson  ticket,  will  identify 
you  with  him ;  a  few  cardinal  principles  of  the 
old  democratic  school  might  make  you  worth 
contending  for  on  your  own  account.    The  dy- 
nasty of  '98  (the  federalists)  has  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States  in  its  interest ;  and  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States  has  drawn  into  its  vortex, 
and  wields  at  its  pleasure,  the  whole  high  tariff 
and  federal  internal  improvement  party.    To  set 
up  for  yourself,  and  to  raise  an  interest  which 
can  unite  the  scattered  elements  of  a  nation, 
you  will  have  to  take  positions  which  are  visible, 
and  represent  principles  which  are  felt  and  un- 
derstood; you  will  have  to  separate  yourself 
from  the  enemy  by  partition  lines  which  the 
people  can  see.   The  dynasty  of '98  (federalists), 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  the  high  tariff 
party,  the  federal  internal  improvement  party, 
are  against  you.    Now,  if  you  are  not  against 
them,  the  people,  and  myself,  as  one  of  the  peo- 
ple, can  see  nothing  between  you  and  them 
worth  contending  for,  in  a  national  point  of 
view.    This  is  a  very  plain  letter,  and  if  you 
don't  like  it,  you  will  throw  it  in  the  fire  ;  con- 
sider it  as  not  having  been  written.    For  myself, 
I  mean  to  retire  upon  my  profession,  while  I 
hjve  mind  and  body  to  pursue  it ;  but  I  wish 
to  see  the  right  principles  prevail,  and  friends 
instead  of  foes  in  power." 

The  prominent  idea  in  this  letter  was,  that 
the  people  would  see  the  rejection  in  the  same 
light  that  I  did — as  a  combination  to  put  down 
a  rival— as  a  political  blunder— and  that  it 
would  work  out  the  other  way.    The  same  idea 


prevailed  in  England.  On  the  evening  of  the 
day,  on  the  morning  of  which  all  the  London 
newspapers  heralded  the  rejection  of  the  Ameri- 
can minister,  there  was  a  great  party  at  Prince 
Talleyrand's— then  the  representative  at  the 
British  court,  of  the  new  King  of  the  French, 
Louis  Phillippe.  Mr.  Van  Buren,  always  mas- 
ter of  himself,  and  of  all  the  proprieties  of  his 
position,  was  there,  as  if  nothing  had  happened ; 
and  received  distinguished  attentions,  and  com- 
plimentary allusions.  Lord  Aukland,  grandson 
to  the  Mr.  Eden  who  was  one  of  the  Commis- 
sioners of  Conciliation  sent  to  us  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  revolutionary  troubles,  said  to  him, 
"It  is  an  advantage  to  a  public  man  to  be  the 
subject  of  an  outrage  "—a  remark,  wise  in  itself, 
and  prophetic  in  its  application  to  the  person  to 
whom  it  was  addressed.  He  came  home — appa- 
rently gave  himself  no  trouble  about  what  had 
happened — was  taken  up  by  the  people — elect- 
ed, suaiessively,  Vice-President  and  President — 
while  none  of  those  combined  against  him  ever 
attained  either  position. 

There  was,  at  the  time,  some  doubt  among 
their  friends  as  to  the  policy  of  the  rejection , 
but  the  three  chiefs  were  positive  in  their  belief 
that  a  senatorial  condemnation  would  be  politi- 
cal death.  I  heard  Mr.  Calhoun  say  to  one  of 
his  doubting  friends,  "  It  will  kill  him,  sir,  kM 
him  dead.  He  will  never  kick  sir,  never  kick ; " 
and  the  alacrity  with  which  he  gave  the  casting 
votes,  on  the  two  occasions,  both  vital,  on  which 
they  were  put  into  his  hands,  attested  the  sin- 
cerity of  his  belief,  and  his  readines3  for  the 
work.  How  those  tie-votes,  for  there  were  two 
of  them,  came  to  happen  twice,  "  hand-running;" 
and  in  a  case  so  important,  was  matter  of  luarvel 
and  speculation  to  the  public  on  the  outside  of 
the  locked-up  senatorial  door.  It  was  no  mar- 
vel to  those  on  the  inside,  who  saw  how  it  was 
done.  The  combination  had  a  superfluity  of 
votes,  and,  as  Mr.  Van  Buren's  friends  were 
every  one  known,  and  would  sit  fast,  it  only  re- 
quired the  superfluous  votes  on  one  side  to  go 
out ;  and  thus  an  equilibrium  between  the  two 
lines  was  established.  When  all  was  finished, 
the  injunction  of  secrecy  was  taken  off  the  pro- 
ceedings, and  the  dozen  set  speeches  delivered  in 
secret  session  immediately  published — which 
shows  that  they  were  delivered  for  effect,  not 
upon  the  Senate,  but  upon  the  public  mind. 
The  whole  proceeding  illustrates  the  impolicy, 


\     i 


220 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW, 


as  well  a«  peril  to  themselves,  of  rival  public 
men  sitting  in  jnrlprment  upon  each  other,  and 
carries  a  warning  along  with  it  which  should 
not  be  lost 

As  an  event  affecting  the  most  eminent  public 
men  of  the  day,  and  connecting  itself  with  the 
settlement  of  one  of  our  important  foreign  com- 
mercial questions — as  belonging  to  history,  and 
already  carried  into  it  by  the  senatorial  debates 
— as  a  key  to  unlock  the  meaning  of  other  con- 
duct— I  deem  this  account  of  the  rkjection  of 
Mr.  Van  Buren  a  necessary  appendage  to  the 
settlement  of  the  British  West  India  trade  ques- 
tion— as  an  act  of  justice  to  General  Jackson's 
administration  (the  whole  of  which  was  involved 
in  the  censure  then  cast  upon  his  Secretary  of 
State),  and  as  a  sunbeam  to  illuminate  the  laby- 
rinth of  other  less  palpable  concatenations. 


CHAPTER    LX. 

BANK   OF   THE   UNITED  STATES— ILLEGAL  AND 
VICIOUS  CUKUENCY. 

In  his  first  annual  message,  in  the  year  1829, 
President  Jackson,  besides  calling  in  question  the 
unconstitutionality  and  general  expediency  of  the 
Bank,  also  stated  that  it  had  failed  in  furnish- 
ing a  uniform  currency.  That  declaration  was 
greatly  contested  by  the  Bank  and  its  advocotes, 
and  I  felt  myself  bound  to  make  an  occasion  to 
show  it  to  be  well  founded,  and  to  a  greater  ex- 
tent than  the  President  had  intimated.  It  had 
in  fact  issued  an  illegal  and  vicious  kind  of  paper 
— authorized  it  to  be  issued  at  all  the  branches 
— in  the  shape  of  drafts  or  orders  payable  in 
Philadelphia,  but  voluntarily  paid  where  issued, 
and  at  all  the  branches;  and  so  made  into  a 
local  currency,  and  constituting  the  mass  of  all 
its  paper  seen  in  circulation ;  and  as  the  great- 
est quantity  was  usually  issued  at  the  most  re- 
mote and  inaccessible  branches,  the  payment  of 
the  drafts  were  well  protected  by  distance  and 
difficulty;  and  being  of  small  denominations, 
loitered  and  lingered  in  the  hands  of  the  labor- 
ing people  until  the  "wear  and  tear"  became  a 
large  item  of  gain  to  the  Bank,  and  the  difficulty 
of  presenting  them  at  Philadelphia  an  eSeetual 
bar  to  their  payment  there.  The  origin  of  this 
kind  of  currency  was  thus  traced  by  me ;  It  was 


invented  hy  a  Scotch  banker  of  Abcrdtcn  who 
issued  notes  payable  in  London,  ahva^s  of 
small  denominations,  that  nobody  should  take 
them  up  to  London  for  redemption.  The  Dunk 
of  Ireland  seeing  what  a  pretty  way  it  was  to 
issue  notes  which  they  could  not  practically  be 
compelled  to  pay,  adopted  the  same  trick.  Then 
the  English  country  bankers  followed  the  ex- 
ample. But  their  career  was  short.  Tlie  Brit- 
ish parliament  took  hold  of  the  fraud,  and  fiiip- 
pressed  it  in  the  three  kingdoms.  That  parlia- 
ment would  tolerate  no  currency  issued  at  one 
place,  and  payable  at  another. 

The  mode  of  proceeding  to  get  at  the  question 
of  this  vicious  currency  was  the  same  as  that 
pursued  to  get  at  the  question  of  the  non-re- 
newal of  the  charter — namely,  an  api)lieation 
for  leave  to  bring  in  a  joint  resolution  dwlaring 
it  to  be  illegal,  and  ordering  it  to  be  suppressed; 
and  in  asking  that  leave  to  give  tho  reasons  for 
the  motion :  which  was  done,  in  a  speech  of 
which  tht  following  are  some  parts : 


"  Mr.  Benton  rose  to  ask  leave  to  bring  in  his 
promised  resolution  on  the  state  of  the  currency. 
He  said  he  had  given  his  notice  for  the  leave  he 
was  about  to  ask,  without  concerting  or  consult- 
ing with  any  member  of  the  Senate.  The  object 
of  las  resolution  was  judicial,  not  pc^itiail;  and 
he  had  treated  the  senators  not  as  cfjunsellois, 
but  as  judges.  He  had  conversed  with  no  one, 
neither  friend  nor  adversary ;  not  through  con- 
tempt of  counsel,  or  fear  of  opposition,  but  from 
a  just  and  rigorous  regard  to  decorum  and  pro- 
priety. His  own  opinion  had  been  made  up 
through  the  cold,  unadulterated  process  of  legal 
research ;  and  ho  had  done  nothing,  and  would 
do  nothing,  to  prevent,  or  hinder,  any  other  sena- 
tor from  making  up  his  opinion  in  the  same 
way.  It  was  a  case  in  which  politics,  especially 
partisan  politics,  could  find  no  place ;  and  in  ihe 
progress  of  which  every  senator  would  feel  liim- 
sell  retiring  into  the  judicial  office — becoming 
one  of  the  judices  selecti — and  searching  into 
the  stores  of  his  own  legal  knowledge,  for  the 
judgment,  and  the  reasons  of  the  jatlgment, 
which  he  must  give  in  this  great  cause,  in  ^  hich 
a  nation  is  the  party  on  one  side,  and  a  great 
moneyed  corporation  on  the  other.  He  [Mr.  B.) 
believed  the  currency,  against  which  his  resolu- 
tion was  directed,  to  be  illegal  and  dangerous ; 
and  so  believing,  it  had  long  been  his  determina- 
tion to  bring  the  question  of  its  legality  before 
tho  Senate  and  the  people ;  and  that  without  re- 
gard to  the  powerful  resentment,  to  the  effects 
of  which  he  might  be  exposing  himself.  He  had 
adopted  the  form  of  a  declaratory  resolution,  be- 
cause it  was  intended  to  declare  the  true  sense 
of  the  charter  upon  a  disputed  point.  He  made 
his  resolution  joint  in  its  character,  that  it  might 


ANNO  1882.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  fP.TOIDENT. 


221 


have  the  action  of  both  Houses  of  Congress;  and 
fiingle  in  its  ohjuct,  that  the  main  desiRn  might 
not  he  embarrassed   with   minor  propositions. 
The  form  of  the  resohition  gave  him  a  riglit  to 
Htate  his  reasons  for  asking  leave  to  bring  it  in ; 
tiiv  iiii|)ortance  of  it  recjuired  those  reasons  to  be 
clearly  stated.     The  Senate,  also,  has  its  rights 
and  its  duties.     It  is  the  right  of  the  Senate  and 
IlouKO  of  llepresentatives,  as  the  founder  of  the 
bank  corporation,  to  examine  into  the  regularity 
of  its  proceedings,  and  to  take  cognizance  of  the 
infractions  of  its  charter ;  and  this  right  has  be- 
come a  duty,  since  the  very  tribunal  selected  by 
the  charter  to  try  these  infractions  had  tried  this 
very  question,  and  that  without  the  formality  of 
a  Klin:  facias  or   the  presence  of  the  adverse 
pari  t  and  had  given  judgment  in  favor  of  the  cor- 
poriiiion;  a  decision  which  ho  (Mr.  B.]  woscom- 
pelled,bythestronge8tconvictionsofhisjudgnient, 
to  consider  both  as  extrajudicial  and  erroneous. ' 
"The  resolution^  continued  Mr.  B.,  which  1  am 
asking  leave  to  bnng  in,  expresses  its  own  ob- 
ject.   It  declares  against  the  legality  of  these 
onlcrs,  AS  a  cuunENcv.     It  is  the  currency  which 
I  arraign.    I  make  no  inquiry,  for  I  will  not  em- 
barrass my  subject  with  irrelevant  and  inmia- 
twial  inquiries— I   make  no  inquiry  into  the 
modes  of  contract  and  payment  which  are  per- 
mitted, 0.   not  permitted,  to  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  in  the  conduct  of  its  private  deal- 
ings and  individual  transactions.    My  business 
lies  with  the  cur?  -ncy ;  for,  between  public  cur- 
rency and  private  dealings,  the  charter  of  the 
bank  has  made  a  distinction,  and  that  founded 
in  the  nature  of  things,  as  broad  as  lines  can 
draw,  and  as  clear  as  words  can  express.    The 
currency  concerns  the  public;  and  the  soundness 
of  that  currency  is  taken  under  the  particular 
guardianship  of  the  charter ;  a  special  code  of  law 
IS  enacted  for  it :  private  dealings  concern  indi- 
viduals :  and  it  i«  for  individuals,  in  making  their 
bargains,  to  take  care  of  their  own  interests, 
llie  charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  has 
authorized,  but  not  regulated,  certain  private 
(Icalmgs  of  the  bank ;  it  is  full  and  explicit  upon 
the  regulation  of  currency.     Upon  this  distinc- 
tion I  take  my  stand.    1  establish  myself  upon 
tlie  broad  and  clear  distinction  which  reason 
makes,  and  the  charier  sanctions.    I  arraign  the 
currency !    I  eschew  all  inquiry  into  the  modes 
ot  making  bargains  for  the  sale  or  purchase  of 
bills  of  exchange,  buying  and  selling  gold  or  sil- 
ver bullion,  building  houses,  hiring  officers,  clerks 
and  servants,  purchasing  necessaries,  or  layinir 
in  supplies  of  fuel  and  stationery. 

'■  1.  I  object  to  it  because  it  authorizes  an  is- 
^ue  oj  currency  upon  construction.  The  issue 
01  currency,  sir,  was  the  great  and  main  business 
lor  which  the  bank  was  created,  and  which  it  is 
m  the  twelfth  article,  expressly  authorized  to 
pcrlorm ;  and  I  cannot  pay  so  poor  a  compliment 
to  tlie  understandings  of  the  eminent  men  who 
iiauKid  that  charter,  as  to  suppose  that  t'hey'left 
tne  main  business  of  the  bank  to  bo  found  by 
construction,  in  an  independent  phrase,  and  that 


phrase  to  be  found  but  once  in  the  whole  char- 
ter. I  cannot  compliment  their  understandings 
with  the  simposition  that,  after  having  author- 
ized and  defined  a  currency,  and  subjected  it  to 
numerous  restrictions,  they  had  left  open  tho 
door  to  tlie  issue  of  another  sort  of  currency, 
upon  construction,  which  should  supersede  tho 
kind  they  had  prescribed,  and  be  free  from  every 
restriction  to  which  the  prescribed  currency  was 
subject.  '' 

"  Let  us  recapitulate.    Let  us  sum  up  the  points 
of  incompatibility  between  tho  characteristics  of 
this  currency,  and  the  requisites  of  tho  charter : 
let  us  group  and  contrast  tho  frightful  features 
of  their  flagrant  illegality.     1.  Are  they  signed 
by  the  president  of  the  bank  and  his  principal 
cashier  1    They  are  not !    2.  Are  they  under 
the  corporate  seal  ?    Not  at  all  I    3.  Are  they 
drawn  in  the  name  of  the  corporation  ?    By  no 
nieans  I    4.  Are  they  subject  to  the  double  lim- 
itation of  time  and  amount  in  case  of  credit  ? 
They   are  not;   they   may  exceed  sixty   days' 
time,  and  be  less  than  one  hundred  dollars  !     5. 
Are  they  limited  to  the  minimum  size  of  five 
dollars  ?    Not  at  all .'    fi.  Are  they  subject  to 
the  supervision  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  ? 
Not  in  the  least  I    7.  The  prohibition  against 
suspending  specie  payments?    They  are  not 
subject  to  it!    8.  The  penalty  of  double  interest 
tor  delayed  payment  ?    Not  subject  to  it !     9. 
A\y  they  payable  where  issued  ?    Not  at  all, 
neither   by  their  own  terms,  nor  by  any  law 
applicable  to  them !     10.  Are  they  payable  at 
other  branches  ?    So  far  from  it,  that  they  were 
invented  to  avoid  such  payment !     11.  Are  they 
transferable    by  delivery?     No;    by   indors^ 
ment !     12.  Are  they  receivable  in  payment  of 
public  dues  ?    So  far  from  it,  that  they  are  twice 
excluded  from  such  payments  by  positive  enact- 
ments !     13.  Are  the  directors  liable  for  exces- 
sive issues  ?    Not  at  all !     14.  Has  the  holder  a 
right  to  sue  at  the  branch  which  issues  the  order  ? 
No,  sir,  he  has  a  right  to  go  to  Philadelphia,  and 
sue  the  directors  there  !  a  right  about  equivalent 
to  the  privilege  of  going  to  Mecca  to  sue  the 
successors  of  Mahomet  for  the  bones  of  the 
prophet !    Fourteen  points  of  contrariety  and 
diHerence.     Not  a  feature  of  the  charter  in  the 
faces  of  these  orders.     Every  mark  a  contrast: 
every  lineament  a  contradiction  ;  all  announcing 
or  rather  denouncing,  to  the  world,  the  positive 
fact  of  a  spurious  progeny ;  the  incontestable 
evidence  of  an  illegitimate  and  bastard  issue. 

"1  have  now,  Mr.  President,  brought  this 
branch  bank  currency  to  the  test  of  several 
provisions  in  the  charter,  not  all  of  them,  but  a 
few  which  are  vital  and  decisive.  The  currency 
fails  at  every  test;  and  upon  this  failure  1  pre- 
dicate an  argument  of  its  total  illegality.  Thus 
far  I  have  spoken  upon  the  charter,  and  have 
proved  that  if  this  currency  can  prevail,  that 
iv.strumeut,  vviih  all  its  restrictions  and  limita- 
tions, its  jealous,  prohibitory  constitution,  and 
multiplied  enactments  for  the  safety  of  the  public 
is  nothing  but  a  blank  piece  of  paper  in  the  hands' 


'  f 


im 


W 


222 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


of  the  bank.  I  will  now  have  recourno  to  another 
cUwH  of  arguments— a  class  extrinmc  to  tlio  char- 
ter, but  close  to  the  subject — indiKjK'nsable  to 
fair  examination,  and  directly  bearing  upon  the 
illegal  charncter  of  this  currency. 

"  1.  In  the  first  place,  I  must  insist  that  these 
ordt>rs  cannot  possibly  serve  for  currency,  be- 
cause they  are  subject  to  the  law  of  indorsable 
paper.  The  law  which  govcrnf  all  such  paper 
IS  too  universally  known  to  bo  enlarged  upon 
here.  Presentation  for  acceptance  and  payment, 
notice  of  default  in  either,  prompt  return  of  Jjc 
dishonored  paper;  and  all  this  with  rigorous 
pimctuality,  and  a  loss  of  recourse  for  the  slight- 
est delay  at  any  i)oint,  are  the  leading  features 
of  this  law.  Now  it  is  too  obvious  that  no  pajjcr 
subject  to  the  law  of  indorsement  can  answer 
the  purposes  of  circulation.  It  will  die  on  the 
hands  of  the  holders  while  passing  from  one  to 
another,  instead  of  going  to  the  place  of  pay- 
ment. Now  it  is  incontestable  that  these  orders 
arc  instruments  negotiable  by  indorsement,  and 
by  indorsement  alone.  Whether  issued  under 
the  charter,  or  under  the  general  laws  of  the 
land,  they  are  still  subject  to  the  law  of  indors- 
able  paper.  They  are  the  same  in  either  case 
aa  if  drawn  by  one  citizen  upon  another.  And 
this  is  a  point  which  I  mean  to  make  clear :  for 
many  worthy  people  believe  there  is  some  pe- 
culiar law  for  bank  paper,  which  takes  it  out  of 
the  operation  of  the  general  laws  of  the  land. 
Not  so  the  fuct.  The  twelfth  fundamental  ar- 
ticle of  the  bank  constitution  declares  that  the 
bills  or  notes  to  be  issued  by  the  bank  shall  be 
negotiable  in  the  same  manner  as  if  issued  by  a 
private  person;  that  is  to  say,  those  payable  to 
a  named  person  or  \n»  order,  hy  indorsement, 
in  like  manner  and  with  the  like  effect  as  foreign 
bills  of  exchange ;  and  those  made  payable  to 
bearer  shall  be  negotiable  by  delivery  alone  ; 
in  the  same  manner,  we  may  add,  as  a  silver 
dollar.  So  much  for  these  orders^  if  drawn  under 
the  charter ;  if  not  drawn  under  it,  they  are  then 
issued  under  the  general  law  of  the  land,  or  with- 
out any  law  at  all.  Taken  either  under  the  charter 
or  out  of  it,  it  comes  co  the  same  point,  namely, 
that  these  orders  are  subject  to  the  same  law  as  if 
drawn  by  one  private  person  upon  an-  i  her.  Tliis 
is  enough  to  fix  their  character,  and  to  condemn 
them  as  a  circulating  medium ;  it  is  enouph  for 
the  people  to  know ;  for  every  citizen  knows 
enough  of  law  to  estimate  the  legal  value  of  an 
unaccepted  order,  drawn  upon  a  man  five  hun- 
dred or  one  thousand  miles  off!  But  it  has  the 
word  bearer  on  the  back  !  Yes,  sir.  and  why 
not  on  the  face  as  easily  as  on  the  back  ?  Our 
school-time  acquaintance,  Mr.  President,  the 
gentleman  from  Cork,  with  his  coat  butt(jned 
behind,  had  a  sensible,  and,  I  will  add,  a  lawful 
reason  for  arraying  himself  in  that  gi-otesquc 
habiliment ;  but  what  reason  can  the  Ijank  have 
fnr  niiftin"'  bcarcr  on  the  back  of  the  order, 
where  it  has  no  effect  upon  its  negotiable  cha- 
racter, and  omitting  it  nn  the  face,  where  it 
Would  have  goverued  the  character,  and  secured 


to  the  holder  all  the  facilities  for  the  prompt 
and  easy  rcc;;  ,ery  of  the  contents  of  n  pamt 
transferable  by  mere  delivery  ?  The  only  uflect 
of  this  preposterous  or  cunning  indorsement 
must  l)c  to  bamlHwzle  the  ignorant— pnnlon  the 
low  word,  sir — to  bamboozle  the  ignorant  with 
the  Vielief  that  they  are  handling  a  currency 
which  may  at  any  time  be  collected  without 
proof,  trouble,  or  delay ;  while  in  reality  it  in  a 
currency  which  reserves  to  the  bank  all  the  Icpil 
defences  which  can  bo  set  up  to  prevent  the  re- 
covery of  a  pan;cl  of  old,  unaccepted,  unprcscntcd, 
unauthorized  bills  of  exchange. 

"  2.  I  take  a  second  exception  to  these  orders 
as  a  currency.    It  is  this,  tnat  being  once  paid, 
done   with.    A  note  transferable  bv 


they  are  done  with.  A  note  transferable  by 
delivery,  may  be  reissued,  and  its  payment  de- 
manded again,  and  so  on  for  ever.  IJut  a  bill  of 
exchange,  or  any  paper  subject  to  the  same  law 
with  a  bill  of  exchange,  is  incapable  of  reissue,  and 
ia  payable  but  once.  The  payment  once  made, 
extinguishes  the  debt ;  the  paper  which  evidenced 
it  is  dead  in  law,  and  cannot  be  resuscitated  by 
any  act  of  the  parties.  That  payment  can  be 
plead  in  bar  to  any  future  action.  This  law 
applies  to  checks  and  orders  as  well  as  to  bills 
of  exchange ;  it  applies  to  bank  checks  and  orders 
as  well  as  to  those  of  private  persons,  and  this 
allegation  alone  would  annihilate  every  preten- 
sion of  these  branch  bank  orders  to  the  character 
of  currency. 

"  The  bank  went  into  operation  with  the  be- 
ginning of  the  year  1817 ;  established  eighteen 
branches,  half  a  dozen  of  which  in  the  South 
and  West ;  issued  its  own  notes  freely,  and 
made  large  issues  of  notes  payable  at  all  these 
branches.  The  course  of  trade  curried  the 
branch  notes  of  the  South  and  West  to  the 
Northeast ;  and  nothing  in  the  course  of  trade 
brought  them  back  to  the  West.  They  were 
payable  in  all  demands  to  the  federal  govern- 
inent ;  merchants  in  Philadelphia,  New-Yorlc, 
and  Boston  received  ifiem  in  payment  of  goods, 
and  gave  them — not  back  again  in  payment  of 
Southern  and  Western  produce — but  to  the 
collectors  of  the  customs.  Become  the  money 
of  the  goverranent,  the  bank  had  to  treat  them 
as  caah.  The  fourteenth  section  of  the  charter 
made  them  receivable  in  all  payments  to  the 
government,  and  another  clause  required  the 
bank  to  transfer  the  moneys  of  the  government 
to  an}'  point  ordered ;  these  two  clause^'  (the 
transfer  clause  being  harmless  without  the  re- 
ceiving one  contained  in  the  fourteenth  section) 
laid  the  bank  under  the  obligation  to  cash  all 
the  notes  of  all  the  branches  wherever  present- 
ed ;  for,  if  she  did  not  do  it,  she  would  be  or- 
dered to  transfer  the  notes  to  the  place  where 
they  were  payable,  and  then  to  transfer  the  sil- 
ver to  the  place  where  it  was  wanted ;  and  both 
these  operations  she  had  to  perform  at  her  own 
ex!Hinse=  The  Southern  and  Western  branch 
notes  flowed  to  the  Northeast ;  the  gold  and 
silver  of  the  South  and  West  were  ordered  to 
follow  them ;  and,  in  a  little  while,  the  specie 


ANNO  1832.    ANDIIEW  JACKHON,  PRKSIDENT. 


of  the  South  an<l  West  wu  transferred  to  the 
Northcant ;  but  tho  notes  went  fustcr  on  horscH 
and  in  mail  Htn«cs  than  tho  silver  could  go  in 
wiuungi  and  tho  parent  liank  in  Philadelphia, 
and  the  branches  in  Now- York  and  Hoston,  ex- 
hausted by  the  double  operation  of  providing 
for  thoir  own,  and  for  S(juthem  and  Westenj 


223 


branch  notes  besides,  were  on  the  point  of  stot)- 
ping  payment  at  tho  end  of  two  years.    Mr. 
Cheven  then  camo  into   tho   presidency  }    ho 
stopped  tho  issue  of  Southern  and  Western 
branch  paper,  and  saved  the  bank  from  insol- 
vency!   Application  was  then  made  to  Con- 
gress to  repeal  the  fourteenth  section  of  the 
charter,  and  thus  relievo  the  bank  from  this 
obligation  to  cash  its  notes  every  where.     Cou- 
grexn  rojuml  to  do  so.     Application  was  made 
at  the  same  time  to  repeal  a  part  of  tho  twelfth 
fundamental  article  of  tho  constitution  of  tho 
bank,  for  the  purpose  of  relieving  the  president 
and  principal  casliier  of  tho  parent  bank  from 
the  labor  (,f  signing  the  five  and  ten,  dollar 
notes.    Cong-resa  re/used  that  application  also. 
And  here  every  thing  rested  while  Mr.  Chevcs 
contmued  president.    The  Southern  and  West- 
ern branches  ceased  to  do  business  as  banks  • 
no  bank  notes  or  bills  were  seen  but  those 
bearing  the  signatures  of  the  president  and  his 
principal  cashier,  and  none  of  these  payable  at 
Southern  and  Western  branches.    The  profits 
of  tho  stockholders  became  inconsiderable  and 
the  prospect  of  a  renewed  charter  was  lost  in 
theactual  viewof  the  inactivity  and  uselessnoss 
of  the  bank  m  tho  South  and  West.    Mr.  Chevcs 
retired.    He  withdrew  from  an  institution  ho 
had  saved  from  bankruptcy,  but  which  he  could 
not  render  useful  to  the  South  and  West ;  and 
then  ensued  a  set  of  operations  for  pnablinj,  fhe 
bank  to  do  the  things  which  Con-  had  re- 

fused to  do  for  it ;  that  is  to  say.  cu  avoid  the 
operation  of  the  fourteenth  se.tion,  and  so  much 
'  >  III"  twelfth  fundamental  artich.  lus  related  to 
the  signature  of  tho  notes  ami  bills  of  the  bank. 
Ihcse  operations  resulted  m  tho  invention  of 
the  6r«;«-A  bank  order.''.  Tnese  orders,  now 
flooding  the  country,  ci,nilating  as  notes,  and 
considered  every  wher.'  as  gold  and  silverVbc- 
ause  they  are  mluntarily  cashed  at  several 
branches,  and  a  oneously  received  %t  every 
£\S°-r''  '^"''tom-house),  have  given  to 
he  bank  its  present  apparent  prosperity,  its 
temporary  popularity,  and  its  delusive  cry  of  a 
sound  and  uniform  currency.    This  is  my  nar- 

hnH^/irf^PE^'i'^S  '''1^'  '*  ™"«*  be  admitted; 
the  proof.  '  °°^    ^^  '^  ""*  «"s*'^>n''d  by 

trn'i  LTkT "^  established,  Mr.  President,  as  I 
trust  and  believe,  the  truth  of  the  first  branch 
w\P  u^P'i"^'''"'  namely,  that  this  currency  of 
hranch  bank  orders  is  unauthorized  by  the 
charter,  and  illegal.  I  will  now  say  a  few  words 
m  support  of  the  second  branch  of  the  JZZ 
au^sed.'^'  *^'*  ''"'  currency  ought"  to  be  ^ 
"The  mere  fact  of  the  iUegality,  sir,  I  should  j 


hold  to  be  Bufflcunt  to  justify  this  suppression. 
I  In  a  country   of  laws,   the    laws    should   be 
i  obeyed.     No  private  individual  should  bo  al- 
j  lowed  to  trample  them  underfoot;  much  lens 
;  c  public  man,  or  p.blic  body ;  least  of  all,  a  great 
moneyed  corporati,)!!   wielding  above  one  hun- 
I  (Ired  millions  of  dollars  per  annui..,  and  Ixjldlv 
I  contending  with  tho  federal  government  for  tho 
!  r^**  «     .     P''*'™'  power— mo;-rw  is  unver  ! 
I  rho  Hank  of  tho  United  States  possesses  more 
[nmnejr  than  tho  federal  government;  and  the 
question  of  power  is  now  to  be  decide<i  between 
them.    That  question  is   wrapjted  up  in  the 
ca.se  before  you.    It  is  a  ca.«e  of  clear  conviction 
of  a  violation  of  tho  laws  by  this  great  moneyed 
corporation ;  and  that  not  of  a  single  statute, 
and  by  inadvertence,  and  in  a  small   matter 
which  concerns  but  few,  but  in  one  general, 
sweeping,  studied,  and  systematic  infraction  of 
a  whole  code  of  laws— of  an  entire  constitution 
made  for  its  sole  government  and  restraint— and 
the  pernicious  effects  of  which  enter  into  the 
revenues  of  tho  Union,  and  extend  themselves 
to  every  moneyed  transaction  between  man  and 
man.    This  is  the  case  of  violated  law  which 
stands  before  you;  and  if  it  goes  unpunished, 
then  do  I  say,  the  question  of  political  power  is 
decided  between  the  bank  and  the  government. 
1  he  question  of  supremacy  is  at  an  end.    Let 
there  be  no  more  talk  of  restrictions  or  limita- 
tion in  the  charter.    Grant  a  new  one.     Grant 
It  upon   the  spot.    Grant  it  without  words  ' 
Grant  it  m  blank  I  to  save  the  directors  from  tho 
labor  of  re-examination !  the  court  from  the  labor 
of  constructionf,  I  and  yourselves  from  the    eg- 
radation  of  oting  publicly  trampled  under  foot. 
"I  do  I  -sist,  Mr,  President,  that  V  is  currency 
ought  to  be  sujjpressed  for  illegality  alone  even 
if  no  pernicious  consequences  could  result  from 
Its  circulation.    But  pernicious  consequences  do 
result.     The  substituted  currency  is  not  the 
equivalent  of  the  branch   bank  notes,  whoso 
place        has  usurped:   if   is  inferior  to  those 
notes  in  vital  particulars,  and  to  the  manifest 
danger  and  l<jss  of  the  people. 

"  In  the  first  place,  these  branch  bank  orders 
are  not  payabh  in  the  States  in  which  they  are 
issued.    Look  at   them !    they  are  nominally 
payable  in  Philadelphia!     Look  at  the  law' 
It  gives  the  holder  no  right  to  demand  their 
contents  at  the  branch  bank,  until  the  order  has 
been  to  I'hiladclphia,  and  returned.    I  lay  no 
stress  upon  the  iasidious  circumstance  that  these 
orders  are  now  paid  at  the  branch  where  issued 
and  at  other  branches.    That  voluntary  delu- 
^  sive  payment  may  satisfy  those  who  are  willinjr 
I  to  swallow  a  gilded  hook;  it  may  satisfy  those 
who  are  willing  to  hold  their  property  at  the 
will  of  the  bank.     For  my  part,  I  want  law  for 
my  rights.    I   look  at  the  law,  to  the  leo^al 
rights  of^the  holder,  and  say  that  he  has  no 
'■=gi-t  to  denmiid  payment  at  the  branch  which 
issued  the  order.    The  present  custom  of  paying 
IS  voluntary,  not  compulsory ;  it  depends  upon 
tne  will  of  tho  bank,  not  upon  lawj  and  none 


224 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


but  tyrants  can  require,  or  slaves  submit  to,  a 
tenure  at  will.  These  orders,  even  admitting 
them  to  be  legal,  are  only  payable  in  Philadel- 
phia ;  and  to  demand  payment  there,  is  a  delu- 
sive and  impracticable  right.  For  the  body  of 
the  citizens  cannot  go  to  Philadelphia  to  get  the 
change  for  the  small  orders ;  merchants  will  not 
remit  them ;  they  would  as  soon  carry  up  the 
fires  of  hell  to  Philadelphia ;  for  the  bank  would 
consign  them  to  ruin  if  they  did.  These  orders 
are  for  the  frontiers ;  and  it  is  made  the  interest 
and  the  policy  of  merchants  to  leave  them  at 
home,  and  take  a  bill  of  exchange  at  a  nominal 
premium.  Brokers  alone  will  ever  carry  them, 
and  that  as  their  own,  after  buying  them  out  of 
the  hands  of  the  people  at  a  discount  fixed  by 
themselves. 

"  This  contrivance,  Mr.  President,  of  issuing 
bank  paper  at  one  place,  payable  at  another  and 
a  distant  place,  is  not  a  new  thing  under  the 
sun  ;  but  its  success,  if  it  succeeds  here,  will  be 
a  new  thing  in  the  history  of  banking.  This 
contrivance,  sir,  is  of  European  origin.  It  began 
in  Scotland  some  years  ago,  with  a  banker  in 
Aberdeen,  who  issued  promissory  notes  paya- 
ble in  London.  Then  the  Bank  of  Ireland  set 
her  branches  in  Sligo,  Cork,  and  Belfast,  at  the 
same  work ;  and  they  made  their  branch  notes 
payable  in  Dublin.  The  English  country  bankers 
took  the  hint,  and  put  out  their  notes  payable 
in  London.  The  mass  of  these  notes  were  of 
the  smaller  denominations,  one  or  two  pounds 
sterling,  corresponding  with  our  five  and  ten 
dollar  orders;  such  as  were  handled  by  the 
laboring  classes,  and  who  could  never  carry 
them  to  London  and  Dublin  *o  demand  their 
contents.  At  this  point  the  British  Imperial 
Parliament  took  cognizance  of  the  matter; 
treated  the  issue  of  such  notes  as  a  vicious 
practice,  violative  of  thu  very  first  idea  of  a 
sound  currency,  --.i  particularly  dangerous 
to  the  laboring  classes.  The  parliament  sup- 
pressed the  practice.  This  all  happened  in  the 
year  1826;  and  now  this  practice,  thus  sup- 
pressed in  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  is 
m  full  operation  in  our  America!  and  the  di- 
rectors of  the  Bunk  of  the  United  States  are 
celebrated,  as  the  greatest  of  financiers,  for 
picking  up  an  illegal  practice  of  Scottish  origin, 
and  putting  it  into  operation  in  the  United 
States,  and  that,  too,  in  the  very  year  in  which 
it  was  suppressed  in  Great  Britain ! " 

Leave  was  not  given  to  introduce  the  joint 
resolution.  The  friends  of  the  bank  being  a 
majority  in  the  Senate,  refused  the  motion,  but 
felt  themselves  bound  to  make  defence  for  a 
currency  so  illegal  and  vicious.  Further  discus- 
sion was  stopped  for  that  time ;  but  afterwards, 
on  the  qiicstion  of  the  rechartor,  the  illegality 
of  this  kind  of  currency  was  fully  established, 
and  a  clause  put  into  the  new  charter  to  sup- 


press it.  The  veto  message  put  an  end  to  the 
\  charter,  and  for  the  necessity  of  the  remedy  in 
j  that  quarter ;  but  the  practice  has  been  taken 
I  up  by  local  institutions  and  private  bankers  in 

the  States,  and  become  an  abuse  which  requires 

extirpation. 


CHAPTER   LXI. 

ERROR  OF  M0N9.  DE  TOCQUEVILLE  IN  RELATION 
TO  THE  BANK  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  THE 
PRESIDENT,  AND  THE  PEO^'LE. 

The  first  message  of  President  Jackson,  de- 
livered at  the  commencement  of  the  session  of 
1829-30,  confirmed  the  hopes  which  the  democ- 
racy had  placed  in  him.  It  was  a  message  of 
the  Jeflersonian  school,  and  re-established  the 
land-marks  of  party,  as  parties  were  when  found- 
ed on  principle.  Its  saliout  point  was  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States,  and  the  non-renewal  of  its 
charter.  He  was  opposed  to  the  renewal,  both 
on  grounds  of  constitutionality  and  expediency; 
and  took  this  early  opportunity  of  so  declaring, 
both  for  the  information  of  the  people,  and  of  the 
institution,  that  each  might  know  what  they  had 
to  rely  upon  with  respect  to  him.    He  said: 

"  The  charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
expires  in  1836,  and  its  stockholders  will  prob- 
ably apply  for  a  renewal  of  their  privileges.  In 
order  to  avoid  the  evils  resulting  from  precipi- 
tancy in  a  measure  involving  such  important 
principles,  and  such  deep  pecuniary  interests,  I 
feel  that  I  cannot,  in  justice  to  the  parties  inter- 
ested, too  soon  present  it  to  the  deliberate  con- 
sideration of  the  legislature  and  the  people.  Both 
the  constitutionality  and  the  expediency  of  tlie 
law  creating  this  bank  are  well  questioned  by  a 
large  portion  of  our  fellow-citizens ;  and  it  must 
be  admitted  by  all  that  it  has  failed  in  tiie  great 
end  of  establishing  a  uniform  and  sound  cur- 
rency." 

This  passage  was  the  grand  feature  of  the  mes- 
sage, rising  above  precedent  and  judicial  decisions, 
going  back  to  the  constitution  and  the  founda' 
tion  of  party  on  principle ;  and  risking  a  contest 
at  the  commencement  of  his  administration, 
which  a  mere  politician  would  have  putofftotlic 
last.  The  Supreme  Court  had  decided  in  favor 
of  the  constitutionality  of  the  institution;  a  de- 
mocratic Congress,  in  cliartering  a  second  bank, 
had  yielded  the  question,  both  of  constitutionality 


ANNO  1832.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


and  expediency.    Mr.  Madison,  in  signing  the 
banlc  charter  in  181G,  yielded  to  the  authorities 
without  surrendering  his  convictions.    But  the 
effect  was  the  same  in  behalf  of  the  institution, 
and  against  the  constitution,  and  against  the  in- 
tegrity of  party  founded  on  principle.    It  threw 
down  the  greatest  landmark  of  party,  and  yield- 
ed a  power  of  construction  which  nullified  the 
limitations  of  the  constitution,  and  left  Congress 
at  liberty  to  pass  any  law  which  it  deemed  ne- 
cessary to  carry  into  effect  any  granted  power. 
The  whole  argument  for  the  bank  turiied  uiwn 
the  word  "  necessary  "  at  the  end  of  the  enu- 
merated powers  granted  to  Congress;  and  gave 
rise  to  the   first  great  division  of  parties  in 
Washington's  time— the  federal  party  being  for 
the  construction  which  would  authorize  a  na- 
tional hank ;  the  democratic  party  (republican 
as  then  called,)  being  against  it. 

It  was  not  merely  the  bank  which  the  democ- 
racy opposed,  but  the  latitudinarian  construc- 
tion which  would  authorize  it,  and  which  would 
enable  Congress  to  substitute  its  own  will  in 
other  cases  for  the  words  of  the  constitution,  and 
do  what  it  pleased  under  the  plea  of  "necessary  " 
—a  plea  under  which  they  would  be  left  as  much 
to  their  own  will  as  under  the  "general  welfare" 
clause.    It  was  the  turning  point  between  a 
strong  and  splendid  government  on  one  side,  do- 
ing what  it  pleased,   and  a  plain  economical 
government  on  the  other,  limited  by  a  written 
constititution.    The  construction  was  the  main 
point,  because  it  made  a  gap  in  the  constitution 
through  which  Congress  could  pass  any  other 
measures  which  it  dimed  to  be  "necessary:" 
still  there  were  great  objections  to  the  bank  it- 
self.   Experience  had  shown  such  an  institution 
to  be  a  political  machine,  adverse  to  free  govern- 
ment, mingling  in  the  elections  and  legislation  of 
the  country,  corrupting  the  press;  and  exerting 
its  influence  in  the  only  way  known  to  the  mo- 
neyed power— by  corruption.     General   Jack- 
sou's  objections  reached  both  heads  of  the  case 
—the  unconstitutionality  of  the  bank,  and  its  in- 
expediency.   It  was  a  return  to  the  Jeffersonian 
and  Hamiltonian  times  of  the  early  administra- 
tion of  General  Washington,  and  went  to  the 
words  of  the  constitution,  and  not  to  the  inter- 
pretations of  its  administrators,  for  its  meaning. 
Sucli  a  message,  from  such  a  man— a  man  not 
apt  to  look  back  when  ho  had  set  his  face  for- 
ward-electrified the  democratic  spirit  of  the 

Vol.  I.— 15 


225 


country.     The  old  democracy  felt  as  if  they  v.  ere 
to  sec  the  constitution  restored  before  they  died 
—the  young,  as  if  they  were  summoned  to  the  re- 
construction of  the  work  of  their  fathers.     It  was 
evident  that  a  great  contest  was  coming  on,  and 
the  odds  entirely  against  the  President.     On  the 
one  side,  the  undivided  phalanx  of  the  federal 
party  (for  they  had  not  then  taken  the  name  of 
whig);   a  large  part  of  the  democratic  party, 
yielding  to  precedent  and  judicial  decision ;  th«» 
bank  itself,  with  its  colossal  money  power — ith 
arms  in  every  State  by  means  of  branches— its 
power  over  the  State  banks— its  power  over  the 
business    community— over    public   men    who 
should  become  its  debtors  or  retiiiners- its  or- 
ganization under  a  single  head,  issuing  its  orders 
in  secret,  to  be  obeyed  in  all  places  and  by  all 
subordinates  at  the  same  moment.    Such  was  the 
formidable  array  on  one  side:  on  the  other  side 
a  divided  democratic  party,  disheartened  by  divi- 
sion, with  nothing  to  rely  upon  but  the  goodness 
of  their  cause,  the  prestige  of  Jackson's  name, 
and  the  presidential  power;— good  against  any 
thing  less  than  two-thirds  of  Congress  on  the  final 
question  of  the  re-charter ;  but  the  risk  to  run  of 
his  non-election  before  the  final  question  came  on. 
Under  such  circumstances  it  required  a  strong 
sense  of  duty  in  the  new  President  to  commence 
his  career  by  risking  such  a  contest;  but  he  be- 
lieved the  institution  to  be  unconstitutional  and 
dangerous,  and  that  it  ought  to  cease  to  exist; 
and  there  was  a  clause  in  the  constitution— that 
constitution  which  he  had  sworn  to  support— 
which  commanded  him  to  recommend  to  Con- 
gress, for  its  consideration,  such  measures  as  he 
should  deem  expedient  and  proper.     Under  this 
sense  of  duty,  and  under  the  obligation  of  this 
oath.  President  Jackson  had  recommended  to 
Congress  the  non-renewal  of  the  bank  charter 
and  the  substitution  of  a  different  fiscal  agent 
for  the  operations  of  the  government— if  any 
such  agent  was  required.     And  with  his  accus- 
tomed frankness,  and  the  fairness  of  a  man  who 
has  nothing  but  the  public  good  in  view,  and 
with  a  disregard  of  self   which   permits    no 
personal  consideration  to  stand   in   the   way 
of  a  discharge  of  a  public  duty,  he  made  there- 
commendation  six  years  before  the  expiration 
of  the  charter,  and  in  the  first  message  of  his 
first  term ;  thereby  taking  upon  his  hands  such 
an  enemy  as  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  at 
the  very  commencemeat  of  his  administratioa 


lisr 


226 


THIRTY  TEARS'  VIEW. 


That  such  a  recommendation  against  such  an  in- 
stitution should  bring  upon  the  President  and 
his  supporters,  violent  attacks,  both  personal 
and  political,  with  arraignment  of  motives  as 
well  as  of  reasons,  was  naturally  to  be  expected; 
and  that  expectation  was  by  no  means  disap- 
pointed. Both  he  and  they,  during  the  seven 
years  that  the  bank  contest  (in  different  forms) 
prevailed,  received  from  it — from  the  newspaper 
and  periodical  press  in  its  interest,  and  from  the 
public  speakers  in  its  favor  of  every  grade — an 
accumulation  of  obloquy,  and  even  of  accusation, 
only  lavished  upon  the  oppressors  and  plunder- 
ers of  nations — a  Vcrres,  or  a  Hastings.  This 
was  natural  in  such  an  institution.  But  Presi- 
dent Jackson  and  his  friends  had  a  right  to  ex- 
pect fair  treatment  from  history — from  disinter- 
ested history — which  should  aspire  to  truth,  and 
which  has  no  right  to  be  ignorant  or  careless. 
He  and  they  had  a  right  to  expect  justice  from 
such  history ;  but  this  is  what  they  have  not 
received.  A  writer,  whose  book  takes  him  out 
of  that  class  of  European  travellers  who  requite 
the  hospitality  of  Americans  by  disparagement 
of  their  institutions,  their  country,  and  their 
character — one  whose  general  intelligence  and 
candor  entitle  his  errors  to  the  honor  of  correc- 
tion— in  brief,  M.  do  Tocqueville — writes  thus  of 
President  Jackson  and  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States : 

"  When  the  President  attacked  the  bank,  the 
country  was  excited  and  parties  were  formed  5 
the  well-informed  classes  rallied  round  the  bank, 
the  common  people  round  the  President.  But 
it  must  not  be  imagined  that  the  people  had 
formed  a  rational  opinion  upon  a  question  which 
offers  so  many  difficulties  to  the  most  experienced 
statesman.  The  bank  is  a  great  establishment, 
which  enjoys  an  independent  existence,  and  the 
people,  accustomed  to  make  and  unmake  what- 
ever it  pleases,  is  startled  to  meet  with  this 
obstacle  to  its  authority.  In  the  midst  of  the 
perpetual  fluctuation  of  sori^.ty,  the  comminiity 
is  initated  by  po  pormancpt  an  institution,  and 
is  led  to  attack  in  order  to  see  whether  it  can  be 
shaken  or  controlled,  liJce  all  other  institutions 
of  the  country." — (Chapter  10.) 

Of  this  paragraph,  so  derogatory  to  President 
Jackson  and  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
every  word  is  an  error.  Where  a  fact  is  alleged, 
it  is  an  error ;  where  an  opinion  is  expressed,  it 
\p.  an  error ;  where  a  theory  is  i*ivented  it  is 
fanciful  and  visionary.  President  Jackson  did 
.not  attack  the  bank ;  the  bank  attacked  him,  and 


for  political  as  well  as  pecuniary  motives ;  and 
under  the  lead  of  politicians.  When  General 
Jackson,  in  his  first  message,  of  December,  1829 
expressed  his  opinion  to  Congress  against  the 
renewal  of  the  bank's  charter,  he  attacked  no 
right  or  interest  which  the  bank  possessed.  It 
was  an  institution  of  limited  existence,  enjoying 
great  privileges, — among  others  a  monopoly  of 
national  banking,  and  had  no  right  to  any  pro- 
longation of  existence  or  privilege  after  the 
termination  of  its  charter — so  far  from  it  if 
there  wal  to  be  another  bank,  the  doctrine  of 
equal  rights  and  no  monopolies  or  perpetuities 
required  it  to  be  thrown  open  to  the  free  conii«;- 
tition  of  all  the  citizens.  The  reasons  given  by 
the  President  were  no  attack  upon  the  bank. 
He  impugned  neither  tne  integrity  nor  the  skill 
of  the  institution,  but  repeated  the  objections  of 
the  political  school  to  which  he  belonged,  and 
which  were  as  old  as  Mr.  Jefferson's  cabinet 
opinion  to  President  Washington,  in  the  year 
1791,  and  Mr.  Madison's  great  speech  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  in  the  same  year.  He, 
therefore,  made  no  attack  upon  the  bank,  either 
upon  its  existence,  its  character,  or  any  one  of 
its  rights.  On  the  other  hand,  the  bank  did 
attack  President  Jackson,  under  the  lead  of 
politicians,  and  for  the  purpose  of  breaking  him 
down.  The  facts  were  these :  President  Jackson 
had  communicated  his  opinion  to  Congress  in 
December,  1829,  against  the  renewal  of  the 
charter ;  near  three  years  afterwards,  on  the 
9th  of  January,  1832,  while  the  charter  had  yet 
above  three  years  to  run,  and  a  new  Congress 
to  be  elected  before  its  expiration,  and  the  presi- 
dential election  impending — (General  Jackson 
and  Mr.  Clay  the  candidates) — the  memorial  of 
the  president  and  directors  of  the  bank  was 
suddenly  presented  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  for  the  renewal  of  its  charter. 

Now,  how  came  that  memorial  to  be  presented 
at  a  time  so  inopportune?  so  preniatu.c.  so 
inevitably  mixing  itself  with  the  presidential 
election,  and  so  encroaching  upon  the  rights  of 
the  people,  in  snatching  the  question  out  of  their 
hands,  and  having  it  decided  by  a  Congress  not 
elected  for  the  purpose — and  to  the  usurpation 
of  the  rights  of  the  Congress  elected  for  the 
purpose  ?  How  came  all  these  anomalies  ?  all 
these  violations  of  rl^ht.  decency  and  propripty  ? 
They  came  thus^  the  bank  and  its  leading  anti- 
Jackson  friends  believed  that  the  institution 


ANNO  1832,    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


was  stronger  than  the  President — that  it  could 
beat  him  in  the  election— that  it  could  beat  him 
in  Congress  (as  it  then  stood),  and  carry  the 
charter, — driving  him  upon  the  veto  power,  and 
rendering  him  odious  if  he  used  it,  and  disgracing 
him  if  (after  what  he  had  said)  he  did  not. 
This  was  the  opinion  of  the  leading  politicians 
friendly  to  the  bank,  and  inimical  to  the  Presi- 
dent.   But  the  bank  had  a  class  of  friends  in 
Congress  also  friendly  to  Gen.   Jackson ;  and 
between  these  two  classes  there  was  vehement 
opposition  of  opinion  on  the  point  of  moving 
for  the  new  charter.    It  was  found  impossible, 
in  communications  between  Washington  and 
Philadelphia,  then  slow  and  uncertain,  in  stage 
coach  conveyances,  over  miry  roads  and  frozen 
waters,  to  come  to  conclusions  on  the  difH- 
cult  point.    Mr.  Biddle  and  the  directors  were 
in  doubt,  for  it  would  not  do  to  move  in  the 
matter,  unless  all  the  friends  of  the  bank  in 
Congress  acted  together.    In  this  state  of  un- 
certainty. General  Cadwallader,  of  Philadelphia, 
Aiend  and  confidant  of  Mr.   Biddle,  and  his 
usual  env       -  all  the  delicate  bank  negotiations 
or  trou'  ...     •  : ,  sent  to  Washington  to  obtain  a 
result ;  and  the  union   of  both  wings  of  the 
'>ank  party  in  favor  of  the  desired  movement, 
'le  came,  and  the  mode  of  operation  was  through 
*he  machinery  of  caucus — that  contrivance  by 
Trhich  a  few  govern  many.    The  two  wings 
oeing  of  different  politics,  sat  separately,  one 
headed  by  Mr.  Clay,  the  other  by  Gen.  Samuel 
Smith,  of  Maryland.     The  two  caucuses  dis- 
agreed, but  the  democratic  being  the  smaller, 
and  Jlr.  Clay's  strong  will  dominating  the  other, 
the  resolution  was  taken  to  proceed,  and  all 
bound  to  go  together, 

I  had  a  friend  in  one  of  these  councils  who 
informed  me  regularly  of  the  progress  made,  and 
eventually  that  the  point  was  carried  for  the 
bank— that  General  Cadwallader  had  returned 
with  the  news,  and  with  injunctions  to  have  the 
memorial  immediately  at  Washington,  and  by  a 
given  day.  The  day  arrived,  but  not  the  me- 
morial, and  my  friend  came  to  inform  me  the 
reason  why ;  which  was,  that  the  stage  had  got 
oveiturned  in  the  bad  roads  and  crippled  Gen. 
Cadwallader  in  the  shoulder,  and  detained  him; 
but  thai  the  delav  would  onlv  hn  of  t^-n  d«^«i  • 
and  then  the  memorial  would  certainly  arrive. 
It  did  so  ;  and  on  Monday,  the  9th  of  January, 
1832,  was  presented  in  the  Senate  by  Mr,  Dallas^ 


227 


a  senator  from  Pennsylvania,  and  resident  of 
Philadelphia,  where  the  bank  was  established. 
Mr.  Dallas  was  democratic,  and  the  friend  of 
General  Jackson,  and  on  presenting  the  me- 
morial, as  good  as  told  all  that  I  have  now 
jvrittcn,  bating  only  personal  particulars.  He 
said: 

"  That  being  requested  to  present  this  docu- 
ment to  the  Senate,  praying  for  a  renewal  of  the 
existing  charter  of  the  bank,  he  begged  to  be 
indulged  in  making  a  few  explanatory  remarks. 
With  unhesitating  frankness  he  wished  it  to  be 
understood  by  the  Senate,  by  the  good  common- 
wealth which  it  was  alike  his  duty  and  his  prid«» 
to  represent  with  fidelity  on  that  floor,  and  by 
the  people  generally,  that  this  application,  at  this 
time,  had  been  discouraged  by  him.  Actuated 
mainly,  if  not  exclusively,  by  a  desire  to  preserve 
to  the  nation  the  practical  benefits  of  the  insti- 
tution, the  expediency  of  bringing  it  forward 
thus  early  in  the  term  of  its  incorporation,  during 
a  popular  representation  in  Congress  which  must 
cea.se  to  exist  some  years  before  that  term  ex- 
pires, and  on  the  eve  of  all  the  excitement  incident 
to  a  great  political  movement,  struck  his  mind 
as  more  than  doubtful.  He  felt  deep  solicitude 
and  apprehension  lest,  in  the  progress  of  inquiry, 
and  in  the  development  of  views,  under  present 
circumstances,  it  might  be  drawn  into  real  or 
imaginary  conflict  with  some  higher,  some  more 
favorite,  some  more  in\mediate  wish  or  purpose 
of  the  American  people ;  and  from  such  a  conflict 
what  --  e  friend  of  this  useful  establishment 
woL  T  .:  ^rive  to  save  or  rescue  it,  by  at  least 
a  tem^-jrary  forbearance  or  delay  ?  " 


This  was  the  language  of  Mr.  Dallas,  and  it 
was  equivalent  to  a  protest  from  a  well-wisher 
of  the  bank  against  the  perils  and  improprieties 
of  its  open  plunge  into  the  presidential  canvass, 
for  the  purpose  of  defeating  General  Jackson 
and  electing  a  friend  of  its  own.  The  prudential 
counsels  of  such  men  as  Mr.  Dallas  did  not 
prevail;  political  counsels  governed;  the  bank 
charter  was  pushed— was  carried  through  both 
Houses  of  Congress — dared  the  veto  of  Jackson 
— received  it — roused  the  people — and  the  bank 
and  all  i  ts  friends  were  crushed.  Then  it  affected 
to  have  been  attacked  by  Jackson ;  and  Mods. 
de  Tocqueville  has  carried  that  fiction  into  his- 
tory, with  all  the  imaginary  reasons  for  a 
groundless  accusation,  which  the  bank  had  in- 
vented. 

The  remainder  of  this  quotation  fVom  Mens, 
de  Tocqueville  is  profoundly  erroneous,  and  de- 
serves to  be  exposed,  to  prevent  the  mischiefs 
which  his  book  might  do  in  Europe,  and  even  in 


:  I 


'1  t 


228 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


fti< 


^^H 

flll 

America,  among  that  cln-ss  of  our  people  who 
look  to  Europoan  writers  for  information  upon 
their  own  country.  lie  speaks  of  the  well- 
informed  classes  who  rallied  round  the  bank ; 
and  the  common  people  who  had  formed  no  ra- 
tional opinion  upon  the  subject,  and  who  joined 
General  Jackson.  Certainly  the  great  business 
community,  with  few  exceptions,  comprising 
wealth,  ability  and  education,  went  for  the  bank, 
and  the  masses  for  Gv,r.eral  Jackson  ;  but  which 
had  formed  th")  rational  opinion  is  seen  by  the 
event.  The  "  well-informed  "  classes  have  bowed 
not  merely  to  the  decision,  but  to  the  intelligence 
of  the  masses.  They  have  adopted  their  opin- 
ion of  the  institution — condemned  it — repudiated 
it  as  an  "  obsolete  idea ; "  and  of  all  its  former 
advocates,  not  one  exists  now.  All  have  yield- 
ed to  that  instinctive  sagacity  of  the  people, 
which  is  an  overmatch  for  book-learning ;  and 
which  being  the  result  of  common  sense,  is 
usually  right ;  and  being  disinterested,  is  always 
lionest.  I  adduce  this  instance — a  grand  na- 
tional one — of  the  succumbing  of  the  well-in- 
formed classes  to  the  instinctive  sagacity  of  the 
people,  not  merely  to  correct  Mons.  de  Tocque- 
ville,  but  for  the  higher  purpose  of  showing  the 
capacity  of  the  people  for  self-government.  The 
rest  of  the  quotation,  "  the  independent  exist- 
ence— the  people  accustomed  to  make  and  un- 
make— startled  at  this  obstacle — irritated  at  a 
permanent  institution — attack  in  order  to  shake 
and  control ; "  all  this  is  fancy,  or  as  the  old 
English  wrote  it,  fantasy — enlivened  by  French 
vivacity  into  witty  theory,  as  fallacious  as  witty. 
I  could  wish  I  were  done  with  quotations 
from  Mons.  de  Tocqueville  on  this  subject ;  but 
he  forces  me  to  make  another  extract  from  his 
book,  and  it  is  found  in  his  chapter  18,  thus : 

"  The  slightest  observation  enables  us  to  ap- 
preciate the  advantages  which  the  country  de- 
rives from  the  bank.  Its  notes  are  taken  on  the 
borders  of  the  desert  for  the  same  value  as  in 
Philadelphia.  It  is  nevertheless  the  object  of 
great  animosity.  Its  directors  have  proclaimed 
their  hostility  to  the  President,  and  are  accused, 
not  without  some  show  of  probability,  of  having 
abused  their  influence  to  thwart  his  election. 
The  President,  therefore,  attacks  the  establish- 
ment with  all  the  warmth  of  personal  enmity  ; 
and  he  is  encouraged  in  the  pursuit  of  his  re- 
venge by  the  conviction  that  he  is  supported  by 
the  secret  propensities  of  the  majority,  It  al- 
ways holds  a  great  number  of  the  notes  issued 
by  the  provincial  banks,  which  it  can  at  any 
time  obhge  them  to  convert  into  cash.    It  ha^ 


itself  nothing  to  fear  from  a  similar  demand  as 
the  extent  of  its  resources  enables  it  to  meet  all 
claims.  But  the  existence  of  the  provincial 
banks  is  thus  threatened,  and  their  operations 
are  restricted,  since  they  are  only  able  to  issue 
a  quantity  of  notes  duly  proportioned  to  their 
capital.  They  submit  with  impatience  to  this 
salutary  control.  The  newspapers  which  they 
have  bought  over,  and  the  President,  whose  in- 
terest renders  him  their  instrument,  attack  the 
bank  with  the  greatest  vehemence.  They  rouse 
the  local  passions  and  the  blind  democratic  in- 
stinct of  the  country  to  aid  in  their  cause  ;  and 
they  assert  that  the  bank  directors  form  a  per- 
manent aristocratic  body,  whose  influence  must 
ultimately  be  felt  in  the  government,  and  must 
affect  those  principles  of  equality — upon  wliicli 
society  rests  in  America." 

Now,  while  Mons.  de  Tocqueville  was  arrang- 
ing all  this  fine  encomium  upon  the  bank,  and 
all  this  censure  upon  its  adversaries,  the  whole 
of  which  is  nothing  but  a  French  translation  of 
the  bank  publications  of  the  d.ay,  for  itself  and 
against  President  Jackson — during  all  this  time 
there  was  a  process  going  on  in  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States,  by  which  it  was  proved  that 
the  bank  was  then  insolvent,  and  living  from 
day  to  day  upon  expedients ;  and  getting  hold  of 
property  and  money  by  contrivances  'vhich  the 
law  would  qualify  as  swindling — plundering  its 
own  stockholders — and  bribing  individuals,  in- 
stitutions, and  members  of  legislative  bodies, 
wherever  it  could  be  done.  Those  fine  notes, 
of  which  he  speaks,  were  then  without  solid 
value.  The  salutary  restraint  attributed  to  its 
control  over  local  banks  was  soon  exempliiied  in 
its  forcing  many  of  them  into  complicity  in  its 
crimes,  and  all  into  two  general  suspen,'«ions  of 
specie  payments,  headed  by  itself.  Its  solidity 
and  its  honor  were  soon  shown  in  open  bank- 
ruptcy—  in  the  dishonor  of  its  notes — the  vio- 
lation of  sacred  deposits — the  disappearance 
of  its  capital — the  destruction  of  institutions 
connected  with  it — the  extinction  of  fifty-six 
millions  of  capital  (its  own,  and  that  of  others 
drawn  into  its  vortex) ; — and  the  ruin  c 
damage  of  families,  both  foreign  and  American, 
who  had  been  induced  by  its  name,  and  by  its 
delusive  exhibitions  of  credit,  to  invest  their 
money  in  its  stock.  Placing  the  opposition  of 
President  Jackson  to  such  an  institution  to  tiie 
account  of  base  and  personal  motives — to  feelings 

I  of  revenge  because  he  had  been  unable  to  seduce 
it  into  his  support — is  an  error  of  fact  manifested 

I  by  all  the  history  of  the  case ;  to  say  nothing 


'III 


E(   :. 


ANNO  1832.     ANDREW  JACKSON.  PRESIDENT. 


229 


of  his  own  personal  character.    He  was  a  senator 
in  Congress  during  the  existence  of  the  first 
national    bank,  and  was  against  it;  and  on  the 
same  groands  of  unconstitutionality  and  of  inex- 
pediency.   He  delivered  his  opinion  against  this 
second  one  before  it  had  manifested  any  hostility 
to  him.    His  first  opposition  was  abstract — 
njainst  the  institution— without  reference  to  its 
conduct ;  he  knew  nothing  against  it  then,  and 
neither  said,  or  insinuated  any  thing  against  it. 
Subsequently,  when  misconduct  was  discovered 
he  charged  it ;  and  openly  and  responsibly. 
Equally  unfounded  is  the  insinuation  in  another 
place,  of  subserviency  to  local  banks.    He,  the 
instrument  of  local  banks !  he  who  could  not  be 
made  the  friend,  even,  of  the  great  bank  itself; 
who  was  all  his  life  a  hard  money  man— an 
opposer  of  all  banks— the  denouncer  of  delin- 
quent banks  in  his  own  State ;  who,  with  one 
stroke  of  his  pen,  in  the  recess  of  Congress,  and 
against  its  will,  in  the  summer  of  1836,  struck 
all  their  notes  from  the  list  of  land-office  pay- 
ments !  and  whose  last  message  to  Congress  and 
in  his  farewell  address  to  the  people,  admonished 
them  earnestly  and  affectionately  against  the 
whole  system  of  paper  money— the  evils  of 
which  he  feelingly  described  as  falling  heaviest 
upon  the  most  meritorious   part  of   the  com- 
munity, and  the  part  least  able  to  bear  them— 
the  productive  classes. 

The  object  of  this  chapter  is  to  correct  this 
error  of  Mons.  de  Tocqueville,  and  to  vindicate 
history,  and  to  do  justice  to  General  Jackson 
and  the  democracy :  and  my  task  ir,  easy.   Events 
have  done  it  for  me— have  answered  every  ques- 
tion on  which  the  bank  controversy  depended, 
and  have  nullified  every  argument  in  favor  of 
the  bank— and  that  both  with,  and  without  ref- 
erence to  its  misconduct.    As  an  institution,  it 
has  been  proved  to  be  «  unnecessary,"  and  the 
couiu.y  is  found  to  do  infinitely  better  without 
it  than  with  it.     During  the  twenty  years  of  its 
existence  there  was  pecuniary  distress  in  the 
country— periodical  returns  of  expansion  and 
contraction,  deranged  currency,  ruined  exchanges, 
panics  and  convulsions  in  the  money  market.   In 
the  almost  twenty  years  which  have  elapsed 
smce,  these  calamitous  words  have  never  been 
heard:  and  the  contrast  of  the  two  periods  will 
make  the  condemnation  of  one,  and  the  eulogy 
of  the  other.    There  was  no  gold  during  the 
existence  of  the  bank :  there  has  been  an  ample 


gold  currency  over  since,  and  that  before  we  got 
California.    There  were  general  suspensions  o! 
specie  payments  during  its  time ;  and  none  since. 
Exchanges  were  deranged  during  its  existence : 
they  have  been  regular  since  its  death .  Labor  and 
property  lived  the  life  of  "up  and  down"— high 
price  one  day,  no  price   another   day— while 
the  bank  ruled :  both  have  been  "  up  "  all  the 
time,  since  it  has  been  gone.    We  have  had  a 
war    since— a  foreign    war—which    tries   the 
strength  of  financial  systems  in  all  countries ; 
and  have  gone  through  this  war  not  only  with- 
out a  financial  crisis,  but  with  a  financial  tri- 
umph—the public  securities  remaining  above  par 
the  whole  time  ;  and  the  government  paying  to 
its  war  debt  creditors  a  reward  of  twenty  dol- 
lars upon   the  hundred  to  get  them  to  accept 
their  pay  before  it  is  due ;  and  in  this  shining 
side  of  the  contra.st,  experience  has  invalidated 
the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  by  expunging 
tho  sole  argument  upon  which  the   decision 
rested.     "  Necessity,"  "  necessary  to  carry  into 
eifect  the  granted  powers,"  was  tho  decision  of 
the  court.    Not  so,  the  voice  of  experience.    That 
has  proved  such  an  institution  to  be  unnecessary. 
Every  granted  power,  and  some  not  granted, 
have  been  carried  into  effect  since  the  extinction 
of  the  national  bank,  and  since  the  substitution 
of  the  gold  currency  and  the  independent  treasu- 
ry ;  and  all  with  triumphant  success— the  war 
power  above  all,  and  most  successfully  txercised 
of  all.    And  this  sole  foundation  for  the  court's 
decision  in  favor  of  tho  constitutionality  of  the 
bauk  being  removed,  the  decision  itself  van- 
ishes—disappears— "  like  the  baseless  fabric  of  a 
vision,  leaving  not  a  wreck  behind."    But  there 
will  be  a  time  hereafter  for  the  celebration  of 
this  victory  of  the  constitution  over  the  Supreme 
Court— the  only  object  of  this  chapter  being  to 
vindicate  General  Jackson  and  the  people  from 
the  errors  of  Mons.  de  Tocqueville  in  relation  to 
them  and  the  bank :  which  is  done. 


CHAPTER    LXII. 

EXPENSES  OF  THE  QOVEENMENT, 


Economy  in  the  government  expenditures  was 
a  cardinal  feature  in  the  democratic  policy,  and 
every  increase  of  expense  was  closely  scrutinizsd 


230 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


by  them,  and  brought  to  the  test  of  the  clearest 
nBcessity.  Some  increase  was  incident  to  the 
gi'owing  condition  of  the  country  ;  but  every 
item  beyond  the  exigencies  of  that  growth  was 
subjected  to  severe  investigation  and  determined 
opposition.  In  the  execution  of  this  policy  the 
expenses  proper  of  the  government — those  inci- 
dent to  working  its  machinery — were,  immedi- 
ately after  my  entrance  into  the  Senate,  and  after 
the  army  and  other  reductions  of  1820  and  '21 
had  taken  effect— just  about  eight  millions  of 
dollars.  The  same  expenditure  up  to  the  be- 
ginning of  the  year  1S32 — a  period  of  about  ten 
years — had  risen  to  thirteen  and  a  half  millions : 
and,  adverting  to  this  increase  in  some  current 
debate,  and  with  a  view  to  fix  attention  upon 
the  growing  evil,  I  stated  to  the  Senate  that 
these  expenses  had  nearly  doubled  since  I  had 
been  a  member  of  the  Senate.  This  statement 
drew  a  reply  from  the  veteran  chairman  of  the 
Senate's  committee  on  finance  (General  Smith, 
of  Maryland),  in  opposition  to  my  statement ; 
which,  of  course,  drew  further  remarks  from  me. 
Both  sets  of  remarks  are  valuable  at  this  day — in- 
structive in  the  picture  they  present  between 
1822— 1832— and  1850.  Gen.  Smith's  estimate 
of  about  ten  millions  instead  of  eight — though 
predicated  on  the  wrong  basis  of  beginning  to 
count  before  the  expenses  of  the  army  reduction 
had  taken  effect,  and  counting  in  the  purchase 
of  Florida,  and  some  other  items  of  a  nature 
foreign  to  the  support  of  government — even  his 
estimate  presents  a  startling  point  of  comparison 
with  thb  same  expenditure  of  the  present  day ; 
and  calls  for  the  revival  of  that  spirit  of  economy 
which  distinguished  the  democracy  in  the  earlier 
periods  of  the  government.  Some  passages  from 
the  speech  of  each  senator  (General  Smith  uud 
Mr.  Benton)  will  present  this  brief,  but  impor- 
tant inquiry,  in  its  proper  point  of  view.  Gen. 
Smith  said : 

"  I  will  now  come,  Mr.  President,  to  my  prin- 
cipal object.  It  is  the  assertion,  '  tliat.  since  the 
year  1821,  the  expenses  of  the  government  had 
nearly  doubled ; '  and  I  trust  I  shall  be  able  to 
show  that  the  senator  from  Missouri  [Mr.  Ben- 
ton] had  been  under  some  misapprehension.  The 
Senate  are  aware  of  the  effect  which  such  an  asser- 
tion, coming  from  such  high  authority,  must  have 
upon  the  public  mind.  It  certainly  had  its  effect 
even  upon  this  enlightened  body.  I  mentioned 
to  an  honorable  senator  a  few  days  since,  thut 
the  average  ordinary  expenditure  of  the  govern- 
ment for  the  last  nine  years  did  not  exceed  the 
sum  of  twelve  and  a  half  millions.    But,  said 


the  senator,  the  expenditures  have  greatly  in- 
creased during  that  period.  I  told  him  I  thought 
they  had  not ;  and  I  now  proceed  to  prove,  that, 
with  the  exception  of  four  years,  viz.,  1821, 1822, 
1823,  and  1824,  the  expenditures  of  the  govern* 
ment  have  not  increased.  I  shall  endeavor  to 
show  the  causes  of  the  reduction  of  exponsen 
during  those  years,  and  that  they  afford  no  cri- 
teria by  which  to  judge  of  the  necessary  expenses 
of  government,  and  that  they  are  exceptions  lo 
the  general  rate  of  expenditures,  arising  from 
particular  causes.  But  even  they  exhibit  an 
expenditure  far  above  the  one  half  of  the  present 
annual  ordinary  expenses. 

"  In  the  year  1822,  which  was  the  period  when 
the  senator  from  Missouri  [Mr.  Benton]  took  his 
seat  in  the  Senate,  the  ordinary  expenses  of  the 
government  anioimted  to  the  sum  of  $9,827,043. 
The  expenses  of  the  year  1823.  amounted  to 
$9,784,154.  I  proceed,  Mr.  President,  to  show 
the  cause  which  thus  reduced  the  ordinary  ex- 
penses during  these  years.  I  speak  in  the 
presence  of  gentlemen,  some  of  whom  were  then 
in  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  will  correct 
me  if  my  recollection  should  lead  me  into  error. 
During  the  session  of  the  year  18l9-'20  tiio 
President  asked  a  loan,  I  think,  of  five  millions, 
to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  government,  which 
he  had  deemed  necessary,  and  for  which  estimates 
had,  as  usual,  been  laid  before  Congress.  A 
loan  of  three  millions  only  was  granted ;  and,  in 
the  next  session,  another  loan  of,  I  think,  seven 
millions  was  asked,  in  order  to  enable  the  Exe- 
cutive to  meet  the  amoi^nt  of  expenses  estimated 
for,  as  necessary  for  the  year  1821.  A  loan  of 
five  millions  was  granted,  and  in  the  succeeding 
year  another  loan  of  five  hundred  thousand 
dollars  was  asked,  and  refused.  Congress  were 
dissatisfied  that  loans  should  be  required  in  time 
of  profound  peace,  to  meet  the  common  expenses 
of  the  nation ;  and  they  refused  to  grant  the 
amount  asked  for  in  the  estimates,  although  this 
amount  would  have  been  granted  if  there  had 
been  morf^y  in  the  treasury  to  meet  them,  with- 
out resorting  to  loans.  The  Committee  of  Ways 
and  Means  (and  it  was  supported  by  the  House) 
lessened  some  of  the  items  estimated  for,  and 
refused  others.  No  item,  except  such  as  was 
indispensably  necessary,  was  granted.  By  the 
adoption  of  this  course,  the  expenditures  were 
reduced,  in  1821,  to  $10,723,479,  and  to  the 
sums  already  mentioned  for  the  two  years,  1822 
and  1823,  and  the  current  expenses  of  1824, 
$10,330,144.  The  consequence  was,  that  the 
treasury  was  restored  to  a  sound  state,  so  that 
Congress  was  enabled,  in  the  year  1825,  to  ap- 
propriate the  full  amount  of  the  estimate.  The 
expenditures  of  1824  amounted  to  $15,oo0,144, 
This  large  expenditure  is  to  be  attributed  to  the 
payment  made  to  Spain  in  that  year,  of  $5.01  iO.OliO 
for  the  purchase  of  Florida.  I  entertained  doubts 
whether  I  ought  to  include  this  sum  in  the  ex- 
penditures ;  but,  on  full  consideration,  I  deemed 
it  proper  to  include  it.  It  may  be  said  that  it 
was  an  extraordujary  payment,  and  such  as  could 


iltf!  i 


ANNO  1832.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


231 


not  again  occur.  So  is  the  payment  on  account 
of  awards  under  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  in  1«27 
and  1828,  amounting  to  $1,188,716.  Of  the 
same  character,  too,  arc  the  payments  made  for 
the  purchase  of  lands  from  the  Indians ;  for  the 
removal  of  the  Indians;  for  payments  to  the 
several  States  for  moneys  advanced  during  the 
late  war ;  and  a  variety  of  other  extraordinary 
charges  on  the  treasury." 

Tlie  error  of  this  statement  was  in  the  tasis 
of  the  calculation,  and  in  the  inclusion  of  items 
wiiich  did  not  belong  to  the  expenses  proper  of 
tlio  government,  and  in  beginning  to  count  be- 
fore the  year  of  reduction — the  whole  of  which 
in  a  period  often  years  made  an  excess  of  twenty- 
two  millions  above  the  ordinary  expenses.  I 
answered  thus : 

"Mr.  Benton  rose  in  reply  to  the  senator  from 
Maryland.    Mr.  B.  said  tb;d  a  remark  of  his, 
in  a  former  debate,  seemed  to  have  been  the 
occasion  of  the  elaborate  financial  statements 
which  the  senator  from  Maryland  had  just  gone 
through.    Mr.  B.  said  he  had  made  the  remark 
in  debate ;  it  was  a  general  one,  and  not  to  be 
treated  as  a,n  account  stated  by  an  accounting 
officer.    His  remark  was,  that  the  public  expen- 
diture had  nearly  doubled  since  he  had  been  a 
member  of  the  Senate.     Neither  the   words 
used,  nor  the  mode  of  the  expression,  implied 
the  accuracy  of  an  account ;  Jt  was  a  remark  to 
signify  a  great  and  inordinate  increase  in  a  com- 
paratively short  time.    He  had  not  come  to  the 
Senate  this  day  with  the  least  expectation  of 
being  called  to  justify  that  remark,  or  to  hear  a 
long  arraignment  of  it  argued;  but  he  was 
ready  at  all  times  to  justify,   and  he  would 
quickly  do  it.    Mr.  B.  said  that  when  he  made 
the  remark,  he  had  no  statement  of  accounts  in 
his  eye,  but  he  had  two  great  and  broad  facts 
before  him,  which  all  the  figures  and  calcula- 
tions upon  earth,  and  all  the  compound  and 
comparative  statements  of  arithmeticians,  could 
not  shake  or  alter,  which  were— first,  that  when 
he  came  into  the  Senate  the  machinery  of  this 
government  was  worked  for  between  eight  and 
nine  millions  of  dollars ;  and,  secondly,  the  actual 
payments  for  the  last  vear.  in  the  President's 
message,  were  about  fourteen  millions  and  three- 
quarters.    The  sum  estimated  for  the  future 
expenditures,  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
was  thirteen  and  a  half  millions;  but  fifteen 
millions  were  recommended  by  him  to  be  levied 
to  meet  increased  expenditures.     Mr.  B.  said 
these  were  two  great  facts  which  he  had  in  his 
eye,  and  which  he   would  justify.     He  would 
produce  no  proofs  as  to  the  second  of  his  facts 
because  the  President's  message  and  tlio  8<T!e- 
l;ii;y  «  lejjort  were  so  recently  sent  in,  and  so 
universally  reprinted,  that  every  person  could 
recollect,  or  turn  to  their  contents,  and  verify 
bis  statement  upon  their  own  examination  or 


recollection.  He  would  verify  his  first  state- 
ment only  by  proofs,  and  for  that  purpose  would 
refer  to  the  detailed  statements  of  the  public 
expenditures,  compiled  by  Van  Zandt  and  Wat- 
terston,  and  for  which  he  had  just  sent  to  the 
room  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Senate.  Mr.  B. 
would  take  the  years  1822-'3  ;  for  he  was  not 
simple  enough  to  take  the  years  before  the  re- 
duction of  the  army,  when  he  was  looking  for 
the  lovvest  expenditure.  Four  thousand  men 
were  disbanded,  and  had  remained  disbanded 
ever  since ;  they  were  disbanded  since  he  came 
into  the  Senate ;  ho  would  therefore  date  from 
that  reduction.  Tliis  would  bring  him  to  the 
years  1822-'3,  when  you,  sir  (the  Vice-Presi- 
dent), was  Secretary  of  War.  What  was  the 
whole  expenditure  or  the  government  for  each 
of  those  years  ?    It  ^lood  thus : 


1822, 
1823, 


$17,fi76,592  63 
15,314,171  00 


"  These  two  sums  include  every  head  of  ex- 
penditure— they  include  public  debt,  revolution- 
ary and  invalid  pensions ;  three  heads  of  tem- 
porary expenditure.  The  payments  on  account 
of  the  public  debt  in  those  two  years,  were — 

In  1822,  $7,848,919  12 

1823,  5,530,016  41 

"  Deduct  these  two  snms  from  the  total  ex- 
penditure of  tlie  years  to  which  they  refer,  and 
you  will  have — 


For  1822, 
1823, 


$9,727,673  41 
9,784,155  59 


"  The  pensions  for  those  years  were 

Retoiutionary.  InviiUd.  AggregaU. 

1822,  $1,642,590  94    $305,608  46     $1,947,199  40 

1823,  1,449,097  04       331,491  48       1,730,588  62 


"  Now,  deduct  these  pensions  from  the  years 
to  which  they  refer,  and  you  will  have  just  about 
$8,000,000  as  the  expense  of  working  the  ma- 
chinery of  government  at  the  period  which  I 
had  in  my  eye.     But  the  pensions  have  not  yet 
totally  ceased ;  they  are  much  diminished  since 
1822,  1823,  and  in  a  few  years  must  cease.    The 
revolutionary  pensioners    must    now    average 
seventy  years  of  age ;  their  stipends  will  soon 
cease.     I  hold  myself  well  justified,  then,  in  say- 
ing, as  I  did,  that  the  expenditures  of  the  govern- 
ment have  nearly  doubled  in  my  time.     The 
remark  had    no  reference  to  administratiojis. 
There  was  nothing  comparative  in  it ;  nothing 
intended  to  put  up,  or  put  down,  any  body. 
The  burdens  of  the  people  is  the  o.ily  thing  I 
wish  to  put  down.     My  service  in  the  Seiate 
has  extended  under  three  administrations,  and 
my  periods  of  calculation  extend  to  all  t^iree. 
My  opinion  now  is,  that  the  machinery  of  this 
fovernm.^v.f  after  the  payment  of  the  i;ubi;n  debt, 
should  be  worked  for  ten  millions  or  le  a,  and 
two  millions  more  for  extraordinarics ;   '  i   all 
twelve  millions ;  but  this   is  a  point  f)r  h..ure 
discussion.    My  present  object  is  to  show  a  great 


232 


THIRTY  TEARS'  VIEW. 


Increase  in  a  short  time ;  and  to  show  that,  not 
to  affect  individuals,  but  to  show  the  necessity 
of  practising  what  we  all  profess — economy.  I 
am  against  keeping  up  a  revenue,  after  the  debt 
and  pensions  are  paid,  as  large,  or  nearly  as  large, 
as  the  expenditure  was  in  1822, 1823,  with  these 
items  included.  I  am  for  throwing  down  my 
load,  when  1  get  to  the  end  of  my  journey.  I 
am  for  throwing  oil"  the  burden  of  the  debt,  when 
I  get  to  the  end  of  the  debt.  The  burden  of  the 
debt  is  the  taxes  levied  on  account  of  it.  I  am 
for  abolishing  these  taxes ;  and  this  is  the  great 
question  upon  which  parties  now  go  to  trial  be- 
fore the  American  people.  One  word  more,  and 
I  am  done  for  the  present.  The  senator  for 
Maryland,  to  make  up  a  goodly  average  for  1822, 
and  1823,  adds  the  expenditure  of  1824,  which 
includes,  besides  sixteen  millions  and  a  half  for 
the  public  debt,  and  a  million  and  a  half  for  pen- 
sions, the  sum  of  live  millions  for  the  purchase 
of  Florida.  Sir,  he  must  deduct  twenty-two 
millions  from  that  computation  ;  and  that  de- 
duction will  bring  his  average  for  those  years  to 
agree  very  closely  with  my  statement." 

It  was  something  at  the  time  this  inquiry 
took  place  to  know  which  was  right — General 
Smith,  or  myself.  Two  millions,  more  or  less, 
per  annum  in  the  public  expenditures,  was  then 
something — a  thing  to  be  talked  about,  and  ac- 
counted for,  among  the  economical  men  of  that 
day.  It  seems  to  be  nothing  now,  when  the 
increases  are  many  millions  per  annum — when 
personal  and  job  legislation  have  become  the 
frequent  practice — when  contracts  are  legislated 
to  adventurers  and  speculators — when  the  halls 
of  Congress  have  come  to  be  considered  the  pro- 
per place  to  lay  the  foundations,  or  to  repair  the 
dilapidations  of  millionary  fortunes :  and  when 
the  public  fisc,  and  the  national  domain  may  con- 
sider themselves  fortunate  sometimes  in  getting 
off  with  a  loss  of  two  millions  in  a  single  opera- 
tion. 


CHAPTER    LXIII. 

BANK   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES— RECIIARTEE. 
OOMMENOEMENT  OF  TUE  PE0CEEDING8. 

In  the  month  of  December,  1831,  the  "National 
Republicans"  (as  the  party  was  then  called 
which  fii'terwards  took  the  name  of  "  whig),  as- 
sembled in  convention  at  Baltimore  to  nominate 
candidates  of  their  party  for  the  presidential,  and 
vice-presidential  election,  which  was  to  take 
place  in  the  autumn  of  the  ensuing  year.    The 


nominations  were  made — Henry  Clay  of  Ken- 
tucky, for  President;  and  John  Sergeant  of 
Pennsylvania  for  Vice-President:  and  the  nomi- 
nations accepted  by  them  respectively.  After- 
wards, and  according  to  what  was  usual  on  such 
occasions,  the  convention  issued  an  address  to 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  setting  forth 
the  merits  of  their  own,  and  the  demerits  of  the 
opposite  candidate;  and  presenting  the  party 
issues  which  were  to  be  tried  in  the  ensuing 
elections.  So  far  as  these  issues  were  political 
they  were  legitimate  subjects  to  place  before  the 
people :  so  far  as  they  were  not  political,  they 
were  illegitimate,  and  wrongfully  dragged  into 
the  political  arena,  to  be  made  subservient  to 
party  elevation.  Of  this  character  were  the  topics 
of  the  tariff,  of  internal  improvement,  the  re- 
move '.  of  the  Cherokee  Indians,  and  the  renewal 
of  the  United  States  Bank  charter.  Of  these 
four  subjects,  all  of  them  in  their  nature  uncon- 
nected with  politics,  and  requiring  for  their  own 
good  to  remain  so  unconnected,  I  now  notice  but 
one — that  of  the  renewal  of  the  charter  of  the 
existing  national  bank ; — and  which  was  now 
presented  as  a  party  object,  and  as  an  issue  in 
the  election,  and  under  all  the  exaggerated  as- 
pects which  party  tactics  consider  lawful  in  the 
prosecution  of  their  aims.    The  address  said. : 

"  Next  to  the  great  measures  of  policy  which 
protect  and  encourage  domestic  industry,  tiie 
most  important  question,  connected  with  tlic 
economical  policy  of  the  country,  is  that  of  the 
bank.  This  great  and  beneficial  institution,  by 
facilitating  exchanges  between  different  parts  of 
the  Union,  and  maintaining  a  sound,  ample,  and 
healthy  state  of  the  currency,  may  be  said  to 
supply  the  body  politic,  economically  viewed, 
with  a  continual  stream  of  life-blood,  without 
which  it  must  inevitably  languish,  and  sink  into 
exhaustion.  It  was  first  conceived  and  organ- 
ized by  the  powerful  mind  of  Hamilton.  After 
having  been  temporarily  shaken  by  the  honest 
though  groundless  scruples  of  other  statesmen, 
it  has  been  recalled  to  existence  by  the  general 
consent  of  all  parties,  and  with  the  universal  ap- 
probation of  the  people.  Under  the  ablest  anJ 
most  faithful  management  it  has  been  for  many 
years  past  pursuing  a  course  of  steady  and  con- 
stantly increasing  influence.  Such  is  the  institu- 
tion which  the  President  has  gone  out  of  his  way 
in  several  successive  messages,  without  a  pretence 
of  necessity  or  plausible  motive,  in  the  first  in- 
stance six  years  before  his  suggestion  could  with 
any  propriety  be  acted  upon,  to  denounce  to 
Congress  as  a  sort  of  nuisance,  and  consign,  as 
far  as  his  influence  extends,  to  immediate  de- 
struction. 


I    f 


ANNO  1882.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


233 


"For  this  denunciation  no  pretext  of  any  ade- 
quate motive  is  assigned.    At  a  time  when  the 
institution  is  known  to  all  to  be  in  the  most 
efficient  and  prosperous  state — to  be  doing  all 
that  ar.y  baiiiv  ever  did  or  can  do,  we  arc  briefly 
told  in  ten  words,  that  it  has  not  effected  the 
objects  for  which  it  was  instituted,  and  must  be 
abolished.    Another  institution  is  recommended 
as  a  substitute,  which,  so  far  as  the  description 
given  of  it  can  be  understood,  would  be  no  better 
than  a  machine  in  the  hands  of  the  government 
for  fabricating  and  issuing  paper  money  without 
check  or  responsibility,     In  his  recent  message 
to  Congress,  the  I'resident  declares,  for  the  third 
time,  liis  opinion  on  these  subjects,  in  the  same 
concise  and  authoritative  style  as  before,  and  in- 
timates that  he  shall  consider  his  re-election  as 
an  expression  of  the  opinion  of  the  people  that 
they  ought  to  be  a«ted  on.    If,  therefore,  the 
Presiikut  be  re-elected,  it  may  be  considered 
certain  that  the  bank  will  be  abolished,  and  the 
institution  which  he  has  recommended,  or  some- 
thing like  it,  substituted  in  its  place. 

"  Are  the  people  of  the  United  States  prepared 
for  this  ?    Are  they  ready  to  destroy  one  of  their 
most  valuable  establishments  to  gratify  the  ca- 
price of  a  chielSiypagistrate.  who  reasons  and  ad- 
vises upon  a  subject,  with  the  details  of  which  he  is 
ovidentiy  unacquainted,  in  direct  contradiction  to 
the  opinion  of  his  own  official  counsellors  ?  Are 
tiic  enterprising,  liberal,  high-minded,  and  intel- 
ligent mtiirhahts  of  the  Union  willing  to  coun- 
tenance such  a  measure  ?    Are  the  cultivators 
of  the  West,  who  find  in  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States  a  never-failing  source  of  that  capital, 
which  is  so  essential  to  their  prosperity,  and 
wiiich  they  can  get  nowhere  else,  prepared  to 
lend  their  aid  in  drying  up  the  fountain  of  their 
own  prosperity?     Is  there  any  class  of  the 
people  or  section  of  the  Union  so  lost  to  every 
sentiment  of  common  prudence,  so  regardless  of 
all  the  principles  of  republican  government,  as 
to  place  m  the  hands  of  the   executive  depart- 
ment the  means  of  an  irresponsible  and  unlim- 
ited issue  of  paper  money— in  other  words,  the 
means  of  corruption  without  check  or  bounds  i 
li  such  be,  in  fact,  the  wishes  of  the  people,  they 
will  act  with  consistency  and  propriety  in  voting 
tor  General  Jackson,  as  President  of  the  United 
btates;  for,  by  his  re-election,  all  these  disas- 
trous effects  will  certainly  be  produced.    He  is 
ully  and  three  times  over  pledged  to  the  people 
to  negative  any  bill  that  may  be  passed  for  re 
chartenng  the  bank,  and  there  is  little  doubt 
that  the  additional   influence  which  he  would 
acquire  by  a  re-election,  would  be   employed 
to  carry  through  Congress  the  extraordinary 
Bubstitute  which  he  has  repeatedly  proposed." 


Thus  the  bank  question  was  fully  presented 
Man  issue  in  the  election  by  that  part  of  its 
friends  which  classed  politically  against  Presi- 
dent Jackson  J   but  it   had   also   democratic 


friends,  without  whose  aid  the  recharter  could 
not  be  got  through  Congress;  and  the  result 
produced  which  was  contemplated  with  hope 
and  pleasure— responsibility  of  a  veto  thrown 
upon  the  President.    The  consent  of  this  wing 
was  necessary :  and  it  was  obuincd  as  related 
in  a  previous  chapter,  through  the  instrumen- 
tality of  a  caucus— that  contrivance  of  modern 
invention  by  which  a  few  govern   many— by 
which  the  many  are  not  only  led  by  the  few,  but 
subjugated  by  them,  and  turned  agiinst  them- 
selves :  and  after  having  performed  at  the  cau- 
cus as  afg-urmite  (to  make  up  a  majority),  bo- 
come  real  actors  in  doing  what  they  condemn. 
The  two  wings  of  the  bank  friends  were  brought 
together  by  this  machinery,  as  already  related 
in  chapter  Ixi. ;  and  operations  for  the  new  char- 
ter immediately  commenced,  in  conformity  to 
the  decision.    On  the  9th  day  of  January  the 
memorial  of  the  President,  Directors  &  Com- 
pany of  the  Bank  was  presented  in  each  House 
—by  Mr.  Dallas  in  the  Senate,  and  Mr.  McDuffie 
in  the  House  of  Representatives ;  and  while  con- 
demning the  time  of  bringing  forward  the  ques- 
tion of  tiie  recharter,  Mr.  Dallas,  in  further  inti- 
mation of  his  previously  signified  opinion  of  its 
then  dangerous  introduction,  said :  "  He  became 
a  willing,  as  he  was   virtually  an   instructed 
agent,  in  promoting  to  the  extent  of  his  humble 
ability,  an  object  which,  however  dangerously 
timed  ils  introduction  might  seem,  was  in  itself 
as  he  conceived,  entitled  to  every  consideration 
and  favor."    Mr.  Dallas  then  moved  for  a  select 
committee  to  revise,  consider,  and  report  upon 
the  memorial— which  motion  was  granted,  and 
Jlessrs.  Dallas,  Webster,  Ewing  of  Ohio,  Hayne 
of  South  Carolina,  and  Johnston  of  Louisiana, 
were  appointed  the  committee— elected  for  that 
purpose  by  a  vote  of  the  Senate— and  all  except 
one  favorable  to  the  recharter. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives  Mr.  McDuffie 
did  not  ask  for  the  same  reference- a  select 
committee— but  to  the  standing  committee  of 
Ways  and  Means,  of  which  he  was  chairman, 
and  which  was  mainly  composed  of  the  same 
members  as  at  the  previous  session  when  it  re- 
ported so  elaborately  in  favor  of  the  bank.  The 
reason  of  this  difference  on  the  point  of  the 
reference  was  understood  to  be  this :  that  in  the 
Senate  the  committee  being  elective,  and  the 
majority  of  the  body  favorable  to  the  bank,  a 
favorable  committee  was  certain  to  be  had  on 


f\ 


U 


T^X 


'I 


i 


S34 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


baDot — while  in  the  Uouso  the  ai)pointment  of 
the  committeo  being  in  the  bands  of  the  Speaker 
(Mr.  Stevenson),  and  he  adverse  to  the  institu- 
tion, the  same  favorable  result  could  not  bo  safely 
counted  on  j  and,  therefore,  the  select  committee 
was  avoided,  and  the  one  known  to  be  favorable 
was  preferred.  This  led  to  an  adverse  motion  to 
refer  to  a  select  committee — in  support  of  which 
motion  Mr.  Wayne  of  Georgia,  since  appointed 
one  of  the  justices  of  the  Supremo  Court,  said : 

"  That  he  had  on  a  former  occasion  expressed 
his  objection  to  the  reference  of  this  subject  to 
the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means;  and  he 
should  not  trouble  the  House  by  repeating  now 
what  he  had  advanced  at  the  commencement  of 
the  session  in  favor  of  the  appointment  of  a  se- 
lect committee  ;  but  he  called  upon  gentleni'ii 
to  consider  what  was  the  attitude  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Ways  and  Means  in  reference  to  the 
bank  question,  and  to  compare  it  with  the  atti- 
tude in  which  that  question  had  been  presented 
to  the  House  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States  ;  and  he  would  ask,  whether  it  was  not 
manifestly  proper  to  submit  the  memorial  to  a 
committee  entirely  uncommitted  upon  the  sub- 
ject. But  this  was  not  the  object  for  which  he 
had  risen ;  the  present  question  had  not  come 
upon  him  unexpectedly;  ho  had  been  aware 
before  he  entered  the  House  that  a  memorial 
of  this  kind  would  this  morning  be  presented ; 
and  when  he  looked  back  upon  the  occurrences 
of  the  last  four  weeks,  and  remembered  what 
had  taken  place  at  a  late  convention  in  Balti- 
more, and  the  motives  which  had  been  avowed 
for  bringing  forward  the  subject  at  this  time, 
he  must  say  that  gentlemen  ought  not  to  per- 
mit a  petition  of  this  kind  to  receive  the  atten- 
tion of  the  House.  Who  could  doubt  that  the 
presentation  of  that  memorial  was  in  fact  a 
party  measure,  intended  to  have  an  important 
operation  on  persons  occupying  the  highest 
offices  of  the  government  ?  If,  however,  it 
should  be  considered  necessary  to  enter  upon 
the  subject  at  the  present  time,  Mr.  Wayne 
said  he  was  prepared  to  meet  it.  But  when 
gentlemen  saw  distinctly  before  their  eyes  the 
motive  of  such  a  proceeding,  he  hoped  that,  not- 
withstanding there  might  be  a  majority  in  the 
House  in  favor  of  the  bank,  gentlemen  would 
not  lend  themselves  to  that  kind  of  action. 
Could  it  be  necessary  to  take  up  the  question 
of  rechartering  the  bank  at  the  present  session  ? 
Gentlemen  all  knew  that  four  years  must  pass 
before  its  charter  would  expire,  and  that  Con- 
gress had  power  to  extend  the  period,  if  further 
tim6  was  necessary  to  wind  up  its  affairs.  It 
was  known  that  other  subjects  of  an  exciting 
character  must  come  up  during  the  present  ses- 
sion ;  and  could  there  be  any  necessity  or  pro- 
priety ill  throwing  additional  matter  into  tlie 
House,  calculated  to  raise  that  excitement  yet 
higher?" 


Mr.  McDulIio  absolved  himself  from  all  con- 
ncction  with  the  Baltimore  national  republican 
convention,  and  claimed  like  absolution  for  the 
directory  of  the  bank ;  and  intimcted  that  a 
caucus  consultation  to  which  democratic  mem- 
bers were  party,  had  led  to  the  presentation  of 
the  memorial  at  this  time  ; — an  intimation  en< 
tirely  true,  only  it  should  have  comprehended 
all  the  friends  of  the  bank  of  both  political  pur 
ties.  A  running  debate  took  place  on  these 
motions,  in  which  many  members  engaged, 
Admitting  that  the  parliamentary  law  required 
a  friendly  committee  for  the  application,  it  was 
yet  urged  that  that  comraittee  should  be  a  se- 
lect one,  charged  with  tiio  single  subject,  and 
with  leisure  to  make  investigations  ;— which 
leisure  the  Committee  of  Ways  did  not  possess 
— and  could  merely  report  as  formerly,  and 
withoiit  giving  any  additional  information  to 
the  House.    Mr.  Archer  of  Virginia,  said : 

"  As  regarded  the  disposal  of  the  memorial.  It 
appeared  clear  to  him  that  a  select  coinniittet; 
would  be  the  proper  one.  This  had  been  tiie 
disposal  adopted  with  all  former  memorials. 
Why  vary  the  mode  now  ?  The  subject  wa.s  of 
a  magnitude  to  entitle  it  to  a  special  committee. 
As  regarded  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Cleans. 
with  its  important  functions,  were  not  its  hands 
to  be  regarded  as  too  full  for  the  great  attentiwi 
which  this  matter  must  demand  ?  It  was  to  be 
remarked,  too,  that  this  committee,  at  a  former 
session,  with  little  variety  in  its  composition. 
had,  in  the  most  formal  manner,  expressed  its 
opinion  on  the  great  question  involved.  Wo 
ought  not,  as  had  been  said,  to  put  the  memorial 
to  a  nurse  which  would  strangle  it.  Neither 
would  it  be  proper  to  send  it  to  an  inquest  in 
which  its  fate  had  been  prejudged.  Let  it  go  to 
either  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Jleans,  or  a 
select  committee ;  the  chairman  of  that  commit- 
tee would  stand  as  he  ought,  in  the  same  relation 
to  it.  If  the  last  disposal  were  adopted,  too,  the 
majority  of  the  committee  would  consist,  under 
the  usage  in  that  respect,  of  friends  of  the  mea- 
sure. The  recommendation  of  this  mode  wa-s, 
that  it  would  present  the  nearest  approach  to 
equality  in  the  contest,  of  which  the  case  ad- 
mitte^l. 

"  Mr,  -tlitchell,  of  South  Carolina,  said  that 
he  concurred  entirely  in  the  views  of  his  friend 
from  Georgia  [Mr.  Wayne].  He  did  not  think 
that  the  bank  question  ought  to  be  taken  up  at 
all  this  session ;  but  if  it  were,  it  oujiiit  mo.»^t 
unquestionably  to  be  referred  to  a  .^e.ect  com- 
mittee. He  saw  no  reason,  howevir.  for  its 
being  referred  at  all.  The  member  from  South 
Carolina  [Mr.  McDulTie]  tells  us,  said  r>ir.  M., 
that  it  involves  the  vast  amount  of  fifty  millions 
of  dollars }  that  this  is  dispersed  to  every  claia 


ANNO  1882.    ANDREW  JACKSON.  PRFSIDENT. 


of  people  in  our  widely  extended  country  j  and 
if  the  (luestion  of  rochartcring  wcnj  not  decided 
now,  it  would  hazard  these  Kreat  and  complicated 
interests,     Mr.  M.  said  \u    attached  no  impor- 
tuncc  to  this  argument.     Th  ■  stockholderH  who 
met  lately  nt  Philadelphia  thought  differently 
for,  i)y  a  solemn  resolution,  they  left  it  discre- 
tionary with  the  president  of  the  hank  to  propose 
the  question  to  Congress  wlien  ho  suw  fit.     If 
they  had  thought  that  a  postponement  would 
have  endangered  their  interests,  would  they  not 
have  said  so  ?    This  fact  does  away  the  argu- 
ment of  the  member  from  South  Carolina.    The 
bank  (juestion  was  decided   by  the   strongest 
party  (luestion  which  could  be  put  to  this  or 
an^'  House.    It  has  been  twice  discussed  within 
a  tew  years.    It  was  rejected  once  in  the  Senate 
by  the  vote  of  the  Vice-President,  and  it  after- 
wards passed  this  House  with  a  majority  of  two. 
It  would  divide  the  whole  country,  and  ex.    o 
on  that  floor,  feelings  of  the  most  exasperated 
bitterness.     Not  a  party  question  ?    Does  not 
the  member  from  South  Carolina  [Mr.  McDuffle] 
remember  that  this  question  divided  the  country 
into  federalists  and  republicans  ?    It  was  a  great 
constitutional  question,  and  hu  hoped  all  those 
who  thought  with  him,  would  rally  against  it 
in  all  their  strength.     But  why  reler  it  to  the 
Committe  of  Ways  and  Means  ?    It  was  com- 
mitted before  to  a  select  committee  on  national 
currency.     If  the  question  was  merely  financial 
as  whether  we  should  sell  our  stock,  and  if  we 
did,  whether  we  should  sell  it  to  the  bank   he 
would  not  object  to  its  being  referred  to 'the 
Conmiittee  of  Ways  and  Means.    But  it  was  not 
a  (luestion  of  revenue.    It  was  one  of  policy  and 
the  constitution— one  of  vast  magnitude  and  of 
the  greatest  complexity— requiring  a  committee 
01  the  most  distmguished  abilities  on  that  floor. 
It  was  a  party  question  in  reference  to  men  and 
things  out  of  doors.    Those  who  deny  this,  must 
be  bimd  to  every  thing  around  them— we  hear 
It  every  where— we  see  it  in  all  which  we  read. 
6ir,  we  have  now  on  hand  a  topic  which  must 
engross  every  thought  and  feeling— a  topic  which 
perhaps  involves  the  destinies  of  this  nation— a 
topic  of  such  magnitude  a."  to  occupy  us  the  re- 
mainder of  the  session;  I  rr-an  the  tarifl^.    I 
hope,  therefore,  this  memorial  will  be  laid  on  the 
table,  and,  if  not,  that  it  will  be  referred  to  a 
select  committee." 


285 


from  New- York  [Mr.  Cambr.lcng],  "  nowhere ;' 
this  charge,  alno,  deserved  inquiry.    There  wera 
other  charges  of  maladministration  which  eouallr 
deserved  n.quiry;  and  it  was  his  [Mr.  JM  in 
tention,  at  a  future  day,   unless  some  other 
gentleman  more  versed  in  the  business  of  the 
House  anticipated  him,  to  press  thew  inquiries 
by  a  series  of  inslnictions   to  the  committoo 
intiustetl  with  the  subject.     Mr.  J.  urged  as  an 
obiection  to  referring  this  inquiry  to  the  Coni- 
mittee  of  Ways  and  Means,  that  so  much  of 
their  time  would  be  occupied  with  the  regular 
and  important  business  connected  with  the  fiscal 
operations  of  the  government,  that  they  could 
not  spare  labor  enough  to  accomplish  the  minute 
investigations  wanted  at  their  hands.    We  had 
been  further  told  that  all  the  members  of  that 
committee  were  friendly  to  the  project  of  rc- 
chartermg  the  bank,  and  the  honorable  gentleman 
[Mr.  Moicer]  had  relied  upon  the  fact,  as  a  fair 
exponent  of  public  opinion  in  favor  of  the  bank, 
lie  [Mr.  J.]  added,  that  although  he  could  hv 
no  means  assent  to  the  force  of  this  remark,  yet 
that  It  furnished  strong  reason  for  those  who 
wished  a  close  scrutiny  of  the  administration  of 
the  bank,  to  wish  some  gentlemen  placed  on  tho 
committee  of  inquiry,  who  would  be  actuated  by 
the  zeal  of  fair  opposition  to  the  bank  ;  he  con- 
ceded  that  a  majority  of  the  committee  should 
be  composed  of  its  friends.     He  concluded  by 
hoping  that  the  memorial  would  be  referred  to 
a  select  committee." 

Finally  the  vote  was  taken,  and  the  memorial 
referred  to  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Meana^ 
Imt  by  a  slender  majority— 100  against  90— anO 
24  members  absent,  or  not  voting.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  committee  were :  Messrs.  McDuflBe. 
of  South  Carolina;  Verplamiv  of  New- York  j 
IngersoU,  of  Connecticut ;  Gilmore,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania; Mark  Alexander,  of  Virginia;  Wilde,  of 
Georgia  j  and  Gaither,  of  Kentucky. 


Mr.  Charles  Johnston,  of  Virginia,  said : 

"  The  bank  has  been  of  late  distinctly  and  re- 
peatedly charged  with  using  its  funds,  and  the 
lun(l^  I  the  people  of  these  States,  in  operating 
upon  and  controlling  public  opinion.  He  did  not 
mean  to  express  any  opinion  as  to  the  truth  or 
lalsehood  of  this  accusation,  but  it  was  of  suffi- 
cient consequence  to  demand  an  accurate  in- 
'I'liry.  The  bank  was  further  charged  with 
V!i>.at!ng  its  charter,  in  the  issue  of  a  great 
mimber  of  small  drafts  to  a  large  amount,  and 
pa3  able,  in  the  language  of  the  honorable  member 


CHAPTER   LXIV. 

BANK  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES-COMMITTEE  OP 
INVESTIGATION  0EDE1,£D. 

Skeing  the  state  of  parties  in  Congress,  and  the 
tactics  of  the  bank— that  there  was  a  majority 
in  each  House  for  the  institution,  and  no  inten- 
tion to  lose  time  in  arguing  for  it— our  course 
of  action  became  obvious,  which  was— to  attack 
incessantly,  assail  at  ail  points,  display  the  evil 
of  the  institution,  rouse  the  people— and  prepare 
them  to  sustain  the  veto.    It  was  seen  to  be  tho 


i  i 


286 


TnTRTY  TFA'R&  VIEW. 


policy  of  the  bank  loaders  to  rnrry  the  charter 
first,  and  quietly  throtigh  the  Senate  ;  and  after- 
wards, in  the  same  \.tiy  in  the  House.  \Vo 
tletcrmincd  to  have  a  conte-it  in  both  [ilaccs,  and 
to  force  thi-  bank  into  defences  which  would 
engage  it  in  a  p;cnpral  combat,  and  lay  it  open 
to  Hide-hlow,  a.s  well  m  direct  attacks.  With 
this  view  a  prept  many  amendments  and  inqui- 
ries were  prepared  to  be  offered  in  the  Senate, 
all  of  them  proper,  or  plausible,  rcxionimendablo 
in  thi  nseives,  and  supported  y  acceptable 
reasons ;  whif'h  the  friends  of  the  bank  mtist 
either  answer,  or  reject  without  answer ;  and 
80  incui  odium.  In  the  House  it  was  determined 
to  make  a  move,  which,  whether  resisted  or 
admitted  by  the  bank  majority,  would  be  certain 
to  have  an  effect  against  the  institution — namely, 
fin  investigation  by  a  committee  of  the  House, 
as  provided  for  in  the  charter.  If  the  investi- 
gation was  denied,  it  would  be  guilt  shrinking 
from  detection  ;  if  admitted,  it  was  well  known 
that  misconduct  would  be  found.  I  conceived 
this  movement,  and  had  charge  of  its  direction. 
I  preferred  the  House  for  the  theatre  of  investi- 
gation, as  most  appropriate,  being  the  grand 
inquest  of  the  nation ;  and,  besides,  wished  a 
contest  to  bo  going  on  there  while  the  Senate  was 
»ngagcd  in  passing  the  charter ;  and  the  right 
\o  raise  the  committee  was  complete,  in  cither 
House.  Besides  the  right  reserved  in  the  char- 
ter, there  was  a  natural  right,  when  the  corpo- 
ration was  asked  for  a  renewed  lease,  to  inquire 
how  it  had  acted  under  the  previous  one.  I  got 
Mr.  Clayton,  a  new  member  from  Georgia  (who 
had  written  a  pamphlet  against  the  bank  in  his 
own  State),  to  take  charge  of  the  movement ; 
and  gave  him  a  memorandum  of  seven  alleged 
breaches  of  the  charter,  and  fifteen  instances  of 
imputed  misconduct,  to  inquire  into,  if  he  got 
his  committee  ;  or  to  allege  on  the  floor,  if  he 
encountered  resistance. 

On  Thursday,  the  23d  of  February,  Mr. 
Clayton  made  his  motion — "  That  a  select  com- 
mittee be  appointed  to  examine  into  the  affairs 
of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  with  powei-  to 
send  for  persons  and  papers,  and  to  report  the 
result  of  their  inquiries  to  the  House."  This 
motion  was  objected  to,  and  its  consideration 
postponed  until  the  ensuing  Monday.  Called 
up  nv,  thnt  H.ny^  r,r,  attompt  ■-■••as  made  to  repulse 
it  from  the  consideration  of  the  House.  Mr. 
Watmough,  a  representative  from  Pennsylvania, 


and  from  the  city,  a  friend  to  the  bank,  and 
from  his  locality  and  friendship  supposed  to  b« 
familiar  with  its  wishes,  raised  the  question  of 
consideration — that  is,  called  on  the  House  ta 
decide  whether  they  would  consider  Mr.  Clay- 
ton's motion ;  a  question  which  is  only  raisw] 
under  the  parliamentary  law  where  tiie  motion 
is  too  frivolous,  or  flagmntly  improper,  to  re- 
eeive  the  attention  of  the  House.  It  was  a  faloo 
move  on  the  part  of  ^ho  institution  ;  and  tlic 
more  s»  as  it  seemed  to  be  the  n'sult  of  deliber 
ation,  and  came  fVom  its  immediate  rcpresonta- 
five.  Mr.  Polk,  of  Tennessee,  saw  the  advantage 
presented  ;  ami  as  the  question  of  consideration 
was  not  debatable,  he  demanded,  as  the  only 
mode  of  holding  the  movement  to  its  rcgpon. 
sibility,  the  yeas  and  nays  on  Jlr.  Watmoujih'j 
question.  But  it  went  ulf  on  a  diflerent  point— 
a  point  of  order — the  question  of  consideration 
not  lying  after  the  H'  ISO  has  taken  action  on 
the  subject;  and  in  tsascase  thnt  had  been  done 
— very  little  action  to  be  sure — only  postponing 
the  consideration  from  one  day  to  another ;  but 
enough  to  satisfy  the  rule  ;  and  so  the  motion 
of  Mr.  Watmough  was  disallowed ;  and  the 
question  of  consideration  let  in.  Another  move- 
ment was  then  made  to  cut  off  discussion,  and 
get  rid  of  the  resolution,  by  a  motion  to  lay  it 
on  the  table,  also  made  by  a  friend  of  the  banic 
[Mr.  Lewis  William.s,  of  North  Carolina].  Tliis 
motion  was  withdrawn  at  the  instiuice  of  Jlr. 
McDufBe,  who  began  to  see  the  effect  of  these 
motions  to  suppress,  not  only  investi}j;ation,  but 
congressional  discussion  ;  and,  besides,  Jlr.  Mc- 
Duffie  was  a  bold  man,  and  an  able  debater, 
and  had  examined  the  subject,  and  reported  in 
favor  of  the  bank,  and  fully  believed  in  its 
purity ;  and  was,  therefore,  the  less  averse  to 
debate.  But  resistance  to  investigation  was 
continued  by  others,  and  was  severely  animad- 
verted upon  by  several  speakers — among  othei'S, 
by  Mr.  Polk,  of  Tennessee,  who  said : 

"  The  bank  asks  a  renewal  of  its  charter ;  and 
ought  its  friends  to  object  to  the  inquiry  ?  He 
must  say  that  he  had  been  not  a  little  surprised 
at  the  unexpected  resistance  which  had  been  of- 
ferrcd  to  the  resolution  under  consideration,  by 
the  friends  and  admirers  of  this  institution— by 
those  who,  no  doubt,  sincerely  believed  its  con- 
tinued existence  for  another  term  of  twenty  years 
to  be  essential  to  the  prosperity  of  the  country. 
tie  repeated  his  surprise  that  its  friends  should 
be  found  shrinking  from  the  investigation  pro- 
posed.   He  would  not  say  that  such  resiistanco 


ANXO  1832.    ANDRE\r  JACKSON   PREsrDENT. 


ttfTonltxl  any  fair  (grounds  of  inferonce  that  there 
mipht  l)«'  Homcthiii!,'  "rotten  in  thostftto  of  Don- 
mark."    Ho  would  not  HKv  this ;  for  hv  did  not 
feel  liiinsoifiiiitliDrizi'd  to  ilo  ho;  but  was  it  not 
IKTwivi'd  that  until   an  inffrencc   might,   and 
prohfthly  would,  bo  drawn  by  the  public  /    (»n 
what  (.'round  wan  the  inmiiry  opnosod  "^     Was 
it  that  it  was  impropt-r?     Was  It  that  it  wa!s 
umwunl  1    The  charter  of  the  bank  it^tlCauthor- 
ized  a  committee  of  either  IIouhc  <,t'  (-'ongrcsH  to 
examine  its  books,  and  report  upo>i  its  condition 
whenever  cither  House  miiy  choose  to  inntitntu 
an  examination.     A  conniiittee  of  this  Ilousf 
upon  a  former  ".-casion  did  make  such  an  ex- 
amination, and  ho  would  refer  to  their  reiwrt 
before  he  sat  down.     Upon  the  presentation  of 
the  bank  memorial  to  the  other  branch  of  the 
legislature,  a  .select  committee  had  been  invested 
with  power  to  cend  for  persons  and  papers  if 
they  chose  to  do  so.     When  the  same  memorial 
waH  presented  to  that  House,  what  had  been  the 
conrBC  pursued  by  the  friend.s  of  the  bank  ^     4 
motion  to  refer  it  to  a  select  committee  w  ur  on- 
posed.    It  was  committed  to  their  favo'  te  Oom- 
mittee  of  Ways  and  Means.     He  mea;  t  n-  .jis- 
r('si)cct  to  that  committee,  when  hosai.;  thi  ;  U»" 
question  of  rechartering  the  bank  was  known' to 
have  been  prejudged  bv  that  committee.    \    ,ta 
the  Pre.«i(lent  of  the  United  States  brought  ih'e 
siibjcct  of  the  bank  to  the  notice  of  Congress  in 
December.  IH2<J  a  select  committee  was  refused 
by  the  friends  of  the  bank,  and  that  portion  of  the 
message  was  referred  to  the  Committee  of  Wav.s 
and  Means.    Precisely  the  same  thing  occurred 
at  the  commencement  of  the  last  and  at  the  pre- 
sent session  of  Congress,  in  the  reference  which 
was  made  of  that  part  of  the  messages  of  the 
President  upon  the  subject  of  the  bank.     The 
triends  of  this  institution  have  been  careful  al- 
ways to  commit  it  to  the  same  committee,  a 
committee  whose  opinions  were  known.     Upon 
the  occasion  first  referred  to,  that  committee 
made  a  report  favorable  to  the  bank,  which  was 
sent  forth  to  the  public,-not  a  report  of  faTts 
iota  report  founded  upon  an  examination  into 
Je  affairs  of  the  bank.     At  the  present  scs.bn 
w  were  modestly  a«ked  to  extend  this  bank 
monopoly  for  twenty  years,  without  any  such 

krZ'T",'''l'Mf '"''?  P''^'^''^-  T''<^  committee 
had  reported  a  bill  to  that  effect,  but  had  gi^vn 

IZ^V'^^T  *°  t''*^  present  condition 

ccssary  0  ask  to  be  invested  with  p,.uer  to  ex- 
amine either  into  its  present  condit  „,,  or  into 
the  manner  ,n  which  its  affairs  have  be"  Zn- 

''He  would  now  call  the  attention  of  the  House 

mi£  SE'r  °"  °'*^1  '^'"'^'  "'^^^  "^y  <^  «="'- 

Mrt  of  thof  ^'  ^^°"'^-  ""^  t*^*-""  ^^^'i  the  re- 
po  of  that  committee  in  his  hand.  That  com- 
mittee visited  the  b.ank  nf  PhJI-de' 


237 


was  the  ro-ult;    Tbcy  discoverc.1  nmnv  and 
lagrantabu«.H.    Thev  P.und  that  the  d.ur.er 
had  Ikjcu  violated  in  .livers  particulars,  ami  thev 
8o  remrted  to  this  Hous«      He  would  i.ot  detain 
the   House,  bowev.-r,  wit),  the  details  of  that 
<locument.     (Sentlemen  could   refer   to   it.  and 
TZZ  '•"'"'■'^''f '^^  .  It  contfiinedniuch  valuable 
inrorination  as  bearing  ujion  the  projiosition  now 
before  the  House.     It  was  sufiU-'ent  to  ,suy  that 
at  that  period,  within  three  y.ara after  the  bank 
had  gone  into  existencre,  it  was  upon  the  very 
verge  of  bankruptcy.     This  the  gentle,.    „  f,o.» 
Mouth  Carolina  would  not  deny.     The  rei,ort  of 
the  com  mittee  to  which  he  had  alluded  author- 
ized  him  to  say  that  there  had  been  gross  mis- 
manageniei.t,  ),e   would   not   u.se  any  stronger 
term,  and  in  the  opinion  of  that  conimitt'  e  fan 
opinion  never  ivver.ed  by  Congress)  a  palpable 
violation  of  the  charter.  'Now%ir,  this'wils  the 
condition  of  the  bank  in  1819.     Tile  indulgence 
of  Congress  uiduc-d  them  i,ut  to  revoke  the 
charter     '1  he  bank  had  gone  on  in  its  o,K.ra. 
ions.     Since  that  period  no  investigation  or  ex- 
»  ninatioii  had  taken  j.lace.     All  we  knew  of  it^ 
t.  •  ngs,  since  that  period,  was  from  the  ex  mirt^ 
n.-orts  ofitsown  officers.     These  may  all  b» 
<-..rect  but,  if  they  be  so,  it  could  do  uoliarm  U» 
ttsccrtam  the  fact."  wmim  w 


tpiua 


they 


■  th«  !•     .    "'^'^  °°  °*th  the  president,  a  part  of 
thedirectorsandofficersofthebank.    'Andwhat, 


M--.  Clayton  then  justified  his  motion  for  thw 
comnattee,/ra<  upon  the  provisions  of  the  char- 
ter  (article  23)  which  gave  to  either  House  of 
Congress  the  right  at  all  times  to  appoint  a  com 
mittee  to  inspect  the  books,  and  to  examine  in 
to  the  proceedings  of  the  bank;  and  to  report 
whether  the  provisions  of  the  charter  had  been 
violated ;  and  he  treated  as  a  revolt  against  this 
provision  of  the  charter,  as  well  as  a  sign  of 
guilt,  this  resistance  to  an  absolute  right  on  the 
part  of  Congress,  and  most  proper  to  be  exercised 
when  the  institution  was  soliciting  the  continu- 
ation of  Its  privileges  J  and  which  right  had  been 
exercised  by  the  House  in  1819,  when  its  com- 
mittee found  various  violations  of  the  charter 
and  propo.seda  wiVeyaaas  to  vacate  it :— which 
was  only  refused  by  Congress,  not  for  tlio  sake 
of  the  bank,  but  for  the  community— whose  dis- 
tresses the  closing  of  the  bank  might  aggravate. 
Next,  he  justified  his  motion  on  the  ground  of 
misconduct  in  the  bank  in  seven  instances  of 
violated  charter,  involving  forfeiture ;  and  fifteen 
instances  of  abuse,  which  required  correction 
though  not  amounting  to  forfeiture  of  the  char- 
ter.   All  these  he  read  to  the  House,  one  by 
one,  from  a  narrow  slip  of  p«per,  which  he  eon- 
tinned  rolling  round  his  finger  all  the  time. 
The  memorandum  was  mine— in  my  handwrit- 
uig— given  to  him  to  copy,  and  amplify,  as  thejr 


p. 


'4i 


'•""    r4^ 


r\ 


.J.  1.  t  j-i  X-i 


238 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


were  brief  memoranda.  He  had  not  copied 
them ;  and  having  to  justify  suddenly,  he  used 
the  slip  I  had  given  him — rolling  it  on  his  finger, 
as  on  a  cylinder,  to  prevent  my  handwriting 
from  being  seen  :  so  he  afterwards  told  me  him- 
self. The  reading  of  these  twenty-two  heads  of 
accusation,  like  so  many  counts  in  an  indict- 
ment, pprung  the  friends  of  the  bank  to  their 
feet — and  its  foes  also — each  finding  in  it  some- 
thing to  rouse  them — one  to  the  defence,  the  other 
to  the  attack.  The  accusatory  list  was  as  fol- 
lows : 

"  First  :  Violations  of  charter  amounting 
to  forfeiture : 

"  1.  The  issue  of  seven  millions,  and  more,  of 
branch  bank  orders  as  a  currency. 

"  2.  Usury  on  broken  bank  notes  in  Ohio  and 
Kentucky:  nine  hundred  thousand  dollars  in 
Ohio,  and  nearly  as  much  in  Kentuckj%  See  2 
Peters'  Reports,  p.  527,  as  to  the  nature  of  the 
case. 

"  3.  Domestic  bills  of  exchange,  disguised  loans 
to  take  more  than  at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent. 
Sixteen  millions  of  these  bills  for  December  last. 
See  monthly  statements. 

4.  Non-user  of  the  charter.  In  this,  that 
Trom  1819  to  1826,  a  period  of  seven  years,  the 
South  and  West  branches  issued  no  currency  of 
any  kind.  See  the  doctrine  on  non-user  of  char- 
ter and  duty  of  corporations  to  act  up  to  the 
end  of  their  institution,  and  forfeiture  for  neg- 
lect, 

"  5.  Building  houses  to  rent.  See  limitation 
in  their  charter  on  the  right  to  hold  real  pro- 
perty. 

"  6.  In  the  capital  stock,  not  having  due  pro- 
portion of  coin. 

"  7.  Foreigners  voting  for  directors,  through 
their  trustees. 

"Second:  Abuses  worthy  of  inquiry,  not 
amounting  to  forfeiture,  but  going,  if  true, 
clearly  to  show  the  inexpediency  of  renewing 
the  charter. 

"  1.  Not  cashing  its  own  notes,  or  receivinfr 
in  deposit  at  each  branch,  and  at  tl  o  parent 
bank,  the  notes  of  each  other.  By  reason  of 
this  practice,  "otes  of  the  mother  bank  are  at  a 
discount  at  many,  if  not  all,  of  her  branches,  and 
cou.plotely  negatives  the  assertion  of  'sound 
and  uniform  currency.' 

"2.  Making  a  difference  in  receiving  notes 
from  the  federal  gr  .>rnment  and  the  citizens  of 
the  States.  This  is  admitted  as  to  all  notes 
above  five  dollars. 

"  3.  Making  a  difference  between  members  of 
Congress  and  the  citizens  generally,  in  both 
granting  loans  and  selling  bills  of  exchange.  It 
is  believed  it  can  be  made  ;">  appear  that  mem- 
bers can  obtain  bills  oi  excliange  without,  citi- 
zens with  a  premium;  the  first  give  nominal 
endorsers,  the  other  must  give  two  sufficient  re- 
sident endorsers. 


"4.  The  undue  accumulation  of  proxies  in 
the  hands  of  a  few  to  control  the  election  for 
directors. 

"  5.  A  strong  suspicion  of  secret  understand- 
ing between  the  bank  and  brokers  to  job  in 
stocks,  contrary  to  the  charter.  For  example 
to  buy  up  three  per  cent,  stock  at  this  day ;  and 
force  the  government  to  pay  at  par  for  that 
stock;  and  whether  the  government  deposits 
may  not  be  used  to  enhance  its  own  debts. 

"  6.  Subsidies  and  loans,  directly  or  indirect!}' 
to  printers,  editors,  and  lawyers,  for  purposes 
other  than  the  regular  business  of  the  bank. 

"  7.  Distinction  in  favor  of  merchants  in  sell- 
ing bills  of  exchange. 

"  8.  Practices  upon  local  banks  and  debtors  to 
make  them  petition  Congress  for  a  renewal  of  its 
charter,  and  thus  impose  upon  Congress  by  false 
clamor. 

"9.  The  actual  management  of  the  bank 
whether  safely  and  prudently  conducted.  See 
monthly  statements  to  the  contrary. 

"  10.  The  actual  condition  of  the  bank,  her 
debts  and  credits ;  how  much  she  has  increased 
debts  and  diminished  her  means  to  pay  in  tiie 
last  year;  how  much  she  has  increased  lier 
credits  and  multiplied  her  debtors,  since  tiie 
President's  message  in  1829,  without  ability  to 
take  up  the  notes  she  has  issued,  and  pay  her 
deposits. 

"11.  Excessive  issues,  all  on  public  deposits, 

"  12.  Whether  the  account  of  the  bank's  pros- 
perity be  real  or  delusive. 

"  13.  The  amount  of  gold  and  F'lver  coin  and 
bullion  sent  from  Western  and  Southern  branch- 
es of  the  parent  bank  since  its  establishment  in 
1817.  The  amount  is  supposed  to  be  fifteen  or 
twenty  millions,  and,  Avith  bank  interest  on 
bank  debts,  constitutes  a  system  of  the  most 
intolerable  oppression  of  the  South  and  West, 
The  gold  and  silver  of  tlie  South  and  ^Vost  have 
been  drawn  to  the  mother  bank,  mostly  by  the 
agency  of  that  unlawful  currency  created  by 
branch  bank  orders,  as  will  be  made  fully  to  ap- 
pear. 

"  14.  The  establishment  of  agencies  in  differ- 
ent States,  under  the  direction  and  management 
of  one  person  only,  to  deal  in  bills  of  exchange, 
and  to  transact  other  business  properly  belong- 
ing to  branch  banks,  contrary  to  the  charter. 

"  15.  Giving  authority  to  State  banks,  to  dis- 
count their  bills  without  authority  from  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury." 

Upon  the  reading  of  these  charges  a  heated  and 
prolonged  fliscussion  took  place,  in  which  more 
than  thirty  members  engaged  (and  about  an 
equal  number  on  each  side)  ;  in  which  the 
friends  of  the  bank  lost  so  much  ground  in  the 
public  estimation,  m  niaking  direct  opposition  to 
investigation,  that  it  became  necessary  to  give 
up  that  species  of  opposition — declare  in  favor 
of  examination — but  so  conducted  as  to  be  nu- 


ANNO  1832.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


239 


tors,  since  tlie 


gatory,  and  worse  than  useless.    One  proposi- 
tion was  to  have  the  investi^tion  made  by  the 
Committee  of  Ways  and  Cleans — a  proposition 
which  inTolved  many  departures  from   parlia- 
mentary law— from  propriety— and  from  the 
respect  which  the  bank  owed  to  itself,  if  it  was 
innocent.    By  all  parliamentary  law  such  a  com- 
mittee must  be  composed  of  members  friendly 
to  the  inquiry— hearty  in  the  cause— and  the 
mover  always  to  be  its  chairman :  here,  on  the 
contrary,  the  mover  was  to  be  excluded:  the 
very  champion  of  the  Bank  defence  \vas  to  be 
the  investigating  chairman ;  and  the  committee 
to  whom  it  was  to  go,  was  the  same  that  had 
just  reported  so  warmly  for  the  Bank.     But 
this  proposition  had   so  bad  a  look  that  the 
chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means 
(Mr.  McDuffic)  objected  to  it  himself,  utterly 
refusing  to  take  the  offlco  of  prosecutor  against 
an  institution  of  which  he  was  the  public  de- 
fender.   Propositions  were  then  made  to  have 
tlie  committee  appointed  by  ballotj  so  as  to  take 
the  appointment  of  the  committee  out  of  the 
hands  of  the  Speaker  (who,  following  the  par- 
liamentary rule,  would  select  a  majority  of  mem- 
bers favorable  to  inquiry) ;  and  in  the  vote  by 
ballot,  the  bank  having  a  majority  in  the  House 
could  reverse  the  parliamentary  rule,  and  give 
to  the  institution  a  committee  to  shield,  instead 
"f  to  probe  it.    Unbecoming,  and  even  suspi- 
cious to  the  institution  itself  as  this  proposition 
was,  it  came  within  a  tie  vote  of  passing,  and 
was  only  lost  by  tl.^  casting  vote  of  the  Speaker. 
Investigation  of  some  kind,  and  by  a  select  com- 
mittee, becoming  then  inevitable,  the  only  thing 
that  could  be  done  in  favor  of  the  bank  was  to 
restrict  its  scope ;  and  this  was  done  both  as  to 
time  and  matter;  and  also  as  to  the  part  of  the 
institution  to  be  examined.     Mr.  Adams  intro- 
duced a  resolution  to  limit  the  inquiry  to  the 
operations  of  the  mother  bank,  thereby  skipping 
the  twenty-seven  branches,  though  some  of  them 
were  nearer  than  the  parent  bank ;  also  limiting 
Ihe  points  of  inquiry  to  breaches  of  the  charter, 
JO  as  to  cut  off  the  abuses  ;  also  limiting  the  time 
to  a  short  day  (the  21st  of  April)-March  then 
iJcing  far  advanced ;  so  as  to  subject  full  inves- 
tigation to  be  baffled  for  the  want  of  time.    The 
reason  given  for  these  restrictions  was  to  bring 
the  investigation  within  the  compass  of  the 
Bession-so  as  to  insure  action  on  the  application 
Dcfore  the  adjournment  of  Congress— thereby 


openly  admitting  its  connection  with  the  presi- 
dential election.  On  seeing  his  proposed  inquiry 
thus  restricted,  Mr.  Clayton  thus  gave  vent  to 
his  feelings : 


I  hope  I  may  b«i  permitted  to  take  a  parting 
leave  of  my  resolution,  as  I  very  plainly  perceive 
that  It  IS  going  the  way  of  all  flesh.    I  discover 
the  bank  has  a  complying  majority  at  present  in 
this  House,  and  at  this  late  hour  of  the  night 
are  determmed  to  carry  things  in  their  own 
way;  but,  sir,  I  view  with  astonishment  the 
conduct  of  that  majority.    When  a  speaker  rises 
m  tavor  of  the  bank,  he  is  listened  to  with  great 
attention ;  but  when  one  opposed  to  it  attempts 
to  address  the  House,  such  is  the  intentional 
noise  and  confusion,  he  cannot  be  heard ;  and 
sir,  the  gentlp.  lan  who  last  spoke  but  one  in 
favor  of  an  ii'^uiry,  had  to  take  his  seat  in  a 
scene  little  short  of  a  riot.    I  do  not  understand 
such  conduct.     When  I  introduced  my  resolu- 
tion, I  predicated  it  upon  the  presumption  that 
every  thing  in  this  House  would,  when  respect- 
fully presented,  receive  a  respectful  considera- 
tion, and     ould  be  treated  precisely  as  all  other 
questions  similarly  situated  are  treated.    I  ex- 
pected the  same  courtesy  that  other  gentlemen 
received  m  the  propositions  submitted  by  them 
that  it  would  go  to  a  committee  appointed  in 
the  usual  form,  and  that  they  would  have  the 
usual  time  to  make  their  report.    I  believed  for 
I  had  no  right  to  believe  otherwise,  that  all  com- 
mittees of  this  House  were  honest,  and  that  they 
had  too  much  respect  for  themselves,  as  well  as 
for  the  House,  to  trifle  with  any  matter  confided 
to  their  investigation.     Believing  this,  I  did  ex- 
pect my  resolution  would  be  submitted  in  t.- 
accustomed  way  ;  and  if  this  House  had  thought 
proper  to  trust  me,  in  part,  with  the  examina- 
tion of  the  subject  to  which  it  refers,  I  would 
have  proceeded  to  the  business  in  good  faith 
and  reported  as  early  as  was  practicable  witli 
the  important  interests  at  stake.     It  has  been 
opposed   in  every  shape ;  vote   upon  vote  has 
been  taken  upon  it,  all  evidently  tending  to 
evade  inquiry ;   and  now  it  is   determined  to 
compel  the  committee  to  report  in  a  limited 
time,  a  thing  unheard  of  before  in  this  House 
and  our  inquiries  are  to  be  confined  entirely  to 
the   mother   bank;   whereas   her   branches   at 
which  morj  than  half  the  frauds  and  oppressions 
complained  of  have  been  committed,  are  to  go 
unexamined,  and  we  are  to  be  limited  to  breaches 
of  the  charter  when  the  abuses  charged  are  nu- 
merous and  flagrant,  and  equally  injurious  to 
the  community.     We  are  only  to  examine  the 
books  of  the  parent  bank,  the  greatest  part  of 
vvhich  may  be  accidentally  from  home,  at  some 
ol  the  branches.    If  the  bank  can  reconcile  it  to 
herself  to  meet  no  other  kind  of  investigation  but 
this,  she  is  welcome  to  all  the  advantages  which 
such  an  insincere  and  shuffling  course  is  calculat- 
ed to  confer ;  the  people  of  this  country  are  too 
intelligent  not  to  miderstand  exactly  her  object." 


I' 


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240 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


ei>.ii;] 


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'  Among  the  abuses  cut  off  from  examinations 
by  these  restrictions,  were  two  modes  of  ex- 
torting double  and  treble  compensation  for  the 
use  of  money,  one  by  turning  a  loan  note  into 
a  bill  of  exchange,  and  the  other  by  forcing  the 
borrower  to  take  his  money  upon  a  domestic 
bill  instead  of  on  a  note — both  systematically 
practised  upon  in  the  West,  and  converting 
nearly  all  the  Western  loans  into  enormously 
usurious  transactions.  Mr.  Clayton  gave  the 
following  description  of  the  first  of  these  modes 
of  extorting  usury  : 

"  I  will  now  make  a  fuller  statement ;  and  I 
think  I  am  authorized  to  say  that  there  are  gen- 
tlemen in  this  House  from  the  West,  and  under 
my  eye  at  present,  who  will  confirm  every  word 
I  say.  A  person  has  a  note  in  one  of  the  West- 
ern branch  banks,  and  if  the  bank  determines 
to  extend  no  further  credit,  its  custom  is,  when 
it  sends  out  the  usual  notice  of  the  time  the 
note  falls  due,  to  write  across  the  notice,  in 
red  ink,  these  three  fatal  words — well  under- 
stood in  that  country — 'Payment  is  expect- 
ed.' This  notice,  thus  rubricatod,  becomes  a 
death-warrant  to  the  credit  of  that  customer, 
unless  he  can  raise  the  wind,  as  it  is  called,  to 
pay  it  off,  or  can  discount  a  domestic  bill  of  ex- 
change. This  last  is  done  in  one  of  two  ways. 
If  he  has  a  factor  in  New  Orleans  who  is  in  the 
habit  of  receiving  and  selling  his  produce,  he 
draws  upon  him  to  pay  it  off  at  maturity.  The 
bank  charges  two  per  centum  for  two  months, 
the  factor  two  and  a  half,  and  thus,  if  the  draft 
is  at  sixty  days,  he  pavs  at  the  rate  of  twenty- 
seven  per  centum.  If,  however,  he  has  no  fac- 
tor, he  is  obliged  to  get  some  friend  who  has 
one  to  make  the  arrangement  to  get  his  draft 
accepted.  For  this  accommodation  he  pays  his 
friend  one  and  a  half  per  cent.,  besides  the  two 
per  cent,  to  the  bank,  and  the  two  and  a  half 
per  cent,  to  the  acceptor ;  making,  in  this  mode 
of  arrangement,  thirty-six  per  cent,  which  he 
pays  before  he  can  get  out  of  the  clutches  of  the 
bank  for  that  time,  twelve  per  cent,  of  which, 
in  either  case,  goes  to  the  bank  ;  and  so  little 
conscience  have  they,  in  order  to  make  this, 
they  will  subject  a  poor  and  unfortunate  debtor 
to  the  other  enormous  burdens,  and  consequent- 
ly to  absolute  beprgary.  For  it  must  be  obvious 
to  every  one  that  such  a  per  cent,  for  money, 
under  the  melancholy  depreciation  of  produce 
every  where  in  the  South  and  West,  will  soon 
wind  up  the  affairs  of  such  a  borrower.  No 
people  under  the  heavens  can  bear  it ;  and  un- 
less a  stop  is  put  to  it,  in  some  way  or  other,  I 
predict  the  Western  people  will  be  in  the  most 
deplorable  situation  it  is  possible  to  conceive. 
Tliere  is  another  great  liaidoUip  to  which  this 
debtor  is  liable,  if  he  should  not  be  able  to  fur- 
nish the  produce  ;  or,  which  is  sometimes  the 
case,  if  it  is  sacrificed  in  the  sale  of  it  at  the 


time  the  draft  becomes  due,  whereby  it  is  pro- 
tested  for  want  of  funds,  it  returns  upon  him 
with  the  additional  cost  of  ten  per  cent,  for 
non-payment.  Now,  sir,  thai  is  what  is  meant 
by  domestic  bills  of  exchange,  disguised  as  loans 
to  take  more  than  six  per  cent.  5  for,  mark,  Mr. 
Speaker,  the  bank  does  not  purchase  a  bill  of 
exchange  by  paying  out  cash  for  it,  and  receiv- 
ing the  usual  rate  of  exchange,  which  varies 
from  one-quarter  to  one  per  cent. ;  but  it  mere- 
ly delivers  up  the  poor  debtor's  note  which  was 
previously  in  bank,  and,  what  is  worse,  just  as 
well  secured  as  the  domestic  bill  of  exchange 
which  they  thus  extort  from  him  in  lieu  thereof, 
And  while  they  are  thus  exacting  this  per  cent. 
from  him,  they  are  discounting  bills  for  others 
not  in  debt  to  them  at  the  usual  premium  of 
one  per  cent.  The  whole  scene  seems  to  pre- 
sent the  picture  of  a  helpless  sufferer  in  tlie 
hands  of  a'  ruffian,  who  claims  the  merit  of 
charity  for  discharging  his  victim  alive,  after 
having  torn  away  half  his  limbs  from  his  body. ' 

The  second  mode  was  to  make  the  loan  take 
the  form  of  a  domestic  bill  from  the  beginning ; 
and  this  soon  came  to  be  the  most  general  prsc- 
tice.  The  borrowers  finding  thut  their  notes 
were  to  be  metamorphosed  into  bills  payable  in 
a  distant  city,  readily  fell  into  the  more  con- 
venient mode  of  giving  a  bill  in  the  first  in- 
stance payable  in  some  village  hard  by,  where 
they  could  go  to  redeem  it  without  giving  com- 
missions to  intermediate  agents  in  the  shape  of 
endorsers  and  brokers.  The  profit  to  the  bank 
in  this  operation  was  to  get  six  per  centum  in- 
terest, and  two  per  cent,  exchange ;  which,  on 
a  sixty  days'  bill,  was  twelve  per  cent,  per  an- 
num ;  and,  added  to  the  interest,  eighteen  per 
cent,  per  annum  ;  with  the  addition  of  ten  per 
centum  damages  if  the  bill  was  protested ;  and 
of  this  character  were  the  mass  of  tlie  loans  in 
the  West — a  most  scandalous  abuse,  but  cut  off, 
with  a  multitude  of  others,  from  investigation 
from  the  restrictions  placed  upon  the  powers 
of  the  committee. 

The  supporters  of  the  institution  carrieel  tneir 
point  in  the  House,  and  had  the  investigation 
in  their  own  way  ;  but  with  the  country  it  .vas 
different.  The  bank  stood  condemned  upon  its 
own  conduct,  and  badly  crippled  by  tlie  attacks 
upon  her.  More  than  a  dozen  speakers  assailed 
her:  Clayton,  Wayne,  Foster  of  Georgia ;  J.M. 
Patton,  Archer,  and  Mark  Alexander  of  Vir- 
ginia ;  James  K.  Polk  of  Teimessee ;  Cambre- 
leng,  Beardsley,  Hoffman  and  Angel  of  New- 
York  ;  Mitchell  and  Blair  of  South  Carolina ; 
Carson  of  North  Carolina  j   Leavitt  of  Ohio, 


ANNO  1832.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PIIESIDEXT. 


241 


The  speakers  on  the  other  side  were :  McDuflBe 
iind  Drayton  of  South  Carolina ;  Denny,  Craw- 
ford, Coulter,   Watmough,   of   Pennsylvania ; 
Daniel  of  Kentucky ;    Jenifer  of  Maryland  ; 
Huntington  of  Connecticut ;   Root  and  Collins 
of  New-York  ;    Evans  of  Maine  ;    Mercer  of 
'>ir;:iiiia ;  Wilde  of  Georgia.      Pretty  equally 
uiiitclied  both  in  numbers  and  ability ;  but  the 
dillerence  between  attack  and  defence — between 
bold  accusation  nnd  shrinking  palliation — the 
conduct  of  the  bank  friends,  first  in  resisting  all 
investigation,  then  in  trying  to  put  it  into  the 
hands  of  friends,  then  restricting  the  examina- 
tion, and  the  noise  and  confusion  with  which 
many  of  the  anti-bank  speeches  were  saluted — 
gave  to  the  assailants  the  appearance  of  right, 
and  the  tone  of  victory  throughout  the  contest ; 
and  created  a  strong  suspicion  against  the  bank. 
Certainly  its  conduct  was  injudicious,  except 
upon  the  hypothesis  of  a  guilt,  the  worst  sus- 
picion of  which  would  be  preferable  to  open  de- 
tection ;  and  such,  eventually,  was  found  to  be 
the  fact.    In  justice  to  Mr.  JMcDuffie,  the  lead- 
ing advocate  of  the  bank,  it  must  be  remember- 
ed that  the  attempts  to  stifle,  or  evade  inquiry 
did  not  come  from  him  but  from  the  immediate 
representative  of  the  bank  neighborhood — that 
he  twice  discountenanced  and  stopped  such  at- 
tempts, requesting  them  to  be  Avith  drawn ;  and 
no  doubt  all  the  defenders  of  the  Lank  at  the 
time  believed  in  its  integritj^  and  utility,  and 
only  followed  the  lead  of  its  immediate  friends 
in  the  course  which  they  pursued.     For  myself 
I  became  convinced  that  tlie  bank  was  insol- 
vent, as  well  as  criminal ;  and  that,  to  her  ex- 
amination was  death ;  and  therefore  she  could 
not  face  it. 

The  committee  appointed  were  :  Messrs. 
Clayton,  Richard  M.  Johnson  of  Kentucky 
Francis  Thomas  of  JIaryland,  and  Mr.  Cambre- 
leng  of  New- York,  opposed  to  the  recharter  of 
the  Bank  ;  Messrs.  McDufTio,  John  Quincy 
Adams,  and  AVatm,ough,  in  favor  of  it.  The 
ciimmittee  was  composed  according  to  the  par- 
liamentary rule— the  majority  in  flivor  of  the 
object— but  one  of  them  (Colonel  Johnson  of 
Kentucky),  was  disqualified  by  his  charitable 
and  indulgent  disposition  for  the  invidious  task 
»f  criminal  inquisition ;  and  who  frankly  told 
the  House,  after  he  returned,  that  he  had  never 
loolced  at  a  bank-book,  or  asked  a  question 
"hiJe  he  was  at  Philadelphia;  and,  Mr.  Adams 
Vol.  I.— 16 


in   invalidating   the    report   of  the    majority 
against  the  bank,  disputed  the  reality  of  tlie 
majority,  saying  that  the  good  nature  of  Colo- 
nel Johnson  had  merely  licensed  it.     On  the 
other  hand,  the  committee  was  as  favorably 
composed  for  the  bank— Mr.  Adams  and  Mr.- 
McDuflSe  both  able  writers  and  speakers,  of  na- 
tional rcput.ation,  investigating   minds,  ardent 
temperaments,  firm  believers  in  the  iiitcgrity 
i  and  usefulness  of  the  corporation ;  and  of  char 
j  acter  and  position  to  be  friendly  to  the  institu 
tion  without  the  imputation  of  an  undue  mo 
tive.    Mr.  '^Yatmough  was  a  new  member,  but 
acceptable  to  the  bank  as  its  immediato  repre- 
sentative, as  the  member  that  had  made  the 
motions  to  baffle  investigation  ;   and  as  being 
from  his  personal  as  well  as  political  and  social 
relations,  in  the  category  to  form,  if  necessary, 
its  channel  of  confidential  commimication  with 
the  committee. 

The  committee  made  three  reports— one  by 
the  majority,  one  by  the  minority,  and  one  by 
Mr.  Adams  alone.     The  first  was  a  severs  re- 
crimination of  the  bank  on  many  points— i.sury 
issuing  branch  bank  orders  as  a  currency,  selling 
coin,  selling  sto, "   -obtained  from  government  un- 
der special  acta   .f  .    ogress,  donations  for  roads 
and  canals,  buildii.g  houses  to  rent  or  sell,  loans 
unduly  made  to  editors,  brokers,  and  members 
of  Congress.    The  adversary  reports  Mxrc  a  de- 
fence of  the  bank  on  all  these  point?!,  and  the 
highest  encomiums  upon  the  excellence  of  its 
management,  and  the  universality  of  its  utility ; 
but  too  much  in  the  spirit  of  the  advocate  to 
retain  the  character  oflcgislativc  reports— which 
admit  of  nothing  but  fiicts  stated,  inductions 
drawn,  and  opinions  expressed.     Both,  or  ra- 
ther all  three  sets  of  reports,  -were  received  as 
veracious,   and    lauded    as    victorious,  by   the 
respective    parties   which   they  favored;   and 
quoted,  as  settling  for  ever  the  bank  question, 
each  way.    But,  alas,  for  the  effect  of  the  pro- 
gress of  events !     In  a  few  brief  years  all  tliis 
attack  and  defence— all  this  elaboration  of  accu- 
sation, ai.a  refinement  of  vindication— all  this 
:  zeal  and  animosity,  for  and  against  the  bank— 
j  the  whole  contest— was  eclipsed  and  superse- 
':  ded  by  the  actualities  of  the  times— the  majority 
i  rej)ort,  as  being  behind  the  fiicts  :  the  minoritv, 
i  as  resting  upon  vanished  illusions.     And  the 
great  bank  itself,  antagonise  of  Jackson,  called 
imperial  by  its  friends,  and  actually  constituting 


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242 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


a  power  in  the  State — prostrate  in  dust  and 
ashes  —  and  invoking  from  the  community, 
through  the  mouth  of  the  greatest  of  its  advo- 
cates (Mr.  Webster),  the  oblivion  and  amnesty 
of  an  "  obsolete  idea." 

It  is  not  the  design  of  this  View  to  explore 
these  reports  for  the  names  of  persons  implicated 
(some  perhaps  unjustly),  in  the  criminating 
statements  of  the  majority.  The  object  pro- 
posed in  this  work  does  not  require  that  inter- 
ference with  individuals.  The  conduct  of  the 
institution  is  the  point  of  inquiry ;  and  in  that 
eonduct  will  be  found  Die  warning  voice  against 
the  dangers  and  abuses  of  such  an  establishment 
in  all  time  to  come. 


CHAPTER    LXV. 

THE  THREE  PER  CENT.  DEBT,  AND  LOSS  IN  NOT 
PAYING  IT  WHEN  THE  RATE  WAS  LOW,  AND 
THE  MONEY  IN  THE  BANK  OF  THE  UNITED 
STATES  WITHOUT  INTEREST. 

There  was  a  part  of  the  revolutionary  debt, 
incurred  by  the  States  and  assumed  by  Con- 
gress, amounting  to  thirteen  and  a  quarter  mil- 
lions of  dollars,  on  which  an  interest  of  only 
three  per  centum  was  allowed.  Of  course,  the 
stock  of  this  debt  could  be  but  little  over  fifty 
cents  in  the  dollar  in  a  country  where  legal  in- 
terest was  six  per  centum,  and  actual  interest 
often  more.  In  1817,  when  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States  went  into  ojieration,  the  price  of 
that  stock  was  sixty-four  per  centum— the 
money  was  in  bank,  more  than  enough  to  pay 
it— a  gratuitous  deposit,  bringing  no  interest — 
and  which  was  contained  in  her  vaults— her  sit- 
uation soon  requiring  the  aid  of  the  federal  gov- 
ernment to  enable  her  to  keep  her  doors  open. 
I  had  submitted  a  resolve  early  in  my  term  of 
service  to  have  this  stock  purchased  at  its  mar- 
Ivct  value ;  and  for  that  purpose  to  enlarge  the 
I^ower  of  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund, 
tlu?n  limited  to  a  price  a  little  below  the  current 
rate :  a  motion  which  was  resisted  and  defeated 
by  the  friends  of  the  bank.  I  then  moved  a  re- 
solve that  the  Viank  nay  interest  on  the  deposits : 
wliich  was  opposed  and  defeated  in  like  manner. 
Eventually,  and  when  the  rest  of  the  public 
debt  should  be  paid  off,  and  the  payment  of  those 


thirteen  and  a  quarter  millions  would  become 
obligatory  under  a  policy  which  eschewed  all 
debt — a  consummation  then  rapidly  approach- 
ing, under  General  Jackson's  administration— it 
was  clear  that  the  treasury  would  p.ay  one  hun- 
dred cents  on  the  dollar  on  what  could  be  tluu 
purchased  for  sixty-odd,  losing  in  the  mean  time 
the  interest  on  the  money  with  which  it  could  \.( 
paid.     It  made  a  case  against  the  bank,  which 
it  felt  itself  bound  to  answer,  and  did  so  tlirongb 
senator  Johnson,  of  Louisiana:    who   showed 
that  the  bank  paid  the  debt  which  the  commis- 
sioners of  the  sinking  fund  required.    This  was 
true ;  but  it  was  not  the  point  in  the  case.  The 
point  was  that  the  money  was  kept  in  deposit 
to  sustain  the  bank,  and  the  enlargement  of  the 
powers  of  the  commissioners  resisted  to  prevent 
them  from  purchasing  this  stock  at  a  low  rate, 
in  view  of  its  rise  to  par;   which  soon  tooii 
place ;  and  made  palpable  the  loss  to  the  United 
States.     At  the  time  of  the  solicited  renewal  of 
the  charter,  this  non-payment  of  the  three  per 
cents  was  brought  up  as  an  instance  of  loss  in- 
curred on  account  of  the  bank ;  and  gave  rise  to 
the  defence  from  Mr.  Johnson;   to  which  1 
replied : 

"  Jlr.  Benton  had  not  intended,  he  said,  to  sa;- 
a  word  in  relation  to  this  qviestion,  nor  bhonlil 
he  now  rise  to  speak  upon  it.  but  from  what 
had  fallen  from  the  senator  from  New  Jersey. 
That  gentleman  had  gone  from  the  resohition 
to  the  bank,  and  from  the  bank  he  had  pom  to 
statements  respecting  his  resolutions  on  iiliini 
salt,  which  were  erroneous.  Day  by  day,  me- 
morials were  poured  in  upon  us  by  command  of 
the  bank,  all  representing,  in  the  same  term';, 


the  necessity  of  renewing  its  charter.  Tiicse 
memorials,  the  tone  of  which,  and  the  time  of 
their  presentation,  showed  their  common  origin, 
were  daily  ordered  to  be  printed.  These  papers, 
forming  a  larger  mass  than  we  ever  had  on  our 
tables  before,  and  all  singing,  to  the  same  tune, 
the  praises  of  the  bank,  Avere  ordered  to  be 
printed  without  hesitation.  The  report  which 
he  had  moved  to  have  printed  for  the  benefit  of 
the  farmers,  was  struck  at  by  the  senator  of 
New  Jersey.  In  the  fii-st  place,  the  senator  was 
in  error  as  to  the  cost  of  printing  the  report. 
He  had  L;tated  it  to  be  one  thousand  nine  iiun- 
dred  dollars,  whereas  it  was  only  one  thous-ond 
one  hundred  dollars.  A  few  days  ajio,  two 
thousand  copies  of  a  report  of  the  British  House 
of  Commons  on  the  subject  of  railroads  was 
ordered  to  be  printed.  Following  the  language 
of  Ihat  resolution,  he  had  moved  the  printing"' 
another  report  of  that  body,  which  would  interest 
a  thousand  of  our  citizens,  where  that  report 
would  interest  one.    There  was  not  a  farmer  in 


ANNO  1832.    ANDRFW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


243 


America  who  would  not  deem  it  a  treasure.    It 
covered  the  whole  saline  kingtlom ;  and  those 
unacquainted  with  its  nature  had  no  more  idea 
of  it  than  a  blind  man  had  of  the  solar  rays.    It 
was  of  the  highest  value  to  the  farmer  and  the 
glazier.    It  showed  the  efl'ect  of  the  mineral  king- 
'lom  upon  the  animal  kingdom ;  and  its  views 
were  the  results  of  the  wisdom,  experience,  and 
first  talents  of  Great  Britain.     The' assertion  of 
tlie  senator,  that  the  bank  aided  in  producing  a 
sound  currency,  he  would  disprove  by  facts  and 
dates.    In  1817  the  bank  went  into  operation. 
In  throe  or  four  years  after,  forty-four  banks 
were  chartered  in  Kentucky,  and  forty  in  Ohio  ; 
and  tiie  United  States  Bank,  so  far  from  being 
able  to  put  them  down,  was  on  the  verge  of 
bankruptcy.     With  the  use  of  eight  millions  of 
public  money,  it  was  hardly  able,  from  day  to 
day  to  sustain  itself.    Eleven  millions  of  dollars, 
as  he  could  demonstrate,  the  people  had  lost  bj^ 
maintaining  the  bank  during  this  crisis.     But 
for  a  waggon  load  of  specie  from  the  mint,  as 
Mr.  Cheves  informs  us,  it  would  have  become 
bankrupt.    In  addition  to  this,  the  use  of  gov- 
ernment deposits,  to  the  extent  of  eight  millions, 
was  necessary  to  sustain  it ;  and  the  country  lost 
eleven  millions  by  the  diversion  of  those  deposits 
to  tl'.is  purpose.     Congress  authorized  the  pur- 
chase of  the  thirteen  millions  of  three  per  cents, 
—at  that  time,  they  could  have  been  purchased 
at  sixty -five  cents,  now  they  were  at  ninety-six 
per  cent.    This  was  one  item  of  the  amount 
lost,  and  the  other  was  the   interest  on  the 
stock  from  that  time  to  the  present,  amounting 
to  six  millions  more.     It  was  shown  by  Mr. 
Cheves  that  the  United  States  Bank  owed  its 
existence  to  the  local  banks — to  the  indulgence 
and  forbearance  of  the  banks  of  Philadelphia  and 
Boston,  notwithstanding  its  receipt  of  the  silver 
from  Ohio  and  Kentucky,  which  drained  that 
country,  destroyed  its  local  banks,  and  threw 
down  the  value  of  every  description  of  its  pro- 
perty.   The  United  States  Bank  currency  was 
called  by  the  senator  the  poor  man's  friend. 
The  orders  on  the  branches — tht  se  drafts  issued 
in  Dan  and  made  payable  in  Beersheba — had 
their  origin  with  a  Scotchman  ;  and,  when  their 
character  M-as  discovered,  they  were  stopped  as 
oppressive  to  the  poor ;  and  this  bank,  which 
was  cried  up  as  the  poor  man's  friend,  issued 
those  same  orders,  in  paper  so  similar  to  that  of 
the  bank  notes,  that  the  people  could  not  readily 
discern  the  diltbrence  between  them.     It  was 
thought  that  the  people  might  mistake  the  sig- 
nature of  the  little  cashier  and  the  little  president 
f.>r  tlic  great  cashier  and  the  great  president. 
The  stockholders  were    foreigners,  to  a  great 


extent— they  were  lords  and  ladies — reverend 
clergymen  and  military  officers.  The  widows, 
in  whose  behalf  our  sympathy  was  required, 
\v.jre  cfiuntrss  dowagers,  and  the  Barings,  sonic 
of  whom  owned  more  of  the  stock  than  was  pos- 
sessed in  sixteen  States  of  this  Union." 


CHAPTER    LXVI. 

BANK  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES— BILL  FOR  TIIE 
RECIIAETEE  EEPOKTKD  IN  TIIE  SENATE— AND 
PASSED  THAT  BODY. 

Thf.  first  jank  of  the  United  States,  chartered 
in  1791,  was  a  federal  measure,  conducted  under 
the  lead  of  General  Hamilton — opposed  by  Mr. 
Jefferson,  Mr,  Madison  and  the  republican  party; 
and  became  a  great  landmark  of  party,  not 
merely  for  the  bank  itself,  but  for  the  latitudi- 
nariau  construction  of  the  constitution  in  which 
it  was  founded,  and  the  great  door  'which  it 
opened  to  the  discretion  of  Congress  to  do  what 
it  pleased,  under  the  plea  of  being  "  necessary  " 
to  carry  into  effect  some  granted  power.  The 
non-renewal  of  the  charter  in  1811,  was  the  act 
of  the  republican  party,  then  in  possession  of 
the  government,  and  taking  the  opportunity  to 
terminate,  upon  its  own  limitation,  the  existence 
of  an  institution,  whose  creation  they  had  not 
been  able  to  prevent.  The  charter  of  the  second 
bank,  in  181G,  was  the  act  of  the  republican 
party,  and  to  aid  them  in  the  administration  of 
the  government,  and,  as  such,  was  opposed  by 
the  federal  party— not  seeming  then  to  under- 
stand that,  by  its  instincts,  a  great  moneyed 
corporation  was  in  sympathy  with  their  own 
party,  and  %vould  soon  be  with  it  in  action 
— which  this  bank  soon  was — and  now  struggled 
for  a  continuation  of  its  existence  under  the 
lead  of  those  who  had  opposed  its  birth,  and 
against  the  party  which  created  it.  Mr.  Web- 
ster was  a  federal  leader  on  both  occasions — 
against  the  charter,  in  181G  ;  for  the  recharter, 
in  1832 — and  in  his  opening  speech  in  favor  of 
the  renewal,  according  to  the  bill  reported  by 
the  Senate's  select  committee,  and  in  allusion 
to  these  reversals  of  positions,  and  in  justifica- 
tion of  his  own,  he  spoke  thus,  addressing  him- 
self to  the  Vice-President,  Mr.  Calhoun : 

"  A  considerable  portion  of  the  active  part  of 
life  has  elapsed,  said  Mr.  W.,  since  ;,  :)■!  and  I, 
Mr.  President,  and  three  or  four  other  gentlemen, 
now  in  the  Senate,  acted  our  respective  parts  ia 
the  passage  of  the  bill  creating  the  present  Bank 
of  the  United  States.  We  have  lived  to  littlo 
purpose,  as  public  uiei>,  if  the  experieuco  of  this 
period  has  not  enlightened  our  judgments,  and 
enabled  us  to  revise  our  opinions  ;  and  to  correct 
any  errors  into  which  we  may  have  fallen,  if 
such  errors  there  were,  either  in  regard  to  the 


I.     =1 


M 


■  ''I 
{ if 


I,      1-9  ■■ 


'?; 


i    i    »:^94 


244 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


N 


general  utility  of  a  na'ional  bank,  or  the  details 
of  its  confetitution.  I  Trust  it  will  not  be  nnbe- 
cominf;  the  occasion,  if  I  allude  to  yom  own 
important  agency  in  that  transtiction.  Tln)  bill 
incorporating  the  1">'n.,  and  giving  it  a  con:  titu- 
tion,  proceeded  frci  \  committee  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  of  which  jou  were  chairman, 
and  was  conducted  through  that  House  under 
your  distinguished  lead.  Having  recently  looked 
b;ick  to  the  proceedings  of  that  day,  I  n\u«t  be 
jionnitted  to  say  that  I  have  perused  the  •  pecch 
by  which  the  subject  was  introduced  to  the  con- 
sideration of  the  House,  with  a  fcvival  of  the 
feeling  of  approbation  and  plcasur-.!  with  wliich 
I  heard  it ;  and  I  will  add,  that  it  would  not, 
perhaps,  now,  be  easy  to  find  a  better  1  rief 
synopsis  of  tliose  principles  of  currency  ant]  of 
banking,  which,  since  they  spring  from  the  um  - 
ture  of  money  and  of  commeicc,  must  be  essen- 
tially tin:  same,  at  all  times,  in  all  comiDcrciiil 
communities,  than  that  speech  contains.  The 
other  gi-ptlenicn  now  with  us  in  the  Senate,  all 
of  them,  1  '/?l!cvc,  concurred  with  tl,.;  cliairman 
of  the  connuittee,  .lud  vo+ed  for  the  bill.  My 
own  vote  ivas  against  i;  'iiiis  is  a  matter  of 
little  importance;  but  i'  JcanPC  ted  ivithotlior 
circumstances,  to  which  i  svil?,  Jb  ■  a  monu-iit, 
advert.  The  gentlemen  wit/i  wiium  I  ftcied  oil 
that  occasion,  had  nodoul't- .'>s'".i'constiiutional 
power  of  Congress  to  estaliii.'- L'  ;;.  jiatioiiai  bank; 
nor  luid  we  an}'  doubts  of  ;hi.  geneial  niility  of 
an  institution  of  (hat  kind.  We  had,  indeed, 
most  of  us,  voted  foi"  a  )>ank,  at  a  preceding 
session.  But  the  olyect  of  our  regard  was  not 
whatever  might  bo  called  a  bank.  We  requh'ed 
that  it  should  be  r^tablished  on  certain  princi- 
l^les,  which  alone  we  deemed  safe  and  useful, 
•'.nde  subject  to  certiiin  fixed  liabilities,  and  so 
g:i:;rded  that  it  could  neither  move  voluntarily, 
nor  I't!  moved  by  others  out  of  its  proper  sphere 
of  acfii)!).  The  bill,  when  first  introduced,  con- 
tained ie;' ttn-es,  to  which  we  should  never  have 
assented,  and  we  set  ourselves  accordingl_v  to 
work  with  a  good  deal  of  zeal,  in  order  to  effect 
snn<hy  amendments.  In  some  of  those  proposed 
iXiuendments,  the  chairman,  and  those  who  acted 
with  him,  finally  concuircl.  Others  they 
o])posed.  The  result  was.  that  several  most 
impoi'tant  amendments,  a  i  I  thought,  prevailed. 
But  there  still  remained,  in  my  opinion,  objec- 
tions to  the  bill.  M'hji'h  jiistilied  a  persevering 
opposition  till  the;y  should  be  removed." 

He  spoke  forcibly  and  justly  against  the  evils 
of  pjiper  money,  and  a  depreciated  currency',  i 
meaning  the  debased  is.sues  of  the  local  banks,  i 
for  the  cure  of  which  the  nati<jnal  bank  was  to 
I'e  the  instrument — not  foreseeing   that  this 
great  bank  was  it?elf  to  be  the  most  striking 
e-\enipUfi3ation  of  all  the  evils   '.rich  he  de- 1 
j>icted.     He  said; 

"  A  disordered  currencj'  is  one  of  the  greatest 
of  political  evils.    It  undermines  the  virtues  j 


necessary  for  the  support  of  the  social  system 
and  encourages  propensities  destructive  of  it.s 
happiness.  It  wars  against  industrj'^,  fru- 
gality, and  economy;  and  it  foster?  the  evil 
spirits  of  extravagance  and  speculation.  Of  all 
the  contrivances  for  cheating  the  laboring  clas.-cs 
of  mankind,  none  has  been  more  effectual  than 
that  which  deludes  them  with  paper  money. 
This  is  the  most  eflectual  of  InroriUons  to  fer- 
tilize the  rich  man's  field,  by  the  ewtat  (,!'  the 
poor  man's  brow.  Ordir.icy  tyrimny.  ojijiros- 
sion,  excessive  taxation,  I'ai.'e  i.enr  lightly  on 
the  happiness  of  the  mast  of  ti'o  community 
compared  with  fraudulent  •nr'X'iicijb,  ar^;;  the 
robberies  commitd  d  by  depreciated  paper.  Our 
own  history  has  lecorded  f  r  our  instruction 
eiu)ugh,  and  more  ti;:in  enough,  of  the  demor- 
alizing tersdenoy,  the  inj;i-tice,  find  the  intolera- 
lile  oppre.-S!.)')  on  the  virtuous  and  well  disposed, 
of  a  degruded  paper  currency,  authorized  by  Juw, 
or  anyway  C'.>unter<:iuced  h\  government. '• 

He  also  spoke  truly  on  the  subject  of  the 
small  quantity  of  tnlver  currency  in  the  United 
Slates — only  some  lwer;ty-tv»o  millions — and 
not  a  particle  of  gold;  and  deprecated  the  small 
bank  note  currency  as  the  cause  of  that  evi;. 
He  said : 

"  The  paper  circulation  of  the  country  is,  at 
this  time,  probablj'  sev only-five  or  eighty  mil- 
lions of  dollars.  Of  specii  we  may  have  twenty 
or  twenty-two  millions :  i,.!id  this,  principally,  in 
masses  in  the  vaults  of  the  banks.  Now,  sir, 
this  is  a  state  of  things  whinh,  in  my  judgment! 
leads  constantly  to  overtrading,  and  to  the 
consequent  excesses  and  revulsions  which  s^o 
often  disturb  the  regular  course  of  commerciul 
affairs. 

"  Why  have  we  so  small  an  amount  of  specie  in 
circulation  ?  Certainly  the  only  reason  is,  h)- 
causc  we  do  not  require  more.  We  have  but  to 
ask  its  presence,  and  it  would  .-eturn.  But  wc 
voluntarily  banish  it  by  the  great  amount  of 
small  bank  notes.  In  most  of  the  States  the 
banks  issue  notes  of  all  low  denomination^:, 
down  even  to  a  single  dollar.  How  is  it  po.sj^i- 
ble,  under  such  circumstances,  to  retain  specie 
in  circulation  ?  All  experience  shows  it  to  be 
impossible.  The  paper  will  take  the  place  of 
the  gold  and  silver.  When  Wr.  Pitt,  in  tiie 
year  1797,  proposed  in  Parliament  to  authorize 
the  Bank  of  England  to  issue  one  jxinnd  notes, 
Mr.  Burke  lay  sick  at  Bath  of  an  illness  from 
which  he  n<  ver  recovered;  and  he  is  said  to 
have  written  to  the  late  l\Ir.  Canning,  'Tell  Jir. 
Pitt  that  if  he  consent,-;  1-  ihe  i.'?,-uing  of  one 
pound  notes,  he  must  '  .. .  .i"  expect  to  see  a 
guinea  again. ' '' 

The  bill  provkka  tltut  a  bonus  of  ^500,000 
in  three  equal  nnau.^'  instalments  should  be 
paid  bj' the  bank  co  !<■  ;  TJuited  States  for  its 


it'l 


ANNO  1832.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  TRESIDENT. 


245 


exclusive  privileges  :  Mr.  Webster  moved  to 
modify  the  section,  so  as  to  spread  the  payment 
over  the  entire  term  of  the  bank's  proposed  ex- 
istence—f  150,000  a  year  for  fifteen  years.  I 
was  opposed  both  to  the  bonus,  and  the  exclu- 
sive privilege,  and  said : 

"The  proper  compensation  for  the  bank  to 
make,  provided  this  exclusive  privilej,^e  was  sold 
to  it,  would  be  to  reduce  the  rate  of  interest  on 
loans  and  discounts.     A  reduction  of  interest 
would  be  felt  by  the  people  ;  the  payment  of  a 
bonus  would  not  be  felt  by  them.     It  would 
jome  into  the  treasury,  and  probably  be  lav- 
•.ihcd  immediately  on  some   scheme,  possibly 
unconstitutional  in  its  nature,  and  sectional  in  i 
its  application.     lie  was   not  in  favor  of  any 
scheme  for  getting  money  into  the  treasury  at , 
present.     The    difficulty  lay   the    other    way.  i 
The  struggle  now  was  to  keep  money  out  of  the 
tieasury,— to  prevent  the  accMnmlation  of  a  sui- 
I)!us ;  and  the  reception  of  this  bonus  would  go 
to  aggravate  that  difficulty,  by  increasing  t'.at ; 
suq)lus.    Kings  might  receive  bonuses  for  selling 
exclusive  privileges  to  monopolizing  companies" 
In  that  case  his  subjects  would  bear  the  loss,  ] 
and  he  would  receive  the  profit ;  but,  in  a  re-  ■ 
iniblic,  it  was  incomprehensible  that  the  people 
should  sell  to  a  company  the  pnvilcgc  of  making 
.•noney  out  of  themselves.     lie  was  opposed  to 
1;ho  giant  of  an  exclusive  privilege  ;  he  was  op- 
posed to  the  sale  of  privileges  ;  but  if  granted, 
or  sold,  he  was  in  favoi'  of  receiving  the  price  in 
the  way  that  would  be  most  beneficial  to  the 
whole  body  of  the  people ;  and,  in  this  case,  a 
reduction  of  interest  would  best  accomplish  that 
object.     A  bank,  which  had  the  beiielit  of  the 


the  directors  and  politicians,  or  rather  of  tho 
politicians  and  directors;  for  the  former  gov- 
erned the  decision.  The  stockholders  in  their 
meeting  last  September  only  authorized  the 
president  and  directors  to  apply  at  any  time 
before  the  next  triennial  meeting— at  any  time 
within  three  years ;  and  that  would  carry  the 
application  to  the  right  time.  I,  therefore,  in- 
veighed against  tho  present  application,  and  in- 
sisted that : 


credit  and  revenue  of  the  United  States  to  bank 
upon,  could  well  afford  to  make  loans  and  dis- 
counts for  less  than  six  per  centum.  Five  per 
centum  would  be  high  interest  for  such  a  bank  ; 
and  he  had  no  doubt,  if  time  was  allowed  for 
the  aj)plication,  that  appllcalion.s  enough  would 
he  made  to  take  the  charter  upon  these  terms.  " 

I  opposed  acuon  on  the  subject  at  this  session. 
The  bank  charter  had  yet  four  years  to  run, 
and  two  years  after  that  to  remain  in  force  for 
winding  up  its  affairs ;  in  all,  six  years  before 
the  dissolution  of  the  corporation:  and  this 
would  remit  the  final  decision  to  the  Congress 
which  would  sit  between  1830  and  1838,  anri 
there  was  not  only  to  be  a  new  Congress  elected 
before  that  time,  but  a  new  Congress  under  a 
now  apportionment  of  tho  representation,  in 
which  there  would  be  a  great  augmentation  of 
members,  and  csi)eeially  in  the  AVest,  \\-liere  the 
operation  of  the  present  bank  was  most  inju- 
rious. The  stockholders  had  not  applied  for  the 
1 1  cliarter  at  this  session :  that  was  the  act  of 


"Jlany  reasons   oppose  the  final  action  of 
,  Congress  upon  this  subject  at  the  present  time. 
I  We  are  exhausted  with  tlie  tedium,  if  not  with 
i  the  labors  of  a  six  months'  session.     Our  hearts 
and  minds  must  be  at  home,  though  our  bodies 
arc  here.     Mentally  and  bodily  we  are  unable 
i  to  give  the  attention  and  consideration  to  this 
question,  which  the  magnitude  of  its  principles, 
tho  extent  and  variety  of  its  details,  demand 
from  us.      Other  subjects  of  more  immediate 
,  and  pressing  interest  must  be  thrown  aside,  to 
make  way  for  it.     The  reduction  of  the  price  of 
the  public  lands,  for  which  the  new  States  have 
been   petitioning  for  so  many  years,  and  the 
.  modification  of  the  tariff,  the  continuance  of 
which  seems  to  be  weakening  the  cement  which 
binds  this  Union  together,  nmst  be  postponed 
and  possibly  lost  for  the  session,  if  we  go  on 
with  the  bank  question.     Why  has  the  tariff 
been  dropped  in  the  Senate  ?     Every  one  recol- 
lects the   haste  with  which  that  subject  was 
taken  up  in  this  chamber ;  how  it  was  pushed 
to  a  certain  point ;  and  how  suddenly  and  gen- 
tly it  has  given  way  to  the  bank  bill !     Is  i.liere 
any  union  of  interest— any  conjunction  of  forces 
—any  combined   plan  of  action— any  alliance, 
oflensive    or    defensive,    between    the    United 
Slates  Bank  and  the  American  system  ?     Cer- 
tainly they  enter  the  field  together,  one  here, 
the  other  yonder  (pointing  to  the  House  of 
Itcpresentatives),  and  leaving  a  clear  stage  to 
each  other,  they  press  at  once  upon  both  wings, 
and  announce  a  i)erfect  non-interference,  if  not 
mutual  aid,  in  the  double  victory  which  is  to  be 
achieved.     Why  have  the  two  bills  reported  by 
the  Committee  on  Manufticturcs,  and  for  taking 
up  which  notices  have  been  given :  why  are  they 
so  suddenly,  so  easily,  so  gently,  abandoned"? 
Why  is  the  land  bill,  reported  by  the  same 
committee,  and  a  pledge  given   to   call  it  up 
wfien  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands  had  made 
tlieir  counter  report,  also  suffered  to  sleep  on 
the  table?     The  counter  report  is  made;  it  is 
l)iinted ;  it  lies  on  every  table  ;  why  not  go  on 
with  the  lands,  when  the  settlement  of  the  ques- 
tion of  the  amount  of  revenue  to  be  derived 
from  that  source  precedes  the  tariff  question, 
and  must  be  settled  before  we  can  know  how 
much  revenue  should  Ijo  raised  from  imports. 

"An  nnfinithed  investigation   presented  an- 
other reason  for  delaying  the  final  action  of  Con 
gress  on  this  subject.    The  House  of  Kepresenta- 


■'I  i 


246 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


fives  had  appointed  a  (lommittee  to  investipinte 
the  affairs  of  the  bank  ;  thoy  had  proceeded  to 
the  limit  of  the  time  allotted  them— had  report- 
ed adversely  to  the  bank— and  especially  against 
the  renewal  of  the  charter  at  this  session  ;  and 
had  argued  the  necessity  of  further  examina- 
tions. AVouId  the  Senate  proceed  while  this 
unfinished  investigation  was  depending  in  the 
other  end  of  the  building  ?  Would  they 
act  so  as  to  limit  the  investigation  to  the  few 
weeks  which  were  allowed  to  the  committee, 
when  we  have  from  four  to  six  years  on  hand 
within  which  to  make  it  ?  The  reports  of 
this  committee,  to  the  amount  of  some  15,000 
copies  had  been  ordered  to  be  printed  by  the 
two  Houses,  to  be  distributed  among  the  people. 
For  what  purpose  ?  Certainly  that  the  people 
might  read  thorn — make  up  their  minds  upon 
their  contents — and  communicate  their  senti- 
ments to  their  representatives.  But  these  re- 
ports are  not  yet  distributed ;  they  are  not  yet 
read  by  the  people  ;  and  why  order  this  distri- 
bution without  waiting  for  its  elfect,  when  there 
is  so  much  time  on  hand  ?  Why  treat  the  peo- 
ple with  this  mockery  of  a  pretended  consulta- 
tion— this  illusive  reference  to  their  judgment — 
while  proceeding  to  act  bef  re  they  can  read 
what  we  have  sent  to  them  ?  Nay,  more ;  the 
very  documents  upon  which  the  reports  are 
founded  are  yet  unprinted !  The  Senate  is  ac- 
tually pushed  into  this  discussion  without  hav- 
ing seen  the  evidence  which  has  been  collected 
by  the  investigating  committee,  and  which  the 
Senate  itself  has  ordered  to  be  printed  for  the 
information  of  its  members. 

"  The  decision  of  this  question  does  not  belong 
to  this  Congress,  but  to  the  Congress  to  be 
elected  under  the  new  census  of  1830.  It 
looked  to  him  like  usurpation  for  this  Congress 
to  seize  upon  a  question  of  this  magnitude,  which 
required  no  decision  until  the  new  and  full  rep- 
resentation of  the  people  shall  come  in ;  and 
which,  if  decided  now,  though  prematurely  and 
by  usurpation,  is  irrevocable,  although  it  cannot  ■ 
take  effect  until  1830 ;— that  is  to  sa}-,  until  i 
three  years  after  the  new  and  full  reprcsenta-  j 
tion  would  be  in  power.  What  Congress  is 
this  ?  It  is  the  apportionment  of  1820,  formed  I 
on  a  population  of  ten  millions.  It  is  just  going 
out  of  existence.  A  new  Congress,  apportioned 
upon  a  representation  of  thirteen  millions,  is 
already  provided  for  by  law ;  and  after  the  4th 
of  March  next — within  nine  months  from  this 
day— will  be  in  power,  and  entitled  to  the  seats 
in  which  we  sit.  That  Congress  will  contain 
thirty  members  more  than  the  present  one. 
Three  millions  of  people— a  number  equal  to 
that  which  made  the  revolution — are  now  un- 
represented, who  will  be  then  represented.  The 
West  alone — that  section  of  the  Union  which 
suffers  most  from  the  depredations  of  the  bank 
—loses  twenty  votes  !  In  that  section  alone  a 
million  of  people  lose  their  voice  n  the  decision 
of  this  giTat  question.  And  why  ?  What  ex-  ] 
euse  ?    What  necessity  ?    What  plea  for  this  i 


sudden  haste  which  intemipts  an  unfinished 
investigation — sets  aside  the  immediate  busim-ss 
of  the  people- and  usurps  the  rights  of  our  suc- 
cessors ?  No  plea  in  the  world,  except  that  a 
gigantic  moneyed  institution  refuses  to  wait 
and  nnist  have  her  imperial  wishes  immediately 
gratified.  If  a  chaitcr  was  to  be  gi-anted  it 
should  be  done  with  as  little  invasion  of  tlio 
rights  of  posterity— with  as  little  encroachment 
upon  the  privileges  of  our  successors— ;i.s  possi- 
ble. Once  in  ten  years,  and  that  at  the  coni- 
niencemcnt  of  each  full  representation  under  a 
new  census,  would  be  the  most  appropriate 
time ;  and  then  chartei-s  should  be  for  ten  am] 
not  twenty  years.  ' 

"Mr.  B.  had  nothing  to  do  with  motivcH.  Jh. 
neither  preferred  accusations,  nor  pronoiuicod 
absolutiont; :  but  it  was  impossible  to  shut  his 
eyes  upon  facta,  and  to  close  up  his  reason  against 
the  induction  of  inevitable  inferences.  The  piu- 
sidental  election  was  at  hand ; — it  would  come 
in  four  months; — and  here  was  a  question  wliich 
in  the  opinion  of  all,  must  altect  that  election 
—in  the  opinion  of  some,  may  decide  it— which 
is  pressed  on  for  decision  four  years  before  it  is 
necessary  to  decide  it,  and  six*  years  before  it 
ought  to  be  decided.  Why  this  sudden  pressure  ? 
Is  it  to  throw  the  bank  bill  into  the  hands 
of  the  President,  to  solve,  by  a  practical  leforenco, 
the  disputed  problem  of  the  executive  veto  and 
to  place  the  President  under  a  cross  fire  froin  tii' 
opposite  banks  of  the  Potomac  River?  He  [Mr. 
B.J  knew  nothing  about  that  veto,  but  he  kmw 
something  of  human  nature,  and  something  of 
the  rights  of  the  people  under  our  representative 
form  of  government ;  and  he  would  be  free  to 
say  that  a  veto  which  would  stop  the  cucroacli- 
ment  of  a  minority  of  Congress  upon  the  lights 
of  its  successors— which  would  arrest  a  fright- 
ful act  of  legislative  usurpation— which  would 
retrieve  for  the  people  the  right  of  deliberation, 
and  of  action— which  would  arrest  the  overwlielm- 
ing  progress  of  a  gigantic  moneyed  institution— 
which  would  prevent  Ohio  f;-im  being  deprived 
of  five  votes,  Indiana  fromlc;ing  four,  Tennessee 
four,  Illinois  two,  Alabama  two,  Kentucky.  Jlis- 
sissippi  and  Missouri  one  each— which  would 
lose  six  votes  to  New- York  and  two  to  I'cnnsyl- 
vania ;  a  veto,  in  short,  which  would  protect  the 
rights  of  three  millions  of  people,  now  unrepre- 
sented in  Congress,  would  be  an  act  of  constitu- 
tional justice  to  the  people,  which  ought  to  raise 
the  President,  and  certainly  would  raise  hin.,  to  a 
higher  degree  of  favor  in  the  estimation  of  eveiy 
republican  citizen  of  the  comnumity  than  he  non- 
enjoyed.  By  passing  on  the  charter  now.  Con- 
gress would  lose  all  check  and  control  over  the 
institution  for  the  four  years  it  had  yet  to 
I  run.  The  pendenc}'  of  the  question  was  a  rod 
I  over  its  head  for  these  four  years ;  to  decide 
i  the  question  now,  is  to  free  it  from  all  restraint, 
I  and  turn  it  loose  to  play  what  part  it  plea.'^ed 
1  in  all  our  affairs— elections,  State,  federal,  presi- 
dential. 

"  Mr.  B.  turned  to  the  example  of  England. 


ANNO  1832.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  TRE.-.iDENT. 


247 


and  begged  the  republican  Senate  of  tlic  United 
States  to  take  a  lesson  from  the  niunarchia! 
pailianient  of  Great  Britain.  Wo  copied  their 
evil  wa3's ;  why  not  tlieii'  good  ones  ?  Wc  cop- 
ied our  Iwnk  charter  from  theirs;  why  not  imi- 
tate them  m  their  improvements  upon  their  own 
n-ork  ?  At  first  the  bank  had  a  monopoly  rcsiilt- 
m^  from  an  exclusive  privilege:  that  i.s  non- 
denied.  Formerly  the  charter  was  renewed 
.several  year.s  before  it  was  out :  it  now  has  less 
than  a  year  to  run,  and  is  not  yet  rccharlered." 


Amotion  was  made  by  Mr.  Mooro  of  Ala- 
bama, declaratory  of  the  right  of  the  States  to 
admit,  or  deny  the  establishment  of  branches  of 
till'  mother  bank  within  their  limits,  and  to  tax 
their  loand  and  issue.s,  if  she  cho,se  to  admit  them: 
and  in  sipport  of  that  motion  Mr.  Benton  made 
this  speech : 

'•  Tlie  amendment  offered  by  the  senator  from 
Alabama  [Mr.  .Moore]  was  declaratory  of  the 
ri^'hts  of  the  States,  both  to  rcfu.so  admission  of 
liiese  branch  banks  into  their  limits,  and  to  tax 
them,  like  other  property,  if  admitted :  if  this 
amendment  was  struck  out,  it  was  tantamount 
to  a  legislative  declaration  that  no  such  rights 
existed,  and  would  operate  as  a  confirmation  of 
tlie  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  to  that  effect. 
It  is  to  no  pnrpose  to  say  that  the  rejection  of" 
tlie  amendment  will  leave  the  charter  silent  upon 
the  subject ;  and  the  rights  of  the  States,  what- 
soever they  may  be,  will  remain  in  full  force. 
That  is  the  state  of  the  existing  charter.     It 
is  silent  upon  the  subject  of  State  taxation; 
and  in  that  silence  the  Supreme  Court   has 
.spoken,  and  nullified  the  rights  of  the  States. 
Tiiat  court  has  decided  that  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States  is  independent  of  State  legislation ! 
consequently,  that  she  may  send  branches  into 
the  States  in  defiance  of  their  laws,  and  keep 
them  there  without  the  payment  of  tax.     This 
is  the  decision ;  and  the  decision  of  the  court  is 
the  law  of  the  land ;  so  that,  if  no  declaratory 
clause  is  put  into  the  charter,  it  cannot  be  said 
tliat  the  new  charter  will  be  silent,  as  the  old 
one  was.    The  voice  of  the  Sunreme  Court  is 
now  heard  in  that  silence,  proclaiming  the  su- 
premacy of  the  bank,  and  the  degradation  of  the 
htiites ;  and,  unless  we  interpose  now  to  coun- 
toryail  that  voice  by  a  legislative  declaration,  it 
will  be  impossible  for  the  States  to  resit  it  ex- 
cept by  measures  which  no  one  wishes  to  con- 
template. 

"  Mr.  B.  regretted  that  he  had  not  seen  in  the 
papers  any  report  of  the  argument  of  the  senator 
Irom  V  irginia  [Mr.  TazewcllJ  in  vindication  of 
the  right  of  the  States  to  tax  these  branches 
It  v,-as  an  argument  brief,  powerful,  and  conclu- 
sive—lucid  as  a  siuibeain,  direct  as  an  arrow,  and 
mortal  as  the  stroke  of  fate  to  the  adversary 
speii,cers.  Since  the  delivery  of  that  argument, 
tiiey  had  sat  in  dumb  show,  silent  as  the  grave 
muie  as  the  dead,  and  presenting  to  our  imao-i- 


nations  the  realization  of  the  Abb6  Sieyes's  fa- 
mous conception  of  a  dumb  legislature.     Before 
the  Statts  surrendered  a  portion  of  their  sove- 
{  reignity  to  create  this  federal  government,  they 
[  po8.sessed  the  unlimited  power  of  taxation ;  in 
'  the  act  of  the  .surrender,  which  is  the  constitu- 
tion, they  abridged  this  unlimited  right  bnt  'n 
two  particulars— exports   and  imports— which 
they  agreed  no  longer  to  tax,  and  therefore  re- 
tained the  taxing  power  entire  over  all  other 
subjects.     This  wiw  the  substance  of  the  argu- 
ment which  dumbf.undcd  the  adversary;  and 
the  distinction  which  was  attcin[)ted  to  be  set 
up  between  tangible  and  intangible,  visible  and 
invisible,  objects  of  taxation ;  between  franchi- 
ses and  privileges  on  one  side,  and  material  sub- 
stances on  the  other,  was  so  completely  blast- 
ed and  annihilated  by  one  additional  stroke  of 
lightning,  that  the  fathers  of  the  distinction  really 
believed  that  they  had  never  made  it!  and  sung 
their  palinodes  in  the  face  of  the  House. 

"  The  argument  that  these  branches  are  ne- 
!  ccssary  to  enable  the  federal  government  to  car- 
ry on  its  fiscal  operations,  and,  therefore,  ought 
to  be   independent  of  State   legislation,  is  an- 
swered and  expunged  by  a  matter  of  fact,  name- 
ly, that  Congress  itself  has   determined  other- 
wise, and  that  in  the  very  charter  of  the  bank. 
The  charter  limits  the  right  of  the  federal  gov- 
ernment to  the  establishment  of  a  single  branch, 
and  that  one  in  the  District  of  Columbia !     The 
branch  at  this  place,  and  the  parent  bank  at 
Philadelphia,  are  all  that  the  federal  government 
has  stipulated  for.    All  beyond  that,  is  left  to 
the  bank  itself;   to  establish  branches  in  the 
States  or  not,  as  it  suited  its  own  interest;  or  to 
employ  State  banks,  with  the  approbation  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  to  do  the  business  of 
the  branches  for  the  United  States.     Congress 
is  contented  with  State  banks  to  do  the  business 
of  the  branches  in  the  States ;  and,  therefore,  au- 
thorizes the  very  case  which  gentlemen  appre- 
hend and  so  loudly  deprecate,  that  New-York 
may  refuse  her  assent  to  the  continuance  of  the 
branches  within  her  limits,  and  send  the  public 
deposits  to  the  State  banks.    This  is  what  the 
charter  contemplates.     Look  at  the  charter ;  see 
I  the  fourteenth  article  of  the  constitution  of  the 
i  bank ;  it  makes  it  optionary  with  the  directors 
!  of  the  bank  to  establish  branches  in  such  States 
i  as  they  shall  think  fit,  with  the  alternative  of 
using  State  banks  as  their  substitutes  in  States 
in  which  they  do  not  choose  to  establish  branch- 
es.    This  brings  the  establishment  of  branches 
to  a  private  allair,  a  mere  question  of  profit  and 
loss  to  the  bank  itself;  and  cuts  up  by  the  roots 
the  whole  argument  of  the  necessity  of  these 
branches  to  the  fiscal  operations  of  the  federal 
government.     The  establishment  of  branches  in 
the  States  is,  then,  a  private  concern,  and  presents 
this  question:   Shall  non-residents   and  aliens 

— even  alien  enemies,  for  such  thev  mav  be 

have  a  right  to  carry  on  the  trade'of  banking 
within  the  limits  of  the  States,  without  their 
consent,  without  liability  to  taxation,  and  with- 


1       ( 


i<! 


-'* 


'i 


/ 


248 


VIII RTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


f'^Mi^ 


r-i:.! 


I 


out  amenability  to  State  legislation  ?  The  sur- 
geation  that  tlio  tJnitcd  States  owns  an  intorest 
in  this  hn«k,  in  of  no  avail.  If  she  owned  it  all, 
it  would  still  1)0  subject  to  taxation,  like  all 
other  property  is  which  hIic  holda  in  the  States. 
The  lands  which  t<he  had  ohtained  fri)n\  individ- 
aals  in  satisfacti'ni  of  debts,  were  all  subject  to 
taxation;  tho  public  lands  which  she  held  by 
grants  fi-om  the  States,  or  purchases  from  foreign 
powers,  were  only  cxempteil  from  taxation  by 
virtue  of  conipactn,  and  the  paymn-  .;  ;'.\  ner 
centum  on  the  proceeds  of  tho'  i.  ?  fov  f.hu,  .-v- 
emption." 

The  motion  of  Mr.  Moore  was  rejected,  and 
by  tlie  usual  majorit}'. 

Mr.  Henton  then  moved  to  strike  out  so  much 
of  the  bill  as  gave  to  Uie  ,  ink  exclusive  privi- 
leges, and  to  insert  a  provision  making  the 
stockholders  liable  for  the  debts  of  the  instit.:- 
tion ;  and  in  support  of  his  motion  (juoted  the 
case  of  the  three  Scottish  banks  which  had  no 
exclusive  privikfo,  and  in  which  the  stockhold- 
ers were  liable,  lud  the  sujierior  excellence  of 
which  over  the  Bank  of  Endand  was  admitted 
and  declared  by  English  statesmen.     Ho  said  : 

"The  three   Scottish  banks  had   held  each 
other  in  check,  had  proceeded  moderately  in  all 
their  operations,  conducted  their  business  rejrn- 
larly  and  prudently,  and  always  kept  themselves 
in  a  condition  to  face  their  creditors ;  while  the 
single  English  bank,  having  no  check  from  rival 
institutions,  ran  riot  in  the  wantonness  of  its  own 
unbridled  power,  deluging  the  country,  when  it 
pleased,  with  paper,  and  f  illing  it  with  speculation 
and  cxtruvngance ;  draw  ing  in   again   when  it 
pleased,  and  filling  it  with  bankruptcy  and  pau- 
perism ;  often  transcending  its  limits,  and  twice 
stopping  paj-ment,  and   once   for  a  period  of 
twenty  years.      There  can  be  iii  (jue-tion  of  the 
incomparable  superiority  of  the  Scottish  br 'ikin^' 
system  over  the  English  banking  system,  even 
in  a  monarchy ;  and  this  has  been  o'llici  >lly  an- 
I  onnced  to  the  Bank  of  Euglan  i  })y  the  uVitish 
ministry,  as  far  back  as  the  yea.   .  '■i2(i,  with  tho 
authentic  declaration  that  tho  English  systen. 
of  banking  must  be  assimilated  to  the  Scottish 
System,  and  that  her  exclusive  r    viS  ;e  could 
never  be  renewed.     This  was  done  in  a  corre- 
spondence between  the  Earl  of  Liverpool,  first 
Lord  of  the  Treasury,  and  Air.  Robinson,  Chan- 
cellor of  the  Exche(juer,  on  one  side,  and  th<' 
Governor  and  Deputy  Governor  of  the  Bank  ' 
England  on  the  other.     In  their  letter  of  tl.. 
18th  January,  182(1,  the  two  ministers,  advertin;. 
.0  the  fact  of  th.    stoppage  of  payment,  ano 
-epeated  convulsions  of  the  Bank  of  England, 
while  t'ie  Scottish  banks  had  been  wholly  free 
from  .such  calamities,  declared  their  conviction 
that  there  existed  an  unsound  and  delusive  sys 


offlcial  assurance  of  the  British  government  timt 
neither  His  .Majesty's  ministers,  noi'  i)arlian)ent 
w<  aid  ever  agree  to  renew  the  charter  of  th(i 
Bank  of  England  with  their  exclusive  privilettH' 
Exclnsivo  privileges,  they  said,  were  out  of  iM\. 
ion!  Vor  is  it  renewed  to  this  day,  tlioiu,}, 
the  charter  is  within  nuio  months  of  its  e-xniiv 
tion !  ' '    ' 

■In  the  poiijliar  excellence  of  the  Scottish 
plan,  lies  a  few   plain  and  obvious  irinciplcs 
closely  related  to  republican  ideas.     First.   \''o 
exclusive    piivileges.     Secondly.     Three  iiidc- 
pendent  banks  to  check  and  control  each  otlur 
and  diffuse  their  benefits,  instead  of  one  to  d/ 
as  it  pleased,  and  monopolize  the  monc\  ed  powei 
Thirdly.     The  liability  of  cn.ch  stockholrkr  f,,,' 
the  amount  of  his  ctock,  on  the  iiiilure  of  the 
bank  to  redeem  its  notes  in  specie.     Fmntlilv. 
The  payment  of  a  moderate  interest  to  (lepo.si- 
*  ■"        '  "    •  these  few  plain  principlcM,  all  of 
them  founded  in  republican  notions,  equal  rights 
and  equal  justice,  the  Scottish  banks  have  ndi 
vanced  themselves  to  the  first  rank  in  Europe, 
have  eclipsed  the  Bank  of  England,  and  eaused 
it  to  be  condemned  in  its  own  country,  andlmvi.' 
made  themselves  the  model  of  all  future  bankiiiL' 
institutions   in   Great  Britain.      And   mnv   it 
would  be  a  curioiTs  political  iilunomendn,  ami 
might  give  rise  to  some  intercstinu'  speculation- 
on  the  advance  of  free  principles  iii  England,  and 
their  decline  in  America,  if  the  Scottish  repub- 
lican i)lan  of  banking  should  be  rejected  here. 
I  while  preferred  there ;  and  the  British  nionarchiiii 
I  jilin,  which  is  condemned  tlu  re,  should  be  per- 
petuated  here!    and  this  double    incuiigniitv 
committed  without  ncccssi;',-    uiihout  excutc. 
without  giving  the  people  time  to  consider,  and 
to  couiiuunicate  their  sentiments  to  their  con- 
stituents, when  there  is  foi-r,  if  not  six  v-       for 
then,  to  consider  the  subject  before  final  dn.  ion 
is  required ! " 

The  clause  for  continuing  the  exclusive  pri- 
vilege of  the  bank,  was  warmly  contested  in  tlw 
Se-  ate,  ai.d  arguments  i>gainst  it  drawn  from  the 
nr  ire  of  our  government,  a  i  well  as  from  the 
I  lauiple  of  tl  British  parliament,  wh'''h  had 
granted  the  monopoly  to  the  Bank  of  J  Jand 
in  her  previous  charters,  and  denied  it  on  the 
last  renewal.  It  owed  its  origin  in  England  to 
the  high  tory  times  of  Queen  Anne,  ai  '  i's  e.\- 
tinctior  to  the  liberal  spirit  of  the  .reseni 
cciiiwiy.  ]\fr.  Benton  was  the  chief  siK;aker  ou 
this  !     at;  and — 

I. 


tem  of  banking  in  England,  and  a  sound  and 
eolid  system  in  Scotland !     And  they  gave  the 


ited  outtlie  clai  es  in  thechar^'  which 
the  exclusive  \v-  ilege,  and  inijin.-id  the 
re.-iriei  ii,  which  it  wa-  object  of  his  motion 
to  ab'ihsh ;  and  read  a  pm  ,  it'  the  2L«t  sccHon, 
whicl  enacted  that  no  other  '>ank  should  be 
established  by  any  future  law  of  the  United 
States,  during  the  continuance  of  that  charter, 
and  which  pledged  the  faith  of  tho  United  States 


l.f  i. 


ANNO  J932.     ANDREW  JACKSOX,  PRKsiDKM. 


thorfl^v 


to  tho  obserranco   of  tho  monopoly  th 
mated    He  said  the  privilcKc  of  bankin;r 
pniiitfdj  was  an  exclusive  priviIe>ro.  a  niouoi. 
ml  an  invaHidii  of  tho  ri^im  of  all  future  I 
presses,  as  well  as  of  tho  rights  of  all  <  Wi,,,    ^ 
of  the  L'liion,  for  the  tcrni  tho  charter  had  to 
run,  and  which  might  be  considered  perpetual  • 
as  this  was  tho  last  time  that  tho  people  could 
ever  make  head  again.-t  tho  new  political  power 
winch  raised  itself  in  the  form  of  the  bank  to 
oTcrbnIunce  every  other  pewer  in  the  govern- 
ment.   This  exclusive  privilege  is  contrary  to 
tlR'  pcnius  of  our  government,  which  is  a  gov- 
ernment "f  equal  rights,  and  not  of  exclusive 
privileges;  and  it  is  clearly  unauthorized  by  tho 
constitutiun,  which   only  admits  of  exclusive 
privileges  in  two  solitary,  specified  cases,  and 
each  of  these  founded  ujion  a  natural  ri-dit 
the  ra-c  of  authors  and  inventors ;  to  whoni 
(:)ngrc  s  15  authorized  to  grant,  for  a  limited 
tune,  tiio  exclusive  privilege  of  idling  their  own 
writintr    and  discoveries.     But  in  tho  case  of 
tins  charter  there  is  no  natural  ri-ht,  and  it  may 
be  well  said  there  is  no  limited  time ;  and  the 
monopoly  is  far  more  glaring  aud  indefensible 
:w  than  when   first  granted;   for  ♦'     i  the 
ci:,,rter  \^  as  not  granted  to  any  parti,      ir  «et 
ot  imhviduals,  hit  lay  open  to  all  to  subscribe  ' 
loit;  but  now  it  is  to  be  continued  to  a  par- I 
lioular  ...t,  and     any  of  them  foreigners,  and  I 
alio!      aom,  or  their  assignees,  had  alroadv  i 
enjoyed  the  privilege  for  twenty  years.    If  this  I 
company  succeeds  now  in  getting    heir  monopoly 
continued  for  fifteen  years,  they  u  ill  so  intrench 
hcmsc  vcs  m  wealth  and  power,  that  the>  will 
he  eiMhlcd  to  perpetuate   their  charter,  and 
lansmit  li  -^  a    .rivate  inheritance  to  their  pos- ' 
nffi^'"   ,?".'. '=»^'<^';.nment  delights  in  rotation  of 
Pttic.: ;  aU  ottiars,  from  tho  highest  to  the  lowest 
are  n. enable  to  that  principle ;  no  one  i,  suflered 
'■  •  m  T  'nor  tl,i-ty-fivo  years;  and  why 

i<l  one  '•        any      ,  e  the  command  of  the 
uouevod  po .  Am,  ilea  '  -r  that  long  period  ^ 

Can  It  te  the  u.      of    .y  person  to  establish  an 
frarchy  with  uul,,   ..    d  wealth  and  perpetua" 
t.\i-nre,to  I.     tl..  foundation  for  a  nobility 
'"      "iiarchj       ; his  America! 

1  lie  restriction  upon  future  Congresses  is  at 
"•  >|  "ith  every  principle  of  constitu'    nal  ri-ht ' 
;  le^islativ-c  equality.     If  the  consuu.f  ion  has  I 
fi^n  to  one  Congress  the  right  to  chartp,    ,uiks 
t  has  given  it  to  every  one.     If  thi.<         4oi  ' 
fs  a  nght  to  establish  a  bank.ov...    .£  i 
'ongresshas.    The  power  to  ti.  the  Lands    f  I 
-ur  successors  is  nowhere  givci    to  us ;  w'nt ' 
«c  can  do,  our  successors  can;  a  legislative  b.  h 
'•^  always  eq.al   to  itself.     To   mrdcc        d  to 
2>«l;todo,„ndto,uulo;ist'      ,    / a  ive 

t"t.^'''^r'^''      -■">!'*  i«  to  llo  what  we 
M'^    Ucs  cannot  am  ud— what  our    'icccssor^ 

S'i?,  ™,^-d-'^"'l  vvhat  our  succc  fare 
fo.liddentonmtato,ortodoiuanyf,..  ,.  This 
■ '"'"-^  the  danger  of  assuming  i,  nli,  owers 
i!..:!.r^'r  t«  establish  a  nati,  ,albaak  had 
-^  -P"-asiy  granted,  then  the  t  ercise  of  that 


249 


power,  being  once  exerted,  would  W  exhausted 
and  no  further  legislation  would  remain  to  b^ 
uone ;  but  this  power  is  now  assumed  upon  con- 
struction, after  having  been  twice  rejected,  in 
the  coriyention  which  framed  the  constitution 
and  IS,  therefore,  without  limitation  as  to  number 
,  or  character.    Mr.  Madison  was  express  in  his 
I  opinions  in  tho  year  1791,  that,  if  there  was  oiu- 
I  bank  chartered,  there  ought  to  bo  several !    The 
I  genius  of  the  British  monarchy,  ho  said,  fin     vd 
I  tho  concentration   of  wealth  and   power,     fi, 
I  America  the  genius  of  the  government  reqnire.l 
the  difluHion  of  wealth  and  power.     The  cntab- 
lishment  of  branches  did  not  8ati^  y  th*  prin- 
ci|)le  of  diffusion.     Several  independent  oanlc 
alone  coiild  do  1 1.     Tho  branches,  instead  of  les  - 
seniiig  the  wealth  and  power  of  the  single  insti- 
tution, greatly  increased  both,  by  giving  to  the 
great  central  jiarent  bank  an  organization  and 
ramification  which  pervaded  the  whole  Union 
drawing  wealth  from  every  part,  and  subjecting 
every  part  to  tho  operations,  political  and  pt- 
cuniarj'^   of  the  central  institution.     But  this 


restriction  ties  up  the  hands  of  CongiX'ss  from 
granting  other  charters.     Behave  as  it  may— 
plunge  into  all  elections-convulse  the  country 
with  expansions  and  contractions  of  paper  cur- 
rency-fail in  its  ability  to  help  the  merchants 
to  pay  their  bonds— stop  payment,  and  leave  the 
!  government  no  option  but  to  receive  its  dis- 
j  honored  notes  in  revenue  payments— and  still 
I  "VV;"''   ^^'^  ';;'^'""'^  "^f  its  monopoly  ;  the  hands 
of  all  future  Congresses  would  be  tied  up;  and 
I  no  rival  or  additional  banks  could  be  established 

I      t  i'-  '"t  *''";'''''  °''  *"  '"PPly  't«  place. 
I        is  this  the  Congress  to  do  these  thin-s  '?    Is 
this  tho  Congress  to  impose  restrictions  upon 
the  power  of  their  successors  ?    Is   this  the 
Congress  to  tie  the  hands  of  all  Congresses  till 
the  year  1851?    In  nine  months  this  Congress 
IS  defunct !    A  new  and  full  representation  of 
the  people  will  come  into  power.    Thirty  addi- 
tional meml,crs  will  bo  in  the  House  of  ileprc- 
sentatives  ;  three  millions  of  additional  people 
wi  I  be  represented.     Tho  renewed  charter  is 
not  to  take  eflect  till  three  years  after  this  full 
representation  is  in  power!    And  are  w-  to 
torestall   and   anticipate   them?      Take   their 
proper  business  out ,     I h.-  hands-snatch  tho 
I  sceptre  of  legislation  frof.    -hem-do  an  act 
I  wlueh  we  cannot  amen-.         dch  they  cannot 
^  amend-which  is  irrcvocai)!o  and  intangible: 
I  and,  to  crenvn  this  act  of  usurpation,  deliberately 
!  set  aljout  tying  the  hands,  and  imposing  a  re- 
striction upoM  a  Congress  equal  to  us  in  consti- 
tutional po^    r,  superior  to  iis  in  representative 
numbers, J  r     better  entitled  to  act  upon  the 
subject,  been  we  the  present  charter  is  not  to 
expnv       r  ti.   new  one  to  take  effect,  until 
thiee  V    rs  af:ter  the  new  Congress  shall  be  in 
^owx'v !         ,s  in  vain  to  say  that  this  reasoning 
vould  aj .       to  other  legislative  measures,  and 
ivquire^h,.  postponement  of  the  lan.l  bill  and 
y-e  tin..  .-.■.11.     Both  the.sc  bills  require  imme- 
Uiate  dr      on,  aud  therein  diller  from  tho  bank 


■  I 


f  P 


-Sit 


.J' I  if  I 


250 


TinnTY  TEAUH'  Vll.W. 


liLj 


Wll,  which  requires  no  decision  for  throe  years 
to  conu".  Hut  tlio  (liliorLnci!  is  Rreator  «tiil ;  for 
tho  lund  bill  and  tiirift'  1'  II  are  ordinary  nets  of 
le^^isltttion,  ojK-n  to  luiiendiiient,  or  repiul,  by 
ourselves  and  successorn ;  but  tiio  cliartir  is  to 
be  irrevocable,  unaiucnduble,  bindiiiK  upon  all 
Con^Tessi's  till  the  year  1851.  This  is  rank 
usurpation;  and  if  perix'tratcd  by  Conp;resH,  and 
nftervv^ards  arrested  by  an  Executive  veto,  the 
Presi(l"nt  will  become  the  true  representative  of 
the  iK.uple,  the  faithful  defender  of  their  rights, 
and  the  defi^nder  of  tlu-  rinhtu  of  the  new  Congress 
which  will  assemble  under  the  new  census. 

"Mr.  H.  concluded  his  remarks  In-  showing  the 
origin,  and  also  the  extinction        tho  doctrine 


Island;  Nauduin,  of  Delaware;  Poindcxtcr,  (,[ 
Mississippi ;  Pi-entisR,  of  Vermont ;  HohbiiiR,  of 
Rhode  Island  ;  Robinwin,  of  Illinois  j  RupifKu 
of  Ohio;  Seymour,  of  V\'nnout ;  Silsbec,  if 
Massachnsetf-;  Smith  (den.  SannH'l),nrMi\ij. 
land;  Sprnguc,  of  Maine ;  Tipton,  of  Imliniu; 
Tomlinson,  of  Connecticut ;  WagKuniai.,  of 
fiouisiana;  Webster,  f  Massaehuscllf ;  aii'l 
Wilkins,  of  Pennsylvania:  28.  Nays;  Mtssi!.. 
Benton,  of  Missouri;  IMbb,  of  Kentucky ;  linnvn, 
of  Noi  th  (Carolina ;  Diekerson,  of  Now  Jeisiy ; 
Dudley,  of  New-York;  Ellis,  of  Missiasipiij; 
in  England."  A  tory  parlianieui  in  the  reign  of  Forsyth,  of  CJeorgia;  Grundy,  of  Tciincssw; 
Queen  Anne  had  first  granted  an  exclusive  privi-  Hayne,  of  South  Car  .Una ;  Hill,  of  New  llanii,- 
lege  to  the  Hank  ..f  England,  an.l  inil)«»scd  a  :  ,^jj.  ^  „f  Illinois;  King,  of  Aialmmii: 
restriction  upon  the  right  of  future  parliaments  I  '  ^' 

to  establish  anotlur  l.rmk  ;  and  the  ministry  of  i  Mangum,_  of  North  Carolina;   Marcy,  of  N™. 


York ;  Milki-,  of  South  Carolina ;  Moori',  (f 
Alabama;  Tazewell,  of  Virginia;  Troup,  ol 
Georgia;  Tyler,  of  Virginia;  Hugh  L  AVhito, 
ofTeuncssee:  20. 


CHAPTER    LXVII. 

BANK  Oh-  THK  UNITKI)  8TATES-I111.I.  FOR  THE 
UKNKWED  CIIAItTKU  PASSED  IN  Till:  IIOUSKOF 
IfKPUESENTATlVES. 

The  bill  which  had  passed  the  Senate,  iifler  a 
long  and  arduous  contest,  quickly  pasj-ed  tk' 
House,  with  little  or  no  confost  at  all.  TLe 
session  was  near  its  end ;  members  were  woar'K . ; 
the  result  foreseen  by  overy  body— that  fb 


stry 
182tJ  had  coiidcmned  this  doctrine,  and  pro- 
scribed its  contiii  nee  in  England.  The  charter 
granted  to  the  old  15aiik  of  the  Cnited  States 
and  to  the  existing  bank  hud  copied  those  ob- 
noxious clauses ;  but  now  that  they  were  con- 
demned in  England  as  too  unjust  and  odious  for 
that  monarchial  country,  they  ought  certahily 
to  be  discarded  in  this  republic,  where  equal 
rights  was  the  vital  principle  and  ruling  feature 
of  all  our  institutions." 

All  the  amendments  proposed  by  the  oppo- 
nents of  the  bank  being  incxui'iibly  voted  down, 
after  a  debate  which,  with  some  cessations,  con- 
tinned  from  January  to  Juno,  the  iinal  vote  was 
taken,  several  senators  first  taking  occasion  to 
show  they  had  no  interest  in  the  institution. 
Mr.  Benton  had  seen  the  names  of  some  mem- 
bers in  the  list  of  stockholders ;  and  early  in 
the  debate  had  required  that  the  rule  of  parlia- 
mentary law  should  be  read,  which  excludes  the  ,  bill  would  pass— the  veto  be  applicd-and  thi 
interested  member  from  voting,  and  expunges  ,  whole  question  of  charter  or  no  charter  poldore 
his  vote  if  he  does,  and  his  interest  is  afterwards  the  people  in  tho  qnestion  of  the  presidtiitial 
discovered.  Mr.  Dallas  said  that  he  had  sold  :  election.  Some  attempts  were  made  by  tlit 
his  stock  in  the  institution  as  soon  as  it  was  adversaries  of  the  bill  to  amend  it,  by  oflVrii:? 
known  that  the  question  of  the  rccharter  would  amendments,  similar  to  those  which  had  km 
come  before  him:  Mr.  Silsbee  said  that  he  had  offered  in  the  Senate;  but  with  the  same  result 
disposed  of  his  interest  before  the  question  came  in  one  House  as  in  the  other.  They  wire  all 
before  Congress  :  Mr.  Webster  said  that  the  in- ,  voted  down  by  an  inexorab'  •«\fljoritj;  and  it 
scrtion  of  his  name  in  the  list  of  stockholders  ;  was  evident  that  the  contest  was  political,  and 
was  a  mistake  in  a  clerk  of  the  bank.  The  vote  j  relied  upon  by  one  party  to  br  ig  them  into 
was  then  taken  on  the  pas.sage  of  the  bill,  and  power ;  and  deprecated  by  the  other  as  the 
stood :  Yr.As :  Mei^srs.  Bell,  of  New  Hampshire  ;  flagrant  prostitution  of  a  great  moneyed  corpo- 
Buckner,  of  Missouri ;  Chambers,  of  Maryland ; 
Clay,  of  Kentucky ;  Clayton,  of  Delaware ;  Dal- 
las of  Pennsylvania ;  Ewing,  of  Ohio ;  Foot,  of 
Connecticut;  Frelingluiysen,  of  NeW  Jersey; 
Hendricks,  of  Indiana  ;  Holmes,  of  Maine ;  Jo- 
siah  S.  Johnston,  of  Louisiana ;  Knight,  of  Rhode 


ration  to  partisan  and  election  purpose?.  Tlie 
question  was  soon  put ;  and  decided  by  the  lul- 
lowing  votes : 

Yea^.— Messrs.  Adams,  C.  Allan,  H.  AIki* 


Allison, 
Babcocl 


ijjleton,  Armstrong.  Arnold,  Ashlcj 
•inks,  N.  Barber,  J.S.  Barbour,  Btf 


ANNO  1832.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  I'lllSIbENT. 


ringer,  narstow,  I.  C.  Bates,   Bi-ii'^s,  Biichor 
Iiiilliir.1,  Biird,  Bur-,'os,  Chc.ato,  (!uil,cr,  L.  Con' 


251 


ilict 
Corwiii 


S.  Condit,   L.  Cooko,  H.  Cooke,  CootxT 

■'»,  C.MjIter,  CniiL'  Crane,  rruwlord,  CreLh- 

ton,  DiuiiL'l,  .r.  DaviH,  Dearborn,  Denny,  Dewart 
DodJriilfre,  Drayton    Kllsworth,   O.  Evans    j' 
KvnnsK,  Everett,  n.  Everett,   I'ard,  Uilniore,' 
OreiiniU,  Ho<lpes,  Heister.  Horn,  Hughes,  Hunt- 
wiioi).  Ihrio,  Injxersoll,  Irvin,  Tsacks,   Jenifer 
Kendall.  II.  King,  Kerr,  Letcher,  Mann,  Jrarsliall' 
Maxiri'il,  M<Coy,  McDuffle,  McKenimn,  Mercer' 
Milligan,  Newton,  Pearco,   Pcnflleton,  Pitcher' 
I'otts,  Randolph,  J.  fiecd.  Hoot,  Rn.ssel,  Seinines' 
W,  a  She()ani,  A.  II.  Shcpperd,  Shule,  Smith,' 
Southard,  Sf)cnce,  Stiiid)crry,  Stephens,  Stewart 
Storrs,  Sutherhuid,  Taylor,  P.  'rhoinn.s,  Tomp- 
kins, Tracy,  Vance,  Vorphmck,  Vinton,  VVashintr- 
j  ton.  Watniou'ili,  E.  Whittlesey,  F.  Whittlesev 
1  1 1).  White,  Wicklifle,  Williarn.,  Y..nn.'  -lon' 
I  /\^^'«--'\'f^''-«-  Adair,  Ale.xan.Ier,  Ander.son,' 
.\rfher  J.  IJi.fes,  Beardsley,  ]JeII,  JiorRcn,  Bc- 
thunc,  James  Blair,  Joiin  Blair.  Boiick,  Bouldin 
Branch,  Cainbrelcng,   Carr,   Chatulkr,   Chinn! 
Claiborne,  Cliiy,  Clayton,  Coke,  Conner  W   H 
Davis,  Baynn,  Doul.leday,   Felder,    Fitzgerald! 
Foster,  (,aitiier.  Cordon,  Griffin,  T.  II.  Hall  \y' 
Hall,  Hammond,  Harper,  Hawes,  Hawkins,  Hoff- 
man, Ilopn,  Holland,  Howard,  Hubbard,  Jarvis 
lave  Johnson,  Kavanagh,  Kennon,  A.  King  j' 
Kinfr  Laimir,  Lcavitt,  Lecompte,  Lewis,  Lyon" 
ardis    Mason,  McCarty,    Mclntire,    McKay 
itehell   Newnan    Nuckolls,  Patton,  Pier.son 
I  rtil<.  h.  L.  Reed,  Bencher,  Boanc,  Soule,  Siiei"-ht 
Ul^nMor,  F.  Thomas,  W.' Thompson,  J.  Tl  om- 

r'p   vrt  ^^.^'■.'/7''iv^^''y"^^  ^^^<^*->k's,  Wheeler, 
U  P.  \V  lute,  AV  dde,  Worthingtou.— 84. 


CIIAPTER    LXVIII. 

THE  VETO. 

jIiiE  act  which  had  pnsgcd  the  two  Houses  for 
Itlie  renewal  of  the  bank  charter,  was  presented 
■to  the  President  on  the  4th  day  of  July,  and 
Ireturned  by  him  to  the  House  in  which  it  ori- 
I'nated,  on  the  10th,  with  his  objections.  His 
pRt  objection  was  to  the  exclusive  privile-cs 
|fl;icli  It  granted  to  corporators  who  had  Mlre."dy 
fnjuycd  them,  the  great  value  of  these  privik-es 
Nthe  madcquacy  of  the  sum  to  be  paid'fo.' 
mm.    lie  said: 

lirofrlnhHTfr'^'  ''"'^^"  ^^^clusivo  privileges, 
pK  anted  at  the  expense  of  the  public,  which 
pii;,it  to  receive  a  fiur  f.-n,;voi,.nt     'r^--  , 

Kv  ort  r  '  °  h"''  'f '""S  ^'^"'^'  '""-^t  come 
ptly  or  mdu-ectly  out  of  the  earnings  of  the 


American  people.  It  is  du(.  (o  them,  tbeivf„re 
If  tbeir  government  sell  monopolies  and  e.velumvo 
pnvdeges,  that  they  Hhould  at  least  exact  tor 
then,  as  nmch  as  they  are  worth  in  open  market. 
Ihe  value  of  the  r-..  nonoly  i„  this  case  mav  be 
eomv  ly  aHcertan.ed.  the  twenty-eight  millions 
of  stock  would  probably  be  at  an  advance  of 
nitypei  cent,  and  command,  in  market,  at  least 

ment  ot  the  present  loans.     The  present  value 
of  the  monopoly  thea.fo,-e,  is  seventeen  n.illions 
of  dollars,  and  this  the  act  proposes  to  sell  for 
three  millions,  payable  in  fifteen  annual  instal- 
ments of  $200,000  each.  ' 
''It  is  not  conceivable  how  tlie  present  stock- 
holders can  have  any  claim  to  the  special  favor 
of  the  government.     The  present  cori)oration 
has  enjoyed   its  monopoly  during  the   period 
stipulated  in  the  original  contract.     If  we  must 
have  such  a  corporation,  why  should  not  tho 
goNcrnment  sell  out  tho  whole  stock,  and  thus 
secure  to  the  people  the  full  market  value  of 
the  privileges  granted  l    W by  should  not  Con- 
gress create  and  sell  the  twenty-eight  millions 
ot  stock,  incorporating  the  purchasers  with  all 
tlie  powers  and  privileges  secured  in  this  act, 
Ssur    ?'*''      '  ^''''-'"""'"  "P°"  '''<^  «al'-^«  '"to  th(^ 

"  But  this  act  docs  not  permit  competition  in 
the  purchase  of  this  monopoly.  It  seems  to  bo 
predicated  -n  the  erroneous  idea  that  the  present 
stockholders  have  a  prescriptive  right,  not  only 
to  the  favor,  but  to  the  bounty  of  the  govern- 
ment. It  appears  that  more  than  a  fourth  part 
of  the  .stock  IS  held  by  foreigners,  and  the  residue 
IS  lield  by  a  few  hundred  of  our  citizens,  chieflv 
of  the  richest  class.  For  their  benefit  does  this 
act  exclude  the  whole  American  people  from 
competition  in  the  pureha.so  of  this  monopoly 
and  dispo.se  of  it  for  many  millions  less  than  it 
is  worth.  I  his  seems  the  less  excusable,  because 
seme  of  our  citizens,  not  now  stockholders,  peti- 
tioned that  the  door  of  competition  might  bo 
opened,  and  ofleied  to  take  a  charter  on  terms 
TOuntr™"''''  ^'^^•o>!'ble  to  the  government  and 

"  But  this  pi ,  .position,  although  made  by  men 
whose  aggregate  wealth  is  believed  to  be  equal 
to  all  the  private  stock  in  the  existing  bank,  has 
been  set  aside,  and  the  bounty  of  our  govcrn- 
,  mcni  IS  proposed  to  be  again  bestowed  on  the 
ew  vyho  have  been  fortunate  enough  to  secure 
the  stock,  and  at  this  moment  wield  the  power 
of  the  existing  institution.    I  cannot  perceive 
the  justice  or  policy  of  this  c.  m-se.     If  our  oov- 
crnment  must  sell  monopolies,  it  would  seem 
to  be  Its  duty  to  take  nothing  less  than  thcJJ 
ull  value  ;  and  if  gratuities  must  be  made  once 
in  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  let   them  not  be 
bestowed  on  the  subjects  of  a  foreign  govern- 
ment, nor  upon  a  designated  or  favored  o1a««  of 
^ooVlr"'"  ""'"/on'itry.     It  is  but  justiceand 
good  policy,  as  far  as  the  nature  of  the  case  will 
admit,  to  confine  our  favors  to  our  own  fellow 
citizens,  and  let  each  in  his  turn  enjoy  an  oppor 


t 


II    ' 


262 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW, 


m 


tunity  to  profit  by  our  bounty.  In  the  bearings 
of  the  act  before  me  upon  these  points,  I  find 
ample  reasons  why  it  should  not  become  a  law." 

The  President  objected  to  the  constitutionality 
of  the  bank,  and  argued  against  the  force  of  pre- 
cedents in  this  case,  and  against  the  applicabil- 
ity and  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  its 
favor.  That  decision  was  in  the  case  of  the 
JIaryland  branch,  and  sustained  it  upon  an  argu- 
ment which  carries  error,  in  point  of  fact,  upon 
its  face.  The  ground  of  the  decision  was,  that 
the  bank  WcOS  "  necessary  "  to  the  succe.-ssful  con- 
ducting of  the  "  fiscal  operations  "  of  the  govern- 
ment ;  and  that  Congress  was  the  judge  of  that 
necessity.  Upon  this  ground  the  ^Maryland 
branch,  iind  every  branch  except  the  one  in  the 
District  of  Columbia,  was  without  the  constitu- 
tional warrant  which  the  court  required.  Con- 
gress had  given  no  judgment  in  favor  of  its 
necessity — bu*^  the  contrary  —  a  judgment 
against  it :  for  after  providing  for  the  mother 
bank  at  Philadelphia,  and  one  branch  at  Wash- 
ington City,  the  establishment  of  all  other 
branches  was  referred  to  the  judgment  of  the 
bank  itself,  or  to  circumstances  over  Avhich  Con- 
gress had  no  control,  as  the  request  of  a  State 
legislature  founded  upon  a  subscription  of  2000 
shares  within  the  State — with  a  dispensation  in 
fiivor  of  substituting  local  banks  in  places  where 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasuiy,  and  the  directors 
of  the  national  bank  should  agree.  All  this  was 
contained  in  the  fourteenth  fundamental  article 
of  the  constitution  of  the  corporation — which 
says : 

"  The  directors  of  said  corporation  shall  es- 
tablish a  competent  office  of  discount  and  deposit 
in  tlie  District  of  Columbia,  whenever  any  law  of 
the  United  States  shall  require  such  an  establish- 
ment: also  one  such  office  of  discount  and  de- 
posit in  any  State  in  which  two  thousand  shares 
shall  have  been  subscribed  or  may  be  held,  when- 
ever, ui)on  application  of  tlie  legislature  of  such 
State.  Congress  may,  by  law,  require  the  same : 
Provided,  the  directors  aforesaid  shall  not  bo 
bound  to  establish  such  office  before  the  whole  of 
the  capital  of  tlie  bank  shall  be  paid  up.  And  it 
shall  be  lawful  for  the  directors  of  the  corpora- 
tion to  establish  offices  of  discount  and  deposit 
where  they  think  fit,  within  tlie  United  States 
or  the  territcn-ies  thereof,  and  to  coimnit  the 
management  of  the  said,  and  the  business  thereof, 
respectively  to  such  persons,  and  under  such  re- 
gulations, as  they  shall  deem  proper,  not  being 
Contrary  to  the  laws  or  the  constitution  of  the 
bank.  Oi-,  instead  of  establ'  "ling  such  offices, 
't  shall  be  lawful  for  the  directors  of  the  said 


corporation,  from  time  to  time,  to  employ  anv 
other  bank  or  banks,  to  be  first  approved  Ijv  tl 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  at  any  place  or  plac" 
that  they  may  deem  safe  and  proper,  to  manage 
and  transact  the  business  proposed  aforesaid. 
other  than  for  the  purposes  of  discount ;  t« !«  I 
managed  and  transacted  by  such  offices' imder 
such  agreements,  and  subject  to  such  regulations 
as  they  shall  deem  just  and  proper." 

These  are  the  words  of  the  fourteenth  funda- 1 
mental  article  of  the  constitution  of  the  bank,  nii 
the  conduct  of  the  corporation  in  estaljlisliiii»  its  j 
branches  was  in  accordance  with  this  article,  I 
They  placed  them  where  they  pleased— at  tiist 
governed  wholly  by  tlie  question  of  profit  and 
loss  to  itself— afterwards,  and  when  it  was  seea  i 
that  the  renewed  charter  was  to  be  re.sisted  liv 
the  members  from  some  States,  governed  Ijvilie  I 
political  consideration  of  creating  an  interest  to  | 
defeat  the  election,  or  control  the  action  of  t 
dissenting  members.     Thus  it  was  in  my  own  I 
case.    A  branch  in  St.  Louis  was  refused  to  thti 
application  of  the  business  community— cstablkh-J 
ed  afterwards  to  govern  me.     And  thus,  it  is  seen  j 
the  Supreme  Court  was  in  error — that  tliejud"-! 
ment  of  Congress  in  favor  of  the  "necessity "of  I 
branches  only  extended  to  one  in  the  District  of  I 
Columbia ;  and  as  for  the  bank  itself,  the  arguiiienil 
in  its  favor  and  upon  which  the  Supreme  Court  j 
made  its  decision,  was  an  argument  wliichnia(l6| 
the  constitutionality  of  a  measure  dependent,  rot  I 
upon  the  words  of  the  constitution,  but  uponl 
the  opinion  of  Congress  for  the  time  being  i 
the  question  of  the  "  necessity  "  of  a  particiilirl 
measure — a  question  subject  to  receive  diifcrentl 
decisions  from  Congress  at  different  timcs-l 
wh'  h  actually  received  different  decisions  ig| 
1791,  1811,  and  1816:  and,  we  may  no\7 
the  decision  of  experience  since  183G— durin;! 
which  term   we   have   had  no  national  baiik;! 
and  the  fiscal  business  of  the  government,  a 
well  as  the  commercial  and  tradini^  business  eii 
the  country,  has  been  carried  on  with  a  degree  ofj 
success  never  equalled  in  the  time  of  the  cxisti 
ence  of  the  rational  bank.    T,  therefore,  believl 
that  the  President  was  well  warranted  in  dial 
longing  both  the  validity  of  the  decision  nf  tlj 
Supreme  Court,  and  the  obh^^atory  force  of  pr^ 
cedents :  which  he  did,  as  foli     'S : 

'■"  It  is  maintained  by  tlio  auvocaiO-  •"■■•  -- 
bank,  that  its  constitutionality,  in  all  it' »J 
tures,  ought  to  be  considered  as  settled  l^vf^J 
cedent,  and  by  the  decision  of  the  Sufiiffl| 


f'lstitution,  means 


ANNO  1832.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


253 


Icourt.    To  this    conclusion  I  cannot  assent. 
[Mere  fcccdcnce  is  a  dangerous  source  of  au- 
Ithority,  and  should  not  be  regarded  as  deciding 
I  questions  of  constitutional  power,  except  where 
I  the  acquiescence  of  the  people  and  the  States 
I  can  be  considered  as  well  settled.     So  far  from 
I  this  being  the  case  on  this  subject,  an  argument 
I  mnst  tlie  bank  might  be  based  on  precedent. 
one  Congress,  in  1791,  decided  in  favor  of  a 
.tank;  another,  in  1811,  decided  against  it.    One 
I  Congress,  in  1815,  decided  against  a  bank ;  an- 
I other,  in  1810,  decided  in  its  favor.     Prior  to 
I  the  present  Congress,  therefore,  the  precedents 
I  town  from  that  source  were  equal.     If  we  re- 
Isort  to  the  States,  the  expressions  of  legislative 
Ijadicial,  and  executive  opinions  against  the  bank 
llBTe  been,  pr6bably,  to  those  in  its  favor,  as  four 
Jtoone.    There  is  nothing  in  precedent,  therc- 
If.TC,  which,  if  its  authority  were  admitted,  ou"ht 
■to  weigh  in  favor  of  the  act  before  me. 

"If  the  opinion  of  the  Supreme  Court  covered 
Itlie  whole  ground  of  this  act,  it  ought  not  to 
lontrol  the  co-ordinate  authorities  of  this  gov- 
jerament.    The  Congress,  the  Executive,  and  the 
■court,  must  each  for  itself  be  guided  by  its  own 
Icpinion  of  the  constitution.     Each  public  officer 
Tirho  taices  an  oath  to  support  the  constitution, 
fcrars  that  he  will  support  it  as  he  understands 
it,  and  not  as  it  is  understood  by  others.     It  is 
:  much  the  duty  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
Bivcs,  of  the  Senate,  and  of  the  President,  to 
Bieide  upon  the  constitutionality  of  any  bill  or 
fcjokition  which  may  bo  presented  to  them  for 
bssagc  or  approval,  as  it  is  of  t,he   supreme 
|i(ige,s,  when  it  may  bo  brought  before  them 
|r judicial  decision.     The  opinion  of  the  judo-es 
la-  no  more  authority  over  Congress  than  the 
Ipmion  of  Congress  has  over  the  judges;  and 
la  that  point  the  President  is  independent  of 
%Hi,   1  he  authority  of  the  Supreme  Court  must 
K  therefore,  be  permitted  to  c     trol  the  Con- 
fess, or  the  Executive,  when  acting   in  their 
Igislative  capacities,  but  to  have  oniv  such  in- 
iienceas  the  force  of  their  reasoning  may  de- 

'■But  in  the  case  relied  upon,  the  Supreme 
Somt  have  not  decided  that  all  the  features  of 
1.15  corporation  are  compatible  with  the  consti- 
■uon.  It  IS  true  that  tlie  court  have  said  that 
I'  law  incorporating  tlie  bank  is  a  constitution- 

oxerc.30  of  power  by  Congress.  But  taking 
jMiew  the  whole  opinion  of  the  court,  and 
I  reasoning  by  wliich  they  have  come  to  'that 
111  hison,  I  understand  thum  to  have  decided 

tL'?n?r'^-  "'  ^  ^""'^   ''  ^''    appropriate 
C    ni"''"^'  '?^''  ^'^'-"^^t  the  enumerated, 
In  ;t       ^  ^^''^^  government,  therefore  the  i 
IIh  S^'"^  '^  '•'  '"  ^^cordance  with  that  ' 
*  ft  !f  f  "«titution  which  declares  that 

Eli'f"  '^'''''"  r»"-«-'to  .n..ke  all  laws  i 
r  icn  sh,ui  bo  necessary  and  projxT  for  cairyiii"'  i 
po.^c  powers  into  e>:oonli.-.n.'  jL-in,.  s-ifi-fi  1  ' 
(omselyes  that  the  word  '  ne^S,;  y.Mnlhe  ? 
ff;tution, means  'needful.'  'requisite'." esse  -  ! 
H.    conducive  to,'  and  that  '  a  bunk '-  is  a  con-  ■' 


venient,  a  useful,  and  essential  instrument  in  the 
prosecution  of  the  government's  'fiscal  opera- 
tions, they  conclude  that  to 'use  one  must  be 
within  the   discretion  of  Congress;'  and  that 
the  act  to  incorporate  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  is  a  law  made  in  pursuance  of  the  consti- 
tution.      But,'  say  tliey,  '  where  the  law  is  not 
pro  ubited,  and  is  really  calculated  to  effect  any 
ot  the  objects  intrusted  to  the  government  to 
undertake  here  to  inquire  into  the  degree  of' its 
necessity,  would  be  to  pass  the  lino  which  cir- 
cumscribes the  judicial  department,  and  to  tread 
on  legislative  ground.' 

"The  principle,  here  affirmed,  is,  that  the  'de- 
gree of  its  necessity,' involving  all  the  details  of  a 
banking  institution,  is  a  question  exclusively  for 
legislative  consideration.     A  bank  is  constitu- 
tional ;  but  it  IS  the  province  of  the  legi.slalure 
to  determine  whether  this  or  that  particulai- 
power,  privilege,  or  exemption,  is  '  necessary  and 
proper'  to  enable  the  bank  to  discharge  its  du- 
ties to  the  government ;  and  from  their  decision 
there  is  no  appeal  to  the  courts  of  justice.     Un- 
der the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  therefore 
It  IS   the  exclusive  province  of  Congress  and 
the  President  to  decide  wliedier  the  particular 
teatures  of  this  act  are  '  necessary  and  proper ' 
in  order  to  enable  the  bank  to  perform,  conveni- 
ently and  efficiently,  the  public  duties  a-ssigned 
to  It  as  a  fiscal  agent,  and  therefore  constitution- 
al ;  or  unnecessary  and  improper,  and  therefore 
unconstitutional." 


With  regard  to  the  mis^-onduct  of  the  institu- 
tion, both  in  conducting  its  business  and  in  re- 
sisting investigation,  the  mes,sage  spoke  the  gen- 
eral sentiment  of  the  disinterested  country  when 
it  said : 


"Suspicions  are  entertained,  and  charges  are 
made,  of  gross  abuses  and  viol,i.ti,in.s  of  its  c]iarter 
An  investigation  unwillingly  conceded,  and  so' 
restricted  in  time  as  necessarily  to  make  it  in- 
complete and  unsatisfactorv-.di.sdose^  enou'di  to 
excite  suspi -ion  and  ahirin.' '  In  the  practices  of 
the  principal  bank,  partia'.lv  iiiivcilod  in  the  ab- 
sence of  important  wilnes.-.','s,  and  in  nuiueroiis 
charges  coniidoiitly  made,  and  as  yet   wliolly 
uuinvestigated,  tlicTc  was   enougli  to  induce  a 
majority  of  th-  committee  of  investigation,  a 
committee  wliicli  wa.s  selected  from  the  most 
able  and   honorable  members  of  the  House  of 
liepresentatives,  lo  ivcoinmend  a  suspension  of 
further  action  upon  the  bill,  and  a  piwecution 
of   the  inquiry.     As  the  rh;u-ter  had  vet  four 
years  U,  run,  and  a,-  ,i  renewal  now  wa.s'  not  nc- 
cesoary  to  the  succcs,sful  juusccution  of  it>;  busi- 
nes.s  It  was  to  have  I)een  expected  that  the  bank 
Itself,  conscious  of  its  purity,  and  proud  of  it« 
ciiaracter,  would  have  withdinwn  its  .•i.mlif;ition 
lor  liie  present,  and  (lemaiuled  the  severest  scru- 
tiny into  all  its  traii.sactions.     In  their  declining 
to  do  so,  lliere  seems  to  be  an  additional  reason 
why  the  functiouaiies  of  the  government  should 


iP 


I 


?! 

I 
k 


254 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW 


proceed  with  less  haste,  and  more  caution,  in 
the  renewal  of  their  monopoly." 

The  appearance  of  the  veto  message  was  the 
signal  for  the  delivery  of  the  great  speeches  of 
the  advocates  of  the  bank.  Thus  far  they  had 
held  back,  refraining  from  general  debate,  and 
limiting  themselves  to  brief  answers  to  current 
objections.  Now  they  came  forth  in  all  their 
strength,  in  speeches  elaborate  and  studied,  and 
covering  the  whole  ground  of  constitutionality 
and  expediency;  and  delivered  with  unusual 
warmth  and  vehemence,  Mr.  Webster,  Mr. 
Clay,  ?''r.  Clayton  of  Delaware,  and  Mr.  Ewing 
of  Ohij,  thus  entered  the  lists  for  the  bank. 
And  why  these  speeches,  at  this  time,  when  it 
was  cei'tain  that  speaking  would  have  no  efl'cct 
in  overcoming  the  veto — that  the  constitutional 
mnjoritj'^  of  two  thirds  of  each  House  to  carry  it, 
so  far  from  being  attainable,  would  but  little 
exceed  a  bare  majority  1  The  reason  was  told 
by  I  lie  speakers  themselves — fully  told,  as  an 
appeal  to  the  people — as  a  transfer  of  the  ques- 
tion to  the  political  arena — to  the  election  fields, 
and  especially  to  the  presidential  election,  then 
impending,  and  within  four  months  of  its  con- 
summation— and  a  refusal  on  the  part  of  the 
corporation  to  submit  to  the  decision  of  the  con- 
stituted authorities.  This  was  plainly  told  by 
Mr.  Webster  in  the  opening  of  his  argument ; 
frightful  distress  was  predicted :  and  the  change 
of  the  chief  magistrate  was  presented  as  the 
only  means  of  averting  an  immense  calamity  on 
one  hand,  or  of  securing  an  immense  benefit  on 
the  other.     lie  said : 

V 

"  It  is  now  certain  that,  without  a  change  in 
our  public  councils,  this  bank  will  not  be  con- 
tinued, nor  will  any  other  be  established,  which, 
according  to  the  general  sense  and  language  of 
mankind,  can  be  entitled  to  the  name.  '  In  three 
yours  and  nine  months  from  the  present  mo- 
ment, the  charter  of  the  bank  expires ;  within 
that  period,  therefore,  it  must  wind  up  its  con- 
I'eins.  It  must  call  in  its  debts,  withdraw  its 
bills  from  circulation,  and  cease  from  all  its  or- 
dinary operations.  AH  this  is  to  be  done  in 
three  years  and  nine  months  ;  because,  although 
tiiore  is  a  provision  in  the  charter  rendering  it 
lawful  to  use  the  corporate  name  for  two  j'ears 
after  the  expiration  of  the  charter,  yet  this  is 
allowed  only  for  the  purpose  of  suits,  and  for 
tlie  sale  of  the  estate  belonging  to  the  bank,  and 
for  no  other  purpose  whatever.  The  whole  ac- 
tive business  uf  the  bank,  its  custodj'  of  pub- 
lic deposits,  its  transfers  of  public  moneys,  its 
dealing  in  exchange,  all  its  loans  and  discounts, 
and  all  its  issues  of  bills  for  circulation,  must 


cease  and  determine  on  or  before  the  3d  day  of 
March,  1830 ;  and,  within  the  same  period  its 
debts  must  be  collected,  as  no  new  contract  can 
be  made  with  it,  as  a  corporation,  for  the  re- 
newal of  loans,  or  discount  of  notes  or  bills 
after  that  time."  "' 

Mr.  Senator  White  of  Tennessee,  seizing  m,,^ 
this  open  entrance  into  the  political  arena  Lv 
the  bank,  thanked  Mr.  Webster  for  his  candor 
an'^  summoned  the  people  to  the  combat  of  the 
51  eat  moneyed  power,  now  openly  at  the  head 
of  a  great  political  party,  and  carrying  the  for- 
tunes of  that  party  in  the  question  of  its  own 
continued  existence.    He  said : 

"  I  thank  the  senator  for  the  candid  avoival, 
that  unless  the  President  will  sign  such  a  char- 
ter as  will  suit  the  directors,  they  intend  tfl  in- 
terfere in  the  election,  and  endeavor  to  displaco 
him.  AVith  the  same  candor  I  state  that,  after 
tills  declaration,  this  charter  shall  never  be  re- 
newed with  my  consent. 

'•  Let  us  look  at  this  matter  as  it  is.  Immedi 
ately  before  the  election,  the  directors  apply  for 
a  charter,  which  they  think  the  President  at 
any  other  time  will  not  sign,  for  the  express 
purpose  of  compelling  him  to  sign  contrary  to 
his  judgment,  or  of  encountering  all  their  hos- 
tility in  the  canvass,  and  at  the  polls.  Suppose 
this  attempt  to  have  succeeded,  and  the  President 
through  fear  of  his  election,  had  signed  this  char- 
ter, although  he  conscientiously  believes  it  will 
be  destructive  of  the  liberty  of  the  people  who 
have  elected  him  to  preside  over  them,  and  pre- 
.-^erve  their  liberties,  so  for  as  in  his  power, 
Whnt  next?  Why,  whenever  the  charter  is 
likely  to  expire  hereafter,  they  will  come,  as 
they  do  now,  on  the  eve  of  the  election,  and 
compel  the  chief  magisti'ate  to  sign  such  a  charter 
as  they  may  dictate,  on  pain  of  being  turned  out 
and  disgraced.  Would  it  not  be  far  better  to 
gratify  this  moneyed  aristocracy,  to  the  whole 
extent  at  once,  and  renew  their  charter  foreyer? 
The  temptaticm  to  a  periodical  interference  in 
our  elections  wovdd  then  be  taken  a\v.\v. 

"Sir,  if,  under  these  cirumstancts,  the  charter 
is  renewed,  the  elective  franchise  is  destroyed,  and 
the  liberties  and  prosperity  of  the  people  are 
delivered  over  to  this  moneyed  institution,  to  he 
disposed  of  at  their  discretion.  Against  this  I 
enter  my  solemn  protxist." 

The  distresp  to  be  brought  upon  the  country 
by  the  sudden  winding  up  of  the  bank,  the  sud- 
den calling  in  of  all  its  debts,  the  sudden  with- 
drawal of  all  its  capital,  was  pathetically  dwelt  ] 
upon  by  all  the  speakers,  and  the  alarming  pi^  j 
ture  thus  presented  by  Mr.  Clayton: 

"  I  ask,  what  is  to  be  done  for  the  countrv.'  I 
All  thinking  men  must  now  admit  that,  as  tw 
present  bank  must  close  its  concerns  in  less  tW 


ANNO  1832.     ANDREW  JACKSOxN,  PRESIDENT. 


255 


four  years,  tho  pecuniary  distress,  the  commer- 
cial embarrassments,  consequent  upon  its  de- 
rtriiction,  must  exceed  any  thing  which  has  over 
been  linown  in  our  history,  unless,  some  other 
bank  can  be  established  to  relieve  us.     Ein-ht 
and  a  half  millions  of  the  bank  capital,  belong- 
ing to  foreigners,  must  be  drawn  from  us  to 
Europe.    Seven  millions  of  the  capital  must  be 
paid  to  the  government,  not  to  be  loaned  again 
but  to  remain,  as  the  President  proposes"  de- 
posited in  a  branch  of  the  treasury,  to  check  the 
issues  of  the  local  banks.     The  immense  avail- 
able rcsourscs  of  the  present  institution,  amount- 
ing, as  appears  by  the  report  in  the  other  House 
to  .$82,057,483,  are  to  be  used  for  bankiu"-  no 
Linger,  and  nearly  fifty  millions  of  dollars  in 
notes  discounted,  on  personal  and  other  security 
must  be  paid  to  the  bank.     The  State  banks 
i.ust  pay  over  all  their  debts  to  the  cxpirino-  in- 
stitution, and  curtail  their  discounts  to  do  so 
or  resort,  for  the  relief  of  their  debtors  to  the 
old  plan  of  emitting  more  paper,  to  be  bought 
up  bj  speculators  at  a  heavy  discount." 


This  was  an  alarming  picture  to  present,  and 
especially  as  the  corporation  had  it  in  its  power 
to  create  the  distress  which  it  foretold— a  con- 
summation frightfully  realized  three  years  later 
-but  a  picture  equally  unjustifiable  and  gratu- 
itous. Two  years  was  the  extent  of  the  time, 
after  the  expiration  of  its  charter,  that  the  cor- 
poration hafl  accepted  in  its  charter  for  winding 
up  its  business )  and  there  were  now  four  years 
to  run  before  these  two  years  would  nommence. 
The  section  21,  of  the  charter,  provided  for  the 
I  contingency  thus : 

I ,  '^f  notu-ithstanding  the  expiration  of  the 

Jrm  for  which  the  said  corporation  is  created, 

Uhall  be  awful  to  use  the  coporatc  name,  style 

capacity,  for  the  purpose  of  suits  for  the 

Ml  settlement  and  liquidation  of  the  affairs 

I      accounts  of  the  corporation,  and  for  the  sale 

d  h.^pos,tion  of  their  estate  real,  personal  and 

I '  xed :  but  not  for  any  other  purpose,  or  in  any 

i*r;"';i'"^\''^^'''"°^^"^'^P^''°dWceerilnJ 


tion  of  its  charter— and  the  question  of  the  re- 
newal  was  not  decided  until  within  the  last  days 
of  the    existence    of  its    charter— yet    there 
was  no  distress,  and  no  pressure  upon  its  debt- 
ors.   A  trust  was  created;  and  the  collection 
of  debts  conducted  so  gently  that  it  is  not  yet 
finished.    The  trustees  are  still  at  work:  and 
within  this  year,  and  while  this  application  for  a 
renewed  charter  to  the  second  bank  is  going  on, 
they  announce  a  dividend  of  some  cents  on  tho 
share  out  of  tho  last  annual  collections;  and  in- 
timate no  time  within  which  they  will  finish; 
so  that  this  menace  of  distress  from  the  second 
bank,  if  denied  a  renewal  four  years  before  the 
expiration  of  its  charter,  and  four  years  before 
the  commencement  of  the  two  years  to  which  it  is 
entitled,  was  entirely  gratuitous,  and  would  have 
been  wicked  if  executed. 

Mr.  Clay  concluded  the  debate  on  the  side  of 
the  bank  application,  and  spoke  with  great  ar- 
dor and  vehemence,  and  with  much  latitude  of 
style  and  topic— though  as  a  rival  candidate  for 
the  Presidency,  it  was  considered  by  some,  that  a 
greater  degree  of  reserve  might  have  been  com- 
mendable. The  veto,  and  its  imputed  undue 
exercise,  was  the  theme  of  his  vehement  decla- 
mation. Besides  discrediting  its  use,  and  de- 
nouncing it  as  of  monarchial  origin,  he  all-led  to 
the  popular  odium  brought  upon  Louis  the  IGth 
by  its  exercise,  and  tho  nickname  which  it  caused 
to  be  fastened  upon  him.    He  said : 


Brsides  the  two  years  giren  to  the  institution 
J't^r  the  expiration  of  its  charter,  it  was  perfect-  , 
■  "■'"  ^'"°^™.  and  has  since  been  done  in  its  i 
™-n  case,  and  waR  done  by  the  first  national  I 
«ik  and  may  be  by  any  expiring  corporation,  | 
■na  the  directors  may  appoint  trustees  to  wind  I 
P  their  concerns;  and  who  will  not  be  subject  ' 
|;»any_lin,ited  time.  The  first  nation-  bank- 
|--- «-mch  was  created  in  1791,  and  expired  in 

lallo«-.  r  "^  *'''"  ^'"'''  ""^  '^"^  *™«  whatever, 
l»'ioffed  for  winding  up  its  affairs  after  the  e.-pira ' 


The  veto  is  hardly  reconcilable  with  the 
gemu.s  of  representative  government.     It  is  to- 
tally irreconcilable  with  it,  if  it  is  to  be  fre- 
quently employed  in  respect  to  the  expedi^'icv 
o   measures,  as  well  as  their  constitutionality 
It  IS  a  feature  of  our  government  borrowed  from 
a  prerog,;t.ve  of  the  British  King.    And  it  is  r^ 
markal.le  that  m  England  it  has  grown  obsolete 
not  having  been  used  for  upwards  of  a  century! 
At  the  commencement  of  the  French  Bevolution 
m  discussing  the  principles  of  their  constitution' 
in  the  national  convention,  the  veto  held  a  con- 

on",?f  ,"."'■'■  ,  '^^"l^:^  '""^'"""S  population 
of  1  aiL.  bestowed  on  the  King  the  appellation  of 
Monsieur  \  e  to,  and  on  the  Queen  that  of  Madame 

Mr.  Benton  saw  the  advantage  which  this  de- 
nunciation and  allusion  presented,  and  made  re- 
lentless use  of  it.  Ho  first  vindicated  the  use 
and  origin  of  tho  veto,  as  derived  from  the  insti- 
tution of  the  tribunes  of  the  people  among  the 
Koman.s,  and  its  exercise  always  intended  for  the 
benefit  of  the  people ;  and,  under  our  constitu- 


•V  ; 


; 


256 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


tion,  its  only  effect  to  refer  a,  measure  to  the 
people,  for  their  consideration,  and  to  stay  its 
execution  until  the  people  could  pass  upon  it,  and 
to  adopt  or  reject  it  at  an  ensuing  Congress.  It 
was  a  power  eminently  just  and  proper  in  a  re- 
presentative government,  and  intended  for  the 
benefit  of  the  whole  people ;  and,  therefore, 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  magistrate  elected  by 
the  whole.  On  the  allusion  to  the  nickname  on 
the  King  and  Queen  of  France,  he  said : 

"  He  not  only  recollected  the  historical  inci- 
dent to  which  the  senator  from  Kentucky  had 
alluded,  but  also  the  character  of  the  decrees  to 
which  the  unfortunate  Louis  the  lOth  had  affixed 
his  vetoes.    One  was  the  decree  against  the  emi- 
grants, dooming  to  death  and  confiscafion  of 
estate  every  man,  woman,  and  child  who  should 
attempt  to  save  their  lives  by  flying  fi'om  the 
pike,  the  guillotine,  and  the  lamp-post.  The  other 
was  a  decree  exj)osing  to  death  the  ministers  of 
religion  who  could  not  take  an  oath  which  their 
consciences  repulsed.      To   save  tottering  ago, 
trembling  mothers,  and  affrighted  children  from 
massacre — to  save  the  temiiles  and  altars  of  God 
from  being  stained  by  the  blood  of  his  minis- 
ters— were  the  sacred  objects  of  those  vetoes ; 
and  was  there  any  thing  to  justify  a  light  or  re- 
proachful  allusion   to  them   in  the  American 
Senate  ?    The  King  put  his  constitutional  vetoes 
to  these  decrees  ;  and  the  canaille  of  Saint  An- 
toine  and  Marceau — not  the  gay  and  laughing 
Parisians,  but  the  bloody  canaille,  instigated 
by  leadci's  moi'c  fercLious  than  themselves — be- 
gan to  saiiite  the  Iving  as  Monsieur  Veto,  ar.d 
demand  his  head  for  tlie  guillotine.     And  the 
Queen,  when  seen  at  the  windows  of  her  prison, 
her  locks  pale  with  premature  white,  tlie  effect 
of  an  agonized  mind  at  the  ruin  she  witnessed, 
the  poissardes  saluted  iier  also   as   Madame 
Veto ;  and  the  Dauphin  came  in  for  the  epithet 
of  the  Little  Veto.     All  this  was  terrible  in 
France,  and  in  the  disorders  of     revolution ;  but 
why  revive  their  remembrance  i.i  this  Congress, 
successor  to  those  which  wore  accustomed  to 
call  this  king  our  great  ally  ?  and  co  compliment 
him  on  tlie  birth  of  that  child,  stigmatized  le  petit 
reto.  and  perishing  prematuie'v  under  the  iiiliu- 
manities  of  the  convcntio'.  ',    .icted  by  the  hand 
of  Simon,  the  jailer?     'ilic  two  elder  vetoes, 
■Monsieur  and  JLadame,  came  to  t)\o  guillotine  in 
Paris,  and  the  young  one  to  a  death,  compared 
to  which  the  guillotine  was  mercy.     And  now. 
why  this  allusion  ?  what  application  of  its  moral  ? 
Surely  it  is  not  pointless ;  not  devoid  of  meaning 
and  practical  ajiplication.     "We  have  no  bloody 
;!-uillotines  here,  but  we   have  political  ones; 
■•harp  axes  fallnig  from  high,  and  cutting  off 
{)o]itical  heads!     is  the  service  of  that  axe  iu- 
voK-i'd  bore  upon  '  Ooneral  Andrew  Veto'?'     If 
so,  and  the  invocation  should  be  successful,  then 
Amlrew  Jackson,  like  Louis  lOth,  will  cease  to 
be  iu  any  body's  way  in  their  march  to  power." 


Mr.  Clay  also  introduced  a  fable,  not  taken 
from  iEsop — that  of  the  cat  and  the  eagle— tlie 
moral  of  'nhich  was  attempted  to  be  tiuniil 
against  him.  It  was  in  allusion  to  the  Presi- 
dent's message  in  relation  to  the  bank,  and  tlie 
conduct  of  his  friends  since  in  ''attacking''  the 
institution ;  and  said  : 

"  They  have  done  so ;  and  their  condition  now 
reminds  me  of  the  fiible  invented  by  Dr.  Frank- 
lin, of  the  Eagle  and  the  Cat,  to  donioiistiatc 
that  yEsop  had  not  exhausted  invention,  in  the 
construction  of  his  memorable  fables.  The  ea- 
gle, you  know,  Mr.  President,  pounced,  fiom  his 
loity  flight  in  the  air,  upon  a  cat,  taking  it  to 
be  a  pig.  Having  borne  off  his  prize,  he  quick- 
ly felt  most  painfully  the  claws  of  the  cat  thrust 
deeply  into  his  sides  and  body.  Wliilst  Hying, 
he  held  a  parley  A^ith  the  supposed  pig,  aiiil 
proposed  to  let  go  his  hold,  if  the  other  would 
let  him  alone.  No,  says  puss,  you  brought  iiic 
from  yonder  earth  below,  and  I  will  hold  fast 
to  j'ou  until  j'ou  carrj-  me  back  ;  a  condition  to 
which  the  eagle  readily  assented." 

Mr.  Benton  gave  a  poetical  commencement  i 
this  fable  ;  and  said  : 

"  An  eagle  towering  in  his  pride  of  height 
was — not  by  a  mousing  owl,  but  by  a  pig  under 
a  jimpson  weed — not  hawked  and  killed,  but 
caught  and  wliipt.  The  opening  he  thought 
grand  ;  the  conclusion  rather  bathetic.  The 
mistake  of  the  sharp-eyed  bird  of  Jove,  he 
thought  might  bo  attributed  to  old  age  dim- 
ming the  sight,  and  to  liis  neglect  of  his  specta- 
cles that  morning.  He  was  rather  surpiiscd  at 
the  whim  of  the  cat  in  not  choosing  to  f\ll,  see- 
ing that  a  cat  (unlike  a  politician  sometimes). 
always  falls  on  iiS  legs ;  but  concluded  it  was ;'. 
piece  of  pride  in  puss,  and  a  wish  to  assimilate 
itself  still  closer  to  an  {tronaut;  and  having  gone 
up  pendant  to  a  balloon,  it  would  come  down 
artistically,  with  a  parachute  spread  over  its 
head.  It  was  a  pretty  fable,  and  wc  11  toitl ;  hut 
the  moral — the  application  ?  yEs(  >p  always  hail 
a  moral  to  his  fable;  and  Dr.  Franklin,  his  im- 
puted continuator  in  this  particular,  thaugli 
not  yet  the  rival  of  his  master  in  fabulous  repu- 
tation, yet  had  a  large  sprinkling  of  pract'cal 
I  sense ;  and  never  ^vl■ote  or  spoke  without  a 
point  and  .an  application.  And  now,  what  b 
the  point  here  ?  And  the  senator  from  lun- 
tneky  has  not  left  that  to  be  inferred ;  he  has 
told  it  himself  tknerul  Jackson  is  tiio  eagle; 
the  bank  is  the  cat;  tlie  parley  is  the  proixisi 
tion  of  the  bank  to  the  President  to  sign  its 
charter,  and  it  will  support  him  for  the  jircsi- 
deucy — if  not,  will  keep  his  claws  stuck  in  his 
sides.  But,  Jackson,  dill'erent  from  the  i.igi' 
with  his  cat.  will  have  no  compromise,  or  bar- 
gain with  the  bank.  One  or  "the  other  shall 
fall !  and  be  dashed  into  atoms  ! 

'■  Ilaviug  disposed  of  these  preliminary  topics 


ANNO  1832.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


257 


iimcncement 


Mr.  B.  came  to  the  matter  in  hand— the  debate 
on  the  bank,  which  had  only  commenced  on  the 
side  of  the  friends  of  that  institution  since  the 
letnrn  of  the  veto  message.     Why  debate  the 
banic  question  now,  he  exclaimed,  and  not  de- 
bate it  before?    Then  was  the  time  to  make 
converts ;  now,  none  can   be  expected.     Why 
are  lips  unsealed  now,  which  were  silent  as  the 
grave  when  this  act  was  on  its  passage  through 
the  Senate  ?    The  senator  from  Kentucky  him- 
self, at  the  end  of  one  of  his  numerous  perora- 
tions, declared  that  he  expected  to  make  no 
converts.    Then,  why  speak  three  hours  ?  and 
other  gentlemen   speak  a  whole   day?    AVhy 
this  post,  facto— post  viorteiu—thh  posthumous 
-debate  ?— The  deed  is  done.     The  bank  bill 
is  finished.    Speaking  cannot  change  the  minds 
of  senators,  and  make  them  reverse  their  votes  • 
still  less  can  it  change  the  President,  and  make 
him  recall  his  veto.     Then  whv  speak?     To 
whom  do  they  speak  ?    With  wimt  object  do 
they  speak  ?    Sir !  exclaimed  Mr.  B..  tllis  post 
facto  debate  is  not  for  the  ISenate,  nor  the  Pres- 
ident, nor  to  alter  the  f  ite  of  the  bank  bill.     It  is 
to  rouse  theoflicers  of  the  bank— to  direct  the  ef- 
forts of  its  mercenaries  in  their  designs  upon  the 
people-to  bring  out  its  stream  of  corrupting  influ- 
ence, by  inspiring  hope,  and  to  embody  all  its  re- 
cruits at  the  polls  to  vote  against  President  Jack- 
son.   Without  an  avowal  we  would  all  know 
this;  but  we   have  not   been   left  without  an 
avowal.    The  senator  from  Massachusetts  (Mr 
\Vebster),  who  opened  yesterday,  commenced 
his  speech  with  showing  that  Jackson  must  be 
put  down ;  that  he  stood  as  an  impassalile  bar- 
rier between  the  bank  and  a  new  charter;  and 
that  the  road  to  success  was  through  the  ballot 
boxes  at  the  presidential  election.      The  object 
01  this  debate  is  then  known,  confessed,  declared 
avowed;  the  bank  is  in  the  field;  enlisted  for 
the  war;  a  battering  ram— the  cata put ta,  not 
of  the  Romans,  but  of  the  National  Kepublicans ; 
not  to  beat  co-vn  the  walls  of  hostile  cities,  but 
to  beat  down  the  citadel  of  Amenuan  liberty ; 
to  batter  down  the  rights  of  the  people;  to  de- 
stroy a  hero  and  patriot;  to  oomn>aiid  the  elec- 
lons,  and  to  elect  a  Bank  President  by  dint  of 
Dank  power. 

"  The  bank  is  in  the  field  (.said  Mr.  B.),  a  com- 
batant, and  a  fearful  and  tremendous  one,  in  the 
pr<-  •■  cntial  election.  If  she  succeeds,  there  is 
an  ,  r,f  American  liberty-an  end  of  the  re- 
pub  the  forms  of  election  may  be  permitted 
for  a  while,  as  the  forms  of  the  con.sular  elec- 
tions were  permitted  in  IJome.  during  the  last 
2«ofthyepublic;biuu.^beforawh!^ 
T:  /'u  President  of  t  be  bank,  and  thePre.s- 
jdentof  the  United  Statos,  ..11  ^e  cousins,  aSl 
u  n   /"  ^^  '■?^'^1  ^^^' •'•  *^f  the  word.     They 

essors  they  will  transmit  their  thrones  to  their 
descendants,  and  that  by  legislative  constmc- 
hZ"^if  '  ^''''''^  Napoleon  was  decreed  to  be 
nereditary  emperor  by  virtue  of  the  29<\  article 
''1  the  constitution  of  the  republic.  The  con- 
VOL,  I.— 17 


servativc  Senate  and  the  Tribunitial  Asf^embly 
made  him  emperor  by  construction ;  and  the 
saine  construction  which  was  put  upon  tlie  22d 
article  of  the  French  consUtution  of  the  year 
VIM.  may  be  as  easily  placed  upon  the  'general 
welfaie '  clause  in  the  constitution  of  these 
united  States. 

"The  Bank  is  in  the  field,  and  the  West,— 
the  Great  West,  is  the  selected  theatre  of  her 
ojierations.     There  her  terrors,  her  seductions 
her  energies,  her  rewards  and  her  punishments' 
are  to  be  directed.     The   senator  from  Massa- 
chusetts opened  yesterday  with  a  picture  of  the 
nun  m  the  West,  if  the  bank  were  not  rechar- 
tered;    and   the  senator  from  Kentucky,  Mr. 
tlay,  wound  np  with  a  retouch  of  the  same  pic- 
ture to  day,  with  a  closeness  of  coincidence 
which  .showed    that  this   part  of  the  battle 
ground  had  been  reviewed  in  company  by  the 
associate  generals  and  duplicate  senators.    Both 
agree  that  the  West  is  to  be  ruined  if  the  bank 
be  not  rechartcred ;  and  rechartercd  it  cannot 
be,_urless  the  veto  President  is  himself  rc<o«/ 
J.hi.s  IS  certainly  candid.     But  the  gentlemen's 
candor  did  not  stop  there.  They  went  on  to  show 
the  modus  operandi;   to  show  how  the  ruin 
would  be  worked,  how  the  country  would  be  de- 
vastated,—if  Jackson  was  not  put  down,  and  the 
bank  rechartercd.    The  way  was  this :  The  West 
owes  thirty  millions  of  dollars  to  the  bank ;  the 
bank  will  sue  every  debtor  within  two  years  af- 
ter Its  charter  expires ;  there  will  be  no  money  in 
the  country  to  pay  the  judgments,  all  property 
•u  fu        ^^  auction ;  the  price  of  all  projjcrty 
will  fall ;   even   the  growing  crops,  quite  up  to 
Boon  .s  I  ack,  will  sink  in  value  and  lose  half  their 
price !    This  is  the  picture  of  ruin  now  drawn  by 
the  senator  from  INIassachusctts;  these  the  words 
of  a  voice  now  pleading  the  cause  of  the  West 
against  Jackson,  the  sound  of  which  voice  never 
hapi)ened  to  be  heard  in  favor  of  the  West  during 
the  late  war,  when  her  sons  were  bleedino-  under 
the  British  and  the  Indians,  and  Jackson  was  pe- 
"  ,,  "|."f?  ^°^^  fortune  to  save  and  redeem  her. 

X'his  IS  to  be  the  punishment  of  the  West  if 
she  votes  for  J.ackson;  and  by  a  plain  and  natu- 
ral inference,  she  is  to  have  her  reward  for  put- 
ting him  down  and  putting  up  another.    Thirty 
inillions  is  the  bank  debt  in  the  West ;   and* 
these  thirty  millions  they  threaten  to  collect 
by  writs  of  execution  if  Jackson  is  re-elected- 
but  if  he  be  not  elected,  and  somebody  else  be' 
elected,  then  they  promise  no  forced  payments 
shall  bo  exacted,— hardly  any  pavment  at  all  I 
the  thirty  millions  it  is  pretended  will  almost 
be  forgiven ;   and  thus  a  bribe  of  thirty  millions 
IS   deceitfully   oflered    for    the  Western   vote, 
with  a  threat  of  punishment,  if  it  be  not  taken! 
But  the  AVest,  and  especially  the  State  of  Ohio 
IS  aware  that  Mr.  Clay  does  not  use  the  bank' 
power,  m  extending  charities— coercion  is  his 
mode  of  nppcal— and  when  President  Ck.  and 
1  resident  Biddle  have  obtained    their  double 
swaj^  all  these  fair  promises  will  be  forgotten. 
Mr.  B.  had  read  in  the  lioman  history  of  the. 


■V\'*-"iv 


258 


THIRTY  YEARS*  VIEW. 


empire  beinp;  put  up  to  sale;  he  had  read  of 
victorious  generiils,  retuminj:;  from  Asiatic  con- 
quests, and  loaded  with  oriental  spoil,  bidding 
in  the  market  for  the  consulship,  and  purchas- 
ing their  elections  with  the  wealth  of  conquered 
kingdoms ;  but  he  had  never  expected  to  wit- 
ness a  bid  for  the  presidency  in  this  young  and 
fi'ee  republic.  He  thought  he  lived  too  early, — 
too  near  the  birth  of  the  republic, — while  every 
tiling  was  yet  too  young  and  innocent, — to  see 
the  American  presidency  put  up  at  auction. 
But  he  affirmed  this  to  be  the  case  now ;  and 
called  upon  every  senator,  and  every  auditor, 
who  had  heard  the  senator  from  Massachusetts 
the  day  before,  or  the  senator  from  Kentucky 
on  that  uay,  to  put  any  other  construction,  if 
they  could,  upon  this  seductive  oiler  to  the 
West,  of  indelinite  accommodation  for  thirty 
millions  of  debt,  if  she  would  vote  for  one  gen- 
tleman, and  the  threat  of  a  merciless  exaction 
of  that  debt,  if  she  voted  for  another  ? 

"Mr.  B.  demanded  how  the  West  came  to  be 
selected  by  these  two  senators  as  the  theatre  for 
the  operation  of  all  the  terrors  and  seductions  of 
the  bank  debt  ?  Did  no  other  part  of  the  country 
owe  money  to  the  bank?  Yes!  certainly,  fifteen 
millions  in  the  South,  and  twontj  -five  millions 
nortii  of  the  Potomac.  Why  then  were  not  the 
North  and  the  South  included  in  the  fancied 
fate  of  the  West  ?  Simply  because  :  he  presiden- 
tial election  could  nol,  be  affected  by  the  bank 
debt  in  those  quarters.  The  South  was  irrevo- 
cably iixed ;  and  the  terror,  or  seduction,  of  the 
payment,  or  non-payment,  of  her  bank  debt, 
would  operate  nothing  there.  Tlie  North  owed 
but  little,  compi^red  to  its  means  of  payment, 
and  the  presidential  election  would  turn  upon 
other  points  in  that  region.  The  bank  debt  was 
the  argument  for  the  West ;  and  the  bank  and 
the  orators  had  worked  hand  in  hand,  to  pro- 
duce, and  to  use,  this  argument.  !Mr.  B.  then 
affirmed,  that  the  debt  had  been  created  for  the 
very  purpose  to  which  it  was  now  applied ;  an 
electioneering,  political  purpose ;  and  this  he 
proved  by  a  ix'ference  to  authentic  documents. 

"  First :  He  to,  the  total  bank  debt,  as  it  ex- 
isted when  Presid .  it  Jackson  first  brought  the 
bank  charter  before  the  view  of  Congress  in  De- 
cember, 1829,  and  showed  it  to  be  $40,210,000; 
then  he  took  the  total  debt  as  it  stood  at  pre- 
sent, being  $70,428,000;  and  thus  showed  an  in- 
crease of  thirty  millions  in  the  short  space  of 
two  years  and  four  months.  This  great  increase 
had  occurred  since  the  President  had  delivered 
opinions  against  the  bank,  and  when  as  a  pru- 
dent, and  law  abiding  institution,  it  ought  to 
have  been  reducing  and  curtailing  its  business, 
or  at  all  events,  keeping  it  stationary.  Ho  then 
siiowed  the  annual  progress  of  this  increase,  to 
demonstrate  tliat,  the  increase  was  faster  and 
faster,  as  the  charter  drew  nearer  and  nearer  to 
its  termination,  and  the  question  of  its  renewal 
pressed  closer  and  closer  upon  the  people.  He 
showed  that  the  increase  the  first  year  after  the 
.message  of  1829  was  four  millions  and  a  quarter; 


in  the  second  year,  which  was  last  year,  about 
nineteen  millions,  to  wit,  from  $44,052,000,  to 
$03,020  452 ,  and  the  increase  in  the  four  first 
months  of  the  present  year  was  nearly  five  mil- 
lioius,  being  at  the  rate  of  about  one  million  and 
a  quarter  a  month  since  the  bank  had  applied 
for  a  renewal  of  her  charter!  After  havin<; 
shown  this  enormous  increase  in  the  sum  total 
of  the  debt,  Mr.  B.  went  on  to  show  where  it 
had  taken  place;  and  this  he  proved  to  bo 
chiefly  in  the  West,  and  not  merely  in  the  West, 
but  principally  in  those  parts  of  the  West  in 
which  the  presidential  election  was  held  to  be 
most  doubtful  and  critical. 

"  He  began  with  the  State  of  Louisiana,  and 
showed  that  the  increase  there,  since  the  delivery 
of  the  message  of  1829,  was  $5,001,101;  in 
Kentucky,  that  the  increase  was  $3,009,838; 
that  in  Ohio,  it  was  $2,079,207.  Here  was  an 
increase  of  ten  millions  in  three  critical  and 
doubtful  Stales.  And  so  on,  in  others.  Having 
shown  this  enormous  increase  of  debt  in  the 
West,  Mr.  B.  wer.  i  on  to  show,  from  the  time 
and  circumstances  and  subsequent  events,  tliat 
they  were  created  for  a  political  purpose,  and 
had  already  been  used  by  the  bank  with  that 
view.  He  then  recui'ied  to  the  two-and-twenty 
circulars,  or  writs  of  execution,  as  he  called 
them,  issued  against  the  South  and  West,  in 
January  and  Februarj^  last,  ordering  curtailments 
of  all  debts,  and  the  supply  of  reinforcements  to 
the  Northeast.  He  showed  that  the  reasons 
assigned  by  the  bank  for  issuing  the  orders  uf 
curtailments  were  false ;  that  she  was  not  de- 
prived of  public  deposits,  as  she  asserted ;  for 
sh(^  then  had  twelve  millions,  and  now  has 
twelve  millions  of  these  deposits  ;  that  she  was 
not  in  distress  for  money,  ai^  she  asserted,  for 
she  was  then  increasing  her  loans  in  other  quar- 
ters, at  the  rate  of  a  millic  a  and  a  quarter  a 
month,  and  had  actually  increased  them  ten 
millions  and  a  half  from  the  date  of  the  first 
order  of  curtailment,  in  October,  1831,  to  the 
end  of  May,  1832 !  Her  reasons  then  assigned 
for  curtailing  at  the  Western  branches,  were 
false,  uifamously  false,  and  were  proved  to  be  so 
by  her  own  returns.  The  true  reasons  were 
political :  a  foretaste  and  prelude  to  what  is  now 
threatened.  It  was  a  manoeuvre  to  press  the 
debtors — a  turn  of  the  screw  upon  the  borrow- 
ers— to  make  them  all  cry  out  and  join  in  the 
clamors  and  petitions  for  a  renewed  charter! 
This  was  the  reason,  this  the  object ;  and  a  most 
wanton  and  cruel  sporting  it  was  with  the  pro- 
perty and  feelings  of  the  unfortunate  debtors. 
The  overflowing  of  the  river  at  Louisville  and 
Cincinnati,  gave  the  bank  an  opportunity  of 
show'ng  its  gracious  condescension  in  the  tem- 
porary and  slight  relaxation  of  her  orders  at 
those  j)laces ;  but  there,  and  every  where  else  in 
the  West,  the  screw  was  turned  far  enough  to 
make  the  screams  of  the  victims  reach  their  re- 
presentatives in  Congress.  In  Mobile,  alunc-, 
half  a  million  was  cun  ailed  out  of  a  million  and 
a  half;  at  every  other  branch,  curtailments  are 


ANNO  1832,     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


259 


poinp  on ;  and  all  this  for  political  offcc*,  and  to 
be  followed  up  by  the  electionporing  frtbrication 
that  it  is  the  effect  of  the  veto  mesKage.  Yea  ! 
the  veto  message  and  I'resident,  are  to  be  held 
up  a'  the  cause  of  these  cnrtaiinionts,  which 
have  been  going  on  for  half  a  j'car  past ! 

•Connected  with  the  creation  of  this   new 
debt,  was  the  establishment   of  several   new 
branches,  and  the  promi.se  of  many  more.     In- 
■^tead  of  remaining  stationary,  and  awaiting  the 
a.,'''n  of  Congress,  the  bank  showed  itself  de- 
termined to  spread  and  extend  its  busines.s,  not 
only  in  debts,  but  in  new  branches.     Nashville. 
Natchez,  St.  Louis,  were  favored  with  branches 
at  the  eleventh  hour.     New- York  had  the  same 
favor  done  her ;  and,  at  one  of  these  (the  branch 
at  Utica),  the  Senate  could  judge  of  the  neces- 
sity to  the  federal  government  which  occasioned 
it  to  be  established,  and  which  necessity,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  Supreme  Court,  is  sufficient  to 
overturn  the  laws  and  constitution  of  a  State : 
the  Senate  could  judge  of  this  necessity,  from 
the  fact  that  twenty-five  dollars  is  rather  a  large 
deposit  to  the  credit  of  the  United  States  Trea- 
surer, and  that,  at  the  last  returns,  the  federal 
deposit  was  precisely  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents ! 
This  extension  of  branches  and  increase  of  debt 
at  the  approaching  termination  of  the  charter' 
was  evidence  of  the  determination  of  the  bank 
to  be  rechartered  at  all  hazards.     It  was  done 
to  create  an  interest  to  carry  her  through,  in 
spite  of  the  will  of  the  people.     Numerous  pro- 
mises for  new  branches,  is  another  trick  of  the 
same  kind.     Thirty  new  branches  are  said  to  be 
m  conteinplation,  and  about  three  hundred  vil- 
lages have  been  indu<   d  pnch  to  believe  that  it- 
self was  the  favored  spo.   t  '^  ;  tion ;  but,  always 
upon  the  condition,  well  u.  ■;.  fstood,  that  Jack- 
son should  not  be   re-elected,  and  that  they 
should  elect  a  representative  to  vote  for  the  re- 
charter. 

"  Mr.  B.,  having  shown  when  and  why  this 
Western  debt  was  created,  examined  next  i;!.^ 
the  adeged  necessity  for  its  prompt  and  rigc  o;\-. 
collection,  if  the  charter  was  not  renewed  ;  1 
denied  the  existence  of  any  such  necessity  i.. 
point  of  law.  He  affirmed  that  the  bank  could 
take  as  much  time  as  she  pleased  to  collect  her 
debts,  and  nould  be  just  as  gentle  with  her 
debtors  as  she  chose.  All  that  she  had  to  do 
was  to  convert  a  few  of  her  directors  into  trus- 
tees, as  the  old  Bank  of  the  United  States  had 
done  the  affairs  of  which  were  wound  up  so 
gently  that  the  country  did  not  know  when  it 
ended.  Mr.  B.  appealed  to  what  would  be  ad- 
mitted to  be  bank  authority  on  this  point:  i* 
Tw  rf  opinion  of  the  senator  from  Kentucky 
(Jlr.  Clay),  not  in  his  speech  against  renewinsr 
he  bank  charter,  in  .'811,  but  in  his  U'Dort  oi^ 
tnat  year  agamst  allowing  it  time  to  wind  up  its 
attairs.  The  bank  then  asked  time  to  wind  up 
,r.    ijt    '  ■'  '^  laicca  iiiai  inc  country 

would  be  rumed,  if  time  was  not  alh)wed ;  but 
the  senator  from  Kentucky  then  answered  that 
ciy,  by  referring  the  bank  to  its  common  law 


right  to  constitute  trustees  to  wind  up  its  affairs. 

I  he  Congress  acted  upon  the  suggestion  by  re- 
fusing the  time ;  the  buik  acted  upon  the  sug- 
gestion by  appointing  tru.^tces;  the  debtors 
iiushed  their  cries,  and  the  public  never  heard  of 
the  suljcct  afterwards.  The  pretext  of  an  un- 
renewed charter  is  not  necessary  to  stimulate 
the  bank  to  the  pressure  of  Western  debtors. 
Look  at  Cincinnati !  what  but  a  determination" 
to  make  its  power  felt  and  feared  occasioned  the 
pressure  at  that  place  ?  And  will  that  disposi- 
tion ever  be  wanting  to  such  an  institution  as 
that  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  ? 

['  The  .senator  from  Kentucky  ha.s  changed  his 
opinion  about  thecoastitutionality  of  the  bank; 
but  has  he  changed  it  about  the  legality  of  the 
tru,«t  ?  If  he  has  not,  he  must  surrender  his 
alarms  for  the  ruin  of  the  West ;  if  he  has,  the 
lavv  Itself  is  unchanged.  The  bank  may  act 
under  it;  and  if  she  does  not,  it  is  because  she 
will  not ;  and  because  she  chooses  to  punish  the 
West  for  refusing  to  support  her  candidate  for 
the  presidency.  What  then  becomes  of  all  this 
cry  about  ruined  fortunes,  fallen  prices,  and  the 
loss  of  growing  crops  ?  All  imagination  or  cruel 
tyranny !  The  bank  debt  of  the  West  is  thirty 
millions.  She  has  six  years  to  pav  it  in ;  and, 
at  all  events,  he  that  cannot  pay  m  six  years 
can  hardly  do  it  at  all.  Ten  millions  are  in  bills 
of  exchange;  and,  if  they  are  real  bills,  they  will 
be  payable  at  maturity,  in  ninety  or  one  hundred 
and  twenty  days ;  if  not  real  bills,  but  disguised 
loans'  drawing  interest  as  a  debt,  and  premium 
as  a  bill  of  exchange,  they  arc  usurious  and  void 
and  may  be  vacated  in  any  upright  court.  ' 

"  But,  the  great  point  for  the  West  to  fix  its 
attention  upon  is  the  fact  that,  once  in  every  ten 
years,  the  capital  of  this  debt  is  paid  in  annual 
interest;  and  that,  after  paying  the  capital  many 
times  over  in  interest,  tlie  principal  will  have  to 
be  v.iiicl  at  last.  The  sooner,  then,  the  capita)  is 
paid  tiivl:  interest  stopped,  the  better  for  the  coun- 
try. 

"  Mr,  Clay  and  Mr.  Webster  had  dilated  large- 
ly xv.ion  the  withdrawal  of  bank  capital  from 
the  West.  Mr.  B.  showed,  from  the  bank  doc- 
uments, that  they  had  sent  but  9;i8,000  dol- 
lars of  capital  there ;  that  the  operaiion  was  the 
other  way,  a  ruinous  di'ain  of  capital,  and  that 
m  hard  money,  from  the  West.  He  went  over 
the  tables  which  shewed  the  annual  amount  of 
these  drains,  and  demonstrated  its  ruinous  na- 
ture upon  the  South  and  West.  He  showed  the 
tendency  of  all  branch  bank  paper  to  flow  to  the 
Northeast,  the  necessity  to  redeem  it  annually 
with  gold  and  silver,  and  bills  of  exchange,  and 
the  inevitable  result,  that  the  West  would  even- 
tually be  left  without  either  hard  money,  or 
branch  bank  paper. 

"Mr.  Clay  had  attributed  .ill  the  disasters  of 
the  late  war,  especially  the  surrender  of  Detroit 
and  the  Biadensburg  rout,  to  the  want  of  this 
bank.  Mr.  B.  asked  if  bank  credits,  or  bank 
advances  could  have  inspired  courage  into  the 
bosom  of  the  unhappy  old  man  who  had  been 


m^ 


■ 


260 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


^r^jll 


the  cauHc  of  thu  siirrcndor  of  Detroit?  or,  could 
have  inadc  those  ^ht  who  could  not  be  inspired 
by  the  view  of  their  capitol,  the  presence  of  their 
President,  and  the  near  proximity  of  their  fami- 
lies and  firesides  ?  Andrew  Jackson  conquered 
at  New  Orleans,  without  money,  without  arms, 
without  credit — aye,  without  a  bank.  lie  got 
even  his  flints  from  the  pirates.  He  scouted  the 
idea  of  brave  men  beinj;'  produced  by  the  bank. 
If  it  had  existed,  it  would  have  been  a  burthen 
upon  the  hands  of  the  government.  It  was  now, 
at  thi.s  hour,  a  burthen  upon  the  hands  of  the 
government,  and  an  obstacle  to  the  payment  of 
the  public  debt.  It  had  procured  a  payment  of 
six  millions  of  the  public  debt  to  bo  delayed, 
from  Jidy  to  Octol)or,  under  the  jiretext  that 
the  merchants  could  not  pay  their  bonds,  when 
these  bonds  were  now  paid,  and  twelve  millions  of 
dollars — twice  the  amount  intended  to  have  been 
paid — lies  in  the  vaults  of  the  bank  to  be  used  by 
her  in  beating  down  the  veto  message,  the  author 
of  the  message,  and  all  \\  ho  share  his  opinions. 
The  bank  was  not  only  a  burthen  upon  the 
hands  of  the  government  now,  but  had  been  a 
burthen  upon  it  in  three  years  after  it  started — 
when  it  would  have  stopped  payment,  as  all 
America  knows,  in  April  1810,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  use  of  eight  millions  of  public  deposits, 
and  the  seasonable  arrival  of  wagons  loaded  with 
specie  from  Kentucky  and  Ohio. 

"  Mr.  B.  defended  the  old  banks  in  Kentucky, 
Ohio,  and  Tennessee,  from  the  aspersions  which 
had  been  cast  upon  them.  They  had  aided  the 
government  when  the  Northern  bankers,  who 
now  scoff  at  them,  refused  to  advance  a  dollar. 
They  had  advanced  the  money  which  enabled 
the  warriors  of  the  West  to  go  forth  to  battle. 
They  had  crippled  themselves  to  aid  their  gov- 
ernment. After  the  war  they  resumed  specie 
payments,  w^hich  had  been  suspended  with  the 
consent  of  the  legislatures,  to  enable  them  to  ex- 
tend all  their  means  in  aid  of  the  national  strug- 
gle. This  resumption  war?  made  practicable  by 
the  Treasury  deposit,  in  the  State  institutions. 
They  were  withdrawn  to  give  capital  to  the 
branches  of  the  great  monopoly,  when  1  irst  extend- 
ed to  the  West.  Those  branches,  then,  produc- 
ed again  the  draining  of  the  local  banks,  which 
they  had  voluntarily  suflered  for  the  sake  of 
government  during  the  war.  They  had  sacri- 
ficed their  interests  and  credit  to  sustain  the 
credit  of  the  national  treasury — and  the  treasu- 
ry surrendered  then),  as  a  sacrifice  to  the  national 
bank.  They  stopped  payment  under  the  pi'es- 
sure  and  extortion  of  the  new  establishments, 
mtroduced  against  the  consent  of  the  people  and 
legislatures  of  the  Western  States.  The  paper 
of  the  Western  banks  depreciated — the  stock  of 
the  States  and  of  individual  stockholders  was 
sacrificed — the  country  was  filled  with  a  spu- 
rious currency,  by  the  cou'-sc  of  an  instituti<Mi 
which,  it  was  prett'ndcd.  w.t-s  f'st.'iiilislied  to  ])rp- 
vent  such  a  calamity  The  Bank  of  the  United 
States  was  thus  established  on  the  ruins  of  the 
banks,  and  foreigners  and  non-residents  wore  fat- 


tened on  their  .spoils.  They  were  stripped  of 
their  specie  to  pamper  the  imperial  bank.  They 
fell  victims  to  their  patriotism,  and  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  United  States  bank  ;  and  it  was 
unjust  and  unkind  to  reproach  them  with  a  fate 
which  their  patriotism,  and  the  establi.-.limcut 
of  the  federal  bank  brought  upon  them. 

"  Mr.  Clay  and  Mr.  Webster  had  rebuked  the 
President  lor  his  allusion  to  the  manner  iii  wliich 
the  bank  charter  had  been  pushed  through  Con- 
gress, pending  an  unfinished  investigation,  reluc- 
tantly conceded.  Mr.  B.  demanded  if  that  was 
not  true?  He  asked  if  it  was  not  wrong  to  pnsh 
the  charter  through  in  that  manner,  and  if  the 
President  had  not  done  rij.jht  to  stop  it,  to  balk 
this  hurried  jirocess,  and  to  give  the  people  lime 
for  consideration  and  enable  them  to  act  ?  lie 
had  only  brC'Ught  the  subject  to  the  notice  of  the 
Congress  and  the  people,  but  had  not  recom- 
mended imniodiate  legislation,  before  thesubjict 
hiid  been  canvassed  before  the  nation.  It  was  a 
gross  perversion  of  his  messages  to  quote  them 
in  favor  of  immediate  decision  without  previous 
investigation.  lie  was  not  evading  the  {juestiuii. 
The  veto  message  proved  that.  lie  sought  time 
for  the  people,  not  for  himself,  and  in  that  he 
coincided  with  a  sentiment  lately  expressed  by 
the  senator  himself  ('from  Kentucky)  at  Cincin- 
nati ;  he  was  coincidmg  with  the  example  oC  the 
British  parliament,  which  had  not  yet  decided 
the  question  of  rechartering  the  Bank  of  Eng- 
land, and  which  had  just  raised  an  extraordinary 
committee  of  thirty-one  members  to  examine 
the  bank  through  all  her  departments ;  and,  what 
was  much  more  material,  he  had  coincided  with 
the  spirit  of  our  constitution,  and  the  rights  of 
the  people,  in  preventing  an  expiring  minority 
Congress  fiom  usurping  the  powers  and  lights 
of  their  successors.  The  President  had  not 
evaded  the  (juestion.  He  had  met  it  fully.  He 
might  have  said  nothing  about  it  in  his  niessaoes 
of  1829,  '30,  and  'ol.  He  might  have  remained 
silent,  and  had  the  support  of  both  parties;  but 
the  safety  and  interest  of  the  country  required 
the  people  to  be  awakened  to  the  consideration 
of  the  subject.  He  had  waked  them  up ;  and 
now  that  they  are  awake,  he  has  secured  them 
time  for  consideration.     Is  this  evasion  ? 

'•Messrs.  C.  and  W.  had  attacked  the  I'rcsi- 
dent  for  objecting  to  foreign  stockholders  in  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States.  Jlr.  B.  maintained  the 
sohdity  of  the  objection,  and  exposed  the  futility 
of  the  argument  urged  by  the  diqdicate  senators. 
They  had  asked  if  foreigners  did  not  hold  stock 
in  road  and  canal  companies?  Mr.  B.  said, yes  1 
but  these  road  and  canal  companies  did  not  hap- 
pen to  be  the  bankers  of  the  United  StiUes !  Tiio 
foreign  stockholders  in  this  bank  were  the  bank- 
ers of  the  United  States.  They  held  its  moneys; 
they  collected  its  revenues ;  thiv  almost  con- 
trolled its  finances  ;  they  were  to  give  or  with- 
liold  aid  in  war  as  well  as  peace,  and,  it  m:i;ht 
be,  agaii'-'st  their  own  government.  W  as  tiio 
United  Stales  to  depend  upon  foreigners  in  a 
point  so  material  to  our  existence  ?    The  bank 


'iiMs. 


ANNO  1882.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


261 


was  a  national  institution.     Ought  a  national  in- 
stitution to  be  the  private  property  of  aliens? 
It  was  called  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  and 
ought  it  to  be  the  bank  of  the  nobility  and  gen- 
try of  Great  Britain?     The  senator  from  Ken- 
tucivy  had  once  objected  to  foreign  stockholders 
himself.    Ho  did  this  in  his  speech  against  the 
bank  in  1811 ;  and  although  he  had  revoked  the 
constitutional  doctrines  of  that  speech,  he  [Mr. 
U.]  never  understood  that  h^      A  rcvokecf  the 
bcutinients  then  expressed  of  U.  •  danger  of  cor- 
ruption in  our  councils  and  elections,  if  foreigners 
wielded  the  moneyed  power  of  our  country."  He 
tolfi  us  then  that  the  power  of  the  purse  command- 
ed that  of  the  sword— and  would  he  commit  both 
to  tlie  hands  of  foreigners  ?    All  the  lessons  of 
history,  said  Mr.  B.,  admonish  us  to  keep  clear  of 
for.^igii  influence.     The  most  dangerous  influence 
fnm  foroignersis  through  money.  The  corruption 
of  orators  and  statesmen,  is  the  ready  way  to 
poison  the  councils,  and  to  betray  the  interest  of 
a  country.    Foreigners  now  own  one  fourth  of 
this  bank;  they  may  own  the  whole  of  it! 
What  a  temptation  to  them  to  engage  in  our 
elections !    By  carrying  a  President,  and  a  ma- 
jority of  Congress,  to  suit  themselves,  they  not 
only  become  masters  of  the  moneyed  power  but 
also  of  the  political   power,  of  this  republic. 
And  can  it  be  supposed  that  the  British  stock- 
holdiTs  are  indifferent  to  the  issue  of  this  elec- 
tion .'  that  they,  and  their  agents,  can  see  with 
iiidiflbrence,  the  re-election  of  a  man  who  may 
disappoint  their  hopes   of  fortune,  and   whose 
acliie\ement  at  New  Orleans  is  a  continued  me- 
m^'uto  of  the  most  signal  defeat  the  arms  of  Eng- 
land ever  sustained  ?  "^ 
"  Tlib  President,  in  his  message,  had  charac- 
terized the  exclusive  privilege  of  the  bank  as  '  a 
monopoly.'    To  this  Mr,  Webster   had   taken 
e.\coption,  and  ascended  to  the  Greek   root  of 
the  word  to  demonstrate   its  true  signification 
and  the  incorrectness  of  the  President's  applica- 
tion.   Mr.  B.  defended  the  Pre.-ident's  use  of 
the  term,  and  said  that  he  would  give  authority 
too,  but  not  Greek  authority.     He  would  as- 
cend, not  to  the  Greek  root,  but  to  the  English 
test  of  the  word,  and  show  that  a  whig  baronet 
had  applied  the  term  to  the  Bank  of  England 
with  still  more  offensive  epithets  than  any  the 
1  resident  had  used.      Mr.  B.  then  read,  and 
commontcd  upon  several  passages  of  a  speech  of 
^ir^VilliamPulteney,  in  the  British  House  of 
tonimons,  agamst  renewing  the  charter  of  the 
«!inlc  of  England,  in  which  the  term  monopoly 
was  reneatedly  applied  to  that  bank ;  and  other 
terms  to  display  its  dangerous  and  odious  char- 
ter    In  one  of  the  passages  the  whig  baronet 
-aia :    J  he  bank  has  been  supported,  and  i.=  still 
supported,  by  the  fear  and  terror  whicli,  by  the 
means  of  its  monopoly,  it  has  had  the  power  to 
inspire.     In  another,  he  said:  'I  consider  the 
power  K-von  by  ti,e  monopoly  to  be  of  the  na- 
il eot  all  other  despotic  power,  which  corrupts 
tiio  despot  as  much  as  it  corrupts  the  slav(i ! ' 
la  a  third  passage  he  said :  'Whatever  lano-uacrc 


the  private  b.ankers  may  feci  themselves  bound 
to  hold,  he  could  not  believe  they  had  any  sat- 
isfaction in  remaining  subject  to  a  power  which 
might  destroy  them  at  any  moment.'  In  a 
fourth :  '  No  man  in  France  was  heard  to  com- 
plain of  the  Bastile  while  it  existed;  yet  when 
It  fell,  it  came  down  amidst  the  universal  accla- 
mations of  the  nation  ! ' 

"  Here,  continued  Mr.  B.,  is  authority,  Eng- 
lish authority,  for  calling  the  British  bank  in 
P-iUgland  a  monopoly ;  and  the  British  bank  in 
America  is  copied  from  it.     Sir  Win.  Pulteney 
goes  further  than  President  Jackson.     He  says, 
that  the  Bank  of  England   rules   by  fear  and 
terror.     He  calls  it  a  despot,  and  a  corrupt  des- 
pot.    He  speaks  of  the  slaves  corrupted  by  the 
bank ;  by  whom  he  doubtless  means  the  nomi- 
nal debtors  who  have  received  ostensible  loans, 
real   douceurs— never   to   be   repaid,  except  in 
dishonorable  services.     He  considers  the  praises 
of  the  country  bankers  as  the  unwilling  homaire 
of  the  weak  and  helpless  to  the  corrupt  and 
powerful.     He  assimilates  the  Bank  of  England, 
by  the  terrors  which  it  inspires,  to  the  old  Bas- 
tile in  Franco,  and  anticijiates  the  same  burst  of 
emancipated  joy  on  the  fall  of  the  bank,  which  was 
hoard  in  France  on  the  foil  of  the  Bastile.     And 
is  ho  not  right?     And  may  not  every  word  of 
his  invective  be  applied  to  the  British  bank  in 
America,  and  find  its  appropriate  applicatiun  in 
well-known,  and  incontestable  facts  here  ?    Well 
has  he  likened  it  to  the  Bastile ;  well  will  the 
term  apply  in  our  own  country.     Great  is  the 
fear  and  terror  now  inspired  by  this  bank.     Si- 
lent are  '  millions  of  tonjrues,  under  its  terrors 
which  are  impatient  for  the  downfiill  of  the  mon- 
ument of  despotism,  that  they  may  break  forth 
into  joy  and  thanksgiving.     The  real  Bastile 
was  terrible  to  all  France;  the  figurative  Bas- 
tile is  terrible  to  all  America;  but  above  all  to 
the  West,  where  the  duplicate  senators  of  Ken- 
tucky and  Massachusetts,  have  pointed  to  the 
reign  of  terror  that  is  approaching,  and  drawn 
up  the  victims  for  an  anticipated  immolation. 
But,  exclaimed  Mr.  B.,  this   is  the  month  of 
July ;  a  month  auspicious  to  Uberty,  and  fatal 
to  Bastiles.     Our  depeidence  on  the  crown  of 
Great  Britain  ceased  in    he  month  of  July;  the 
Bastile  in  France  fell   .n   the  month  of  July ; 
Charles  X.  was  chased  from  France  by  the  three 
glorious  days  of  July ;  and  the  veto  message, 
which  is  the  Declaration  of  Indi^pcndence  against 
the  British  bank,  oi-iginatod  on  the  fourth  of 
July,  and  is  th^  signal  for  the  downfall  of  the 
American  Bastile,  and  the   end  of  despotism. 
The  time  is  auspicious ;  the  work  will  go  on ; 
down  with  the  British  bank;  down  with  the 
Bastile  ;  away  with  the  tyrant,  will  be  the  pa- 
triotic cry  of  Americans ;  and  down  it  will  go. 

'•The  duplicate  senators,  said  Mr.  B.,  have 
occupied  themselves  with  criticising  the  Presi- 
dent's idea  of  tlie  obligation  of  his  oath  iu  con- 
struing the  constitution  for  himself.  They  also 
think  that  the  President  ought  to  be  bound,  the 
Congress  ought  to  be  bound,  to  take  the  consti- 


*M' 


fSi.i 


262 


THIRTY  ^  KARa'  VIEW 


tution  which  the  Suprutne  Court  may  deal  Diit 
to  thi'ni !  If  B(i,  why  take  an  oatli  ?  The  oatli 
is  to  bind  the  fonficiencc,  not  to  eiiiiphteu  the 
hewl.  Every  >  lllcor  tkestho  n.ith  for  lilniself; 
the  President  took  the  oath  for  himself;  admin- 
istered by  I  .e  Chief  Jui-Mce.  but  not  to  the 
Chief  Jiistiee.  Hf  bounil  liiui-jlf  to  o])Rervc 
the  CKn>titntinn,  not  the  Chu  i  Justice's  inter- 
pretation <if  the  constitution;  and  his  message 
is  in  confinnity  to  his  o&th.  This  is  the  oath  of 
duty  and  of  ri^ht.  Jt  is  the  jiath  of  Jetferson, 
also,  who  has  laid  it.  down  in  his  writings, 
that  each  dcpartnu  nt  judges  the  (•oustitulion 
for  itself,  and  that  the  President  is  as  inde- 
pendent of  the  Supreme  Court  as  tin;  Supreme 
Court  is  of  the  President. 

"  'J'he  senators  from  Kentucky  and  IMassa- 
chusetts  have  not  only  attacked  the  President's 
idea  of  his  own  Independence  in  construing  the 
constitution,  but  also  the  construction  he  has 
put  upon  it  in  reference  to  this  bank.  They 
deny  its  correctness,  and  enter  into  arguments 
to  disprove  it,  and  have  even  quoted  authorities 
which  -iiay  be  quoted  on  both  sides.  One  of 
the  senators,  the  gentleman  from  Kentucky, 
might  have  spared  his  objection  to  the  President 
on  this  point.  lie  happened  to  think  the  same 
way  once  himself;  and  while  all  will  accord  to 
him  the  riglit  of  changing  for  himself,  few  will 
allow  him  the  privilege  of  rebuking  others  for 
not  keeping  up  with  him  in  the  rigadoon  dance 
of  changeable  opinions. 

"  The  Pr  sident  is  assailed  for  showing  the 
drain  upon  the  resources  of  the  West,  wliich 


assailed?    AV'ithany 

v.-  is  in  error  ?     No  ! 

:!,  nent  exists.      The 

'ill-  fact  goes  to  a  far 

etiiled  in  his  message. 

<>':its  of  the  bank, — the 


made  by  this  bank.     R 
documents  to  show  t.U.i' 
not  at  all  !    no   such    1 
President  is  right.  ,ti.<i 
greater  extent  than  iij 
He  took  the  dividend 

net,  and  not  the  gross  profits  ;  the  latter  is  the 
true  measure  of  the  burthen  upon  the  people. 
The  annual  drain  for  net  dividends  from  the 
West,  is  ^1,000,000.  This  is  an  enormous  tax. 
But  the  gross  profits  are  still  larger.  Then 
there  is  the  specie  drain,  which  now  exceeds 
three  millions  of  dollars  per  annum.  Then 
theie  is  the  annual  mortgage  of  the  growing 
crop  to  redeem  the  fictitious  and  usurious  bills 
of  exchange  which  are  now  substituted  for  ordi- 
nary loans,  and  which  sweeps  off  the  staple  pro- 
ducts of  the  South  and  West  to  the  North- 
eastern cities. — The  West  is  ravaged  by  this 
bank.  New  Orleans,  especially,  is  ravaged  by 
it ;  and  in  her  impoverishment,  the  whole  West 
sutfers  ;  for  she  is  thereby  disabled  from  giving 
adequate  prices  for  Western  produce.  Mr.  B. 
declared  that  this  British  bank,  in  his  opinion, 
had  done,  ar.d  would  do,  more  pecuniary  dam- 
age to  New  Orleans,  than  the  British  army 
would  liave  done  if  tliey  had  conquered  it  in 
1815.  lie  verified  this  opinion  by  referring  to 
the  inunense  dividend,  upwards  of  half  a  million 
a  year,  drawn  from  the  branch  thi're  ;  the  im- 
mense amounts  of  specie  drawn  from  it;  the 


produce  carried  "ff  to  meet  the  don  stic  l.illa 
of  exchange  ;  and  the  eight  un  ,  a  hal;  millionii 
of  debt  exit^liii:  ♦here,  of  which  tiw  millions 
were  created  in  the  last  two  years  to  answer 
electioneering  purposes,  and  the  collection  of 
whi<;h  must  paralyze,  for  years,  the  growth  of 
the  city.  From  fuillier  damage  to  New  Or- 
leans, tlie  veto  inessag*  would  save  that  pient 
city  Jaclson  would  je  hi  r  saviour  a  gecond 
time.  lie  would  save  er  fi ..  'he  British  bank 
as  he  had  done  from  the  Brii  h  ariii'  ;  and  if 
any  federal  bank  must  be  thei  ,  let  it  bi  an  in- 
dependent one  ;  a  separiite  and  distinct  'mnk, 
which  would  save  to  that  e'y,  and  to  tlu  V  alley 
of  the  Mississippi,  of  vs  liich  it  w  as  the  great  and 
cherished  emporium,  the  comnumil  f  tin  ir  own 
moneyed  system,  the  legulation  •  i  fheir  own 
commerce  and  finances,  and  the  accomnioi  ution 
of  their  own  citiz.  ns. 

"Mr.  B.  addressed  hims.  •"  to  tl»'  Jackson 
bai.iv  men,  present  and  abseur  i  iiey  nii^ht 
continue  to  be  for  a  bank  and  lor  Jackson  ;  Init 
they  could  not  be  for  tliis  bank,  and  for  Jiuk- 
son.  This  bank  is  now  ths  open,  as  it  long 
has  been  the  secret,  enemy  of  Jsi- kson.  It  is 
now  in  the  hiinds  of  his  enemies,  ,>ielding  all 
its  own  money — wielding  even  tin  nvennch 
and  the  credit  of  the  Union — whldm;.  ,l\ 
millions  of  dollars,  lialf  of  which  were  n 
to  be  paid  to  the  public  creditors  on  iLc  t  -i 
ilay  of  July,  but  which  the  bank  has  retaum) 
to  itself  by  a  false  representation  in  iJie  f: - 
tended  behalf  of  the  merchants.  All  this  n.  ,- 
eyed  power,  with  an  organization  wliieh  per- 
vades the  continent,  working  every  where  with 
unseen  hands,  is  now  operating  against  tiio 
President ;  and  it  is  impossible  to  be  in  favoi 
of  this  power  and  also  in  favor  of  him  at  tiie 
same  time.  Choose  ye  between  them  !  To 
those  who  think  a  bank  to  be  indispensable, 
other  alternatives  present  themselves.  They 
are  not  bound  nor  wedded  to  this.  New  Amer- 
ican banks  may  be  created.  Read,  sir,  Henry 
Parnell.  See  his  invincible  reasoning,  and  in- 
disputable facts,  to  show  that  the  Bank  of  Eng- 
land is  too  powerful  for  the  monarchy  of  Great 
Britain  !  Study  his  plan  for  breaking  up  tiiat 
gigantic  institution,  and  establishing  three  or 
four  independent  banks  in  its  place,  which 
would  be  so  much  less  dangerous  to  liberty, 
and  so  much  safer  and  better  for  the  people. 
In  these  alternatives,  the  friends  of  Jackson, 
who  are  in  favor  of  national  banks,  may  find 
the  accomplishment  of  their  wishes  without  a 
sacrifice  of  their  principles,  and  without  com- 
mitting the  suicidal  solecism  of  fighting  against 
him  w  hile  professing  to  be  for  him. 

"  Mr.  B.  addressed  himself  to  the  West-thc 
great,  the  generous,  the  brave,  the  patriotic,  the 
devoted  West.  It  was  the  selected  field  of  bat- 
tle. There  the  combined  forces,  the  national 
republicans,  and  the  na'ional  republican  bank, 
were  to  work  together,  and  to  fight  together. 
The  holy  allies  understand  each  other.  Tliey 
arc  able  to  speak  in  each  other's  names,  and  to 


ANNO  isai    AM)RKW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


263 


fromise  aii<l  threaten  in  eii'  i  iher's  behalf, 
or  this  cam  pill  n  the  lunik  created  its  debt  of 
thirty  millions  in  the  West;  in  thix  campnif^n 
the  asBociiiU'  loaderH  use  that  debt  (or  their  own 
purposes.  Vote  !"i  fackson !  and  suits,  judg- 
ments, and  executi  -hall  h«  op,  like  the  besom 
of  desf ruction,  throi  Jiout  tiu  -t  region  of  the 
West !  Vote  :!j.uiii  t  him  I  and  i  .ilctinite  indul- 
gence is  basely  pr'  liscd !  The  debt  iti-elf,  it  is 
prv'tended,  will,  pui  apg.  bo  f".-ivtii ;  or,  at  all 
(v.nt-f,  hardly  (^ver  collected!  Thus,  an  open 
brilie  of  Miirty  millions  is  virtually  offered  to 
the  VV^est ;  am!  lesf  tb  edi-tions  of  the  bribe 
may  n  t  be  sulHcient  .1  one  hand,  the  terrors 
of  de-iruction  are  blandished  on  ino  other! 
Wretched,  infatuated  men,  cried  Mr.  B.  Do  thev 
tliink  t'u'  West  is  to  bo  bought !  Little  do  tlie" 
know  01  ihe  generous  sons  of  that  magniticent 
rpgion !  [loor,  indeed,  in  point  of  money,  but  rich 
A  all  (lie  trx'asures  of  the  heart !  rich'  in  all  the 
(juiilities  ('  freemen  and  republicans!  rich  in  all 
tiie  noble  feelings  which  look  with  ccjual  scorn 
upon  ;i  bribe  or  a  threat.  The  hunter  of  the 
West,  with  m.o.fasiiis  on  his  feet,  and  a  hunting 
shirt  ilrawn  art>und  him,  would  repel  with  in- 
dignatioi,  'lie  highest  bribe  that  the  bank  could 
offer  him.  The  wretch  (said  Mr.  Benton,  with 
asignitirnnt  gesture)  who  dared  to  oiler  it,  would 
expiate  the  i'      '»  with  his  blood. 

"Mr.  B.  I  summed  up  with  a  view  of 

thedaiigtro  1  of  the  bank,  and  the  pre- 

sent audacity  ol  her  conduct.  IShe  wielded  a 
debt  of  seventy  millions  of  dollars,  with  an  or- 
ganization which  e-vtended  to  every  part  of  the 
Union,  and  she  was  sole  mistress  of  the  moneyed 
power  of  the  republic.  She  had  thrown  herself 
into  the  political  arena,  to  control  and  govern 
the  presidential  election.  If  she  succeeded  in 
that  election,  she  would  wish  to  consolidate  her 
power  by  getting  control  of  all  other  elections. 
Governors  of  States,  judges  of  the  courts,  rep- 
resentatives and  senators  in  Congress,  all  must 
belong  to  her.  The  Senate  especially  must  be- 
long to  her ;  for,  there  lay  the  power  to  con- 
firm nominations  and  to  try  impeachments  ;  and, 
to  get  possession  of  the  Senate,  the  legislatures 
of  a  majority  of  the  States  would  have  to  be 
acquired.  The  war  is  now  upon  Jackson,  and 
if  he  is  defeated,  all  the  rest  will  fall  an  e  y 
prey.  What  individual  could  stand  in  the  S  ttes 
against  the  jjower  of  the  bank,  and  th  oank 
flushed  with  a  victory  over  the  conqueror  of  the 
coniiuerors  of  Bonaparte  ?  The  whole  govern- 
ment would  fall  into  the  hands  of  this  moneyed 
power.  All  oligaichy  would  be  immediately  es- 
tablished ;  and  ihat  oligarchy,  in  a  few  genera- 
tions, would  ripen  into  a  monarchy.  All  govern- 
ments must  have  their  end ;  in  the  lapse  of  time, 
this  republic  must  perish  ;  but  that  time,  he  now 
trusted,  was  far  distant ;  and  when  it  comes,  it 
should  come  in  glory,  and  not  in  shame.  Komc 
had  her  Pliarsulia,  and  Greece  her  Chajronea ; 
and  this  rei)iiblic,  more  illustrious  in  her  birtli 
than  Greece  or  Rome,  was  entitled  to  a  death  as 
glorious  as  theirs.    She  would  not  die  by  poison 


—perish  in  corruption— no !  A  field  of  arms, 
and  of  glory,  should  be  her  ead.  She  had  a 
right  to  a  battle— a  great,  immortal  battle — 


where  hei 
liberty  \*  bi, 
seerate,  w  '1 
a  nation's 

"  After  .\|, 
Clay  rose  ai 


nd  patriots  couM  die  with  the 
v  scorned  to  sni-vive,  and  con- 
'  lood,  the  spot  which  marked 


had  concluded  his  remarka,  Mr. 

-  ^  -     -  ....    .said  : — 

"  The  senator  fronj  Missouri  expresses  dissatis- 
faction that  the  speeches  of  some  senators  whould 
fill  Ihe  galleries,  lie  has  no  groimd  for  uneasi- 
nes.»  on  this  score.  For  if  it  be  the  fortune  of 
some  senators  to  fill  the  galleries  when  they 
speak,  it  is  the  fortune  of  others  to  empty  them, 
with  .\  hatever  else  they  fill  the  chamber.    The 

nat(jr  from  Missouri  has  every  reason  to  be 
well  sat  'cd  with  the  effect  of  his  performance 
to  d;i\  '  ■         -••■-- 

lit( 

n. 

tb 


!g  bis  auditors  is  a  lady  of  great 
e.     [Pointing  to  Mrs.  Hoyal.] 


a 

w 

ni 
tlu 


itimates,  that  in  my  remarks  on 
of  the  President,  I  wa.t  deficient  in 
ree  of  courtesy  towards  that  officer, 
my  deportment  here  be  decorous  or 
lould  not  choose  to  be  decided  upon  by 
,,  itleman  from  Missouri.  I  answered  the 
President's  arguments,  and  gave  my  own  views 
of  the  facts  and  inferences  introduced  by  him 
into  his  message.  The  President  states  that  the 
bank  has  an  injurious  operation  on  the  interests 
of  the  Vest,  and  dwells  upon  its  exhausting 
effects,  its  stripping  the  country  of  its  curi'ency, 
&c.,  and  upon  these  views  and  statements  I  com- 
mented in  a  manner  which  the  occasion  called 
for.  But,  if  I  am  to  be  indoctrinated  in  the 
rules  of  decorum,  I  shall  not  look  to  the  gentle- 
man for  instruction.  I  shall  not  strip  him  of 
his  Indian  blankets  to  go  to  Boon's  Lick  for 
lessons  in  deportment,  nor  yet  to  the  Court  of 
Ver.sailles,  which  he  eulogizes.  There  are  some 
peculiar  reasons  why  I  should  not  go  to  that 
senator  for  my  views  of  decorum,  in  regard  to 
my  bearing  towards  the  chief  magistrate,  and 
why  he  is  not  a  fit  instructor.  I  never  had 
any  personal  rencontre  with  the  President  of 
the  United  States.  I  never  complained  of  any 
outrages  on  my  person  committed  by  him.  I 
never  published  any  bulletins  respecting  his  pri- 
vate brawls.  The  gentleman  will  understand 
my  iillusion.  [Mr.  B.  said :  He  will  understand 
you,  sir,  and  so  will  you  him.]  I  never  com- 
plained, that  wiiile  a  brother  of  mine  was  down 
on  the  ground,  senseless  or  dead,  he  received 
another  blow.  I  have  never  made  any  declara- 
tion like  these  relative  to  the  individual  who  is 
President.'  There  is  also  a  singular  prophecy  as 
to  the  consequences  of  the  election  of  this  indi- 
vidual, which  far  surpasses,  in  evil  foreboding, 
whatever  I  may  have  ever  said  in  regard  to  his 
election.  I  never  m.ade  any  prediction  so  sinis- 
ter, nor  made  any  declaration  so  harsh,  as  that 
which  is  contained  in  the  prediction  to  which  I 
allude.  I  never  declared  my  apprehension  and 
belief,  that  if  he  were  elected,  we  should  be 
obliged  to  legislate  with  pistols  and  dirks  by 


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264 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


our  side.  At  this  last  stage  of  the  session  I  do 
not  rise  to  renew  the  discussion  of  this  question. 
I  only  rose  to  give  the  senator  from  Missouri 
a  full  acquittance,  and  I  trust  there  will  be  no 
further  occasion  for  opening  a  new  account  with 
him. 

"  Mr.  B.  replied.  It  is  true,  sir,  that  I  had 
an  afiFray  with  General  Jackson,  and  that  I  did 
complain  of  his  conduct.  We  fought,  sir  ;  and 
we  fought,  I  hope,  like  men.  When  the  explo- 
sion was  over,  there  remained  no  ill  will,  on 
either  side.  No  vituperation  or  system  of  petty 
persecution  was  kept  up  between  us.  Yes,  sir, 
it  is  true,  that  I  had  the  personal  difficulty, 
which  the  senator  from  Kentucky  has  had  the 
delicacy  to  bring  before  the  Senate.  But  let  me 
tell  the  senator  from  Kentucky  there  is  no  ad- 
'journed  question  of  veracity'  between  nie  and 
General  Jackson.  All  difficulty  between  us 
ended  witli  the  conflict ;  and  a  few  months  after 
it,  I  believe  that  either  party  would  cheerfully 
have  relieved  the  other  from  any  peril ;  and  now 
we  shake  hands  and  are  friendly  when  we  meet. 
I  repeat,  sir,  that  there  is  no  '  adjourned  ques- 
tion of  veracity'  between  me  and  Genenil  Jackson, 
standing  over  for  settlement.  If  there  had  been, 
a  gulf  would  have  separated  us  as  deep  as  hell. 

"Mr.  B.  then  referred  to  the  prediction  alleged 
by  Mr.  Clay,  to  have  been  made  by  him.  I 
have  seen,  he  said,  a  placard,  first  issued  in  Mis- 
souri, and  republished  lately.  It  first  appeared 
in  1825,  and  stated  that  I  had  said,  in  a  public 
address,  that  if  Ge;ieral  Jackson  should  be 
elected,  we  must  be  guarded  with  pistols  and 
dii'ks  to  defend  ourselves  while  legislating  here. 
This  went  the  rounds  of  the  papers  at  the  time. 
A  gentleman,  well  acquainted  in  the  State  of 
Missouri  (Col.  Lawless),  published  a  handbill 
denying  the  truth  of  the  statement,  and  calling 
upon  any  person  in  the  State  to  name  the  time 
and  place,  when  and  where,  any  such  address 
had  been  heard  from  me,  or  any  such  declara- 
tion made.  Colonel  Lawless  was  perfectly  fa- 
miliar with  the  campaign,  but  he  could  never 
meet  with  a  single  individual,  man,  woman,  or 
child,  in  the  State,  who  could  recollect  to  have 
ever  heard  any  such  remarks  from  me.  No  one 
came  forward  to  reply  to  the  call.  No  one  had 
ever  heard  nie  make  the  declaration  which  was 
charged  upon  me.  The  same  thing  has  lately 
been  printed  here,  and,  in  the  night,  stuck  up  in 
a  placard  upon  the  posts  and  walls  of  this  city. 
While  its  author  remained  concealed,  it  was 
impossible  for  me  to  hold  him  to  account,  nor 
could  I  make  him  responsible,  who,  in  the  dark, 
sticks  it  to  the  posts  and  walls :  but  since  it  is 
in  open  day  introduced  into  this  chamber  I 
am  enabled  to  meet  it  as  it  deserves  to  be  met. 
I  see  who  it  is  that  uses  it  here,  and  to  his  face 
[pointing  to  Mr.  Clay]  I  am  enabled  to  pro- 
nounce it,  as  I  now  do,  an  atrocious  calumny. 

"Mr,  Clay, — The  assertion  that  there  is  '.an 
adjourned  question  of  veracity'  between  me  and 
Gen.  Jackson,  is,  whether  made  by  man  or  mas- 
ter, absolutely  false.    The  President  made  r  cer- 


tain charge  against  me,  and  he  referred  to  wit- 
nesses to  prove  it.  I  denied  the  truth  of  the 
charge.  He  called  upon  his  witness  to  prove 
it.  I  leave  it  to  the  country  to  say,  whether 
that  witness  sustained  the  truth  of  the  Presi- 
dent's allegation.  That  witness  is  now  on  his 
passage  to  St.  Petersburg,  with  a  commission 
in  his  pocket.  [Mr.  B.  here  said  aloud,  in  his 
place,  the  Mississippi  and  the  fisheries— Mr. 
Adams  and  the  fisheries — every  *)ody  imder- 
stands  it.]  Mr.  C.  said,  I  do  not  yet  understand 
the  senator.  He  then  remarked  upon  the  '  pre- 
diction' which  the  senator  from  Missouri  had 
disclaimed.  Can  he,  said  Mr.  C,  look  to  me 
and  say  that  he  never  used  the  language  attri- 
buted to  him  in  the  placard  whicli  he  refers  to? 
He  says.  Col.  Lawless  denies  that  he  used  tlie 
words  in  the  State  of  Missouri.  Can  you  look 
me  in  the  face,  sir  [addressing  Mr.  B.],  and  say 
that  you  never  used  that  language  out  of  the 
State  of  Missouri  ? 

"  Mr.  B.  I  look,  sir,  and  repeat  that  it  is  an 
atrocious  calumny ;  and  I  will  pin  it  to  him  who 
repeats  it  here. 

"  Mr.  Clay.  Then  I  declare  before  the  Senate 
that  you  said  to  me  the  very  words — 

"  [Mr.  B.  in  his  place,  while  Mr.  Clay  was  yet 
speaking,  several  times  loudly  repeated  the 
word  '  fiilse,  false,  false.'] 

"  Mr.  Clay  said,  I  fling  back  the  charge  of  atro- 
cious calumny  upon  the  senator  from  Missouri. 

A  call  to  order  was  here  heard  from  several 
senators. 

"The  President,  pro  tem.,  said,  the  senator 
from  Kentucky  is  not  in  order,  and  must  take 
his  seat. 

"  Mr.  Clay.  Will  the  Chair  state  the  point 
of  order  1 

"  The  Chair,  said  Mr.  Tazewell  (the  President 
pro  tem.),  can  enter  in  no  explanations  with  the 
senator. 

"  Mr.  Clay.  I  shall  be  heard.  I  demand  to 
know  what  point  of  order  can  be  taken  against 
me,  which  was  not  equally  applicable  to  the 
senator  from  Missouri. 

"  The  President,  pro  tem.,  stated,  that  he  con- 
sidered the  whole  discussion  as  out  of  order. 
He  would  not  have  permitted  it,  had  he  been  in 
the  chair  at  its  commencement. 

"  Mr.  Poindexter  said,  he  was  in  the  chair  at 
the  commencement  of  the  discussion,  and  did 
not  then  see  fit  to  check  it.  But  lie  was  now 
of  the  opinion  that  it  was  in  not  in  ordoi-. 

"  Mr.  B.  I  apologize  to  the  Senate  for  the 
manner  in  which  I  have  spoken ;  but  not  to  the 
senator  from  Kentucky. 

"  Afi-.  Clay.  To  the  Senate  I  also  ofl'er  an 
apology.     To  the  senator  from  Missouri  noi,i . 

"  The  question  was  here  called  for,  by  several 
senators,  and  it  was  taken,  as  heretofore  re- 
ported. 

The  conclusion  of  the  debate  on  the  side  of 
the  bank  was  in  the  most  impressive  form  to  the 
fears  and  apprehensions  of  the  country,  and 


ANNO  1832.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESmENT. 


265 


well  calculated  to  alarm  and  rouse  a  community. 
Mr.  Webster  concluded  with  this  peroration, 
prcscntiug  a  direful  picture  of  distress  if  the  veto 
was  sustained,  and  portrayed  the  death  of  the 
constitution  before  it  had  attained  the  fiftieth 
year  of  its  age.  He  concluded  thus — little  fore- 
seeing in  how  few  years  he  was  to  invoke  the 
charity  of  the  world's  silence,  and  oblivion  for 
the  institution  which  his  rhetoric  then  exalted 
into  a  great  and  beneficent  power,  indispensable 
to  the  well  working  of  the  government,  and  the 
well  conducting  of  their  affairs  by  all  the  people : 

"Mr.  President,  wo  have  arrived  at  a  new 
epoch.  We  are  entering  on  experiments  with 
the  government  and  the  constitution  of  the 
country,  hitherto  untried,  and  of  fearful  and 
appalling  aspect.  This  message  calls  us  to  the 
contemplation  of  a  future,  which  little  resem- 
bles the  past.  Its  principles  are  at  war  with  all 
that  public  opinion  has  sustained,  and  all  which 
the  experience  of  the  government  has  sanctioned. 
It  denies  first  principles.  It  contradicts  truths 
heretofore  received  as  indisputable.  It  denies 
to  the  judiciary  the  interpretation  of  law,  and 
demands  to  divide  with  Congress  the  origination 
of  statutes.  It  extends  the  grasp  of  Executive 
pretension  over  every  power  of  the  government. 
But  this  is  not  all.  It  presents  the  Chief  Mag- 
istrate of  the  Union  in  the  attitude  of  arguing 
away  the  powers  of  that  government  over  which 
he  has  been  chosen  to  preside ;  and  adopting, 
for  this  purpose,  modes  of  reasoning  which, 
even  under  the  influence  of  all  proper  feeling 
towards  high  official  station,  it  is  difficult  to 
regard  as  respectable.  It  appeals  to  every  pre- 
judice which  may  betray  men  into  a  mistaken 
view  of  their  own  interests ;  and  to  every  pas- 
sion which  may  lead  them  to  disobey  the  im- 
pulses of  their  understanding.  It  urges  all  the 
specious  topics  of  State  rights,  and  national  en- 
croachment, against  that  which  a  great  majority 
of  the  States  have  affirmed  to  be  rightful,  and 
in  which  all  of  them  have  acquiesced.  It  sows, 
in  an  unsparing  manner,  the  seeds  of  jealousy 
and  ill-will  against  that  government  of  which 
its  author  is  the  official  head.  It  raises  a  cry 
that  liberty  is  in  danger,  at  the  very  moment 
when  it  puts  forth  claims  to  power  heretofore 
unknown  and  unheard  of.  It  aflfects  alarm  for 
the  public  freedom,  when  nothing  so  much  en- 
dan^rs  that  freedom  as  its  own  unparalleled 
pretences.  This,  even,  is  not  all.  It  manifest- 
ly seeks  to  influence  the  poor  against  the  rich. 
It  wantonly  attacks  whole  classes  of  the  people, 
lor  the  purpo.se  of  turning  against  them  the  pre- 
judices and  resentments  of  other  classes.  It  is 
a  state  paper  which  finds  no  topic  too  exciting 
for  its  use ;  no  passion  too  inflammable  for  its 
address  and  its"  solicitation.  Such  is  this  mes- 
sage. It  remains,  now,  for  the  people  of  the 
United  States  to  choose  between  the  prmciples 


here  avowed  and  their  government.  Theso 
cannot  subsist  together.  The  one  or  the  other 
must  be  rejected.  If  the  sentiments  of  the 
jnessage  shall  receive  general  approbation,  the 
constitution  will  have  perished  even  earlier  than 
the  moment  which  its  enemies  originally  allowed 
for  the  termination  of  its  existence.  It  will  not 
have  survived  to  its  fiftieth  year." 

On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  White,  of  Tennessee, 
exalted  the  merit  of  the  veto  message  above  all 
the  acts  of  General  Jackson's  life,  and  claimed 
for  it  a  more  enduring  fame,  and  deeper  grati- 
tude than  for  the  greatest  of  his  victories :  and 
concluded  his  speech  thus :  * 

"  When  the  excitement  of  the  time  in  which 
we  act  shall  have  passed  away,  and  the  histori- 
an and  biographer  shall  be  employed  in  giving 
his  account  of  the  acts  of  our  most  distinguished 
public  men,  and  comes  to  the  name  of  Andrew 
Jackson ;  when  he  shall  have  recounted  all  the 
great  and  good  deeds  done  by  this  man  in  the 
course  of  a  long  and  eventful  life,  and  the  cir- 
cumstances under  which  this  message  was  com- 
municated shall  have  been  stated,  the  conclusion 
will  be,  that,  in  doing  this,  he  has  shown  a 
willingness  to  risk  more  to  promote  the  happi- 
ness of  his  fellow-men,  and  to  secure  their  lib- 
erties, than  by  the  doing  of  any  other  act  what- 
ever." 

And  such,  in  my  opinion,  will  be  the  judg- 
ment of  posterity — the  judgment  of  posterity, 
if  furnished  with  the  material  to  appreciate  the 
circumstances  under  which  he  acted  when  sign- 
ing the  message  which  was  to  decide  the  ques- 
tion of  supremacy  between  the  bank  and  the 
government. 


CHAPTER    LXIX. 

THE  PROTECTIVE  SYSTEM. 

The  cycle  had  come  round  which,  periodically, 
and  once  in  four  years,  brings  up  a  presidential 
election  and  a  tarifi"  discussion.  The  two  events 
seemed  to  be  inseparable ;  and  this  being  the 
fourth  year  from  the  great  tariff  debate  of  1828, 
and  the  fourth  year  from  the  last  presidential 
election,  and  being  the  long  session  which  pre- 
cedes the  election,  it  was  the  one  in  regular 
course  in  which  the  candidates  and  their  friends 
make  the  greatest  efforts  to  operate  upon  public 
opinion  through  the  measures  which  they  pro- 
pose, or  oppose  in  Congress.    Added  to  this,  the 


hi' 


i 


■  '  '  I 


'% 


266 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


election  being  one  on  which  not  only  a  change 
of  political  parties  depended,  but  also  a  second 
trial  of  the  election  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives in  1824-'25,  in  which  Mr.  Adams  and  Mh 
Clay  triumphed  over  General  Jackson,  with  the 
advantage  on  their  side  now  of  both  being  in  Con- 
gress :  for  these  reasons  this  session  became  the 
most  prolific  of  party  topics,  and  of  party  con- 
tests, of  any  one  ever  seen  in  the  annals  of  our 
Congress.    And  certainly  there  were  large  sub- 
jects to  be  brought  before  the  people,  and  great 
talents  to  appear  in  their  support  and  defence. 
The  renewal  of  the  national  bank  charter— the 
continuance  of  the  protective  system — internal 
improvement  by  the  federal  government — divi- 
sion of  the  public  land  money,  or  of  the  lands 
themselves — colonization  society — extension  of 
pension  list— Georgia  and  the  Cherokees— Geor- 
gia and  the  Supreme  Court- imprisoned  mis- 
sionaries— were  all  brought  forward,  and  pressed 
with  zeal,  by  the  party  out  of  power ;  and  pressed 
in  a  way  to  show  their  connection  with  the 
presidential  canvass,  and  the  reliance  upon  them 
to  govern  its  result.    The  party  in  power  were 
chiefly  on  the  defensive ;  and  it  was  the  com- 
plete civil  representation  of  a  military  attack 
and  defence  of  a  fortified  place — a  siege — with 
its  open  and  covert  attacks  on  one  side,  its  re- 
pulses and  sallies  on  the  other — its  eappings 
and  minings,  as  well  as  its  open  thundering 
assaults.    And  this  continued  for  seven  long 
months— from  December  to  J  uly ;  fierce  in  the 
beginning,  and  becoming  more  so  from  day  to 
day  until  the  last  hour  of  the  last  day  of  the  ex- 
hausted session.    It  was  the  most  fiery  and 
eventful  session  that  I  had  then  seen — or  since 
seen,  except  one— the  panic  session  of  1834-'35. 
The  two  leading  measures  in  this  plan  of  opera- 
tions—the bank  and  the  tariff— were  brought 
forward  simultaneously  and  quickly— on  the 
same  day,  and  under  the  same  lead.    The  me- 
morial for  the  renewal  of  the  bank  charter  was 
presented  in  the  Senate  on  the  9th  day  of  January : 
on  the  same  day,  and  as  soon  as  it  was  referred, 
Mr.  Clay  submitted  a  resolution  in  relation  to 
the  tariff,  and  delivered  a  speech  of  three  days' 
duration  in  support  of  the  American  system. 
The  President,  in  his  message,  and  in  view  of 
the  approaching  extinction  of  the  public  debt- 
then  reduced  to  an  event  of  certainty  within  the 
ensuing  year— recommended  the  abolition  of 
duties  on   numerous  articles  of  neccessity  or 


comfort,  not  produced  at  home.  Mr.  Clay  pro. 
posed  to  make  the  reduction  in  subordination  to 
the  preservation  of  the  "American  system;" 
and  this  opened  the  whole  question  of  free  trade 
and  protection ;  and  occasioned  that  field  to  bf 
trod  over  again  with  all  the  vigor  of  a  fre.ih  ex- 
ploration,  Mr.  Clay  opened  his  great  siiecch  with 
a  retrospect  of  what  the  condition  of  tiie  country 
was  for  seven  years  before  the  tarriff  of  1824, 
and  what  it  had  been  since— the  first  a  period  of 
unprecedented  calamity,  the  latter  of  equally 
unprecedented  prosperity :— and  he  made  the 
two  conditions  equally  dependent  upon  the  ab- 
sence and  presence  of  the  protective  system, 
He  said : 

"  Eight  years  ago,  it  was  my  painful  duty  to 
present  to  the  other  House  of  Congress  an  ud- 
exaggerated  picture  of  the  general  distress  per- 
vading the  whole  land.  We  must  all  yet  r^ 
member  some  of  its  frightful  features.  We  all 
know  that  the  people  were  then  oppressed  and 
borne  down  by  an  enormous  load  of  debt ;  that 
the  value  of  property  was  at  the  lowest  point  of 
depression;  that  ruinous  sales  and  sacrifices 
were  every  where  made  of  real  estate ;  that  stop 
laws  and  relief  laws  and  paper  nionev  were 
adopted  to  save  the  people  from  imi-ending  de- 
struction ;  that  a  deficit  in  the  piiblic  revenue 
existed,  which  compelled  government  to  seize 
upon,  and  divert  from  its  legitimate  object,  the 
appropriation  to  the  sinking  fund,  to  rerioem  the 
national  debt;  and  that  our  commerce  and 
navigation  were  threatened  witii  a  complete 
paralysis.  In  short,  sir,  if  I  were  to  select  any 
term  of  seven  years  since  the  adoption  of  the 
present  constitution,  which  exhibited  a  scene  of 
the  most  wide-spread  di,s'^nMy  and  desolation,  it 
would  be  exactly  the  term  of  seven  years  which 
immediately  preceded  the  establishment  of  the 
tariff  of  1824," 

This  was  a  faithful  picture  of  that  calamitous 
period,  but  the  argument  derived  from  it  was  a 
two-edged  sword,  which  cut,  and  deeply,  into 
another  measure,  also  lauded  as  tlie  cause  of  the 
public  prosperity.  These  seven  years  of  nation- 
al distress  which  immediately  prec(>ded  the  tariff 
of  1824,  were  also  the  same  seven  years  which 
immediately  followed  the  establishment  of  the 
national  bank ;  and  which,  at  the  time  it  was 
chartered,  was  to  be  the  remedy  for  all  the  dis- 
tress under  which  the  country  labored:  besides, 
the  protective  system  was  actually  commenced 
in  the  year  1816 — contemporaneously  with  the 
establishment  of  the  national  bank.  Etfore  1816, 
protection  to  home  industry  had  been  an  inci- 
dent to  the  levy  of  revenue;  but  iu  1810  itbe- 


manufactures,"  t 


ANNO  1832.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


267 


f4 


(June  an  object.    Mr.  Clay  thus  deduced  the 
origin  and  progress  of  the  protective  poHcy : 

"  It  began  on  the  ever  memorable  4th  day  of 
July—the  4th  of  July,  17a9.  Tlie  second  act 
whicli  stands  recorded  in  the  statute  book,  bear- 
ing the  illustrious  signature  of  George  Washing- 
ton, laid  the  corner  stone  of  the  whole  system. 
That  there  might  be  no  mistake  about  the  mat- 
ter it  was  then  solemly  proclaimed  to  the  Ame- 
rican people  and  to  the  world,  that  it  was  neces- 
sary for  '  the  encouragement  and  protection  of 
manufactures,"  that  duties  should  be  laid.  It  is 
in  vain  to  urge  the  small  amoimt  of  the  measure 
of  protection  then  extended.  The  great  princi- 
ple was  then  established  by  the  fathers  of  the 
constitittion,  with  the  father  of  his  country  at 
their  head.  And  it  cannot  now  be  questioned, 
that,  if  the  government  had  not  then  been  new 
and  the  subject  untried,  a  greater  measure  of  pro- 
tection would  have  been  applied,  if  it  had  beeu 
supposed  necessary.  Shortly  after,  the  master 
minds  of  Jefferson  and  Hamilton  were  brought 
to  act  on  this  interesting  subject.  Taking  views 
of  it  appertaining  to  the  departments  of  foreign 
affairs  and  of  the  treasury,  which  they  respect- 
ively filled,  they  presented,  severally,  rep  )rts 
which  yet  remain  monuments  of  their  profound 
wisdom,  and  came  to  the  same  conclusion  of  pro- 
tection to  American  industry.  Mr.  Jefferson 
argued  that  foreign  restrictions,  foreign  prohibi- 
tions, and  foreign  high  duties,  ought  to  be  met, 
at  homo,  by  American  restrictions,  American 
prohibitions,  and  American  high  duties.  Mr. 
Hamilton,  surveying  the  entire  ground,  and  look- 
mg  at  the  inherent  nature  of  the  subject, '  reated 
it  with  an  ability  which,  if  ever  equalled,  has  not 
been  surpassed,  and  earnestly  recommended  pro- 
tection. 

"  The  wars  of  the  French  revolution  commen- 
ced about  this  period,  and  strefims  of  gold  poured 
into  the  United  States  through  a  thousand  chan- 
nels, opened  or  enlarged  by  the  successful  com- 
merce which  our  neutrality  enabled  us  to  prose- 
cute. We  forgot,  or  overlooked,  in  the  general 
prosperity,  the  necessity  of  encouraging  our  do- 
mestic manufactures.  Then  came  the  edicts  of 
Napoleon,  and  the  British  oiders  in  council ;  and 
our  embargo,  non-intercour.se,  non-importation, 
and  war,  followed  in  rapid  succession.  These 
national  measures,  amounting  to  a  total  suspen- 
sion, for  the  period  of  their  duration,  of  our 
forei;;n  commerce,  afforded  the  most  efficacious 
cncouras^eiuent  to  American  manufactures ;  and, 
accordingly,  they  every  where  sprung  up.  Whilst 
these  measures  of  restriction  and  this  state  of  war 
continued  the  manufacturers  were  stimulated  in 
their  enterprises  by  every  assurance  of  support, 
by  public  sentiment,  and  by  legislative  resolves. 
It  was  about  that  period  (1808)  that  South 
Carolina  bore  her  high  testimony  to  the  wisdom 
of  tii(^  policy,  in  an  act  of  her  legislature,  the 
preamlJc  of  which,  now  before  me,  reads: 
Whereas  the  establishment  and  encvurageiiieiit 
of  domestic  manufactures  is  conducive  to  the  in- 


terest of  a  State,  by  adding  new  incentices  to 
industry^  and  as  being  the  means  of  disposing, 
to  advantage,  the  surplus  productions  of  the 
agriculturist:  And  whereas,  in  the  present 
unexampled  state  of  the  world,  their  establish- 
ment in  our  country  is  not  only  exfrniiunt,  but 
politic,  in  rendering  us  independent. o^  foreign 
nations.'  The  legislature,  not  being  competent 
to  afford  the  most  efficacious  aid,  by  imposing 
duties  on  foreign  rival  articles,  proceeded  to  in- 
corporate a  company. 

"Peace,  under  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  returned 
in  1815,  but  there  did  not  return  with  it  the 
golden  days  which  preceded  the  edicts  levelled 
at  our  commerce  by  Great  Britain  and  France. 
It  found  all  Europe  tranquilly  resuming  the  arts 
and  the  business  of  civil  life.  It  found  Europe 
no  longer  the  consumer  of  our  surplus,  and  the 
employer  of  our  navigation,  but  excluding,  or 
1  eavily  burdening,  almost  all  the  productions 
of  our  agriculture,  and  our  rivals  in  manufac- 
tures, in  navigation,  and  in  commerce.  It  found 
our  country,  in  short,  in  a  situation  totally  dif- 
ferent from  all  the  past — new  and  untried.  It 
became  necessary  to  adapt  our  laws,  and  espe- 
cially our  laws  of  impost,  t<}  the  new  circum- 
stances in  which  we  found  ourselves.  It  has 
been  .said  that  the  tariff  of  181G  was  a  measure 
of  mere  revenue ;  and  that  it  only  reduced  the 
war  duties  to  'i  peace  standard.  It  is  true  tiiat 
the  questic!  i/en  was,  how  much,  and  in  what 
way,  should  the  double  duties  of  the  war  be  re- 
duced ?  Now,  also,  the  (juestion  is,  on  what 
articles  shall  the  duties  be  reduced  so  as  to  sub- 
ject the  amount  of  the  future  revenue  to  the 
wants  of  the  government  ?  Then  it  was  deem- 
ed an  inquiry  of  the  first  importance,  as  it 
should  be  now,  how  'ho  reduction  should  be 
made,  so  as  to  sec.  -o'ler  encouragement  to 

our  domestic  indu  .  '"'  .t  this  wa.*  a  lead- 
ing object  in  the  arrangement  of  the  tariff  of 
1810, 1  well  remember,  and  it  is  demonstrated 
by  the  language  of  Mr.  Dallas. 

"The  subject  of  the  American  system  was 
again  brought  up  in  1820,  by  the  bill  rupoi'ted 
by  the  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Jlanufac- 
tures,  now  a  member  of  the  bench  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States,  and  the  prin- 
ciple was  successfully  maintained  b}^  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people  ;  but  the  bill  which 
they  passed  was  defeated  in  the  Senate.  It 
was  revived  in  1824,  the  whole  ground  carefully 
and  dehberately  explored,  and  the  bill  then  in- 
troduced, receiving  all  the  sanctions  of  the  con- 
stitution. This  act  of  1824  needed  amendments 
in  some  particidars,  which  were  utcenipted  in 
1828,  but  ended  in  some  injuries  to  the  system; 
and  now  the  whole  aim  was  to  save  an  existing 
system — not  to  create  a  new  one." 

And  he  summed  up  his  policy  thus : 

"  1.  That  the  pulic}'  which  wc  have  been  con- 
sidering ought  to  continue  to  be  regarded  as 
the  genuine  American  sj  stem. 

"  2.  That  the  free  trade  system,  which  is  pro 


% 


i"'     '  s  1 


>Vi 


268 


THIRTY  TEARS'  VIEW. 


posed  as  its  subatitiite,  ought  really  to  be  con- 
sidered as  the  British  colonial  system. 

"3,  That  the  American  system  is  beneficial 
to  all  parts  of  the  Union,  and  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  much  the  larger  portion. 

"4.  That  the  price  of  the  great  staple  of  cot- 
ton, and  of  all  our  chief  productions  of  agricul- 
ture, has  been  sustained  and  upheld,  and  a  de- 
cline averted  by  the  protective  system. 

"5.  That,  if  the  foreign  demand  for  cotton 
has  been  at  all  diminished  by  the  operation  of 
that  system,  the  diminution  has  been  more  than 
comjjcnsatod  in  the  additional  demand  created 
at  home. 

"  6.  That  the  constant  tendency  of  the  sys- 
tem, by  creating  competition  among  ourselves, 
and  between  American  and  European  industry, 
recprocally  acting  upon  each  other,  is  to  reduce 
prices  of  manufactured  objects. 

"  7.  That,  in  point  of  fact,  objects  within  the 
scope  of  the  policy  of  protection  have  greatly 
fallen  in  price. 

"  8.  That  if,  in  a  season  of  peace,  these  bene- 
fits are  experienced,  in  a  season  of  war,  when 
the  foreign  supply  might  be  cut  off,  they  would 
be  much  more  extensivelj'  fell. 

"  9.  And,  finally,  that  the  substitution  of  the 
British  colonial  system  for  the  American  sys- 
tem, without  benefiting  any  section  of  the 
Union,  by  subjecting  us  to  a  foreign  legislation, 
regulated  by  foreign  interests,  would  lead  to 
the  prostration  of  our  manufactures,  general  im- 
poverishment, and  ultimate  ruin." 

Mr.  Clay  was  supported  in  his  general  views 
by  many  able  speakers — among  them,  Dicker- 
sou  and  Frelinghuysen  of  New  Jersey  ;  Ewing 
of  Ohio ;  Holmes  of  Maine ;  Bell  of  New  Hamp- 
shire; Hendricks  of  Indiana ;  Webster  and  Sils- 
bee  of  Massachusetts ;  Bobbins  and  Knight  of 
Rhode  Island ;  Wilkins  and  Dallas  of  Pennsyl- 
vania ;  Sprague  of  Maine ;  Clayton  of  Delaware; 
Chambers  of  Maryland ;  Foot  of  Connecticut. 
On  the  other  hand  the  speakers  in  opposition 
to  the  protective  policy  were  equally  numerous, 
ardent  and  able.  They  were:  Messrs.  Hayne 
and  Miller  of  South  Carolin.\ ;  Brown  and  Jlan- 
gum  of  North  Carolina ;  Forsyth  and  Troup  of 
Georgia ;  Grundy  and  Whita  of  Tennessee ; 
Hill  of  New  Hampshire  ;  Kane  of  Illinois  ; 
Benton  of  Missouri ;  King  and  Moore  of  Ala- 
bama ;  Poindexter  of  Mississippi  ;  Tazewell 
and  Tyler  of  Virginia ;  General  Samuel  Smith 
of  Maryland.  I  limit  the  enumeration  to  the 
Senate.  In  the  House  the  subject  was  still 
more  fully  debated,  according  to  its  numbers  ; 
and  like  the  bank  question,  gave  rise  to  heat ; 
and  was  kept  alive  to  the  last  day. 

General  Smith  of  Maryland,  took  up  the 


question  at  once  as  bearing  upon  *he  harinonv 
and  stability  of  the  Union— as  unfit  to  be 
pressed  on  that  account  as  well  as  for  its  o\vn 
demerits— avowed  himself  a  friend  to  incidental 
protection,  for  which  he  had  always  voted,  and 
even  voted  for  the  act  of  181G— which  he'con- 
sidered  going  far  enough ;  and  insisted  that  all 
"manufacturers"  were  doing  well  under  it  and 
did  not  need  the  acts  of  1824  and  1828  which 
were  made  for  "  capitalists  "—to  enable  them  to 
engage  in  manufacturing;  and  who  had  not  the 
requisite  skill  and  care,  and  sufl'ered,  and  called 
upon  Congress  for  more  assistance.    He  said: 

"  We  have  arrived  at  a  crisis.  Yes,  Mr.  Presi- 
dent, at  a  crisis  more  appalling  than  a  day  of 
battle.  I  adjure  the  Committee  on  Manufac- 
tures to  pause— to  reflect  on  the  dissatisfaction 
of  all  the  South.  South  Carolina  has  expressed 
itself  strongly  against  the  tariff  of  182Ji- 
stronger  than  the  other  States  are  willing  to 
speak.  But,  sir,  the  whole  of  the  South  fed 
deeply  the  oppression  of  that  tariff.  In  this 
respect  there  is  no  difference  of  opinion.  The 
South— the  whole  Southern  States— all.  con- 
sider it  as  oppressive.  They  have  not  yet 
spoken;  but  when  they  do  speak,  it  will  be 
with  a  voice  that  will  no  c  implore,  but  will  de- 
mand redress.  How  much  better,  then,  to  grant 
redress  ?  How  much  better  that  the  Commit- 
tee on  Manufactures  heal  the  wound  which  has 
been  inflicted  ?  I  want  nothing  that  shall  in- 
jure the  manufacturer.     I  only  want  justice. 

"  I  am,  Mr.  President,  one  of  the  few  sum- 
vors  of  those  who  fought  in  the  war  of  the  revo- 
lution. We  then  thought  we  fouiiht  for  liberty 
—for  equal  rights.  We  fought' against  taxa- 
tion, the  proceeds  of  which  were  for  the  benefit 
of  others.  Where  is  the  diflercnee,  if  the  peo- 
ple are  to  be  taxed  by  the  manufacturers  or  by 
any  others  ?  I  say  manufacturers— and  why 
do  I  say  so  ?  When  the  Senate  met,  there  was 
a  strong  disposition  with  all  parties  to  amelio- 
rate the  tariff  of  1828  ;  but  I  now  see  a  change, 
which  makes  me  almost  despair  of  any  thing 
effectual  being  accomplished.  Even  the  small 
concessions  made  by  the  senator  from  Ken- 
tucky [Mr.  Clay],  have  been  reprobated  h\  the 
lof)by  members,  the  agents  of  the  luanufac- 
turers.  I  am  told  they  have  put  their  fiat  on 
any  change  whatever,  and  hence,  as  a  conse- 
quence, the  change  in  the  course  and  Inisuage 
of  gentlemen,  which  almost  precludes  ,  :  hope. 
Those  interested  men  hang  on  the  Coniiuittec 
on  Manufactures  like  an  incubus.  I  say  to  that 
committee,  depend  upon  your  own  good  jmig- 
mcnts — survey  the  whole  subject  as  politicians 
— discard  sectional  interests,  and  studj-  only 
the  common  weal — act  with  these  views— and 
thus  relieve  the  oj)])ressions  of  tlie  South. 

"  1  have  ever,  Mr.  President,  supported  the 
interest  of  manufactures,  as  far  as  it  could  be 


ANNO  1882.    ANDREW  JACK80N,  PRESIDENT. 


269 


done  incidentally.  I  supported  the  late  Mr. 
Lowndes's  bill  of  181G.  I  was  a  member  of  his 
committee,  and  that  bill  protected  the  manufac- 
tures gufficiently,  except  bar  iron.  Mr.  Lowndes 
had  reported  fifteen  dollars  per  ton.  The  House 
reduced  it  to  nine  dollars  per  ton.  That  act 
enabled  the  manufacturers  to  exclude  importa- 
tions of  certain  articles.  The  hatters  carry  on 
their  business  by  their  sons  and  apprentices, 
and  few,  if  any,  hats  are  now  imported.  Large 
quantities  are  exported,  and  preferred.  All  ar- 
ticl.'s  of  leather,  from  tanned  side  to  the  finest 
harness  or  saddle,  have  been  excluded  from  im- 
portation ;  and  why  ?  Because  the  business  is 
conducted  by  their  own  hard  hands,  their  own 
labor,  and  they  are  now  heavily  taxed  by  the 
tariff  of  1828,  to  enable  the  rich  to  enter  into 
the  manufacliires  of  the  country.  Yes,  sir,  I 
sav  the  rich,  who  entered  into  the  business  after 
the  act  of  1824,  which  proved  to  be  a  mushroom 
affair,  and  many  of  them  suffered  severely.  The 
act  of  1810,  I  repeat,  gave  all  the  pvotection 
that  was  necessary  or  proper,  under  which  the 
industrious  and  frugal  completely  succeeded. 
But,  sir,  the  capitalist  who  had  invested  his 
capital  in  manufactures,  was  not  to  be  satisfied 
with  ordinary  profit;  and  therefore  the  act  of 
1828." 

Mr.  Clay,  in  his  opening  speech  had  adverted 
to  the  Southern  discontent  at  the  working  of  the 
protective  tariff,  in  a  way  that  showed  he  felt  it 
to  be  serious,  and  entitled  to  enter  into  the  con- 
sideration of  t  ;itesmen  ;  but  considered  this 
system  an  overruling  necessity  of  such  want 
and  value  to  other  parts  of  the  Union,  that  the 
danger  to  its  existence  laid  in  the  abandonment, 
and  not  in  the  continuance  of  the  "American 
system."  On  this  point  he  expressed  himself 
thus: 

"And  now,  Mr.  President,  I  have  to  make  a 
few  observations  on  a  delicate  subject,  which  I 
approach  with  all  the  respect  that  is  due  to  its 
serious  and  {.-rave  nature.  They  have  not,  in- 
deed, been  rendered  necessary  by  the  speecli  of 
the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina,  whoso  for- 
bearance to  notice  the  topic  was  commendable, 
as  his  argument  throughout  was  characterized 
by  an  ability  and  dignity  \rorthy  of  him  and  of 
the  Senate.  The  gentleman  made  one  declara- 
tion which  might  possibly  be  misinterpreted, 
and  I  submit  to  him  whether  an  explanation  of 
it  be  not  proper.  The  declaration,  as  reported 
in  his  printed  speech,  is :  '  the  instinct  of  self- 
iiiterest  might  have  taught  us  an  easier  way  of 
relieving  ourselves  from  this  oppression.  It 
wanted  but  the  will  to  have  supplied  ourselves 
with  every  article  embraced  in  the  protective 
system,  free  of  duty,  without  any  other  partici- 
pation, on  our  part,  than  a  simple  consent  to  re- 
ceive them.'  [Here  Mr.  Hayne  rose,  and  re- 
marked that  the  passages,  which  immediately 


preceded  and  followed  the  paragrapli  cited,  he 
thought,  plainly  indicated  his  meaning,  which 
related  to  evasions  of  tlie  system,  by  illicit  in- 
troduction of  goods,  which  they  were  not  dis- 
posed to  countenance  in  South  Carolina.]  I  am 
happy  to  hear  this  explanation,  But,  sir,  it  is 
impossible  to  conceal  from  our  view  the  fact  that 
there  is  great  excitement  in  South  Carolina ;  that 
the  protective  system  is  openly  and  violently  de- 
nounced in  popular  meetings ;  and  that  the  legis- 
lature itself  has  declared  its  purpose  of  resorting 
to  counteracting  measures :  a  suspension  of  which 
has  only  been  submitted  to,  for  the  purpose  of 
allowing  Congress  time  to  retrace  its  steps. 
With  respect  to  this  Union,  Mr.  President,  the 
truth  cannot  be  too  generally  proclaimed,  nor 
too  strongly  inculcated,  that  it  is  necessary  to 
the  whole  and  to  all  the  parts — necessary  to 
those  parts,  indeed,  in  different  degrees,  but  vi- 
tally necessary  to  each ;  and  that,  threats  to 
disturb  or  dissolve  it,  coming  from  anj'  of  the 
parts,  would  be  quite  as  indiscreet  and  improper, 
as  would  be  threats  from  the  residue  to  exchide 
those  parts  from  the  pale  of  its  benefits.  Tlie 
great  principle,  which  lies  at  the  foundation  of 
all  free  governments,  is,  that  the  majority  nmst 
govern ;  from  which  there  is  nor  can  be  no  ap- 
peal but  to  the  sword.  That  majority  ought  to 
govern  wisely,  equitably,  moderately,  and  con- 
stitutionally ;  but,  govern  it  must,  subject  only 
to  that  terrible  appeal.  If  ever  one,  or  several 
States,  being  a  minority,  can,  by  menacing  a  dis- 
solution of  the  Union,  succeed  in  forcing;  an 
abandonment  of  great  measures,  deemed  essen- 
tial to  the  interests  and  prosperity  of  the  whole, 
the  Union,  from  that  moment,  is  practically  gone. 
It  may  linger  on,  in  form  and  name,  but  its  vital 
spirit  has  fled  for  ever !  Entertaining  these  de- 
liberate opinions,  I  would  entreat  the  patriotic 
people  of  South  Carolina — the  land  of  Clarion, 
Sumpter,  and  Pickens;  of  Ilutledge,  Laurens, 
the  Pickneys,  and  Lowndes  ;  of  living  and  pre- 
sent names,  which  I  would  mention  if  they  were 
not  living  or  present — to  pause,  solemnly  pause ! 
and  conleniplato  the  frightful  precipice  which  lies 
directly  before  them.  To  retreat,  may  be  pain- 
ful and  mortif^ying  to  their  gallantry  and  pride ; 
but  it  is  to  retreat  to  the  Union,  to  safety,  and 
to  those  brethren,  with  whom,  or,  with  whose 
ancestors,  they,  or  their  ancestors,  have  won,  on 
the  fields  of  glory,  imperishable  renown.  To  ad- 
vance, is  to  rush  on  certain  and  inevitable  dis- 
grace and  destruction. 

"  The  danger  to  our  Union  does  not  lie  on  the 
side  of  persistance  in  the  American  system,  but 
on  that  of  its  abandonment.  If,  as  I  have  sup- 
posed and  believe,  the  inhabitants  of  all  north 
and  east  of  James  River,  and  all  west  of  the 
mountains,  including  Louisiana,  are  deeply  inte- 
rested in  the  preservation  of  that  system,  would 
they  be  reconciled  to  its  overthrow  ?  Can  it  be 
expected  that  two  thirds,  if  not  throe  fourths,  of 
the  people  of  the  United  States  would  consent  to 
the  destruction  of  a  policy  believed  to  be  indis- 
pensably necessary  to  their  prosperity  1    When, 


1*  fit, 
■  1  i" 


'4 


He 
! 


„1 


270 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


too,  this  sacrifice  is  made  at  the  instance  of  a 
Binple  interest,  which  they  verily  believe  will  not 
be  promoted  by  it  ?  In  estimating  the  degree  of 
peril  which  may  be  incident  to  two  opposite 
coiusus  of  human  policy,  the  statesman  woidd 
be  s'lort-^^ighted  who  shoidd  content  himself 
with  viewing  only  tha  evils,  real  or  imaginary, 
which  liolong  to  that  course  which  is  in  practi- 
cal operation.  He  should  lift  himself  up  to  the 
contemi)lalion  of  those  greater  and  more  certain 
dangers  whicli  might  inevitably  attend  the  adop- 
tion of  the  alternative  course.  AVhat  would  be 
the  condition  of  this  Union,  if  Pennsylvania  and 
New- York,  those  mammoth  members  of  our 
confederacy,  were  firmly  persuaded  that  their 
industry  was  paralyzed,  and  their  prosperity 
blighted,  by  the  enforcement  of  the  British  colo- 
nial system,  under  the  delusive  name  of  free 
trade  ?  They  are  now  tranquil,  and  happy,  and 
contented,  conscious  of  their  welfare  and  feel- 
ing a  salutary  and  rapid  circulation  of  the  pro- 
ducts of  home  manufactures  and  home  industry 
througoiit  all  their  great  arteries.  But  let  that 
be  checked,  let  them  feel  that  a  foreign  system 
is  to  predominate,  and  the  sources  of  their  sub- 
sistence and  comfort  dried  up;  let  New  England 
and  the  AVest,  and  the  Middle  States,  all  feel 
that  they  too  are  the  victims  of  a  mistaken 
policy,  and  let  these  vast  portions  of  our  coun- 
try desjiair  of  any  favorable  change,  and  then, 
indeed,  might  we  tremble  for  the  continuance 
and  safety  of  this  Union ! " 

Here  was  an  appalling  picture  presented :  dis- 
solution of  the  Union,  on  either  hand,  and  one 
or  the  other  of  the  alternatives  obliged  to  be 
taken.  If  persisted  in,  the  opponents  to  the 
protective  system,  in  the  South,  were  to  make 
the  dissolution ;  if  abandoned,  its  friends,  in  the 
North,  were  to  do  it.  Two  citizens,  whose  word 
was  law  to  two  great  parties,  denounced  the 
same  event,  from  opposite  causes,  and  one  of 
which  causes  was  obliged  to  occur.  The  crisis 
requiied  a  hero-patriot  at  the  head  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  Providence  had  reserved  one  for  the 
occasion.  There  had  been  a  design,  in  some,  to 
bring  Jackson  forward  for  the  Presidency,  in 
181G,  and  again,  in  1820,  when  he  held  back. 
He  was  brought  forward,  in  1824,  and  defeated. 
These  three  successive  postponements  brought 
him  to  the  right  years,  for  which  Providence 
seemed  to  have  destined  him,  and  which  he 
would  have  missed,  if  elected  at  either  of  tha 
three  preceding  elections.  It  was  a  reservation 
above  human  wisdom  or  foresight ;  and  gave  to 
the  American  people  (at  the  moment  they  wanted 
him)  the  man  of  head,  and  he.art,  .and  nerve,  to 
do  what  the  crisis  required :  who  possessed  the 
confidence  of  the  people,  and  who  knew  no 


course,  in  any  danger,  but  that  of  duty  an.l  pa- 
triotism ;  and  had  no  feeling,  in  any  extremity 
but  that  God  and  the  people  would  sustain  iijii' 
Such  a  man  was  wanted,  in  1832,  and  was  found 
— found  before,  but  reserved  for  use  now. 

The  representatives  from  the  South,  generally 
but  especially  those  from  South  Carolina,  while 
depicting  the  distress  of  their  section  of  the 
Union,  and  the  reversed  aspect  which  had  come 
upon  their  affairs,  less  prosperous  now  than  be- 
fore the  formation  of  the  Union,  attributed  the 
whole  cause  of  this  change  to  the  action  of  the 
federal  government,  in  the  levy  and  distribution 
of  the  public  revenue  ;  to  the  protective  system 
which  was  now  assuming  permanency,  and  in^ 
creasing  its  exactions;  and  to  a  course  of  expendi- 
ture which  carried  to  the  North  what  was  levied 
on  the  South.  The  democratic  party  gener.iliy 
concurred  in  the  belief  that  this  system  was 
working  injuriously  upon  the  South,  and  that 
this  injury  ought  to  be  relieved;  that  it  was  a 
cause  of  dissatisfaction  with  the  Union,  which  a 
regard  for  the  Union  required  to  be  redressed' 
but  all  did  not  concur  in  the  cause  of  Southern 
eclipse  in  the  race  of  prosperity  which  their 
representatives  assigned ;  and,  among  them,  Mr, 
Dallas,  who  thus  spoke : 

"  The  impressive  and  gloomy  description  of 
the  senator  from  South  Carolina  [Mr.  llavne], 
as  to  the  actual  state  and  wretched  pros])ects  of 
his  immediate  fellow-citizens,  awakens  the  live- 
liest sympathy^  and  should  command  our  atten- 
tion. It  is  their  right ;  it  is  our  duty.  I  cannot 
feel  indifferent  to  the  sufferings  of  any  portion 
of  the  American  people ;  and  esteem  it  incon- 
sistent with  the  scope  and  purpose  of  the  federal 
constitution,  that  any  majority,  no  matter  how 
large,  should  connive  at,  or  protract  the  oppres- 
sion or  misery  of  any  minority,  no  mattei  how 
small.  I  disclaim  and  detest  the  idea  of  maliing 
one  part  subservient  to  another ;  of  feasting  upon 
the  extorted  substance  of  my  coimtrymen ;  of 
enriching  my  own  region,  by  draining  the  fer- 
tility and  resources  of  a  neighbor;  of  becoming 
wealthy  with  spoils  which  leave  their  legitimate 
owners  impoverished  and  desolate.  But,  sir,  1 
want  proof  of  a  fact,  whose  existence,  at  least  as 
described,  it  is  difficult  even  to  conceive;  and, 
above  all,  I  want  the  true  causes  of  that  fact  to 
be  ascertained ;  to  be  brought  within  the  reach 
of  legislative  remedy,  and  to  have  that  remedy 
of  a  nature  which  may  be  applied  without  pro- 
ducing more  mischiefs  than  those  it  proposes  to 
cure.  The  proneness  to  exaggerate  social  evils  is 
greatest  with  the  most  patriotic.  Temporary 
embarrassment  is  sensitively  apprehended  to  be 
permanent.  Every  day's  experience  teaches  how 
apt  we  are  to  magnify  partial  into  universal  die- 


ANNO  1832.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


271 


tKsa  and  with  what  difflcultyan  excited  imagi- 
nation rescues  itself  from  despondency.  It  will 
not  do,  sir,  to  act  ujwn  the  Rlowinp;  or  pathetic 
ilclincations  of  a  gifted  orator ;  it  will  not  do  to 
become  enlisted,  by  ardent  exhortations,  in  a 
trusade  tigainst  established  eystcms  of  jjolicy ; 
it  will  not  do  to  demolish  the  walls  of  our  cita- 
del to  the  sounds  of  plaintiff  eloquence,  or  tire 
the  temple  at  the  call  of  impassioned  enthu- 
siasm. 

'•What,  sir,  is  the  cause  of  Southern  distress  ? 
lias  any  gentleman  yet  ventured  to  designate 
it }  Can  any  one  do  more  than  suppose,  or  ar- 
giimcntatively assume  it?  lam  neither  willing 
nor  competent  to  flatter.  To  praise  the  honor- 
able senator  from  South  Carolina,  would  bo 

'To add  perfume  to  tlie  violot— 
Wasteful  and  ridlculuuH  excess.' 

But,  if  he  has  failed  to  discover  the  source  of 
the  evils  he  deplores,  who  can  unfold  it  ?  Amid 
the  warm  and  indiscriminating  demmciations 
with  which  he  has  assailed  the  policy  of  protect- 
ing domestic  manufactures  and  native  produce,  he 
frankly  avows  that  he  would  not '  deny  that  there 
are  other  causes,  besides  the  tariff,  which  have 
contributed  to  produce  the  evils  which  he  has 
depicted.'  What  are  those  '  other  causes  ?'  In 
wiiat  proportion  have  they  acted  ?  IIow  much 
of  this  dark  shadowing  is  ascrihable  to  each 
singly,  and  to  all  in  combination  ?  Would  the 
tiiriff  be  at  all  felt  or  denounced,  if  these  other 
causes  were  not  in  operation  ?  Would  not,  in 
fact,  its  inlluence,  its  discriminations,  its  inequal- 
ities, its  opi)ressions,  but  for  these  'other  causes,' 
be  shaken,  by  the  elasticity  and  energy,  and  ex- 
haustiess  spirit  of  the  South,  as '  dew-drops  from 
the  lion's  mane  ? '  These  inquiries,  sir,  must  be 
satisfactorily  answered  before  we  can  be  justly 
required  to  legislate  away  an  entire  system.  If 
it  be  the  root  of  all  evil,  let  it  be  exposed  and 
demolished.  If  its  poisonous  exhalations  be  but 
partial,  let  us  preserve  such  portions  as  are  in- 
noxious. If,  as  the  luminary  of  day,  it  be  pure 
and  salutary  in  itself,  let  us  not  wish  it  extin- 
guished, because  of  the  shadows,  clouds,  and 
darkness  which  obscure  its  brightness  or  impede 
its  vivifying  power. 

"That  other  causes  still,  Mr.  President,  for 
Southern  distress,  do  exist,  cannot  be  doubted. 
They  combine  with  the  one  I  have  indicated,  and 
are  equally  unconnected  with  the  manufacturing 
policy.  One  of  these  it  is  peculiarly  painful  to 
advert  to ;  and  when  I  mention  it,  I  beg  honor- 
able senators  not  to  suppose  that  I  do  it  in  the 
spirit  of  taunt,  of  reproach,  or  of  idle  decluma- 
tion.  Regarding  it  as  a  misfortune  merely,  not 
a.s  a  fault ;  as  a  disease  inherited,  not  incurred ; 
perhaps  to  be  alleviated,  but  not  eradicated,  I 
should  feel  self-condemned  were  I  to  treat  it 
other  than  as  an  existing  fact,  whose  merit  or 
demerit,  apart  from  the  question  under  debate,  is 
shielded  from  commentary  by  the  highest  and 
most  just  considerations.  I  refer,  sir,  to  the 
character  of  Southern  labor,  in  itself,  and  in  its 


influence  on  others.  Incapable  of  adaptation  to 
the  ever-varying  changes  of  human  society  and 
existence,  it  retains  the  communities  in  which  it 
is  established,  in  a  condition  of  apjiarent  and 
comparative  inertness.  The  lights  of  science,  and 
the  improvements  of  art,  which  vivify  nntl  accel- 
erate elsewhere,  cannot  penetrate,  or.  if  they  do, 
penetrate  with  dilatory  inefficiency,  among  its 
operatives.  They  are  merely  instinctive  and 
pa,s,sive.  While  the  intellectual  industry  of  other 
parts  of  this  country  springs  clastically  forward 
at  every  fresh  imi)ulse,  and  manual  labor  is  pro- 
pelled and  redoubled  by  countless  inventions' 
machines,  and  contrivances,  instantly  tniderstood 
and  at  once  exerci.sed,  the  South  remains  station- 
ary, inaccessible  to  such  encouraging  and  invig- 
orating aids.  Nor  is  it  possible  to  be  wholly 
bl'nd  to  the  moral  effect  of  this  species  of  labor 
upn  those  freemen  among  whom  it  exists.  A 
disrelish  for  humble  and  hardy  occui)ation;  a 
pride  adverse  to  drudgery  and  toil ;  a  dread  that 
to  partake  in  the  employments  allotted  to  color, 
may  be  accompanied  also  by  its  degradation,  are 
natural  and  inevitable.  The  high  and  lofty  quali- 
ties which,  in  other  scenes  and  for  other  pur- 
poses, characterize  and  adorn  our  Southern 
brethren,  are  fatal  to  the  enduring  patience,  the 
corporal  exertion,  and  the  painstaking  simpli- 
city, by  w^ich  only  a  successful  yeomanry  can 
be  formed.  When,  in  fact,  sir,  the  senator  from 
South  Carolina  asserts  that '  slaves  are  too  im- 
provident, too  incapable  of  that  minute,  constant, 
delicate  attention,  and  that  persevering  industry 
which  is  essential  to  the  success  of  manufactur- 
ing establishments,'  he  himself  admits  the  defect 
in  the  condition  of  Southern  labor,  by  which  the 
progress  of  his  favorite  section  must  be  retarded. 
He  admits  an  inability  to  keep  pace  with  the 
rest  of  the  world.  He  admits  an  inherent  weak- 
ness ;  a  weakness  neither  engendered  nor  aggra- 
vated by  the  tariff— which,  as  societies  are  now 
constituted  and  directed,  must  drag  in  the  rear 
and  be  distanced  in  the  common  ro     "  ' 

Thus  spoke  Mr.  Dallas,  senator  from  Pennsyl- 
vania; and  thus  speaking,  gave  offence  to  no 
Southern  man ;  and  seemed  to  be  well  justified 
in  what  he  said,  from  the  historical  fact  that  the 
loss  of  ground,  in  the  race  of  prosperity,  had 
commenced  in  the  South  before  the  protective 
system  began— before  that  epoch  year,  1816, 
when  it  was  first  installed  as  a  system,  and  so 
installed  by  the  power  of  the  South  Carolina 
vote  and  talent.  But  the  levy  and  expenditure 
of  the  federal  government  was,  doubtless,  the 
main  cause  of  this  Southern  decadence — so  un- 
natural in  the  midst  of  her  rich  staples — and 
which  had  commenced  before  1816. 

It  so  happened,  that  while  the  advocates  of  the 
American  system  were  calling  so  earnestly  for 
government  protection,  to  enable  them  to  sus- 


*i ' 


!   ,  -: 


14 


272 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


tain  themselves  at  home,  that  the  custom-house 
books  were  showing  tliat  a  great  many  species 
of  our  manufiictures,  and  es|)ecially  tiie  cotton, 
were  going  abroad  to  fr.r  distant  countries  ;  and 
sustaining  themselves  on  remote  theatres  against 
all  competition,  and  beyond  the  range  of  any 
lieij)  from  our  laws.  Mr.  Clay,  himself,  sjioke of 
this  exportatior,  to  show  the  excellence  of  our 
fabrics,  and  that  they  were  worth  [)rotection  ;  I 
used  the  same  fact  to  sliow  that  they  were  inde- 
pendent of  protection  ;  and  said : 

"And  hero  I  woidd  ask,  how  many  and  which 
are  the  articles  that  require  the  present  high  rate 
of  protection  ?     Certainly  not  the  cotton  manu- 
facture; for,  the  senator  from  Kentucky  [Mr. 
Clay],  who  appears  on  this  floor  as  the  leading 
champion  of  domestic  manufactures,  and  whose 
admissions  of  fact  nuist  be  conclusive  against  his 
arguments  of  theory  !  this  senator  tells  you,  and 
dwells  upon  the  disclosure  with  triumphant  ex- 
ultation, that  American  cottons  are  now  exp'-i  led 
to  Asia,  and  soUl  at  a  profit  in  the  cotton  mar- 
kets of  Canton  and  Co'cutta!     Surely,  sir,  our 
tariff  laws  of  1824  and  1828  are  not  in  force  in 
Bengal  and  China.    And  I  apfjcul  to  all  mankind 
for  the  truth  of  the  inference,  that,  if  our  cottons 
can  go  to  these  countries,  and  be  sold  at  a  j)roHt 
without  any  protection  at  all,  they  can  stay  at 
home,  and  be  sold  to  our  own  citizens,  without 
loss,  under  a  less  protection  than  fifty  and  two 
hundred  and  fifty  per  centum !     One  fact,  Mr. 
President,  is  said  to  be  worth  a  thousand  theo- 
ries ;  1  will  add  that  it  is  worth  a  hundred  thou- 
sand siK'eches ;  and  this  fact  that  the  American 
cottons  now  traverse  the  one-half  of  the  circum- 
ference of  this  globe — cross  the  equinoctial  line ; 
descend  to  the  antipodes  ;  seek  foreign  markets' 
on  the  double  theatre  of  British  and  Asiatic  com- 
petition, and  come  off  victorious  from  the  con- 
test— is  a  full  and  overwhelming  answer  to  all 
the  speeches  that  have  been  made,  or  ever  can 
be  made,  in  favor  of  high  protecting  duties  on 
these  cottons  at  home.     The  only  efllct  of  such 
duties  is  to  cut  off  importations— to  ci  uate  niono- 
I)oly  at  home — to  enable  our  manufacluiers  to 
sell  their  goods  higher  to  their  own  christian  fel- 
low-citizens than  to  the  pagan  worshippers  of  Fo 
and  of  Brahma  !  to  enable  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Ganges  and  the  Burrampooter  to  wear  Ameri- 
can cottons  u  J  ion  cheaper  terms  than  theinlial)it- 
ants  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi.     And  everv 
Western  citizen  knows  the  fact,  that  when  tliese 
shipments  of  American  cottons  were  making  to 
the  extremities  of  Asia,  the  price  of  these  same 
cottons  was  actually  raised  twenty  and  twenty- 
five  per  cent.,  in  all  the  towns  of  the  West ;  witli 
this  further  difference  to  our  prejudice,  that  we 
can  only  pay  for  them  in  money,  while  the  in- 
habitants of  Asia  make  payment  in  the  products 
of  theii'  own  country. 

"This   is   what   the    gentleman's   admission 


proved  ;  but  I  do  not  come  hero  to  arguo  im 
admissions,  whether  candid  or  ungiuu  h',1  ,  i  h" 
adversary  s,K.akers.     1  bring  my  own  facts  a  .'i 
proofs;  and  really  sir,  [  have  a  mind  to  cm 
plani  that  the  gentleman's  ndmissiou  iil,„ut ,   " 
tons  has  crip|)led  the  force  of  uiy  ar-uiiunl 
that  It  has  weakened  its  effect  by  leltinL''"oiit  i    i' 
at  a  tinu',  and  destroyed  its  novelty  l,y  a„  ,, ,'' 
cipated  revelation.     The  truth  is,  I  Imvo  tiij^  j  \ 
(that  we  exported  domestic  cottons)  trenHiir  l 
up  in  my  magazine  of  material !  and  intendr 
to  produce  it,  at  the  proper  time,  to  sli.nv  tl,„ 
we  exported  this  article,  not  to  Canton  and  ('■ 
cutta  alone,  but  to  all  quarters  of  the  -lobe  ■  it 
a  few  cargoes  only,  by  way  of  experhnent'  1,„ 
m  great  quantities,  as  a  regular  trade  to  tli 
amount  of  a  million  and  a  quarter  of 'doling 
annually ;  and  that,  of  this  amount,  -lo  leg.s  tii' t' 
forty  thousand  dollars'  worth,  in  the  vear  Uvi'o' 
had  done  what  the  combined  fleets  and  armi 
of  the  world  could  not  do ;  it  had  scaled  th  ■ 
rock  of  Uibraltar,  penetrated  to  the  heart  of  (hi 
British  garrison,  taken  possession  of  his  lJnt„, 
nic  Majesty's  soldiers,  bound  their  arms,  le-s  ami 
bodies,  and  strutted  in  triumph  over  tiie  ram 
I)arts  and  batteries  of  that  unattackable  IbrtrU 
And  now,  sir,  I  will  use  no  more  of  the  guntL 
man's  admissions;  I  will  draw  upon  my  ,nvn 
resources  ;  and  will  show  nearly  the  whole  li<t 
of  our  domestic  manufactures  to  be  in  the  Miie 
flourishing  condition  with  cottons,  actually  mjin  i 
abroad  to  seek  comjHitition,  without  i)roteftioii" 
in  every  foreign  clime,  and  contending  victn- 
riously  with  foreign  manufactures  wherever  tlin- 
can  encounter  them.     I  read  from  the  custun;. 
house  returns,  of  1830— the  last  that  luis  btm 
printed.     Listen  to  it : 

"  This  is  the  list  of  domestic  manufactures  ex- 
ported to  foreign  countries.  It  compreliends  the 
whole,  or  nearly  the  whole,  of  that  long  cata- 
logue of  items  which  the  senator  from  Keutiicl<y 
[Mr.  Clay]  read  to  us,  on  the  second  day  of  liis 
discourse;  and  shows  the  wdiole  to  be  goinK 
abroad,  without  a  shadow  of  protection,  to  boek 
competition,  in  foreign  markets,  with  the  foici.m 
goods  of  all  the  world.  The  list  of  articles  I 
have  read,  contains  near  fifty  varieties  ofniami- 
factures  (and  I  have  omitted  many  minor  arti- 
cles) amounting,  in  value,  to  near  six  niillioiis  of 
dollars  !  And  now  behold  the  diversity  of  human 
reasoning !  The  senator  from  Kentucky  exhi- 
bits a  list  of  articles  manufactured  in  the  United 
States,  and  argues  that  the  slightest  dim.mitioii 
in  the  enormous  protection  they  now  enjoy,  will 
overwhelm  the  whole  in  ruin,  and  cover  the 
country  with  distress ;  I  read  the  same  identiial 
list,  to  show  that  all  these  articles  go  abroad 
and  contend  victoriously  with  their  foreignrivais 
in  all  foreign  markets." 

Mr.  Clay  had  attributed  to  the  tarifls  of  1824 
and  1828  the  reviving  and  returning  jjrosperity 
of  the  country,  while  in  fact  it  was  the  mere 
eflect  of  recovery  from  prostration,  and  in  spite 


ANNO  1832.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRFSIDENT. 


273 


of  these  tnrifTs,  instead  of  by  their  help.  Busi- 
ness iiad  been  brought  to  a  stand  during  the 
disnstroiiM  period  which  ensued  the  establisli- 
nicnt  of  the  Hiinl<  of  the  United  States.  It  was 
a  period  of  stiignation,  of  settlement,  of  paying 
up,  of  getting  clear  of  loads  of  debt ;  and  start- 
ing afresh.  It  was  the  strong  man,  freed  from 
the  burthen  under  which  he  had  long  been  pros- 
trate, and  getting  on  his  feet  again.  In  the 
West  I  knew  that  this  was  the  process,  and  that 
our  revived  prosperity  was  entirely  the  result 
of  our  own  resources,  independent  of,  and  in 
spite  of  federal  legislation ;  and  so  declared  it  in 
my  speech.    I  said : 

"The  fine  effects  of  the  high  tariff  upon  the 
prosperity  of  the  West  have  been  celebrated  on 
this  floor:  with  how  much  rea.son,  let  facts  res- 
pond, and  the  people  judge  I  1  do  not  think  we 
are  indebted  to  the  high  tariff  for  our  fertile 
lands  and  our  navigable  rivers ;  and  I  am  cer- 
tain we  are  indebted  to  these  blessings  for  the 
prosperity  wo  enjoy.     In  all  that  comes  from 
the  soil,  the  people  of  the  West  are  rich.     They 
have  an  abundant  supply  of  food  for  man  and 
beast,  and  a  large  surplus  to  send  abroad.    They 
have  the  comfortable  living  which  industry  cre- 
ates for  itself  in  a  rich  soil ;  but,  beyond  this, 
tliey  arc  poor.    They  have  none  of  the  splendid 
works  which  imply  the  presence  of  the  moneyed 
power !     No  Appian  or  Flaminian  ways ;  no 
roads  paved  or  McAdamized  ;  no  canals,  except 
what  are  made  upon  borrowed  means ;  no  aque- 
ducts; no  bridges  of  stone  across  our  innume- 
rable streams ;  no  edifices  dedicated  to  eternity ; 
no  schools  for  the  fine  arts:  not  a  public  library 
for  which  an  ordinary  scholar  would  not  apolo- 
gize. And  why  none  of  those  things  ?   Have  the 
people  of  the  West  no  taste  for  public  improve- 
ments, for  the  useful  and  the  fine  arts,  and  for 
literature  ?    Certainly  they  have  a  very  strong 
taste  for  them :  but  they  have  no  money  !  not 
enough  for  private  and  current  uses,  not  enough 
to  defray  our  current  expenses,  and  buy  neces- 
saries!   without  thinking  cf   public  improve 
ments.    We  have  no  money  !  and  that  is  a  tai 
which  has  been  told  too  often  here — chanteti 
too  dolefully  in  the  book  of  lamentations  which 
was  composed  for  the  death  of  the  Maysville 
road— to  be  denied  or  suppressed  now.     They 
have  no  adequate  supply  of  money.    And  why  ? 
Have   they  no    exports'?      Nothing    to    send 
abroad  ?   Certainly  they  have  exports.    Behold 
tbe  marching  myriads  of  living  animals  annually 
taking  their  departure  from  the  heart  of  the 
West,  defiling  through  the  gorges  of  the  Cum- 
berland, the   Alleghany,  and   the  Apalachian 
mountains,  or  traversing  the  plains  of  the  South, 
diverging  as  they  march,  and  spreading  them- 
Kelves  all  over  that  vast  segment  of  our  territo- 
rial circle  which  lies  between  the  debouches  of 
the  Mississippi  and  the  estuary  of  the  Potomac ! 

Vol.  I.— 18 


Behold,  on  the  other  hand,  the  flying  steam- 
boats, and  the  fleets  of  floating  arks,  loaded 
with  the  products  of  the  forest,  the  farm,  and 
the  pasture,  following  the  course  of  our  noblo 
rivers,  and  bearing  their  freights  to  that  great 
city  which  revives,  upon  the  banks  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, the  name*  of  the  greatest  of  the  empe- 
rors that  ever  reigned  upon  the  banks  of  the 
Tiber,  and  who  eclipsed  the  glory  of  his  own 
heroic  exploits  by  giving  an  order  to  his  legions 
never  to  levy  a  contribution  of  salt  upon  a  Ro- 
man citizen !  Behold  this  double  lino  of  ex- 
ports, and  observe  the  refluent  currents  of  gold 
and  silver  which  result  from  them  !  Large  are 
the  supplies — millions  are  the  amount  which  is 
annually  poured  into  the  West  from  these  dou- 
ble exportations ;  enough  to  cover  the  face  of 
the  earth  with  magnificent  improvements,  and 
to  cram  every  mdustrious  pocket  with  gold  and 
silver.  But  where  is  this  money  ?  for  it  is  not 
in  the  country  !  Where  does  it  go  ?  for  go  it 
does,  and  scarcely  leaves  a  vestige  of  its  transit 
behind !  Sir,  it  gpes  to  the  Northeast !  to  the 
seat  of  the  American  system  I  there  it  goes ! 
and  thus  it  goes  !" 

Mr.  Clay  had  commenced  his  speech  with  an 
apology  for  what  might  be  deemed  failing  pow- 
ers on  account  of  advancing  age.  IIo  ^aid  ho 
was  getting  old,  and  might  not  bo  able  to  fulfil 
the  expectation,  and  requite  the  attention,  of  the 
attending  crowd;  and  wished  the  task  could 
have  fallen  to  younger  and  abler  hands.  This 
apology  for  age  when  no  diminution  of  mental 
or  bodily  vigor  was  perceptible,  induced  seve- 
ral speakers  to  commence  their  replies  with  al- 
lusions to  it,  generally  complimentary,  but  not 
admitting  the  fact.  Mr.  Ilayne  gracefully  said, 
that  he  had  lamented  the  advances  of  age,  and 
mourned  the  decay  of  his  eloquence,  so  elo- 
quently as  to  prove  that  it  was  still  in  full  vigor ; 
and  that  he  had  made  an  able  and  ingenious 
argument,  fully  sustaining  his  high  reputation 
■s  an  accomplished  orator.  General  Smith, 
of  Maryland,  said  that  he  could  not  complain 
himself  of  the  infirmities  of  age,  though  older 
than  the  senator  from  Kentucky,  nor  could  find 
in  his  years  any  apology  for  the  insufficiency  of 
his  speech.  Mr.  Clay  thought  this  was  intended 
to  be  a  slur  upon  him,  and  replied  in  a  spirit 
which  gave  rise  to  the  following  sharp  encounter: 

"  Mr.  Smith  then  rose,  and  said  he  was  sorry 
to  find  that  he  had  unintentionally  offended  the 
honorable  gentleman  from  Kentucky.  In  refer- 
ring to  the  vigorous  age  he  himself  enjoyed,  he 

•  "Anrcltan,"  whoso  name  was  given  to  tlie  military  sta- 
tion (nresU'.ium)  which  was  afterwards  corrupted  into  "Or- 
leans." 


274 


THIRTY  YKARS*  VIEW. 


I 


had  not  supiKJScd  ho  Hhould  give  offenoo  to  others 
who  complained  of  the  infinniticH  of  age.  The 
eentloniaii  from  Kontucky  was  thi  last  who 
should  take  the  remark  as  disparai^inn  to  his 
vigor  and  jwrsonal  apiwarance ;  for,  when  that 
gentU'uian  spoke  to  us  of  his  ape,  he  heard  a 
younR  lady  near  him  exclaim — "  Old,  why  I 
think  he  is  mighty  pretty. '  The  honorable 
gentleman,  on  Friday  last,  made  a  similitude 
where  none  existed.  I,  said  Mr.  S.,  had  suggest- 
ed the  necessity  of  mutual  forbearance  in  set- 
tling the  tarifl^  and,  thereupon,  the  gentleman 
vociferated  loudly  and  angrily  about  removals 
from  office.  He  said  I  was  a  leader  in  the  sys- 
tem. I  deny  the  fact.  I  never  exercised  the 
least  influence  in  effecting  a  removal,  and  on  the 
contrary,  I  interfered,  successfully,  to  prevent  the 
removal  of  two  gentlemen  in  ofllce.  I  am  charg- 
ed with  making  a  committee  on  roads  and  canals, 
adverse  to  internal  improvement.  If  this  be  so, 
it  is  by  mistake.  I  certainly  supposed  every 
gentleman  named  on  that  committee  but  one  to 
be  friendly  to  internal  improvement.  To  the 
committee  on  manufactures  I  assigned  ft>ur  out 
of  five  who  were  known  to  be  friendly  to  the 
protective  system.  The  rights  of  the  minority, 
ne  had  endeavored,  also,  in  arranging  the  com- 
mittee, to  secure.  The  appointment  of  the  com- 
mittees he  had  found  one  of  tno  most  difficult 
and  onerous  tasks  ho  had  ever  undertaken.  One- 
third  of  the  house  were  lawyers,  all  of  whom 
wanted  to  be  put  upon  8on.e  important  commit- 
tee. The  oath  which  the  senator  had  tendered, 
he  hoped  he  would  not  take.  In  the  year  1795, 
Mr.  S.  said,  he  had  sustained  a  protective  duty 
against  the  opposition  of  a  member  from  Pitts- 
burg. Previous  to  the  year  1822,  he  had  always 
given  incidental  support  to  manufactures,  in  fix- 
ing the  tariff.  .  He  was  a  warm  friend  to  the 
tariff  of  1810,  which  he  still  regarded  as  a  wise 
and  beneficial  law.  He  hoped,  then,  the  gentle- 
man would  not  take  his  oath. 

"  Mr.  Clay  placed,  he  said,  a  high  value  on  the 
compliment  of  which  the  honorable  senator  was 
the  channel  of  communication ;  and  he  the  more 
valued  it,  inasmuch  as  he  did  not  recollect  more 
than  once  before,  in  his  life,  to  have  received  a 
similar  compliment.  He  was  happy  to  find  that 
the  honorable  gentleman  disclaimed  the  system 
of  proscription ;  and  he  should,  with  his  appro- 
l»tion,  hereafter  cite  his  authority  in  opposition 
to  it.  The  Committee  on  Roads  and  Canals, 
whatever  were  the  gentleman's  intentions  in 
constructing  it,  had  a  majority  of  members 
whose  votes  and  speeches  against  internal  im- 
provements were  matter  of  notoriety.  The  gen- 
tleman's appeal  to  his  acts  in  '95,  is  perfectly 
safe ;  for,  old  as  I  am,  my  knowledge  of  his  course 
.  does  not  extend  back  that  far.  He  would  take 
.the  period  which  the  gentleman  named,  since 
.1822.  It  comes,  then,  to  this  :  The  honora- 
lujo.  «.(»rjfij>mQn  TOoa  in  favor  of  npot^ct.ing  man- 
•ufactures ;  but  he  had  turned — I  need  not  uBe 
"the  word— he  has  abandoned  manufactures. 
Thus: 


■Old  polltlcUn*  ah«w  on  wiMloin  pwt, 
And  MUr  on  In  blundo:-  tu  lli«  Iwt' 

"  Mr.  Smith.- -The  last  allusion  is  unworthy 
of  the  gentleman.  Totter,  sir,  1  totter  7  Though 
some  twenty  years  older  than  the  gentleman,  I 
can  yet  stand  firm,  and  am  yet  able  to  correct 
his  errors.  I  coulil  take  a  view  of  the  gentle- 
man'p  course,  which  would  show  how  inainsis- 
tent  ho  has  been.  [Mr.  Clay  exclaimed: 'Take 
it,  sir.  take  it— I  dare  you.'  [Cries  of  "order.") 
No,  sir,  said  Mr.  S.,  I  will  not  take  it.  I  will 
not  so  far  disregard  what  is  duo  to  the  dignity 
of  the  Senate." 

Mr.  Hayno  concluded  one  of  his  speeches  with 
a  declaration  of  the  seriousness  of  the  Southern 
resistance  to  the  tariff,  and  with  a  feeling  appeal 
to  senators  on  all  sides  of  the  house  to  meet  their 
Southern  brethren  in  the  spirit  of  conciliation, 
and  restore  harmony  to  a  divided  people  by  re- 
moving from  among  them  the  never-failing  source 
of  contention.    He  said  : 

"  Let  not  gentlemen  so  far  deceive  theraselTcs 
as  to  suppose  that  the  opposition  of  the  South  to 
the  protecting  system  is  not  based  on  high  and 
lofty  principles.  It  has  nothing  to  do  with  par- 
ty politics,  or  the  mere  elevation  of  men.  It 
rises  far  above  all  such  considerations.  Nor  is 
it  influenced  chiefly  by  calculations  of  interest, 
but  is  founded  in  much  nobler  impulses.  The 
instinct  of  self-interest  might  have  taught  us  an 
easier  way  of  relieving  ourselves  from  this  op- 
pression. It  wanted  Isut  the  will,  to  have  sup- 
plied ourselves  with  every  article  embraced  in 
the  protective  system,  free  of  duty,  without  any 
other  participation  on  our  part  than  a  .simple  con- 
sent to  receive  them.  But,  sir,  we  have  scorned, 
in  a  contest  for  our  rights,  to  resort  to  any  but 
open  and  fair  means  to  maintain  them.  The 
spirit  with  which  we  ha\j  entered  into  this 
business,  is  akin  to  that  which  was  kindled  in 
the  bosom  of  our  fathers  when  they  were  made  the 
victims  of  oppression ;  and  if  it  has  not  displayed 
itself  in  the  same  way,  it  is  because  we  have  eycr 
cherished  the  strongest  feelings  of  confraternity 
towards  our  brethren,  and  the  warmest  and 
most  devoted  attachment  to  the  Union.  If  we 
have  been,  in  any  degree,  divided  among  our- 
selves in  tnis  matter,  the  source  of  that  division, 
let  gentlemen  be  assured,  has  not  arisen  so  much 
from  any  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  true 
character  of  the  oppression,  as  from  the  different 
degrees  of  hope  of  redress.  All  parties  have  for 
years  past  been  looking  forward  to  this  crisis 
for  the  fulfilment  of  their  hopes,  or  the  confir- 
mation of  their  fears.  And  God  grant  that  the 
result  may  be  auspicious. 

"Sir,  I  call  upon  gentlemen  on  all  sides  of  the 
House  to  meet  us  in  the  true  spirit  of  conciliation 
and  concession.  Remove,  1  earnestly  beseecu 
you,  from  among  us,  this  never-failing  source  of 
contention.    Dry  up  at  its  source  this  fountM 


ANNO  1832.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRKSIDKNT. 


273 


of  tlie  walors  of  lilttcrncHS.  Restore  that  har- 
mony wliich  lias  heon  (ii.Mttirbcd— that  iniitiml 
ftflktioii  iind  confidence  which  hns  bwii  itn|)air- 
c(l.  And  it  it)  in  your  [wwer  to  do  it  thirt  day  ; 
but  there  iH  but  one  nieunn  under  heaven  by 
which  itnm— by  tioingc(|ualju.sticetoall.  And 
bo  iwHured  that  he  to  wliom  the  country  shall  l)e 
indehted  for  this  blessing,  will  be  considered  as 
the  second  founder  of  the  republic.  Ho  will  be 
regarded,  in  all  aftertirnes,  as  the  ininiHterinR 
angel  visiting  the  trouhled  waters  of  our  politi- 
cal (lisHcn.Hions,  and  restoring  to  the  clement  its 
heahng  virtues." 

I  take  pleasure  in  quoting  these  words  of  Mr. 
Ilayiie.  They  are  vorda  of  moderation  and  of  jus- 
tice—of  sorrow  more  than  anger — of  expostula- 
tion more  than  menace — of  loyalty  to  the  Union 
—of  supplication  for  forbearance ; — and  a  moving 
appeal  to  the  high  tariff  party  to  avert  a  nation- 
al catastrophe  by  ceasing  to  ho  unjust.  His  mo- 
deration, his  expostulation,  his  supplication,  his 
appeal— had  no  effect  on  the  majority.  The  pro- 
tective system  continued  to  be  an  exasperating 
theme  throughout  tho  session,  which  ended  with- 
out any  sensible  amelioration  of  the  system 
though  with  a  reduction  of  duty  on  some  articles 
of  comfort  and  convenience :  a^  recommended  by 
President  Jackson. 


CHAPTER    LXX. 

PUnHO  LANI)3.-DI8TRIBUTION  TO  TUE  STATES. 

The  efforts  which  had  been  making  for  years  to 
ameliorate  the  public  land  system  in  the  feature 
of  their  sale  and  disposition,  had  begun  to  have 
their  effect— the  effect  which  always  attends 
perseverance  in  a  just  cause.  A  bill  had  ripen- 
ed to  a  tliird  reading  in  the  Senate  reducing  the 
price  of  lands  which  had  been  long  in  market 
less  than  one  half— to  fifty  cents  per  acre— and 
the  pre-emption  principle  had  been  firmly  esta- 
blished, securing  the  settler  in  his  home  at  a 
fixed  price.  Two  other  principles,  those  of  do- 
nations to  actual  settlers,  and  of  the  cession  to 
the  States  in  which  they  lie  of  all  land  not  soid 
within  a  reasonable  and  limited  period,  were  all 
that  was  wanting  to  complete  the  ameliorated 
system  which  the  graduation  bills  proposed  ; 
and  these  bills  were  making  a  progress  which 
promised  them  an  eventual  success.  All  the 
indications  were  favorable  for  the  speedy  ac- 


complishment of  theao  great    reforms  in   the 
land  8y.sfA3m  when  tho  session  of  1831-'32  open- 
ed, and  with  it  the  authentic  annunciation  of 
tho  extinction  of  the  public  debt  within  two 
years  —which  event  would  remove  the  objection 
of  many  to  interfering  with  tho  subject,  the 
lands  Ixiing  pledged  to  that  object.    This  ses- 
sion,  preceding  the  pnisidential  election,  and 
gathering  up  so  many  subjects  to  go  into  the 
canvass,  fell  upon  the  lands  for  that  purpose, 
and  in  the  way  in  which  magazines  of  grain  in 
republican  Rome,  and  money  in  the  treasury  in 
democratic  Athens,  were  accustomed  to  be  dealt 
with  by  candidates  for  office  in  the  periods  of 
election  ;  that  is  to  sii. ,  were  proposed  for  dis- 
tribution.   A  plan  for  dividing  out  among  the 
States  for  a  given  period  the  money  arising 
from  tho  sale  of  the  lands,  was  reported  from 
the  Committee  on  Manufactures  by  Mr.  Clay  a 
member  of  that  committee— and  which  properly 
could  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  sale  and  dis- 
position of  the  lands.    That  report,  after  a  ger 
oral  history,  and  view  of  the  public  lands,  came 
to  these  conclusions : 


"Upon  full  and  thorough  consideration,  the 
committee  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it 
is  inexpedient  either  to  reduce  the  price  of  the 
public  lands,  or  to  cede  them  to  the  new  States. 
They  believe,  on  the  contrary,  that  sound  policy 
coincides  with  the  duty  which  has  devolved  on 
the  general  government  to  the  whole  of  the 
States,  and  the  whole  of  the  people  of  the 
Union,  and  enjoins  the  preservation  of  the  ex- 
isting system  as  nnving  been  tried  and  approv- 
ed after  long  and  triumphant  experience.  But 
in  consequence  of  the  extraordinary  financial 
prosperity  which  the  United  StateH  enjoy,  the 
question  merits  examination,  whether,  whilst 
the  general  government  steadily  retains  the 
control  of  this  great  national  resource  in  its 
own  hands,  after  the  payment  of  the  public 
debt,  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  public 
lands,  no  longer  needed  to  meet  the  ordinary 
expenses  of  government,  may  not  be  beneficial- 
ly appropiiated  to  some  other  objects  for  a  lim- 
ited time. 

"Governments,  no  more  than  individuals, 
should  be  seduced  or  intoxicated  by  prosperity 
however  flattering  or  great  it  may  be.  The 
country  now  happily  enjoys  it  in  a  most  unex- 
ampled degree.  We  hav.  abundant  reason  to 
be  grateful  for  the  blessings  of  peace  and  plen- 
ty, and  freedom  from  debt.  But  we  must  be 
forgetful  of  all  history  and  experience,  if  we  in- 
dulge the  delusive  hope  that  w»  shall  alw.v.°.  Ha 
exempt  from  calamity  and  reverses.  Seaaona 
of  national  adversity,  of  suffering,  and  of  war, 
will   assuredly   come.     A   wise   government 


I    I 
f     I'. 


f    \ 


If  I 


m 


% 


9-1 


ft 


276 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


should  expf,'Ct,  and  piovidc  for  them.    Instead 
of  wasting  or  squandering  its  resources  in  a  pe- 
riod of  general  prosperity,  it  should  husband 
and  cherish  them  for  those  times  of  trial  and 
difficulty,  wliich,  in  the  dispensations  of  Provi- 
dence, may  he  certainly  anticipated.     Enter- 
taining these  views,  mid  as  the  proceeds  of  the 
sales  of  the  public  la.r's  are  not  wanted  for  or- 
dinary revenue,  which  will  be  abundantly  sup- 
plied'from  the  imposts,  the  committee  rc.-pcct- 
fully  recommend  that  an  appropriation  of  them 
be  made  to  some  other  purpose,  for  a  limited 
time,  subject  to  be  resumed  in  the  contingency 
of  war.     Should  such  an  event  unfortunately 
occur,  the  fund  may  be  withdrawn  from  its 
peaceful  destination,  and  applied  in  aid  of  other 
means,  to  the  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war, 
and,  afterwards  to  the  payment  of  any  debt 
which  may  be  contracted  in  consequence  of  its 
existence.    And  when  peace  shall  be  again  re- 
stored, and  the  debt  of  the  new  war  shall  have 
been  extinguished,  the  fund  may  be  again  ap- 
propriated to  some  fit  object  other  than  that  of 
the  ordinary  expenses  of  government.     Thus 
may  this  great  resource  be  preserved  and  ren- 
dered subservient,  in  peace  and  in  war,  to  the 
common  benefit  of  all  the  States  composing  the 
Union. 

"  The  inquiry  remains,  what  ought  to  be  the 
specific  application  of  the  fund  under  the  restric- 
tion stated  1    After  deducting  the  ten  per  cent, 
proposed  to  be  set  apart  for  the  new  States,  a 
portion  of  the  committee  would  have  preferred 
that  the  residue  should  be  applied  to  the  ob- 
jects of  internal  improvement,  and  colonization 
of  the  free  blacks,  under  the  direction  of  the 
general  governm.ent.      But  a  majority  of  the 
committee  believes  it  better,  as  an  alternative 
for  the  scheme  of  cession  to  the  new  States, 
and  as  being  most  likely  to  give  general  satis- 
faction, that  the  residue  be  divided  among  the 
twenty-four  States,  according  to  their  federal 
representative  population,  to  be  applied  to  edu- 
cation, internal  improvement,  or  colonization,  or 
to  the  redemption  of  any  existing  debt  contract- 
ed  for  internal  improvements,  as  each  State, 
judging  for  itself,  shall  doom  most  conformable 
with  its  own  interests  and  policy.    Assuming 
the  annual  product  of  the  sales  of  the  public 
lands  to  be  three  millions  of  dollars,  the  table 
hereto  annexed,  marked  C,  shows  what  each 
State  would  be  entitled  to  recei'^p.  according  to 
the  principle  of  division  which  has  been  stated. 
In  order  that  the  propriety  of  the  proposed  ap- 
propriation should  again,  at  a  day  not  very  f\ir 
distant,  be  brought  under  the  review  of  Con- 
gress, the  committee  would  recommend  that  it 
be  limited  to  a  period  of  five  years,  subject  to 
the  condition  of  war  not  breaking  out  in  the 
mean  time.     By  an  appropriation  so  restricted 
as  to  lime,  fieh  State  will  bo  enabled  to  eati- 
matc  the  probable  extent  of  its  proportion,  and 
to  adapt  its  measures  of  education,  improve- 
ment, colonization,  or   extinction  of  existing 
debt,  accordingly. 


"  In  conformity  with  the  views  and  principle 
which  the  committee  have  now  submitted,  t'iiey 
beg  leave  to  report  a  billj  entitled  '  An  act  to 
appropriate,  for  a  limited  time,  the  proceeds  of 
the  sales  of  the  public  lands  of  the  United 
States.' » 


The  impropriety  of  originating  such  a  bill  in 
the  committee  on  manufactures  was  so  clear  that 
acquiescence  in  it  was  impossible.  The  chiiir- 
man  of  the  committee  on  public  lands  immedi- 
ately moved  its  roforence  to  that  committee; 
and  although  there  was  a  majority  for  it  in  the 
Senate,  and  for  the  bill  as  it  came  from  the  com- 
mittee on  manufactures,  yet  the  reference  was 
immediately  voted  ;  and  Mr.  Clay's  report  and 
bill  sent  to  that  committee,  invested  with  gen- 
eral authority  over  the  whole  subject.  That 
committee,  through  its  chairman,  Mr.  King  of 
Alabama,  made  a  counter  report,  from  which 
some  extracts  are  here  given : 

"  The  committee  ventures  to  suggest  that  the 
view  which  the  committee  on  manufactures  hus 
taken  of  the  federal  domain,  is  fundamentally 
erroneous ;  that  it  has  misconceived  the  true 
principles  of  national  policy  with  respect  to  wild 
lands ;  and,  from  this  fundamental  mistake,  and 
radical  misconception,  have  resulted  the  great 
errors  which  pervade  the  whole  structure  of 
their  report  and  bill. 

"  The  committee  on  manufactures  seem  to 
contemplate  the  federal  domain  merely  as  an 
object  of  revenue,  and  to  look  for  that  revenue 
solely  from  the  receivers  of  the  land  offices; 
when  tlic  science  of  political  economy  has  ascer- 
tained such  a  fund  to  be  chiefly,  if  not  exclu- 
sively, valuable  under  the  aspect  of  population 
and  cultivation,  and  the  eventual  extriiction  of 
revenue  from  the  people  in  its  customary  modes 
of  taxes  and  imposts. 

"The  celebrated  Edmund  Burke  is  supposed 
to  have  expressed  the  sum  total  of  political  wis- 
dom on  this  subject,  in  his  well-known  proposi- 
tions to  convert  the  forest  lands  of  the  British 
cown  into  private  property ;  and  this  commit- 
tee, to  spare  themselves  further  argument,  and 
to  extinguish  at  once  a  political  fallacy  which 
ought  not  to  have  been  broached  !.;  the  nine- 
teenth century,  will  make  a  brief  quotation  from 
the  speech  of  that  eminent  man. 

" '  The  revenue  to  be  derived  from  the  sale  of 
the  forest  lands  will  not  be  so  considerable  as 
many  have  imagined ;  and  I  conadvc  it  would 
be  unwise  to  screw  it  up  to  the  utmost,  or  even 
to  suffer  bidders  to  enhance,  according  to  their 
eagerness,  the  purchase  of  objects  wherein  the 
expense  of  that  purchase  may  we-.ken  the  capi- 
tal to  be  employed  in  their  cultivation.  * 
The  principal  revenue  which  I  pi  opose  to  draw 
from  these  uncultivated  wastes,  is  to  springfrom 
the  improvement  and  cultivation  of  the  kingdom; 


ANNO  1882.    ANDREW  JAOKSOX,  PRESIDENT. 


277 


events  infinitely  more  advantageous  to  the  reve- 
nues of  the  Crov.n,  tlian  the  rents  of  the  best 
lamle('  estates  which  it  can  hold.  *  *  *  * 
It  is  thus  that  I  would  dispose  of  the  unprofita- 
ble landed  estates  of  the  Crown — throw  ihem 
into  the  mass  of  private  property— by  which 
they  will  come,  through  the  course  of  circula- 
tion, and  through  the  political  secretions  of  the 
state,  into  well-regulated  revenue.  *  ♦  *  * 
Thus  would  fall  an  expensive  agency,  with  all 
the  influence  which  attends  it.' 

"  This  committee  takes  leave  to  say  that  the 
sentiments  here  expressed  by  Jlr.  Burke  arc  the 
inspirations  of  political  wisdom ;  that  their  truth 
and  justice  have  been  tested  in  all  ages  and  all 


countries,  and  particularly  in  our  own  age  and 
in  our  own  country.     The  history  of  the  public 
lands  of  the  United  States  furnishes  the  most 
instnictive  lessons  of  the  mutility  of  sales,  the 
value  of  cultivation,  and  the  fallacy  of  largo  cal- 
culations.   These  lands  were  expected,  at  the 
time  they  were  acquired  by  the  United  States,  to 
pay  oiT  the  public  debt  immediately,  to  support 
'  the  government,  and  to  furnish  large  surplusses 
for  distribution.    Calculations  for  a  thousand 
millions  were  made  upon  them,  and  a  charge  of 
treachery  was  raised  against  Ceneral  Hamilton, 
then  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  for  his  rejwrt  in 
the  year  1791,  in  which  the  fallacy  of  all  these 
visionary  calculations  was  exposed,  and  the  real 
value  of  the  lands  soberly  set  down  at  an  aver- 
age of  twenty  cents  per  acre.    Yet,  after  an  ex- 
periment of  nearly  fifty  years,  it  is  found  that 
the  sales  of  the  public  lands,  so  far  from  paying 
the  public  debt,  have  barely  defrayed  the  ex- 
penses of  managing  the  lands ;  while  the  reve- 
nue derived  from  cultivation  has  paid  both  prin- 
cipal and  interest  of  the  debts  of  two  wars,  and 
supported  the  federal  government  in  a  style  of 
expenditure  infinitely  beyond  the  conceptions  of 
those  who  established  it.    The  gross  proceeds 
of  the  sales  arc  but  thirty-eight  millions  of  dol- 
lars, from  which  the  large  expenses  of  the  sys- 
tem are  to  be  deducted ;  while  the  clear  receipts 
from  the  customs,  after  paying  all  expenses  of 
collection,  amount  to  $556,443,830.     This  im- 
mense amount  of  revenue  springs  from  the  use 
of  soil  reduced  to  private  property.    For  the 
duties  are  derived  from  imported  goods;  the 
goods  are  received  in  exchange  for  exports ;  and 
the  exports,  with  a  small  deduction  for  the  pro- 
ducts of  the  sea,  are  the  produce  of  the  farm 
and  the  forest.    Tliis  is  a  striking  view,  but 
It  IS  only  one  half  of  the  picture.    The  other 
half  must  be  shown,  and  will  display  the  culti- 
vation of  the  soil,  in  its  immense  exports,  as 
giving  biith  to  commerce  and  navigation,  and 
supplying  employment  to  all  the  trades  and 
professions   connected  with  these  two    grand 
branches  of  national  industry ;  while  the  busi- 
ness of  selling  the  land  is  a  meagre  and  barren 
operation,  auxiliary  to  no  useful  occupation,  in- 
jurious to  the  young  States,  by  exhausting  them 
ot  their  currency,  and  extending  the  patronage 
01  tiie  federal  goTcrnment  in  the  complicated 


machinery  of  the  land  office  department.  Such 
has  been  the  difference  between  the  revenue  re- 
ceived from  the  sales  and  from  the  cultivation 
of  the  land ;  but  no  powers  of  cultivation  can 
carry  out  the  difference,  and  show  what  it  will 
be :  for,  while  the  sale  of  the  land  is  a  single 
operation,  and  can  be  performed  but  once,  tlie 
extraction  of  rcveruo  from  its  cultivation  is  an 
annual  and  perpetual  process,  increasing  in  pro- 
ductiveness through  all  time,  with  the  increase 
of  population,  the  amelioration  of  soils,  the  im- 
provement of  the  country  and  the  application 
of  science  to  the  industrial  pursuits. 

"  This  committee  have  said  that  the  bill  re- 
ported by  the  Committee  on  Manufactures,  to 
divide  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  public  lands 
among  the  several  States,  for  a  limited  time,  is  a 
bill  wholly  inadmissible  in  principle,  and  essen- 
tially erroneous  in  its  details. 

'•  They  object  to  the  principle  of  the  bill,  be- 
cause It  proposes  to  change— and  that  most  in- 
juriously and  fatally  for  the  new  States,  the 
character  of  their  relation  to  the  federal  govern- 
ment, on  the  subject  of  the  public  lands.     That 
relation,  at  present,  imposes  on  the  federal  go- 
vernment the  character  of  a  trustee,  with  the 
-er  and  the  duty  of  disposing  of  the  public 
as  in  a  liberal  and  equitable  manner.    The 
principle  of  the  bill  proposes  to  substitute  an 
individual  State  interest  in  the  lands,  and  would 
be  perfectly  equivalent  to  a  division  of  the  lands 
among  the  States ;  for,  the  power  of  legislation 
being  left  in  their  hands,  with  a  direct  interest 
in  their  r-ales,  the  old  and  populous  States  would 
necessarily  consider  the  lands  as  their  own,  and 
govern    their    legislation    accordingly.      Sales 
would  be  forbid  or  allowed ;  surveys  stopped  or 
advanced  ;  prices  raised  or  lowered ;  donations 
given  or  denied  ;  old  French  and  Spanish  claims 
confirmed  or  rejected ;  settlers  ousted ;  emigra- 
tions stopped,  precisely  as  it  suited  the  interest 
of  the  old  States ;  and  this  interest,  in  every  in- 
stanccj  would  be  precisely  opposite  to  the  inte- 
rest of  the  new  States.   In  vain  would  some  just 
men  wish  to  act  equitably  by  these  new  States ; 
their  generous  efforts  would  expose  them  to  at- 
tacks at  home.    A  new  head  of  electioneering 
would  be  opened;  candidates  for  Congress  would 
rack  their  imaginations,  and  exhaust  their  arith- 
metic, in  the  invention  and  display  of  rival  pro- 
jects for  the  extraction  of  gold  from  the  new 
States ;  and  he  that  would  promise  best  for  pro- 
moting the  emigration  of  dollars  from  the  new 
States,  and  preventing  the  emigration  of  people 
to  them,  would  be  considered  the  best  qualified 
for  federal  legislation.    If  this  plan  of  distribu- 
tion had  been  in  force  heretofore,  the  price  of 
the  public  lands  would  not  have  been  reduced, 
m  1819-'20,  nor  the  relief  laws  passed,  which 
exonerated  the  new  States  from  a  debt  of  near 
twenty  millions  of  dollars.     If  adopted  now, 
these  States  may  bid  adieu  to  their  sovereignty 
and  independence  !    They  will  become  the  feu- 
datory vassals  of  the  paramount  States  !    Their 
subjection  and  dependence  will  be  without  limit 


'1    ;i* 


l^ 


278 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


J  ! 


or  remedy.  The  five  years  mentioned  in  the 
bill  had  as  well  be  fifty  or  five  hundred.  The 
State  that  would  surrender  its  sovereignty,  for 
ten  per  centum  of  its  own  moaey,  would  eclipse 
the  folly  of  Esau,  and  become  a  proverb  in  the 
annals  of  folly  with  those  who  have  sold  their 
birthright  for  '  a  mess  of  pottage.'  " 

After  these  general  objections  to  the  principle 
and  policy  of  the  distribution  project,  the  report 
of  the  Committee  on  Public  Lauds  went  on  to 
show  its  defects,  in  detail,  and  to  exhibit  the 
special  injuries  to  which  it  would  subject  the 
new  States,  in  which  the  public  lands  lay.  It 
said: 

"  The  details  of  the  bill  are  pregnant  with  in- 
justice and  unsound  policy. 

"  1.  The  rule  of  distribution  among  the  States 
makes  no  distinction  between  those  States  which 
did  or  did  not  make  cessions  of  their  vacant  land 
to  the  federal  government.  Massachusetts  and 
Maine,  which  are  now  selling  and  enjoying  their 
vacant  lands  in  their  own  right,  and  Connecti- 
cut, which  received  a  deed  for  two  millions  of 
acres  from  the  federal  government,  and  sold  them 
for  her  own  benefit,  are  put  upon  an  equal  foot- 
ing with  Virginia,  which  ceded  the  immense  do- 
main which  lies  in  the  forks  of  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi,  and  Georgia,  which  ceded  territory 
for  two  States.    This  is  manifestly  unjust. 

"  2.  The  bill  proposes  benefits  to  some  of  the 
States,  which  they  cannot  receive  without  dis- 
honor, nor  refuse  without  pecuniary  prejudice. 
Several  States  deny  the  power  of  the  federal 
govci-nment  to  appropriate  the  public  moneys  to 
objects  of  internal  improvement  or  to  coloniza- 
tion A  refusal  to  accept  their  dividends  would 
subject  such  States  to  loss ;  to  receive  them, 
would  imply  a  sale  of  their  constitutional  prin- 
ciples for  so  much  money.  Considerations  con- 
nected with  the  harmony  and  perpetuity  of  our 
confederacy  should  forbid  any  State  to  be  com- 
pelled to  choose  between  such  alternatives. 

"3.  The  public  lands,  in  great  part,  were 
granted  to  the  federal  government  to  pay  the 
debts  of  the  Revolutionary  War ;  it  is  notorious 
that  other  objects  of  revenue,  to  wit,  duties  on 
imported  goods,  have  chiefly  paid  that  debt.  It 
would  seem,  then,  to  be  just  to  the  donors  of  the 
land,  after  having  taxe-^  them  in  other  ways  to 
pay  the  debt,  that  the  land  should  go  in  relief 
of  their  present  taxes  ;  and  that,  so  long  as  any 
revenue  may  be  derived  from  them,  it  should  go 
into  the  common  treasury,  and  diminish,  by  so 
much,  the  amount  of  their  annual  contributions. 
"  4.  The  colonization  of  free  people  of  color, 
on  the  western  coast  of  Africa,  is  a  delicate 
question  for  Congress  to  touch.  It  connects  it- 
self indissolubly  with  the  slave  question,  and 
cannot  be  agiUted  by  the  ll-deral  legislature, 
without  rousing  and  alarming  the  apprehensions 
of  all  the  slaveholding  States,  and  lighting  up 
the  fires  of  the  extinguished  conflagration  which 


lately  blazed  in  the  Missouri  question.  The 
harmony  of  the  States,  and  the  durability  of  this 
confederacy,  interdict  the  legislation  of  the  fede- 
ral legislature  upon  this  subject.  The  existence 
of  slavery  in  the  United  States  is  local  and  sec 
tional.  It  is  confined  to  the  Southern  and  Mid- 
dle States.  If  it  is  an  evil,  it  is  an  evil  to  them 
and  it  is  their  business  to  say  so.  If  it  is  to  be 
removed,  it  is  their  business  to  remove  it.  Other 
States  put  an  end  to  slavery,  at  their  own  time 
and  in  their  own  way,  and  without  interference 
from  federal  or  State  legislation,  or  organized  so- 
cieties. The  rights  of  equality  demand,  for  the 
remaining  States,  the  same  freedom  of  thought 
and  immunity  of  action.  Instead  of  assuming 
the  business  of  colonization,  leave  it  to  the  slave- 
holding  States  to  do  as  they  please ;  and  leave 
them  their  resources  to  carry  into  eifect  their 
resolves.  Raise  no  more  money  from  them  than 
the  exigencies  of  the  government  require,  and 
then  they  will  have  the  means,  if  they  feel  the 
inclination,  to  rid  themselves  of  a  burden  which 
it  is  theirs  to  bear  and  theirs  to  remove. 

"  5.  The  sum  proposed  for  distribution,  though 
nominally  to  consist  of  the  net  proceeds  of  the 
sales  of  the  public  lands,  is,  in  reality,  to  consist 
of  their  gross  proceeds.    The  term  net,  as  ap- 
plied to  revenue  from  land  oiBces  or  custom- 
houses,  is  quite  different.    In  the  latter,  its 
signification  corresponds  with  the  fact,  and  im- 
plies a  deduction  of  all  the  expenses  of  collection ; 
in  the  former,  it  ha$  no  such  implication,  for  the 
expenses  of  the  land  system  are  defrayed  by  ap- 
propriations out  of  the  treasury.    To  make  the 
whole  sum  received  from  the  land  offices  a  fund 
for  distribution,  would  be  to  devolve  the  heavy 
expenses  of  the  land  system  upon  the  custom- 
house revenue :  in  other  words,  to  take  so  much 
frmn  the  custom-house  revenue  to  be  divided 
among  the  States.    This  would  be  no  small 
item.    According  to  the  principles  of  the  account 
drawn  up  against  the  hinds,  it  would  embrace- 
Expenses  of  the  general  land  office. 
Appropriations  for  surveying. 
Expenses  of  six  surveyor  generals' oflBces. 
Expenses  of  forty-four  land  offices. 
Salaries  of  eighty-eight  registers  and  re- 
ceivers. 

"  6.  Commissions  on  sales  to  registers  and  re- 
ceivers. 

"7.  Allowance  to    receivers   for   depositing 
money. 

"  8.  Interest  on  money  paid  for  extinguishing 
Indian  titles. 

"  9.  Annuities  to  Indians. 
"  10.  Future  Indian  treaties  for  extinguishing 
title. 

"11.  Expenses  of  annual  removal  of  Indians. 
"These  items  exceed  a  million  of  dollars.  They 
are  on  the  increase,  and  will  continue  to  grow  at 
least  until  the  one  hundred  and  thirteen  million 
five  hundred  and  scvcnty-scvea  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  sixty-nine  acres  of  land  within  the 
limits  of  the  States  and  territories  now  covered 
by  Indian  title  shall  be  released  from  such  title. 


«1. 
«2. 

"3. 
«4. 
"5. 


ANNO  1832.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


279 


ase;  and  leave 


The  reduction  of  these  items,  present  and  to 
come  from  the  proposed  fund  for  distribution, 
>  lUst' certainly  be  made  to  avoid  a  c  ntradiction 
between  the  profession  and  th-  ice  of  the 

bill-  and  this  reduction  might  hi.  -tie  or  no- 
thing for  division  among  the  dist?!^  .itees.  The 
eross  proceeds  of  the  land  sales  for  tho  last  year 
were  large ;  they  exceeded  three  millions  of  dol- 
lars: but  they  were  equally  large  twelve  years 
aeo  and  gave  birth  to  some  extravagant  calcu- 
lations thcu,  which  vanished  with  a  sudden  de- 
rline  of  the  land  revenue  to  less  than  one  mil- 
lion. The  proceeds  of  1819  were  $13,274,422 ; 
those  of  1823  were  $916,523.  The  excessive 
sales  twelve  years  ago  resulted  from  tho  exces- 
sive issue  of  bank  paper,  \7hile  those  of  1831 
were  produced  by  the  several  relief  laws  passed 
by  Congress.  A  detached  year  is  no  evidence 
of  the  product  of  the  sales ;  an  average  of  a  series 
of  years  presents  the  only  approximation  to  cor- 
rectness ;  and  this  average  of  the  last  ten  years 
would  be  about  one  million  and  three  quarters. 
So  that  after  all  expenses  are  deducted,  with  the 
five  per  centum  now  payable  to  the  new  States, 
and  ten  per  centum  proposed  by  the  bill,  there 
may  be  nothing  worth  dividing  among  the  States ; 
certainly  nothing  worth  the  alarm  and  agitation 
which  the  assumption  of  the  colonization  ques- 
tion must  excite  among  the  slaveholding  States; 
nothing  worth  the  danger  of  compelling  the  old 
States  which  deny  the  power  of  federal  internal 
improvement,  to  choose  between  alternatives 
which  involve  a  sale  of  their  principles  on  one 
side,  or  a  loss  of  their  dividends  on  the  other ; 
certainly  nothing  worth  the  injury  to  the  new 
States,  which  must  result  from  the  conversion 
of  their  territory  into  the  private  property  of 
those  who  are  to  have  the  power  of  legislation 
over  it,  and  a  direct  interest  in  using  that  power 
to  degrade  and  impoverish  them." 

The  two  sets  of  reports  were  printed  in  extra 
numbers,  and  the  distribution  bill  largely  debated 
in  the  Senate,  and  passed  that  body :  but  it  was 
arrested  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  A 
motion  to  postpone  it  to  a  day  beyond  the  session 
—equivalent  to  rejection — prevailed  by  a  small 
majority ;  and  thus  this  first  attempt  to  make 
distribution  of  public  property,  was,  for  the 
time,  gotten  rid  of. 


CHAPTER    LXXI. 

SETTLEMENT  OF   FRENCH  AND  BPANISE    LAND 
CLAIMS. 

It  was  now  near  thirty  years  since  the  pro- 
vince of  Louisiana  had  been  acquired,  and  with 
it  a  mass  of  population  owning  and  inhabiting 


lands,  the  titles  to  which  in  but  few  instances 
ever  had  been  perfected  into  complete  grants ;  and 
the  want  of  which  was  not  felt  in  a  new  country 
whore  land  was  a  gratuitous  gift  to  every  culti- 
vator, and  where   the  government  was  more 
anxious  for  cultivation  than  tho  people  were  to 
give  it.   The  transfer  of  the  province  from  France 
and  Spain  to  the  United  States,  found  the  mass 
of  the  land  titles  in  an  inchoate  state ;  and  com- 
ing under  a  government  which  made  merchandise 
out  of  the  soil,  and  among  a  people  who  had  the 
Anglo-Saxon  avidity  for  landed  property,  some 
legislation  and  tribunal  was  necessary  to  separate 
the  perfect  from  the  imperfect  titles ;  and  to 
provide  for  the  examination  and  perfection  of  the 
latter.    The  treaty  of  cession  protected  every 
thing  that  was  "  property; "  and  an  inchoate  title 
fell  as  well  within  that  category  as  a  perfect 
one.    Without  the  treaty  stipulation  the  law  of 
nations  would  have  operated  the  same  protec- 
tion, and  to  the  same  degree ;  and  that  in  the 
case  of  a  conquered  as  well  as  of  a  ceded  people. 
The  principle  was  acknowledged :  the  question 
was  to  apply  it,  and  to  carry  out  the  imperfect  titles 
as  the  ceding  government  would  have  done,  if  it 
had  continued.    This  was  attempted  through 
boards  of  commissioners,  placed  under  limita- 
tions and  restrictions,  which  cut  off  masses  of 
claims  to  which  there  was  no  objection  except 
in  the  confirming  law ;  and  with  the  obligation 
of  reporting  to  Congress  for  its  sanction  the 
claims  which  it  found  entitled  to  confirmation : 
— a  condition  which,  in  the  distance  of  the 
lands  and  claimants  from  the  scat  of  government, 
their  ignorance  of  our  laws  and  customs,  their 
habitude  to  pay  for  justice,  and  their  natural  dis- 
trust of  a  new  and  alien  domination,  was  equiv- 
alent in  its  effects  to  the  total  confiscation  of 
most  of  the  smaller  claims,  and  the  quarter  or 
the  half  confiscation  of  the  larger  ones  in  the 
division  they  were  compelled  to  make  vdth 
agents — or  in  the  forced  sales  which  despair,  or 
necessity  forced  upon  them.    This  state  of  things 
had  been  going  on  for  almost  thirty  years  in  all 
Louisiana — ameliorated  occasionally  by  slight 
enlargements  of  the  powers  of  the  boards,  and 
afterwards  of  the  courts  to  which  the  business 
was  transferred,  but  failing  at  two  essential 
points, ^rs^,  of  acknowledging  the  validity  of  all 
claims  which  might  in  fact  have  been  compictcu 
if  the  French  or  Spanish  goveninient  had  con- 
tinued under  which  they  originated ;  secondly, 


1;  * 


:^ 


4   ■■ 


i    \ 


I 


r  ,f 


; 


280 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


in  not  providing  a  cheap,  speedy  and  local  tri- 
bunal to  decide  summarily  upon  claims,  and 
definitively  when  their  decisions  were  in  their 
fevor. 

In  this  year — ^but  after  an  immense  number 
of  people  had  been  ruined,  and  after  the  country 
had  been  afflicted  for  a  generation  with  the  curse 
of  unsettled  land  titles — an  act  was  passed, 
founded  on  the  principle  which  the  case  reiuired, 
and  approximating  to  the  process  which  was 
necessary  to  give  it  effect.  The  act  of  1832  ad- 
mitted the  validity  of  all  inchoate  claims — all 
that  might  in  fact  have  been  perfected  under  the 
previous  governments ;  and  established  a  local 
tribunal  to  decide  on  the  spot,  making  two 
classes  of  claims — one  coming  under  the  princi- 
ple acknowledged,  the  other  not  coming  under 
that  principle,  and  destitute  of  merit  in  law  or 
equity — but  with  the  ultimate  reference  of  their 
decisions  to  Congress  for  its  final  sanction.  The 
principle  of  the  act,  and  its  mode  of  operation, 
was  contained  in  the  first  section,  and  in  these 
words : 

"  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  recorder  of 
land  titles  in  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  two 
commissioners  to  be  appointed  by  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  by  and  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  Senate,  to  examine  all  1 1  lo  uncon- 
firmed claims  to  land  in  that  State,  heretofore 
filed  in  the  office  of  the  said  recorder,  according 
to  law,  founded  upon  any  incomplete  grant,  con- 
cession, warrant,  or  order  of  survey,  issued  by 
the  authority  of  France  or  Spain,  prior  to  the 
tenth  day  of  March,  one  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  four ;  and  to  class  the  same  so  as  to 
show,  first,  what  claims,  in  their  opinion,  would, 
in  fact,  have  been  confirmed,  according  to  the 
laws,  usages,  and  customs  of  the  Spanish  gov- 
ernn  ent,  and  the  practices  of  the  Spanish  au- 
thorities under  them,  at  New  Orleans,  if  the 
government  under  which  said  claims  originated 
had  continued  in  Missouri ;  and  secondly,  what 
claims,  in  their  opinion,  are  destitute  of  merit, 
in  law  or  equity,  under  such  laws,  usages,  cus- 
toms, and  practice  of  the  Spanish  authorities 
aforesaid ;  and  sliall  also  assign  their  reasons  for 
the  opinions  so  to  be  given.  And  in  examining 
and  classing  such  claims,  the  recorder  and  com- 
missioners shall  take  into  consideration,  as  well 
the  testimony  heretofore  taken  by  the  boards 
of  commissioners  and  recorder  of  land  titles, 
upon  those  claims,  as  such  other  testimony  as 
may  be  admissible  under  the  rules  heretofore 
existing  for  taking  such  testimony  before  said 
boards  and  recorder :  and  all  such  testimony 
shall  be  taken  wilhiu  twelve  months  after  the 
passage  of  this  act." 

Under  this  act  a  thirty  years'  disturbance  of 


land  titles  was  closed  (nearly),  in  that  part  of 
Upper  Louisiana,  now  constituting  the  State  of 
Missouri.  The  commissioners  executed  the  act 
in  the  liberal  spirit  of  its  own  enactment  and 
Congress  confirmed  all  they  classed  as  cominK 
under  the  principles  of  the  act.  In  otlier  parts 
of  Louisiana,  and  in  Florida,  the  same  harassing 
am  uinous  process  had  been  gone  through  in 
respect  to  the  claims  of  foreign  origin— limita- 
tions,  as  in  Missouri,  upon  the  kind  of  claims 
which  might  be  confirmed,  excluding  minerals 
and  saline  waters — limitations  upon  the  quanti- 
ty to  be  confirmed,  so  as  to  split  or  grant,  and 
divide  it  between  the  grantee  and  the  govern- 
ment— the  former  having  to  divide  again  with 
an  agent  or  attorney — and  limitations  upon  the 
inception  of  the  titles  which  might  be  examined, 
so  as  to  confine  the  origination  to  particular 
officers,  and  forms.  The  act  conformed  to  aU 
previous  ones,  of  requiring  no  examination  of  a 
title  which  was  complete  under  the  previous 
governments. 


CHAPTER    LXXII. 

"EFFECTS  OF  THE  VETO." 

Under  this  caption  a  general  register  com- 
menced in  all  the  newspapers  opposed  to  the 
election  of  General  Jackson  (and  they  were  a 
great  majority  of  the  whole  number  published), 
immediately  after  the  delivery  of  the  veto  mes- 
sage, and  were  continued  down  to  the  day  of 
election,  all  tending  to  show  the  disiistrous  con- 
sequences upon  the  business  of  the  country,  and 
upon  his  own  popularity,  resulting  from  that 
act.  To  judge  from  these  items  it  would  seem 
that  the  property  of  the  country  was  nearly 
destroyed,  and  the  General's  popularity  entirely ; 
and  that  both  were  to  remain  in  that  staic  un- 
til the  bank  was  rechartered.  Their  character 
was  to  show  the  decline  which  had  taken  place 
in  the  price  of  labor,  produce,  and  property — the 
stoppage  and  suspension  of  buildings,  improve- 
ments, and  useful  enterprises — the  renunciation 
of  the  President  by  his  old  friends — the  scarcity 
of  money  and  the  high  rate  of  interest — and  the 
consequent  pervading  distress  of  the  whole  com- 
munity. These  lugubrious  memorandums  of 
calamities  produced  by  the  conduct  of  one  man 


ANNO  1832.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


281 


were  duly  collected  from  the  papers  in  which 
they  were  chronicled  and  registered  in  "  Niles' 
Register,"  for  the  information  of  posterity ;  and 
a  few  items  now  selected  from  the  general  regis- 
tration will  show  to  what  extent  this  business 
of  distressing  the  country— (taking  the  facts  to 
be  true),  or  of  alarming  it  (taking  them  to  be 
false),  was  carried  by  the  great  moneyed  corpo- 
ration, which,  according  to  its  own  showing,  had 
power  to  destroy  all  local  banks;  and  conse- 
quently to  injure  the  whole  business  of  the 
community.  The  following  are  a  few  of  these 
items— a  small  number  of  each  class,  by  way  of 
showing  the  character  of  the  whole : 

"  On  the  day  of  the  receipt  of  the  President's 
bank  veto  in  New- York,  four  hundred  and  thir- 
ty-seven shares  of  United  States  Bank  stock 
were  sold  at  a  decline  of  four  per  centum  from 
the  rates  of  the  preceding  day.     We  learn  from 
Cincinnati  that,  within  two  days  after  the  veto 
reached  that  city,  building-bricks  fell  from  five 
dollars  to  three  dollars  per  thousand,  A  general 
consternation  is  represented  to  have  pervaded 
the  city.    An  intelligent  friend  of  General  Jack- 
son, at  Cincinnati,  states,  as  the  opinion  of  the 
best  informed  men  there,  that  the  veto  has 
caused  a  depreciation  of  the  real  estate  of  the 
city,  of  from  twenty-five  to  thirty-three  and 
one  third  per  cent."— "A  thousand  people  as- 
sembled at    Richmond,   Kentucky,  to  protest 
against  the  veto."—"  The  veto  reached  a  meeting 
of  citizens,  in  Mason  county,  Kentucky,  which  had 
assembled  to  hear  the  speeches  of  the  opposing 
candidates  for  the  legislature,  on  which  two  of 
the  administration  candidates  immediately  with- 
drew themselves  from  the  contest,  declaring  that 
they  could  support  the  administration  no  long- 
er."—"Lexington^  Kentucky:  July 25th.   Acall, 
signed  by  fifty  citizens  of  great  respectability, 
formerly  supporters  of  General  Jackson,  an- 
nounced their  renunciation  of  him,  and  invited 
all  others,  in  the  like  situation  with  themselves, 
to  assemble  in  public  meeting  and  declare  their 
sentiments.    A  large  and  very  respectable  meet- 
mg  ensued."-" Louisville,  Kentucky:  July  18. 
Forty  citizens,  ex-friends  of  General  Jackson, 
called  a  meeting,  to  express  their  sentiments  on 
the  veto,  declaring  that  they  could  no  longer 
support  him.    In  consequence,  one  of  the  largest 
meetings  ever  held  in  Louisville  was  convened, 
and  condemned  the  veto,  the  anti-tarifi"  and  anti- 
raternal  improvement  policy  of  General  Jackson, 
and  accused  him  of  a  breach  of  promise,  in  be- 
coming a  second  time  a  candidate  for  the  Presi- 
dency."—"At  Pittsburg,  seventy  former  friends 
ot  General  Jackson  called  a  meeting  of  those 
who  had  renounced  him,  which  was  numerously 
and  respectably  attended,  the  veto  condemned, 
and  the  bank  applauded  as  necessary  to  the  pros- 
perity of  the  country."— "Irish  meeting  in  Phi- 


ladelphia.   A  call,  signed  by  above  two  thousand 
naturalized   Irishmen,   seceding   from   General 
Jackson,   invited    their   fellow-countrymen   to 
meet  and  choose  between  the  tyrant  and  the 
bank,  and  gave  rise  to  a  numerous  assemblage 
in  Independent.  Square,  at  which  strong  resolu- 
tions were  adopted,  renouncing  Jackson  and  his 
nieasures,  opposing  his  re-election  and  sustaining 
the  bank."—'-  The  New  Orleans  emporium  men- 
tions, among  other  deleterious  effects  of  the  bank 
veto,  at  that  place,  that  one  of  the  State  banks 
had  already  commenced  discounting  four  months' 
paper,  at  eight  per  centum."—"  Cincinnati  far- 
mers look  here !    We  are  credibly  informed  that 
.several  merchants  in  this  city,  in  making  con- 
tracts for  their  winter  supplies  of  pork,  are  of- 
fering to  contract  to  pay  two  dollars  fifty  cents 
per  hundred,  if  Clay  is  elected,  and  one  dollar 
fifty  cents,  if  Jackson  is  elected.     Such  is  the 
effect  of  the  veto.    This  is  something  that  peo- 
ple can  understand,"— "  Baltimore.     A   great 
many  mechanics  are  thrown  out  of  employment 
by   the   stoppage   of  building.     The   prospect 
ahead  is,  that  we  shall  have  a  very  distressing 
winter.    There  will  be  a  swift  reduction  of  prices 
to  the  laboring  classes.     Many  who  subsisted 
upon  labor,  will  lack  regular  employment,  and 
have  to  depend  upon  chance  or  charity ;  and 
many  will  go  supperless  to  bed  who  deserve  to 
be  filled."— "  Cincinnati.     Facts  arc  stubborn 
things.    It  is  a  fact  that,  last  year,  before  this 
time,  ^300,000  had  been  advanced,  by  citizens  of 
this  place,  to  farmers  for  pork,  and  now,  not  one 
dollar.     So  much  for  the  veto."—"  Brownsville, 
Pennsylvania.     We  understand,  that  a  large 
manufacturer  has  discharged  all  his  hands,  and 
others  have  given  notice  to  do  so.    We  under- 
stand, that  not  a  single  steamboat  will  be  built 
chis  season,  at  Wheeling,  Pittsburg,  or  Louis- 
ville,"-" Niles'  Register  editorial.      No  King 
of  England  has  dared  a  practical  use  of  the  word 
'  veto,'  for  about  two  hundred  years,  or  more ; 
and  it  has  become  obsolete  in  the  United  King- 
dom of  Great  Britain;  and  Louis  Philippe  would 
hardly  retain  his  crown  three  days,  were  he  to 
veto  a  deliberate  act  of  the  two  French  Cham- 
bers, though  supported  by  an  army  of  100,000 
men," 

All  this  distress  and  alarm,  real  and  factitious, 
was  according  to  the  programme  which  pre- 
scribed it,  and  easily  done  by  the  bank,  and  its 
branches  in  the  States :  its  connection  with  mo- 
ney-dealers and  brokers;  its  power  over  its 
debtors,  and  its  power  over  the  thousand  local 
banks,  which  it  could  destroy  by  an  exertion  of 
its  strength,  or  raise  up  by  an  extension  of  its 
favor.  It  was  a  wicked  and  infamous  attempt, 
on  the  part  of  the  great  mone3'ed  corporation, 
to  govern  the  election  by  operating  on  the  busi- 
ness and  the  fears  of  the  people— destroying 
some  and  alarming  others. 


r 


p.. 


282 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


I 


CHAPTER     LXXIII. 

PRESIDENTIAL   ELECTION   OF   1882. 

General  Jackson  and  Mr.  Van  Burcn  were 
the  candidates,  on  one  side  ;  Mr.  Clay  and  Mr, 
John  Sergeant,  of  Pennsylvania,  on  the  other, 
and  the  result  of  no  election  had  ever  heen  look- 
ed to  with  more  solicitude.  It  was  a  question 
of  systems  and  of  measures,  and  tried  in  the 
persons  of  men  who  stood  out  boldly  and  un- 
equivocally in  the  representation  of  their  re- 
spective sides.  Renewal  of  the  national  bank 
charter,  continuance  of  the  high  protective  po- 
licy, distribution  of  the  public  land  money,  in- 
ternal improvement  by  the  federal  government, 
removal  of  the  Indians,  interference  between 
Georgia  and  the  Cherokees,  and  the  whole  Ame- 
rican system  were  staked  on  the  issue,  repre- 
sented on  one  side  by  Mr.  Clay  and  Mr.  Sergeant, 
md  opposed,  on  the  other,  by  General  Jackson 
and  Mr.  Van  Buren.  The  defeat  of  Mr.  Clay, 
and  the  consequent  condemnation  of  his  mea- 
sures, was  complete  and  overwhelming.  He 
received  but  forty-nine  votes  out  of  a  totality  of 
two  hundred  and  eighty-eight !  And  this  re- 
sult is  not  to  be  attributed,  as  done  by  Mous. 
do  Tocqueville,  to  military  fame.  General  Jack- 
son was  now  a  tried  statesman,  and  great  issues 
were  made  in  his  person,  and  discussed  in  every 
form  of  speech  and  writing,  and  in  every  forum. 
State,  and  federal — from  the  halls  of  Congress 
to  township  meetings — and  his  success  was  not 
only  triumphant  but  progressive.  His  vote  was 
a  large  increase  upon  the  preceding  one  of  1828, 
as  that  itself  had  been  upon  the  previous  one 
of  1824.  The  result  was  hailed  with  general 
satisfaction,  as  settling  questions  of  national  dis- 
turbance, and  leaving  a  clear  field,  as  it  was 
hoped,  for  future  temperate  and  useful  legisla- 
tion. The  vice-presidential  election,  also,  had 
a  point  and  a  lesson  in  it.  Besides  concur- 
ring with  General  Jackson  in  his  systems  of 
policy,  Mr.  Van  Buren  had,  in  his  own  person, 
questions  which  concerned  himself,  and  which 
went  to  his  character  as  a  fair  and  honorable 
man.  He  had  b<!en  rejected  by  the  Senate  as 
minister  t-o  tho.  cnnvt  of  Great  Britain,  under 
circumstances  to  give  eclat  to  the  rejection,  being 
then  at  his  post ;  and  on  accusations  of  prosti- 


tuting official  station  to  party  intrigue  and  ele- 
vation, and  humbling  his  country  before  Great 
Britain  to  obtain  as  a  favor  what  was  duo  as  a 
right.  He  had  also  been  accused  of  breaking  up 
friendship  between  General  Jackson  and  Mr.CM- 
houn,  for  the  purpose  of  getting  a  rival  out,  of 
the  way — contriving  for  that  purpose  the  disso- 
lution of  the  cabinet,  the  resuscitation  of  the 
buried  question  of  the  punishment  of  General 
Jackson  in  Mr.  Monroe's  cabinet,  and  a  system 
of  intrigues  to  destroy  Mr.  Calhoun — all  brought 
forward  imposingly  in  senatorial  and  Congress 
debates,  in  pamphlets  and  periodicals,  and  in 
every  variety  of  speech  and  of  newspaper  pub- 
lication ;  and  all  with  the  avowed  purpose  of 
showing  him  unworthy  to  be  elected  Vice-Pre- 
sident. Yet,  he  was  elected—  and  triumphantly 
— receiving  the  same  vote  with  General  Jackson, 
except  that  of  Pennsylvania,  which  went  to  one 
of  her  own  citizens,  Mr.  William  Wilkins,  then 
senator  in  Congress,  and  afterwards  Minister  to 
Russia,  and  Secretary  of  War.  Another  circum- 
stance attended  this  election,  of  ominous  charac- 
ter, and  deriving  emphasis  from  the  state  of  the 
times.  South  Carolina  refused  to  vote  in  it; 
that  is  to  say,  voted  with  neither  party,  and 
threw  away  her  vote  upon  citizens  who  were 
not  candidates,  and  who  received  no  vote  but 
her  own ;  namely.  Governor  John  Floyd  of 
Virginia,  and  Mr.  Henry  Lee  of  Massachusetts: 
a  dereliction  not  to  be  accounted  for  upon  any 
intelligible  or  consistent  reason,  seeing  that  the 
rival  candidates  held  the  opposite  sides  of  the 
system  of  which  the  State  complained,  and  that 
the  success  of  one  was  to  be  its  overthrow ;  of 
the  other,  to  be  its  confirmation.  This  circum- 
stance, coupled  with  the  nullification  attitude 
which  the  State  had  assumed,  gave  significance 
to  this  separation  from  the  other  States  in  the 
matter  of  the  election :  a  separation  too  marked 
not  to  be  noted,  and  interpreted  by  current 
events  too  clearly  to  be  misunderstood.  Another 
circumstance  attended  this  election,  of  a  nature 
not  of  itself  to  command  commcraoratioc,  but 
worthy  to  bo  remembered  for  the  lesson  it 
reads  to  all  political  parties  founded  upon  one 
idea,  and  especially  when  that  idea  has  nothing 
political  in  it ;  it  was  the  anti-masonic  vote  of 
the  State  of  Vermont,  for  Mr.  Wiii,  late  United 
States  Attorney-General,  for  President ;  and  for 
Mr.  Amos  Ellmakcr  of  Pennsylvania,  for  Vice- 
President.    The  cause  of  that  vote  was  this: 


ANNO  1832,    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


283 


n,  of  a  nature 


gome  years  before,  a  citizen  of  New-York,  one 
Mr.  Morgan,  a  member  of  the  Freemason  fra- 
ternity, had  disappeared,  under  circumstances 
wiiicli  induced  the  belief  that  he  had  been  secret- 
ly put  to  death,  by  order  of  the  society,  for  di- 
vulging their  secret.  A  great  popular  ferment 
grew  out  of  this  belief,  spreading  into  neighbor- 
ing States,  with  an  outcry  against  all  masons, 
and  ail  secret  societies,  and  a  demand  for  their 
suppression.  Politicians  embarked  on  this  cur- 
rent ;  turned  it  into  the  field  of  elections,  and 
made  it  potent  in  governing  many.  After  ob- 
taining dommion  over  so  many  local  and  State 
elections,  "  anti-masonry,"  as  the  new  enthusi- 
asm was  called,  aspired  to  higher  game,  under- 
took to  govern  presidential  candidates,  subject- 
ing them  to  interrogatories  upon  the  point  of 
their  masonic  faith ;  and  eventually  set  up  can- 
didates of  their  own  for  these  two  high  offices. 
The  trial  was  made  in  the  persons  of  Messrs. 
Wirt  and  Ellmaker,  and  resulted  in  giving  them 
seven  votes — the  vote  of  Vermont  alone — and, 
in  showing  the  weakness  of  the  party,  and  its 
consequent  inutility  as  a  political  machine.  The 
rest  is  soon  told.  Anti-raasom-y  soon  ceased  to 
have  a  distinctive  existence  ;  died  out,  and,  in  its 
death,  left  a  lesson  to  all  political  parties  found- 
ed in  one  idea— especially  when  that  idea  hasno- 
tliiug  political  in  it. 


CHAPTER   LXXIV. 

FIEST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE  OF  PKESIDENT  JACK- 
SON AFTER  HIS  SECOND  ELECTION. 

This  must  have  been  an  occasion  of  great  and 
honest  exultation  to  General  Jackson— a  re- 
election after  a  four  years'  trial  of  his  adminis- 
tration, over  an  opposition  so  formidable,  and 
after  having  assumed  responsibilities  so  vast, 
and  by  a  majority  so  triumphant— and  his  mes- 
Bage  directed  to  the  same  members,  who,  four 
months  before,  had  been  denouncing  his  mea- 
sures, and  consigning  himself  to  popular  con- 
demnation, lie  doubtless  enjoyed  a  feeling  of 
elation  when  drawing  up  that  message,  and  had 
a  right  to  the  enjoyment  ■  but  no  symptom  of 
tliat  feeling  appeared  in  the  message  itself, 
which,  abstaining  from  all  reference  to  the  elec- 
tion, wholly  confined  itself  to  business  topics, 


and  in  the  subdued  style  of  a  business  paper. 
Of  the  foreign  relations  he  was  able  to  give  .■n 
good,  and  therefore,  a  brief  account ;  and  pro- 
ceeding quickly  to  our  domestic  afitiirs  gave  to 
each  head  of  these  concerns  a  succinct  conside- 
ration. The  state  of  the  finances,  and  the  pub- 
lic debt,  claimed  his  first  attention.  The  re- 
ceipts from  the  customs  were  stated  at  twenty- 
eight  millions  of  dollars— from  the  lands  at  two 
millions — the  payments  on  account  of  the  pub- 
lic debt  at  eighteen  millions ; — and  the  balance 
remaining  to  be  paid  at  seven  millions — to 
which  the  current  income  would  be  more  than 
adequate  notwithstanding  an  estimated  reduc- 
tion of  three  or  four  millions  from  the  customs 
in  consequence  of  reduced  duties  at  the  preced- 
ing session.  He  closed  this  head  with  the  fol 
lowing  view  of  the  success  of  his  administration 
in  extinguishing  a  national  debt,  and  his  con- 
gratulations to  Congress  on  the  auspicious  and 
rare  event : 

"  I  cannot  too  cordially  congratulate  Congress 
and  my  fellow-citizens  on  the  near  approach  of 
that  memorable  and  happy  e-  :^nt,  the  extinction 
of  the  public  debt  of  this  great  and  free  nation. 
Faithful  to  the  wise  and  patriotic  policy  marked 
out  by  the  legislation  of  the  country  for  this 
object,  the  present  administration  has  devoted 
to  it  all  the  means  which  a  flourishing  commerce 
has  supplied,  and  a  prudent  economy  preserved, 
for  the  public  treasury.  Within  the  four  years 
for  which  the  people  have  confided  the  execu- 
tive power  to  my  charge,  fifty-eight  millions  of 
dollars  will  have  been  applied  to  the  payment 
of  the  public  debt.  That  this  has  been  accom- 
plished without  stinting  the  expenditui'es  for 
all  other  proper  objects,  will  be  seen  by  refer- 
ring to  the  liberal  provision  made,  during  the 
same  period,  for  the  support  and  increase  of  our 
means  of  maritime  and  military  defence,  for  in- 
ternal improvements  of  a  national  character,  for 
the  removal  and  preservation  of  the  Indians, 
and,  lastly,  for  the  gallant  veterans  of  the  Revo 
tion." 

To  the  gratifying  fact  of  the  extinction  of 
the  debt.  General  Jackson  wished  to  add  the 
substantial  benefit  of  release  from  the  burthens 
which  it  imposed— an  object  desirable  in  itself, 
and  to  all  the  States,  and  particularly  to  those 
of  the  South,  greatly  dissatisfied  with  the  bur- 
thens of  the  tariff,  and  with  the  large  expendi- 
ditures  which  took  place  in  other  quarters  of 
the  Union.  Sixteen  millions  of  dollars,  he  stat- 
ed to  be  the  outlay  of  the  federal  government 
for  all  objects  exclusive  of  the  public  debt ;  so 
that  ten  millions  might  be  subject  to  reduction : 


i 


^R 


.  i 


k 


284 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


and  this  to  be  cfTectcd  so  as  to  retain  a  protect- 
ing duty  in  favor  of  the  articles  essential  to  our 
defence  and  comfort  in  time  of  war.  On  this 
point  ho  said : 

"Those  who  lake  an  enlarged  view  of  the 
condition  of  our  country,  must  be  satisfied  that 
the  jwlicy  of  protection  must  be  ultinuitely  lim- 
ited to  those  articles  of  domestic  manufacture 
which  are  indispensable  to  our  safety  in  time  of 
war.  Within  this  scope,  on  a  reasonable  scale, 
it  is  recommcndcKl  by  every  consideration  of 
patriotism  and  dutj%  which  will  doubtless  al- 
ways secure  to  it  a  liberal  and  efficient  support. 
But  beyond  this  object,  we  have  already  seen 
the  operation  of  the  system  productive  of  dis- 
content. In  some  sections  of  the  republic,  its 
influence  is  deprecated  as  tending  to  concentrate 
wealth  into  a  lew  hands,  and  as  creating  those 
germs  of  dependence  and  vice  which,  in  other 
countries,  have  characterized  the  existence  of 
monopolies,  and  proved  so  destructive  of  liberty 
and  the  general  good.  A  large  portion  of  the 
people,  in  one  section  of  the  republic,  declares  it 
not  only  inexpedient  on  these  grounds,  but  as 
disturbing  the  equal  relations  of  property  by 
legislation,  and  therefore  unconstitutional  and 
unjust." 

On  the  subject  of  the  public  lands  nis  recom- 
mendations were  brief  and  clear,  and  embraced 
the  subject  at  the  two  great  points  which  dis- 
tinguish the  statesman's  view  from  that  of  a 
mere  politician.  He  looked  at  them  under  the 
great  aspect  of  settlement  and  cultivation,  and 
the  release  of  the  new  States  from  the  presence 
of  a  great  foreign  landholder  within  their  limits. 
The  sale  of  the  salable  parts  to  actual  settlers 
at  what  they  cost  the  United  States,  and  the 
cession  of  the  unsold  parts  within  a  reasonable 
time  to  the  States  in  which  they  lie,  was  his 
wise  recommendation ;  and  thus  expressed : 

"  It  seems  to  me  to  be  our  true  policy  that 
the  public  lands  shall  cease,  as  soon  as  practica- 
ble, to  be  a  source  of  revenue,  and  that  they  be 
sold  to  settlers  in  limited  parcels,  at  a  price 
barely  sufficient  to  reimburse  to  the  United 
States  the  expense  of  the  present  system,  and 
the  cost  arising  under  our  Indian  compacts. 
The  advantages  of  accurate  surveys  and  un- 
doubted titles,  now  secured  to  purchasers,  seem 
to  forbid  the  abolition  of  the  present  system, 
because  none  can  be  substituted  which  will 
more  perfectly  accomplish  these  important  ends. 
It  is  desirable,  however,  that,  in  convenient 
time,  this  machinery  be  withdrawn  from  the 
States,  and  that  the  right  of  soil,  and  tho  future 
disposition  of  it,  be  surrendered  to  the  States, 
respectively,  in  which  it  lies. 

"The  adventurous  and  hardy  population  of 
the  West,  besides  contributing  their  equal  share 


of  taxation  under  our  imjiost  system,  have  in 
the  progress  of  our  government,  for  the  lands 
they  occupy,  paid  into  the  treasury  a  larpo  pro- 
per' m  of  forty  millions  of  dollars,  and,  of  the 
revenue  received  therefrom,  but  a  small  part 
has  been  expended  amongst  them.  When  to 
the  disadvantage  of  their  situation  in  this  re- 
spect, we  add  the  consideration  that  it  is  their 
labor  alone  which  gives  real  value  to  the  lands 
and  that  the  proceeds  arising  from  their  sale 
arc  distributed  chiefly  among  States  which  had 
not  originally  any  claim  to  them,  and  which 
have  enjoyed  the  undivided  emolument  arisine 
from  the  sale  of  their  own  lands,  it  cannot  be 
expected  that  the  new  States  will  remain  longer 
contented  with  the  present  policy,  after  the  pay- 
ment of  the  public  tiebt.  To  avert  the  conBe- 
quences  Avhich  may  be  apprehended  from  this 
cause,  to  put  an  end  for  ever  to  all  partial  and 
interested  legislation  on  the  subject,  and  to  af- 
ford to  every  American  citizen  of  enterprise,  the 
opportunity  of  securing  an  independent  free- 
huldj  it  seems  to  me,  therefore,  best  to  abandon 
the  idea  of  raising  a  future  revenue  out  of  tli£ 
public  lands." 

These  are  the  grounds  upon  which  the  mem- 
bers from  the  new  States  should  unite  and 
stand.  The  Indian  title  has  been  extinguished 
within  their  limits ;  the  federal  title  should  be 
extinguished  also.  A  stream  of  agriculturists 
is  constantly  pouring  into  their  bosom— many 
of  them  without  the  means  of  purchasing  land 
— and  to  all  of  them  the  whole  of  their  means 
needed  in  its  improvement  and  cultivation. 
Donations  then,  or  sales  at  barely  reimbursing 
prices,  is  the  wise  policy  of  the  government; 
and  a  day  should  be  fixed  by  Congress  in  ever)' 
State  (regulated  by  the  quantity  of  public  land 
within  its  limits),  after  which  the  surrender  of 
the  remainder  should  take  effect  within  the 
State ;  and  the  whole  federal  machinery  for  the 
sale  of  the  lands  be  withdrawn  from  it.  In 
thus  filling  the  new  States  and  Territories  with 
independent  landholders — with  men  having  a 
stake  in  the  soil — the  federal  government  would 
it.self  be  receiving,  and  that  for  ever,  the  two 
things  of  which  every  government  has  need, 
namely,  perennial  revenue,  and  military  service. 
The  cultivation  of  the  lands  would  bring  in  well- 
regulated  revenue  through  the  course  of  circu- 
lation, and,  what  Mr.  Burke  calls,  "  the  politi- 
cal secretions  of  the  State."  Their  population 
would  be  a  perpetual  army  for  the  service  of 
the  couiitry  when  needed.  It  is  the  truo  and 
original  defence  of  nations — the  incitement  and 
reward  for  defence — a  freehold,  and  arms  to  4e- 


ANNO  1832.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT, 


285 


fend  it.  It  is  a  sq-  ■.■:•■  of  defence  which  preced- 
ed staiuliDg  armies,  and  should  supersede  them ; 
and  pre-eminently  belongs  to  a  republic,  and 
above  all  to  the  republic  of  the  United  States, 
so  abounding  in  the  means  of  creating  these  de- 
fenders, and  needing  them  so  much.  To  say 
nothing  of  nearer  domains,  there  is  the  broad 
expanse  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific 
ocean,  all  needing  settlers  and  defenders.  Cover 
it  with  freeholders,  and  you  have  all  the  de- 
fenders that  are  requii'ed — all  that  interior  sav- 
ages, or  exterior  foreigners,  could  ever  render 
necessary  to  apjvear  in  arms.  In  a  mere  milita- 
ry point  of  view,  and  as  assuring  the  cheap  and 
efficient  defence  of  the  nation,  our  border,  and 
our  distant  public  territory,  should  be  promptly 
covered  with  freehold  settlers. 

Ou  the  subject  of  the  removal  of  the  Indians, 
the  message  said : 

"  I  am  happy  to  inform  you,  that  tho  wise 
and  humane  policy  of  transferring  from  the 
eastern  to  the  western  side  of  the  Mississippi, 
the  remnants  of  our  aboriginal  tribes,  with  their 
own  consent,  and  upon  just  terms,  has  been 
steadily  pursued,  and  is  approaching,  I  trust,  its 
consummation.  By  reference  to  the  report  of 
tho  Secretary  of  War,  and  to  the  documents 
submitted  with  it,  you  will  see  the  progress 
wliich  has  been  made  since  your  last  session  in 
the  arrangement  of  the  various  matters  connected 
with  our  Indian  relations.  With  one  exception, 
every  subject  involving  any  question  of  conflict- 
ing jurisdiction,  or  of  peculiar  di.Ticulty,  has  been 
happily  disposed  of,  and  the  conviction  evidently 
gains  ground  among  the  Indians,  that  their  re- 
moval to  the  country  assigned  by  the  United 
States  for  their  permanent  residence,  furnishes 
the  only  hope  of  their  ultimate  prosperity. 

"  With  that  portion  of  the  Cherokees,  how- 
ever, living  within  the  State  of  Georgia,  it  has 
been  found  impracticable,  as  yet,  to  make  a 
satisfactory  adjustment.  Such  was  my  anxiety 
to  remove  all  the  grounds  of  complaint,  and  to 
bring  to  a  termination  the  difficulties  in  which 
they  arc  involved,  that  I  directed  the  very  Hberal 
propositions  to  be  made  to  them  which  accom- 
pany the  documents  herewith  submitted.  They 
cannot  but  have  seen  in  these  offers  the  evidence 
of  the  strongest  disposition,  on  the  part  of  the 
government,  to  deal  justly  and  liberally  with 
them.  An  ample  indemnity  was  offered  for  their 
present  possessions,  a  liberal  provision  for  their 
future  support  and  improvement,  and  full  security 
for  their  private  and  political  rights.  Whatever 
difference  of  opinion  may  have  prevailed  respect- 
ing thf>  jast  claims  of  these  people,  there  will 
probably  be  none  respecting  the  liberality  of  the 
propositions,  and  very  little  respecting  the  ex- 
pediency of  their  immediate  acceptance.    They 


were,  however,  rejected,  and  thus  tho  position 
of  these  Indians  remains  unchanged,  as  do  tho 
views  comnmnicated  in  my  message  to  tho  Se- 
nate, of  February  22,  1831." 

Tnc  President  does  not  mention  the  obstacles 
which  delayed  the  humane  policy  of  transferring 
the  Indian  tribes  to  tho  west  of  the  Mississippi, 
nor  allude  to  the  causes  which  prevented  tho 
remaining  Cherokees  in  Georgia  from  accepting 
the  liberal  terms  oflered  them,  and  joining  the 
emigrated  portion  of  their  tribe  on  the  Arkansas ; 
but  these  obstacles  and  causes  were  known  to 
the  public,  and  the  knowledge  of  them  was  car- 
ried into  the  parliamentary,  the  legislative,  and 
the  judicial  history  of  the  country.  These 
removals  were  seized  upon  by  party  spirit  as 
soon  as  General  Jackson  took  up  the  policy  of 
his  predecessors,  and  undertook  to  complete  what 
they  had  began.  His  injustice  and  tyranny  to 
the  Indians  became  a  theme  of  political  party 
vituperation  ;  and  the  South,  and  Georgia  espe- 
cially, a  new  battle-field  for  political  warfare. 
The  extension  of  her  laws  and  jurisdiction  over 
the  part  of  her  territory  still  inhabited  by  a  part 
of  the  Cherokees,  was  tho  signal  for  concentrating 
upon  that  theatre  tho  sympathies,  and  the  interfer- 
ence of  politicians  and  of  missionaries.  Congress 
was  appealed  to ;  and  refused  the  intervention 
of  its  authority.  The  Supreme  Court  was  applied 
to  to  stay,  by  an  injunction,  the  operation  of  the 
laws  of  Georgia  on  the  Indian  part  of  the  State ; 
and  refused  the  application,  for  want  of  juris- 
diction of  the  question.  It  was  applied  to  to  bring 
the  case  of  the  missionaries  before  itself,  and  did 
so,  reversing  the  judgment  of  the  Georgia  State 
Court,  and  pronouncing  one  of  its  own ;  which 
was  disregarded.  It  was  applied  to  to  reverse 
the  judgment  in  the  case  of  Tassells,  and  the  writ 
of  error  was  issued  to  bring  up  the  case ;  and 
on  the  day  appointed  Tassells  was  hanged.  The 
missionaries  were  released  as  soon  as  they  ceased 
their  appeals  to  the  Supreme  Court,  and  address- 
ed themselves  to  the  Governor  of  Georgia,  to 
whom  belonged  the  pardoning  power ;  and  the 
correspondence  and  communications  which  took 
place  between  themselves  and  Governor  Lump- 
kin showed  that  they  Avere  emissaries,  as  well 
as  missionaries,  and  acting  a  prescribed  part  for 
the  "  good  of  the  country  " — as  they  expressed 
it.  They  came  from  the  North,  r  nd  returned  to 
it  as  soon  as  released.  All  Georgia  was  outraged, 
and  justly,  at  this  political  interference  in  her 


I 

L  _, 


286 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


I 


affairs,  and  this  intrusive  philanthropy  in  behalf 
of  Indians  to  whom  she  gave  the  same  protection 
as  to  her  own  citizens,  and  at  these  attempts, 
so  repeatedly  made  to  bring  her  before  the  Su- 
premo Court,  ller  governors  (Troup,  Gilmer, 
and  Lumpkin,)  to  wlioiu  it  successively  belonged 
to  represent  the  rights  and  dignity  of  the  State, 
did  m  with  firmness  and  moderation ;  and,  in 
the  end,  all  her  objects  were  attained,  and  the 
interference  and  intrusion  ceased  ;  and  the  issue 
of  the  presidential  election  rebuked  the  political 
and  ecclesiastical  intcrmeddlers  in  her  affairs. 

A  passage  in  the  message  startled  the  friends 
of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  and,  in  fact, 
took  the  public  by  surprise.  It  was  an  intima- 
tion of  the  insolvency  of  the  bank,  and  of  the 
insecurity  of  the  public  deposits  therein;  and  a 
recommendation  to  have  the  affairs  of  the  in- 
stitution thoroughly  investigated.  It  was  in 
these  terms : 

"  Such  measures  as  are  within  the  reach  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  have  been  taken  to 
enable  him  to  judge  whether  the  public  deposits 
in  that  institution  may  be  regarded  as  entirely 
safe  ;  but  as  his  limited  power  may  prove  inade- 
quate to  this  object,  I  recommend  the  subject  to 
tne  attention  of  Congress,  under  the  firm  belief 
that  it  is  worthy  their  serious  investigation.  An 
inquiry  into  the  transactions  of  the  institution, 
embracing  the  branches  as  well  as  the  principal 
bank,  seems  called  for  by  the  credit  which  is 
given  throughout  the  country  to  many  serious 
charges  impeaching  its  character,  and  which,  if 
true,  may  justly  excite  the  apprehension  that  it 
is  no  longer  a  safe  depository  of  the  money  of 
the  people." 

This  recommendation  gave  rise  to  proceedings 
in  Congress,  which  will  be  note  i  in  their  proper 
place.  The  intimation  of  insolvency  was  re- 
ceived with  scorn  by  the  friends  of  the  great 
corporation — with  incredulity  by  the  masses — 
and  with  a  belief  that  it  was  true  only  by  the 
few  who  closely  observed  the  signs  of  the  times, 
and  by  those  who  confided  in  the  sagacity  and 
provident  foresight  of  Jackson  (by  no  means 
inconsiderable  either  in  number  or  judgment). 
For  my  own  part  I  had  not  suspicioned  insol- 
vency when  I  commenced  my  opposition  to  the 
renewed  charter ;  and  was  only  brought  io  that 
suspicion,  and  in  fact,  conviction,  by  seeing  the 
flagrant  manner  in  which  the  institution  resisted 
investigation,  when  proposed  uudur  cifeumstan- 
ces  which  rendered  it  obligatory  to  its  honor ; 
and  which  could  only  be  so  resisted  from  a 


consciousness  that,  If  searched,  something  wmilii 
be  found  worse  than  any  thing  charged.  The 
only  circumstance  mentioned  by  the  President 
to  countenance  suspicion  was  the  conduct  of  the 
bank  in  relation  to  the  payment  of  five  miilioiH 
of  the  three  per  cent,  stock,  ordered  to  have  been 
paid  at  the  bank  in  the  October  preceding  (and 
where  the  money,  according  to  its  return?,  wus 
in  deposit) ;  and  instead  of  paying  which  the 
bank  secretly  sent  an  agent  to  London  to  obtain 
delay  from  the  creditors  for  six,  nine  and  twelve 
months ;  and  even  to  purchase  a  part  of  the  stock 
on  its  account — which  was  done — and  in  clear 
violation  of  its  charter  (which  forbids  Ac  in- 
stitution to  traffic  in  the  stocks  of  the  United 
States).  This  delay,  with  the  insufficient  and 
illegal  reason  given  for  it  (for  no  reason  could 
be  legal  or  sufficient  while  admitting  the  money 
to  be  in  her  hands,  and  that  which  llie  banii 
gave  related  to  the  cholera,  and  the  ever-ready 
excuse  of  accommodation  to  the  public),  could 
only  be  accounted  for  from  an  inability  to  pro- 
duce the  funds  ;  in  other  words,  that  while  her 
returns  to  the  treasury  admitted  she  had  the 
money,  the  state  of  her  vaults  showed  that  she 
had  it  not.  This  view  was  further  confirmed 
by  her  attempt  to  get  a  virtual  loan  to  meet  the 
payment,  if  delay  could  not  be  obtained,  or  the 
stock  purchased,  in  the  application  to  the  London 
house  of  the  Barings  to  draw  upon  it  for  the 
amount  uncovered  by  delay  or  by  purchase. 

But  the  salient  passage  in  the  message— the 
one  which  gave  it  a  new  and  broad  emphasis  in 
the  public  mind— was  the  part  which  related  to 
the  attitude  of  South  Carolina.  The  proceed- 
ings of  that  State  had  now  reached  a  point  which 
commanded  the  attention  of  all  America,  and 
could  not  be  overlooked  in  the  President's  mes- 
sage. Organized  opposition,  and  forcible  re- 
sistance to  the  laws,  took  their  open  form ;  and 
brought  up  the  question  of  the  governmental 
enforcement  of  these  laws,  or  submissiin  to  their 
violation.  The  question  made  a  crisis ;  and  the 
President  thus  brought  the  subject  before  Con- 
gress: 

"It  is  my  painful  duty  to  state,  that,  in  one 
quarter  of  the  United  States,  opposition  to  the 
revenue  laws  has  risen  to  a  height  which  threat- 
ens to  thwart  their  execution,  if  not  to  endan- 
ger the  integrity  of  the  Union.  Whatever  ob- 
structions may  be  thrown  lu  the  way  oi  m 
judicial  authorities  of  the  general  government 
it  is  hoped  they  will  be  able,  peaceably,  to  over 


ANNO  1838.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  rRRSIDENT. 


287 


come  them  by  tho  prudence  of  their  own  offlccrs, 
and  the  patnotwm  of  tho  i)cople.  Cut  RhouUi 
this  reuKonablc  reliance  on  tho  moderation  and 

rd  sense  of  all  jwrtions  of  our  fellow-citizens 
disappointed,  it  is  l)clievcd  that  tho  laws 
themselves  are  fully  adequate  to  the  suppression 
of  such  attempts  as  way  Imj  immediately  made. 
Should  the  exigency  arise,  rendering  tho  execu- 
tion of  the  existing  laws  impracticable,  from  any 
cause  whatever,  prompt  notice  of  it  will  be  given 
to  Congress,  with  the  suggestion  of  such  views 
and  measures  as  may  bo  deemed  necessary  to 
meet  it." 

Nothing  could  be  more  temperate,  subdued, 
and  even  conciliatory  than  the  tone  and  language 
of  this  indispensable  notice.  The  President 
could  not  avoid  bringing  the  subject  to  the  no- 
tice of  Congress ;  and  cwild  not  have  done  it  in 
a  more  unexceptionable  manner.  Ills  language 
was  that  of  justice  and  mildness.  The  peaceful 
administration  of  the  laws  wore  still  relied  upon, 
and  if  any  thing  further  became  necessary  he 
promised  an  immediate  notice  to  Congress.  In 
the  mean  time,  and  in  a  previous  part  of  his 
message,  he  had  shown  his  determination,  so  far 
as  it  depended  on  him,  to  remove  all  just  com- 
plaiut  of  the  burthens  of  the  tariff  by  effecting  a 
reduction  of  many  millions  of  the  duties :— a  dis- 
pensation permitted  by  the  extinction  of  the 
public  debt  within  tho  current  year,  and  by  the 
means  already  provided,  and  which  would  admit 
of  au  abolition  of  ten  to  twelve  millions  of  dol- 
lars of  duties. 


CHAPTER    LXXV. 

BANK  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES-DELAY  IN  PAY- 
ING THE  THREE  PER  CENTS -COMMITTEE  OF 
INVESTIGATION. 

The  President  in  his  message  had  made  two  re- 
commendations which  concerned  the  bank— one 
that  the  seven  millions  of  stock  held  therein  by 
the  United  States  should  be  sold ;  the  other  that  a 
committee  should  be  appointed  to  investigate  its 
condition.  On  the  question  of  referring  the  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  message  to  appropriate  com- 
mittees, Mr.  Speight,  of  North  Carolina,  moved 
that  this  latter  clause  be  sent  to  a  select  commit- 
tee; to  which  Mr.  Wayne,  of  Georeia,  proposed 
an  amendment,  that  the  committee  should'have 
power  to  bring  persons  before  them,  and  to  ex- 


amine them  on  oath,  and  to  call  upon  tho  bank 
and  its  branches  for  papers.  This  motion  gave 
rise  to  a  contest  similar  to  that  of  tho  preceding 
session  on  tho  same  point,  and  by  the  same 
actors— and  with  the  same  result  in  favor  of 
the  bank — tho  debate  being  modified  by  some 
fresh  and  material  incidents.  Mr.  Wickliffo,  of 
Kentucky,  had  previously  procured  a  call  to  be 
made  on  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  for  the 
report  which  his  agent  was  employed  in  making 
upon  the  condition  of  the  bank ;  and  wished  tho 
motion  for  the  committee  to  be  deferred  until 
that  report  came  in.    He  said : 

"  lie  had  every  confidence,  both  from  his  own 
judgment  and  from  information  in  his  posses- 
sion, that  when  the  resolution  he  had  offered 
should  receive  its  answer,  and  tho  House  should 
have  the  report  of  the  agent  sent  by  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasurer  to  inquire  into  the  affairs  of 
the  bank,  with  a  view  to  ascertain  whether  it 
was  a  safe  depository  for  the  public  funds,  the 
answer  would  be  favorable  to  the  bank  and  to 
the  entire  security  of  the  revenue.  Mr.  W.  said 
he  had  hoped  that  the  resolution  ho  had  offered 
would  have  superseded  the  necessity  of  another 
bank  discussion  in  that  House,  and  of  the  con- 
sequences upon  tho  financial  and  commercial 
operations  of  the  country,  and  upon  the  credit 
of  our  currency.  He  had  not  understood,  from 
a  hasty  reading  of  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  that  that  officer  had  expressed  any 
desire  for  the  appointment  of  any  committee  on 
the  subject.  The  secretary  said  that  he  had 
taken  steps  to  obtain  such  information  as  was 
within  his  control,  but  that  it  was  possible  he 
might  need  further  powers  hereafter.  What 
had  already  been  the  effect  throughout  the 
country  of  the  broadside  discharged  by  the  mes- 
sage at  the  bank?  Its  stock  had,  on  the  recep- 
tion of  that  message,  instantly  fallen  down  to 
104  per  cent.  Connected  with  this  proposition 
to  sell  the  stock,  a  loss  had  already  been  incur- 
red by  the  government  of  half  a  million  of  dol- 
lars. What  further  investigations  did  gentle- 
men require  ?  What  new  bill  of  indictment  was 
to  be  presented  ?  There  was  one  in  the  secre- 
tary's report,  which  was  also  alluded  to  in  the 
message :  it  was,  that  the  bank  had,  by  its  un- 
waranted  action,  prevented  the  government  from 
redeeming  the  three  per  cent,  stock  at  the  time 
it  desired.  But  what  was  the  actual  state  of 
the  fact  ?  What  had  the  bank  done  to  prevent 
such  redemption  ?  It  had  done  nothing  more 
nor  less  than  what  it  had  been  required  by  the 
government  to  do." 

The  objection  to  inquiry,  made  by  Mr.  Wick- 
lifle,  t,h.».t  it  depreciated  the  stock,  and  iuadc  a 
loss  of  the  difference  to  its  holders,  was  entirely 
fallacious,  as  fluctuations  in  the  price  of  stocka 


i:: 


11 


fell 

I  lit", It 


mi-. 


Luk\ 


288 


THTRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


»ro  greatly  under  t' 
bio  in  thoiu,  *«''  ^' 
alten»»t4;ly  to  di^ 
fluctu»(i»^'"   •%< 
buyers  o«  «i.l6cr». 


control  of  those  who  gain- 

')  mir"  «;'i!|y  circumstttiico, 

"'       erxalt  tht'in;    H\(|  thi> 

"  ibo,    ^   bwt  those  \<  hit  arv 

iettht    Injection  was  grikvC- 


\j  reiortwl  to  fvery  time  thmt  any  inoveincnt 
wsf  mk^o  wliich  atrccted  the  l.ank  j  and  arith- 
IMtioU  olcttltttions  were  gravely  gone  into  to 
•how,  .»|i*tt  WMJh  dci'line  of  tlio  stock,  i:  w  much 
money  t>M#  iHtockholder  had  lost.  On  tlii«  oc- 
casion thtt  Un»  ot  tb«  United  States  was  set 
down  at  half  a  uulUo,  of  dollars:— which  was 
recovered  four  days  afterwards  «ikiii  the  reading 
of  the  report  of  the  treasury  agent,  favoiable 
to  the  bank,  and  which  enabled  the  dealers  to 
put  up  the  shares  to  112  again.  In  the  mean 
time  nobody  lost  any  thing  but  the  gamblers ; 
and  that  was  nothing  to  the  public,  as  the  loss 
of  one  was  the  gain  of  the  other :  and  the  thing 
balanced  itself.  Holders  for  investment  neither 
lost,  nor  gained.  For  the  rest,  Mr.  Wayne,  of 
Georgia,  replied : 

"  It  has  been  said  that  nothing  was  now  be- 
fore the  House  to  make  an  inquiry  into  the  con- 
dition of  the  bank  desirable  or  necessary.  He 
wouhl  refer  to  the  President's  message,  and  to 
•he  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
hoth  suggesting  an  examination,  to  ascertain  if 
the  bank  was,  or  would  be  in  future,  a  safe  de- 
pository for  the  public  funds.  Mr.  W.  did  not 
say  it  was  not,  but  an  inquiry  into  the  fact 
might  be  very  projier  notwithsfanding ;  and  the 
President  and  Secretary,  in  suggesting  it,  had 
imputed  no  suspicion  of  the  insolvency  of  the 
bank.  Eventual  ability  to  discharge  all  of  its 
obligations  is  not  of  itself  enough  to  entitle  the 
bank  to  the  conlidencc  of  the  government.  Its 
management,  and  the  spirit  in  which  it  is  man- 
aged, in  direct  reference  to  the  government,  or 
to  those  administering  it,  may  make  investiga- 
tion proper.  V'hat  was  the  Executive's  com- 
plaint against  -be  bank  ?  That  it  had  mterfered 
with  the  payment  of  the  public  debt,  and  would 
postpone  the  payment  of  five  millions  of  it  for 
a  year  after  the  time  fixed  upon  for  its  redemp- 
tion, by  becoming  actually  or  nominally  the 
possetisors  of  that  amount  of  the  three  per 
centum  stock,  though  the  charter  prohibited  it 
from  holding  such  utock,  and  from  all  advanta- 
ges which  might  accrue  from  the  purchase  of 
it.  True,  the  bivnk  had  disavowed  the  owner- 
ship. But  of  th,  «;nm  which  had  been  bought 
by  Baring,  Broth-  4  Co.,  under  the  agree- 
ment witli  the  at;'>nt     '  ""■    'mnk,  i.vt  ninety-one 


and  a  half,  and  t'..  v*"  r;^ii  oh  had  been 

charged  to  the  l-:.-,  ,  o  )ald  derive  the 
benefit  of  the  diilc-);  >  .  i.  ^.du  the  co, \,  ."  il 
and  the  par  value,  >^','hich  Jw  governmeni  will 
pay  ?   Mr.  W.  knew  this  gain  would  be  effected 


by  what  may  Ik)  the  rate  of  exchange  lietwcin 
the  United  States  and  En^rland,  ttut  still  tlioif 
would  be  gain,  and  who  was  to  rtceivu  it?  H*- 
ring.  Brothers,  iV  Co.?   No.     The  bank  wim,  by 
Hjfreemi'ut,  charged  with  the  cost  of  it,  In  a 
sepBrate  account,  on  tin    books  of  Hiiriint,  Hro- 
tliti-,  A-  Co.,  and  it  had  agreed  to  pay  interi'st 
\i\H)n  the  »nu)unt,  until  the  stock  was  rt'deeii'i"!, 
"The  bank  being  prohibited  to  dei>l  in  sich 
stock,  it  would  he  well  to  iiuiuire,  even  uin!' 
the  present  arrangements  with  Baring,  Hrothen, 
&  r*!).,  whether  the  charter,  in  thit  resjK;ct,  wa.s 
s'lli     uitially  complied  with.      iMi     VV.  would 
not       v  go  into  the  question  of  the  policy  of 
the  arrangement  by  the  bank  eonccrninij;  tiic 
three  |K'r  cents.      It  may  eventuute  in  unat 
public  benefit,  as  regards  the  conmierce  of  the 
country ;  but  if  it  does,  it  will   he  no  apolo- 
gy for  the  temerity  of  an  interference  with  tlie 
fixed  policy  of   the  government,  in  regard  to 
the  payment  of  the  national  debt;  a  policy, 
which  those  who  administer  the  bank  kimw  bii 
been  fixed  by  all  who,  by  law,  can  have  iinj 
agency  in  its  payment.     Nor  can  any  apolopy 
Ih)  found  for  it  in  the  letter  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  of  the  I'Jth  of  July  last  to  Mr, 
Uiddle ;  for,  at  Philadelphia,  the  day  before,  on 
the  18th,  he  employed  an  agent  to  go  to  Eng- 
land, and  ha<l  given  instructions  to  make  an 
arrangement,  by  which  the  payment  of  the  |)ub- 
lic  debt  was  to  be  postponed  until  October, 
1833." 

Mr.  Watmough,  representative  from  the  dis- 
trict iu  which  the  bank  was  situated,  disclaimed 
any  intention  to  thwart  any  course  which  the 
House  was  disposed  to  take ;  but  said  that  the 
charges  against  the  bank  had  painfully  affected 
the  feelings  of  honorable  men  coimecteJ  with 
the  corporation,  and  injured  its  character ;  and 
deprecated  the  appointment  of  a  select  commit- 
tee; and  proposed  the  Committee  of  Ways  and 
Means — the  same  which  had  twice  reportetl  in 
favor  of  the  bank :— and  he  had  no  objection 
that  this  committee  should  be  clothed  with  all 
the  powers  proposed  by  Mr.  Wayne  to  be  con- 
ferred upon  the  select  commiU.e.  In  this  state 
of  the  question  the  report  ol  the  tiva.'^my  ftgent 
came  m,  and  deserves  to  be  rcnHi'lc  ■' "  .a  con- 
trast with  the  actual  conu.U;  ti  -i  the  bank  as 
afterwards  discovered,  and  as  a  specimen  of  the 
imposing  exhibit  of  its  affairs  which  a  moneyed 
corporation  can  make  when  actually  insolvent. 
The  report,  founded  on  the  statements  famished 
by  the  institution  itself,  presented  a  superb  con- 
dition— near  eighty  millions  of  assets  (to  be 
proHsP  .ftyn  .'ifl.'^  870Y  to  meet  all  demands 
against  it,  amounting  to  thirty-seven  millions 
and  a  quarter— leaving  forty-two  millions  and 


1;^ 
i 


'^*vt>  ■ 


ANNO  1883.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PREflmENT. 


289 


t  qu»rter  for  the  Ntockholdeni;  of  which  thlrty- 
flre  millions  would  reinibiimo  tho  utock,  and 
BCTi-n  ttiiil  a  qimrtiT  inillioriH  n-mnin  for  ilivi- 
(IcnJ.  Mr.  I'olk  stated  that  thin  ro|H)rt  was  a 
mepo  comiwiidiuin  of  tho  monthly  hank  retiirnH, 
showiuK  notliing  whirh  these  returns  did  not 
show;  and  especially  nothing  of  tho  ei(;ht  mil 
tijDS  of  unavailublo  AindH  which  had  been  OACor- 
tained  to  exiHt,  ami  which  had  been  accnumlat- 
ing  for  eighteen  years.  On  tho  point  of  tho 
non-payment  of  tho  three  per  cents,  ho  said  : 

"The  Secretary  of  tho  Treasury  had  given 
pnblic  notice  that  the  whole  amount  of  the  three 
perccntH  would  >>e  paid  off  on  tho  first  of  July. 
The  bank  was  nppiiged  of  thi8  arningemont, 
and  on  i»  ippHcatici  tho  treasury  department 
ponscntcil  lo  Buspend  tho  redemption  of  one 
third  of  lii«  Pt'i'k  until  tho  first  of  October,  tho 
blink  paying  tho  interest  in  tho  mean  while. 
r.i ;  i:  the  condition  of  tho  bank  was  so  very 
prosperous,  as  has  been  represented,  why  did  it 
make  ho  great  a  sacrifice  as  to  pay  interest  on 
that  large  amoimt  for  three  months,  for  the 
sake  of  deferring  tho  payment  1  The  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  on  tho  IDth  July,  determined 
that  two  thirds  of  tho  stock  should  bo  paid  off 
on  the  first  of  October;  and,  on  tho  18th  of  Ju- 
ly what  (lid  the  bank  do  ?  It  dispatched  an 
a;fcnt  to  London,  without  the  knowledge  of  the 
treasury,  and  for  what  ?  In  effect,  to  borrow 
5,0(R),()00  dollars,  for  that  was  tho  amount  of 
the  transaction.  From  this  fact  Mr.  P.  inferred 
that  the  bank  was  unable  to  go  on  without  tlio 
public  deposits.  They  then  made  a  communi- 
cation to  tho  treasury,  stating  that  the  bank 
woula  hold  up  such  certificates  as  it  could  con- 
trol, to  suit  the  convenience  of  tho  government ; 
but  was  it  on  this  account  that  they  sent  their 
agent  to  London  ?  Did  the  president  of  the 
bank  himself  assign  this  reason  ?  No ;  ho  gave 
a  very  dilHrent  account  of  the  matter ;  he  said 
that  the  bank  apprehended  that  the  spread  of 
the  cholera  might  produce  great  distress  in  the 
country,  and  that  the  bank  wished  to  hold  itself 
in  an  attitude  to  meet  tho  public  exigencies, 
and  that  with  this  view  an  agent  was  sent  to 
make  an  arrangement  with  the  Jiarings  for  with- 
iiolding  throe  lidllions  of  the  sto.k." 

The  motion  of  Mr.  Watmough  to  refer  the 
inquiry  to  tho  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means, 
was  carried ;  and  that  committee  soon  reported : 
first,  on  the  point  of  postponing  the  payment 
of  a  part  of  tho  three  per  cents,  that  ('le  busi- 
ness being  now  closed  by  the  actual  payment 
of  that  stock,  it  no  longer  presented  any  im- 
portant or  practicabh  point  of  iTinniry.  and  did 
not  call  for  any  action  of  Congress  upon  it ;  and, 
tecondly,  on  the  point  of  the  safety  of  the  pub- 

VoL.  I.— 19 


lie  deposltH,  that  thcro  could  bo  no  doubt  of  the 
entire  soundnosB  of  tho  wholo  bank  capital,  after 
m.  i  ting  all  demands  upon  it,  either  hy  its  bill 
ho.lilers  or  the  government  j  and  that  such  was 
th«-  opinion  T  tho  committee,  who  felt  great 
conllti  iioe  in  tho  well  known  character  and  fn- 
toUigenco  of  (h"  directors,  whoso  testimony  sup- 
p  fed  tho  facts  on  which  the  committuii's  opin- 
ion rested.  And  they  concluded  with  a  resolve 
which  they  recommended  to  the  ;i  inption  of 
the  House,  "  I'hat  the  government  depoMta  may, 
in  the  opinion  of  tho  Ho<iso,  bo  safely  continued 
in  tho  IJank  of  tho  United  States."  Mr.  Polk, 
one  of  tho  committee,  disHented  from  tho  re- 
port, and  argued  thus  against  it : 

"  lie  hoped  that  gentlemen  who  btlieved  the 
time  of  the  House,  at  this  period  of  the  session, 
to  be  necessarily  valuable,  would  nr)t  pres.s  the 
consideration  of  this  resolution  upon  the  House 
at  this  juncture.     During  the  snudl  remainder 
of  the  session,  there  were  several  measures  of 
tho  highest  public  importance  which     enmined 
to  bo  acted  on.     For  one,  he  was  c   tremely 
anxious  that  the  session  should  clo.-     by  12 
o'clock  to-night,  in  order  that  a  sitting  i  pon  the 
Sabbath  nnght  be  avoided.     lie  would  in  t  pro- 
ceed in  cApressing  his  views  until  he  shoii'd  un- 
derstand fram  gentlemen  whether  they  int  nded 
to  press  the  House  to  a  vote  upon  this  rt  solu- 
tion.    [A  remark  was  made  by  Mr.  Ingci^oll, 
which  was  not  heard  distinctly  by  the  report  er.] 
Mr.  P.  procoedeil.      As  it  had  been   indica'ed 
that  gentlemen  intended  to  take  a  vote  upon    he 
resolution,  he  woidd  ask  whether  it  was  posrii- 
ble  for  the  members  of  tho  House  to  exprt-s 
their  opinions  on  this  subject  with  an  adequar.o 
knowledge  of  the  facts.     Tho  Committee  of 
Ways  and  Means  had  spent  nearly  the  whole 
session  in  tho  examination  of  one  or  two  point* 
connected  with  this  subject.    The  range  of  in- 
vestigation had  been,  of  necessity,  iruch  less 
extensive  than  the  deep  importance  of  the  sub- 
ject required ;  but,  before  any  opinion  could  be 
properly  expressed,  it  was  important  that  the 
facts  developed  by  the  committee  should  be  un- 
derstood.   There  had  been  no  opportunity  for 
this,  and  there  was  no  necessity  for  the  pxpres- 
sion  of  a  premature  opinion  unless  it  was  consi- 
dered essential  to  whitewash  the  bank.    If  the 
friends  of  the  bank  deemed  it  indispensably  neces- 
sary, in  order  to  sustain  the  bank,  to  call  for  an 
expression  of  opinion,  where  the  Ilouse  had  en- 
joyed no  opportunity  of  examining  the  testimony 
and  proof  upon  which  alone  a  correct  opinion 
could  be  formed,  he  should  be  compelled,  briefly, 
to  present  one  or  two  facts  to  the  House.    1 1  had' 
beer,  one  of  the  objects  of  the  Committee  of  Ways 
and  Means  io  ascertain  the  circumstances  relative 
to  tho  postponement  of  the  redemption  of  the 
three  per  cejit.  stock  by  the  bank.  With  the  mass 


290 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


of  other  important  duties  devolving  upon  the 
committee,  as  full  an  investigation  of  the  con- 
dition of  the  bank  as  was  desirable  could  not  be 
expected.  The  committee,  therefore,  had  been 
obliged  to  limit  their  inquiries  to  this  subject 
of  the  three  per  cents ;  the  other  subjects  of 
investigation  were  only  incidental.  Upon  this 
main  subject  of  inquiry  the  w  hole  committee, 
majority  as  well  as  minority,  were  of  opinion 
that  the  bank  had  exceeded  its  legitimate  au- 
thority, and  had  taken  measures  which  were  in 
direct  violation  of  its  chai  ter.  He  would  read 
a  single  sentence  from  the  report  of  the  major- 
ity, which  conclusively  established  this  position. 
In  the  transactions  upon  this  subject,  the  ma- 
jority of  the  committee  expressly  say,  in  their 
report,  that  '  the  bank  exceeded  its  legitimate 
authority,  and  that  this  proceeding  had  no  suf- 
ficient warrant  in  the  correspondence  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury.'  Could  langjiage  be 
more  explicit  ?  It  was  then  the  unanimous  opin- 
ion of  thf  committee,  upon  this  main  topic  of 
inquiry,  that  the  bank  had  exceeded  its  legiti- 
mate authority,  and  that  its  proceedings  relative 
to  the  three  per  cents  had  no  sufficient  warrant 
in  the  correspondence  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury.  The  Bank  of  the  United  States,  it 
must  be  remembered,  had  been  made  the  place 
of  deposit  for  the  public  revenues,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  meeting  the  expenditures  of  the  govern- 
ment. With  the  public  money  in  its  vaults,  it 
was  bound  to  pay  the  demands  of  the  govern- 
ment. Among  these  demands  upon  the  public 
money  in  the  bank,  was  that  portion  of  the  pub- 
lic debt  of  which  the  redemption  had  been  or- 
dered. Had  the  bank  manifested  a  willingness 
to  pay  out  the  public  money  in  its  possession 
for  this  object  1  On  examination  of  th**  evi- 
dence it  would  be  found  that,  as  early  as  March, 
1832,  the  president  of  the  bank,  without  the 
^knowledge  of  the  government  directors,  had  in- 
stituted a  correspondence  with  certain  holders 
of  the  public  debt,  for  the  purpose  of  procuring 
a  postponement  of  its  redemption.  There  was, 
at  that  time,  no  cholera^  which  could  be  charged 
with  giving  occasion  to  the  correspondence. 
When  public  notice  had  been  given  by  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury  of  the  redemption  of  the 
debt,  ithe  president  of  the  bank  immediately  came 
(to  Washington,  and  requested  that  the  redemp- 
tion might  be  postponed.  And  what  was  the 
reason  then  assigned  by  the  president  of  the 
bank  for  this  postponement?  Why,  that  the 
measure  would  enable  the  bank  to  afford  the 
merchants  great  facilities  for  the  transaction  of 
their  business  under  an  extraordinary  pressure 
upon  the  money  market.  What  was  the  evi- 
dence upon  this  point?  The  proof  distinctly 
showed  that  there  was  no  extraordinary  pres- 
sure. The  monthly  statements  of  the  bank  es- 
itablished  that  there  was,  in  fact,  a  very  consider- 
able curtaihueut  of  the  racliities  given  to  the 
merchants  in  the  commercial  cities. 

"  The  minority  of  the  Committee  of  Ways 
and  Meaus  had  not  disputed  the  ability  of  the 


bank  to  discharge  its  debts  in  its  own  convenient 
time  ;  but  had  the  bank  promptly  paid  tlu;  public 
money  deposited  in  its  vaults  when  called  for? 
As  early  as  October,  1831,  the  bank  had  antici- 
pated that  during  the  course  of  1832  it  would 
not  be  allowed  the  undisturbed  and  permanent 
use  of  the  public  deposits.  In  the  circular  orders 
to  the  several  branches  which  were  then  issued, 
the  necessity  was  stated  for  collecting  the  means 
for  refunding  those  deposits  from  the  loans 
which  were  then  outstanding.  Efforts  were 
made  by  the  branches  of  the  West  to  makt 
collections  for  that  object ;  but  those  efforts  en- 
tirely failed.  The  debts  due  upon  loans  made 
by  the  Western  branches  had  not  been  curtailed. 
It  was  found  impossible  to  curtail  them,  As 
the  list  of  discounts  had  gone  down,  the  list  of 
domestic  bills  of  exchange  had  gone  up.  The 
application  before  alluded  to  was  made  in  Marcli 
to  Mr.  Ludlow,  of  New- York,  who  represented 
about  1,700,000  of  the  public  debt  to  imstpcne 
its  redemption.  This  expedient  also  failed.  Then 
the  president  of  the  bank  came  to  Washington 
for  the  purpose  of  procuring  the  postponement 
of  the  period  of  redemption,  upon  the  ground 
that  an  extraordinary  pressure  existed,  and  the 
public  interest  would  be  promoted  by  enabling 
the  bank  to  use  the  public  money  in  affording 
facilities  to  the  merchants  of  the  commercial 
cities.  And  what  next?  In  July,  the  president 
of  the  bank  and  the  exchange  committee,  without 
the  knowledge  of  the  heaid  of  the  treasury,  or 
of  the  board  of  directors  of  the  bank,  instituted 
a  secret  mission  to  England,  for  the  purpose  of 
negotiating  in  effect  a  loan  of  five  millions  of 
dollars,  for  which  the  bank  was  to  pay  interest 
The  propriety  or  object  of  this  mission  was  not 
laid  before  the  board  of  directors,  and  no  clue 
was  afforded  to  the  government.  Mr.  Cadwal- 
ader  went  to  England  upon  this  secret  mission. 
On  the  1st  of  October  the  bank  was  advised  of 
the  arrangement  made  by  Mr.  Cadwalader,  by 
which  it  was  agreed,  in  behalf  of  the  bank,  to 
purchase  a  part  of  the  debt  of  the  foreign  holders, 
and  to  defer  the  redemption  of  a  part.  Now,  it 
was  well  known  to  every  one  who  had  taken 
the  trouble  to  read  the  charter  of  the  bank,  that 
it  was  expressly  prohibited  from  purchasing 
public  stock.  On  the  15th  October  it  was  dis- 
covered that  Cadwalader  had  exceeded  his  in- 
structions. This  discovery  by  the  bank  took 
place  innnediately  after  the  circular  letter  of 
Baring,  Brothers,  &  Co.,  ot  London,  announcing 
that  the  arrangement  had  been  published  in  one 
of  the  New-York  papers.  This  circular  gave  ihe 
first  information  to  the  government,  or  to  any  one 
in  this  country,  as  far  as  he  was  advised,  excepting 
the  exchange  committee  of  the  bank,  of  the 
object  of  Catlwaladers  mission.  In  tlie  limited 
time  which  could  now  be  spared  for  tliis  di.«cus- 
sion,  it  was  impossible  to  go  through  tlie  parti- 
cu.ars  of  this  scheme.  It  would  be  .seen,  on 
examination  of  the  transaction,  that  the  bank 
had  directly  interfered  with  the  redemption  of 
the  pubUc  debt,  for  the  obvious  reason  that  it 


ANNO  1833.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  RESIDENT. 


291 


was  unable  to  reftind  the  public  deposits.    The 


was  uiiauHj  ii»  reiuiiu  iiie  puuiic  aeposits.    The 
cholera  was  not  the  ground  of  the  correspondence 
with  Ludlow.    It  was  not  the  cholera  which 
brought  the  president  of  the  bank  to  Washington 
to  requfist  the  postponement  of  the  redemption 
of  the  debt ;  nor  was  it  the  cholera  which  led  to 
the  resolution  of  the  exchange  committee  of  the 
bank  to  send  Cadwalader  to  England.    The  true 
disorder  was,  the  impossibility  in  which  the 
bank  found  itself  to  concentrate  its  funds  and 
diminish  its  loans.    It  had  been  stated  in  the 
report  of  the  majority  of  the  committee,  that  the 
certificates  of  the  greater  portion  of  the  three 
per  cents  had  been  surrendered.    It  had  been 
said  that  there  was  now  less  than  a  million  of 
this  debt  outstanding.    In  point  of  fact,  it  would 
seem,  from  the  correspondence,  that  between  one 
and  two  millions  of  the  debts  of  which  the  cer- 
tificates had  been  surrendered,  had  been  paid  by 
the  bank  becoming  debtor  to  the  foreign  holder 
instead  of  the  government.    The  directors  appear 
to  suppose  this  has  not  been  the  case,  but  the 
correspondence  shows  that  the  certificates  have 
been  sent  home  under  this  arrangement.    After 
this  brief  explanation  of  the  conduct  of  the  bank 
in  relation  to  the  public  deposits,  he  would  ask 
whether  it  was  necessary  to  sustain  the  credit 
of  the  bank  by  adopting  this  resolution." 

The  vote  on  the  resolution  was  taken,  and 
resulted  in  a  large  majority  for  it— 109  to  46. 
Those  who  voted  in  the  negative  were:  John 
Anderson  of  Maine ;  WUIiam  G.  Angel  of  New- 
York;  William  S.  Archer  of  Virginia;  James 
Bates  of  Maine;   Samuel  Beardsley  of  New- 
York;  John  T.  Bergen  of  New-York ;  Laughlin 
Bethune  of  North  Carolina;    John  Blair  of 
Tennessee;  Joseph  Bouckof  New- York;  John 
C.  Brodhead  of  New-York;    John    Carr   of 
Indiana;  Clement  C.  Clay  of  Alabama;  Henry 
W.  Connor  of  North  Carolina;  Charles  Dayan 
of  New-York ;  Thomas  Davenport  of  Virginia  • 
William  Fitzgerald  of  Tennessee;  -  Clayton 
of  Georgia;   Nathan  Gaither  of  Kentucky; 
Wdliam  F.  Gordon  of  Virginia;   Thomas  H. 
Hall  of  North  Carolina;  Joseph  W.   Harper 
of  New  Hampshire;   -  Hawkins;    Michael 
Hoffman  of  New-York ;  Henry  Horn  of  Penn- 
sylvania; Henry  Hubbard  of  New  Hampshire; 
Adam  Kmg  of  Pennsylvania;  Joseph  Lecompte 
of  Kentucky;  Chittenden  Lyon  cf  Kentucky; 
Joel  K  Mann  of  Kentucky ;  Samuel  W.  Mardis 
of  Alabama;  John  Y.  Mason  of  Virginia;  Jon- 
athan Mccarty  of  Indiana ;  Thomas  R.  Mitchell 
ot  bouth  Carolina ;  Job  Pierson  of  New-York  • 
•Jamea  K  Polk  of  Tennessee;  Edward  C.  Reed 
of  New-York;   Nathan  Soule  of  New-York; 
Jesse  Speight  of  North  Carolina;  Jas.  Standifer 


of  Tennessee;   Francis  Thomaa  of  Maryland; 
Wiley  Thompson  of  Georgia;  Daniel  Wardwell 
of  New- York;  James  M.  Wayne  of  Georgia; 
John  W.  Weeks  of  New  Hampshire  ;  Campbell 
P.  White  of  New-York:  J.  T.  H.  Worthington 
of  Maryland.    And  thus  the  bank  not  only  es- 
caped without  censure,  but  received  high  com- 
mendation ;  while  its  conduct  in  relation  to  the 
three  per  cents  placed  it  unequivocally  in  the 
category  of  an  unfaithful  and  prevaricating  agent; 
and  only  left  open  the  inquiry  whether  its  con- 
duct was  the  result  of  inability  to  pay  the  sum 
required,  or  a  disposition  to  make  something  for 
itself,  or  to  favor  its  debtors— the  most  innocent 
of  these  motives  being  negatived  by  the  sinister 
concealment  of  the  whole  transaction  from  the 
government  (after  getting  delay  from  it),  its 
concealment  from  the  public,  its  concealment 
even  from  its  own  board  of  directors— its  entire 
secrecy  from  beginning  to  end-until  accidentally 
discovered  through  a  London  letter  published  in 
New-York.    These  are  the  same  three  per  cents 
the  redemption  of  which  through  an  enlargement 
of  the  powers  of  the  sinking  fund  commissioners 
I  had  endeavored  to  effect  some  years  before 
when  they  could  have  been  bought  at  about 
sixty-six  cents  in  the  dollSr,  and  when  my  at- 
tempt was  defeated  by  the  friends  of  the  bank. 
They  were  now  paid  at  the  rate  of  one  hundred 
cents  to  the  dollar,  losing  all  the  time  the  inter- 
est on  the  deposits,  in  bank,  and  about  four 
millions  for  the  appreciation  of  the  stock.     The 
attempt  to  get  this  stock  redeemed,  or  interest 
on  the  deposits,  was  one  of  my  first  financial 
movements  after  I  came  into  the  Senate ;  and  the 
ease  with  which  the  bank  defeated  me,  preventing 
both  the  extinction  of  the  debt  and  the  payment 
of  interest  on  the  deposits,  convinced  me  how 
futile  it  was  to  attempt  any  legislation  unfavor- 
ible  to  the  bank  in  a  case  which  concerned  itself. 


CHAPTER     LXXVI. 

ABOLITION   OP  IMPRISONMENT   FOE  DEBT. 

The  philanthropic  Col.  R.  M.  Johnson,  of  Ken- 
tuckv  had  Labored  for  years  at  this  humane 
consummation;  and  finally  saw  his  labors  suc- 
cessful. An  act  of  Congress  was  passed  abol- 
ishmg  all  imprisonment  for  debt,  under  process 


\,'0I 


, '.  •» 


wm 


ft  1 


292 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


if 
1 


from  the  courts  of  the  United  States :  the  only 
extent  to  wliich  an  act  of  Congress  could  go, 
by  force  of  its  enactments ;  but  it  could  go  much 
further,  and  did,  in  the  force  of  example  and  in- 
fluence ;  and  has  led  to  the  cessation  of  the  prac- 
tice of  imprisoning  the  debtors,  in  all,  or  nearly 
all,  of  the  States  and  Territories  of  the  Union  ; 
and  without  the  evil  consequences  which  had 
been  dreaded  from  the  loso  of  tliis  remedy  over 
the  person.  It  led  to  a  great  many  oppressions 
while  it  existed,  and  was  often  relied  upon  in  ex- 
tending credit,  or  inducing  improvident  people 
to  incur  debt,  where  there  was  no  means  to  pay 
it,  or  property  to  meet  it,  in  the  hands  of  the 
debtor  himself;  but  reliance  wholly  placed  upon 
the  sympathies  of  third  persons,  to  save  a  friend 
or  relative  from  confinement  in  a  prison.  The 
dower  of  wives,  and  the  purses  of  fathers,  bro- 
thers, sisters,  friends,  were  thus  laid  under  con- 
tribution by  heartless  creditors  ;  and  scenes  of 
cruel  oppression  were  witnessed  in  every  State. 
Insolvent  laws  and  bankrupt  laws  were  invented 
to  cover  the  evil,  and  to  separate  the  unfortunate 
from  the  fraudulent  debtor ;  but  they  were  slow 
and  imperfect  in  operation,  and  did  not  reach 
the  cases  in  which  a  cold  and  cruel  calculation 
was  made  upon  th»  sympathies  of  friends  and 
relatives,  or  upon  the  chances  of  catching  the 
debtor  in  some  strange  and  unbefriendod  place. 
A  broader  remedy  was  wanted,  and  it  was  found 
in  the  total  abolition  of  the  practice,  leaving  in 
full  force  all  the  remedies  against  fraudulent 
evasions  of  debt.  In  one  of  his  reports  on  the 
subject.  Col.  Johnson  thus  deduced  the  history 
of  this  custom,  called  "  barbarous,"  but  only  to 
be  found  in  civilized  countries : 

'•In  ancient  Greece,  the  power  of  creditors 
over  the  persons  of  their  debtors  was  absolute ; 
and,  as  in  all  cases  where  despotic  control  is  toler- 
ated, their  rapacity  was  boundless.  They  com- 
pelled the  insolvent  debtors  to  cultivate  their 
lands  like  cattle,  to  perform  the  service  of  beasts 
of  burden,  and  to  transfer  to  them  their  sons  and 
daughters,  whom  they  exported  as  slaves  to  for- 
eign countries. 

"  These  acts  of  cruelty  were  tolerated  in  Athens, 
during  her  more  barbarous  state,  and  in  perfect 
consonance  with  the  character  of  a,  people  who 
could  elevate  a  Draco,  and  bow  to  his  mandates, 
registered  in  blood.  But  the  wisdom  of  Solon 
corrected  the  evil.  Athens  felt  the  benefit  of 
the  reform ;  and  the  pen  of  the  historian  has  re- 
corded the  name  of  her  lawgiver  as  the  benefac- 
tor of  man.  In  ancient  Rome,  Uie  condition  of 
the  unfortunate  poor  was  still  more  abject.  The 
cruelty  of  the  Twelve  Tables  against  insolvent 


debtors  should  be  held  up  as  a  beacon  of  warn- 
ing to  all  modern  nations.  After  judgment  was 
obtained,  thirty  days  of  grace  were  allowed  be- 
fore a  Roman  was  delivered  into  the  power  of  his 
creditor.  After  this  period,  he  was  retained  in 
a  private  prison,  with  twelve  ounces  of  rice  for 
his  daily  sustenance.  lie  might  be  bound  with 
a  chain  of  fifteen  pounds  weight ;  and  his  misery 
was  three  times  exposed  in  the  market-place  to 
excite  the  compassion  of  his  friends.  At  tlit 
expiration  of  sixty  days,  the  debt  was  discharged 
by  the  loss  of  liberty  or  life.  The  insolvent 
debtor  was  either  put  to  death  or  sold  in  for- 
eign slavery  beyond  the  Tiber.  But,  if  several 
creditors  were  alike  obstinate  and  unrclentinir 
they  might  legally  dismember  his  body,  ami 
satiate  their  revenge  by  this  horrid  partition, 
Though  the  refinements  of  modem  criticisms 
have  endeavored  to  divest  this  ancient  cruelty  of 
its  horrors,  the  faithful  Gibbon,  who  is  not  re- 
markable for  his  partiality  to  the  poorer  clas?, 
preferring  the  liberal  sense  of  antiquity,  draws 
this  dark  picture  of  the  effect  of  giving  the  cr^ 
ditor  power  over  the  person  of  the  debtor.  No 
sooner  was  the  Roman  empire  subverted  than 
the  delusion  of  Roman  perfection  began  to  vanish, 
and  then  the  absurdity  and  cruelty  of  this  sys- 
tem began  to  be  exploded — a  system  which  con- 
vulsed Greece  and  Rome,  and  filled  the  worid 
with  misery,  and,  without  one  redeeming  bi  yu- 
flt,  could  no  longer  be  endured — and.  to  the 
honor  of  humanity,  for  about  one  thousand 
years,  during  the  middle  ages,  imprisonment  for 
debt  was  generally  abolished.  They  seemed  to 
have  understood  what,  in  more  modern  times. 
we  are  less  ready  to  comprehend,  that  fower.in 
any  degree,  over  the  person  of  the  debtor,  is  the 
same  in  principle,  varying  only  in  degree,  whether 
it  be  to  imprison,  to  enslave,  to  brand,  to  dis- 
member, or  to  divide  his  body.  But,  as  the  lapse 
of  time  removed  to  a  greater  distance  the  cruel- 
ties which  had  been  suflered,  the  cupidity  of  the 
affluent  found  means  again  to  introduce  the  .sys- 
tem ;  but  by  such  slow  gradations,  that  the  un- 
suspecting poor  were  scarcely  conscious  of  the 
change. 

"The  history  of  English  jurisprudence  fur- 
nishes the  remarkable  fact,  that,  for  many  cen- 
turies, personal  liberty  could  not  be  violated  for 
debt.  Propei'ty  alone  could  be  taken  to  sati.sfy 
a  pecuniary  demand.  It  was  not  until  the  reijrn 
of  Henry  III.,  in  the  thirteenth  century  that  the 
principle  of  imprisonment  for  debt  was  recognized 
in  the  land  of  our  ancestors,  and  tliat  was  in 
favor  of  the  barons  alone  ;  the  nobility  against 
their  bailiffs,  wlio  had  received  their  rents  and 
had  appi-opriated  them  to  their  own  use.  Here 
was  the  shadow  of  a  pretext.  The  great  Dbiec- 
tion  to  the  punishment  was,  thnt  it  was  inliicted 
at  the  pleasure  of  the  baron,  without  a  trial ;  an 
evil  incident  to  aristocracies,  but  obnoxious  to 
republics.  The  courts,  under  liie  pretext  of  im- 
puted crime,  or  construeUve  violence,  on  the  part 
of  the  debtor,  soon  began  to  extend  tie  principle, 
but  without  legislative  sanction.  In  the  eleventh 


ANNO  1833.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


293 


yew  of  the  roij^  of  Edward  I.,  the  immediate 
successor  of  Henry,  the  right  of  imprisoning 
debtors  was  extended  to  merchants — Jewish 
merchants  excepted,  on  account  of  their  hetero- 
dox}' in  religion— and  was  exorcised  with  great 
severity.  This  extension  was  an  act  r>f  policy 
on  the  part  of  the  monarch.  The  ascendency 
obtained  by  tlie  barons  menaced  the  power  of 
the  throne ;  and,  to  counteract  their  influence, 
the  mcrcliants,  a  numerous  and  wealthy  class, 
OTre  selected  by  the  monarch,  and  invested  with 
the  same  authority  over  their  debtors. 

"  But  England  was  not  yet  prepared  for  the 
yoke.  She  could  endure  an  hereditary  nobility ; 
she  could  tolerate  a  monarchy ;  but  she  could 
not  yet  resign  her  unfortunate  sons,  indiscrimi- 
nately, to  the  prison.    The  barons  and  the  mer- 
chants had  gained  the  power  over  their  victims ; 
yet  more  than  sixty  years  elapsed  before  Parlia- 
ment dared  to  venture  another  act  recognizing 
the  principle.      During  this  period,  imprison- 
ment for  debt  had,  in  some  degree,  lost  its  no- 
velty.   The  incarceration  of  the  debtor  began 
to  make  the  impression  that  fraud,  and  not  mis- 
fortune, had  brought  on  his  catastrophe,  and 
that  he  was,  therefore,  unworthy  of  the  protec- 
tion of  the  law,  and  too  degraded  for  the  society 
of  the  world.    Parliament  then  ventured,  in  the 
reign  of  Edward  III.,  in  the  fourteenth  century, 
to  extend  the  principle  to  two  other  cases — debt 
and  detinue.     This  measure  opened  the  door 
for  the  impositions  which  were  gradually  intro- 
duced by  judicial  usurpation,  and  have  resulted 
in  the  most  cruel  oppression.     Parliament,  for 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years  afterwards,  did  not 
venture  to  outrage  the  sentiments  of  an  injured 
and  indignant  people,  by  extending  the  power 
to  ordinary  creditors.     But  they  had  laid  the 
foundation,  and  an  irresponsible  judiciary  reared 
the  superstructure.     From  the  twenty-fourth 
year  of  the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  to  the  nine- 
teenth of  Henry  VIII.,  the  subject  slumbered 
in  Parliament.    In  the  mean  time,  all  the  inge- 
nuity of  the  courts  was  employed,  by  the  intro- 
duction of  artificial  forms  and  legal  fictions,  to 
extend  the  power  of  imprisonment  for  debt  in 
cases  not  provided  for  by  statute.     The  juris- 
diction of  the  court  called  the  King's  Bench,  ex- 
tended to  all  crimes  or  disturbances  against  the 
peace.    Under  this  court  of  criminal  jurisdic- 
tion, the  debtor  was  arrested  by  what  was 
called  the  writ  of  Middlesex,  upon  a  supposed 
trespass  or  outrage  against  the  peace  and  dig- 
nity of  the  crown.      Thus,  by  a  fictitious  con- 
struction, the  person  who  owed  his  neighbor 
was  supposed  to  be,  what  every  one  knew  him 
not  to  be,  a  violator  of  the  peace,  and  an  of- 
fender against  the  dignity  of  the  crown ;  and 
while  his  body  was   held   in  custody  for  this 
crime,  he  was  proceeded  against  in  a  civil  action, 
for  which  he  was  not  liable  to  arrest  under 
statute.    The  jurisdiction  of  the  court  of  com- 
mon pleas  extended  to  civil  actions  arising  be- 
tween individuals    upon  private  tran.sactions. 
To  sustain  its  importance  upon  a  scale  equal 


with  that  of  its  rival,  this  court  also  adopted  its 
fictions,  and  extended  its  power  upon  artificial 
construction,  quite  as  far  beyond  its  statutory 
prerogative;  and  upon  the  fictitious  plea  of 
trespass,  constituting  a  legal  supposition  of  out- 
rage against  the  peace  of  the  kingdom,  author- 
ized the  writ  of  capias,  and  subsequent  impri- 
sonment, in  cases  where  a  summons  only  was 
warra!ited  by  law.  The  court  of  exchequer 
was  designed  to  protect  the  king's  revenue,  and 
had  no  legal  jurisdiction,  except  in  cases  of 
debtors  to  the  public.  The  ingenuity  of  this 
court  found  means  to  extend  its  jurisdiction  to 
all  ca«;s  of  debt  between  individuals,  upon  the 
fictitious  plea  that  the  plaintiff,  wiio  instituted 
the  suit,  was  a  debtor  to  the  king,  and  rendered 
the  less  able  to  discharge  the  debt  by  the  de- 
fault of  the  defendant.  Upon  this  artificial  pre- 
text, that  the  defendant  was  debtor  to  the 
king's  debtor,  the  court  of  exchequer,  to  secure 
the  king's  revenue,  usurped  the  power  of  ar- 
raigning and  imprisoning  debtors  of  every  de- 
scription. Thus,  these  rival  courts,  each  ambi- 
tious to  sustain  its  relative  importance,  and  ex- 
tend its  jurisdiction,  introduced,  as  legal  facts, 
the  most  palpable  fictions,  and  sustained  the 
most  absurd  solecisms  as  legal  syllogisms. 

"  Where  the  person  of  the  debtor  was,  by 
statute,  held  sacred,  the  courts  devised  the 
means  of  construing  the  demand  of  a  debt  into 
the  supposition  of  a  crime,  for  which  he  was 
subject  to  arrest  on  mesne  process ;  and  the 
evidence  of  debt,  into  the  conviction  of  a  crime 
against  the  peace  of  the  kingdom,  for  which  he 
was  deprived  of  his  liberty  at  the  pleasure  of 
the  oflended  party.  These  practices  of  the 
courts  obtained  by  regular  gradation.  Each  act 
of  usurpation  was  a  precedent  for  similar  out- 
rages, until  the  system  became  general,  and  at 
length  received  the  sanction  of  Parliament. 
The  spirit  of  avarice  finally  gained  a  complete  tri- 
umph over  personal  liberty.  The  sacred  claims 
of  misfortune  were  disregarded,  and,  to  the  iron 
grasp  of  poverty,  were  added  the  degrada- 
tion of  infamy,  and  the  misery  of  the  dungeon. 

"  While  imprisonment  for  debt  is  sanctioned, 
the  threats  of  the  creditor  are  a  source  of  per- 
petual distress  to  the  dependent,  friendless 
debtor,  holding  his  liberty  by  sullierance  alone. 
Temptations  to  oppression  are  constantly  in 
view.  The  means  of  injusti'^e  are  always  at 
hand;  and  even  helpless  females  are  not  ex- 
empted from  the  barbarous  practice.  In  a  land 
of  hberty,  enjoying,  in  all  other  respects,  the 
freest  and  happiest  government  with  which  the 
world  was  ever  blessed,  it  is  matter  of  astonish- 
ment that  this  cruel  custom,  so  anomalous  to 
all  our  institutions,  inflicting  so  much  misery 
upon  society,  should  have  been  bo  long  endured." 

The  act  was  passed  soon  after  this  masterly 
report  was  made,  followed  by  similar  acts  in 
most  of  the  States;  and  has  been  attended 
every  where  with  the  beneficial  efiect  resulting 


^'  f ',  % 


K  "f  ( 


:  M' 


1^ 


294 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


from  tho  suppression  of  any  false  and  vicious 
principle  in  legislation.    It  is  a  false  and  vicious 
principle  in  the  system  of  credit  to  admit  a  cal- 
culation for  tho  chance  of  payment,  founded  on 
the  sympathy  and  alanns  of  third  parties,  or  on 
the  degradation  and  incarceration  of  tho  debtor 
himself.     Such  a  principle  is  morally  wrong, 
and  practically  unjust ;  and  there  is  no  excuse 
for  it  in  tho  plea  of  fraud.    The  idea  of  fraud 
does  not  enter  into  the  contract  at  its  original 
formation ;  and  if  occurring  afterwards,  and  the 
debtor  undertakes  to  defraud  his  creditor,  there 
is  a  code  of  law  made  for  the  case  ;  and  every 
case  should  rest  upon  its  own  circumstances. 
As  an  clement  of  credit,  imprisonment  for  debt  is 
condemned  by  morality,  by  humanity,  and  by  the 
science  of  political  economy ;  and  its  abolition 
has  worked  well  in  reducing  the  elements  of  cre- 
dit to  their  legitimate  derivation  in  the  personal 
character,  visible  means,  and  present  securities 
of  the  contracting  debtor.    And,  if  in  that  way, 
it  has  diminished  in  any  degree  the  wide  circle 
of  credit,  that  is  an  additional  advantage  gained 
to  the  good  order  of  society  and  to  the  solidity 
of  the  social  edifice.    And  thus,  as  in  so  many 
other  instances,  American  legislation  has  ame- 
liorated the  law  derived  from  our  English  ances- 
tors, and  given  an  example  which  British  legis- 
lation may  some  day  follow. — In  addition  to 
the  honor  of  seeing  this  humane  act  passed 
during  his  administration,  General  Jackson  had 
the  further  and  higher  honor  of  having  twee 
recommended  it  to  tho  favorable  consideration 
of  Congress. 


CHAPTER    LXXVII. 

SALE  OF  UNITED  STATES  STOCK   IN  THE  NA- 
TIONAL  BANK. 

The  President  in  his  annual  message  had  re- 
commended tho  sale  of  this  stock,  and  all  other 
stock  held  by  the  United  States  in  corporate 
companies,  with  the  view  to  disconnecting  the 
government  from  such  corporations,  and  from 
all  pursuits  property  belonging  to  individuals. 
And  he  made  the  recommendation  upon  the  po- 
litical principle  which  condemns  the  partnership 
of  the  government  with  a  corpoiittion ;  and 
upon  the  economical  principle  which  condemns 


the  national  pursuit  of  any  branch  of  industry 
and  leaves  the  profit,  or  loss  of  all  such  pureuite 
to  individual  enterprise ;  and  upon  the  belitf  in 
this  instance,  that  the  partnership  was  uneafc— 
that  the  firm  woiUd  fail— and  the  stockholders 
lose  their  investment.  In  conformity  to  this 
recommendation,  a  bill  was  brought  into  the 
House  of  Representatives  to  sell  the  public  stock 
held  in  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  being 
seven  millions  of  dollars  in  amount,  and  consist- 
ing  of  a  national  stock  bearing  five  per  centum 
interest.  The  bill  was  met  at  the  threshold  by 
the  parliamentary  motion  which  implies  the  un- 
worthiness  of  the  subject  to  be  considered- 
namely,  the  motion  to  reject  the  bill  at  the  first 
reading.  That  reading  is  never  for  considera- 
tion, but  for  information  only ;  and,  although 
debatable,  carries  tho  implication  of  unfitness 
for  debate,  and  of  some  flagrant  enormity 
which  requires  rejection,  without  the  honor  of 
the  usual  forms  of  legislation.  That  motion  was 
made  by  a  friend  of  the  bank,  and  seconded  by 
the  member  (Mr.  Watmoagh)  supposed  to  be 
familiar  with  the  wishes  of  the  bank  directory. 
The  speake  s  on  each  side  gave  vent  to  expres- 
sions which  showed  that  they  felt  the  indignity 
that  was  offered  to  the  bill,  one  side  in  promot- 
ing—the other  in  opposing  the  motion.  Mr. 
Wickliffe,  the  mover,  said :  "  He  was  impelled, 
by  a  sense  of  duty  to  his  constituents  and  to  his 
country,  to  do  in  this  case,  what  he  had  never 
done  before — to  move  the  rejection  of  a  bill  at 
its  first  reading.  There  are  cases  in  which 
courtesy  should  yield  to  the  demands  of  justice 
and  public  duty ;  and  this,  in  my  humble  opin- 
ion, is  one  of  them.  It  is  a  bill  fraught  with 
ruin  to  all  private  interests,  except  the  interest 
of  the  stockjobbers  of  Wall-street."  Mr.  Wat- 
mough  expressed  his  indignation  and  amaze- 
ment at  the  appearance  of  such  a  bill,  and  even 
fell  upon  the  committee  which  reported  it  with 
so  much  personality  as  drew  a  call  to  orfcr  from 
the  Speaker  of  the  House.  "  lie  expressed  his 
sincere  regret  at  the  neccessity  which  compelled 
him  to  intrude  upon  the  House,  and  to  express 
his  opinion  on  the  bill,  and  his  indignation 
against  this  persecution  c€  a  national  institu- 
tion. He  was  at  a  loss  to  say  which  feeling 
predominated  in  his  bosom — amazement,  at  the 
want  of  financial  skill  in  the  supporters  of  the  bill 
— or  detestation  of  the  unrelenting  spirit  of  tho 
administration  persecution  on  that  floor  of  an  in- 


ANNO  1833.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


295 


gtitution  admitted  by  the  wisest  and  the  best 
men  of  the  times  to  be  absolutely  essential  to  the 
existence  ond  safety  of  this  Union,  and  almost 
to  that  of  the  constitution  itself  which  formed 
its  bafis.  He  said,  ho  was  amazed  that  such  a 
bill  at  such  a  crisis,  could  emanate  from  any 
committee  of  this  House ;  but  his  amazement 
vnis  diminished  when  he  recalled  to  mind  the 
source  from  which  it  came.  It  came  from  the 
Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  »nd  was  under 
the  parental  care  of  the  gentleman  from  Ten- 
necssec.    Need  lie  say  more  ?  " 

Now,  the  member  thus  referred  to,  and  who, 
after  being  pointed  out  as  the  guardian  of  the 
bill  required  nothing  more  to  be  said,  was  Mr. 
Polk,  afterwards  President  of  the  United  States. 
But  parliamentary  law  is  no  respecter  of  per- 
sons, and  would  consider  the  indecorum  and 
outrage  of  the  allusion  equally  reprehensible  in 
the  case  of  the  yi^ungest  and  least  considerable 
member;  and  the  language  is  noted  here  to 
show  the  indignities  to  which  members  were 
subjected  in  the  House  for  presuming  to  take 
any  step  concerning  the  bank  which  militated 
against  that  corporation.  The  sale  of  the  gov- 
ernment stock  was  no  injury  to  the  capital  of 
the  bank :  it  was  no  extinction  of  seven  millions 
of  capital  but  a  mere  transfer  of  that  amount 
to  private  stockholders — such  transfer  as  took 
place  daily  among  the  private  stockholders.  The 
only  injury  could  be  to  the  market  price  of  the 
stock  in  the  possible  decline  involved  in  the 
withdrawal  of  a  large  stockholder ;  but  that  was 
a  damage,  in  the  eye  of  the  law  and  of  morality, 
without  injury ;  that  is,  without  injustice — 
the  stockholder  having  a  right  to  do  so  without 
the  assignment  of  reasons  to  be  judged  of  by  the 
corporation;  and  consequently  a  right  to  sell 
out  and  withdraw  when  he  judged  his  money  to 
be  unsafe,  or  unprofitably  placed,  and  suscepti- 
ble of  a  better  investment. 

Mr.  Polk  remarked  upon  the  unusual  but  not 
unexpected  opposition  to  the  bill ;  and  said  if  the 
House  was  now  forced  to  a  decision,  it  would  be 
done  without  opportunity  for  deliberation.  He 
vindicated  the  bill  from  any  necessary  connection 
with  the  bank — with  its  eulogy  or  censure. 
This  eulogy  or  censure  had  no  necessary  con- 
nection with  a  proposition  to  sell  the  government 
stock.  It  was  a  plain  business  proceedinpr.  The 
bill  authorized  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to 
sell  the  stock  upon  such  terms  as  he  should  deem 


best  for  the  government.  It  was  an  isolated 
proposition.  It  proposed  to  disenthral  the  gov- 
ernment from  a  partnership  with  this  incorporat- 
ed company.  It  proposed  to  get  rid  of  the  in- 
terest which  the  government  had  in  this  moneyed 
monopoly ;  and  to  do  so  by  a  sale  of  the  govern- 
ment stocks,  and  on  terms  not  below  the  market 
price.  He  was  not  disposed  to  depreciate  the 
value  of  the  article  which  he  wished  to  sell.  Ho 
was  willing  to  rest  upon  the  right  to  sell.  The 
friends  of  the  bank  themselves  raised  the  question 
of  solvency,  it  would  seem,  that  they  might  have 
an  opportunity,  to  eulogize  the  institution  under 
the  forms  of  a  defence.  This  was  not  the  time 
for  such  a  discussion — for  an  inquiry  into  the 
conduct  and  condition  of  the  bank. 

The  argument  and  the  right  were  with  the 
supporters  of  the  bill ;  but  they  signified  nothing 
against  the  firm  majority,  which  not  only  stood 
by  the  corporation  in  its  trials,  but  supported  it 
in  its  wishes.  The  bill  was  immediately  rejected, 
and  by  a  summary  process  which  inflicted  a  new 
indignity.  It  was  voted  down  under  the  opera- 
tion of  the  "  previous  question,"  which,  cutting 
off  all  debate,  and  all  amendments,  consigns  a 
measure  to  instant  and  silent  decision — like  the 
^^mort  Sana  phrase"  (death  without  talk)  of  the 
Abbe  Sieyes,  at  the  condemnation  of  Louis  the 
Sixteenth.  But  the  vote  was  not  very  triumph- 
ant— one  of  the  leanest  majorities,  in  fact,  which 
the  bank  had  received :  one  hundred  and  two  to 
ninety-one. 

The  negative  votes  were : 

"  Messrs.  Adair,  Alexander,  R.  Allen,  Anderson, 
Angel,  Archer,  Barnwell,  James  Bates,  Beardsley, 
Bell,  Bergen,  Bethune,  James  Blair,  John  Blair, 
Boon,  Bouck,  Bouldin,  John  Brodhead,  John  C. 
Brodhead,  Cambreleng,  Chandler,  Chinn,  Clai- 
borne, Clay,  Clayton,  Coke,  Connor,  Davenport, 
Dayan,  Doubleday,  Draper,  Folder,  Ford,  Foster, 
Gaither,  Gilmore,  Gordon,  Griffin,  Thomas  H. 
Hall,  William  Hall,  Harper,  Hawkins,  Hoffman, 
Holland,  Horn,  Howard,  Hubbard,  Isacks,  Jar- 
vis,  Jewett,  Richard  M.  Johnson,  Cave  John- 
son, Kavanagh,  Kennon,  Adam  King,  John  King, 
Lamar,  Lansing,  Leavitt,  Lecompte,  Lewis,  Lyon, 
Mann,  Mardis,  Mason,  McCarty,  Wm.  McCoy, 
Mclntire,  McKay,  Mitchell,  Newnan,  Nuckolls, 
Patton,  Pierson,  Plummer,  Polk,  Edward  0. 
Reed,  Roane,  Soule,  Speight,  Standifer,  John 
Thompson,  Vcrplanck,  Ward,  Wardwell,  Wayne, 
Weeks,  Campbell,  P.  White,  Worthington. — 
91." 

Such  was  the  result  of  this  attempt,  on  the 
part  of  the  government,  to  exercise  the  most  or- 


296 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


dinary  right  of  a  stockholder  to  sell  its  shares  : 
opposed,  insulted,  defeated ;  and  by  the  power 
of  the  bank  in  Congress,  of  whose  members 
subsequent  investigations  showed  above  fifty  to 
be  borrowers  from  the  institution  ;  and  many  to 
be  on  the  list  of  its  retained  attorneys.    But 
this  was  not  the  first  time  the  government  had 
been  so  treated.    The  same  thing  had  happened 
once  before,  and  about  in  the  same  way ;  but 
without  the  same  excuse  of  persecution  and  en- 
mity to  the  corporation ;  for,  it  was  before  the 
time  of  General  Jackson's  Presidency ;  to  wit,  in 
the  year  1827,  and  under  the  Presidency  of  Mr. 
Quincy  Adams.  Mr.  Philip  P.  Barbour,  represen- 
tative from  Virginia,  moved  an  inquiry,  at  that 
time,  into  the  expediency  of  selling  the  United 
States  stock  in  the  bank :  the  consideration  of  the 
resolution  was  delayed  a  week,  the  time  necessary 
for  a  communication  with  Philadelphia.    At  the 
end  of  the  week,  the  resolution  was  taken  up, 
and  summarily  rejected.  Mr.  Barbour  had  placed 
his  proposition  wholly  upon  the  ground  of  a 
public  advantage  in  selling  its  stock,  unconnected 
with  any  reason  disparaging  to  the  bank,  and  in 
a  way  to  avoid,  as  he  believed,  any  opposition. 
He  said : 

"  The  House  were  aware  that  the  government 
holds,  at  this  time,  stock  of  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  to  the  amount  of  seven  millions  of 
dollars,  which  stock  was  at  present  worth  in 
market  about  twenty-three  and  one  half  per 
cent,  advance  above  its  par  value.  If  the  whole 
of  this  stock  should  now  be  sold  by  the  govern- 
ment, it  would  net  a  profit  of  one  million  and 
six  hundred  thousand  dollars  above  the  nominal 
amount  of  the  stock.  Such  being  the  case,  he 
thought  it  deserved  the  serious  consideration  of 
the  House,  whether  it  would  not  be  a  prudent 
and  proper  measure  now  to  sell  out  that  stock. 
It  had  been  said,  Mr.  B.  observed,  by  one  of  the 
best  writers  on  political  economy,  with  whom 
he  was  acquainted,  that  the  pecuniary  affairs  of 
nations  bore  a  close  analogy  to  those  of  private 
households:  in  both,  their  prosperity  mainly 
depended  on  a  vigilant  and  effective  management 
of  their  resources.  There  is,  said  Mr.  B.,  an 
amount  of  between  seventeen  and  eighteen  mil- 
lions of  the  stock  of  the  United  States  now  re- 
deemable, and  an  amount  of  nine  millions  more, 
which  will  be  redeemable  next  year.  If  the  in- 
terest paid  by  the  United  States  on  this  debt  is 
compared  with  the  dividend  it  receives  on  its 
stock  in  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  it  will 
be  found  that  a  small  advantage  would  be  gained 


by  the  sale  of  the  latter,  in  this  respect ;  since 
the  dividends  on  bank  stock  are  received'  semi 
annually,  while  the  interest  of  the  United  States' 
securities  is  paid  quarterly ;  this,  however  he 
waived  as  a  matter  of  comparatively  small  mo- 
ment. It  must  be  obvious,  he  said,  that  the  ad- 
dition of  one  million  six  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars to  the  available  funds  of  the  United  Stivtes 
will  produce  the  extinguishment  of  an  equiva- 
lent amount  of  the  public  debt,  and  consjquently 
relieve  the  interest  payable  thereon,  by  which  a 
saving  would  accrue  of  about  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  per  annum." 

This  was  what  Mr.  Barbour  said,  at  the  time 
of  offering  the  resolution.  When  it  came  up  for 
consideration,  a  week  after,  he  found  his  motion 
not  only  opposed,  but  his  motives  impeached,  and 
the  most  sinister  designs  imputed  to  himself— 
to  him  !  a  Virginian  country  gentleman,  honest 
and  modest ;  ignorant  of  all  indirection ;  upright 
and  open  ;  a  stranger  to  all  guile ;  and  with  the 
simplicity  and  integrity  of  a  child.  He  deeply 
felt  this  impeachment  of  motives,  certainly  the 
first  time  in  his  life  that  an  indecent  imputation 
had  ever  fallen  upon  him ;  and  he  feelingly  depre- 
cated the  intensity  of  the  outrage.    He  said : 

"We  shall  have  fallen  on  evil  times,  indeed,  if 
a  member  of  this  House  might  not,  in  the  in- 
tegrity of  his  heart,  rise  in  his  place,  and  offer 
for  consideration  a  measure  which  he  believed 
to  be  for  the  public  weal,  without  having  all  that 
he  said  and  did  imputed  to  some  hidden  motive 
and  referred  to  some  secret  purpose  which  was 
never  presented  to  the  public  eye." 

His  proposition  was  put  to  the  vote,  and  re- 
ceived eight  votes  besides  his  own.  They  were : 
Messrs.  Mark  Alexander,  John  Floyd,  John 
Roane,  and  himself,  from  Virginia ;  Thomas  H. 
Ilall,  and  Daniel  Turner,  of  North  Carolina; 
Tomlinson  Foot  of  Connecticut;  Joseph  Le- 
compte,  and  Henry  Daniel,  of  Kentucky.  And 
this  was  the  result  of  that  first  attempt  to  sell 
the  United  States  stock  in  a  bank  chartered  by 
itself  and  bearing  ite  name.  And  now,  why  re- 
suscitate these  buried  recollections?  I  answer: 
for  the  benefit  of  posterity  1  that  they  may  have 
the  benefit  of  our  experience  without  the  humi- 
liation of  having  undergone  it,  and  know  what 
kind  of  a  master  seeks  to  rule  over  them  if 
another  national  bank  shall  ever  seek  incorpora- 
tion at  their  hands. 


ANNO  1832.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


^97 


CHAPTER   LXXVIII. 

SaiTFICATION  ORDINANCE  IN   SOUTH   CARO- 
LINA. 

It  has  been  seen  that  the  whole  question  of  the 
American  system,  and  especially  its  prominent 
fcftture  of  a  high  protective  tariffj  was  put  in 
issue  in  tlio  presidential  canvass  of  1832 ;  and 
that  the  long  session  of  Congress  of  that  year 
was  occupied  by  the  friends  of  this  system  in 
bringing  forward  to  the  best  advantage  all  its 
points,  and  stalling  its  fate  upon  the  issue  of  the 
election.    That  issue  was  against  the  system ; 
and  the  Congress  elections  taking  place  contem- 
poraneously with  the  presidential  were  of  the 
same  character.    The  fate  of  the  American  sys- 
tem was   sealed.     Its    domination  in  federal 
legislation  was  to  cease.   This  was  acknowledged 
on  all  hands ;  and  it  was  naturally  expected 
that  all  the  States,  dissatisfied  with  that  system 
would  be  satisfied  with  the  view  of  its  speedy 
and  regular  extinction,  under  the  legislation  of 
the  approaching  session  of  Congress ;  and  that 
expectation  was  only  disappointed  in  a  single 
State—that  of  South  Carolina.    She  had  held 
aloof  from  the  presidential  election— throwimr 
away  her  vote  upon  citizens  who  were  not  can- 
didates—and doing  nothing  to  aid  the  election 
of  General  Jackson,  with  whose  success  her 
interests  and  wishes  were  apparently  identified. 
Instead  of  quieting  her  apprehensions,  and  mode- 
rating her  passion  for  violent   remedies,   the 
success  of  the  election  seemed  to  inflame  them ; 
and  the  24th  of  November,  just  a  fortnight  after 
the  election  which  decided  the  fate  of  the  tarifi", 
she  issued  her  ordinance  of  nullification  against 
it,  taking  into  her  own  hands  the  sudden  and 
violent  redress  which  she  prescribed  for  herself. 
That  ordinance  makes  an  era  in  the  history  of 
our  Union,  which  requires  to  be  studied  in  order 
to  understand  the  events  of  the  times,  and  the 
history  of  subsequent  events.    It  was  m  these 
words ; 

"ordinance. 

M«  ordinance  to  nullify  certain  acts  of  the 
tongress  of  the  United  i^tates,  purporting  to 
«e  laws  laying  duties  and  imposts  on  the  im- 
purtatton  of  Jurcign  commodities. 

"Whereas  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
t)7  various  acts,  purporting  to  be  acts  laying 


duties  and  imposts  on  foreign  imports,  but  in 
reality  intended  for  the  protection  of  domestic 
manufactures,  and  the  giving  of  bounties  to 
classes  and  individuals  engaged  in  particular 
employments,  at  the  expense  and  to  the  injury 
and  oppression  of  other  cla.sses  and  individuals, 
and  by  wholly  exempting  from  taxation  certain 
foreign  commodities,  such  as  are  not  produced 
or  manufactured  in  the  United  States,  to  afford 
a  pretext  for  imposing  higher  and  exces.sivo 
duties  on  articles  similar  to  those  intended  to 
be  protected,  hath  exceeded  its  just  powers  under 
the  constitution,  which  confers  on  it  no  authority 
to  attbrd  such  protection,  and  hath  violated  the 
true  meaning  and  intent  of  the  constitution, 
which  provides  for  equality  in  imposing  the  bur- 
dens of  taxation  upon  the  several  States  and 
portions  of  the  confederacy :  And  whereas  the 
said  Congress,  exceeding  its  just  jiower  to  impose 
taxes  and  collect  revenue  for  the  purpose  of 
eflecting  and  accomplishing  the  specific  objects 
and  purposes  which  the  constitution  of   the 
United  States  authorizes  it  to  ellect  and  accom- 
plish,  hath  raised  and    collected  unnecessary 
revenue  for  objects  unauthorized  by  tlie  consti- 
tution. 

"Y^Vi^^^'^^"'"®?  *^^  P^'^P'*'  °^  ^'^^  State  of 
South  Carolina,  in  convention  assembled,  do 
declare  and  ordain,  and  it  is  hereby  declared  and 
ordained,  that  the  several  acts  and  parts  of  acts 
of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  purporting 
to  be  laws  for  the  imposing  of  duties  and  imposts 
on  ine  importation  of  foreign  commodities,  and 
now  having  actual  operation  and  etlect  within 
the  United  States,  and,  more  especially,  an  act 
entitled  '  An  act  in  alteration  of  the  several  acts 
imposing  duties  on  imports,'  approved  on  the 
nineteenth  day  of  May,  one  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  twenty-eight,  and  also  an  act  entitled 

An  act  to  alter  and  amend  the  several  acts 
imposing  duties  on  imports,'  approved  on  the 
fourteenth  day  of  July,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  thirty-two,  are  unauthorized  by 
the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  violate 
the  true  meaning  and  intent  thereof,  and  are 
null,  void,  and  no  law,  nor  binding  upon  this 
State,  its  officers  or  citizens  ;  and  all  promises, 
contracts,  and  obligations,  made  or  entered  into 
or  to  be  made  or  entered  into,  with  purpose  to 
secure  the  duties  imposed  by  the  said  acts,  and 
all  judicial  proceedings  which  shall  be  hereafter 
had  in  affirmance  thereof,  are  and  shall  be  held 
utterly  null  and  void. 

"  And  it  is  further  ordained,  that  it  shall  not 
be  lawful  for  any  of  the  constituted  authorities, 
whether  of  this  State  or  of  the  United  States,  to 
enforce  the  payment  of  duties  imposed  by  the 
said  acts  within  the  limits  of  this  State ;  but  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  the  legislature  to  adopt  such 
measures  and  pass  such  acts  as  may  be  uecessar 
ry  to  give  full  effect  to  this  ordinance,  and  to 
prevent  the  enforcement  and  arrest  the  opera- 
tion of  the  said  acts  and  parts  of  acts  of  the  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States  within  the  limits  of 
this  State,  from  and  after  the  1st  day  of  Feb- 


'f 


^'  .4 


LkJ§i 


\,         'i 


uJ 


298 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW, 


Is 


I  i 

V 


ruary  next,  and  the  duty  of  all  other  constituted 
authorities,  and  of  all  persons  residing  or  being 
within  the  limits  of  this  State,  and  thev  are 
hereby  required  and  enjoined  to  obey  anti  give 
effect  to  this  ordinance,  and  such  acts  and  mea- 
sures of  the  legislature  as  may  bo  passed  or 
adopted  in  obedience  thereto. 

"  And  it  is  further  ordained,  that  in  no  case 
of  law  or  equity,  decided  in  the  courts  of  this 
State,  wherein  shall  be  drawn  in  question  the 
authority  of  this  ordinance,  or  the  validity  of 
such  act  or  acts  of  the  legislature  as  may  bo 
passed  for  the  purpose  of  giving  effect  thereto, 
or  the  validity  of  the  aforesaid  acts  of  Congress, 
imposing  duties,  shall  any  appeal  be  taken  or 
allowed  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  nor  shall  any  copy  of  the  record  be  per- 
mitted or  allowed  for  that  purpose ;  and  if  any 
such  appeal  shall  be  attempted  to  be  taken,  the 
courts  of  this  State  shall  proceed  to  execute  and 
enforce  their  judgments,  according  to  the  laws 
and  usages  of  the  State,  without  reference  to 
such  attempted  appeal,  and  the  person  or  per- 
sons attempting  to  take  such  appeal  may  be 
dealt  with  as  for  a  contempt  of  the  court. 

"  And  it  is  further  ordained,  that  all  persons 
now  holding  any  office  of  honor,  profit,  or  trust, 
civil  or  military,  under  this  State  (members  of 
the  legislature  excepted),  shall,  within  such 
time,  and  in  such  manner  as  the  legislature  shall 
prescribe,  take  an  oath  well  and  truly  to  obey, 
execute,  and  enforce  this  ordinance,  and  such  act 
or  acts  of  the  legislature  as  may  be  passed  in 
pursuance  thereof,  according  to  the  true  intent 
and  meaning  of  the  same ;  and  on  the  neglect 
or  omission  of  any  such  person  or  persons  so  to 
do,  his  or  their  office  or  offices  shall  be  forth- 
with vacated,  and  shall  be  filled  up  as  if  such 
person  or  persons  were  dead  or  had  resigned ; 
and  no  person  hereafter  elected  to  any  office  of 
honor,  profit,  or  trust,  civil  or  military  (mem- 
bers of  the  legislature  excepted),  shall,  until  the 
legislature  shall  otherwise  provide  and  direct, 
enter  on  the  execution  of  his  office,  or  be  in  any 
respect  competent  to  discharge  the  duties  there- 
of, until  he  shall,  in  like  manner,  have  taken  a 
similar  oath  ;  and  no  juror  shall  be  empannelled 
in  any  of  the  courts  of  this  State,  in  any  cause 
in  which  shall  be  in  question  this  ordinance,  or 
any  act  of  the  legislature  passed  in  pursuance 
thereof,  unless  he  shall  first,  in  addition  to  the 
usual  oath,  have  taken  an  oath  that  he  will  well 
and  truly  obey,  execute,  and  enforce  this  ordi- 
nance, and  such  act  or  acts  of  the  legislature  as 
may  be  passed  to  carry  the  same  into  operation 
and  effect,  according  to  the  true  intent  and 
meaning  thereof. 

"  And  we,  the  people  of  South  Carolina^  to  the 
end  that  it  may  be  fully  understood  by  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States,  and  the  people  of 
the  co-States,  that  we  are  determined  to  main- 
tain this  our  ordinance  and  declaration,  at  every 
hazard,  do  further  declare  that  we  will  not  sub- 
mit to  the  application  of  force,  on  the  part  of 
the  federal  government,  to  reduce  this  State  to 


obedience ;  but  that  we  will  consider  the  pas- 
sage, by  Congress,  of  any  act  authorizing  the 
employment  of  a  military  or  naval  force  against 
the  State  of  South  Carolina,  her  constitutional 
authorities  or  citizens ;  or  any  act  abolishing  or 
closing  the  ports  of  this  State,  or  any  of  thcin 
or  otherwise  obstructing  the  free  ingress  and 
egress  of  vessels  to  and  from  the  said  ports  or 
any  other  act  on  the  part  of  the  federal  govern- 
ment, to  coerce  the  State,  shut  up  her  ports  de- 
stroy or  harass  her  commerce,  or  to  enforce  the 
acts  hereby  declared  to  be  null  and  void,  othe^ 
wise  than  through  the  civil  tribunals  of  the 
country,  as  inconsistent  with  the  longer  con- 
tinuance of  South  Carolina  in  the  Union ;  and 
that  the  people  of  this  State  will  thenceforth 
hold  themselves  absolved  from  all  further  obli- 
gation to  maintain  or  preserve  their  political 
connection  with  the  people  of  the  other  States 
and  will  forthwith  proceed  to  organize  a  sepa- 
rate government,  and  do  all  other  acts  and  things 
which  sovereign  and  independent  States  may  of 
right  do. 

"  Done  in  convention  at  Columbia,  the  twen- 
ty-fourth day  of  November,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  tiiirty- 
two,  and  in  the  fifty-seventh  year  of  the  decla- 
ration of  the  independence  of  the  United  States 
of  America." 

This  ordinance  placed  the  State  in  the  atti- 
tude of  open,  forcible  resistance  to  the  laws  of 
the  United  States,  to  take  effect  on  the  first  day 
of  February  next  ensuing — a  period  within 
which  it  was  hardly  possible  for  the  existing 
Congress,  even  if  so  disposed,  to  ameliorate  ob- 
noxious laws ;  and  a  period  a  month  earlier 
than  the  commencement  of  the  legal  existence 
of  the  new  Congress,  on  which  all  reliance  was 
placed.  And,  in  the  mean  time,  if  any  attempt 
should  be  made  in  any  way  to  enforce  the  ob- 
noxious laws  except  through  her  own  tribunals 
sworn  against  them,  the  fact  of  such  attempt 
was  to  terminate  the  continuance  of  South  Caro- 
lina in  the  Union — to  absolve  her  from  all  con- 
nection  with  the  federal  government— and  to 
establish  her  as  a  separate  government,  not  only 
unconnected  with  the  United  StJites,  bui  uncon- 
nected with  any  one  State.  This  ordinance, 
signed  by  more  than  a  hundred  citizens  of  the 
greatest  respectability,  was  officially  communi- 
cated to  the  President  of  the  United  States; 
and  a  case  presented  to  him  to  test  his  patriot- 
ism, his  courage,  and  his  fidelity  to  his  inau;.'u- 
ration  oath— an  oath  taken  in  the  presence  of 
God  and  man,  of  Heaven  and  earth,  "  io  hike 
care  that  the  laws  of  the  Union  were  faithfully 
executed."    That  President  was  Jackson;  and 


PROCLAMA 


ANNO  1888.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESmENT. 


299 


the  event  soon  proved,  what  in  fact  no  one  doubt- 
ed, that  ho  was  not  false  to  his  duty,  his  coun- 
try, and  his  oath.  Without  calling  on  Congress 
for  extraordinary  powers,  ho  merely  adverted 
in  his  annual  message  to  the  attitude  of  the 
State,  and  proceeded  to  meet  the  exigency  by 
the  exercise  of  the  powers  ho  already  possessed. 


CHAPTER    LXXIX. 

PROCLAMATION  AGAINST  NULLIFICATION. 

Tub  ordinance  of  nullification  reached  Presi- 
dent Jackson  in  the  first  days  of  December 
and  on  the  tentti  of  that  month  the  proclama- 
tion was  issued,  of  which  the  following  are  the 
essential  and  leading  parts : 

"Whereas  a  convention  assembled  in  the  State 
of  South  Carolina  have  passed  an  ordinance  by 
whicli  they  declare  '  that  the  several  acts  and 
parts  of  acts  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
purporting  to  be  laws  for  the  imposing  of  duties 
and  imposts  on  the  importation  of  foreign  com- 
modities, and  now  having  actual  operation  and 
ell'ect  within  the  United  States,  and  more  es- 
pecially '  two  acts  for  the  same  purposes,  passc-l 
on  the  20th  of  May,  1828,  and  on  the  14th  of 
July,  1832,  'are  unauthorized  by  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States,  and  violate  the  true 
meannig  and  intent  thereof,  and  are  null  and 
void,  and  no  law,'  nor  binding  on  the  citizens  of 
that  State,  or  its  oflBcers :  and  by  the  said  ordi- 
nance, it  is  further  declared  to  be  unlawful  for 
any  of  the  constituted  authorities  of  the  State  or 
of  the  United  States  to  enforce  the  payment  of 
the  duties  imposed  bv  the  said  acts  within  the 
same  State,  and  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  legisla- 
ture to  pass  such  laws  as  may  be  necessary  to 
g,ve  full  effect  to  the  said  ordinance : 

'-And  whereas,  by  the  said  ordinance,  it  is 
further  ordamed,  that  in  no  case  of  law  or  equity 
decided  m  the  courts  of  said  State,  wherein  shall 
be  drawn  m  question  the  validity  of  the  said  or- 
dinance, or  of  the  a«ts  of  the  legislature  that  may 
be  passed  to  give  it  effect,  or  of  the  said  laws  of 
the  United  States,  no  appeal  shall  be  allowed  to 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  nor 
shall  any  copy  of  the  record  be  permitted  or  al- 
owed  for  that  purpose,  and  that  any  person  at- 
tempting to  take  such  appeal  shall  be  punished 
as  tor  a  contempt  of  court : 

"And,  finally,  the  said  ordinance  declares  that 
he  people  of  South  Carolina  will  maintain  the 
Md  ordinance  at  every  hazard;  and  that  they 
-.1  consider  tnc  passage  of  any  act,  by  Congresi, 
abolishing  or  closing  the  portSof  the  said  State 
or  otherwise  obstructing  the  tree  ingress  or 


egress  of  vessels  to  and  from  the  said  ports,  or 
any  other  act  of  the  federal  government  to  coerce 
the  State,  shut  up  her  ports,  destroy  or  harass 
her  commerce,  or  to  enforce  the  said  acts  other- 
wise than  through  the  civil  tribunals  of  the  coun- 
try, as  inconsistent  with  the  longer  continuance 
of  South  Carolina  in  the  Union ;  and  that  the 
people  of  the  said  State  will  thenceforth  hold 
themselves  absolved  from  all  further  obligation 
to  maintain  or  preserve  their  political  con- 
nection with  the  people  of  the  other  States, 
and  will  forthwith  proceed  to  organize  a  scjpa- 
rate  government,  and"  do  all  other  acts  and  things 
which  sovereign  and  independent  States  may  of 
right  do : 

"  And  whereas  the  said  ordinance  prescribes 
to  the  people  of  South  Carolina  a  course  of  con- 
duct in  direct  violation  of  their  duty  as  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  contrary  to  the  laws  of 
their  country,  subversive  of  its  constitution, 
and  having  for  its  object  the  destniction  of  the 
Union— that  Union  which,  coeval  with  our  po- 
litical existence,  led  our  fathers,  without  any 
other  ties  to  unite  them  than  those  of  patriotism 
and  a  common  cause,  through  a  sanguinary 
struggle  to  a  glorious  independence— that  sacred 
Union,  hitherto  inviolate,  which,  perfected  by 
our  happy  constitution,  has  brought  us,  by  the 
favor  of  Heaven,  to  a  state  of  prosperity  at 
home,  and  high  consideration  abroad,  rarely,  if 
ever,  equalled  in  the  history  of  nations :  To 
preserve  this  bond  of  our  political  existence  from 
destruction,  to  maintain  inviolate  this  state  of 
national  honor  and  prosperity,  and  to  justify  the 
confidence  my  fellow-citizens  have  reposed  in  me, 
I,  Andrew  Jackson,  President  of  the  United 
States,  have  thought  proper  to  issue  this  my 
proclamation,  stating  my  views  of  the  constitu- 
tion and  laws  applicable  to  the  measures  adopt- 
ed by  the  convention  of  South  Carolina,  and  to 
the  reasons  they  have  put  forth  to  sustain  them, 
declaring  the  course  which  duty  will  require  me 
to  pursue,  and,  appealing  to  the  understanding 
and  patriotism  of  the  people,  warn  them  of  the 
consequences  that  must  inevitably  result  from 
an  observance  of  the  dictates  of  the  convention. 

"  Strict  duty  would  require  of  me  nothing 
more  than  the  exercise  of  those  powers  with 
which  I  am  now,  or  may  hereafter  be,  invested, 
for  preserving  the  peace  of  the  Union,  and  for 
the  execution  of  the  laws.  But  the  imposing  as- 
pect which  opposition  has  assumed  in  this  case, 
by  clothing  itself  with  State  authority,  and  the 
deep  interest  which  the  people  of  the  United 
States  must  all  feel  in  preventing  a  resort  to 
stronger  measures,  while  there  is  a  hope  that 
any  thing  will  be  yielded  to  reasoning  and  re- 
monstrance, perhaps  demanded,  and  will  certain- 
ly justify,  a  full  exposition  to  South  Carolina 
and  the  nation  of  the  views  I  entertain  of  this 
important  question,  as  well  as  a  distinct  enun- 
ciation of  the  course  which  my  sense  of  duty 
will  require  me  to  pursue. 

"  The  ordinance  is  founded,  not  on  the  inde- 
feasible right  of  resisting  acts  which  ai-e  plainly 


I 


IS 


800 


THIRTY  YEAKS'  VIEW. 


unconstitutional  and  too  opprcssivo  to  be  endur- 
ed, but  on  the  strange  position  that  any  one 
State  may  not  only  declare  an  act  of  ConfrreHS 
void,  hut  j)rohihit  its  exwMition ;  that  they  may 
do  tl\is  conHistcntly  witli  the  conHtituUon  ;  that 
the  true  construction  of  that  instrument  permits 
a  State  to  retain  its  place  in  the  Union,  and  yet 
be  bound  by  no  other  of  its  laws  than  those  it 
may  choose  to  consider  as  constitutional.  It  is 
true,  they  add,  that  to  justify  this  abrogation  of 
a  law,  it  must  bo  pal{)ably  contrary  to  the  con- 
stitution ;  but  it  is  evident,  that  to  give  the  right 
of  resisting  laws  of  that  description,  coupled  with 
the  uncontrolled  right  to  decide  what  laws  de- 
serve that  character,  is  to  give  the  power  of  re- 
sisting all  laws.  For  as,  by  the  theory,  there  is 
no  apjH-'al,  the  ivasons  alleged  by  the  fetatc,  good 
or  bad,  must  prevail.  If  it  should  be  said  that 
public  opinion  is  a  sufficient  check  against  the 
abuse  of  this  power,  it  may  be  asked  why  it  is 
not  deemed  a  sufficient  guard  against  the  passage 
of  an  unconstitutional  act  by  Congress.  There 
is,  however,  a  restraint  in  this  last  case,  which 
makes  the  assumed  power  of  a  State  more  inde- 
fensible, and  which  does  not  exist  in  the  other. 
There  are  two  appeals  from  an  unconstitutional 
act  passed  by  Congress — one  to  the  judiciary, 
the  other  to  the  people  and  the  States.  There 
is  no  appeal  from  the  State  decision  in  theory, 
and  the  practical  illustration  shows  that  the 
courts  are  closed  against  an  application  to  review 
it,  both  judges  and  jurors  being  sworn  to  decide 
in  its  favor.  But  reasoning  on  this  subject  is 
superfluous,  when  our  social  compact,  in  express 
terms,  declares  that  the  laws  of  the  United  States, 
its  constitution,  and  treaties  made  under  it,  are 
the  supreme  law  of  the  land ;  and,  for  greater 
caution,  adds  '  that  the  judges  in  every  State 
shall  be  bound  thereby,  any  thing  in  the  consti- 
tution or  laws  of  anj'  State  to  the  contrary  not- 
withstanding.' And  it  may  be  asserted  with- 
out fear  of  refutation,  that  no  federative  govern- 
ment could  exist  without  a  similar  provision. 
Look  for  a  moment  to  the  consequence.  If  South 
Carolina  considers  the  revenue  laws  unconstitu- 
tional, and  has  a  right  to  prevent  their  execiition 
in  the  port  of  Charleston,  there  would  be  a  clear 
constitutional  objection  to  their  collection  in 
every  other  port,  and  no  revenue  could  be  col- 
lected any  where ;  for  all  imposts  must  be  equal. 
It  is  no  answer  to  repeat,  that  an  unconstitution- 
al law  is  no  law,  so  long  as  the  question  of  its 
kgality  is  to  Ije  decided  by  the  State  itself;  for 
every  law  operating  injuriously  upon  any  local 
interest  will  be  perhaps  thought,  and  certainly 
represented,  as  unconstitutional,  and,  as  has  been 
shown,  there  is  no  appeal. 

"  If  this  doctrine  had  been  established  at  an 
earlier  day,  the  Union  woiddhave  been  dissolved 
in  its  infancy.  The  excise  law  in  Pennsylvania, 
the  embargo  and  non-intercourse  law  in  the 
Eastern  States,  the  carriage  lax  in  Virginia,  were 
all  deemed  unconstitutional,  and  were  more  un- 
equal in  their  operation  than  any  of  the  laws 
now  complained  of;  but  fortunately  none  of 


those  States  discovered  that  they  had  the  ri|;ht 
now  claimed  by  South  Carolina.  The  war,  into 
which  wo  were  forced  to  support  the  dignity  of 
the  nation  and  the  rights  of  our  citizens,  niinht 
have  endexl  in  di  feat  and  disgrace,  insteid  of  vic- 
tory and  honor,  '  the  States  who  supposed  it  a 
nmious  and  (..iconstitutional  moasiin',  lad 
thought  they  possessed  the  right  of  nidlifjii,g 
the  act  by  which  it  was  declared,  ana  denying 
supplies  for  its  prosecution.  Hardly  ami  un- 
equally as  thotto  measures  bore  upon  t^everal 
members  of  the  Uniim,  to  the  legislatures  of  none 
did  this  efficient  and  peaceable  remedy,  ns  it  U 
called,  suggest  itself.  The  discovery  of  this  im- 
portant feature  in  our  constitution  was  reserved 
to  the  present  day.  To  the  statesmen  of  (South 
Carolina  belongs  the  invention,  and  upon  tiie 
citizens  of  that  Si  te  will  unfortunately  full  t!,e 
evils  of  reducing  i    to  practice. 

"  If  the  doctrine  of  a  State  veto  upon  the  laws 
of  the  Union  carries  with  it  internal  evidence  of 
its  impracticable  absurdity,  our  constitutional 
history  will  also  afford  abundant  proof 'hat  it 
would  have  been  repudiated  with  indijrnation 
had  it  been  proposed  to  form  a  feature  i.i  our 
government. 

"  In  our  colonial  state,  although  depi.nd  .nt  on 
another  power,  wo  very  early  consideri'il  our- 
selves as  conmcted  by  common  interest  with  each 
other.  Leagues  were  formed  for  common  de- 
fence, and,  before  the  declaration  of  indepen- 
dence, we  were  known  in  our  aggregate  character 
as  the  United  Colonies  of  America.  That  de- 
cisive and  important  step  was  taken  jointly 
We  declared  ourselves  a  nation  by  a  joint,  not 
by  several  acts,  and  wh  i.  the  terms  of  our  con- 
federation were  reduced  to  form,  it  was  in  that 
of  a  solemn  league  of  several  States,  by  which 
they  agreed  that  they  would  collectively  form 
one  nation  for  the  purpose  of  conducting  some 
certain  domestic  concerns  and  all  foreign  rela- 
tions. In  the  instrument  forming  that  Union 
is  found  an  article  which  declares  that  ■evciy 
State  shall  abide  by  the  determinations  of  Con- 
gress on  all  questions  which,  by  that  confedera- 
tion, should  be  submitted  to  them.' 

"  Under  the  confederation,  then,  no  State  could 
legally  annul  a  decision  of  the  Congress,  or  re- 
fuse to  submit  to  its  execution  ;  but  no  provision 
was  made  to  enforce  these  decisions.  Congress 
made  Kauisitions,  but  they  were  not  complied 
with.  The  government  coidd  not  ojierato  on  in- 
dividuals. They  had  no  judiciary,  no  means  of 
collecting  revenue. 

"  But  the  defects  of  the  confederation  need 
not  be  detailed.  Under  its  op  ration  we  could 
scarcely  be  called  a  nation.  We  had  neither 
prosperity  at  home,  nor  consideration  abroad. 
This  state  of  things  could  not  be  endured,  and 
our  present  happy  constitution  was  formed,  but 
formed  in  vain,  if  this  fatal  doctrine  prevail.  It 
wasfoK'ied  for  important  objects  that  are  an- 
nounced in  the  preamble  made  in  the  name  and 
by  the  authority  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  whose  delegates  framed,  and  whose  con- 


ANNO  1833.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


Tcntions    a|)prove<l   it.      Tho    moHt   important 
amniin  these  objects,  that  whicli  is  placed  (list 


S6I 


in  rank,  on  which  all  the  others  rest,  is  '  to  form 
a  more  [wrfect  Union.'  Now,  is  it  possible  that 
even  if  there  were  no  express  provision  ffivinR 
giilireiiiacy  to  tho  constitution  and  laws  of  the 
Uiiittil  States  over  ihose  of  the  States — can  it 
bt)  concoived  that  an  instrument  made  for  the 
l)urp(i<eof  •forininp;  a  more  perfect  Union'  than 
that  of  the  confederation,  could  he  so  construct- 
ed by  the  assembled  wisdom  of  our  country,  as 
to  substitute  for  that  confederation  a  form  of 
government  dependent  for  its  existence  on  the 
local  interest,  the  party  spirit  of  a  State,  or  of  a 
prevailing  faction  in  a  State  ?  Every  man  of 
plain,  unssophisticated  understandini;,  who  hears 
the  question,  will  give  such  an  answer  as  will 
preaTve  the  Union.     Metaphysical  subtlety,  in 

Eursiiit  of  an  impracticable  theory,  could  alone 
ave  devised  one  that  is  calculated  to  destroy  it. 
"The  constitution  declares  that  the  judicial 
powers  of  tho  United  States  extend  to  cases 
arising  under  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and 
that  such  laws,  the  constitution  and  treaties  shall 
be  panunount  to  the  State  constitutions  and  laws. 
The  judiciary  act  prescribes  the  mode  by  which 
the  case  may  be  brought  before  a  court  of  the 
United  States :  by  appeal,  when  a  State  tribunal 
shall  decide  against  this  provision  of  tho  consti- 
tution. The  ordinance  declares  there  shall  be 
no  appeal ;  makes  the  State  law  paramoimt  to 
the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States  ; 
forces  judges  and  jurors  to  swear  that  they  will 
disregard  their  provisions ;  and  even  makes  it 
penal  in  a  suitor  to  attempt  relief  by  appeal.  It 
fiirtlier  declares  that  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for 
the  authorities  of  the  United  States,  or  of  that 
State,  to  enforce  the  payment  of  duties  imposed 
Dy  the  revenue  laws  within  its  limits. 

"  Ilcie  is  a  law  of  the  United  States,  not  even 
pretended  to  be  unconstitutional,  repealed  by  the 
authority  of  a  small  majority  of  the  voters  of  a 
single  State.  Here  is  a  provision  of  tho  consti- 
tution Avhich  is  solemnly  abrogated  by  the  same 
authority. 

"  On  such  expositions  and  reasonings,  the  or- 
dinance grounds  not  only  an  assertion  of  the 
right  to  annul  the  laws  of  which  it  complains, 
but  to  raforce  it  by  a  threat  of  seceding  from  the 
Lnion,  if  any  attempt  is  made  to  execute  them. 
'  This  right  to  secede  is  deduced  from  the  na- 
ture of  the  constitution,  which,  they  say,  is  a 
compact  between  sovereign  States,  who  have  pre- 
served their  whole  sovereignty,  and,  therefore, 
are  subject  to  no  superior;  that,  because  they 
made  the  compact,  they  can  break  it  when,  in 
their  opinion,  it  has  been  departed  from,  by  the 
other  States.  Fallacious  as  this  course  of  rea- 
soning IS,  it  enlists  State  pride,  and  finu.  advo- 
cates in  the  honest  prejudices  of  those  who  have 
not  studied  the  nature  of  our  government  suffi- 
ciently to  see  tiiu  radical  error  ou  whicii  it  rests, 
ihe  people  of  the  United  States  formed  the 
constitution,  acting  through  the  State  legisla- 
tures in  making  the  compact,  to  meet  and  discuss 


Its  provisions,  and  acting  In  sepai  ivcntions 

when  they  ratified  those  provisions;  but,  tho 
terms  used  in  its  construction  show  it  to  bo  a 
government  in  which  the  fwople  of  all  the  States 
collectively  are  represented.  We  are  one  people 
in  the  choice  of  the  President  and  Vice-President. 
Hero  the  States  have  no  other  agency  than  to 
direct  tho  mode  in  which  the  votes  shall  be 
given.  Candidates  having  the  majority  of  all 
the  votes  are  chosen.  The  electors  of  a  majority 
of  States  may  have  given  their  votes  for  one 
candidate,  and  yet  another  may  be  chosen.  Tho 
jieople,  then,  and  not  the  States,  are  rejiresented 
in  the  executive  branch. 

'•In  tho  House  of  Representatives,  there  is 
this  difl'erence :  that  the  people  of  one  State  do 
not,  as  in  the  case  of  President  and  Vico-Prosi- 
dent,  all  vote  for  the  same  olllcers.  The  i)eoplo 
of  nil  the  States  do  not  vote  for  all  the  members 
each  State  electing  only  its  own  representatives! 
Hut  this  creates  no  material  distinction.  When 
chosen,  they  are  all  representatives  of  the  United 
States,  not  representatives  of  the  particular 
State  from  which  they  come.  They  are  paid  by 
the  United  States,  not  by  the  State,  nor  are  they 
accountable  to  it  for  any  act  done  in  the  per- 
formance of  their  legislative  functions;  and 
however  they  may  in  practice,  as  it  is  their 
duty  to  do,  consult  and  prefer  the  interests  of 
their  particular  constituents,  when  they  come  in 
conflict  with  any  other  partial  or  local  interest, 
yet  it  is  their  first  and  highest  duty,  as  repre- 
sentatives of  the  United  States,  to  promote  tho 
general  good. 

"Tho  constitution  of  the  United  States,  then, 
forms  a  government,  not  a  league ;  and  whether 
it  be  formed  by  compact  between  the  States,  or 
in  any  other  manner,  its  character  is  the  same. 
It  is  a  government  in  which  all  the  people  are 
represented,  which  operates  directly  on  the  peo- 
ple individually,  not  upon  the  States— they  re- 
tained all  the  power  they  did  not  grant.  But 
each  State,  having  expressly  parted  with  so 
many  powers  as  to  constitute,  jointly  with  the 
other  States,  a  single  nation,  cannot,  from  that 
period,  possess  any  right  to  secede,  because 
such  secession  docs  not  break  a  league,  but  de- 
stroys the  unity  of  a  nation  ;  and  any  injury  to 
that  unity  is  not  only  a  breach  which  would  re- 
sult from  the  contravention  of  a  compact,  but  it 
is  an  offence  against  the  whole  Union.  To  say 
that  any  State  may  at  pleasure  secede  from  the 
Union,  is  to  say  that  the  United  States  are  not 
a  nation ;  because  it  would  be  a  solecism  to  con- 
tend that  any  part  of  a  nation  might  dissolve  its 
connection  with  the  other  parts,  to  their  injury 
or  ruin,  without  committing  any  offence.  Seces- 
sion, like  any  other  revolutionary  act,  may  be 
morally  justified  by  the  extremity  of  oppression ; 
but,  to  call  it  a  constitutional  right,  is  confound- 
ing the  meaning  of  terms ;  and  can  only  be  done 
through  gross  error,  or  to  deceive  those  who  are 
willing  to  assert  a  right,  but  would  pause  before 
they  made  a  revolution,  or  incur  the  penalties 
consequent  on  a  failure. 


HHIK 


Ml',' 


1    H^ 


l 


302 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


"  Fc'llow-citizciis  of  my  native  State,  let  me 
not  only  admonJHh  you,  a«  the  First  Ma(!;istrate 
of  our  common  country,  not  to  incur  tiie  })fnalty 
of  itfl  lawM,  but  U80  the  influence  tlmt  a  futlicr 
would  over  his  children  whom  he  Haw  ruehinf^ 
to  certain  ruin.  In  that  paternal  lanp^ua^,  with 
that  paternal  foelinp;,  let  mo  tell  you,  my  coun- 
trymen, that  you  are  deluded  by  men  who  are 
either  deceived  themselves,  or  wish  to  deceive 

iron.  Mark  under  what  pretences  you  have  Iwen 
ed  on  to  the  brink  of  insurrection  and  treason, 
on  which  you  stand  I  First,  a  diminution  of  the 
value  of  your  staple  commodity,  lowered  by  over 
prochiction  in  other  nuartcrs,  and  the  consequent 
diuuuutiou  in  the  value  of  your  lands,  were  the 
sole  effect  of  the  tariff  laws. 

"  The  effect  of  those  laws  was  confessedly  in- 
jurious, but  the  evil  wiw  greatly  exapperated  by 
the  unfojinded  theory  you  were  taught  to  believe, 
that  its  burdens  were  in  proportion  to  your  ex- 
ports, not  to  your  consumption  of  imported 
articles.  Your  pride  was  roused  by  the  assertion 
that  a  si'bmission  to  those  laws  was  a  state  of 
vassalage,  and  that  resistance  to  them  was  equal, 
in  patriotic  merit,  to  the  oppositions  our  fatliers 
offered  to  the  oppressive  laws  of  Great  Britain. 
You  were  told  this  opposition  might  be  peace- 
ably, might  be  constitutionally  made ;  that  you 
might  enjoy  all  the  advantages  of  the  Union, 
and  bear  none  of  its  burdens.  Eloquent  appeals 
to  your  passions,  to  your  State  pride,  to  your 
native  courage,  to  your  sense  of  real  injury, 
were  lUJed  to  i)repare  you  for  the  period  when 
the  mask,  which  concealed  the  hideous  features 
of  disunion,  should  be  taken  off.  It  fell,  and  you 
were  made  to  look  with  complacency  on  objects 
which,  not  long  since,  you  would  have  regarded 
with  horror.  Look  back  to  the  arts  which  have 
brought  you  to  this  state;  look  forward  to  the 
consequences  to  which  it  must  inevitably  lead  ! 
Look  back  to  what  was  first  told  you  as  an  in- 
ducement to  enter  into  this  dangerous  course. 
The  great  political  truth  was  repeated  to  you, 
that  you  had  the  revolutionary  right  of  resisting 
all  laws  that  were  palpably  unconstitutional  and 
intolerably  oppressive  ;  it  was  added  that  the 
riq;ht  to  nullify  a  law  rested  on  the  same  prin- 
ciple, but  that  it  was  a  peaceable  remedy  !  This 
character  which  was  given  to  it,  made  you  re- 
ceive with  too  much  confidence  the  assertions 
that  were  made  of  the  unconstitutionality  of  the 
law,  and  its  oppressive  effects.  Mark,  my  fellow- 
citizens,  that,  by  the  admission  of  your  leaders, 
the  unconstitutionality  must  be  palpable,  or  it 
will  not  justify  either  resistance  or  nullification ! 
What  is  the  meaning  of  the  word  palpable,  in 
the  sense  in  which  it  is  here  used  ?  That  which 
is  apparent  to  every  one ;  that  which  no  man 
of  ordinary  intellect  will  fail  to  perceive.  Is 
the  unconstitutionality  of  these  laws  of  that 
description  ?     Let  those  among  your  leaders 


who  onrc  an^iroved  and  advocated 


of  protective  duties,  answer  the  question ;  and 
let  them  choose  whether  they  will  be  considered 
as  incapable,  then,  of  perceiving  tliat  which  must 


have  been  apparent  to  every  man  of  common 
understamling,  or  as  imposing  uj)on  your  confi- 
dence, and  endeavoring  to  mislead  you  now. 
In  either  case  they  are  unsafe  guides  in  the 
perilous  path  they  urge  you  to  tread.  I'onder 
well  on  this  circumstance,  and  you  will  know 
how  to  appreciate  the  exaggerated  lanunage 
tliey  addresH  to  you.  They  are  not  chnuipiona 
of  lilwrty  emulating  the  fame  of  our  rnvoiutjon- 
ary  fathers ;  nor  are  you  an  opprcHsed  jH'ople 
contending,  as  they  repeat  to  you,  against  worse 
than  colonial  vassalage. 

"  You  are  free  members  of  a  flourishini.;  and 
happy  Union.  There  is  no  settled  donjon  to 
0[)pre88  you.  You  have  indeed  felt  the  unequal 
operation  of  laws  which  may  have  been  unwiiwly 
not  unconstiUitionally  passed  ;  but  that  ine- 
quality nuist  necessarily  be  removed.  At  the 
very  moment  when  you  were  madly  urjri'd  on 
to  the  unfortunate  course  you  have  bc;;nn,  a 
change  in  public  opinion  had  commenced.  The 
nearly  approaching  payment  of  the  public  debt, 
and  the  conseciuent  necessity  of  a  diminution 
of  duties,  had  already  produced  a  considerable 
reduction,  and  that,  too,  on  some  arlicles  of 
general  consumption  in  your  State.  The  inijK)r- 
tance  of  this  change  was  underrated,  and  you 
were  authoritatively  told  that  no  further  allevi- 
ation of  your  burdens  was  to  be  expected,  at  the 
very  time  when  the  condition  of  the  country 
imperiously  demanded  such  a  modificatidu  of 
the  duties  as  should  reduce  them  to  a  just  and 
equitable  scale.  But,  as  if  apprehensive  of  the 
effect  of  this  change  in  allaying  your  discontents, 
you  were  precipitated  into  the  fearful  state  in 
which  you  now  find  yourselves. 

"  I  adjure  you,  as  you  honor  their  memory ; 
as  you  love  the  cause  of  freedom,  to  whieii  they 
dedicated  their  lives ;  as  you  ])rize  the  peace  of 
your  country,  the  lives  of  its  best  citizens,  and 
your  own  fair  fame,  to  retrace  your  steps. 
Snatch  from  the  archives  of  your  State  the  dis- 
organizing edict  of  its  convention ;  bid  its  mem- 
bers to  reassemble,  and  promulgate  the  decided 
expressions  of  your  will  to  remain  in  the  pa*h 
which  alone  can  conduct  you  to  safety,  prosperity 
and  honor.  Tell  them  that,  compared  to  dis- 
union, all  other  evils  are  light,  becau-e  that 
brings  with  it  an  accumulation  of  all.  Declare 
that  you  will  never  take  the  field  unless  the 
star-spangled  banner  of  your  country  shall  float 
over  you ;  that  you  will  not  be  stigniatiz  d  when 
dead,  and  dishonored  and  scorned  while  you 
live,  as  the  authors  of  the  first  attack  on  the 
constitution  of  your  country.  Its  destroyers 
you  cannot  be.  You  may  disturb  its  peace,  you 
may  interrupt  the  course  of  its  prosperity,  you 
may  cloud  its  reputation  for  stability,  but  its 
tranquillity  will  be  restored,  its  prosperity  will 
return,  and  the  stain  upon  its  national  character 
will  be  transferred,  and  n  main  an  eternal  blot 
on  the  memory  of  those  who  caused  the  disorder. 

"Fellow-citizens  of  the  United  States,  the 
threat  of  unhallowed  disunion,  the  names  of 
those,  once  respected,  by  whom  it  is  uttered, 


ANNO  188».    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


303 


the  army  of  military  force  to  niipport  it,  ditnote 
the  approach  of  a  crisiH  in  our  atfairK,  on  which 
the  continuanco  of  our  uncxampli-d  proaperity, 
our  political  oxiRtonce,  and  |H<r(m|iM  tliat  of  all 
fnw  (rovcrnnM'utH,  may  (linHiiid.  Tlio  conjunc- 
ture (leiimiidid  a  fn'u,  a  full,  and  uxplicit  cnun- 
ciatidii,  not  only  of  my  intentions,  but  of  my 
principles  of  action  ;  and,  as  tho  claim  was 
anHcrted  of  a  right  hy  a  State  to  annul  the  laws 
of  tiio  Union,  and  oven  to  socwlo  from  it  at 
pleanuro,  !i  frank  exposition  of  my  opinions  in 
reliUiiin  to  the  origin  and  form  of  our  government, 
ami  the  couHtruction  I  give  to  the  instrument 
by  which  it  was  creatcnl,  Hceuied  to  bo  proper. 
llavinn  till'  fullest  conddence  in  the  justness  of 
the  le^'iil  and  constitutional  opinion  of  my  duties 
wiiieli  has  been  expressed,  1  rely,  with  ecpiai 
conlldenco,  on  your  undividcil  support  in  my 
(letcmiination  to  execute  the  laws,  to  prt^serve 
the  L'nion  hy  all  constitutional  means,  to  arrest, 
if  possible,  hy  moderate,  but  firm  measures,  the 
nea'ssity  of  a  recourse  to  force  ;  and,  if  it  fjethe 
will  of  Heaven  that  tho  recurrence  of  its  primeval 
curse  on  man  for  the  shedding  of  a  brother's 
blood  should  fall  \ipon  our  land,  that  it  be  not 
caiiwl  down  by  any  ollensivc  act  on  tho  part  of 
the  United  States. 

"  Fdlow-citizcns  :  Tho  momentous  case  is 
before  you.  On  your  undivided  support  of  your 
povcrnmont  depends  tho  decision  of  tho  great 
question  it  involves,  whether  your  sacred  Union 
will  be  preserved,  and  the  blessings  it  secures  to 
U8  as  one  people  shall  bo  perpetuated.  No  one 
can  doubt  that  the  unanimity  with  which  that 
decision  will  be  expressed,  will  be  such  as  to 
inspire  new  confidence  in  republican  institutions, 
and  that  the  prudence,  the  wisdom,  and  the 
courage  which  it  will  bring  to  their  defence,  will 
transmit  them  unimpaired  and  invigorated  to 
our  children." 


ahowlng  the  aUto  of  the  quMtIon,--wh»t  had 
liecn  done  to  compose  it,— and  asking  for  the 
powers  which  tho  exigency  demanded.  Tho 
pr  "-igs  not  ceasing,  and  taking  daily  a  more 
aggiavated  fonn  in  the  organization  of  troopa, 
the  collection  of  arms  and  of  munitions  of  wor, 
and  in  declarations  hostile  to  tho  Union,  ho  found 
himself  required,  early  in  January,  to  aiako  the 
promised  comnumication  ;  and  did  so  in  a  mea- 
sago  to  both  Houses,  of  which  tho  following  are 
tho  essential  parts  which  belong  to  history  and 
posterity : 


CHAPTER    LXXX. 

MESSAGE  ON  THE  SOUTH   CAEOLINA  PBOCEED- 
INQS. 

In  his  annual  message  to  Congress  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  session  1832-'33,  tho  President  had 
adverted  to  the  proceedings  in  South  Carolina, 
hinting  at  their  character  as  inimical  to  the 
Union,  expressing  his  belief  that  the  action  in 
reducing  tho  duties  which  the  extinction  of  the 
public  debt  would  permit  and  require,  would 
put  an  end  to  those  proceedings ;  and  if  they 
did  not,  and  those  proanidings  continued,  and 
the  executive  trovorument  should  nocA  g-roator 
powers  than  it  possessed  to  overcome  them,  he 
promised  to  make  a  communication  to  Congress, 


"  Since  tho  date  of  my  last  annual  message,  I 
have  had  ofHciallv  transmitted  to  me  by  the 
(Sovernor  of  South  Carolina,  which  I  now  com- 
nnmicate  to  Congress,  a  copy  (»f  the  ordinance 
pas.sed  by  tho  convention  which  assembled  at 
Columbia,  in  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  in 
November  lust,  declaring  certain  acts  of  Congress 
therein  mentioned,  within  the  limits  of  that 
State,  to  be  absolutely  null  and  void,  and  mak- 
ing it  the  duty  of  the  legislature  to  i>ass  such 
laws  as  would  bo  necessary  to  carry  the  same 
into  effect  from  and  after  the  1st  of  February 
next 

"  Tho  consequences  to  which  this  extraordi- 
nary defiance  of  the  just  authority  of  the  gov- 
ernment might  too  surely  lead,  were  clearly 
foreseen,  and  it  was  impcissible  for  me  to  hesi- 
tat"  as  to  my  own  duty  in  such  an  emergency. 

"The  ordinance  had  been  passed,  however, 
without  any  certain  knowledge  of  the  recom- 
mendation which,  from  a  view  of  the  interests 
of  the  nation  at  large,  the  Executive  had  deter- 
mined to  submit  to  Congress ;  and  a  hope  was 
indulged  that,  by  frankly  explaining  his  senti- 
ments, and  the  nature  of  those  duties  which  the 
crisis  would  devolve  upon  him,  the  authorities 
of  South  Carolina  might  be  induced  to  retrace 
their  steps.  In  this  hope,  I  determined  to  issue 
my  proclamation  of  the  10th  of  December  last, 
a  copy  of  which  I  now  lay  before  Congress. 

"  I  regret  to  inform  you  that  these  reasonable 
expectations  have  not  been  realized,  and  that 
the  several  acts  of  the  legislature  of  South 
Carolina,  which  I  now  lay  before  you,  and  which 
have,  all  and  each  of  them,  finally  passed,  after 
a  knowledge  of  the  desire  of  the  administration 
to  modify  the  laws  complained  of,  are  too  well 
calculated,  both  in  their  positive  enactments, 
and  in  the  spirit  of  opposition  which  they  obvi- 
ously encourage,  wholly  to  obstruct  the  collec- 
tion of  the  revenue  within  the  limits  of  that 
State. 

"  Up  to  this  period,  neither  the  recommenda- 
tion of  the  Ex"cutive  in  regard  to  our  financial 
policy  and  impost  system,  nor  the  disposition 
manifested  by  Congress  promptly  to  act  upon 
that  subject,  nor  the  unequivocal  expression  of 
the  public  will,  in  all  parts  of  the  Union,  ap- 
pears to  have  produced  any  relaxation  in  th« 


304 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


I 


measures  of  opposition  adopted  by  the  State  of 
South  Carolina ;  nor  is  there  any  reason  to  hope 
that  the  ordinance  and  laws  will  be  abandoned. 
"  I  have  no  knowledge  that  an  attempt  has 
been  made,  or  that  it  is  in  contemplation,  to 
reassemble  either  the  convention  or  the  legis- 
lature ;  and  it  will  be  perceived  that  the  inter- 
val before  the  1st  of  February  is  too  short  to 
adroit  of  the  preliminary  steps  necessary  for 
that  purpose.  It  appears,  moreover,  that  the 
State  authorities  are  actively  organizing  their 
military  resources,  and  providing  the  means, 
and  giving  the  most  solemn  assurances  of  pro- 
tection and  support  to  all  who  shall  enlist  in 
opposition  to  the  revenue  laws. 

"  A  recent  proclamation  of  the  present  Gover- 
nor of  South  Carolina  has  openly  defied  the  au- 
thority of  the  Executive  of  the  Union,  and  gene- 
ral orders  from  the  head  quarters  of  the  State 
announced  his  determination  to  accept  the  ser- 
vices of  volunteers,  and  his  belief  that,  should 
their  country  need  their  services,  they  will  be 
found  at  the  post  of  honor  and  duty,  ready  to 
lay  down  their  lives  in  her  defence.  Under 
these  orders,  the  forces  referred  to  are  directed 
to  '  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  take  the 
field  at  a  moment's  warning ;'  and  in  the  city  of 
Charleston,  within  a  collection  district  and  a 
port  of  entry,  a  rendezvous  has  been  opened  for 
the  purpose  of  enlisting  men  for  the  magazine 
and  municipal  guard.  Thus,  South  Carolina 
presents  herself  in  the  attitude  of  hostile  prepa- 
ration, and  ready  even  for  military  violence,  if 
need  be,  to  enforce  her  laws  for  preventing  the 
collection  of  the  duties  within  her  limits. 

"Proceedings  thus  announced  and  matured 
must  be  distinguished  from  menaces  of  unlawful 
resistance  bj'  irregular  bodies  of  people,  who, 
acting  under  temporary  delusion,  may  be  re- 
strained by  reflection,  and  the  influence  of  public 
opinion,  from  the  commission  of  actual  outrage. 
In  the  present  instance,  aggression  may  be  re- 
garded as  committed  when  it  is  officially  au- 
thorized, and  the  means  of  enforcing  it  fully 
provided. 

'•'  Under  these  circumstances,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  it  is  the  determination  of  the  autho- 
rities of  South  Carolina  fully  to  carry  into  effect 
their  ordinance  and  laws  after  the  Ist  of  Febru- 
ary. It  therefore  becomes  my  duty  to  bring  the 
subject  to  the  serious  consideration  of  Congress, 
in  order  that  such  measures  as  they,  in  their 
wisdom,  may  deem  fit,  shall  be  seasonably  pro- 
vided ;  and  that  it  may  be  thereby  understood 
that,  while  the  government  is  disposed  to  re- 
move all  just  cause  of  complaint,  as  far  as  may 
be  practicable  consistently  with  a  proper  regard 
to  the  interests  of  the  community  at  large,  it  is, 
nevertheless,  determined  that  the  supremacy  of 
the  laws  shall  be  maintained. 

"In  making  this  c«Tnm!inic4>tion,  it  .ippe.ara  to 
me  to  be  proper  not  only  that  I  should  lay  be- 
fore you  the  acts  and  proceedings  of  South  Ca- 
rolina, but  that  I  should  also  fully  acquaint  you 
with  those  steps  which  I  have  already  caused  to 


be  taken  for  the  due  collection  of  the  revenue, 
and  with  my  views  of  the  subject  generally,  that 
the  suggestions  which  the  constitution  requires 
me  to  make,  in  regard  to  your  future  legislation 
may  bo  better  understood.  ' 

"  This  subject,  having  early  attracted  the  anx- 
ious attention  of  the  Executive,  as  soon  as  it  was 
probable  that  the  authorities  of  South  Carolina 
seriously  meditated  resistance  to  the  faitliful  exe- 
cution of  the  revenue  laws,  it  was  deemed  ad- 
visable that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  should 
particularly  instruct  the  officers  of  the  United 
States,  in  that  part  of  the  Union,  as  to  the  na- 
ture of  the  duties  prescribed  by  the  existing 
laws. 

"  Instructions  were  accordingly  issued,  on  the 
sixth  of  November,  to  the  collectors  in  that 
State,  pointing  out  their  respective  duties,  and 
enjoining  upon  each  a  firm  and  vigilant,  but  dis- 
creet performance  of  them  in  the  emergency  then 
apprehended. 

"  I  herewith  transmit  copies  of  these  instruo* 
tions,  and  of  the  letter  addressed  to  the  district 
attorney,  requesting  his  co-operation.  These 
instructions  were  dictated  in  the  hope  that,  as 
the  opposition  to  the  laws,  by  the  anomalous 
proceeding  of  nullification,  was  represented  to 
be  of  a  pacific  nature,  to  be  pursued,  substan- 
tially, according  to  the  forms  of  the  constitution, 
and  without  resorting,  in  any  event,  to  force  or 
violence,  the  measures  of  its  advocates  would  be 
taken  in  conformity  with  that  profession ;  and, 
on  such  supposition,  the  means  afforded  by  the 
existing  laws  would  have  been  adequate  to  meet 
any  emergency  likely  to  arise. 

"  It  was,  however,  not  possible  altogether  to 
suppress  apprehension  of  the  excesses  to  which 
the  excitement  prevailing  in  that  quarter  might 
lead  ;  but  it  certainly  was  not  foreseen  that  the 
meditated  obstruction  to  the  laws  would  so  soon 
openly  assume  its  present  character. 

"  Subsequently  to  the  date  of  those  instnio- 
tions,  however,  the  ordinance  of  the  convention 
was  passed,  which,  if  complied  with  by  the  peo- 
ple of  that  State,  must  effectually  render  in- 
operative the  present  revenue  laws  within  her 
limits. 

"  This  solemn  denunciation  of  the  laws  and 
authority  of  the  United  States  has  been  follow- 
ed up  by  a  series  of  acts,  on  the  part  of  the 
authorities  of  that  State,  which  manifest  a  de- 
termination to  render  inevitablo  a  resort  to  those 
measures  of  self-defence  which  the  paramount 
duty  of  the  federal  government  requires ;  but, 
upon  the  adoption  of  which,  that  State  will 
proceed  to  execute  the  purpose  it  has  avowed  in 
this  ordinance,  of  withdrawing  from  the  Union. 
"On  the  27th  of  November,  the  legislature 
assembled  at  Columbia ;  and,  on  their  meeting, 
the  Governor  laid  before  them  the  ordinance  of 
the  convention.  In  his  tnessage,  on  that  occa- 
sion, he  acquaints  them  that '  this  ordinance  has 
thus  become  a  part  of  the  fundamental  law  or 
South  Carolina ; '  that '  the  die  has  been  at  m 
cast,  and  South  Carolina  has  at  length  appealed 


ANNO  1833.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


305 


to  her  ulterior  sovereignty  as  a  member  of  this 
confederacy,  and  has  planted  herself  on  her  re- 
served rights.     The  rightful  exercise   of  this 
power  is  not  a  question  which  we  shall  any 
longer  argue.    It  is  sufficient  that  she  has  willed 
it,  and  that  the  act  is  done ;  nor  is  its  strict 
compatibility  with  our  constitutional  obligation 
to  all  laws  passed  by  the  general  government, 
within  the  autiiorized  grants  of  power,  to  be 
drawn  in  question,  when  this  interposition  is 
exerted  in  a  case  in  which  the  compact  has  been 
palpably,  deliberately,  and  dangerously  violated. 
That  it  brings  up  a  conjuncture  of  deep  and  mo- 
mentous interest,  is  neither  to  be  concealed  nor 
denied.    This  crisis  presents  a  class  of  duties 
which  is  referable  to  youi. selves.      You  have 
been  commanded  by  the  people,  in  their  highest 
sovercifinty,  to  take  care  that,  within  the  limits 
of  this  State,  their  will  shall  be  obeyed.'     '  The 
measurt)  of  legislation,'  he  says, '  which  you  have 
to  emjjloy  at  t'.iis  crisis,  is  the  precise  amount  of 
such  enactments  as  ma_v  be  necessary  to  render 
it  utterly  impossible  to  collect,  within  our  limits, 
the  duties  imposed  by  the  protective  tariff's  thus 
nullified.'    lie  proceeds:  'That  you. shoidd arm 
every  citizen  with  a  civil  process,  by  which  he 
may  claim,  if  he  pleases,  a  restitution  of  his 
goods,  seized  under  the  existing  imposts,  on  his 
giving  security  to  abide  the  issue  of  a  suit  at 
law,  and,  at  the  same  time,  define  what  shall 
constitute  treason  against  the  State,  and,  by  r. 
bill  of  pains  and  penalties,  compel  obedience, 
and  punish  disobedience  to  your  own  laws,  are 
poiiits  too  obvious  to  require  any  discussion.    In 
one  word,  you  must  survey  the  whole  ground. 
You  must  look  to  and  provide  for  all  possible 
contingencies.     In  your  own  limits,  your  own 
courts  of  judicature  must  not  only  be  supreme, 
but  you  must  look  to  the  ultimate  issue  of  any 
contiict  of  jurisdiction  and  power  betweei!  them 
and  the  courts  of  the  United  States.'" 

'■  The  Governor  also  asks  for  power  to  grant 
clearances,  in  violation  of  the  laws  of  the  Union ; 
and,  to  prepai-e  for  the  alternative  which  must 
iiappen,  unless  the  United  States  shall  passively 
surrender  their  authority,  and  the  Executive, 
disregarding  his  oath,  refrain  from  executing  the 
laws  of  the  Union,  he  recommends  a  thorough 
revision  of  the  militia  system,  and  that  the  Go- 
vernor "  be  authorized  to  accept,  for  the  defence 
of  Charleston  and  its  dependencies,  the  .services 
of  two  thousand  volunteers,  either  by  companies 
or  files;'  and  that  they  be  formed  into  a  legion- 
ary brigade,  consisting  of  infantry,  rifiemeii,  ca- 
valry, field  and  heavy  artillery  ;  and  that  they 
be 'armed  and  ecpiipped,  from  the  public  arse- 
nals, completely  for  the  field;  and  that  appro- 
priations be  made  for  supplying  all  deficiencies 
in  our  munitions  of  war.'  In  addition  to  tliese 
volunteer  draughts,  he  recommends  that  the 
Ooveninr  he  autiiorized  '  to  accept  the  services 
of  ten  thousand  volunteers  from  the  other  di- 
visions of  the  State,  to  be  organized  and  ar- 
ranged in  regiments  and  brigades;-  the  offi- 
cers to  be  selected  by  the  commander-in-chief; 

Vol.  I.— 20 


and  that  this  whole  force  be  called  the  '  State 
Guard.' 

''  If  these  measures  cannot  be  defeated  and 
overcome,  by  the  power  conferred  by  the  con- 
stitution on  the  federal  government,  the  consti- 
tution must  be  considered  as  incompetent  to  its 
own  defence,  the  supremacy  of  the  laws  is  at  an 
end,  and  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  citizens 
can  no  longer  receive  protection  from  the  go- 
vernment of  the  Union.     They  not  only  al)ro- 
gate  the  acts  of  Congress,  commonly  called  the 
tariff  acts  of  1828  and  1832,  but  they  prostrate 
and  sweep  away,  at  once,  and  without  exception, 
every  act,  and  every  part  of  every  act,  imposing 
any  amount  whatever  of  duty  on  any  foreign 
merchandise  ;  and,  virtually,  every  existing  act 
which  has  ever  been  passed  authorizing  the  col- 
lection of  the  revenue,  including  the  act  of  1810, 
and,  also,  the  collection  law  of  1799,  the  consti- 
tutionality of  which  has  never  been  questioned. 
It  is  not  only  those  duties  which  are  charged  to 
have  been  imposed  for  the  protection  of  inanu- 
foctures  that  are  thereby  repealed,  but  all  others, 
though  laid  for  the  purpose  of  revenue  merely, 
and  upon  articles  in  no  degree  suspected  of  being 
objects  of  pr  tection.     The  whole  revenue  sys- 
tem of  the  United  States,  in  South  Carolina,  is 
obstructed  and  overthrown;  and  the  govern- 
ment is  absolutely  prohibited  from  collecting 
any  part  of  the  public  revenue  within  the  limits 
of  that  State.    Henceforth,  not  only  the  citizens 
of  South  Carolina  and  of  the  United  States,  b-it 
the  subjects  of  foreign  states,  mnv  import  any 
description  or  quantity  of  merchandise  into  the 
ports  of  South  Carolina,  without  the  payment 
of  any  duty  whatsoever.     That  State  is  thus  re- 
lieved from  the  payment  of  any  part  of  the  pub- 
lic burdens,  and  duties  and  imposts  are  not  only 
rendered  not  uniform  throughout  the  United 
States,  but  a  direct  and  ruinous  preference  is 
given  to  the  ports  of  that  State  over  those  of  all 
the  other  States  of  the  Union,  in  manifest  viola- 
tion of  the  positive  provisions  of  the  constitution. 
"  In  point  of  duration,  also,  tho.-e  aggressions 
upon  the  authority  of  Congress,  which,  by  the 
ordinance,  are  made  part  of  the  fundamental  law 
of  South  Carolina,  are  absolute,  indefinite,  und 
without  limitation.     They  neither  prescribe  the 
period  when  they  shall  cease,  nor  indicate  any 
conditions  upon  wliich  those  who  have  thus  un- 
dertaken to  arrest  t!u»  operation  of  the  laws  are 
to  retrace  their  steps,  and  rescind  their  measures. 
They  otter  to  the  United  States  no  alternative 
but-unconditional  Bubmis>sion.    If  the  scope  of 
the  ordinaneo  is  to  be  received  as  the  scale  of 
concession,  their  demands  can  be  satisfied  only 
by  a  repeal  of  the  whole  system  of  revenue  laws, 
and  by  abstaining  from  the  collection  of  any 
du..os  or  imposts  whatsoever, 

"  By  these  various  proceedings,  therefore,  the 
State  of  South  Carolina  has  forced  the  general 
government,  unavoidably,  to  decide  the  new 
and  dangerous  alternative  of  permitting  a  State 
to  obstruct  the  execution  of  the  laws  within  its 
limits,  or  seeing  it  attempt  to  execute  a  threat 


\hi4 


■ft 

si 


306 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


of  withdrawing  from  the  Union.  That  portion 
of  the  people  at  present  cxercisino;  the  authority 
of  the  State,  solemnly  assert  their  ripht  to  do 
cither,  and  as  solemnly  announce  their  determi- 
nation to  do  one  or  the  other. 

"  In  my  opinion,  both  purposes  are  to  be  re- 
garded as  revolutionary  in  their  character  and 
tondency,  and  sidnTrsrre  of  the  supremacy  of 
the  laws  and  of  the  integrity  of  the  Unioi. 
The  result  of  each  is  the  same  ;  since  a  State  in 
which,  by  a  usurpation  of  power,  the  constitu- 
tional authority  of  the  federal  government  is 
openly  defied  and  set  aside,  wants  only  the 
form  to  be  independent  of  the  Union. 

"  The  right  of  the  people  of  a  single  State  to 
absolve  themselves  at  will,  and  without  the 
consent  of  the  other  States,  from  their  most 
solemn  obligations,  and  hazard  the  liberties  and 
happiness  of  the  millions  composing  this  Union, 
cannot  be  acknowledged.  Such  authority  is 
believed  to  bu  utterly  repugnant  both  to  the 
principles  upon  which  the  general  government 
is  constituted,  and  to  the  objects  which  it  is  ex- 
pressly formed  to  attain. 

"  Against  all  acts  which  may  be  alleged  to 
transcend  the  constitutional  power  of  the  gov- 
ernment, or  which  may  be  inconvenient  or  op- 
pressive in  their  operation,  the  constitution  it- 
self has  prescribed  tke  modes  of  redress.  It  is 
the  acknowledged  attribute  of  free  institutions, 
that,  luider  them,  the  empire  of  reason  and  law 
is  substituted  for  the  power  of  the  sword.  To 
no  other  source  can  appeals  for  supposed  wrongs 
be  made,  consistently  with  the  obligations  of 
South  Carolina ;  to  no  other  can  such  appeals 
be  made  with  snfety  at  any  time  ;  and  to  their 
decisions,  when  constitutionally  pronounced,  it 
becomes  the  duty,  no  less  of  tlie  public  authori- 
ties than  of  the  people,  in  every  cs.:-?  to  yield  a 
patriotic  submission. 

"  In  deciding  upon  the  course  which  a  high 
sense  of  duty  to  all  the  people  of  the  United 
States  imposes  upon  the  authorities  of  the 
Union,  in  this  emergency,  it  cannot  be  over- 
looked that  there  is  no  sulficient  cause  ft)r  the 
acts  of  South  Carolina,  or  for  her  thus  placing 
in  jeopardy  the  happiness  of  so  many  millions  of 
people.  Misrule  and  oppression,  to  warrant 
the  disruption  of  the  free  institutions  of  the 
Union  of  these  States,  should  be  great  and  last- 
ing, defying  all  other  remedy.  For  causes  of 
minor  character,  the  government  could  not  sub- 
mit to  such  a  catastrophe  without  a  violation  of 
its  most  sacred  obligations  to  the  other  States 
of  the  Union  who  have  submitted  their  destiny 
to  its  hands. 

"There  is,  in  the  present  instance,  no  such 
cause,  either  in  the  degree  of  misrule  or  oppres- 
sion complained  of,  or  in  the  hopelessness  of  re- 
dress by  constitutional  means.  The  long  sanc- 
tion they  have  received  from  the  proper  author- 
ities, and  from  the  people,  not  less  than  the  un- 
exampled growth  and  increasing  prosperity  of 
80  many  millions  of  freemen,  att<st  that  no 
Buch  oppression  as  would  justify  or  even  palliate 


such  a  resort,  can  be  justly  imputed  either  to 
the  present  policy  or  past  measures  of  the  fede- 
ral government.  The  same  mode  of  coUectinn 
duties,  and  for  the  same  general  objects,  which 
began  with  the  foundation  of  the  government 
and  which  has  conducted  the  country,  throur-h 
its  subsetpient  steps,  to  its  present  enviable  con- 
dition of  happiness  and  renown,  has  not  oecn 
changed.  Taxation  and  representation,  the 
great  principle  of  the  American  Kevolution,  have 
cortiniially  gone  hand  in  hand ;  and  at  all  times, 
and  in  every  instance,  no  tax,  of  any  kind,  his 
been  imposed  without  their  participation ;  and 
in  some  instances,  which  have  been  complained 
of,  with  the  express  assent  of  a  part  of  the  k  p- 
resentatives  of  South  Carolina  in  the  councils 
of  the  government.  Up  to  the  present  period 
no  revenue  has  been  raised  beyond  the  necessa- 
ry wants  of  the  country,  and  the  authorized  ex- 
penditures of  the  government.  And  as  soon  as 
the  burden  of  the  public  debt  is  removed,  those 
charged  with  the  administration  have  promptly 
recommended  a  corresponding  reduction  of  lev- 
enue. 

"  That  this  system,  thus  pursued,  has  resulted 
in  no  siich  oppression  upon  South  Carolina, 
needs  no  other  proof  than  the  solemn  and  oHicial 
declaration  of  the  late  Chief  Magistrate  of  that 
State,  in  his  address  to  the  legislature.  In  that 
he  says,  that  '  the  occurrences  of  the  past  year, 
in  connection  with  our  domestic  concerns,  are 
to  be  reviewed  with  a  sentiment  of  fervent  gra- 
titude to  the  Great  Disposer  of  human  events; 
that  tributes  of  grateful  acknowledgment  are 
due  for  the  various  and  multiplied  blessimrs  he 
has  been  pleased  to  bestow  on  our  people;  that 
abundant  harvests,  in  everj'^  quarter  of  the  State, 
have  crowned  the  exertions  of  agricultural  labor ; 
that  health,  almost  beyond  former  precedent, 
has  blessed  our  homes ;  and  that  there  is  not 
less  reason  for  thankfulness  in  surveyinp;  our 
social  condition.'  It  would,  indeed,  be  ditiicult 
to  imagine  oppression  where,  in  the  social  con- 
dition of  a  people,  there  was  equal  cause  of 
thankfulness  as  for  abiuidant  harvests,  and  varied 
and  multiplied  blessings  with  which  a  kind  Pro- 
vidence had  favored  them. 

"  Independently  of  these  considerations,  it  will 
not  escai)e  observation  that  South  Carolina  still 
claims  to  be  a  component  part  of  the  Union,  to 
participate  in  the  national  councils,  and  to  share 
in  the  public  benefits,  without  contrib'itinj;  to 
the  public  burdens ;  thus  asserting  the  danger- 
ous anomaly  of  continuing  in  an  association 
without  acknowledging  any  other  obligation  to 
its  laws  than  what  depends  upon  her  own  will. 

"  In  this  posture  of  affairs,  the  duty  of  tiic 
government  seems  to  be  plain.  It  inculcates  a 
recognition  of  that  State  as  a  member  of  the 
Union,  and  subject  to  its  authority  ;  a  vindica- 
tion of  the  just  power  of  the  constitution  ;  the 
preservation  of  the  integrity  of  the  Union;  and 
the  execution  of  the  laws  by  all  constitutional 
means. 

"  The  constitution,  which  h«s  oath  of  i 


AXNO  1833.    ASDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


307 


obliges  him  V)  support,  declares  that  the  Execu- 
tive '  shall  take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully 
executed;'  and,  in  providing  that  he  shall,  from 
time  to  time,  give  to  Congress  information  of 
the  state  of  the  Union,  and  recommend  to  their 
consideration  such  measures  as  he  shall  judge 
rcressary  and  expedient,  imposes  the  additional 
obligation  of  recommending  to  Congress  such 
more  efficient  provision  for  executing  the  laws 
as  may,  from  ti  iie  to  time,  be  found  requisite. 

"It  being  thuR  shown  to  be  the  duty  of  the 
Executive  to  execute  the  laws  by  all  constitu- 
tional means,  il  remains  to  consider  the  extent 
of  those  already  at  his  disjiosal,  and  what  it  may 
be  proper  further  to  provide. 

'•In  tlw  instructions  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  to  the  collectors  in  South  Carolina,  the 
provisions  aiid  regulations  made  by  the  act  of 
1799,  and  also  the  fines,  penalties,  and  forfeitures, 
for  their  enforcement,  are  particularly  detailed 
s,ad  explained.  It  may  be  well  apprehended 
nowever,  that  these  provisions  may  prove  inad- 
equate to  meet  such  an  open,  powerful,  organized 
opposition  as  is  to  be  commenced  after  the  first 
day  of  February  next. 

"  Under  these  circumstances,  and  the  provi- 
sions of  the  acts  of  South  Carolina,  the  execution 
of  the  laws  is  rendered  impracticable  even 
through  the  ordinary  judicial  tribunals  of  the 
United  States.  There  would  certainly  be  fewer 
difficulties,  and  less  opportunity  of  actual  colli- 
sion between  the  officers  of  the  United  States 
and  of  the  State,  and  the  collection  of  the  revenue 
would  be  more  effectually  secured— if  indeed  it 
can  be  done  in  any  other  way— by  placing  the 
custom-house  beyond  the  immediate  power  of 
the  county. 

'•  For  this  purpose,  it  might  bo  proper  to  pro- 
vide that  whenever,  by  any  unlawful  combination 
or  obstruction  in  any  State,  or  in  any  port   it 
f hould  become  impracticiible  faithfully  to  collect 
the  duties,  the  President  of  the  United  States 
should  be  authorized  to  alter  and  abolish  such 
of  the  districts  and  ports  of  entry  as  should  be 
necessary,  and  to  establish  the  custom-house  at 
some  secure  place  within  some  port  or  harbor 
of  such  State ;  and,  in  such  cases,  it  should  be 
the  duty  of  the  collector  to  reside  at  such  place 
and  to  detain  all  vessels  and  cargoes  until  the 
duties  imposed  by  law  should  be  properly  se- 
cured or  paid  in  cash,  deducting  interest;  that 
in  such  cases  it  should  be  unlawful  to  take  the 
vessel  and  cargo  from  the  custody  of  the  proper 
oflicer  of  the  customs,  unless  by  process  from 
the  ordmuiy  judicial  tribunals  of  the  United 
Nates ;  and  that,  in  case  of  an  attempt  otherwise 
to  tak*'  the  property  by  a  force  too  great  to  be 
overcome  by  the  officers  of  the  customs,  it  should 
»  lawiul  to  protect  the  possession  of  the  officers 
by  the  employment  of  the  land  and  naval  forces, 
ana  militia,  under  provisions  Kimilar  *o  thn-'' 
uuthorized  by  the  11th  section  of  the  act  of  the 
ninth  of  January,  1809. 

"It  may,  therefore,  be  desirable  to  revive, 
mth  some  modifications  better  adapted  to  the 


occasion,  the  6th  section  of  the  act  of  the  3d  of 
March,  1815,  which  expired  on  the  4th  of  March, 
1817,  by  the  limitation  of  that  of  the  27th  of 
April,  1810;  and  to  provide  that,  in  any  case 
where  suit  shall  be  brought  against  any  indivi- 
dual in  the  courts  of  the  State,  for  any  act  done 
under  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  he  should 
be  authorized  to  remove  the  said  cause,  by  peti 
tion,  into  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United  States. 


without  any  copy  of  the  record,  and  that  the 
courts  should  proceed  to  hear  and  determine  the 
same  as  if  it  had  been  originally  instituted 
therein.  And  that  m  all  cases  of  injuries  to  the 
persons  or  property  of  individuals  for  disobedi- 
ence to  the  ordinance,  and  laws  of  South  Carolina 
in  pursuance  thereof,  redress  may  be  sought  ia 
the  courts  of  the  United  States.  It  may  bo 
expedient,  also,  by  modifying  the  resolution  of 
the  3d  of  March,  1791,  to  authorize  the  marshals 
to  make  the  necessary  provision  for  the  safff 
keeping  of  prisoners  committed  under  the  au 
thority  of  the  United  States. 

"  Provisions  less  than  these,  consisting,  as  they 
do,  for  the  most  part,  rather  of  a  revival  of 
the  policy  of  former  acts  called  for  by  the  exist- 
ing emergency,  than  of  the  introduction  of  any 
unusual  or  rigorous  enactments,  would  not  cause 
the  laws  of  the  Union  to  be  properly  respected 
or  enforced.     It  is  believed  these  would  prove 
adequate,  unless  the  military  forces  of  the  State 
of  South  Carolina,  authorized  by  the  late  act  of 
the  legislature,  should  be  actually  embodied  and 
called  out  in  aid  of  their  proceedings,  and  of  the 
provisions  of  the  ordinance  generally.     Even  in 
that  case,  however,  it  is  believed  that  no  more 
will  be  necessary  than  a  few  modifications  of 
its  terms,  to  adapt  the  act  of  1795  to  the  present 
emergency,  as,  by  the  act,  the  provisions  of  the 
law  of  1792  were  accommodated  to  the  crisis 
then  existing;  and  by  conferring  authority  upon 
the  President  to  give  it  operation  during  the  ses- 
sion of  Congress,  and  without  the  ceremony  of 
a  proclamation,  whenever  it  shall  bo  officially 
made  known  to  him  by  the  authority  of  any 
State,  or  by  the  courts  of  the  United  States, 
that,  within  the  limits  of  such  State,  the  laws 
of  the  United  States  will  be  openly  ojiposed,  and 
their  execution  obstructed,  by  the  actual  em- 
ployment of  military  force,  or  by  any  unlawful 
means  whatsoever,  too  great  to  bo  otherwise 
overcome. 

''  In  closing  this  communication,  I  should  do 
injustice  to  my  own  feelings  not  to  express  my 
confident  reliance  upon  the  disposition  of  each 
department  of  the  government  to  perform  its 
duty,  and  to  co-operate  in  all  measure's  necessary 
h\  the  pi'csent  emergency. 

"  The  crisis  undoubtedly  invokes  the  fidelity 
of  the  patriot  and  the  sagacity  of  the  statesman, 
not  more  in  removing  such  portion  of  the  public 
burden  as  niaj"  be  necessary,  than  in  preserving 
the  good  order  of  society,  and  in  the  mainte- 
nance of  well-regulated  liberty. 

"  While  a  forbearing  spirit  may,  and  I  trust 
will  be  exercised  towards  the  errors  of  our 


nil 


308 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


brethren  iv  a  pni'ticiilar  quarter,  dut}-  to  tliercst 
of  the  Union  demands  that  open  and  organized 
resistnnce  to  the  laws  should  not  be  executed 
with  impunity."' 

Such  was  the  measajrc  Avhich  President  Jock- 
son  sent  to  the  two   Houses,  in  relation  to  the 
South   Carohna  proceedings,   and  his  own  to 
counteract  them  ;  and  it  was  worthy  to  follow 
the  proclamation,  and  conceived    in  the  same 
spirit  of  justice  and  patriotism,  and.  therefore, 
■wise  and  moderate.     IIo  knew  that  ihere  was  a 
deep  feclinj^-  of  discontent  in  the  South,  founded 
in  a  conviction  that  the  federal  government  was 
working  disadvantageously  to  that  part  of  the 
Union  in  the  vital  points  of  the  levy,  and  the 
expenditure  of  the  federal  revenue ;  and  that  it 
was  upon  this  feeling  that  politicians  operated 
to   produce   disaffection  to   the   Union.     That 
feeling  of  the  masses  he  kncv/  to  bo  just  and 
reasonable,   and  removable   by   tlic  action  of 
Congress  in  removing  its  cause  ;  and  when  re- 
moved the  politicians  who  stirred  up  discontent 
for  ''pfirsonal  and  amlilimts  objects,"  Avould 
oct.ome  harmless  for  want  of  followers,  or  man- 
ageable b}'  the  ordinary  process  of  law.     Ilis 
proclamation,  his  message,  and  all  his  proceedings 
tbereiorc  bore  a  two-fold  aspect — one  of  relief 
snd  justice  in  reducing  the  revenue  to  the  wants 
of  the  government  in  the  economical  adminis- 
tration of  its  afi'airs  ;  the  other  of  firm  and  mild 
euthorit}'  in  enforcing  the  laws  against  ofl'enders. 
He  dr!!W  no  line  between  the  honest  discontented 
masses,  wanting  only  relief  and  justice,  and  the 
ambitious  politicians  inflaming  this  discontent 
for  ulterior  and  personal  objects.     lie  merely 
aflirnied  the  existence  of  those  two  classes  of 
discontent,  leaving  to  every  one  to  classify  him- 
self by  hia  conduct ;  and,  certain  that  the  honest 
discontents  were  the  mass,  and  only  wanted 
relief  from  a  real  grievance,  he  therefore  pursued 
the  measures  necessary  to  extend  that  relief  while 
preparing  to  execute  the  laws  upon  those  who 
should  violate  them.     Bills  for  the  reduction  of 
thf?  tariil' — one  commenced  in  the  Finance  Coni- 
mi    -je  of  the  Senate,  and  one  reported  from  the 
Committee  of  Ways  and  Means  of  the  House  of 
Representatives — and  both  moved  in  the  first 
days  of  the  session,  and  by  committees  politically 
and  personally  favorable  to  the  President,  went 
hand  m  hand  with  the  exhortations  in  the  pro- 
clamation and  the  steady  preparations  for  enforc- 
ing the  laws,  if  the  extension  of  justice  and  the 


appeals  of  reason  and  patriotism  should  prove 
insufficient.  Many  thought  that  he  ought  to 
relax  in  his  civil  measures  for  allpving  discontent 
while  South  Carolina  held  the  military  altitude 
of  armed  defiance  to  the  United  States— and 
among  them  Mr.  Quincy  Adams.  But  he  ad- 
hered steadily  to  his  purpose  of  going  on  with 
what  justice  required  for  the  relief  of  the  Soutii, 
and  promoted,  by  all  the  means  in  his  power, 
the  success  of  the  bills  to  reduce  the  revenue, 
especially  the  bill  in  the  House ;  and  whicli, 
being  framed  upon  that  of  181G  (which  had 
the  support  of  Jlr.  Calhoun),  and  whicli  was 
(now  that  the  public  debt  was  paid),  sufficient 
both  for  revenue  and  the  incidental  protection 
which  manufactures  required,  and  for  the  relief 
of  tlic  South,  must  have  the  effect  of  satisfying' 
every  honest  discontent,  and  of  exposing  and 
estopping  that  which  was  not. 


CHAPTER    LXXXI. 

REDUCTION  OF  DUTIES.-UE.  VERPLANK'S  BILL 

Reduction  of  duties  to  the  estimated  amount 
of  three  or  four  millions  of  dollars,  had  been 
provided  for  in  the  bill  of  the  preceding  scs.=ion, 
passed  in  July,  1832,  to  take  effect  on  the  4tli 
of  March,  ensuing.  The  amount  of  reduction 
was  not  such  as  the  state  of  the  finances  ad- 
mitted, or  the  voice  of  the  country  demanded. 
but  was  a  step  in  the  right  direction,  and  a  good 
one,  considering  that  the  protective  policy  was 
still  dominant  in  Congress,  and  on  trial,  as  it 
were,  for  its  life,  before  the  peoi)le,  as  one  of  tlie 
issues  of  the  presidential  election.  That  ckc- 
tion  was  over ;  the  issue  had  been  tried ;  liad 
been  found  against  the  "  American  system,"  and 
with  this  finding,  a  further  and  larger  leduction 
of  duties  was  expected.  The  President  had  re- 
commended it.  in  his  annual  message ;  and  the 
recommendation,  being  referi-ed  to  tiie  Commit- 
tee of  W.ays  and  Means,  quickJy  produced  a  Ijili, 
known  as  Mr.  Verplank's,  because  reported  br 
thc  member  of  that  name.  It  was  tahen  up 
promptly  by  the  House,  and  received  a  very  per- 
spicuous explanaiion  honi  the  reporter,  v.iiy 
gave  a  brief  view  of  the  financial  history  of  tiie 
country,  since  the  late  war ;  and  stated  that— 


ANNO  1833.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


309 


PLANK'S  BILL 


"  During  the  last  six  j-cars,  an  annual  average 
income  of  27,000,000  of  ilDllars  had  been  re- 
ceived ;  the  far  greater  part  from  the  customs. 
Tlint  this  sum  had  been  appropriated,  the  one 
half  towards  the  necessary  expenses  of  the  go- 
vernment, and  the  other  half  in  the  paj-ment  of 
the  public  debt.     In  reviewing  the  regular  calls 
upon  the  treasury,  during  the  last  seven  years, 
for  the  civil,  naval,  and  military  departments  of 
the  government,  including  all  ordinary  contin- 
gencies, about  13,000,000  of  dollars  a  year  had 
been  expended.     The  amount  of  13,000,000  of 
dollars  would  seem,  even  now,  sufficient  to  cover 
the  standing  necessary  expenses  of  government. 
A  long  delayed  debt  of  public  justice,  for  he 
would  not  call  it  bounty,  to  the  .soldiers  of  the 
Revchition,  had  added,  for  the  present,  since  it 
could  be  but  for  a  few  years  only,  an  additional 
annual  million.      Fourteen  millions  of  dollars 
then  covered  the  neccssarj'  expenditures  of  our 
goveinuient.    But,  however  rigid  and  economi- 
cal we  ought  to  be  in  actual  expenditures,  in 
providing  the  sources  of  the  revenue,  which 
might  be  called  upon  for  unforeseen  contingen- 
cies, it  was  wise  to  arrange  it  on  a  liberal  scale. 
This  would  be  done  by  allowing  an  additional 
million,  which  would  cover,  not  only  extra  ex- 
penses in  time  of  peace,  but  meet  those  of 
Indian  warfare,  if  such  should  arise,  as  well  as 
tho.se  of  increased  naval  expenditure,  from  tem- 
porary collisions  with  foreign  powers,  short  of 
permanent  warfare.     We  are  not,  therefore,  jus- 
tiliable  in  raising  more  than  15,000,000  dollars 
as  a  permanent  revenue.     In  other  words   at 
least  13,000,00'^  dollars   of  the  revenue  that 
would  have  been  collected,  under  the  tariff  sys- 
tem of  1828,  may  now  be  dispensed  with ;  and, 
in  years  of  great  importation,  a  much  larger 
sum.    The  act  of  last  summer  removed  a  large 
portion  of  this  excess  ;  yet,  taking  the  imijorta- 
tion  of  the  last  year  as  a  standard,  the  revenues 
derived  from  that  source,  if  calculated  accordin"- 
to  the  act  of  1832,  would  produce  19,500,000"^ 
and,  with  the  other  sources  of  revenue,  an  in- 
come of  2,'>,000,000  dollars.     This  is,  at  least, 
seven  millions  above  the  wants  of  the  treasury."' 


This  was  a  very  satisfactory  statement.  The 
public  debt  paid  off;  thirteen  millions  (the  one 
half)  of  our  revenue  rendered  unnecessary ;  its 
reduction  provided  for  in  the  bill ;  and  the  tariff 
of  duties  by  that  reduction  brought  down  to  the 
standard  subtantially  of  181C.  It  was  carrying 
back  the  protective  system  to  the  year  of  its 
commencement,  a  little  increased  in  some  parti- 
culars, as  in  the  article  of  iron,  but  move  than 
comix'nsated  for,  in  this  increase,  in  the  total 
abolition  of  the  minimums,  or  abritrary  valua- 
tions—first introduced  into  that  act,  and  after- 
wards greatly  extended— by  which  goods  costing 
below  a  certain  sum  were  to  be  assumed  to  have 


cost  that  sum,  and  rated  for  duty  accordingly. 
Such  a  bill,  in  the  judgment  of  the  practical  and 
experienced  legislator  (General  Smith,  of  Mary- 
land, himself  a  friend  to  the  manufacturing  in- 
terest), was  entirely  sufficient  for  the  manufac- 
turer—the ma^i  engaged  in  the  business,  and  un- 
derstanding it— though  not  sufficient  for  the 
capitalists  who  turned  their  money  into  that 
channel,  under  the  stimulus  of  legislative  pro- 
tection, and  lacked  skill  and  care  to  conduct  their 
enterprise  with  the  economy  which  gives  legiti- 
mate profit ;  and  to  such  real  manufacturers,  it 
was  bound  to  be  satisfactory.     To  the  great  op- 
ponents of  the  tariff  (the  South  Carolina  school), 
it  was  also  bound  to  be  satisfactory,  as  it  carried 
back  the  whole  system  of  duties  to  the  standard 
at  which  that  school  had  fixed  them,  with  tho 
great  amelioration  of  the  total  abolition  of  tho 
arbritrary  and  injurious  minimums.     The  bill, 
then,  seemed  bound  to  conciliate  every  fair  inte- 
rest:  the  government,  because  it  gave  all  the 
revenue  it  needed  ;  the  real  manufacturers,  be- 
cause it  gave  them  an  adequate  incidental  pro 
tection ;  the  South,  because  it  gave  them  their 
own  bill,  and  that  ameliorated.    A  prompt  pas- 
sage of  the  bill  might  have  b(^en  expected;  on 
the  contrary,  it  lingered  in  the  House,  under  in- 
terminable debates  on  systems  and  theories,  in 
which  ominous  signs  of  conjunction  were  seen 
between  the  two  extremes  which  had  been  lately 
pitted  against  each  other,  for  and  against  the 
protective  system.     The  immediate  friends  of 
the  administration  seemed  to  be  the  only  ones 
hearty  in  the  support  of  the  bill ;  but  they  were 
no  match,  in  numbers,  for  those  who  acted  in 
concert  against  it— spinning  out  the  time  in  ste- 
rile and  vagrant  debate.     The  25th  of  February 
had  arrived,  and  found  the  bill  still  afloat  upon 
the  wordy  sea  of  stormy  debate,  wlien,  all  of  a 
sudden,  it  was  arrested,  knocked  over,  run  un- 
der, and  merged  and  lost  in  a  new  one  which 
expunged  the  old  one  and  took  its  place.    It  was 
late  in  the  afternoon  of  that  day  (Monday,  the 
25th  of  February),  and  within  a  week  of  the 
end  of  the  Congicss,  when  Mr.  Letcher,  of  Ken- 
tucky, the  fast  friend  of  Mr.  Clay,  rose  in  his 
pltice,  and  moved  to  strike  out  the  whole  Vcr- 
plank   bill— every  word,   except  tho   enacting 
clause— and  insert,  in  lieu  of  it,  a  bill  ofiered  in 
the  Senate  by  Mr.  Claj',  since  called  the  "com- 
promise,"  and  which  lingered  at  the  door  of  tho 
Senate,  upon  a  question  of  leave  for  its  admit* 


|i     1 


u  m 


*     t 


310 


miRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


tance,  and  opposition  to  its  entrance  there,  on 
account  of  its  revenue  character.  This  was  of- 
fered in  the  House,  without  notice,  without  sig- 
nal, without  premonitory  symptom,  and  just  as 
the  members  were  preparing  to  adjourn.  Some 
were  taken  by  surprise,  and  looked  about  in 
amazement ;  but  the  majority  showed  conscious- 
ness, and,  what  was  more,  readiness  for  action. 
The  Northern  members,  fi-ora  the  great  manu- 
facturing States,  were  astounded,  and  asked  for 
delay,  which,  not  being  granted,  Mr.  John  Davis, 
of  Massachusetts,  one  of  their  number,  thus 
gave  vent  to  his  amazed  feelings  : 

"He  was  greatly  surprised  at  the  sudden 
movement  made  in  this  House.  One  short  hour 
ago,  said  he,  we  were  collecting  our  papers,  and 
putting  on  our  outside  garments  to  go  home, 
when  the  gentleman  from  Kentucky  rose,  and 
proposed  to  send  this  bill  to  a  Committee  of  the 
Whole  on  the  state  of  the  Union,  with  instruc- 
tions to  strike  it  all  out,  and  insert,  by  way  of 
amendment,  an  entire  new  bill,  formed  upon 
entirely  dillerent  principles;  yes,  to  insert,  1 
believe,  the  bill  which  the  Senate  now  have  un- 
der consideration.  This  motion  was  carried; 
the  business  has  passed  through  the  hands  of  the 
committee,  is  now  in  the  House,  and  there  is  a 
cry  of  question,  question,  around  me,  upon  the 
engrossment  of  the  bill.    Who  that  was  not  a 

Karty  to  this  arrangement,  could  one  hour  ago 
ave  credited  this  ?  AVe  have,  I  believe,  been 
laboriously  engaged  for  eight  weeks  upon  this 
topic,  discussing  and  amending  the  bill  which 
has  been  before  the  House,  Such  obstacles  and 
difficulties  have  been  met  at  every  move,  that, 
I  believe,  very  little  hope  has  of  late  been  enter- 
tained of  the  passage  of  aay  bill.  But  a  gleam 
of  light  has  suddenly  burst  upon  us ;  those  that 
groped  in  the  dark  seemed  suddenly  to  see  their 
course;  those  that  halted,  doubted,  hesitated, 
are  in  a  moment  made  firm ;  and  even  some  of 
those  that  have  made  an  immediate  abandonment 
of  the  protective  system  a  sine  qua  non  of  their 
approbation  of  any  legislation,  seem  almost  to 
favor  this  measure.  I  am  obliged  to  acknowl- 
edge that  gentleman  have  sprung  the  proposition 
upon  us  at  a  moment  when  1  did  not  expect 
it.  And  as  the  measure  is  one  of  great  interest 
to  the  people  of  the  United  States.  I  must,  even 
at  this  late  hour,  when  I  know  the  House  is 
both  hungry  and  impationt,  and  when  I  per- 
ceive distinctly  it  is  their  pleasure  to  vote 
rather  than  debate,  beg  their  indulgence  for  a 
few  minutes  while  I  state  some  of  the  reasons 
which  impose  on  me  the  duty  of  opposing  the 
passage  of  this  act.  [Cries  from  dillerent 
parts  of  the  Houge.  'go  on,  go  on,  we  will 
hear.'] 

"Mr.  Speaker,  T  do  not  approve  of  hasty 
legislation  under  any  circumstances,  but  it  is 
especially  to  be  deprecated  in  matters  of  great  im- 


portance. That  this  is  a  measure  of  great  import- 
ance, atfecting,  more  or  less,  the  entire  popula. 
tion  of  the  tfnited  States,  will  not  be  denied, 
and  ought,  therefore,  to  be  matured  with  care 
and  well  understood  by  every  gentleman  who 
votes  upon  it.  And  yet,  sir,  a  copy  has,  for  the 
first  time,  been  laid  upon  our  tables,  since  I 
rose  to  address  you ;  and  this  is  the  first  oppor- 
tunity we  have  had  even  to  read  it.  I  hop(» 
others  feel  well  prepared  to  act  in  this  prccipi. 
tate  matter ;  but  I  am  obliged  to  acknowledge 
I  do  not ;  for  I  hold  even  the  best  of  intentions 
will  not,  in  legislation,  excuse  the  errors  of 
haste. 

"  I  am  aware  that  this  measure  assumes  an 
imposing  attitude.  It  is  called  a  bill  of  com- 
promise ;  a  measure  of  harmony,  of  conciliatlcn ; 
a  measure  to  heal  disaffection,  and  to  save 
the  Union.  Sir,  I  am  aware  of  the  imposing 
effect  of  these  bland  titles;  men  love  to  be 
thought  generous,  noble,  magnanimous;  but 
they  ought  to  be  equally  anxious  to  acquire  the 
reputation  of  being  just.  While  they  are 
anxious  to  compose  difficulties  in  one  direction. 
I  entreat  them  not  to  oppress  and  wrong  the 
people  in  another.  In  their  efforts  to  save  the 
Union,  I  hope  their  zeal  will  not  go  so  far  as  to 
create  stronger  and  better-founded  discontents 
than  those  they  compose.  Peacemakers,  media- 
tors, men  who  allay  excitements,  anil  tran- 
quillize public  feeling,  should,  above  all  conside- 
rations, study  to  do  it  by  means  not  oilensive 
to  the  contending  parties,  by  means  which  will 
not  inflict  a  deeper  wound  than  the  one  which 
is  healed.  Sir,  what  is  demanded  by  those  that 
threaten  the  integrity  of  the  Union  1  An  aban- 
donment of  the  American  system;  a  formal 
renunciation  of  the  right  to  protect  American 
industry.  This  is  the  language  of  the  nullifiea- 
tion  convention ;  they  declare  they  regard  the 
abandonment  of  tlie  principle  as  vastly  more 
important  than  any  other  matter ;  they  look  to 
that,  and  not  to  an  abatement  of  duties  without 
it;  and  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina 
[Mr.  Davis],  with  his  usual  frankness,  told  us 
this  morning  it  was  not  a  question  of  dollars 
and  cents ;  the  money  they  regarded  not,  but 
they  required  a  change  of  policy. 

"  This  is  a  bill  to  tranquillize  feeling,  to  har- 
monize jarring  opinions ;  it  is  oil  poured  into 
inflamed  wounds ;  it  is  to  definitively  settle  the 
matters  of  complaint.  What  assurance  have  we 
of  that  ?  Have  those  who  threatened  the  Union 
accepted  it  7  Has  any  one  here  risen  ia  his 
place,  and  announced  his  satisfaction  an<l  his  de- 
termination to  abide  by  it?  Not  a  word  has 
been  uttered,  nor  any  sign  or  assurnnce  of  satis- 
faction given.  Suppose  they  should  vote  for  the 
bill,  what  then  ?  They  voted  for  the  bill  of  July 
last,  and  that  was  a  bill  passed  expressly  to  save 
the  Union  ;  but  did  they  not  flout  at  it?  Did 
they  not  spurn  it  with  contempt  ?  Ami  did  not 
South  Carolina,  in  derision  of  that  compromise. 
nullify  the  law  ?  This  is  a  practical  illustratioD 
of  the  exercise  of  a  philanthropic  spirit  of  con- 


ANNO  1833.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


311 


desccnsion  to  save  the  Union.  Your  folly  and 
your  imbecility  was  treated  as  a  jest.  It  has 
already  been  said  that  this  law  will  be  no  more 
binding  than  any  other,  and  may  be  altered  and 
modified  at  pleasure  by  any  subsequent  legisla- 
ture. In  what  sense  then  is  it  a  compromise  ? 
Docs  not  a  compromise  imply  an  adjustment  on 
terms  of  agreement  ?  Suppose,  then,  that  South 
Carolina  should  abide  by  the  compromise  while 
she  supposes  it  beneficial  to  the  tariff  States,  and 
injurious  to  her;  and  when  that  period  shall 
close,  the  friends  of  protection  shall  then  pro- 
pose to  re-establish  the  system.  What  honor- 
able man,  who  votes  for  this  bill,  could  sustain 
such  a  measure  ?  Would  not  South  Carolina 
say,  you  have  no  right  to  change  this  law,  it  was, 
founded  on  compromise ;  you  have  had  the  bene- 
lit  of  your  side  of  the  bargains,  and  now  I  de- 
mand mine  ?  Who  could  answer  such  a  decliira- 
tion  ?  If,  under  such  circumstances,  you  were 
to  proceed  to  abolish  the  law,  would  not  South 
Carolina  have  much  more  just  cause  of  complaint 
and  (lisaifection  than  she  now  has  ? 

"  It  has  been  said,  we  ought  to  legislate  now, 
because  the  next  Congress  will  be  hostile  to  the 
tariff.  I  am  aware  that  such  a  sentiment  has 
been  industriously  circulated,  and  we  have  been 
exhorted  to  escape  from  the  hands  of  that  body 
as  from  a  lion.  But,  sir,  who  knows  the  senti- 
ments of  that  body  on  this  question  ?  Do  you, 
or  does  any  one,  possess  any  information  which 
justifies  him  in  asserting  that  it  is  more  unfriend- 
ly than  this  House  ?  There  is,  in  my  opinion, 
little  known  about  this  matter.  But  suppose 
the  members  shall  prove  as  ferocious  towards 
the  tarifi'  as  those  who  profess  to  know  their 
opinions  represent,  will  the  passage  of  this  bill 
stop  their  action  ?  Can  you  tic  their  hands  ? 
Give  what  pledges  you  please^  make  what  bar- 
gains you  may,  and  that  body  will  act  its  plea- 
sure vyithout  respecting  them.  If  you  fall  short 
of  their  wishes  in  warring  upon  the  tariff,  they 
will  not  stay  their  hand;  but  all  attempts  to 
limit  their  power  by  abiding  compromises,  will 
be  considered  by  them  as  a  stimulus  to  act  up- 
on the  subject,  that  they  may  manifest  their  dis- 
approbation. It  seems  to  me,  therefore,  that  if 
the  next  Congress  is  to  be  feared,  we  are  pur- 
suing the  right  course  to  rouse  their  jealousy, 
and  excite  them  to  action. 

•■  Mr.  Speaker,  I  rose  to  express  my  views  on 
this  very  important  question,  I  regret  to  say, 
without  the  slightest  preparation,  as  it  is  drawn 
before  us  at  a  very  unexpected  moment.  But, 
as  some  things  in  this  bill  are  at  variance  with 
tiie  principles  of  public  policy  which  I  have  uni- 
formly maintained,  I  could  not  suffer  it  to  pass 
mto  a  law  without  stating  such  objections  as 
have  hastily  occurred  to  me. 

''Let  me,  however,  before  sitting  down,  be  un- 
derstood on  one  point,  I  do  not  object  to  a  rea- 
sonable adjustment  of  the  controversies  v  hich 
exist.  I  have  said  repeatedly  on  this  floor,  that 
I  would  go  for  a  gradual  reduction  on  protected 
articles  J  but  it  must  be  very  gradual,  so  that  no 


violence  shall  be  done  to  business ;  for  all  re- 
duction is  necessarily  full  of  hazard.  My  objec- 
tions to  this  bill  are  not  so  much  ngamst  the 
first  seven  years,  for  I  would  take  the  conse- 
quences of  that  experiment,  if  the  provisions  be- 
yond that  were  not  of  that  fatal  character  which 
will  at  once  stop  all  enterprise.  But  I  do  ob- 
ject to  a  compromise  which  destines  the  East 
for  the  altar.  No  victim,  in  my  judgement,  is 
required,  none  is  necessary ;  and  yet  you  pro- 
pose to  bind  us,  hand  and  foot,  to  pour  out  our 
blood  upon  the  altar,  and  sacrifice  us  as  a  burnt 
offering,  to  appease  the  unnatural  and  unfounded 
discontent  of  the  South;  a  discontent,  I  fenr. 
having  deeper  root  than  the  tariff,  and  will 
continue  when  that  i^  forgotten.  I  am  far  from 
meaning  to  use  the  language  of  menace,  when  I 
say  such  a  compromise  cannot  endure,  nor  can 
any  adjustment  endure,  which  disi'cgards  the  in- 
terests, and  sports  with  the  rights  of  a  large 
portion  of  the  people  of  the  United  States.  It 
has  been  said  that  we  shall  never  reach  the  low- 
est point  of  reduction,  before  the  country  will 
become  satisfied  of  the  folly  of  the  experiment, 
and  will  restore  the  protective  policy ;  and  it 
seems  to  me  a  large  number  in  this  body  act 
under  the  influence  of  that  opinion.  But  I  cannot 
vote  down  my  principles,  on  the  ground  that 
some  one  may  come  after  me  who  will  vote  them 
up." 

This  is  one  of  the  most  sensible  speeches  ever 
delivered  in  Congress ;  and,  for  the  side  on  which 
it  was  delivered,  perfect ;  containing  also  much 
that  was  valuable  to  the  other  side.  The  dan- 
gers of  hasty  legislation  are  well  adverted  to. 
The  seductive  and  treacherous  nature  of  compro- 
mise legislation,  and  the  probable  fate  of  the  act 
of  legislation  then  so  called,  so  pointedly  foretold, 
was  onlj'  writing  history  a  few  years  in  advance. 
The  folly  of  attempting  to  bind  future  Congresses 
by  extending  ordinary  laws  years  ahead,  with  a 
prohibition  to  touch  them,  was  also  a  judicious 
reflection,  soon  to  become  history ;  while  the 
fear  expressed  that  South  Carolina  would  not  be 
satisfied  with  the  overthrow  of  the  protective 
policy — "  that  the  root  of  her  discontent  lay 
deeper  than  the  tariff,  and  woidd  continue 
when  that  was  forgotten  " — was  an  apprehen- 
sion felt  in  common  with  many  others,  and  to 
which  subsequent  events  gave  a  sad  realization. 
But  all  in  vain.  The  bill  which  made  its  first 
appearance  in  the  House  late  in  the  evening, 
when  members  were  gathering  up  their  over- 
coats for  a  walk  home  to  their  dinners,  was  pass- 
ed before  those  coats  had  got  on  the  back ;  and 
the  dinner  which  was  waiting  had  but  little  time 
to  cool  before  the  astonished  members,  their 
work  done,  were  at  the  table  to  eat  it.    A  bill 


,''•'.1' 

m 


IS! 


'II 


Iii  y'#- 


312 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


i 


without  precedent  in  tlio  annals  of  our  legisla- 
tion, and  pretending  to  the  sanctity  of  a  com- 
promise, and  to  settle  great  questions  for  ever, 
went  through  to  its  consummation  in  the  fiag- 
ment  of  an  evening  session,  without  the  compli- 
ance with  any  form  which  experience  and  par- 
liamentary law  have  devised  for  the  safety  of 
legislation.  This  evasion  of  all  salutary  forms 
was  ctlected  under  the  idea  of  an  amendment  to 
a  bill,  though  the  substitute  introduced  was  an 
entire  bill  in  itself,  no  way  amending  the  other, 
or  even  connecting  with  it,  but  rubbing  it  all 
out  fiom  the  enacting  clause,  and  substituting  a 
new  bill  entirely  foreign,  inconsistent,  and  in- 
congruous to  it.  The  proceeding  was  a  gross 
perversion  of  the  idea  of  an  amendment,  which 
always  implies  an  improvement  and  not  a  de- 
struction of  the  bill  to  be  amended.  But  there 
was  a  majority  in  waiting,  ready  to  consummate 
what  had  been  agreed  upon,  and  the  vote  was 
immediately  taken,  and  the  substitute  passed — 
105  to  71 : — the  mass  of  the  manufacturing  in- 
terest voting  against  it.  And  this  was  called  a 
"  compromise,"  a  species  of  arrangement  hereto- 
fore always  considered  as  founded  in  the  mutual 
consent  of  adversaries — an  agreement  by  which 
contending  parties  voluntarily  settle  disputes  or 
questions.  But  here  one  of  the  parties  dissent- 
ed, or  rather  was  never  asked  for  assent,  nor 
had  any  knowledge  of  the  compromise  by  which 
they  were  to  be  bound,  until  it  was  revealed  to 
their  vision,  and  executed  upon  their  consciences, 
in  the  style  of  a  surprise  from  a  vigilant  foe  up- 
on a  sleeping  adversary.  To  call  this  a  '■  com- 
promise" was  to  make  sport  of  language — to 
burlesque  misfortune — to  turn  force  into  stip- 
ulation —  and  to  confound  fraud  and  violence 
with  concession  and  contract.  It  was  like  call- 
ing the  rape  of  the  Romans  upon  the  Sabine 
women,  a  marriage.  The  suddenness  of  the 
movement,  and  the  want  of  all  time  for  rellection 
or  concert — even  one  night  for  private  comnm- 
nion — led  to  the  most  incongruous  association 
of  voters — to  such  a  mixture  of  persons  and  par- 
ties as  had  never  been  seen  confounded  together 
before,  or  since :  and  the  reading  of  which  must 
be  a  puzzle  to  any  man  acquainted  with  the  po- 
litical actors  of  that  day,  the  unravelling  of 
which  would  set  at  defiance  both  his  knowledge 
and  his  ingenuity.  The  fallowing  is  the  list — 
the  voters  with  Mr.  Clay,  headed  by  Mr.  Mark 
Alexander  of  Virgiaitij  one  of  hu  stiffest  oppon- 


ents :  the  voters  against  him,  headed  by  Mr.  ,Tohr 
Quincy  Adams,  for  eight  years  past  his  indis- 
soluble colleague  in  every  system  of  policy  in 
every  measure  of  public  concern,  and  in  every 
enterprise  of  political  victory  or  defeat.  Here  is 
the  list ! 

Ykas. — Messrs.  Mark  Alexander,  Chi) (on  Al- 
lan, Robert  Allen,  John  Anderson,  William  (}. 
Angel,  William  S.  Archer,  John  S.  Harliour 
Daniel  L.  Barringer,  James  Bates,  Jolui  Hell' 
John  T.  Bergen,  Laughlin  Bethune,  Jnnies  Ulair' 
John  Blair,  Ratliff'Boon,  Joseph  Bouck, 'i'lmmas 
T.  Bouldin,  John  Branch,  Henry  A.  Biillan] 
Churchill  C.  Cambrelcng,  John  Carr,  Joseph 
W.  Chinn,  Nathaniel  II.  Claiborne,  Cknieiit  U. 
Clay,  Augustin  S.  Clayton,  Richanl  Coke,  jr. 
Henry  W.  Connor,  Thomas  Corwin,  Iliciiard 
Coulter,  Robert  Craig,  William  Croighton,  jr. 
Henry  Daniel,  Thomas  Davenport,  Warren  i{. 
Davis,  Ulysses  F.  Doubleday,  Joseph  Draper 
John  JI.  Felder,  James  Findlay,  William  Fitz- 
gerald. Nathan  Gaither,  John  Gilmore,  AVilliam 
F.  Gordon,  Thomas  H.  Hall,  William  Hall,  Jo- 
seph M.  Harper,  Albert  G.  Hawes,  Jlicajah  T. 
Hawkin.s  Michael  Hofiman,  Cornelius  Holland, 
Hoiiry  Horn,  Benjamin  C.  Howard,  Henry 
Hubbard,  William  W.  Irvin,  Jacob  C.  Isaacs, 
Leonard  Jarvis,  Daniel  Jenifer,  Richard  M. 
Johnson,  Cave  Johnson,  Joseph  Johnson,  Ed- 
ward Kavanagh.  John  Leeds  Kerr,  Henry  (f, 
Lamar,  Gariet  Y.  Lansing,  Joseph  Lecompte, 
Robert  P.  Letcher,  Dixon  H.  Lewi.s,  Chitten- 
den Lyon,  Samuel  W.  Mardis,  John  Y.  Jlason, 
Thomas  A.  Marshall,  Lewis  Maxwell,  Rnfus 
Mclntire,  James  McKay,  Thomas  Newton.  Wil- 
liam T.  Nuckolls,  John  M.  Patton,  Franklin  E. 
Plummer,  James  K.  Polk,  Abraham  Keiicher, 
John  J.  Roane,  Erastus  Root,  Charles  S.  Seuall, 
William  B.  Shepard,  Augustine  H.  Shcpperd, 
Samuel  A.  Smith,  Isivac  Southard,  Jesse  Speiirht, 
John  S.  Spence,  William  Stanberry,  James 
Standefer,  Francis  Thoma.s,  Wiley  Thompson, 
John  Thomson,  Christopher  Tompkins,  Phineas 
L.  Tracy,  Joseph  Vance.  Gulian  C.  Verplanek, 
Aaron  Ward,  George  C.  W^ashington.  James  M. 
Wayne,  John  W.  Weeks,  Elisha  AVliittlesey, 
Camjjbell  P.  Wliite,  Charles  A.  Wickliil'e,  John 
T.  II.  Worthington. 

N.ws. — Messrs.  John  Q.  Adams.  Ileman  Al- 
len, Robert  Allison,  Nathan  Appleton,  Thomas 
I).  Arnold,  W^illiam  Babcock,  John  IJaiiks, 
Noyes  Barlier,  Gamaliel  II.  Barstow,  Thomas 
Chandler,  Bates  Cooke,  Richard  Jl.  Coopei 
Joseph  II.  Crane,  Thomas  H.  Crawford,  John 
Davis,  Charles  Dayan,  Henry  A.  S.  Dearborn, 
Harmar  Denu}'^,  Lewis  Dewart,  John  Dick.son, 
William  W'.  Ellsworth,  George  Evans,  Joshua 
Evans,  Edward  Everett.  Horace  Everett,  Geor(;« 
Grennell,jr.,  Ilil.and  Hall,  William  Heister,  Mi 
chael  Hoiihian,  Thomas  ii.  Hughes,  JaleZ  ^V 
Huntington,  Peter  Ihrie,  jr.,  Ralph  i.  Ingersoll 
Joseph  G.  Kendall,  Henry  King,  Humphrey  H 


ANNO  1838.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


313 


Lcavitt,  Robert  McCoy,  Thomas  M.  T.  AfcKon- 
nuii.  .lolin  .T.  MilliRan,  Ilonry  A,  Miihleiibcrfi, 
Jcrcmiiih  Nelson,  Dutee  J.  Pcarcc,  Edmund  II. 
Pendleton,  Job  I'icrson,  David  Potts,  jr.,  Jiunt's 
r.  Unmiolph,  Joh.i  i  ^d,  Edward  C.  Reed,  Wil- 
liam Siiule,  NathuA  3oulo,  William  L.  Storrs, 
Joel  15.  Sutlierlau.',  John  W.  'J'aylor,  Samuel 
F,  Vinton,  Daniel  Wardvvell,  John  G.  Wat- 
immjrh,  Grattan  11.  Wheeler,  Frederick  Whit- 
tlesey, Ebeuezer  Young. 


CHAPTER    LXXXII. 

EEDUCTION  OF  UTJTIES.— MK.  CLAY'S  BILL. 

On  the  12th  of  February  Mr.  Clay  asked  leave 
to  introduce  a  bill  for  the  reduction  of  duties, 
styled  by  him  a  "  compromise "  measure ;  and 
prefaced  the  question  with  a  speech,  of  which 
the  following  are  parts  : 

"In  presenting  the  modification  of  the  tariff 
laws  which  I  am  now  about  to  submit,  I  have 
two  great  objects  in  view.  My  first  object 
looks  to  the  tarifl;  I  am  compelled  to  express 
the  opinion,  formed  after  the  most  deliberate 
reflection,  and  on  a  full  survey  of  the  whole 
country,  that,  whether  rightfully  or  wrongfully, 
the  taritf  stands  in  imminent  danger.  If  it 
should  even  be  preserv<Hl  during  this  session, 
it  must  fall  at  the  next  session.  By  what  cir- 
cumstances, and  through  what  causes,  has  arisen 
the  necessity  for  this  change  in  the  policy  of  our 
country,  I  will  not  pretend  now  to  elucidate. 
Others  there  are  who  may  diflfer  from  the  im- 
ivessions  which  my  mind  has  received  upon  this 
point.  Owing,  however,  to  a  variety  of  concur- 
rent causes,  the  tariff,  as  it  now  exists,  is  in  im- 
minent danger ;  and  if  the  system  can  be  pre- 
served beyond  the  next  session,  it  must  be  by 
some  moans  not  now  within  the  reach  of  human 
sajracity.  The  fall  of  that  policy,  sir,  would  be 
productive  of  consequences  calamitous  indeed. 
When  I  look  to  the  variety  of  interests  which 
are  involved,  to  the  number  of  individuals  in- 
terested, the  amount  of  capital  invested,  the 
value  of  the  buildings  erected,  and  the  whole 
arrangement  of  the  business  for  the  prosecution 
of  the  various  branches  of  the  manufacturing 
art  which  have  sprung  up  under  the  fostering 
care  of  this  government,  I  cannot  contemplate 
any  evil  equal  to  the  sudden  overthrow  of  all 
those  niterest.s.  History  can  produce  no  paral- 
lel to  the  extent  of  the  mischief  which  would 
be  pro(]i'ced  by  such  a  disaster.  The  rei)cul  of 
th'  Kdict  of  Nantes  itself  was  nothing  in  com- 
parison with  it.  That  condemned  to^exile  and 
brought  to  ruin  a  great  number  of  persons. 
Iho  most  respectable  portion  of  the  populatiou 


of  France  were  condemned  to  exile  and  ruin  by 
that  measure.  But  in  my  opinion,  sir,  the  sud- 
den repeal  of  the  tariff  policy  would  bring  ruin 
and  destruction  on  the  whole  people  of  this 
country.  There  is  no  evil,  in  my  opinion,  equal 
to  the  consequences  which  would  result  from 
such  a  catastrophe. 

"  I  believe  the  American  system  to  be  in  the 
greatest  danger;  and  I  believe  it  can  be  placed 
on  a  better  and  safer  foundation  at  this  session 
than  at  the  next.  I  heard,  with  surprise,  my 
friend  from  Massachusetts  say  that  nothing  had 
occurred  within  the  last  six  months  to  increa.so 
its  hazard.  I  entreat  him  to  review  that  opinion. 
Is  it  correct  ?  Is  the  issue  of  numerous  elec- 
tions, including  that  of  the  highest  officer  of  the 
government,  nothing?  Is  the  explicit  recom- 
mendation of  that  officer.  In  his  message  at  the 
opening  of  the  session,  sustained,  as  he  is,  by  a 
recent  triumphant  election,  nothing  ?  Is  his  de- 
claration in  his  proclamation,  that  the  burdens 
of  the  South  ought  to  be  relieved,  nothing  ?  Is 
the  introduction  of  the  bill  in  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives during  this  session,  sanctioned  by 
the  head  of  the  treasury  and  the  administration, 
prostrating  the  greater  part  of  the  manufactures 
of  the  country,  nothing?  Are  the  increasing 
discontents,  nothing  ?  Is  the  tendency  of  re- 
cent events  to  unite  the  whole  South,  nothing? 
What  have  we  not  witnessed  in  this  chamber  ? 
Friends  of  the  administration  bursting  all  the 
ties  which  seemed  indissolubly  to  unite  them 
to  its  chief,  and,  with  few  exceptions  south  of 
the  Potomac,  opposing,  and  vehemently  oppos- 
ing, a  favorite  measure  of  that  administration, 
which  three  short  months  ago  they  contributed 
to  establish  ?  Let  us  not  deceive  ourselves. 
Now  is  the  time  to  adjust  the  question  in  a 
manner  satisfactory  to  both  parties.  Put  it  off 
until  the  next  session,  and  the  alternative  may, 
and  probably  then  would  be,  a  speedy  and  ruin- 
ous reduction  of  the  tariff',  or  a  civil  war  with 
the  entire  South. 

"  It  is  well  known  that  the  majority  of  the 
dominant  party  is  adverse  to  the  tariff".  There 
are  many  honorable  exceptions,  the  senator  from 
New  Jersey  [Mr.  Dickerson]  among  them.  But 
for  the  exertions  of  the  other  party,  the  tariff" 
would  have  been  long  since  sacrificed.  Now 
let  us  look  at  the  composition  of  the  two 
branches  of  Congre.ss  at  the  next  session.  In 
this  body  wc  lose  three  friends  of  the  protective 
policy,  without  being  sure  of  gaining  one.  Here, 
judging  from  the  present  appearances,  we  shall, 
at  the  next  session,  be  in  the  minority.  In  the 
House  it  is  notorious  that  there  is  a  considera- 
ble accession  to  the  number  of  the  dominant 
party.  How,  then,  I  ask,  is  the  system  to  bo 
sustained  against  numbers,  against  the  whole 
weight  of  the  administration,  against  the  united 
South,  and  against  the  increased  impending  dan- 
ger of  civil  Avar  ? 

"  I  have  been  represented  as  the  father  of  this 
system,  and  I  am  charged  with  an  unnatural 
abandonment  of  my  own  offspring.     I  have 


W  -  ■,  ■! 


L,i  ;. 


314 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


never  arropated  to  mj'self  any  Buch  intimate 
relation  to  it.  I  have,  indeed,  cherished  it  with 
parental  fondness,  and  my  affection  is  uiulimin- 
>hed.  i{tit  in  what  condition  do  I  (Ind  this 
child  ?  It  is  in  the  hands  of  the  rhilistines, 
who  wonld  strangle  it.  I  fly  to  its  rescue,  to 
snatch  it  from  their  custody,  and  to  place  it  on 
a  bed  of  security  and  repose  for  nine  years, 
where  it  may  prow  and  strengthen,  and  become 
acceptable  to  the  whole  people.  I  behold  a 
torch  about  being  applied  to  a  favorite  edifice, 
and  I  would  save  it,  if  possible,  before  it  was 
wrapt  in  flames,  or  at  least  iireseiTO  the  precious 
furniture  which  it  contains." 

Mr.  Clay  further  advanced  another  reason  for 
his  bill,  and  which  was  a  wish  to  separate  the 
tariff  from  politics  and  elections — a  wish  which 
admitted  their  connection — and  which,  beinp 
afterwards  interpreted  by  events,  was  supposed 
to  be  the  basis  of  the  coalition  with  Mr.  Cal- 
houn ;  both  of  them  having  tried  the  virtue  of 
the  tarifl'  question  in  elections,  and  found  it 
unavailing  either  to  friends  or  foes.  Mr.  Clay, 
its  champion,  could  not  become  President  upon 
its  support.  Mr.  Calhoun,  its  antagonist,  could 
not  become  President  upon  its  opposition.  To 
both  it  was  equally  desirable,  as  an  unavailable 
element  in  elections,  and  as  a  stumbling-block 
to  both  in  future,  that  it  should  be  withdrawn 
for  some  years  from  the  political  arena;  and 
Mr.  Clay  thus  expressed  himself  in  relation  to 
that  withdrawal : 

"  /  wish,  to  see  the  tariff'  separated  from  the 
politics  of  the  country,  that  buxiness  men  may 
go  to  work  in  security,  with  some  prospect  of 
stability  in  our  laws,  and  without  ecery  thing 
being  staked  on  the  issue  of  elections,  as  it 
were  on  the  hazards  of  the  die." 

Jlr.  Clay  then  explained  the  principle  of  his 
bill,  which  was  a  series  of  annual  reductions  of 
one  tenth  percent,  on  the  value  of  all  duties  above 
twenty  per  cent,  for  eight  successive  years ;  and 
after  that,  the  reduction  of  all  the  remainder 
above  twenty  per  centum  to  that  rate  by  two 
annual  reductions  of  the  excesc  ,  so  as  to  com- 
plete the  reduction  to  twentj-^  per  centum  on 
the  value  of  all  imported  goods  on  the  30th  day 
of  September,  1842 ;  with  a  total  abolition  of 
duties  on  about  one  hundred  articles  after  that 
time ;  and  with  a  proviso  in  favor  of  the  right 
of  Congress,  in  the  event  of  war  with  any  foreign 
power  to  impose  such  duties  as  might  be  neces- 
sary to  prosecute  the  war.  And  this  was  called 
a  "■compromise,^''  although  there  was  no  stipu- 


lation for  the  permanency  of  the  redua-d  and 
of  the  abolished  duties ;  and  no  such  stipulation 
could  be  made  to  bird  future  Congresses  •  and 
the  only  equivalent  which  the  South  received 
from  the  party  of  protection,  was  the  stipulated 
surrender  of  their  principle  in  the  clause  which 
provided  that  after  the  said  30th  of  September 
1842,  ^'duties  should  only  be  laid  for  raiging 
such  revenue  as  might  be  necessary  fur  an 
economical  administration  of  (he  govern- 
ment ;"  an  attempt  to  bind  future  Congresses 
the  value  of  w  hicii  was  seen  before  the  time 
was  out.  Mr.  Clay  proceeded  to  touch  the  ten- 
der parts  of  his  plan — the  number  of  years  the 
protective  policy  had  to  run,  and  the  guaranties 
for  its  abandonment  at  the  end  of  the  stipulated 
protection.    On  these  points  he  said : 

"Viewing  it  in  this  light,  it  apiieared  that 
there  were  eight  years  and  a  half,  and  nine 
years  and  a  half,  taking  the  ultimate  time 
which  would  be  an  efficient  protection ;  the  re- 
maining duties  would  be  withdrawn  by  a  bien- 
nial reduction.  The  protective  princii)ie  must 
be  said  to  be,  in  some  measure,  relinquished  at 
the  end  of  eight  years  and  a  half  This  period 
could  not  appear  unreasonable,  and  he  thought 
that  no  member  of  the  Senate,  or  any  portion 
of  the  country,  ought  to  make  the  slightest  ol)- 
jection.  It  now  remained  for  him  to  consider 
the  other  objection— the  want  of  a  guaranty  to 
there  being  an  ulterior  continuance  of  the 
duties  imposed  by  the  bill,  on  the  expiration  of 
the  term  which  it  prescribes.  The  best  gua- 
ranties would  be  found  in  the  circumstances 
under  which  the  measure  would  be  passed.  If 
it  were  passed  by  common  consent;  if  it  were 
passed  with  the  assent  of  a  portion,  a  conside- 
rable portion,  of  those  who  had  ^lithcrto  di- 
rectly supported  this  system,  and  by  a  consi- 
derable portion  of  those  who  opposed  it;  if 
they  declared  their  satisfaction  witli  the  mea- 
sure, he  had  no  doubt  the  rate  of  duties  guaran- 
tied would  be  continued  after  the  expiration  of 
the  term,  if  the  country  continued  at  peace." 

Here  was  a  stipulation  to  continue  the  pro- 
tective principle  for  nine  years  and  a  lulf,  and 
the  bill  contained  no  stipulation  to  abandon  it 
at  that  time,  and  consequently  no  guaranty  that 
it  would  be  abandoned ;  and  certainly  the  gua- 
ranty would  have  been  void  if  stipulated,  as  it 
is  not  in  the  power  of  one  Congress  to  abridge 
by  law  the  constitutional  power  of  its  succes- 
sors. Mr.  Clay,  therefore,  had  recourse  to  mo- 
ral guaranties;  and  found  them  "ood.  and  best. 
in  the  circumstances  in  which  the  bill  would  bo 
passed,  and  the  common  consent  with  wliich  it 


ANXO  1838.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


315 


yns  expected  to  bo  done — a  calculation  which 
found  its  vttluo,  as  to  the  "  common  consent," 
before  tho  bill  was  pasHud ;  us  to  its  binding 
force  before  tho  timo  fixca  for  its  efllcacy  to 
bepin. 

Mr.  Forsyth,  of  Georgia,  replied  to  Mr.  Clay, 
and  said : 

"  The  avowed  object  of  tho  bill  would  meet 
with  univiTsal  approbation.  It  was  a  project  to 
harmonize  the  people,  and  it  could  have  come 
from  no  better  source  than  from  the  gentleman 
from  Kentucky :  for  to  no  one  were  wc  more 
indebted  tlmn  to  him  for  tho  discord  and  dis- 
content wlii(  h  agitate  us.  But  a  few  months 
ajro  it  was  i  '  the  power  of  the  gentleman,  and 
those  with  wlioin  he  acted,  to  settle  this  question 
at  once  and  for  ever.  The  opportunity  was  not 
seized,  but  he  hojxid  it  was  not  piussed.  In  the 
project  now  offered,  ho  could  not  see  tho  elements 
of  success.  The  time  was  not  auspicious.  But 
fourteen  days  remained  to  tho  session ;  and  we 
had  bettor  wait  the  action  of  the  House  on  the 
bill  before  tliem,  than  by  taking  up  this  new 
measure  here,  produce  a  cessation  of  their  action. 
Was  there  not  danger  that  the  fourteen  days 
would  bo  exhausted  in  useless  debate  ?  Why, 
twenty  men,  wiiii  a  sufficiency  of  breath  (for 
words  they  would  not  want),  could  annihilate 
the  bill,  though  a  majority  in  both  Houses  were 
in  favor  of  it.  He  objtited,  too,  that  tho  bill 
was  a  violation  of  the  constitution,  because  the 
Senate  had  no  power  to  raise  revenue.  Two 
years  ago,  the  same  senator  made  a  proposition, 
which  was  rejected  on  this  very  ground.  Tho 
offer,  however,  would  not  be  useless  ;  it  would 
be  attended  with  all  tho  advantages  which  could 
follow  its  discussion  here.  We  shall  see  it,  and 
take  it  into  consideration  as  the  offer  of  the 
manufacturers.  The  other  party,  as  we  are 
called,  will  view  it  as  a  scheme  of  diplomacy ; 
not  as  their  «/0'»ia/M/»,  but  as  their  first  offer. 
But  the  bargain  was  all  on  one  side.  After  they 
are  defeated,  and  can  no  longer  sustain  a  conflict, 
they  come  to  make  the  best  bai^ain  they  can. 
The  senator  from  Kentucky  says,  the  tariff  is 
in  danger ;  aye,  sir,  it  is  at  its  last  gasp.  It  has 
received  the  immedicable  wound  ;  no  hellebore 
can  cure  it.  He  considered  the  confession  of  the 
gentleman  to  be  of  immense  importance.  Yes, 
sir,  the  whole  feeling  of  tho  country  is  opposed 
to  the  high  protective  system.  The'wily  serpent 
that  crept  into  our  Eden  has  been  touched  by 
the  spear  of  Ithuriel.  The  senator  is  anxious 
to  prevent  the  ruin  which  a  sudden  abolition  of 
the  system  will  produce.  No  one  desires  to 
inflict  ruin  upon  the  manufacturers  ;  but  suppose 
the  Southern  people,  having  the  power  to  control 
the  subject,  should  totally  and  suddenly  abolish 
the  system ;  what  right  would  those  have  to 
coiiiphtiii  who  had  combined  to  oppress  the 
South  1  AVhat  has  the  tariff  led  us  to  already  ? 
From  one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other,  it  has 
eroduced  evils  which  are  worse  than  a  thousand 


tarifiH,  The  neoessity  of  appealing  now  to  fra- 
ternal feeling  shows  that  tliat  feeling  is  not 
sleeping,  but  nearly  extinguished.  Ho  opi  osed 
the  introduction  of  the  bill  &h  a  revenue  measure, 
and  upon  it  demanded  the  yeas  and  nays:  which 
were  ordered." 

The  practical,  clear-headed,  Btraightforward 
Gen,  Smith,  of  Maryland,  put  his  finger  at  onco 
upon  tho  fallacy  and  insecurity  of  tho  whole 
scheme,  and  used  a  word,  the  point  and  applica- 
tion of  which  was  more  visible  afterwards  than 
at  the  time  it  was  uttered.    He  said : 

"  That  the  bill  was  no  euro  at  nil  for  the  evils 
complained  of  by  tho  South.  They  wished  to 
try  the  constitutionality  of  protecting  duties. 
In  this  bill  there  was  nothing  but  protection, 
from  beginning  to  end.  We  had  been  told  that 
if  the  bill  passed  with  common  consent,  the  sys- 
tem established  by  it  would  not  be  touched. 
But  he  had  once  been  cheated  in  that  way,  and 
would  not  be  cheated  again.  In  1810  it  wa.s 
said  the  manufacturers  would  be  satisfied  with 
the  protection  afforded  by  the  bill  of  that  year ; 
but  in  a  few  years  after  they  came  and  insisted 
for  more,  and  got  more.  After  tho  first  four 
years,  an  attempt  would  bo  made  to  repeal  all 
the  balance  of  this  bill.  He  would  go  no  further 
than  four  years  in  prospective  reduction.  The 
reduction  was  on  some  articles  too  great." 

Ho  spoke  history,  except  in  the  time.  The 
manufacturers  retained  the  benefits  of  the  bill 
to  the  end  of  the  protection  which  it  gave  them  j 
and  then  re-established  tho  protective  system  in 
more  amplitude  than  ever. 

"  Mr.  Calhoun  rose  and  said,  he  would  make 
but  one  or  two  observations.  Entirely  approving 
of  the  object  for  which  this  bill  was  introduced, 
he  should  give  his  vote  in  favor  of  the  motion 
for  leave  to  introduce  it.  Ho  who  loved  the 
Union  must  desire  to  see  this  agitating  question 
brought  to  a  termination.  Until  it  should  be 
terminated,  we  could  not  expect  the  restoration 
of  peace  or  harmony,  or  a  sound  condition  of 
things,  throughout  the  country.  He  believed 
that  to  the  unhappy  divisions  which  had  kept 
the  Northern  and  Southern  States  apart  from 
earh  other,  the  present  entirely  degraded  condi- 
tion of  the  country  (for  entirely  degraded  he 
believed  it  to  be)  was  solely  attributable.  Tho 
general  principles  of  this  bill  received  his  appro, 
bation.  lie  believed  that  if  the  present  difficul- 
ties were  to  be  adjusted,  they  must  be  adjusted 
on  the  principles  embraced  in  tho  bill,  of  fixing 
ad  valorem  duties,  except  in  the  few  cases  in 
the  bill  to  which  specific  duties  were  assigned, 
lie  said  that  it  had  been  his  fate  to  occupy  a 
position  as  hostile  as  any  one  could,  in  reference 
to  the  protecting  policy ;  but,  if  it  depended 
on  his  willj  ho  would  not  give  his  vote  for  the 


'\    ' 


I     I 


316 


TimiTV  YEARS'  VIEW. 


prostration  of  tho  mamifacturinj^  intcrcMt.  A 
very  lar(j;i>  rnpital  hiid  bi'on  invt-wtcd  in  inanu- 
factua-s,  which  had  l»ccn  of  great  seivicx-  to  tho 
country  ;  and  ho  would  nevor  nivo  \m  vote  to 
Buddonly  withdraw  all  tliose  (hitit's  hy  wiiieh 
Hiat  capital  was  sustained  in  tlio  channel  into 
which  it  had  Ix'on  directed.  Hut  he  would  only 
vote  for  the  ad  valorem  Hystein  of  duties,  whicli 
ho  divined  tho  most  beneficial  and  tho  nioMt 
0(|iiifable.  At  this  time,  he  did  not  rise  to  ^'o 
Into  a  consideration  of  any  of  tho  details  of  this 
bill,  an  such  a  courHc  would  be  premature,  nnd 
contrary  to  tho  practicti  of  tho  Senate.  There 
were  some  of  tho  provisions  which  ha<l  his  entire 
approbation,  and  there  were  sonio  to  which  he 
ohjcHJted.  Hut  ho  looked  upon  these  minor 
points  f)f  diU'erencf)  as  points  in  tho  Hottlemeut 
of  which  no  difHculty  would  occur,  when  ^ren- 
tlemcn  meet  toijether  in  that  spirit  of  nnitual 
compromise  which,  ho  doubted  not,  would  be 
broujiht  into  their  delil>eration'<,  without  at  all 
yieldinii;  tho  constitutional  question  as  to  the 
right  of  protection." 

This  union  of  Mr.  Calhoun  and  Mr.  Clay  in 
the  belief  of  the  harmony  and  brotherly  allection 
which  this  bill  would  produce,  professing  as  it 
<Jid,  and  bearing  on  its  face  the  termination  of 
the  American  system,  atTordcd  a  strong  instance 
of  the  fallibility  of  political  opinions.  It  was 
only  six  months  before  that  tho  dissolution  of 
the  Union  would  be  the  effect,  in  the  opinion  of 
one  of  them,  of  the  continuance  of  the  American 
83'stem — and  of  its  abandonment  in  the  opinion 
of  the  other.  Now,  both  agreed  that  the  bill 
which  professed  to  destroy  it  would  restore 
peace  and  harmony  to  a  distracted  country. 
How  far  Mr.  Clay  then  saw  the  preservation, 
and  not  the  destruction,  of  the  American  system 
in  the  compromise  he  was  making,  may  be 
ji  Iged  by  what  he  said  two  weeks  'ater,  when 
he  declared  that  he  looked  fo-'ward  to  a  re-action 
which  would  restore  the  j»rotective  system  at 
the  end  of  the  time. 

The  first  news  of  Mr.  Clay's  bill  was  hoard 
with  dismay  by  the  manufacturers.  Nilos'  Re- 
gister, the  most  authentic  organ  and  devoted 
fcdvocate  of  that  class,  heralded  it  thus  :  "  Mr. 
Clay'^s  new  tariff  project  will  be  received  like 
a  crank  of  tliander  in  the  win/.(  r  seaton.  and 
some  will  hardly  trust  the  evidence  of  their 
senses  on  aftrnt  examination  of  it— i^o  radical 
and  sudden  is  the  change  of  policy  proposed 
because  of  a  combination  of  circumstances 
XKhich:  in  the  ^udsmcn.t  of  Air.  C^lav.  has  ren- 
dered such  a  change  necessary.  It  may  be 
that  our  facorite  systems  are  all  to  be  destroy- 


ed. If  to  the  majority  dctermine—mi  b"  ,/." 
The  manulkctunrs  flocked  in  crowds  lo  Washing, 
ton  City— leaving  homo  to  stop  the  bill— arriving 
at  Was/iington  to  promote  it.  ThoHo  prncticiii 
men  soon  saw  that  they  had  gained  a  repricvo 
of  nine  ycr.rs  and  a  half  in  tho  benefits  of  ^vniw 
tiou,  with  a  certainty  of  the  rp-oslalilislniK'ntof 
the  system  at  the  end  of  that  time,  liom  tliu 
revulsion  which  would  bo  made  in  tho  rtveniiu 
—in  the  abrupt  plunge  at  tho  end  of  that  tiiiio 
in  the  scale  of  duties  from  a  high  rate  to  an  ml 
valorem  of  twenty  per  centum  ;  and  that  Icavin- 
one  htuidred  articles  free.  This  nine  years  and 
a  half  reprieve,  with  the  certain  clu.ncc  h;  the 
revulsion,  they  fo(md  to  bo  a  good  escnpo  fioni 
the  possible  passage  of  Mr.  Verplank's  bill,  or 
its  equivalent,  at  that  session ;  and  its  certuiii 
passage,  if  it  failed  then,  at  the  ensuing  session 
of  the  new  Congress.  They  found  the  protective 
system  dead  without  this  reprieve,  and  now  re- 
ceived as  a  deliverance  what  had  boon  vitnveJ  113 
a  sentence  of  execution ;  and  having  helped  the 
bill  through,  they  went  home  rejoicing,  and  more 
devoted  to  Mr.  Clay  than  over. 

Mr.  AVcbster  had  not  been  constilted,  in  the 
formation  of  this  bill,  and  was  strongly  opposed 
to  it,  as  Avell  as  naturally  dissatisfied  at  the  ne- 
glect with  which  he  had  been  ti-eatod.  jVs  tlio 
ablest  champion  of  the  tariff,  and  the  represen- 
tative of  the  chief  seat  of  manufactures,  ho 
would  naturally  have  been  consulted,  niul  made 
a  party,  and  a  leading  one,  in  any  scheme  of 
tariff  adjustment ;  on  the  contrary,  the  ^\  hole 
concoction  of  the  bill  between  Mr.  Clay  and  Mr. 
Calhoun  had  been  entirely  concealed  from  him. 
Symi/toms  of  discontent  appeared,  at  times,  in 
their  speeches ;  and,  on  the  night  of  the  23d, 
some  sharp  words  passed — comjiosed  tho  next 
day  by  their  frienis:  but  it  was  a  strange  idea 
of  a  "compromise  '  from  which  the  ni.iin  party 
was  to  be  excluded  in  its  formation,  and  bound 
in  its  conclusion.  And  Mr.  Webster  '00k  an 
innnediiite  ojjportunity  to  show  that  he  liad  not 
been  consulted,  and  would  not  be  botnid  by  tho 
arrangement  that  had  been  made.    lie  said; 

"  It  is  impossible  that  this  proposition  of  tho 
honorable  memberfrom  Kentucky sliould  notex- 
cite  in  tlie  country  a  vcr^-  strong  sensiit  ion ;  and,in 
the  relation  in  which  I  stand  to  the  sulyeet,  I  am 
anxious,  at  an  early  moment,  to  sa}',  tlmt,  as  far 
as  I  understand  the  bill,  from  tiie  geiuieumns 
statement  of  it,  there  arc  j)rinciples  in  it  to 
which  I  do  not  at  present  sec  how  I  can  cvei 


ANNO  1833.     ANDREW  JACIvHON,  PRKSIDKNT. 


317 


it  of  llio  -lU 


pmnir.  If  I  undorstanrl  the  plan,  tlio  rcHiiIt 
III'  it  will  1h'  ft  woII-uiidiTNtcHxl  wiiriemliT  of 
tlic  powtT  of  <liscriiiiiiiiitiitti,  or  ii  Hti|iiiliition 
not  to  MM'  tliat  |)(i\\»'r,  in  tlio  layiiif!;  (Iiitics  on 
imp'irt-i.  iiftir  Ihc  i'i;;lit  or  iiiiu'  \t>!ir.«i  Imvo  cx- 
piuil.  riii^  HitiioiiiM  to  iiiL'  to  111'  nmtttT  of  urt'iit 
iiiomeiit.  I  lu'sitiitc  to  Ix'  a  piii  ty  to  any  Hiich 
s!i|jiil!UioM.  Tlie  hononil)le  iiicniber  udniitx, 
that  tliou;;h  tluTc  will  lie  no  poi-itivo  surrcn- 
(1,  riif  tlu'  power,  tlieru  will  Ix-  a  stipiiiutioii  not 
ti)  cxiTci.-t^  it;  a  treaty  of  jusuo  and  amity,  as 
lie  say.s,  wliii'li  no  Anioi  icaii  .statcsiniin  can,  here- 
iifiiT,  stand  up  to  violate.  Tor  one,  .-iir.  I  am 
iKit  nii'ly  to  enter  into  the  treaty.  I  jiroposo, 
su  far  iiM  depends  on  tne,  to  leave  all  our  .suece-s- 
pors  ill  Congress  as  frco  to  act  as  we  arc  our- 

fClVl'S, 

'  ihe  liOTiorahle  member  from  Keniiicky  says 
tlie  tarilf  i-<  in  imminent  danRcr ;  that,  "if  not 
(k'sti-ovcd  tliis  ses>ion,  it  cnunot  hope  to  survive 
the  iii'xt.  '1  his  may  lie  ho,  sir.  This  may  be 
Fu.  But,  if  it  be  HO,  it  is  because  the  Americiui 
projile  will  not  sanction  the  t.irilf;  and,  if  they 
will  not,  why,  then,  sir.  it  cannot  be  sustained 
at  all.  1 .1111  not  quite  so  despairing  as  the  lion- 
oratili)  ni.'iiiber  seems  to  be.  1  know  notliin;; 
wlii' h  has  liajipened,  within  the  la-;t  si.\  or  eij,dit 
nioiitlis.  c!iaii<^iii<i;  so  materially  the  prospects  of 
till'  lariir.  I  do  not  desjiair  of  the  success  of  an 
appeal  (o  the  American  peojije,  to  take  a  just 
can' of  their  own  interest,  and  not  to  sacr'ilice 
tlio.-e  va-t  iiiteresis  which  have  grown  up  under 
tlw  laws  of  Congress." 

TIktc  wa?  a  significant  intimation  in  these  few 
roiiiarlvs,  that  Mr.  AVebster  had  not  been  con- 
sulted in  the  preparation  of  this  bill.  He  shows 
that  he  had  no  knowledge  of  it,  except  from  M 
t'lay's  btatcinciit  of  its  contents,  on  th<' ''  ,  for 
it  had  not  then  been  read;  and  the  >t:aement 
made  l.y  Air.  Clay  was  his  only  nuans  of  uiider- 
Ptaiiiliiig  it.  This  is  the  only  public  intimation 
which  he  gave  of  that  exclusion  uf  himself  from 
all  knowledge  of  what  Mr.  >  hiy  and  Mr.  Cal- 
houn were  doing;  but,  on  t'lr  Sunday  after  the 
sharp  words  between  him  and  Mr.  Clay,  the  fact 
was  fully  conimunicaled  to  me,  by  a  mutual 
fiiend,  and  as  an  iiijuriou.s  exclusinu  which  Jfr. 
Webster  naturally  and  sensibly  felt.  On  the 
nextday,  he  delivered  his  opinions  of  the  bill, 
in  an  unusually  formal  manner— in  a  set  of  re- 
Eoliitions,  instead  of  a  speech— thus : 

''Hesolved^  That  the  annual  revenues  of  the 
country  ought  not  to  be  allowed  to  exceed  a 
just  estimate  of  the  wants  of  the  government ; 
and  that,  a ;  soon  as  it  shall  be  ascertained,  with 
reasonalilo  cortaintv.  th.-.f  t'-.e  rniv^  nf  duties  on 
imports,  as  established  by  the  act  of  July,  1832, 
will  yield  an  excess  over  those  wants,  provision 
ought  to  be  made  for  their  reduction;  and  that, 


in  making  thiH  reduction,  just  regard  should  ht 
had  to  the  various  intcrestH  and  opiiiioim  of  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  country,  so  as  most  ellectu- 
ally  to  prtseivu  the  integrity  and  Imrmony  of 
the  riiion,  and  to  provide  for  the  common  de- 
fence, uiid  promote  the  'seneral  welfare  of  the 
whole. 

"  but,  whereas  it  is  certain  that  the  (.Uninu- 
tion  of  the  rates  of  duties  on  some  articles 
would  increa.'-e,  instead  of  reducing,  the  a^igre- 
gate  amount  of  reveime  on  such  articles ;  and 
whereas,  in  regard  to  mich  articles  as  it  lias 
been  the  jiolicy  of  the  country  to  protect,  a 
slight  reduction  on  one  might  produce  essential 
injury,  and  even  distress,  to  large  classes  of  the 
conuamiity,  while  another  might  bear  a  larger 
reduction  without  any  such  conseciuences ;  and 
whereas,  also,  there  are  many  articles,  the  (luties 
on  which  might  be  reduced,  or  altogether  abol- 
ished, without  iirodiicing  any  other  ellect  than 
the  reduction  of  revenue  :  Therefore, 

^'Jfcsolrrd,  That,  in  reducing  the  rates  of  du- 
ties imposed  on  imports,  by  the  act  of  the  14th 
of  July  aforesaid,  it  is  not  wise  or  jii<licioiis  to 
proceed  by  way  of  an  equal  reduction  per  ceiitiun 
on  all  articles  ;  but  that,  as  well  the  amount  as 
the  time  of  reduction  ought  to  be  fixed,  in  re- 
spect to  the  several  articles,  distinctly,  having 
(iu(!  regard,  in  each  case,  to  the  questions  whether 
the  proposed  reduction  will  affect  revenue  alone, 
or  how  far  it  will  operate  injuriously  on  those 
domestic  manufactures  hitherto  iirotected;  es- 
pecially such  as  are  essential  in  time  of  war,  and 
such,  also,  as  have  been  established  on  tlie  faith 
of  existing  laws ;  and,  above  all,  how  far  sucli 
proposed  reduction  will  ailect  the  rates  of  wages 
and  the  earnings  -if  American  manual  labor. 

"/<*( wi/rtv/,  "'hat  it  is  unwise  and  iiijn   icious, 

regnlatiiif;-  imposts,  to  adopt  a  plan',  lutherto 
V  qiially  unknown  in  the  histoiy  of  this  govern- 
ment, and  in  the  practice  of  all  enlightened  na- 
tions, which  shall,  either  immediately  or  pros- 
pectively, reject  all  discrimination  on  articles  to 
be  taxed,  v. '  lelher  they  be  arti(;les  of  necessity 
or  of  luxury-,  of  general  consumption  or  of  limit- 
ed consumption  ;  and  wheflur  tliev  be  or  be  not 
such  as  are  manufacture<l  and  produeed  at  home ; 
and  which  shall  coi.tiiie  all  duties  to  one  equal 
rate  per  centum  on  all  articles. 

'■'Itesolrcd,  That,  since  the  people  of  the  United 
States  have  deprived  the  State  governments  of 
all  power  of  fostering  uianufa':;ture3,  however 
indispensable  in  peace  or  in  war,  or  however  im- 
portant to  national  indipendence,  by  commercial 
regulations,  or  by  layii.j,  duties  on  imports,  and 
have  transt'erred  the  whole  authority  to  make 
such  regulations,  and  to  hi;  such  duties,  to  the 
Congresfs  '  f  the  United  States,  Congress  cannot 
surrender  or  abandon  such  power,  compatibly 
with  its  constitutional  duty;  and,  therefore, 

^'Jiesolced,  That  no  law  ought  to  be  passed  on 
the  Eiibjeet  of  iniposts,  containing  any  stipula- 
tion, express  or  implied,  or  giving  any  pledge  or 
assurance,  direct  or  indirect,  which  shall  tend  to 
restrain  Congress  from  the  full  exercise,  at  aU 


V    'til 


318 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


times  hereafter,  of  all  its  constitutional  powers, 
in  giving  reasonable  protection  to  American  in- 
dustry, coimtervailing  the  policy  of  foreign  na- 
tions, and  maintaining  the  substantial  indepen- 
dence of  the  United  States." 

These  resolutions  brought  the  sentiments  of 
Mr.  Webster,  on  the  tariff  and  federal  revenue, 
very  nearly  to  the  standard  recommended  by 
General  Jackson,  in  his  annual  message ;  which 
was  a  limitation  of  the  revenue  to  the  wants  of 
the  government,  with  incidental  protection  to 
essential  articles;  and  this  approximation  of 
policy,  with  that  which  had  already  taken  place 
on  the  doctrine  of  nullification  and  its  measures, 
and  his  present  support  of  the  "  Force  Bill,"  may 
have  occasioned  the  exclusion  of  Mr.  Webster 
from  all  knowledge  of  this  "  compromise."  Cer- 
tain it  is,  that,  with  these  sentiments  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  tariff  and  the  revenue,  and  with  the 
decision  of  the  people,  in  their  late  elections 
against  the  American  system,  that  Mr.  Webster 
and  his  friends  would  have  acted  with  the  friends 
of  General  Jackson  and  the  democratic  party, 
in  the  ensuing  Congress,  in  reducing  the  duties 
in  a  way  to  be  satisfactory  to  every  reasonable 
interest ;  and,  above  all,  to  be  stable  ;  and  to 
free  the  country  from  the  agitation  of  the  tariff 
question,  the  manufacturers  from  uncertainty, 
and  the  revenue  from  fluctuations  which  alter- 
nately gave  overflowing  and  empty  treasuries. 
It  was  a  consummation  devoutly  to  be  wished ; 
and  frustrated  by  the  intervention  of  the  delu- 
sive "  compromise,"  concx-tid  out  of  doors,  and 
in  conclave  b}"-  two  senators ;  and  to  be  carried 
through  Congress, by  their  joint  adherents,  and 
by  the  fears  of  some  and  the  inverests  of  others. 

Mr.  Wright,  of  New-York,  saw  objections  to 
the  bill,  which  would  be  insurmountable  in  other 
circumstances,  lie  proceeded  to  state  these  ob- 
jections, and  the  reason  which  would  outweigh 
them  in  his  mind : 

'•  lie  thought  the  reduction  too  slow  for  the 
first  eight  years,  and  vastly  too  ra))id  afterwards. 
Again,  he  objected  to  the  inequality  of  the  rule 
of  reduction  which  had  been  ad(jpted.  It  will 
be  seen,  at  once,  that  on  articles  paying  one 
hundred  per  cent,  duty,  the  reduction  is  danger- 
ously rapid.  There  was  unifonnity  in  the  rule 
adopted  by  the  bill,  as  regards  its  operation  on 
existing  laws.  The  first  object  of  the  bill  was 
to  effect  a  compromise  between  the  conflicting 
views  of  the  friends  and  the  opponents  of  pro- 
tection. It  purports  to  extend  relief  to  Southern 
interest ;  and  yet  it  enhances  the  duty  on  one  of 
the  most  material  articles  of  Southern  consump- 


tion— negro  cloths.  Again,  while  it  incrcosej 
this  duty,  it  imposes  no  corresponding  duty  on 
the  raw  material  from  which  the  fabric  is  made 

"Another  objection  arose  from  his  matnni 
conviction  that  the  principle  of  home  valuation 
was  absurd,  impracticable,  and  of  very  unequal 
operation.  The  reduction  on  some  article,",  of 
prime  necessity — iron,  for  example — was  so  preat 
and  so  rapid,  that  he  was  perfectly  satisfied  that 
it  would  stop  all  further  production  before  the 
expiration  of  eight  years.  The  principle  of  dis- 
crimination was  one  of  the  points  introduced 
into  the  discussion ;  and,  as  to  this,  he  would  sav 
that  the  bill  did  not  recognize,  after  a  limited 
period,  the  power  of  Congress  to  afford  protec- 
tion by  discriminating  duties.  It  provides  pro- 
tection for  a  certain  length  of  timv,,  but  docs  not 
ultimately  recognize  the  principle  of  protection. 
The  bill  proposes  ultimately  to  reduce  all  arti- 
cles which  pay  duty  to  the  same  rate  of  duty. 
This  principle  of  revenue  was  entirely  unknown 
to  our  laws,  and,  in  his  opinion,  was  an  unwar- 
rantable innovation.  Gentlemen  advocating  the 
principle  and  policy  of  free  trade  admit  the  power 
of  Congress  to  lay  and  collect  such  duties  as  arc 
necessary  for  the  purpose  of  revenue ;  and  to 
that  extent  they  will  incidentally  afford  pro- 
tection to  manufactures.  lie  would,  upon  all 
occasions,  contend  that  no  more  money  should 
be  raised  from  duties  on  imports  than  the  gov- 
ernment needs ;  and  this  principle  he  wished 
now  to  state  in  plain  terms.  He  adverted  to 
the  proceedings  of  the  Free  Trade  Convention 
to  show  that,  by  a  large  majority,  (120  to  7.) 
they  recognized  the  constitutional  power  of  Con- 
gress to  aflbrd  incidental  protection  to  domestic 
manufactures.  They  expressly  agreed  that  the 
principle  of  discrimination  was  in  consonance 
with  the  constitution. 

"  Still  another  objection  he  had  to  the  bill.  It 
proposed  on  its  face,  and,  as  he  thought,  directly, 
to  restrict  the  action  of  our  successors.  We  hiiil 
no  power,  he  contended,  to  bind  our  successors. 
We  might  legislate  prosi)ectively,  and  a  future 
Congress  could  stop  the  course  of  this  prospec- 
tive legislation.  He  had,  however,  no  altcniative 
but  to  vote  for  the  bill,  with  all  its  deficts,  be- 
cause it  contained  sonic  provisions  which  the 
state  of  the  country  rendered  indispensably  ne- 
cessary." 

Jle  then  stated  the  reason  which  \rould  induce 
him  to  vote  for  the  bill  notwithstmding  tlieso 
objections.  It  was  found  in  the  attitude  of  South 
Carolina,  and  in  the  extreme  desire  wiiich  he 
had  to  remove  all  cause  of  discont'uit  in  that 
State,  and  to  enable  her  to  retuni  to  tiie  state  of 
feeling  which  belonged  to  an  affectionate  member 
of  the  Union.  For  that  reason  he  would  do  what 
wa,'5  satifjfactory  to  her,  though  not  agreeable  to 
himself. 

While  the  bill  was  still  depending  before 
the  Senate,  the  bill  itself  for  which  the  leaw 


ANKO  1883.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  TRESIDENT. 


319 


OS  being  asked,  made  its  appearance  at  the 
door  of  the  chamber,  with  a  right  to  enter  it, 
in  the  shape  of  an  act  passed  by  the  House 
and  sent  to  the  Senate  for  concurrence.  This 
wa?  a  new  feature  in  the  game,  and  occasioned 
the  Senate  bill  to  be  Immediately  dropped,  and 
the  House  bill  put  in  its  place;  and  which,  being 
quickly  put  to  the  vote,  was  passed,  29  to  IG. 

"Yeas.— Messrs.  Bell,  Bibb,  Black,  Calhoun, 
Chambers,  Clay,  Clayton,  Ewing,  Foot,  Forsyth, 
Frelinghuysen,  Grundy,  Hill,  Holmes,  Johnston, 
King,  Mangum,  Miller,  Moore,  Maudain,  Poin- 
dextcr,  Rives,  Robinson,  Sprague,  Tomlinson, 
Tyler,  Waggaman,  White,  Wright. 

"Nays.— Messrs.  Benton,  Buckner,  Dallas, 
Dickerson,  Dudley,  Hendricks,  Knight,  Prentiss, 
Eobbins,  Ruggles,  Seymour,  Silsbee,  Smith,  Tip- 
ton, Webster,  Wilkins." 

And  the  bill  was  then  called  a  "compromise  " 
which  the  dictionaries  define  to  be  an  "agreement 
without  the  intervention  of  arbitrators ; "  and  so 
called,  it  was  immediately  proclaimed  to  be 
eacred  and  inviolable,  as  founded  on  mutual  con- 
sent, although  the  only  share  which  the  manu- 
ficturing  States  (Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey, 
Maryland,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Ver- 
mont) had  in  making  this  "  compromise  "  was 
to  see  it  sprung  upon  them  without  notice,  ex- 
ecuted upon  them  as  a  surprise,  and  forced  upon 
them  by  anti  larlflf  votes,  against  the  strenuous 
resistance  of  their  senators  and  representatives 
in  both  Houses  of  Congress. 

An  incident  which  attended  the  discussion  of 
this  bill  shows  the  manner  in  which  great  meas- 
ures—especially a  bill  of  many  particulars,  like 
the  tariff,  which  affords  an  opportunity  of  gi-ati- 
fying  small  interests— may  be  worked  through 
a  legislative  body,  even  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  by  other  reasons  than  those  derived  from 
its  merits.    The  case  was  this :  There  were  a 
few  small  manufactories  in  Connecticut  and  some 
other  New  England  States,  of  a  coarse  cloth  call- 
ed, not  Kendall  green,  out  Kendall  cotton- 
quite  antithetically,  as  the  article  was  made 
wholly  of  wool— of  which  much  was  also  import- 
ed.   As  it  was  an  article  exclusively  for  the  la- 
boring population,  the  tariff  of  the  preceding 
session  made  it  virtually  free,  imposing  only  a 
duty  of  five  per  centum  on  the  value  of  the  cloth 
and  the  same  on  the  wool  of  which  it  was  made. 
Now  this  article  was  put  up  in  this  "  compro- 
mise" bill  which  was  to  reduce  duties,  to  fifty 
per  centum,  aggravated  by  an  arbitrary  minimum 


valuation,  and  by  the  legerdemain  of  retaining 
the  five  per  centum  duty  on  the  foreign  wool 
which  they  used,  and  which  was  equivalent  to 
making  it  free,  and  reduced  to  that  low  rate  to 
harmonize  the  duty  on  the  raw  material  and 
the  cloth.     Goneral  Smith,  of  Maryland,  moved 
to  strike  out  this  duty,  no  flagrantly  in  con- 
trast to  the  professed  objects  of  the  bill,  and 
in  fraud  of  the  wool  duty;  and  that  motion 
brought  out  the  reason  why  it  was  put  there 
— which  was,  that  it  was  necessary  to  secure 
the  passage  of   the  bill.      Mr.  Foot,  of   Con- 
necticut,   said :     "  7'his    was    an    important 
feature  of  the  bill,  in  which  his  constituents 
had  a  great  interest.     Gentlemen  from  the 
South  had  agreed  to  it;  and  they  were  com- 
petent to  guard  their  own  interest.''^    Mr.  Clay 
said :  "  The  provision  proposed  to  be  stricken 
out  was  an  essential  part  of  the  compromise 
which,  if  struck  out,  would  destroy  the  whole.''^ 
Mr.  Boll  of  New  Hampshire,  said :    "  The  pas- 
sage of  the  bill  depended  vpon  it.    If  struck 
out,  he  shotdd  feel  himself  compelled  to  vote 
against  the  bilV^    So  it  was  admitted  by  those 
who  knew  what  they  said,  that  this  item  had 
been  put  into  the  bill  while  in  a  state  of  concoc- 
tion out  of  doors,  and  as  a  douceur  to  conciliate 
the  votes  which  were  to  pass  it.    Thereupon 
Mr.  Benton  stood  up,  and 


Animadverted  on  the  reason  which  was  al- 
leged for  this  extraordinary  augmentation  of 
duties  in  a  bill  which  was  to  reduce  duties.     The 
reason  was  candidly  expressed  on  this  floor. 
There  were  a  few  small  manufactories  of  these 
woollens  in  Connecticut ;  and  unless  these  man- 
ufactories be  protected  by  an  increase  of  duties 
certain  members  avow  their  determination  to 
vote  against  the  whole  bill !     This  is  the  secret 
— r  o !  not  a  secret,  for  it  is  proclaimed.    It  was 
a  secret,  but  is  not  no^v.    Two  or  three  little 
factories  in  Conneo<jcut  must  be  protected ;  and 
that  by  imposing  an  aiyiual  tax  upon  the  wea    ra 
of  these  coarse  woollens  of  four  or  live  times  the 
value  of  the  fee-simple  estate  of  the  f*ctories. 
Better  far,  as  a  point  of  economy  and  justice,  to 
purchase   them  and  burn  them.     The   whole 
American  system  is  to  be  given  up  in  the  year 
1812;  and  why  impose  an  annual  tax  of  near 
five  hundred  thousand  dollars,  upon  the  laborin"' 
community,  to  prolong,  for  a  few  years,  a  few 
small  branches  of  that  system,  when  the  whole 
bill  has  the  axe  to  the  root,  and  nods  to  its  fall  ? 
"lit,  paid  Mr.  B.,  these  iiianufactories  of  course 
woollens,  to  be  protected  by  this  bill,  are  not 
even  American ;  they  are  rather  Asiatic  estab- 
lishments in  America ;  for  they  get  their  wool 
from  Asia,  and  not  from  America.    The  impor' 


»    A 


\b'  V 


...^i^. 


-  ■ 'ilHHHIiiB^^ 


320 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


tation  of  tliis  wool  is  one  million  two  hundred 
and  iifty  thousand  pounds  weight;  it  conies 
chiefly  from  Smyrna,  and  costs  less  than  eight 
cents  a  jjound.  It  was  made  free  of  duty  at  the 
last  session  of  Congress,  as  an  equivalent  to  these 
very  manufactories  for  the  reduction  of  the  duty 
on  coarse  woollens  to  five  per  cent.  The  two 
measures  went  logctlier,  and  were,  each,  a  con- 
sideration for  the  other.  Before  that  time,  and 
by  the  act  of  1828,  this  coarse  wool  was  heavily 
dutied  for  the  beuelit  of  the  home  wool  growers. 
It  was  subjected  to  a  double  duty,  one  of  four 
cents  on  the  pound,  and  the  other  of  fifty  per 
cent,  on  the  value.  As  a  measure  of  compromise, 
this  double  duty  was  abolished  at  the  last  session. 
The  wool  for  tliese  factories  was  admitted  duty 
free,  and,  as  an  equivalent  to  the  community, 
tlie  w  oollens  made  out  of  the  corresponding  kind 
of  wool  were  admitted  at  a  nominal  duty.  It 
was  a  bargain,  entered  into  in  open  Congress, 
and  sealed  with  all  the  forms  of  law.  Now,  in 
six  months  after  the  bargain  was  made,  it  is  to 
be  bi-oken.  The  manufacturers  are  to  have  the 
duty  on  woollens  run  up  to  fifty  per  cont.  for 
protection,  and  are  still  to  receive  the  foreign 
wool  free  of  duty.  In  plain  English,  they  are 
to  retain  the  pay  which  was  given  them  for  re- 
ducing the  duties  on  these  coarse  woollens,  and 
they  are  to  have  the  duties  restored. 

"  He  said  it  was  contrary  to  the  whole  tenor 
and  policy  of  the  bill,  and  presented  the  strange 
contradiction  of  multiplying  duties  tenfold,  upon 
an  article  of  prime  necessity,  used  exclusively 
by  the  laboring  part  of  the  communitj',  while 
reducing  duties,  or  abolishing  them  in  tola,  upon 
every  article  ustjd  by  the  rich  and  luxurious. 
Silks  were  to  be  free ;  cambrics  and  fine  linens 
were  to  be  free  •,  muslins,  and  casimeres,  and 
broad  cloths  were  to  be  reduced  ;  but  the  coarse 
woollens,  worn  by  the  laborers  of  every  color 
and  every  occupation,  of  every  sex  and  of  every 
age,  bond  or  free — these  coarse  woollens,  neces- 
sary to  shelter  the  exposed  laborer  from  cold 
and  damp,  are  to  be  put  up  tenfold  in  point  of 
tax,  and  the  cost  of  procuring  them  doubled  to 
the  woaror. 

"  The  American  value,  and  not  the  foreign 
cost,  will  be  the  basis  of  computation  for  tlic 
twenty  percent.  The  difiercnce,  when  all  is  fair, 
is  about  thirty-five  per  cent,  in  the  value;  so 
that  an  importation  of  coarse  woollens,  costing 
one  million  in  Europe,  and  now  to  pay  five  per 
cent,  on  that  cost,  will  be  valued,  if  all  is  fair,  at 
one  million  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars ;  and  the  twenty  per  cent,  will  be  cal- 
culated on  that  sum,  and  will  give  two  hundred 
and  seventy  thousand  dollars,  instead  of  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  for  the  quantum  of 
the  tax.  It  will  be  near  sixfold,  instead  of  four- 
fold, and  that  if  ail  is  fair ;  but  if  there  are  gross 
orrnrs  c-rgrnss  frr.iids  jrs  the  vahisvtion,  p,p-  every 
Vnunan  being  knows  there  must  be,  ,ne  real  tax 
may  be  far  above  sixfold.  On  this  very  floor, 
ivnd  in  this  very  debate,  we  hear  it  computed,  by 
way  of  recommending  this  bill  to  the  manufac- 


turers, that  the  twenty  per  cent,  on  the  statut* 
book  will  exceed  thirty  in  the  custom-house. 

'•  Mr.  B.  took  a  view  of  the  circumstancea 
which  had  attended  the  duties  on  these  coarse 
woollens  since  he  had  been  in  Congress.  Every 
act  had  discriminated  in  favor  of  these  goods, 
iKJCause  they  were  used  by  the  poor  and  the 
laborer.  The  act  of  182-4  fixed  the  duties  upon 
them  at  a  rate  one  third  less  than  on  other  wool- 
lens ;  the  act  of  1828  fixed  it  at  upwards  of  one 
half  less;  the  act  of  1832  fixed  it  nine  tenths 
less.  All  these  discriminations  in  favor  of  coarse 
woollens  were  made  upon  the  avowed  principle 
of  favoring  the  laborers,  bond  and  free,— the 
slave  which  works  the  field  for  his  master,  the 
mariner,  the  miner,  the  steamboat  hand,  the 
worker  in  stone  and  wood,  and  every  oui-door 
occupation.  It  was  intended  by  the  framcr.s  of 
all  these  acts,  and  especially  by  the  supiwrters 
of  the  act  of  1832,  that  this  class  of  our  popula- 
tion, so  meritorious  from  their  daily  labor,  so 
much  overlooked  in  the  operations  of  the  gov- 
ernment, because  of  their  little  weight  in  tlie 
political  scale,  should  at  least  receive  one  boon 
from  Congress — they  should  receive  their  work- 
ing clothes  free  of  tax.  This  was  the  intention 
of  successive  Congresses ;  it  was  the  perforninnce 
of  this  Congress  in  its  act  of  the  last  session ; 
and  now,  in  six  short  months  since  this  boon 
was  granted,  before  the  act  had  gone  into  elfcct, 
the  very  week  before  the  act  was  to  go  into 
effect,  the  boon  so  lately  granted,  is  to  be  snateiicd 
away,  and  the  day  laborer  taxed  higher  than  ever; 
taxed  fifty  per  cent,  upon  his  working  clothes ! 
while  gentlemen  and  ladies  are  to  have  .silks  and 
cmnbrics,  and  fine  linen,  ft'ce  of  any  tax  at  all! 

"  In  allusion  to  the  alleged  competency  of 
the  South  to  giiard  its  own  interest,  as  averred 
by  Mr.  Foot,  Mr.  Benton  said  that  was  a  species 
of  ability  not  confined  to  the  South,  but  existent 
also  in  the  North — whether  indigenous  or  exotic 
he  could  not  say — but  certainly  existent  there, 
at  lea.st  in  some  of  the  small  States ;  and  active 
when  duties  were  to  be  laised  on  Kendal  cotton 
cloth,  and  the  wool  of  which  it  was  made  to  re- 
main free." 

The  motion  of  General  Smith  was  rejected, 
of  course,  and  by  the  same  vote  which  jLissed 
the  bill,  no  one  of  those  giving  way  an  inch  of 
ground  in  the  House  who  had  proniited  out  of 
doors  to  stand  by  the  bill.  Another  incident  to 
which  the  discussion  of  this  bill  gave  rise,  and 
the  memory  of  which  is  necessary  to  the  under- 
standing of  the  times,  was  the  character  of 
'^■protec/ion"  which  Mr.  Clay  openly  claimed 
for  it ;  and  the  perem{)tory  manner  in  which  ho 
and  his  friends  vindicated  that  claim  in  open 
Senate,  and  to  the  face  of  Mr.  Calhoun.  Tho 
circumstances  were  these :  Mr.  Forsyth  object- 
ed to  the  leave  asked  by  Mr.  Clay  to  introduce 
his  bill,  because  it  was  a  revenue  bill,  the  origi- 


A\XO  1833.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


nation  of  which  under  the  constitution  exclu- 
sively belonged  to  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, the  immediate  representative  of  the  peo- 
ple. And  this  gave  rise  to  an  cpi.sodical  debate, 
in  which  Mr.  Clay  said  :  "  The  main  object  of 
the  bill  is  not  revenue,  but  protection."— In  an- 
.mvcr  to  several  senators  wh-.  said  the  bill  was 
an  abandonment  of  the  protective  principle,  Mr. 
Clay  said :  '•  The  lang\iage  of  the  bill  author- 
ized no  such  construction,  and  that  no  one 
weuld  be  justified  in  irf erring  that  there  was 
to  be  an  abandonment  of  the  system  of  protec- 


321 


fiOH."— And  Mr.  Clayton,  of  Delaware,  a  sup- 
porter of  the  bill,  said  :  "  The  government  can- 
not be  kept  together  if  the  principle  of  protcc- 
tection  were  to  be  discarded  in  our  policy  • 
and  declared  that  he  nmnld  pause  before  he 
surrendered  that  principle,  even  to  save  the 
Union,"— Mr.  Webster    said  :     "  The    bill  is 
brought  forward  by  the  distinguished  senator 
from  Kentucky,  who   jyrofcsses  to   have  re- 
nounced none  of  his  former  opinions  as  to  the 
constitutionality  and   e.vpcdicncy  of  protec- 
tion.^^—Knii  Jlr.  Clay  said  further :  "  The  bill 
assumes,  as  a  h^  '  adeipiate  protection  for 
nine  years,  am'      ■•    (protection)  beyond  that 
term.    The  friends  of  protection  say  to  their 
"pponents,  xce  are  willing  to  take  a  lease  of 
nine  years,  with  the  long  chapter  of  accidents 
beijond  that  period,  including  the  chance  of 
war,  the  restoration  of  concord,  and  along 
Kith  if  a  conviction  common  to  all.  of  the  util- 
ily  of  protection  J  and  in  consideration  of  it, 
;';,  in  1842  none  of  these  contingencies  shall 
have  been  realized,  we  arc  williiig  to  submit, 
as  long  as  Coiigress  may  think  proper,  with  a 
ma.Timum  of  twenty  per  centum,"  &c.—'^  He 
avowed  his  object  in  framing  the  bill  was  to 
secure  that  protection  to  manvfactures  which 
every  one  foresaw  must  otherwise  soon  be  swept 
amy."    So  that  the  bill  was  declared  to  be  one 
of  protection  (and  upon  sufficient  data),  upon 
a  lease  of  nine  years  and  a  half,  with  many 
chances  for  converting  the  lease  into  a  fee  sim- 
ple at  the  end  of  its  rim ;  which,  in  fact,  was 
done;  but  with  such  excess  of  protection  as  to 
produce  a  revulsion,  and  another  tariff  catastro- 
phe in  1840.     The  continuance  of  protection 
was  claimed  in  argument  by  IMr.  Clay  and  his 
fnends  throughout  ih-..  discussion,  but  here  it 
jas  made  a  point  on  which  the  fate  of  the  bill 
depended,  and  on  which  enough  of  its  friends  to 
Vol.  I._21 


defeat  it  declared  they  would  not  support  it  ex- 
cept as  a  protective  measure.  Mr.  Calhoun  in 
other  parts  of  the  debate  had  declared  the  bill 
to  be  an  abandonment  of  protection  ;  but  at 
this  critical  point,  when  such  a  denial  from  him 
would  have  been  the  instant  death  warrant  of 
the  bill,  he  said  nothing.  His  desire  for  its  pas- 
sage must  have  been  overpowering  when  he 
could  hear  such  declarations  without  repeating 
his  denial. 

On  the  main  point,  that  of  the  constitutionali- 
ty of  originating  the  bill  in  the  Senate,  Mr.  "Web- 
ster spoke  the  law  of  Parliament  when  he  said : 

"It  was  purely  a  question  of  privilege,  and 
the  decision  of  it  belonged  alone  to  the  other 
House.     The  Senate,  by  the  constitution,  could 
not  originate  bills  for  raising  revenue.     It  was 
of  no  consequence   whether  the  rate  of  duty 
were  increased  or  decreased ;  if  it  was  a  money 
bill  It  belonged  to  the  House  to  originate  it. 
In  the  House  there  was  a  Committee  of  Ways 
and  iMeans  organized  expressly  for  such  objects. 
Ihere  was  no  such  committee  in  the  Senate. 
ihe  constitutional  provision  was  taken  from  the 
practice  of  the  British  Parliament,  whose  usages 
were  well  known  to  the  framers  of  the  constitu- 
tion, with  the  modification  that  the  Senate  might 
alter  and  amend  money  bills,  which  was  denied 
by  the  House  of  Commons  to  the  Lords.    This 
subject  belongs  exclusively  to   the   House  of 
Representatives.      'J'he  attempt  to  evade  the 
question,  by  contending  that  the  present  bill 
was  intended  >>.  ^  'otection  and  not  for  revenue 
aflorded  no   .  '■ .,,  r.i-  it  was  protection  by  means 
of  revenue.     - 1  was  not  the  less  a  money  bill 
from  its  object  being  protection.      After  1842 
this  bill  would  raise  the  revenue,  or  it  would 
not  be  raised  by  existing  laws.     He  was  alto- 
gether opjiosed  to  the  provisions  of  this  bill  • 
but  tbis  objection  was  one  which  belonged  to 
the  House  of  Representatives." 

Another  incident  which  illustrates  the  vice 
and  tyranny  of  this  outside  concoction  of  mea- 
sures between  chiefs,  to  be  supported  in  the 
House  by  their  adherents  as  they  fix  it,  occur- 
red in  the  progress  of  this  bill.  Mr.  Benton, 
perceiving  that  there  was  no  corresponding  re- 
duction of  drawback  provided  for  on  the  expor- 
tation of  the  manufactured  article  made  out  of 
an  importtid  material  on  which  duty  was  to  be 
reduced,  and  supposing  it  to  have  been  an  over- 
sight in  the  framing  of  the  bill,  moved  an 
amendment  to  that  effect;  and  meeting  resist- 
ance, stood  up,  and  said : 

"His  motion  did  not  extend  to  the  general 
system  of  drawbacks,  but  only  to  those  special 


'  ;    '! 


U'teii 


322 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


r  1 


»  t! . 


cases  in  which  the  exporter  was  authorized  to 
draw  from  the  treusury  tlic  amount  of  money 
which  lie  had  paid  into  it  ou  the  importation  of 
the  materials  which  he  had  manufactured.     The 
amount  of  drawhack  to  he  allowed  in  every  case 
had  been  atljusted  to  the  amount  of  duty  paid, 
and  as  all  these  duties  were  to  be  periodically 
reduced  b}'  the  bill,  it  would  follow,  as  a  regu- 
lar consequence,  that  the  drawback  should  un- 
dergo equal  reductions  at  the  same  time.     Mr. 
B.  would  illustrate  his  nvotion  by  stating  a  sin- 
gle case — the  case  of  re'incd  sugar.     The  draw- 
back payable  on  this     igar  was  five  cents  a 
pound.     These  five  cents  rested  upon  a  duty  of 
three  cents,  now  payable  on  the  importation  of 
foreign  brown  sugar.    It  was  ascei-tained  that 
it  required  nearly  two  pounds  of  brown  sugar 
to  make  a  pound  of  refined  sugar,  .  nd  tive  cents 
was  held  to  he  the  amount  of  duty  paid  on  the 
quantity  of  brown  sugar  which  made  the  pound 
of  refined  sugar.     It  was  simply  a  reimburse- 
ment of  what  he  had  paid.     By  this  bill  the 
duty  of  foreign  brown  sug-ar  will  be  reduced  im- 
mediately to  two  and  a  half  cents  a  pound,  and 
afterwards  will  be  periodically  reduced  imtil  the 
year  1842,  when  it  will  be  but  six-tenths  of  a 
cent,  very  little  more  than  one-sixth  of  the  duty 
when  five  cents  the  pound  were  allowed  for  a 
drawback.     Now,  if  the  drawback  is  not  re- 
duced in  proportion  to  the  leduction  of  the  duty 
on  the  raw  sugar,  two  very  injurious  conse- 
quences will  result  to  the  public :  first,  that  a 
large  sum  of  nioney  will  be  annually  taken  out 
of  the  treasury  in  gratuitous  bounties  to  sug.ar 
refiners ;  and  next,  that  the  consumers  of  refin- 
ed sugar  will  liave  to  pay  more  for  American 
refined  sugar  than  foreigners  will ;  for  the  re- 
finers getting  a  bounty  of  five  cents  a  pound  on 
all  that  is  exjjortcd,  will  export  all,  unless  the 
American  consumer  will  pay  the  bounty  also. 
Mr.  B.  could  not  undertake  to  say  how  much 
money  would  be  drawn  from  the  treasur}-,  as  a 
mere  bounty,  if  this  amendment  did  not  prevail. 
It  nmst,  however,  be  great.     The  drawback  was 
now  frequently  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  a 
year,  and  great  frauds  were  committed  to  obtain 
it.     Frauds  to  the  amount  of  forty  thousand 
dollars  a  year  had  been  detected,  and  this  while 
the  inducement  was  small  and  inconsiderable ; 
but,  as  fast  as  that  inducement  swells  from  year 
to  year,  the  temptation  to  commit  frauds  must 
increase ;  and  the  amount  drawn  by  fraud,  add- 
ed to  that.drawn  by  the  letter  of  the  law,  must 
be  enormous.    Jlr.  B.  did  not  think  it  necessary 
to  illustrate  his  motion  by  further  examples, 
but  said  there  were  other  cases  which  would  be 
OS  strong  as  that  of  refined  sugar ;  and  justice 
to  the  public  ix>quired  all  to  l)e  checked  at  once, 
by  adopting  the  amendment  he  had  otlered." 

This  amendment  was  lost,  although  its  neces- 
sity was  self-evident,  and  suj)portcd  by  Mr.  Cal- 
houn's vote ;  but  Mr.  Clay  was  inexorable,  aad 
would  allow  of  no  amendment  which  was  not 


oiTered  by  friends  of  the  bill :  a  qualification 
which  usually  attends  all  this  class  of  outside 
legislation.  In  the  end,  I  saw  the  amendment 
adopted,  as  it  regarded  refined  sugars,  after  it 
began  to  take  hundreds  of  thousands  per  annum 
from  the  treasury,  and  was  hastening  on  to  mil- 
lions  per  annum.  The  vote  on  its  rejectit>n  in 
the  compromise  bill,  was : 

"  Ykas. — Messrs.  Benton,  Bucknor,  Calhoun 
Dallas,  Dickersim,  Dudley,  Forsyth,  Johnson' 
Kane,  King,  Rives,  Robinson,  Seymour,  Tomlin- 
son,  Webster,  AVhitc,  AVilkins,  Wright. — 18. 

'•  x\a  vs.— Messrs.  Bell,  Bibb,  Black,  Clay,  Clay- 
ton,  Ewiug,  Foot,  Grundy,  Ilendricks,  Holmes, 
Knight,  Mangum,  Miller,  Moore,  Naudain.  Poin- 
dexter,  Prentiss,  Robbins,  Silsbee,  Smitii 
Sprague,  Tipton,  Troup,  Tyler.— 24."  ' 

But  the  protective  feature  of  the  bill,  whicli 
sat  hardest  upon  the  Southern  members,  and  at 
one  time,  seemed  to  put  an  end  to  the  "  compro- 
mise," was  a  proposition,  by  Mr.  Clay,  to  sub- 
stitute home  valuations  for  foreign  on  iinporteii 
goods ;  and  on  which  home  valuation,  the  duty 
was  to  be  computed.     This  was  no  part  of  the 
bill  concocted  by  Mr.  Clay  and  Mv.  Calhoun ; 
and,  when  offered,  evidently  took  the  latter  gen- 
tleman by  surprise,  Avho  pronounced  it  uncon- 
stitutional, unequal,  and  unjust ;  averred  the  ob- 
jections to  the  proposition  to  be  insurmount- 
able; and  declared  that,  if  adopted,  would  compel 
him  to  vote  against  the  whole  bill.    On  the 
other  hand,  Mr.  Clayton  and  others,  declared 
the  adoption  of  the  amendment  to  be  indispensa- 
ble ;  and  boldly  made  known  their  determin.i- 
tion  to  sacrifice  the  bill,  if  it  was  not  adopted. 
A  brief  and  sharp  debate  took  place,  in  the 
course  of  which  Mr.  Calhoun  declared  his  opin- 
ions   to    remain    unaltered,  and  Mr.  Clayton 
moved  to  lay  the  bill  upon,  the  table.    Its  fate 
seemed,  at  that  time,  to  be  sealed ;  and  certainly 
would  have  been,  if  the  vote  on  its  passage  had 
then   been  taken ;    but   an  adjournment  was 
moved,  and  carried  ;  and,  on  the  next  day,  and 
after  further  debate,  and  the  question  on  Mr. 
Clay's  proposition  about  to  be  taken,  Mr.  Cal- 
houn declared  that  it  had  become  necessary  for 
him  to  determine  whether  he  would  vote  for  or 
against  it ;  said  he  would  vote  for  it,  otherwise 
the  bill  would  be  lost,     lie  then  called  upon 
the  reporters  in  the  gallery  to  notice  well  what 
he  said,  as  he  intended  liis  declaration  to  k  part 
of  the  proceedings :  and  that  he  voted  upon  the 
conditions :  first,  that  no  valuation  should  bfl 


ANNO  1833.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


323 


adopted,  which  would  make  the  duties  unequal 
in  different  parts ;  and  secondly,  that  the  duties 
tlii'inselvL'S  .sliould  not  become  an  clement  in  the 
vaiuivlion.  The  practical  K.'.nse  of  General  Smith 
immediately  exposed  the  futility  of  these  con- 
dit'on.i,  wliicii  were  looked  upon,  on  all  sides,  as 
a  mere  salvo  for  an  inevitable  vote,  extorted  from 
him  by  the  exigencies  of  his  position ;  and  seve- 
ral senators  reminded  him  that  his  intentions 
and  motives  could  have  no  effect  upon  the  law, 
which  would  be  executed  according  to  its  own 
words.  The  following  is  the  debate  on  this 
point,  very  curious  in  itself,  even  in  the  outside 
view  it  gives  of  the  manner  of  affecting  great 
national  legislation  ;  and  much  more  so  in  the  in- 
side view  of  the  manner  of  passing  this  particular 
measure,  so  lauded  in  its  day ;  and  to  understand 
which,  the  outside  view  must  first  be  seen.  It 
appears  thus,  in  the  prepared  debates : 

'■Mr.  Clay  now  rose  to  propose  the  amend- 
ment, of  which  he  had  previously  given  notice. 
Tlie  object  was,  that,  after  the  period  prescribed 
bj  tlic  bill,  all  duties  should  thereafter  be  as- 
sessed on  a  valuation  made  at  the  port  in  which 
the  goods  arc  first  imported,  and  under  '  such 
regulations  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law.'  Mr. 
C.  said  it  would  be  seen,  by  this  amendment, 
that,  in  place  of  having  a  foreign  valuation,  it 
was  intended  to  have  a  home  one.  It  was  be- 
lieved by  the  friends  of  the  protecti\e  system, 
tliat  such  a  regulation  was  necessary.  It  was 
believed  by  many  of  the  friends  of  tho  system, 
that,  after  the  pei-iod  of  nine  and  a  half  years, 
the  most  of  our  manuilictures  will  be  sufficiently 
fri'own  to  be  able  to  support  themselves  under  a 
duty  of  twenty  per  cent.,  if  properly  laid ;  but 
that,  under  a  system  of  foreign  valuation,  such 
would  not  be  the  case.  They  say  that  it  would 
be  more  detrimental  to  their  interests  than  the 
lowest  scale  of  duties  that  could  be  imposed;  and 
you  propose  to  fix  a  standard  of  duties.  They 
are  willing  to  take  you  at  your  word,  provided 
you  regulate  this  in  a  way  to  do  them  justice. 

"Mr.  Smith  opposed  the  amendment,  on  the 
j,'round  that  it  would  be  an  increase  of  duties  ; 
that  it  had  ">een  tried  before;  that  it  would  be 
impracticable,  unequal,  unjust,  and  productive 
of  confusion,  inasmnch  as  imported  guods  were 
constantly  varying  in  value,  and  were  well  known 
t"  be,  at  all  times,  cheaper  in  New- York  than  in 
the  commercial  cities  south  of  it.  This  would 
have  the  effect  of  drawing  all  the  trade  of  the 
L'liited  States  to  New-York. 
_  ''  Mr.  Clay  said  he  did  not  think  it  expedient, 
m  deciding  this  question,  to  go  forward  five  or 
six  years,  and  make  that  an  obstacle  to  the  pas- 
sage of  a  great  national  measure,  which  is  not 
to  Ko  into  operation  until  after  that  period.  The 
honorable  senator  from  Maryland  said  that  the 


measure  would  be  impracticable. 


Well,  sir, 


if 


so,  it  will  not  be  adopted.  Wc  do  not  adopt 
it  now,  said  Mr.  C. ;  we  only  adopt  the  princi- 
ple, leaving  it  to  future  legislation  to  adjust  the 
details.  Besides,  it  would  be  the  restoration  of 
an  ancient  principle,  known  since  the  founda- 
tion of  the  government.  It  was  but  at  the  last 
session  that  the  discriminating  duty  on  good.s 
coming  from  this  side,  and  beyond  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  ten  per  cent,  on  one,  and  twenty 
per  cent,  on  the  other,  was  repealed.  On  what 
principle  was  it,  said  he,  that  this  discrimination 
ever  prevailed  ?  On  tlie  principle  of  the  home 
value.  Were  it  not  for  the  fraudulent  invoices 
which  every  gentleman  in  this  country  was  fa- 
miliar with,  he  would  not  urge  the  amendment ; 
but  it  was  to  detect  and  prevent  these  frauds 
that  he  looked  upon  the  insertion  of  the  clause 
as  essentially  necessary. 

"  Mr.  Smith  replied  that  he  had  not  said  that 
the  measure  was  impracticable.  He  only  in- 
tended to  say  that  it  would  be  inconvenient  and 
unju,st.  Neither  did  he  say  that  it  would  be 
adopted  by  a  future  Congress ;  but  he  .said,  if 
the  principle  was  adopted  now,  it  would  be  an 
entering  wedge  that  might  lead  to  the  adoption 
of  the  measure.  We  all  recollect,  said  Mr.  S., 
that  appropriations  were  made  for  surveys  for 
internal  improvements ;  and  that  these  operated 
as  entering  wedges,  and  led  to  appropriations 
for  roads  and  canals.  The  adoption  of  the  prin- 
ple  contended  for,  by  the  senator  from  Kentucky, 
would  not,  in  his  (Mr.  S.'s)  opinion,  prevent 
fi  auds  in  the  invoices.  That  very  principle  was 
the  foundation  cf  all  the  frauds  on  the  levenue 
of  France  and  Spain,  where  the  duties  were  as- 
sessed according  to  the  value  of  the  goods  in  the 
ports  where  entered.  He  again  said  that  the 
effect  of  the  amendment  would  be  to  draw  the 
principal  commerce  of  the  country  to  the  great 
city  of  New- York,  where  goods  were  cheaper. 

"Mr.  Forsyth  understood,  from  what  had 
fallen  from  the  senator  from  Kentucky,  that  this 
was  a  vital  question,  and  on  it  depended  the  suc- 
cess of  this  measure  of  conciliation  and  compro- 
mise, which  was  said  to  settle  the  distracted  con- 
dition of  tho  country.  In  one  respect,  it  was 
said  to  be  a  vital  question  ;  and  the  next  was,  it 
was  useful ;  and  a  strange  contradiction  follow- 
ed ;  that  the  fate  of  this  measure,  to  unite  the 
jarrings  of  brother  with  brother,  depended  on 
the  adoption  of  a  principle  which  might  or  might 
not  be  adopted.  He  considered  the  amendment 
wrong  in  principle,  because  it  would  be  both 
unequal  and  unjust  in  its  operation,  and  because 
it  would  rai.se  the  revenue  :  as  the  duties  would 
be  assessed,  not  only  on  the  value  of  the  goods 
at  the  place  whence  imported,  but  on  their  value 
at  the  place  of  importation.  He  would,  however, 
vote  for  the  bill,  even  if  the  amendment  were  in- 
corporated in  it,  provided  he  had  the  assurances, 
from  the  proper  quarter,  that  it  wn^iM  effect  the 
concihation  and  compromise  it  was  intended  for. 
"Mr.  Clay  had  brought  forward  this  measure, 
with  the  hope  that,  in  the  course  of  its  discu.s- 
siou,  it  would  ultimately  assume  such  a  shape 


i'^ 


I  n 


mil 


I* 


324 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW, 


iniiiiF»B  II 


as  to  reconcile  all  parties  to  its  adoption,  and 
tend  to  end  the  agitation  of  this  unsettled  ques- 
tion. If  there  he  any  nieniher  of  this  (Jouf^ress 
(Mr,  (j.  said),  who  says  that  he  will  take  this 
bill  now  for  as  much  as  it  is  worth,  and  that  he 
will,  at  the  next  Oonpress,  again  open  the  ques- 
tion, for  the  purpose  of  getting  a  hotter  bill,  of 
bringing  down  the  tarilf  to  a  lower  standard, 
without  considering  it  as  a  final  measure  of  com- 
promise and  conciliation,  calculated  also  to  give 
stability  to  a  man  of  business,  the  bill,  in  his 
eyes,  would  lose  all  its  value,  and  he  should  be 
constrained  to  vote  against  it. 

"  It  was  for  the  sake  of  conciliation,  of  nine 
years  of  peace,  to  give  trau(iuility  to  a  disturbed 
and  agitated  country,  that  he  had,  even  at  this 
lato  period  of  the  session,  introduced  this  mea- 
sure, which,  liis  respect  for  the  other  branch  of 
the  legislature,  now  sitting  in  that  building,  and 
who  had  a  measure,  looking  to  the  same  end,  be- 
fore them,  had  prevented  him  from  bringing  for- 
ward at  an  earlier  period.     But,  when  he  had  j 
Boen  the   session  wearing  away,  without  the  | 
prospect  of  any  action  in  that  other  body,  he  i 
felt  himself  compelled  to  come  forward,  though 
contrary  to  his  wishes,  and  the  advice  of  some 
of  his  best  friends,  with  whom  he  had  acted  in 
tlio  most  perilous  times. 

"Mr,  Calhoun  said,  he  regretted,  exceedingly, 
that  the  senator  from  Kentucky  had  felt  it  his 
duty  to  move  the  amendment.     According  to  his 
present  impressions,  the  objections  to  it  were 
insurmountable ;  and,  unless  these  were  remov- 
ed, he  should  be  compelled  to  vote  against  the 
whole  bill,  should  the  amendment  be  adopted. 
The  measure  proposed  was,  in  his  opinion,  un- 
constitutional.    The  constitution  expressly  pro- 
vided that  no  preference  should  be  given,  by  any 
regulation  of  commerce,  to  the  ports  of  one  State 
over  those  of  another ;  and  this  would  be  the 
effect  of  adopting  the  amendment.     Thus,  great 
injustice  and  inequality  nmst  necessarily  result 
from  it ;  for  the  i)rice  of  goods  being  cheaper  in 
the  Northern  than  in  the  Southern  cities,  a  home 
valuation  would  give  to  the  former  a  preference 
in  the  payment  of  duties.     Again,  the  price  of 
gootls  being  higher  at  New  Orleans  and  Charles-  \ 
ton  than  at  New- York,  the  freight  and  insurance 
also  being  Higher,  together  with  the  increased  | 
expenses  of  a  sickly  climate,  would  give  such  I 
advantages  in  the  amount  of  duties  to  the  Nor-  } 
thern  city,  as  to  draw  to  it  much  of  the  trade  of  , 
the  Southern  ones.  In  his  view  of  the  subject,  this  i 
was  not  all.     He  was  not  merchant  enough  to  j 
say  what  would  be  the  extent  of  duties  under 
this  system  of  home  valuation ;  but,  as  ho  under- 
stood it,  they  must,  of  consequence,  be  progress- 1 
ive.     For   instance,  an  article  is   brought  into  '• 
New-York,  value  there  100  dollars.     Twenty  ^ 
per  cent,  on  that  would  raise  the  value  of  the  ; 
article  to  one  hundred  and  twenty  dollars,  on  ' 
which  value  a  dut}"  of  twent}-  per  cent,  would  ; 
be  assessed  at  the  next  importation,  and  so  on. , 
It  would,  therefore,  be  impossible  to  say  to  what 
extent  the  duties  would  ruu  up,  lie  regretted  the  ! 


more  that  the  senator  from  Kentucky  had  felt  it 
his  duty  to  offer  this  amendment,  as  he  was  willing 
to  leave  the  matter  to  the  decision  of  a  future  Con- 
gress, though  he  did  not  see  how  they  cmikl  cot 
over  the  insuperable  constitutional  objections  tie 
had  glanced  at,  Mr.  C.  appealed  to  the  senator 
from  Kentucky,  whether,  with  these  views  lio 
would  press  his  amendment,  when  he  had  liMit 
or  nine  years  in  advance  bei'ore  it  could  tako'ef- 
fect.  He  understood  the  argument  of  the  senator 
from  Kentucky  to  be  an  admission  that  the 
amendment  was  not  now  absolutely  necessary. 
With  respect  to  the  apprehension  of  frauds  oii 
the  reveinie,  Mr,  C,  said  that  every  future  Con- 
gress would  have  the  strongest  disposition  to 
guard  against  them.  The  very  reduction  of  du- 
ties,  he  said,  would  have  that  clfect ;  it  would 
strike  at  the  root  of  the  evil.  Mr.  C.  saul  he 
agreed  with  the  senator  from  Kentucky,  that 
tliis  bill  will  be  the  final  effort  at  conciliation  and 
compromise ;  and  he,  for  one,  was  not  disposed. 
if  it  passed,  to  violate  it  by  future  legislation. 

"  Mr.  Clayton  said  that  he  could  not  vote  for 
this  bill  without  this  amendment,  nor  would  he 
admit  any  idea  of  an  abandonment  of  the  protec- 
tive system  ;  while  he  was  willing  to  pass  this 
measure,  as  one  of  concession  from  the  stron,!i;cr 
to  the  weaker  party,  he  never  could  agree  tliat 
twenty  per  cent,  was  adequate  protection  to  our 
domestic  manufactures.  lie  had  been  anxious 
to  do  something  to  relieve  South  Carolina  from 
her  present  perilous  position;  though  he  had 
never  been  driven  by  the  taunts  of  Southern 
gentlemen  to  do  that,  which  he  now  did,  for  the 
sake  of  conciliation.  I  vote  for  this  bill,  said 
Mr,  C,  only  on  the  ground  that  it  may  .save 
South  Carolina  from  herself. 

"  Here  Mr.  C.  yielded  the  floor  to  Mr.  Calhoun, 
who  said.  He  hoped  the  gentleman  would  not 
touch  that  question.  lie  entreated  him  to  be- 
lieve that  South  Carolina  had  no  fears  for  her- 
self. The  noble  and  disinterested  attitude  she 
had  assumed  was  intended  for  the  whole  nation, 
while  it  was  also  calculated  to  relieve  herself,  as 
well  as  them,  from  oppressive  legislation.  It 
was  not  for  them  to  consider  the  condition  of 
South  Carolina  only,  in  passing  on  a  measure  of 
this  importance, 

"  Mr.  Clayton  resumed.  Sir,  said  he,  I  must 
be  permitted  to  explain,  in  my  own  way,  the 
reasons  which  will  govern  me  in  the  vote  1  am 
about  to  give.  As  I  siiid  before,  I  nerer  have 
permitted  the  fears  of  losing  the  protective  sys- 
tem, as  expressed  by  the  senator  i'rom  (Jeorgia, 
when  he  taunted  us  with  tlie  majority  that  they 
would  have  in  the  next  Congress,  when  tliey 
would  get  a  better  bill,  to  influence  my  oimiiun 
upon  this  occasion.  That  we  have  been  driven 
by  our  fears  into  this  act  of  concession,  I  will 
not  admit.  Sir,  I  tell  gentlemen  that  they  may 
never  get  such  another  offer  as  the  present ;  lor, 
though  thoy  imy  think  othcT'wise,  1  do  not  be- 
lieve that  the  people  of  this  country  will  ever  be 
brought  to  consent  to  the  abaudounieut  of  the 
protective  system. 


satistV  him,  an 


ANNO  1833.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


325 


''  Docs  any  man  bolicvo  that  fifty  per  cent,  is 
an  adequate  protection  on  woollens  ?  No,  sir ; 
the  protection  is  brought  down  to  twenty  per 
cent, ,:  and  when  gentlemen  come  to  me  and  say 
that  this  is  a  compromise,  I  answer,  with  my 
fricinl  from  Jfainc,  that  I  will  not  vote  for  it,  un- 
less you  will  give  me  the  fair  twenty  per  cent. ; 
and  this  cannot  he  done  without  adopting  the 
prineii)lo  of  a  home  valuation.  I  do  not  vote  for 
this  bill  because  T  think  it  better  than  the 
tariff  of  18;^'2,  nor  because  I  fear  nullification  or 
secession ;  hut  from  a  motive  of  concession,  yield- 
ing; my  own  opinions.  But  if  Southern  gentle- 
men v.-ill  not  accept  this  measure  in  the  spirit 
for  which  it  was  tendered,  I  have  no  reason  to 
vote  for  it.  I  voted,  said  Mr.  C,  against  the  hill 
of  32,  for  tho  very  reason  that  .Southern  gentle- 
men declared  that  it  was  no  concession ;  and  I 
may  vote  against  this  for  the  same  reasons.  ] 
thought  it  bad  policy  to  pass  the  bill  of  '32.  I 
thought  it  a  bad  bargain,  and  I  think  so  now. 
I  have  no  fear  of  nullification  or  secession ;  I  am 
not  to  be  intimidated  by  thi-eats  of  S'outhcrn 
gentlemen,  that  they  will  get  a  better  bill  at  the 
next  session.  "Rebellion  made  young  Harry 
Percy's  spurs  grow  cold."  I  will  vote  for  this 
measure  as  one  of  conciliation  and  compromise ; 
Imt  if  the  clause  of  tho  senator  from  Kentucky 
is  not  mscrtcd,  1  shall  be  compelled  to  vote 
njrainst  it.  'ihe  protective  system  never  can  l)e 
iil>antloncd ;  and  I,  for  one,  will  not  now,  or  at 
au}'  time,  admit  the  idea. 

'■Mr.  Dallas  was  opposed  to  the  proposition  from 
the  cnninuttec,  and  agreed  with  Mr.  Calhoun.  He 
would  state  briefly  his  objection  to  the  proposition 
of  the  committee.  Althou;ih  he  was  from  a  State 
strongly  disposed  to  maintain  the  protective  po- 
licy, he  labored  under  an  impression,  that  if  anv 
thing  could  be  done  to  conciliate  the  Southern 
States,  it  was  his  duty  to  go  for  a  mca-surc  for 
that  purpose ;  but  he  should  not  go  be3^ond  it. 
He  could  do  nothing  in  this  way,  as  representing 
his  particular  district  of  the  countiy,  but  only 
for  the  general  good.  lie  could  not  agree  to  in- 
corporate in  the  bill  any  principle  which  he 
thought  erroneous  or  im[)roper.  He  would  sanc- 
tion nothing  in  the  bill  as  an  abandonment  of 
the  pj'inciple  of  protection.  ]Mr.  D.  then  made  a 
few  remarks  on  home  and  foreign  valuation,  to 
show  the  ground  of  his  objections  to  the  amend- 
ment of  Jf r.  Clay,  though  it  did  not  prevent  his 
strong  desire  to  compromise  and  conciliation. 

"Mr.  Clay  thought  it  was  premature  to  agi- 
tate now  the  details  of  a  legislation  which  might 
take  place  nine  years  hence.  The  senator  from 
South  Carolina  had  objected  to  the  amendment 
on  constitutional  grounds.  lie  thousht  he  coukl 
satisty  him,  and  every  senator,  that  there  was 
no  objection  from  the  constitution. 

'•  lie  asked  if  it  was  i)robable  that  a  valuation 
m  Liverpool  could  escape  a  constitutional  objec- 
tion, if  a  home  valuation  were  uuconstiiutional  ? 
Ihcre  was  a  distinction  in  the  foreign  value,  and 
'■n  the  thing  valued.  An  invoice  might  Ixj  made 
of  articles  at  one  price  in  one  port  of  England, 


and  in  another  port  at  another  price.  The  price, 
too,  must  vary  with  the  time.  But  all  this  could 
not  affect  the  rule.  There  was  a  distinction 
which  gentlemen  did  not  observe,  between  the 
value  and  the  rule  of  valuation ;  one  of  these 
might  vary,  while  the  other  continued  always 
the  same.  The  rule  was  uniform  with  regard  "to 
direct  taxati<m ;  yet  the  value  of  houses  and 
lands  of  the  same  quality  are  very  different  in 
different  places.  One  mode  of  home  valuation 
^vas,  to  give  the  government,  or  its  officers,  the 
right  to  make  the  valuation  after  the  one  which 
the  importer  had  given.  It  would  prevent  fraud, 
and  the  rule  Avould  not  violate  the  constitution- 
It  was  an  error  that  it  was  unconstitutional ; 
the  constitution  said  nothing  about  it.  It  was 
absurd  that  all  values  must  be  established  in 
foreign  countries;  no  other  country  on  earth 
shouldassume  the  right  of  jii''  ing.  Objections 
had  been  made  to  leaving  the  business  of  valua- 
tion in  the  hands  of  a  few  executive  officers;  but 
the  objections  were  at  least  equally  great  to  leav- 
ing it  in  the  hands  of  fbreigners.  He  thought  there 
was  nothing  in  the  constitutional  objection,  and 
hoped  the  measure  would  not  be  embai-rassed  by 
such  objections. 

"  Mr.  Calhoun  said  that  lie  listened  with  great 
care  to  the  remarks  of  the  gentleman  from  Ken- 
tucky, and  other  gentlemen,  who  had  advocated 
the  same  side,  in  hopes  of  having  his  objection  to 
the  mode  of  valuation  proposed  in  the  amend- 
ment removed ;  but  he  must  say,  that  the  diffi- 
culties he  first  expressed  still  remained.  Pas- 
ing  over  wliat  seemed  to  him  to  be  a  constitu- 
tional objection,  he  would  direct  his  observation 
to  what  appeared  to  him  to  be  its  unequal  operiv- 
tion.  If  by  the  home  valuation  be  meant  the 
foreign  price,  with  the  addition  of  freight,  insur- 
ance, and  other  expenses  at  the  port  of  destina- 
tion, it  is  manifest  that  as  these  are  unequal  be- 
tween the  several  ports  in  the  Union— for  in- 
stance, between  the  ports  New- York  and  New 
Orleans— the  duty  must  also  be  unequal  in  the 
same  degree,  if  laid  on  value  thus  estiftiated. 
But  if,  by  the  home  valuation  be  meant  the  prices 
current  at  the  place  of  importation,  then,  in  ad- 
dition to  the  inequality  already  stated,  there 
would  have  to  be  added  the  additional  inequality 
resulting  from  the  different  rates  of  profits,  and 
other  circumstances,  which  must  neccs.sarily 
render  prices  very  uneqral  in  the  several  ports 
of  this  wiilely-extended  country.  There  would, 
in  the  same  view,  be  another  and  a  stronger  ob- 
jection, which  he  alluded  to  in  his  former  re- 
marks, which  remained  unanswered— that  the 
duties  themselves  constitute  part  of  the  elements 
of  tho  current  prices  of  the  imported  articles ; 
and  that,  to  impose  a  duty  on  a  valuation  ascer- 
tained by  the  current  prices,  would  be  to  impose, 
in  reality,  a  duty  upon  a  duty,  and  must  neces- 
sarily produce  that  increased  progression  in 
duties,  which  he  had  already  attempted  to  illus- 
trate. 

"  He  knew  it  had  been  stated,  in  reply,  that 
a  system  which  would  produce  such  absurd  re- 


u 

'•t 


! 


[M 


/ 


326 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


suits  could  not  bo  contemplated ;  that  Con(?rcB8, 
under  the  power  of  regulatinf?,  reserved  in  the 
amendment,  would  adopt  some  mode  that  would 
obviate  these  objections ;  and,  if  none  such  could 
be  devised,  that  the  provisions  of  thi'  amendment 
would  bo  simply  useless.  Ilis  difliculty  was  not 
removed  by  the  answer  to  the  objection.  He 
was  at  a  loss  to  iniderstand  what  mode  could  be 
devised  free  from  objection  ;  and,  as  he  wished 
to  be  candid  and  explicit,  he  felt  the  dilQculty, 
as  an  honest  man,  to  assent  to  a  j^eneral  measure, 
which,  in  all  the  modiiications  under  which  he 
had  viewed  it,  was  objectionable.  lie  a^ain  re- 
peated, that  he  regretted  the  amendment  had 
been  oifereJ,  as  he  felt  a  solicitude  that  the  pre- 
sent controversy  should  bo  honorably  and  fairly 
terminated.  ''  ^vas  not  his  wish  that  there 
should  be  a'u  ling  of  victory  on  cither  side. 
But,  in  thus  ^pressing  his  solicitude  for  an  ad- 
justment, he  was  not  governed  by  motives  de- 
rived from  the  attitude  which  South  Carolina 
occupied,  and  which  the  senator  from  Delaware 
stated  to  influence  him.  He  wished  that  senator, 
,  as  well  as  all  others,  to  understand  that  that  gal- 
lant and  patriotic  State  was  far  from  considering 
her  situation  as  one  requiring  sympathy,  and 
was  equally  far  from  desiring  that  any  adjust- 
ment of  this  question  should  take  place  with  the 
view  of  relieving  her,  or  with  any  other  motive 
than  a  regard  to  the  general  inture^tts  of  liie 
countr}'.  So  far  from  requiring  connniseration, 
she  regarded  her  position  with  very  opjjosite 
ligiit,  as  one  of  high  responsibility,  and  exposing 
her  to  no  inconsiderable  danger  ;  but  a  position 
voluntarily  and  firmly  assumed,  with  a  full  view 
of  consequences,  and  which  she  was  determined 
to  maintain  till  the  oppression  under  which  she 
and  the  other  Southern  States  were  suffering 
was  removed. 

"  In  wishing,  then,  to  see  a  termination  to 
the  present  stale  of  things,  he  turned  not  his  eyes 
to  South  Carolina,  but  to  the  general  interests 
of  the  country,  lie  did  not  believe  it  was  pos- 
sible to  maintain  our  institutions  and  our  Hber- 
ty,  under  the  continuance  of  the  controversy 
which  had  for  so  long  a  time  distracted  us,  and 
brought  into  conflict  the  two  great  sections  of 
the  country.  He  was  in  the  last  stage  of  mad- 
ness who  did  not  see,  if  not  terminated,  that  this 
admirable  system  of  ours,  reared  by  the  wisdom 
and  virtue  of  our  ancestors — virtue,  he  feared, 
which  had  fled  forever— would  fall  under  its 
shocks.  It  was  to  arrest  this  catastrophe,  if  pos- 
sible, by  restoring  peace  and  harmony  to  the 
Union,  that  governed  him  in  desiring  to  see  an 
adjustment  of  the  question. 

"Mr.  Clayton  said,  this  point  had  been  dis- 
cussed in  the  committee ;  and  it  was  because  i 
this  amendment  was  not  adopted  that  he  had  ' 
withheld  his  a-ssent  from  the  bill.  They  had  j 
now  but  seven  business  days  of  this  session  re-  ' 
rnaining;  and  it  would  require  the  greatest  unani- 1 
mity,both  in  that  body  and  in  the  other  House,  | 
to  pass  any  bill  on  this  subject.  Were  gentle- 
men coming  from  the  opposite  extremes  of  the  j 


Union,  and  representing  opposite  interestH  to 
agree  to  combine  together,  theix-  would  imi'dly 
bo  time  to  pass  this  bill  into  a  law;  yet  if  JiV 
saw  that  it  could  be  done,  he  would  gludly },(,  „„ 
with  the  consideration  of  the  bill,  and  with  tho 
determination  to  do  all  that  could  be  done.  The 
honorable  member  from  South  Carolina  had 
found  insuperable  obstacles  where  he  (.Mr.  C  ) 
j  had  found  none.  On  their  part,  if  'hey  agrcw' 
j  to  this  bill,  it  would  only  be  for  the  sake  of  cun- 
I  ciliation ;  if  South  Carolina  would  not  accept  the 
j  measure  in  that  light,  then  their  motive  lor  ar- 
I  rangement  was  at  an  end.  He  (Mr.  C.)  appn- 
I  hejided,  however,  that  good  might  result  froii, 
'  bringing  the  proposition  forward  at  that  time! 
It  would  be  placed  before  the  view  of  the  jicople 
who  would  have  time  to  reflect  and  mcke  uii 
their  minds  upon  it  against  the  meeting  of  the 
next  Congress.  He  did  not  hold  any  man  a-; 
pledged  by  their  action  at  this  time.  If  the  ar- 
rangement was  found  to  be  a  projier  one  the 
next  Congress  might  adopt  it.  But,  for'  tlie 
reasons  '  „>  had  already  stated,  he  had  little  hope 
that  any  bill  would  be  passed  at  this  session ; 
and,  to  go  on  debating  it,  day  after  day.  wouhl 
only  have  the  effect  of  defeating  the  many  pri- 
vate bills  and  otherbusiness  whieh  were  waitin" 
the  action  \}f  Congress.  He  would  therefore 
propose  to  lay  the  bill  for  the  present  on  tlie 
table;  if  it  were  found,  at  a  future  pnriod,  before 
the  expiration  of  the  session,  that  there  w.isa 
prospect  of  overcoming  the  difliculties  which  now 
presented  themselves,  and  of  acting  upon  it,  the 
bill  might  be  again  taken  up.  If  no  otlier'jren- 
tleman  wished  to  make  any  tjbservations  on  tlie 
amendment,  he  would  move  to  lay  the  bill  on  the 
table. 

"  Mr.  Bibb  requested  the  senator  from  Dela- 
ware to  withdraw  his  motion,  whilst  he  (Mr.  1!.) 
offered  an  amendment  to  the  amendment,  having 
for  its  object  to  get  rid  of  that  intenninable 
series  of  duties  of  which  gentlemen  had  .spoken. 

•'Mr.  Clayton  withdrew  his  motion. 

"  Mr.  Bibb  proceeded  to  say,  that  his  design 
was  to  obviate  the  objection  of  the  great  increase 
that  woidd  arise  from  a  .system  of  home  valua- 
tion. He  hoixid  that  something  satisfactory 
would  be  done  this  session  yet.  He  should  vote 
for  every  respectable  proi)Osition  calculated  to 
settle  the  difliculty.  He  hoped  there  would  lie 
corresponding  conces.sions  on  both  siilcs;  he 
wished  much  for  the  harmony  of  the  ?ounlry. 
It  was  well  known  that  he  (Mr.  B.)  was  opposed 
to  any  tarift'.system  other  than  one  ioi'  reveinie, 
and  such  incidental  protection  as  that  might 
afford.  His  hope  was  to  strike  out  a  miiidk 
course ;  otherwise,  he  would  concur  in  the  mo- 
tion that  had  been  made  by  the  senator  from 
Delaware  [Mr.  Clayton].  Mr.B.  then  siihmitted 
his  amendment,  to  insert  the  words  'before pay- 
ment of,'  &c. 

"  Mr.  Clay  wa.s  opposed  to  the  amendnii'iii. 
and  he  hoped  his  worthy  colleague  would  with- 
draw it.  If  one  aminidment  were  oliered  and 
debated,  another,  and  another  would  follow;  and 


ANNO  1833.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


327 


Ihuf,  tin'  rcniaiiiing  time  would  be  wasted.  To 
llx  ftiiy  i)i'oc'tsf.  system  would  lie  extremely  difll- 
ciilt  lit  prosint.  *  llo  only  wished  the  principle 
to  III'  iid(i|)ti'ii. 

'•  Mr.  IVililinwodcd  io  the  wish  of  the  senator 
fioni  Kentucky,  uml  withdrew  liis^  amendment 
;iccorilin.!.'ly. 

•  Mr.  Tylov  was  oi)posed  to  the  princijilc  of 
thi'<  inline  vuhmtion.  Tlie  duties  would  be  taken 
into  consideration  in  making  the  valuations  ;  and 
thus,  alter  Roinq;  down  hill  for  nine  and  a  half 
years,  we  would  as  suddenly  rise  up  a^ain  to 
proliibition.  lie  complained  that  there  were  not 
mciciiiuits  enough  on  this  floor  from  the  South ; 
and,  in  this  respect,  the  Northern  States  had  the 
adviuifap;c.  But  satisfy  me,  said  Mr.  T..  that 
the  vii'ws  of  the  .senator  from  South  Carolina 
[Mr.  Calhoun]  arc  not  correct,  and  1  shall  vote 
for  the  proposition. 

'•  Mr.  .Moore  said  he  would  move  an  amend- 
ment which  he  hoped  would  meet  the  views 
of  the  gentlemen  on  the  other  side ;  it  was  to 
this  effect : 

'•  Provided,  That  no  valuation  be  adopted  that 
will  operate  unequally  in  dillcrent  i)ort.s  of  the 
United  States. 

"Mr.  Calhoun  also  wished  that  the  amend- 
ment would  prevail,  though  he  felt  it  would  be 
ineffectual  to  counteraet  the  inequality  of  the 
system.  But  he  would  raise  no  cavilling  ob- 
jections ;  he  wished  to  act  in  perfect  good 
faith ;  and  he  only  wished  to  see  what  could 
be  done. 

''Mr.  Moore  said  he  had  but  two  motives  in 
offering  the  amendment  to  tlie  amendment  of 
the  senator.  The  first  was,  to  get  rid  of  the 
constitutional  objections  to  the  amendment  of 
tlie  senator  from  Kentucky;  and  the  second 
was,  to  do  justice  to  those  he  had  the  honor  to 
represent.  The  honor.able  gentleman  said  that 
Mobile  and  New  Orleans  would  not  pay  higher 
duties,  iK'cause  the  goods  imported  there  would 
be  of  more  value ;  and  this  was  the  very  reason, 
Mr.  M.  contended,  why  the  duties  would  be 
higher.  Did  not  every  one  see  that  if  the  same 
article  was  valued  in  New- York  at  one  hundred 
dollars,  and  in  Mobile  at  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
five  dollars,  the  duty  of  twenty  per  cent,  would 
he  higher  at  the  latter  place?  He  had  nothing 
but  tlie  spirit  of  compromise  in  view,  and  hoped 
gentkmen  would  meet  him  in  the  same  spirit. 
He  would  now  propose,  with  the  permission  of 
the  senator  from  Elaine,  to  vary  his  motion,  and 
offer  a  substitute  in  exact  conformity  with  the 
language  of  the  constitution.  This  proposition 
being  admitted  by  general  consent,  Mr.  Moore 
modified  his  amendment  accordingly.  (It  was 
an  affirmation  of  the  constitution,  that  all  duties 
should  be  uniform,  &e). 

"  Mr.  For.syth  supported  the  amendment  of  the 
senator  from  Alabama,  and  hoped  it  would  meet 
the  ftppio'iuiion  of  the  Senate.  It  would  get  rid 
of  all  (liiliculty  about  words.  No  one,  he  pre- 
sumed, wished  to  violate  the  constitution  ;  and 
if  the  measure  of  the  senator  from  Kentucky  was 


consistent  with  the  constitulion,  it  would  prevail ; 
if  not,  it  would  not  be  adopted. 

"  Mr.  Holmes  moved  an  adjournment. 

"Mr.  Moore  asked  for  the  yeas  and  nays  on 
the  motion  to  adjourn,  and  they  were  accord- 
ingly ordered,  when  the  question  was  taken  and 
decided  in  the  affirmative — Yeas  22,  nays  19,  as 
follows  ; 

"  Yeas.— Messrs.  Btdl,  Clayton,  Dallas,  Dick- 
er.son,  Ewing,  Foot,  Frelinghuysen,  Holmes, 
Johnston,  Kane,  Knight,  Naudain,  PrentiBS, 
Uobbins,  Robinson,  Silsbce,  Smith,  Tipton, Toiu- 
linson,  Waggaman,  Webster,  Wilkins. — 22. 

"  Nays. — Messrs.  Bibb,  Black,  Buckner,  Cal- 
houn, Clay,  Dudley,  Orundy,  Hendricks,  Hill, 
King,  Miller,  Moore,  Poindexter,  Sprague,  Hives 
Troup,  Tyler,  White,  Wright.— 19. 

''  The  Senate  then,  at  half-past  four  o'clock, 
adjourned. 

^'Friday,  February  22. 

"  Mr.  Smith  (of  Aid.)  said,  the  motion  to  amend 
by  the  word  '  uniform  '  was  unnecessary.  That 
was  provided  for  by  the  constitution.  'AH 
duties  must  be  uniform.'  An  addition  to  the 
cost  of  goods  of  forty,  fift)',  or  sixty  per  cent, 
would  be  uniform,  but  would  not  prevent  fraud, 
nor  the  certainty  of  great  inequality  in  the  valu- 
ation in  the  several  jiorts.  The  value  of  goods 
at  New  Orleans  particularly,  and  at  almost  every 
other  port,  will  be  higher  than  at  New- York. 
I  have  not  said  that  such  mode  was  unconstitu- 
tional, nor  have  I  said  that  it  was  impracticable ; 
few  things  are  .so.  But  I  have  said,  and  do  now 
say,  that  the  mode  is  open  to  fraud,  and  more 
so  than  the  present.  At  present  the  merchant 
enters  his  goods,  and  swears  to  the  truth  of  his 
invoice.  One  package  in  every  five  or  ten  is  sent 
to  the  public  warehouse,  and  there  carefully 
examined  by^  two  appraisers  on  oath.  If  they 
find  fraud,  or  suspect  fraud,  then  all  the  goods 
belonging  to  such  merchants  are  .sent  to  the  ap- 
I  praisers  ;  and  if  frauds  be  discovei-ed.  the  goods 
•  are  forfeited.  No  American  merchant  has  ever 
:  been  convicted  of  such  fraud.  Foreigners  have 
even  been  severely  punished  by  loss  of  their 
property.  The  laws  ai-e  good  and  sufKciently 
safe  as  they  now  stand  on  our  statutes.  I  wish 
no  stronger  ;  we  know  the  one,  we  are  ignorant 
how  the  other  will  work.  Such  a  mode  of 
valuation  is  unknown  to  any  nation  except 
Spain,  where  the  valuation  is  arbitrary ;  and  the 
goods  are  vidued  agreeably  to  the  amount  of  the 
bribe  given.  This  is  perfectly  understood  and 
practised.  It  is  iii  the  nature  of  such  mode  of 
valuation  to  be  arbitrary.  No  rule  can  bo  es- 
tablished that  will  make  such  mode  uniform 
throughout  the  Union,  and  some  of  the  .small 
ports  wiH  value  low  to  bring  business  to  their 
towns.  A  scene  of  connivance  and  injustice  will 
take  place  that  no  law  can  prevent. 

''  Tiie  merchant  will  be  put  to  great  iuoon- 
venience  by  the  mode  proposed.  All  his  goods 
must  be  sent  to  the  public  warehouses,  and  there 
opened  piece  by  piece ;  by  which  process  they 


I 


I   Ji.  (» 


(  I  > 


■A 


—m 


J    '  tl 


•  '^li 


r    H 


328 


THIllTV  YEARS'  VIEW. 


will  Bimtniii  osscntiiil  injury.  The  poods  will 
be  cletniiieil  from  tlio  owners  for  a  week  or  a 
month,  or  still  more,  unless  you  linve  one  or  two 
hundred  nijprnlsors  in  New- York,  and  propor- 
tionately in  otiier  ports;  thus  increasing  patron- 
age ;  and  with  suen  a  host,  can  we  exjwct  either 
uniformity  or  equality  in  the  valuation?  All 
will  not  1)0  honest,  and  the  Spanish  mode  will 
bo  adopted.  One  set  of  appraisers,  who  value 
low,  will  have  a  ])riority.  In  fact,  if  this  mode 
should  ever  be  adopted,  it  will  cause  great  dis- 
content, and  must  soon  be  chanf;;e(l.  As  all 
understand  the  cause  to  be  to  Hatter  the  nuinu- 
facturers  with  a  plan  which  they  think  will  be 
benelicial  to  them,  but  which,  wo  all  know,  can 
never  be  tealizcd,  it  is  deception  on  its  face,  as 
is  almost  the  whole  of  the  bill  now  under  our 
consideration. 

" Remtmhcr,  Mr.  President,  that  the  senators 
from  KiiitiK'ky  and  South  Carolina  [Mr.  Clay 
and  Mr.  Calhoun],  have  declared  this  bill  (if  it 
should  become  a  law),  to  be  permanent,  and 
that  no  honorable  man  who  shall  vote  for  it  can 
ever  attempt  a  change;  yet,  sir,  the  pressure 
against  it  will  bo  such  at  the  ne.\t  session  tliat 
Congress  will  be  compelled  to  revise  it ;  and  as 
the  storm  may  then  have  i)assed  over  Congress, 
a  new  Congi-ess,  with  better  feelings,  will  be 
able  to  act  with  more  deliberation,  and  moy 
pass  a  law  that  will  be  generally  ajjproved. 
Nearly  all  agree  that  this  bill  is  a  bad  bill.  A 
similar  opinion  prevailed  on  the  passage  of  the 
tariff  of  1828,  and  yet  it  passed,  and  caused  all 
our  present  danger  and  difficulties.  All  admit 
that  the  act  of  1828,  as  it  stands  on  our  statutes, 
is  coiistitutional.  IJut  the  senator  [Mr.  Cal- 
houn] has  said  that  it  is  unconstitutional,  be- 
cause of  the  motive  under  which  it  passed ;  and 
he  said  that  that  motive  was  protection  to  the 
manufiu-turers.  How,  sir,  I  ask,  are  -we  to  kno\v 
the  motives  of  men  ?  I  thought  then,  and  think 
now,  that  the  approaching  election  for  President 
tended  greatly  to  the  enactments  of  the  acts  of 
1824  and  1828;  many  of  my  friends  thouglit  so 
at  the  time.  I  have  somewhere  read  of  the 
minister  of  a  king  or  emperor  in  Asia,  who  was 
anxious  t(j  Ix;  considered  a  man  of  truth,  and  al- 
ways boasted  of  his  veracity.  lie  hypocritical- 
ly prayed  to  God  that  he  might  always  speak 
the  truth.  A  genii  appeared  and  told  him  that 
his  prayer  had  been  heard,  touched  him  with 
his  sp€>ar,  and  said,  hereafter  you  will  speak 
truth  on  all  occasions.  The  next  day  he  waited 
on  his  majesty  and  said,  Sire,  I  intended  to 
have  assassinated  you  yesterday,  but  was  pre- 
vented by  the  nod  of  the  officer  behind  you, 
who  is  to  kill  you  to-morrow.  The  result  I 
will  not  mention.  Now,  Mr.  President,  if  the 
same  genii  was  to  touch  with  his  spear  each  of 
the  senators  who  voted  foi-  the  act  of  1828,  and 
an  interrogator  was  appointed,  he  would  ask, 
what  induced  you  to  give  that  vote  ?  Why,  sir, 
i  acted  Oil  sound  pi  inciples.  I  believe  it  is  the 
duty  of  every  good  government  to  promote  the 
manufactures  of  the  nation ;  all  historians  eulo- 


gize tho  kings  who  have  done  so,  and  r  «nsure 
those  kings  who  have  neglected  tluni.  I  nfn 
you  to  the  history  of  Alfred.  It  is  known  tliut 
the  sta[)le  of  Kiigland  was  wool,  whicli  was  sent 
to  Flanders  to  be  exchanged  for  cloths.  The 
civil  wars,  by  the  invasions  of  that  natidii,  koiit 
them  long  dependent  on  the  Flemings  fJr  the 
cloths  they  wore.  At  length  a  gcxid  king  lov- 
eriied ;  and  ho  invited  Flemish  nianufactuiers 
to  Fiiigland,  and  gave  them  groat  i)rivilcgi's. 
They  taught  the  youth  of  England,  the  niumi^ 
fiicturo  succeeded,  and  now  England  suppjli  s  ail 
the  world  with  woollen  cloth.  The  iiitenopa- 
tor  asked  another  tho  same  qucsticn.  His  an- 
swer might  have  been,  that  lie  thought  tlie  pass- 
ing of  tho  law  would  secure  tlit  votes  of  the 
manufacturers  in  favor  of  his  friend  who  want- 
ed to  be  the  President.  Another  'mswer  might 
have  been,  a  large  duty  was  imposed  on  an  ar- 
ticle which  my  constituents  raised  ;  and  1  voted 
for  it,  although  1  disliked  all  the  residue  of  the 
bill.  Sir,  the  motives,  no  doubt,  were  difrerent 
that  induced  the  voting  for  that  bill,  and  were 
as  we  all  know,  not  confined  to  the  i)rotcctivc 
.system.  Mn'iy  voted  on  political  'rounds,  as 
many  w  ill  on  this  bill,  and  as  tluy  did  on  tho 
enforcing  bill.  Wo  cannot  declare  a  bill  uncon- 
stitutional, because  of  the  motives  that  may  pov- 
ern  tho  voters.  It  is  idle  to  assign  such  a  cause 
for  the  part  that  is  now  acting  in  Soutli  Caroli- 
na. 1  know,  Mr.  President,  that  no  argument 
will  have  any  cilect  on  the  passage  of  this  bill. 
The  high  contracting  parties  have  agreed.  But 
I  owed  it  to  myself  to  make  these  remarks. 

"Jlr.  Webster  said,  that  ho  held  the  home 
valuatitm  to  be,  to  any  extent,  impracticable; 
and  that  it  was  unprecedented,  and  unknown  in 
any  legislation.  IJoth  the  home  and  foreign 
valuation  ought  to  be  excluded  as  far  as  jiossi- 
ble,  and  specific  duties  should  be  resorted  to. 
This  keeping  out  of  view  specific  duties,  and 
turning  us  kick  to  tho  principle  of  a  valuation 
was,  in  his  view,  the  great  vice  of  this  bill.  In 
England  live  out  of  six,  or  nine  out  of  ten  arti- 
cles, pay  specific  duties,  and  the  valuation  is  on 
the  remnant.  Among  tho  articles  which  puy 
(1(1  vdlorcin  duties  in  England  are  silk  goods, 
which  aro  imported  either  from  India,  whence 
they  are  brought  to  one  port  only ;  or  from  Eu- 
rope, in  which  case  there  is  a  specific  and  an  ad 
luiloifiii  duty ;  and  the  officer  has  the  option  to 
take  either  the  one  or  the  other.  He  suggested 
that  the  Senate,  before  they  adopted  the  (jd  va- 
loreiii,  principle,  should  look  to  the  eflefts  on 
the  importation  of  tho  country. 

"  He  took  a  » lew  of  the  iron  trade,  to  show 
that  evil  would  result  to  that  branch  from  a 
substitution  of  the  ad  vulareiii  for  the  specific 
system  of  duties.  He  admitted  himself  to  be 
unable  to  comprehend  the  elements  of  a  home 
valuation,  and  mentioned  cases  where  it  would 
be  impossible  to  find  an  accurate  standard  ot 
valuation  of  this  character.  The  plan  was  im- 
practicable and  illusory. 

"  Mr.  Clayton  said,  I  would  go  for  this  bill 


ANNO  1838.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  rilESIDENT. 


329 


only  for  '''«  •'*'''*o  of  conccsaion.  Thf*  senator 
from  South  Carolina  can  tt-ll  whether  it.  isi  like- 
ly tn  li'  received  hh  siieli,  and  to  attain  the  ob- 
ject pnipnsed  ;  if  not,  I  have  a  plain  eourfic  to 
imrsue;  I  aui  oppo.-ied  to  the  hill.  Unless  [  can 
(il)lain  fir  the  nianufactuiers  the  as  'iranee  that 
llic  principle  of  the  bill  will  rot  be  disturbed, 
and  that  it  will  be  received  in  tho  light  of  a  con- 
cession, I  shall  oppose  it. 

'•Mr.  Uenton  objected  to  tlie  homo  valuation, 
as  tendio)!;  to  a  violation  of  the  constitution  of 
the  United  States,  and  cited  tho  followinj; 
clause:  •Congress  .ihall  have  power  to  lay  and 
collect  taxes,  duties,  iinpost.s,  and  excises  ;  but 
ail  (liitio>,  imposts,  and  excises  shall  b(;  uniform 
throughout  tho  United  States.'  All  uniformity 
of  duties  and  imposts,  lie  conteiuled,  would  be 
destroyed  I)y  this  amendment.  No  human  Judp;- 
ment  could  fix  the  value  of  the  same  goods  at 
tho  .«aine  rate,  in  all  the  various  ports  of  the 
United  States.     If  the  same  individual  valued 

in 


the  goods  in  every  port,  and  every  cargo 
every  pjrt,  he  would  commit  innumerable  er- 
rors and  mistakes  in  the  valuation  ;  and.  accord- 
in;,'  to  the  diversity  of  these  errors  and  mis- 
talics,  would  be  tho  diversity  in  the  amount  of 
duties  and  imposts  laid  and  collected  in  tho  dif- 
ferent ports. 

'•Mr.  B.  objected  to  tho  home  valuation,  be- 
cause it  would  be  injurious  and  almost  fatal  to 
the  southern  ports.     lie  contiued  his  remarks 
to  New  Orleans.     The  standard  of  valuation 
would  bo  fifteen  or  twenty  per  cent,  higher  in 
New  Orleans  than   in  New- York,   and  other 
noi'tlicrn  ports.     All  importers  -will  go  to  the 
northeastern  cities,  to  evade  high  duties  at  New 
Orleans ;  and  that  great  emporium  of  the  West 
ffill  be  doomed  to  sink  into  a  mere  exporting 
city,  while  all  the  money  which  it  pays  for  ex- 
liorts  must  be  carried  off  and  expended  elsewhere 
for  imports.    AVithout  an  import  trade,  no  city 
an  flourish,  or  even  furnish  a  good  market  for 
exports.    It  will  be  drained  of  its  elleelive  cash, 
and  deprived  of  its  legitimate  gains,  and  must 
languish  for  in  the  rear  of  what  it  would  be,  if 
enriched  with  the  profits  of  an  import  trade. 
As  an  exporter,  it  will  buy ;  as  an  importer,  it 
\viil  sell.    All  buying,  and  no  sei'ing,  must  im- 
iioverish  cities  as  well  as  individual  .     New  Or- 
leans is  now  a  great  exporting  city;  she  exports 
more  domestic  productions  than  any  city  in  the 
Union;  her  imports  have  been  increasing,  for 
some  years  ;  and,  with  fair  play,  would  soon  be- 
come next  to  New- York,  and  furnish  the  whole 
valley  of  the  Mississippi  with  its  immense  sup- 
1)  los  of  foreign  goods ;  but,  under  the  influence 
t)l  a  home  ^   luation,  it  must  lose  a  greater  part 
or  the  import  trade  which  it  no\v  possesses.     In 
that  loss,  its  wealth  must  decliii(> ;  its  capacity 
to  purchase  produce  for  exportation  must  de- 
chue ;  and  as  the  western  produce  must  go  there, 
at  a!!  events,  every  western  former  will  suHbr  :i 
ileclme  m  the  value  of  his  own  productions,  in 
proportion  to  the  decline  of  the  ability  of  New 
Orleans  to  purchase  it.    It  was  as  a  western 


citizen  that  ho  pleaded  tho  cause  of  New  Orlean.s, 
and  objected  to  this  measure  of  home  valuation, 
which  was  to  havo  the  most  baneful  'llect  upon 
her  j)ros|)erity. 

"Mr.  U.  further  objected  to  tho  homo  valuation, 
on  account  of  the  great  additional  expense  it 
would  create;  the  nmount  of  patronage  it  would 
confer  ;  the  rivalry  it  would  beget  between  im- 
porting cities;  ond  tho  injury  it  would  occasion 
to  merchants,  from  the  detention  and  br.ndling 
of  their  goods  ;  and  concluded  with  .saying,  that 
tho  home  valuation  was  tho  most  obnoxious 
feature  ever  introduced  into  the  tarilfacts;  that 
it  was  itself  e(iuivalent  to  a  separate  tariff  of  ten 
per  cent. ;  that  it  had  always  been  resisted,  and 
successfully  resistc<l,  by  the  anti-tariff  interest, 
in  the  highest  and  most  jjalmy  days  of  the  Ameri- 
can .system,  and  ought  not  now  to  be  introduced 
when  that  system  is  admitted  to  be  nodding  to 
its  fall ;  when  its  death  is  actually  fixed  to  the 
3<  'i  day  of  .Jww,  1842,  and  when  the  restora- 
tion of  harmoniou-  feelings  is  proclaimed  to  be 
tho  whole  object  of  this  bill. 

"  Mr.  B.  said  this  was  a  strange  principle  to 
bring  into  a  bill  to  reduce  duties.     It  M-as  an  in- 
crease, in  a  new  form — an  indefinable  form — 
and  would  be  tax  upon  inx,as  the  whole  cost  of 
getting  the  goods  ready  for  a  market  valuation 
here,  would  have  to  bo  included ;  original  cost, 
freight,  insiii'aiice,  commissions,  duties  hei^.-.     It 
was  new  protection,  in  a  new  form,  and  in  an 
extraordinary  form,  and  such  as  never  could  be 
carried  before.     It  had  often  been  uttemjited,  as 
as  a  part  of  the  American  system,  but  never  re- 
ceived countenance  before. 
"  Mr.  Calhoun  rose  and  said : 
"A-  the  question  is  now  about  to  be  put  on 
the  uiaendment   offered  by  the   senator  from 
Kentucky,  it  became  necessary  for  him  to  de- 
termine whether  he  should  vote  for  or  against 
it.     lie  must  be  permitted  again  to  ^x press  his 
regret  that  the  senator  had  thought  jiropcr  to 
move  it.     His  objection  still  remained  strong 
against  it ;  but,  as  it  seemed  to  be  admitted,  on 
all  hands,  that  the  fate  of  the  bill  depended  on 
the  fiite  of  the  amendment,  feeling,  as  he  did,  a 
solicitude  to  see  the  question  terminated,  he  hiid 
made  up  his  mind,  not,  however,  without  much 
hesitation,  not  to  interpose  his  vote  against  the 
adoption  of  tho  amendment ;  but,  in  voting  for 
it,  he  wished  to  be  distinctly  understood,  he  did 
it  upon  two  conditions :  first,  that  no  valuation 
would  be  adopted  that  should  come  in  confiict 
with  the  provision  in  the  constitution  which  de- 
clares that  duties,  excises,  and  imposts  shall  be 
uniform ;  and,  in  the  next  place,  that  none  would 
be  adopted  which  would  make  the  duties  them- 
selves a  part  of  the  element  of  a  home  valuation. 
lie  felt  himself  justified  in  concluding  that  none 
such  would  be  adopted ;  as  it  had  boon  declared 
by  the  supporters  of  the  amendment,  that  no 
such  reguJatioii  wa.s  conleinpiuted ;  and,  in  ikct, 
he  could  not  imagine  that  any  such  coulil  be 
contemplated,  whatever  interpretation  might  bo 
attempted  hereafter  to  be  given  to  the  expression 


,15^ 


0      t 


330 


TIITKTY  TEARS'  VIEW. 


of  (Iho  liotne  market.  The  fl«t  ootild  »carcoly 
bo  contcniiilntfd,  eh  it  would  ho  in  violation  of 
the  constitution  itself;  nor  th«>  latter.  a»  it 
would,  hy  ne<TSHary  consoiiuenco,  rcHtort*  the 
very  duties,  which  it  waH  the  object  of  this  bill 
to  niduce,  and  would  involve  the  plariuji;  al)- 
Hurdity  of  imp)sinf;  duties  on  duf  ies,  taxes  on 
tnxcs.  He  wished  he  reportcrR  tor  the  ;iid)lic 
press  to  notice  particularly  what  he  said,  as  lie 
intended  his  doclaration  to  be  part  of  the  pro- 
ceedings. 

"Uolievinfj.  then,  for  the  reasons  which  ho  had 
stated,  that  it  was  not  contemplated  that  any 
regulation  of  the  homo  valuation  should  c<<me 
in  conflict  with  the  provisions  of  the  con^itinition 
which  he  had  ited,  nor  involve  the  absurdity 
of  lajing  taxes  ufion  hvxes,  he  had  made  uji  his 
mind  to  vote  in  favoi  of  the  amendruent. 

"Afr.  Smith  said,  any  dei'laration  of  the  vi<  ws 
and  motives,  unier  which  any  individual  senator 
might  now  vote,  could  have  no  influence,  in 
1812;  they  would  be  forgotten  long  before  that 
time  ha«l  arrived.  The  law  must  rest  upon  the 
interpn  tiition  of  its  words  alone. 

"  Mr.  c  rtlhoun  said  he  could  not  help  that ;  he 
should  endeavor  t"  do  his  duty. 

"Mr.  Clayton  ssiid  there  was  certainly  no  am- 
biguity whatever  in  t  lie  phni-seology  of  the  amend- 
ment. In  advocating  it,  he  had  desired  to  de- 
ceive no  man ;  he  sincerely  hopeci  no  one  would 
suffer  himself  to  be  deceived  by  it. 

"Afr.  Wilkins  said,  if  it  had  been  his  intention 
to  have  voted  against  the  amendment,  he  should 
liave  remained  silent ;  but.  after  the  explicit  de- 
claration of  I  he  honorable  gentleman  from  South 
Carolina  [Mr.  Calhoun]  of  the  reason  of  his 
vote,  and  believing,  himself,  that  the  amend- 
ment would  have  a  difi'erent  construction  from 
that  given  it  by  the  gentleman,  he  [Mr.  W.] 
would  as  expressly  state,  that  he  would  vote  on 
the  question,  with  the  impression  that  it  would 
not  hereafter  be  exj>ounded  by  the  lechration 
of  any  senator  on  this  floor,  but  by  the  plain 
meaning  of  the  words  in  the  text. 

"  The  amendment  of  Mr.  Clay,  fixing  the  prin- 
ciple of  home  valuation  as  a  part  of  the  bill,  was 
then  adopteil,  by  the  following  vote  : 

"Ykas.— Messrs.  Bell,  Black,  Bibb,  Calhoun, 
Chambers,  Clay,  Clayton,  Ewing,  Foot,  Freling- 
huysen,  Hill,  Holmes,  Johnson,  King,  Knight, 
Miller,  Moore,  Naudain,  Poindcxter,  Prentiss, 
Rives,  Bobbins,  Sprague,  Tomlinson,  Tyler,  Wil- 
kins.—26. 

"Nays. — Mes.srs.  Benton,  Buckncr,  Dallas,' 
Dickerson,  Dudley,  Forsyth,  Grundy,  Kane,  ; 
Robinson,  Seymour,  Silsbee,  Smith,  Waggaman,  | 
Webster,  White,  Wright.— IG." 

And  thus  a  new  principle  of  protection,  never  | 
before  engrafted  on  the  American  .system,  and  j 
to  get  at  which  the  constitution  had  to  be  vio-  | 
lated  ni  the  article  of  the  uniformity  of  duties,  i 
was  established  !  and  established  by  the  aid  of  j 
those  who  declared  all  protection  to  be  uncon-  ; 


■tltiitional,  and  just  oaiiao  for  the  Mpcension  of  i 
State  from  the  Union  !  and  were  then  actinc  on 
that  assumption. 


C  II A  P  T  E 11    L  X  X  X 1 11 . 

REVENUE  COLLKCTION,  Ott  FOUCE  IIILU 

Thk.  President  in  hi.<4  message  on  the  Soiitli 
Cai'olina  proceedings  had  recommended  to  Con- 
gress the  revival  of  some  acts,  heretofore  in  force. 
to  enable  hini  to  execute  the  laws  in  that  S'atij 
and  the  Senate's  comuiitteo  on  the  Jiidiciurv 
had  n'ported  a  bill  iiccorilingly  early  in  tiie  spfu 
sion.  It  was  immediately  assailed  by  .^cvcral 
members  as  violent  and  unconstitutional,  teiiijinir 
to  civil  war,  and  denounced  as  '•  the  bloody  bill " 
— "  the  force  bill,"  &c.  Mr  Wilkin.s  of  Penn- 
sylvania, the  reporter  of  the  liill.  vindicitctl  it 
from  this  injurious  charact  .  showed  that  it 
was  made  out  of  previou.s  laws,  and  contained 
nothing  novel  but  the  harmless  contingent  au- 
thority to  remove  the  office  of  the  customs  (rm 
one  building  to  another  in  the  case  of  need.  Uo 
said : 

"  The  Judiciary  Committee,  in  framing  it,  had 
been  particidarly  anxious  not  to  introduce  any 
novel  principle — any  which  could  not  U  finind 
on  the  statute  book.  The  only  novel  one  wliicli 
the  bill  presented  w'.is  one  of  a  very  siniph' 
nature.  It  was  that  which  authorized  the  Pre - 
ident,  under  the  particular  circumstances  wiiidi 
were  specified  in  the  bill,  to  remove  the  custom- 
house. This  was  the  only  novel  principle,  ami 
care  was  taken  that  in  providing  for  f^uch  rt- 
moval  no  authority  was  given  to  use  force. 

"  The  committee  were  apprehensive  that  some 
collision  might  take  place  after  the  1st  of  I'eb' 
ruary.  either  between  the  confiicting  parties  of 
the  citizens  of  South  Carolina,  or  between  the 
officers  of  the  federal  government  and  the 
citizens.  And  to  remove,  as  far  as  possible,  all 
chance  of  such  collision,  provision  wa.-i  made 
that  the  collector  might,  at  the  moment  of  im- 
minent danger,  remove  the  custom-house  to  * 
place  of  security  ;  or,  to  use  a  plain  phrase,  put 
it  out  of  harm's  way.  He  admitted  the  import- 
ance of  this  bill;  but  he  viewed  its  importance 
as  arising  not  out  of  the  provisions  of  the  hill 
itself,  but  out  of  the  state  of  affairs  in  South 
Carolina,  to  wliich  the  bill  had  reference.  In 
this  Tiew,  it  '.vss  Ot  pcirttiiiount  iinpor^ti"ce, 

"  It  had  become  ncces.sary  to  legislate  on  this 
subject ;  whether  it  was  necessary  to  pass  the 
bill  or  not,  he  would  not  say ;  but  legislation,  in 


ANNO  18.18.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRKSIDKNT. 


881 


nfercnco  to  South  Carolina,  pmviouH  to  the  li«t 
of  Ft'l""'"!'"/)  ''"''  Ix'come  iieronMary.  Something 
must  bo  tiont' ;  and  it  hehooveH  the  poveninient 
to  wlopt  every  inoaNiire  of  precaution,  to  pre- 
Tciit  thoHC  awful  conM'qiu'nccH  which  all  niunt 
foresee  as  nect'SKarily  roHultiiig  from  the  poHition 
which  South  Carolina  haH  thought  proixjr  to 
asHiinie. 

"  Hero  nullification  is  dfclaimed,  on  one  hand, 
unless  wo  abolish  our  revenue  8y«tcm.  We 
cousentini?  to  do  this,  thoy  remain  quiet.  But 
if  we  go  a  liair's  bivadth  towards  enforcinf;  that 
gygtem,  thc>y  present  secession.  We  have  soccs- 
Hjon  on  one  hand,  and  nullification  on  the  other. 
The  M'liator  from  South  Carolina  admitted  the 
other  (lay  that  no  Huch  thing  as  constitutional 
secession  could  exist.  Then  civil  war,  disunion, 
and  anarchy  nuist  accompany  recession.  No 
one  denies  the  right  of  revolution.  That  is  a 
natural,  indefeasible,  inherent  right — a  right 
which  we  have  exercised  and  held  out,  by  our 
example,  to  the  civilized  world.  Who  denies 
it?  Then  we  have  revolution  by  fcjrco,  not  con- 
"titutional  secession.  That  violence  must  come 
by  secession  is  certain.  Another  law  passed  by 
the  legislature  of  South  Carolina,  is  entitled  n 
bill  to  provide  for  the  safety  of  the  people  if 
South  Carolina.  It  advises  them  to  put  on  th  -ir 
minor.  It  puts  them  in  military  array ;  aiiu 
for  what  purpose  hut  for  the  use  t)f  force  ?  The 
provisions  of  these  laws  arc  infinitely  worse  than 
those  of  the  feudal  system,  so  far  as  they  apply 
to  the  citizens  of  Carolina.  But  with  its  opera- 
tions on  tlieir  own  citizens  he  had  nothing  to 
do.  Resistance  was  just  as  inevitable  as  the 
arrival  of  the  day  on  the  calendar.  In  addition 
to  these  documents,  what  did  rumor  say — ru- 
mor, which  often  falsifies,  hut  sometimes  utters 
truth.  If  we  judge  by  newspjiper  and  other 
reports,  more  men  were  now  ready  to  take  up 
linns  in  Carolina,  than  there  were  during  the  re- 
volutionary struggle.  The  whole  State  was  at 
tliis  moment  in  arms,  and  its  citizens  are  ready  to 
be  embattled  the  moment  any  attempt  was  made 
tocnforce  the  revenue  laws.  The  citj^  of  Charles- 
ton wore  the  appearance  of  a  military  depot." 

The  Bill  was  opposed  with  a  vehemence  rarely 
witnessed,  and  every  efTort  made  to  render  it 
odious  to  the  people,  and  even  to  extend  the 
odium  to  the  President,  and  to  all  persons  in- 
strumental in  bringing  it  forward,  or  urging  it 
through.  Mr.  Tyler  of  Virginia,  was  one  <>(  its 
warmest  opjiosers,  and  in  the  course  of  an  t  labo- 
rate  speecli,  said : 

"In  the  course  of  the  examination  I  have 
made  into  this  subject,  I  have  been  led  to  analyze 
certain  doctrines  which  have  gone  out  to  the 
world  over  the  signature  of  the  President.  I 
.:r\(>\v  th;\t  my  litnguage  inaj  b;-  seized  on  by 
tliosc  who  arc  disposed  to  carp  at  my  course 
and  to  misrepresent  me.  Since  I  have  held  a 
place  on  this  floor,  I  have  not  courted  the  smiles  j 


of  the  Executive;  but  whenever  ho  had  don« 
any  art  in  violation  of  f  c  constitutional  rights 
of  the  citizen,  or  trenching  on  the  riglits  of  the 
Senate,  I  have  Iwen  found  in  ojiposltion  to  lilin. 
When  ho  appointed  corps  of  editors  to  office,  I 
thought  it  was  my  duty  to  oppot-e  his  course. 
When  he  apjwinted  a  minister  to  a  foreign  court 
without  the  sanction  of  (he  law,  I  also  went 
against  him,  because,  on  my  conscience,  I  be- 
lieved that  the  acl  was  wrong.  Such  wan  my 
course,  acting,  as  I  did,  imdcr  a  sen^^e  of  the 
duty  I  owed  to  my  constituents  ;  and  I  will  now 
say,  I  care  not  how  louilly  the  trumpet  may  bo 
sounded,  nor  how  low  the  priests  may  bend  their 
knees  iK'forc  the  object  of  iheir  idolatry.  1  will 
be  at  the  side  of  the  President,  crying  in  iiis  ear, 
'Ilemeinber,  Philip,  thou  art  mortal ! ' 

"I  object  to  the  first  section,  Ix-canse  it  con- 
fers on  the  President  the  power  of  closing  old 
ports  of  entry  and  establishing  new  ones.  It 
has  been  rightly  said  by  the  gentlenum  from 
Kentucky  [ISIr.  Bibb]  that  this  was  a  prominent 
cause  which  led  to  the  Revolution.  The  Boston 
»'  'I  t  lull,  which  removed  the  custom-house  from 
Bosu  (i  to  Salem,  first  roused  the  people  to  re- 
si^taiioi  To  guard  against  this  very  abu.se,  the 
constit'.  r'on  had  confided  to  Congress  the  power 
o  recuito  commerce;  the  establishment  of 
jtorta  of  'utry  formed  a  material  part  of  this 
•  v'li-,  and  one  which  required  legislative  enact- 
ment, Xow  I  deny  that  Congress  can  deputize 
its  legislative  powri  -'.  If  it  may  one,  it  may  all ; 
and  thus,  a  majority  hei-e  can,  at  their  pleasure, 
change  the  very  character  of  the  government. 
The  President  might  come  to  be  invested  with 
authority  to  make  all  laws  which  his  di>cretion 
might  dictate.  It  is  vain  to  tell  me  (said  Mr. 
T.)  that  I  imagine  a  case  which  will  never  exist. 
I  tell  you,  sir,  that  power  iscumidative,  andthat 
patronage  begets  jjower.  The  reasoning  is  un- 
answerable. If  you  can  part  with  your  power 
in  one  instance,  you  may  in  another  and  another. 
You  may  confer  upon  the  President  the  right  to 
declare  war  ;  and  this  very  provision  may  fairly 
be  considered  as  investing  him  with  authority 
to  make  war  at  his  mere  will  and  pleasiue  on 
cities,  towTis,  and  villages.  The  prosperity  of  a 
city  depends  on  the  position  of  its  custom-house 
and  port  of  entry.  Take  the  case  of  Norlblk, 
Richmond,  and  Fredericksburg,  in  my  own 
State;  who  doubts  but  that  to  remove  the 
custom-house  from  Norfolk  to  Old  Point  Com- 
fort, of  Richmond  to  the  mouth  of  Chickahominy, 
or  (if  P'redericksburg  to  Tappahannock  or  Ur- 
banna,  would  utterly  annihilate  those  towns  ? 
I  have  no  tongue  to  exiiress  my  sen.se  of  the  pro- 
bable injustice  of  the  measure.  Sir,  it  involves  the 
innocent  with  the  guilt}'.  Take  the  case  of 
Charleston ;  what  if  ninety-nine  merchants  were 
ready  and  willing  to  comply  with  your  revenue 
laws,  and  that  but  one  man  could  be  fjuiid  to 
resist  them;  wouiu  you  run  the  hazar;i  of 
destroying  the  ninety-nine  in  order  to  punish 
one  ?  Trade  is  a  delicate  subject  to  touch ; 
once  divert  it  out  of  its  regular  chaimcls,  and 


Ti 


i.TiXi 


R    '  K 


4 


'    A 


332 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


iHiiiP 


!  ;  '-m^ 


nothing  is  more  difficult  than  to  restore  it. 
This  mea.sure  may  involve  the  actuiJ  property 
of  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  that  city ; 
and  this,  too,  when  you  have  a  redundancy  of 
millions  in  your  treasury,  and  when  no  interest 
can  sustain  injury  by  awaiting  the  actual  occur- 
rence of  .V  case  of  resistance  to  your  laws,  before 
you  would  have  an  opportunity  to  legislate. 

"  He  is  further  empowered  to  em*^loy  the  land 
and  naval  forces,  to  put  down  ali  '  aiders  and 
abettors.'  How  far  will  this  authority  extend  ? 
Suppose  the  legislature  of  South  Carolina  should 
happen  to  be  in  session :  I  will  not  blink  the 
question,  suppose  the  legislature  to  be  in  session 
at  the  time  of  any  disturbance,  passing  laws  in 
furtherance  of  the  ordinance  which  lias  been 
adopted  by  the  convention  of  that  State;  might 
they  not  be  considered  by  the  President  as  aiders 
and  abettors  ?  The  Pi-esident  might  not,  per- 
haps, march  at  the  head  of  his  troops,  with  a 
flourish  of  drums  and  trumpets,  and  with  bayo- 
nets fixed,  into  the  state-hcuse  yard,  at  Colum- 
bia ;  but,  if  he  did  so,  he  v\'ould  find  a  precedent 
for  it  in  English  history. 

"  There  was  no  ambiguity  about  this  measure. 
The  prophecy  had  already  gone  forth ;  the  Pre- 
sident has  said  that  the  laws  will  be  obstructed. 
'"ho  President  had  not  only  foretold  the  coming 
diificultics,  but  he  has  also  assembled  an  army. 
The  city  of  Charleston,  if  report  spoke  true,  was 
now  a  beleagured  city;  the  cannon  of  Fort 
Pinckney  are  pointing  at  it ;  and  although  tliey 
are  now  quietly  sleeping,  they  are  ready  to  open 
their  thunders  whenever  the  voice  of  authority 
shall  give  the  command.  And  shall  these  ter- 
rors bo  let  loose  because  some  one  man  may  re- 
fuse to  pay  some  small  modicum  of  revenue, 
which  Congress,  the  day  after  it  came  into  the 
treasury,  might  vote  in  satisfaction  of  some  un- 
founded claim  ?  Shall  we  set  so  small  a  value 
upon  the  lives  of  the  people  ?  Let  us  at  least  wait 
to  see  the  course  of  measures.  We  can  never 
be  too  tardy  in  commencing  the  work  of  blood. 

"If  the  majority  shall  pass  this  bill,  they 
must  do  it  on  their  own  responsibility ;  I  will 
have  no  part  in  it.  When  gentlemen  recount 
the  blessings  of  union  ;  when  they  dwell  upon 
the  past,  and  sketch  out,  in  bright  perspective, 
the  future,  tl)ey  awaken  in  my  breast  all  the 
pride  of  an  American ;  my  pulse  beats  i-espoa- 
sive  to  theirs,  and  I  regard  union,  next  to  free- 
dom, as  the  greatcs  if  blessings.  Yes,  sir, 'the 
federal  Union  must  be  preserved.'  But  how? 
Will  you  seek  to  preserve  it  by  force  ?  AVill 
you  appease  the  angry  spirit  of  discord  by  an 
oblation  of  blo«d?  Suppose  that  the  proud 
and  haughty  spirit  of  Souih  Carolina  shall  not 
bend  to  your  high  edicts  in  token  of  fealty ;  that 
you  make  war  iipon  her,  hang  her  Governor,  her 
legislators,  and  judges,  !'  ■  traitors,  and  reduce 
her  to  the  condition  of  a  conquered  province — 
have  you  preserved  the  Union  ?  This  Union 
consists  of  twenty-four  States  •  v.  aid  you  have 
preserved  the  Union  by  striking  out  one  of  the 
States — one  of  the  old  thirteen  ?     Gentlemen 


had  boasted  of  the  flag  of  our  country,  with  iti 
thirteen  stars.  When  the  light  of  one  of  these 
stars  shall  have  been  extinguished,  will  the  ilau 
wave  over  us,  under  which  our  fathers  fought? 
If  we  are  to  go  on  striking  out  star  after  star 
what  will  finally  remain  but  a  central  and  a 
burning  sun,  blighting  and  destroying  every 
germ  of  liberty  ?  The  flag  which  I  wi«h  to 
wave  over  me,  is  that  which  floated  in  triumph 
at  Saratoga  and  Yorktown.  It  bore  upon  it 
thirteen  States,  of  which  South  Carolina  was 
one.  Sir,  there  is  a  great  difference  between  pre- 
serving Union  and  preserving  govemment ;  the 
Union  may  be  annihilated,  yet  government  pre- 
served ;  but,  imder  such  a  government,  no  man 
ought  to  desire  to  live." 

j\Ir.  Webster,  one  of  the  committee  which  re- 
ported the  bill,  justly  rebuked  all  this  vitupera- 
tion, and  justified  the  bill,  both  for  the  equity 
of  its  provisions,  and  the  necessity  for  enacting 
them.    He  said : 

"  The  President,  charged  by  the  constitution 
with  the  duty  of  executing  the  laws,  has  sent 
us  a  message,  alleging  that  powerful  combina- 
tions are  forming  to  resist  their  execution ;  that 
the  existing  laws  are  not  sufficient  to  meet  the 
crisis ;  and  recommending  sundry  enactments 
as  necessary  for  the  occasion.  The  message  be- 
ing referred  to  the  Judiciary  Committee,  that 
committee  has  reported  a  bill  in  compliance  with 
the  President's  recommendation.  It  has  not 
gone  beyond  the  message.  Every  thing  in  tha 
bill,  every  single  provision,  which  is  no»v  com- 
plained of,  is  in  the  message.  Yet  the  whoI« 
war  is  raised  against  the  bill,  and  again?t  the 
committee,  as  if  the  committee  had  originated 
the  whole  matter.  Gentlemen  get  up  and  ad- 
dress us,  as  if  they  were  arguing  against  some 
measure  of  a  factious  opposition.  They  look 
the  same  way,  sir,  and  speak  wilh  the  same  ve- 
hemence, as  they  used  to  do  when  they  raised 
their  patriotic  voices  against  what  they  called  a 
'  coalition,' 

"Now,  sir,  let  it  be  known,  once  for  all,  that 
this  is  an  administration  measure ;  that  it  is 
the  President's  own  measure ;  and  I  pray  gen- 
tlemen to  have  the  goodness,  if  they  call  it  hard 
names,  and  talk  loudly  against  its  friends,  not 
to  overlook  its  source.  Let  them  at'ack  it,  if 
they  choose  to  attack  it,  in  its  origin. 

"Let  it  be  known,  also,  that  a  majority  of  the 
committee  reporting  the  bill  are  friends  and 
supporters  of  the  administration ;  and  that  it  is 
maintained  in  this  house  by  those  who  are 
among  his  steadfast  friends,  of  long  standing. 

"  It  is,  sir,  as  I  have  already  said,  tlie  Presi- 
dent's own  measure.  Let  those  who  oppose  it, 
oppose  it  as  such.  Let  them  fairly  acknowledge 
its  origin,  and  meet  it  accordingly. 

"  The  lionorahle  member  from  Kentucky,  who 
spoke  first  against  the  bill,  said  he  found  iu  it 
another  Jersey  prison-ship ;  let  him  state,  then, 


and  horrors  c 


rather '  be  a  dof 


ANNO  1833.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


333 


that  the  President  has  sent  a  message  to  Con- 
gress, recoinnicnding  a  renewal  of  the  suflerings 
and  horrors  of  the  Jersey  prison-shi]).  lie 
says,  too,  tliat  the  bill  snulPs  of  the  alien  and 
sedition  law.  But  the  bill  is  fragrant  of  no 
floH-er  except  the  same  which  perfumes  the 
message.  Let  him,  then,  say,  if  he  thinks  so, 
that  (rcneral  Jackson  advises  a  revival  of  the 
))rinciples  of  the  alien  and  sedition  laws. 

'<  The  honorable  member  from  Virginia  [Mr. 
Tyler],  finds  out  a  resemblance  between  this 
bill  and  the  Boston  port  bill.     Sir,  if  one  of 
these  be  imitated  from  the  other,  the  imitation 
is  the  President's.     The  bill  makes  the  Presi- 
dent, he  says,  sole  judge  of  the  constitution. 
Does  he  moan  to  say  that  the  President  has 
recommended  a  measure  which  is  to  make  him 
sole  judge  of  the  constitution  ?     The  bill,  he  de- 
clares, sacrifices  every  thing  to  arbitrary  power 
—he  will  lend  no  aid  to  its  passage— he  would 
rather '  be  a  dog,  and  bay  the  moon,  than  such 
n  Roman.'    lie  did  not  say  '  the  old  Koman.'  ! 
Ytt  the  gentleman  well  knows,  that  if  any  thing  ' 
is  sacrificed  to  arbitrary  prn-er,  the  sacrifice  ! 
has  been  demanded  by  the  '  old  Boiuan,'  as'  he 
and  others  have  called  him ;  by  the  President 
whom  he  has  sujiported,  so  often  and  so  ably 
for  the  chief  magistracy  of  the  country.     He 
says,  too,  that  one  of  the  sections  is  an  English 
Botany  Bay  law,  except  that  it  is  nmch  worse. 
This  section,  sir,  whatever  it  may  be,  is  just 
what  the   President's  message  recommended. 
Similar  observations  are  applicable  to  the  re- 
marks of  both  the  honorable  gentlemen  from 
Xorth  Carolina.    It  is  not  necessary  to  particu- 
larize those  remarks.    They  were  in  the  same 
strain. 

"Therefore,  sir,  let  it  bo  understood,  let  it  be 
known,  that  the  war  which  these  gentlemen 
choose  to  wage,  is  waged  against  the  measures 
of  the  admmistration,  r,\inst  the  President  of 
tlieir  own  choice.  The  controversy  has  arisen 
ktween  liim  and  tlu^m,  and,  in  its  progress 
they  will  probably  come  to  a  distinct  under- 
standing. 

"Mr.  President,  I  am  not  to  be  understood  as 
admitting  that  these  charges  against  the  bill  are 
just,  or  that  they  would  be  just  if  made  a>'ainst 
tlie  message.  On  the  contrarv,  I  think  "them 
wno  ly  unjust.  No  one  of  them,  in  my  opinion 
can  be  made  good.  I  think  the  bill,  or  somJ 
similar  measure,  had  become  indispensable,  and 
Hat  the  President  could  not  do  otherwise  than 
to  recoiumend  it  to  the  consideration  of  Con- 
gress, lie  was  not  at  libertv  to  look  on  and 
1)0  silent,  while  dangers  threa'tencd  the  Union, 
miich  existmg  laws  were  not  competent,  in  his  i 
judgment,  to  avert.  ' 

'-Mr.  President,  I  take  this  occasion  to  say,  I 
'i>  '"Pr":'  "''«  ii'easure,  as  an  independent  ' 

mber  of  the  Senate,  in  the  discharge  of  the  ! 

uc  atos  of  my  own  conscience.     T  am  no  jnnn's  ' 

rader;  and,  on  the  other  hand.  I  follow  no  lead,  I 

W  that  of  public  duty,  and  tJie  star  of  the  con-  \ 

•wwuon.    I  believe  the  country  is  in  consider- 


able danger ;  I  believe  an  unlawful  combination 
threatens  the  integrity  of  the  Union.  I  believe 
the  crisis  calls  for  a  mild,  temperate,  forbearing, 
but  inflexibly  firm  execution  of  the  laws.  And 
under  this  conviction,  I  give  a  hearty  support 
to  the  administration,  in  all  measures  which  I 
deem  to  be  fair,  just,  and  necessary.  And  in 
supporting  these  mea.=;ures,  I  mean  to  take  my 
fair  share  of  responsibility,  to  support  them 
Irankly  and  fairly,  without  rellections  on  the 
past,  and  without  mixing  other  topics  in  their 
discussion, 

'•Mr.  President,  I  think  I  understand  the 
sentiment  of  the  country  on  this  subject.  I 
think  public  opinion  sets  with  an  irresistible 
force  in  favor  of  the  Union,  in  favor  of  the 
measures  recommended  by  the  President,  and 
against  the  new  doctrines  which  threaten  the 
dissolution  of  the  Union.  I  think  the  people 
of  the  United  Stat.  -  demand  of  us,  who  are  in- 
trusted with  the  government,  to  maintain  that 
government ;  to  be  just,  and  fear  not ;  to  make 
all  and  suitable  provisions  for  the  execution  of 
the  laws,  and  to  sustain  the  Union  and  the 
constitution  against  whatsoever  may  endan"-er 
them.  For  ow  I  obey  this  public  voice  f  I 
comply  with  tin.,  demand  of  the  people.  T  sup- 
port the  administration  in  measures  which  I 
behove  to  be  necessary;  and,  while  pursuing 
this  course,  I  look  unhesitatingly,  and  with  the 
utmost  confidence,  for  the  approbation  of  the 
country. 


The  support  which  Mr.  Webster  gave  to  all 
the  President's  measures  in  relation  to  South 
Carolina,  and  his  exposure  of  the  doctrine  of 
nullification,  being  the  first  to  detect  and  de- 
nounce that  heresy,  made  him  extremely  obnox- 
ious to  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  his  friends ;  and  must 
have  been  the  main  cause  of  his  exclusion  from 
the  confidence  of  Mr.  Clay  and  Mr,  Calhoun  in 
the  concoction  of  their  bill,  called  a  compromise. 
His  motives  as  well  as  his  actions  were  attacked, 
and  he  was  accused  of  subsen-iency  to  the  Presi- 
dent for  the  sake  of  future  favor.    At  the  same 
time  all  the  support  which  he  gave  to  these 
measures  was  the  regular  result  of  the  principles 
which  he  laid  down  in  his  first  speeches  against 
nullification  in  the  debate  with  Mr.  Ilayne,  and 
he  could  not  have  done  less  without  being  dere- 
lict to  his  own  principles  then  avowed.    It  was 
a  proud  era  in  his  life,  supporting  with  tran- 
scendent ability  the  cause  of  the  constitution 
and  of  the  country,  in  the  person  of  a  chief 
magistrate  to  whom  he  was  politically  opposed 
bursting  the  bonds  of  party  at  the  call  of  duty, 
ami  displaying  a  patriotism  worthy  of  admira- 
tion and  imitation.     General  Jackson  felt  the 
debt  of  gratitude  and  admiration    whkh  he 


334 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


owed  him  ;  the  country,  without  distinction  of 
party,  felt  the  same;  and  the  universality  of 
the  feeling  was  one  of  the  grateful  instances  of 
popular  applause  and  justice  wlien  great  talents 
are  seen  exerting  themselves  for  the  good  of 
the  country.  lie  was  the  colossal  figure  on  the 
political  stage  during  that  eventful  timej  and 
his  labors,  splendid  in  their  day,  survive  for  the 
benefit  of  distant  posterity. 


1 

f                          ■    J^  ■ 

:'      «:■ 

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PP" 

■'     .    ■  ;l 

!  ■  ■ 
[ 

CHAPTER    LXXXIV. 

ME.  CALHOUN'S  NULLIFICATION  EESOLUTIONS. 

Simultaneously  with  the  commencement  of  the 
discussions  on  the  South  Carolina  proceedings, 
was  the  introduction  in  the  Senate  of  a  set  of 
resolutions  by  ^Nlr.  Calhoun,  entitled  by  him, 
^^Resolutions  on  the  powers  of  the  government;  " 
but  all  involving  the  doctrine  of  nullification; 
and  the  debate  upon  them  deriving  its  point  and 
character  from  the  discussion  of  that  doctrine. 
The  following  were  the  resolutions : 

^  ^^  Resolved,  That  the  people  of  the  several 
States  composing  these  United  States  are  united 
as  parties  to  a  constitutional  compact,  to  which 
the  people  of  each  State  acceded  as  a  separate 
sovereign  community,  each  binding  itself  by  its 
own  particular  ratification ;  and  that  the  Union, 
of  which  the  said  compact  is  the  bond,  is  a  union 
between  the  States  ratifying  the  same. 

''Resolved,  That  the  people  of  the  several 
States,  thus  united  by  the  constitutional  com- 
pact, in  forming  that  instrument,  and  in  creating 
a  general  government  to  carry  into  effect  the 
objects  for  which  they  were  formed,  delegated 
to  that  government,  for  that  purpose,  certain 
definite  powers,  to  be  exercised  jointly,  reserving 
at  the  same  time,  each  State  to  itself,  the  residu- 
ary ma?;s  of  powers,  to  be  exercised  by  its  own 
separate  government;  and  that  whenever  the 
general  government  assumes  the  exercise  of 
powers  not  delegated  by  the  compact,  its  acts 
are  unauthorized,  and  arc  of  no  effect ;  and  that 
the  same  government  is  not  made  the  final 
judge  of  the  powers  delegated  to  it,  since  that 
would  make  its  discretion,  and  not  the  constitu- 
tion, the  measure  of  its  powers ;  but  that,  as  in 
all  other  cases  of  comjiact  among  sovereign  par- 
ties, without  any  common  judge,  each  has  an 
equal  right  to  judge  for  itself,  as  well  as  of  the  \ 
uifrfiction  as  of  the  mode  andmeasuix-  of  redress.  ; 
'•Resolved,  That  the  assertions  that  the  people  i 
of  these  United  States,  taken  collectively  as  in-  ' 


dividuals,  are  now,  or  ever  hare  been,  united 
the  pnnciple  of  the  social  compact,  and  as  surS 
are  now  formed  into  one  nation  or  people 
that  they  have  ever  been  so  imi'ed  inai'voJ 
stage  of  their  political  existence ;  chat  the  pconk 
of  the  several  States  composing  the  Union  \ml 
not,  as  members  thereof,  retained  their  sovereim 
ty ;  that  the  allegiance  of  their  citizens  ha«  fen 
transferred  to  the  general  government:  thit 
they  have  parted  with  the  right  of  punishinrr 
treason  through  their  respective  State  govcrii 
ments ;  and  that  they  have  not  the  right  of  judir 
ing  in  the  last  resort  as  to  the  extent  oif  the 
powers  reserved,  and,  of  consequence,  of  those 
delegated  ;  are  not  only  without  foundation  in 
truth,  but  are  contrary  to  the  most  certain  and 
plain  historical  facts,  and  the  clearest  dcdiiction= 
of  reason ;  and  that  all  exercise  of  power  on  the 
part  of  the  general  government,  or  any  of  its 
departments,  claiming  authority  from  so  erro- 
neous assumptions,  must  of  necessity  be  uncon- 
stitutional, must  tend  directly  and  inevitably  to 
subvert  the  sovereignty  of  the  States,  to  destroy 
the  federal  character  of  the  Union,  and  to  rear 
on  its  ruins  a  consolidated  government,  without 
constitutional  check  or  limitation,  and  which 
must  necessarily  terminate  in  the  loss  of  liberty 
itself." 

To  which  Mr.  Grundy  offered  a  counter  set, 
as  follows: 

"1.  Resolved,  That  by  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States,  certain  powers  are  delegated  to 
the  general  government,  and  those  not  delegn- 
ted,  or  prohibited  to  the  States,  are  reserved 
to  the  States  respectively,  or  to  the  people. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  one  of  the  powers  express- 
ly granted  by  the  constitution  to  the  general 
government,  and  prohibited  to  the  States,  is 
that  of  laying  duties  on  imports. 

"3.  Resolvt'd,  That  the  power  to  lay  imposts  is 
by  the  constitution  wholly  transferred  from  the 
State  authorities  to  the  general  government, 
without  any  reservation  of  power  or  right  on 
the  part  of  the  State. 

"4,  Resolved,  That  the  tariff  laws  of  1828 
and  1832  are  exercises  of  the  constitutional 
power  pos.sessed  by  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  whatever  various  opinions  may  exist  as 
to  their  policy  and  justice. 

"  5.  Resolved,  That  an  attempt  on  th.i  part  of 
a  State  to  annul  an  act  of  Congress  passed  up- 
on any  subject  exclusively  confided  by  the  con- 
stitution to  Congress,  is  an  encroachment  on  the 
rights  of  the  general  government. 

'•  0.  Resolved,  That  attempts  to  obstruct  or 
prevent  the  execution  of  the  several  acts  of  Con- 
gress imposing  duties  on  imports,  whether  by 
ordinances  of  conventions  or  legislative  enact- 
ments, are  not  warranted  by  the  constitution, 
and  are  dangerous  to  the  political  institutions  of 
the  country." 

It  was  in  the  (^cussion  of  these  resolutious, 


ANNO  1833.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


335 


Mid  the  kindred  subjects  of  tha  "force  bill"  and 
the  "revenue  collection  bill,"  that  Mr.  Calhoun 
first  publicly  revealed  the  source  from  which 
he  obtained  the  seminal  idea  of  nullification  as 
a  remedy  in  a  govcrnmeut.  The  Virginia  reso- 
lutions of  '98-'9!),  were  the  assumed  source  of 
the  power  itself  as  applicable  to  our  federal  and 
State  governments ;  but  the  essential  idea  of  nul- 
lification as  a  peaceful  and  lawful  mode  of  arrest- 
ing a  measure  of  the  general  government  by  the 
action  of  one  of  the  States,  was  derived  from  the 
i(to  power  of  the  tribunes  of  the  people  in  the 
Roman  government.  I  had  often  heard  him  talk 
of  that  tribunitian  power,  and  celebrate  it  as  the 
perfection  of  good  government — as  being  for  the 
benefit  of  the  weaker  part,  and  operating  nega- 
tively to  prevent  oppression,  and  not  positively  to 
do  injustice — but  I  never  saw  him  carry  that  idea 
into  a  public  speech  but  once,  and  that  was  on 
the  discussion  of  his  resolutions  of  this  session ; 
for  though  actually  delivered  while  the  "  force 
bill"  was  before  the  Senate,  yet  all  his  doctrinal 
argument  on  that  bill  was  the  amplification  of 
his  nullification  resolutions.  On  that  occasion 
lie  traced  the  Eoman  tribunitian  p.wcr,  and  con- 
sidered it  a  cure  for  all  the  disorders  to  which 
tlie  Roman  state  had  been  subject,  and  the  cause 
to  which  all  her  subsequent  greatness  was  to  be 
.ittributcd.  This  remarkable  speech  was  deliver- 
ed February  15th,  1833,  and  after  depicting  a 
government  of  the  majority — a  majority  imchcok- 
cd  by  a  right  in  the  minority  of  staying  their 
measures— to  be  unmitigated  despotism,  he  then 
proceeded  to  argue  in  favor  of  the  excellence  of  the 
rcto  and  the  secession  power ;  and  thus  deliver- 
ed himself: 

"  Ho  might  appeal  to  history  for  the  truth  of 
these  remarks,  of  which  the  Roman  furnished 
the  most  familiar  and  striking.  It  was  a  well- 
known  fact,  that,  from  the  expulsion  of  the  Tar- 
quins,  to  the  time  of  the  establishment  of  the 
tribunitian  power,  the  government  fell  into  a 
state  of  the  greatest  disorder  and  distraction, 
and,  he  might  add,  corruption.  How  did  this 
happen  ?  The  explanation  will  throw  important 
light  on  the  subject  under  consideration.  The 
community  was  divided  into  two  parts,  the  pa- 
tricians and  the  plebeians,  with  the  powa>rs  of 
the  state  principally  in  the  hands  of  the  former, 
without  adequate  check  to  protect  the  rights  of 
the  latter.  The  result  was  as  might  be  expected. 
Ihe  patricians  converted  the  powers  of  the  go- 
vernment into  tlie  means  of  makimr  monev.  to 
i^uich  themselves  and  their  dependaints.  They, 
m  a  word,  had  their  American  system,  growing 
out  of  the  peculiar  character  of  the  government 


and  condition  of  the  country.  This  requires 
explanation.  At  that  period,  according  to  the 
laws  of  nations,  when  one  nation  conquered  an- 
other, the  lands  of  the  vanquished  belonged  to 
the  victors  ;  and,  according  to  the  Roman  law, 
the  lands  thus  acquired  were  divided  into  parts, 
one  allotted  to  the  poorer  class  of  the  people, 
and  the  other  assigned  to  the  use  of  the  trea- 
sury, of  which  the  patricians  had  the  distribu- 
tion and  administration.  The  patricians  abused 
their  power,  by  withholding  from  the  people 
that  which  ought  to  have  been  allotted  to  them, 
and  by  converting  to  their  own  use  that  which 
ought  to  have  gone  to  the  treasury.  In  a  word, 
they  took  to  themselves  the  entire  spoils  of  vic- 
tory, and  they  had  thus  the  most  powerful  mo- 
tive to  keep  the  state  jierpetually  involved  in 
war,  to  the  utter  impoverishment  and  oppression 
of  the  people.  After  resisting  the  abuse  of  power, 
by  all  peaceable  means,  and  the  oppression  be- 
coming intolerable,  the  people  at  last  withdrew 
from  the  citj'-;  they,  in  a  word,  seceded;  and, 
to  induce  them  to  reunite,  the  patricians  con- 
ceded to  the  plebeians,  as  the  moans  of  protect- 
ing their  separate  interests,  the  very  power  which 
he  contended  is  necessary  to  protect  the  rights 
of  the  States,  but  which  is  now  rejiresented  as 
necessarily  leading  to  disunion.  They  grantetl 
to  the  people  the  right  of  choosing  three  tri- 
bunes from  among  themselves,  whose  persons 
should  be  sacred,  and  who  sliould  have  the 
right  of  interposing  their  veto,  not  only  against 
the  passage  of  laws,  but  even  against  their  exe- 
cution ;  a  power  wh  '.  those  who  take  a  shal- 
low insight  iuio  huu.  !i  I'.ure  would  pronounce 
inconsistent  with  the  -r.ength  and  unity  of  the 
state,  if  not  utterly  impracticable.  Yet,  so  far 
from  that  being  the  effect,  from  that  day  the 
genius  of  Rome  became  ascendant,  and  victory 
followed  her  steps  till  she  had  established  an 
almost  universal  dominion. 

"  How  can  a  result  so  contrary  to  all  antici- 
pation be  explained  ?  Tlie  explanation  appear- 
ed to  him  to  be  simple.  No  measure  or  move- 
ment could  be  adopted  without  the  concurring 
consent  of  both  the  patricians  and  plebeians, 
and  each  thus  became  depeutlent  on  the  other, 
and,  of  consequence,  the  desire  and  objects  of 
neither  could  be  effected  without  the  concur- 
rence of  the  other.  To  obtain  this  concurrence, 
each  was  compelled  to  consult  the  good  will  of 
the  other,  and  to  elevate  to  office  not  simply 
those  who  might  have  the  confidence  of  the  or- 
der to  which  he  belonged,  but  also  that  of  the 
other.  The  result  was,  that  men  possessing 
those  qualities  which  would  naturally  command 
confidence,  m' -leration,  wisdom, justice,  and  pa- 
triotism, were  elevated  to  office  ;  and  these,  by 
the  weight  of  their  authority  and  the  pi-udcnce 
of  their  counsel,  together  with  that  spirit  of 
unanimity  necessarily  resulting  from  the  con- 
curring assent  of  the  two  orders,  fiirnislios  t!ie 
real  explanation  of  the  power  of  the  Roman 
state,  and  of  that  extraordinary  wisdom,  mode- 
ration, and  firmness,  which  in  so  remarkable  a 


'i  '^ 


336 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


h 


degree  characterized  her  public  men.  He  might 
ilhislrate  the  truth  of  the  position  which  he  had 
laid  down,  by  a  reference  to  the  history  of  all 
free  states,  ancient  and  modern,  distingtiished 
for  their  power  and  patriotism  ;  and  conclusive- 
ly show  not  only  that  there  was  not  one  which 
had  not  some  contrivance,  under  some  form,  by 
which  the  concurring  assent  of  the  different 
portions  of  the  community  was  made  necessary 
in  the  action  of  government,  but  also  that  the 
virtue,  patriotism,  and  strength  of  tlie  state 
were  in  direct  proportion  to  the  strength  of  the 
means  of  securing  such  assent.  In  estimating 
the  operation  of  this  principle  in  our  system, 


which  depends,  as  he  had 


stated,  on 
of  the 


the  right 


of  interposition  on  the  part  of  the  State,  we 
must  not  omit  to  take  into  consideration  the 
amending  power,  by  which  new  powers  may  be 
granted,  or  any  derangement  of  the  system  be 
corrected,  by  the  concurring  assent  of  three- 
fourths  of  the  States ;  and  thus,  in  the  same 
degree,  strengthening  the  power  of  repairing 
any  derangement  OQcasioned  by  the  executive 
action  of  a  State.  In  f.vt,  the  power  of  inter- 
position, fairly  understood,  may  be  considered 
in  the  light  of  an  appeal  against  the  usurpations 
of  the  general  government,  the  joint  agent  of  all 
the  States,  to  the  States  themselves,  to  be  de- 
cided, under  the  amending  power,  aflirmatively, 
in  favor  of  the  government,  by  the  voice  of 
threv-fourths  of  the  States,  as  the  highest  power 
known  under  the  system. 

"  Mr.  0.  said  that  he  knew  the  difficulty,  in 
our  country,  of  establishing  the  truth  of  the 
principle  for  which  he  contended,  though  rest- 
ing upon  the  clearest  reason,  and  tested  by  the 
universal  experience  of  free  nations.  He  knew 
tlmt  the  governments  of  the  several  States  would 
be  cited  as  an  argument  against  the  conclusion 
to  which  he  had  arrived,  and  which,  for  the 
most  part,  wer  •  constructed  on  the  principle  of 
the  absolute  majority ;  but,  in  his  opinion,  a 
satisfactory  answer  could  be  given ;  that  the 
o))jects  of  expenditure  which  fell  within  the 
sphere  of  a  State  government  were  few  and  in- 
considerable ;  so  that,  be  their  action  ever  so 
irregular,  it  could  occasion  but  little  derange- 
ment. If,  instead  of  being  members  of  this 
great  confederacy,  they  formed  distinct  commu- 
nities, and  were  compelled  to  raise  armies,  and 
incur  other  expenses  necessary  for  their  defence, 
the  laws  which  he  had  laid  down  as  necessarily 
controlling  the  action  of  a  State,  where  the  will 
of  an  absolute  and  unchecked  majority  prevailed, 
would  speedily  disclose  themselves  in  faction, 
anarchy,  and  corruption.  Even  as  the  case  is, 
the  operation  of  the  causes  to  which  he  had  re- 
ferred Avere  perceptible  in  some  of  the  larger 
and  more  populous  members  of  the  Union,  whose 
governments  had  a  powerful  central  action,  and 
which  already  showed  a  strong  tendency  to  that 
moneyed  action  which  is  the  invariable  foremn- 
ncr  of  corruption  and  convulsions. 

"  But  to  return  to  the  general  government ; 
we  have  now  sufficient  experience  to  ascertain 


that  the  tendency  to  conflict  in  this  action  w 
between  Southern  and  other  sections.  Tliu  )nt 
ter,  having  a  decided  majority,  must  habitiiullv 
be  possessed  of  the  powers  of  the  government 
bt>th  in  this  and  in  the  other  House ;  and  bcin^^ 
governed  by  that  instinctive  love  of  power  so 
natural  to  the  Imman  breast,  they  nuist  become 
the  advocates  of  the  power  of  government  and 
in  the  same  degree  opposed  to  the  -Ihuitations  • 
while  the  other  and  weaker  section  is  as  neciK.' 
sarily  thrown  on  tin'  side  of  the  limitations.  Li 
one  word,  the  one  section  is  the  natural  guar- 
dian of  the  delegated  powers,  and  the  other  of 
the  reserved ;  and  the  struggle  on  the  side  of 
the  former  will  be  to  enlarge  the  powers,  while 
that  on  the  opposite  side  will  be  to  restrain 
them  within  their  constitutional  limits.  The 
contest  will,  in  fact,  be  a  contest  between  power 
and  liberty,  and  such  he  considered  the  present  • 
a  contest  in  which  the  weaker  section,  with  its 
peculiar  labor,  productions,  and  situation,  has  at 
stake  all  that  can  be  dear  to  freemen.  Should 
they  be  able  to  maintain  in  their  full  vigor  llieiF 
reserved  rights,  liberty  and  prosjxTity  will  be 
their  portion ;  but  if  they  yield,  and  permit  the 
stronger  interest  to  consolidate  within  itself  all 
the  powers  of  the  government,  then  Avill  its  fate 
be  more  wretched  than  that  of  the  aborigines 
whom  they  have  expelled,  or  of  their  slaves. 
In  this  great  struggle  between  the  delegated  and 
reserved  powers,  so  far  from  repining  that  his  lot 
and  that  of  those  whom  he  represented  is  cast  on 
the  side  of  the  latter,  he  rejoiced  that  such  is  tho 
fact ;  for  though  we  participate  in  but  few  of 
tho  advantages  of  the  government,  we  are  com- 
pensated, and  more  than  compensated,  in  not 
being  so  much  exposed  to  its  corruption.  Nor 
did  he  repine  that  the  duty,  so  difficult  to  bo 
discharged,  as  the  defence  of  the  reserved  powers 
against,  apparently-,  such  fearful  odds,  had  been 
assigned  to  them.  To  discharge  successfully 
this  liigh  duty  requires  the  highest  qualities, 
moral  and  intellectual ;  and,  should  you  perform 
it  with  a  zeal  and  ability  in  proportion  to  its 
magnitude,  instead  of  being  mere  planters,  ouv 
section  will  become  distinguished  for  its  patriots 
and  statesmen.  But,  on  the  other  htind,  if  we 
prove  unworthy  of  this  high  destiny,  il'  we  yield 
to  the  steady  encroachment  of  power,  the  se- 
verest and  most  debasing  calamity  and  corrup- 
tion will  overspread  the  land.  Every  Southern 
man,  true  to  the  interests  of  his  section,  and 
faitliful  to  the  duties  which  Providence  has 
allotted  him,  will  be  for  ever  excluded  from  tho 
honors  and  emoluments  of  this  gov(!rnment, 
which  will  be  reserved  for  those  only  wlio  havo 
qualified  themselv-es,  by  political  prostitution, 
for  admission  into  the  MtOgdalen  Asylum." 

In  this  extract  from  that  remarkable  speech, 
the  first  one  in  which  Mr.  Culhoun  defended 
nullificatioD  and  secession  in  the  Senate,  and  in 
which  every  word  bears  the  impress  of  intense 
thought,  there  is  distinctly  to  be  seen  his  opin- 


ANNO  1833.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


337 


inpated,  in  not 


ion  of  tlie  defects  of  our  duplicate  form  of  go- 
vernment (State  and  federal),  and  of  the  remedy- 
fur  those  defects.    I  say,  in  our  form  of  govern- 
ment; for  his  speech  liad  a  pro,cticaI  application 
to  ourseIve.s,  and  was  a  defence,  or  justification 
ofthe  actual  measures  of  the  State  he  represented. 
And  this  defect  was,  the  unchecked  author  ily 
i.fa  major ilij;  and  the  remedy  was,  "./;  au- 
thorily  in  the  minorilii  to  check  that  majority 
and  to  secede.    This  clearly  was  an  absolute 
condemnation  of  thefundamenta.  principle  upon 
which  the  admmistration  of  the  federal  consti- 
tution, and  of  the  State  constitutions  rested. 
But  he  did  not  limit  himself  to  the  benefits  of 
the  reto  and  of  secession,  as  shown  in  lloman 
history;  he  had  recourse  to  the  Jewish  for  the 
same  purpose— and  found  it— not  in  a  veto  in 
each  of  the  twelve  tribes,  but  in  the  right  of 
secession;  and  found  it,  not  in  the  minority,  but 
the  majority,  in  the  reign  of  Jeroboam,  when 
ten  tribes  seceded.    That  example  is  thus  intro 
duced : 


opmion  of  the  younger  politicians,  who  had  since 
grown  up,  and  knew  not  the  doctrines  of  thtir 
lathers.  He  hearkened  unto  their  counsel,  and 
refused  to  make  the  reduction ;  and  the  secession 
ot  the  ten  tribes,  under  Jeroboam,  followed. 
1  he  tribes  of  Judah  and  Benjamin,  which  had 
received  the  disbursements,  alone  remained  to 
the  house  of  David." 


"Among  the  few  exceptions  in  the  Asiatic 
nations,  the  government  of  the  twelve  tribes  of 
Israel,  in  its  early  period,  was  the  most  strikino- 
fheir  government,  at  first,  was  a  mere  confedera- 
tion without  any  central  power,  till  a  militarv 

0  adtain,  with  the  title  of  king,  was  placed  at 
its  head,  without,  however,  merging  the  original 
organization  cf  the  twelve  distinct  tribes  This 
mis  the  commencement  of  that  central  action 
among  that  peculiar  people,  which,  in  three 
generations,  terminated  in  a  permanent  division 
of  their  tribes.  li  is  impossible  even  for  a  care- 
less reader  to  peruse  the  history  of  that  event 
without  being  forcibly  struck  n^th  the  analo  "y 
m  the  causes  which  led  to  their  separation,  and 

hose  which  now  threaten  us  with  a  similar 
(alaraity.  With  the  establishment  of  the  cential 
power  in  tlie  king  commenced  a  system  of  tax- 
ation, which,  under  king  Solomon;  was  groatiV 
increased  to  defray  the^xpense  of  reari^  S 
tmple  of  enlarging  and  embellishing  Jerusalem 

he  seat  of  the  central  government,  and  the  oS 
profuse  expenditures  of  his  magnificent  rei-^n 
Increased  taxation  was  followed  by  its  naS 

onsequences-tiiscontent  and  complaint  wlkh 
be  ore  his  death  began  to  excite  reSe     On 

1  succession  of  his  son,  Rehoboam.  the  ten 
bes,  headed   by  Jerobo'am,  demanded  a  :"- 

S  hn  "^  K  n^r ' '  ^^"^  *'^'"Pl«  being  finish S, 
d  t  ™^*^"'«'™«»t  «f  Jerusalem  completed 

Ss   th.  .fK?^""^'''  ^^q^i'-cd.or,  in  other 

cc  ion  of  ft  lT°  P"'^'  ^^'^y  ^'^'"^"•^'^'I  ^ 
iccmction  of  the  duties— a  repeal  of  th«  tariff. 

'OxT^Z   i'""   ''^  "^'^  ■""»  (tl»c  counsellors  of^ 
''»),  Mho  adysed  a  reduction  he  then  took  the 


This  example  also  had  a  practical  application, 
and  a  squint  at  the  Virginia  resolutions  of '98- 
'99,  and  at  the  military  chieftain  then  at  the 
head  of  our  government,  with  a  broad  intimation 
of  what  was  to  happen  if  the  taxes  were  not 
reduced ;  and  that  happened  to  be  secession.  And 
all  this,  and  the  elaborate  speech  from  which  it 
is  taken,  and  many  others  ofthe  same  cliaracter 
at  the  same  time,  was  delivered  at  a  time  when 
tl\.e  elections  had  decided  for  a  reduction  of  the 
taxes— when  a  bill  in  the  House  was  under  con- 
sideration for  that  purpose— and  when  his  own 
"  compromise  "  bill  was  in  a  state  of  concoction, 
and  advanced  to  a  stage  to  assure  its  final  pass- 
ing.    Strong  must  have  been   Jlr.  Calhoun's 
desire  for  his  favorite  remedy,  when  he  could 
contend  for  it  under  such  circumstances— under 
circumstances  which  showed  that  it  could  not 
be  wanted  for  the  purpose  which  he  then  avowed. 
Satisfied  of  the  excellence,  and  even  necessity  in 
our  system,  of  this  remedy,  the  next  question 
was  to  create  it,  or  to  find  it;  create  it,  by  an 
amendment  to  the  constitution  j  or  find  it  already 
existing  there ;  and  this  latter  was  done  by  a 
new  reading  of  the  famous  Virginia  resolutions 
of  '98-'99.     The  right  in  any  State  to  arrest  an 
act  of  Congress,  and  to  stay  it  until  three  fourths 
of  the  States  ordered  it  to  proceed,  and  with  a 
right  forcibly  to  resist  if  any  attempt  was  made 
in  the  mean  time  to  enforce  it,  with  the  correla- 
tive right  of  secession  and  permanent  separation, 
were  all  found  by  him  in  these  resolutions— the 
third  especially,  which  was  read,  and  commented 
upon  fur  the  purpose.     Sir.  Rives,  of  Virginia, 
repulsed  that  interpretation  of  the  act  of  his 
State,  and  showed  that  an  appeal  to  public  opin- 
ion was  all  that  was  intended  ;  and  quoted  the 
message  of  Governor  Monroe  to  show  that  the 
judgment  of  the  federal  court,  under  one  of  the 
acts  declared  to  be  unconstitutional,  was  carried 
into  effect  in  the  capital  of  Virginia  with  the 
order  and  tranquillity  of  any  other  judgment. 
He  said ; 

"  But,  sir,  the  proceedings  of  my  State,  on 
another  occasion  of  far  higher  miportance,  have 


m 


~%^ 


i;yi    .... 


33^ 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


been  so  frequently  referred  to,  in  the  course  of 
this  debate,  as  an  example  to  j.iKtify  the  present 
proceedinpis  of  South  Carolina,  that  I  may  bo 
excused  for  saying  somethin";  of  them.    Whit, 
then,  was  the  condi.  i   of  Virginia,  in  the  me- 
morable era  of  '98  and  vdl    She  solenudy  pro- 
tested against  the  alien  and  sedition  acts,  as '  pal- 
pable and  alarming  infractions  of  the  constitu- 
tion ;'  she  communicated  that   protest  to  the 
other  States  of  the  Union,  and  earnestly  appcaVd 
to  them  to  unite  with  her  in  a  like  declaration, 
that  this  deliberate  ami  solemn  expression  of  the 
opinion  of  the  States,  as  parties  to  tVo  constitu- 
tional compact,  should  have  its  proper  effect  o.'i 
the  councils  of  the  nation,  in  procuring  a  revi- 
sion and  repeal  of  the  obnoxious  acts.     This 
was 'the  head  and  front  of  her  offending'— n;. 
more.     The  whole  object  of  the  proceedings  was, 
by  the  peaceful  force  of  public  opinion,  embodied 
thi-ough  the  organ  of  the  State  legislatures,  tu 
©btain  a  vr.'peal  of  the  laws  in  question,  not  to 
oppose  or  jvrrosfc  their  execution,  while,  they  re- 
mained unii>,oalcd.     That  this  was   Uie  true 
spirit  an.l   real  purpose  of  sho  proceeding,  is 
abundantly  maiii[l'.sted  1  v  the  whole  of  the  able 
debate  which  took  place  in  <'.io  le;;,u  latnre  of  the 
State,  on  the  occasion.    Ail  Iho  f.;.'\ikf'rs,  v.Ik 
advocated  tiie   resolutions  wh]ij\  u<::c  lirialiy 
adopted,  distinctly  placed  iHeit    >i    that  }egiti- 
mat£,  constitutioiiP.!  gi»nnd.     '"  need  only  refer 
to  the  emphatic  declavsCon  of  John  Taylor,  of 
Caroline,   the  distinguished    niovcr    and    able 
champion  of  the  resolutions.     lie  said  '  the  ap- 
peal was  to  public  opinion ;  if  that  is  against 
us,  we  must  yieli'.''     The  same  sentiment  was 
avowed  and  muinliuned  by  every  friend  of  the 
iv?solutions,  throughout  the  debate. 

•But,  sir,  the  real  i.itentions  and  policy  of 
Vir;';inia  were  proved,  not  by  declarations  and 
speeches  merely,  but  by  facts.     If  there  ever 
was  a  l.''.sv  odious  to  a  whole  people,  by  its 
daring  vi'  lation  of  the  fundamental  guaranties 
of  public  liberty,  the  freedom  of  speech  and  free- 
dom of  the  press,  it  was  the  sedition  law  to  the 
people  of  Virginia.     Yet,  amid  all  this  indignant 
dissatisfaction,  after  the  solemn  protest  of  the 
legislature,  in  '98,  ard  the  renewal  of  that  pro- 
test, in  '99,  this  mo«t  odious  and  arbitrary  law 
was   peaceably  carried  into  execution,  in  the 
capital  of  the  State,  by  tlie  prosecution  and  pun- 
ishment of  Calle!i!l?r,  who  was  fined  and  im- 
prisoned for  daring  to  cmvasa  the  conduct  of 
our  public  men  (as  lyop  and  Cooper  had  been 
elsewhere),  and  was  still  actualljr  imprisoned, 
wlien  the  legislature  assembled,  in  December, 
1800.     Notwithstanding  the  excited  sensibility 
of  the  public  mind,  no  popular  tumult,  no  legis- 
lative interference,  disturbed,  in  any  manner,  the 
full  and  peaceable  execution  of  the  law.     The 
i^enate  will  excuse  me,  I  trust,  for  calling  their 
iittentiou  to  a  most  forcible  comme:;  iry  on  the 
true  cliunxcter  of  the  Virginia  proc  o  /  gs  of  "US 
and  '99  (as  illustrated  in  this  transaction),  which 
was  contained  in  the  official  communication  of 
Mi'.  Monroe,  then  Qovernor  of  the  State,  to  the 


legislature,  at  its  assembling,  in  December,  1800. 
After  referring  to  the  distribution  which  had 


been  ordered  to  bo  made  among  the  people,  of 
Mr.  Madison's  celebrated  report,  of  '99,  he  says : 
'  In  connection  with  this  subject,  it  is  proper  to 
add,  that,  since  your  last  session,  the  sedition 
law,  one  of  the  acts  complained  of,  has  been  tar- 
ried into  effect,  in  this  commonwealth,  by  the 
decision  of  a  federal  court.  I  uoiir.  ,hiff  (.vwit 
not  with  a  view  of  censuring  oi  criticising  it. 
The  transaction  has  gone  tc  tlie  wild,  and  tli« 
impartial  will  judge  of  it  as  si;  d'..KMr'.'es.  I  m). 
tice  it  for  the  purpose  of  rtitarlanff  that  the 
decision  was  executed  with  ^h-.'.  as  ine  Mrderriid 
tranquil  submission,  un  the  part  of  the  people, 
as  could  have  been  shown  by  tli'  m,  on  a  similar 
occasion,  to  any  the  inost  necessary,  conntitu- 
iirmal,  and  popular  acts  of  .he  government.'" 

Mr.  Webster,  in  denying  the  derivation  of  nul- 
lification and  teccsf.iun  froiTi  the  constitution 
said : 

"The  constitution  i:oe^  not  provide  for  events 
whii'h  must  be  preceded  by  its  owii  (.'estruction. 
Secession,  therefore,  since  it  must  bring  these 
consequences  with  it,  is  revolutionary.     And 
nullification  is  equally  revolutionary.    What  is 
revolution  1    Why,  sir,  t'lat  is  revolution  which 
overturns,  or  controls,  or  .successfully  resists  the 
existing  public  authority  ;  that  which  arrests 
the  exercise  of  the  .supreme  power;  that  which 
introduces  a  new  paramount  authority  into  tl;e 
rule  of  the  state.    Now,  sir,  this  is  the  picci  i> 
object  of  nullification.     It  attempts  to  .superswk 
the  supreme  legislative  authority.     It  arrests 
the  anu  of  the  Executive  Magistrate.    It  inter- 
rupts the  exercise  of  the  accustomed  judicial 
power.     Under  the  name  of  an  ordinance,  it  de- 
clares null  and  void,  within  the  State,  all  the 
revenue  laws  of  the  United  States.    Is  not  this 
revolutionary  ?    Sir,  so  soon  as  this  ordinance 
shall  be  carried  into  eflect,  a  revolution  will  have 
commenced  in  South  Carolina.     She  will  have 
thrown  oft"  the  authority  to  which  her  citizens 
have,  heretofore,  been  subject.     She  will  have 
declared  her  own  opinions  and  her  own  will  to 
be  above  the  laws,  and  above  the  power  of  those 
who  are  intrusted  with  their  administration. 
If  she  makes  good  these  declarations,  she  is  re- 
volutionized.    As  to  her,  it  is  as  distinctly  a 
change  of  the  supreme  jiower  as  the  American 
Revolution,  of  1770.     That  revolution  did  not 
subvc-t  goveinnient,  in  all  its  forms.    It  did  not 
subvert  local  laws  and  municipal  administra- 
tions.   It  on!}-  threw  off  the  dominion  of  a  power 
claiming  to  I.e  superior,  and  to  have  a  rip:lit.  in 
many  important  respects,  ■..'  ■.  xercise  legi.dative 
authority.     Thinking   tlu  ■   .-^Ihority  to  have 
"     *n' American  colonies, 
jude  it  defiance,  and 


been  usurped  or  abused 
now  the  United  rtii*' 
freed  themselves  fr 


')]  means 


revolu- 


tion. But  that  r.  ■  -'uuon  left  them  with  their 
own  municipal  laws  s., '.  and  the  forms  of  local 
government.    If  C^'-'-^vr    'ow  shall  eflectu»Uj 


e 


ANNO  1833.    ANDREW  JACKaON,  PRESmENT. 


339 


r ;  that  wliich 


resist  the  laws  of  Congress — if  she  shall  be  her 
own  judge,  take  her  remedy  into  her  own  hands, 
obey  tho  laws  of  the  Union  when  she  pleases, 
and  disobey  them  when  she  pleases — she  will 
relieve  herself  from  a  paramount  power,  as  dis- 
tinctly as  did  the  American  colonies,  in  177C. 
In  other  words,  she  will  achieve,  as  to  herself,  a 
revolution." 

The  speaker  then  proceeded  to  show  what 
nullification  was,  as  reduced  to  practice  in  the 
ordinance,  and  other  proceedings  of  South  Caro- 
lina ;  and  said : 

"But,  sir,  while  practical  nullification  in 
South  Carolina  would  be,  as  to  herself,  actual 
and  distinct  revolution,  its  necessary  tendency 
must  also  be  to  spread  revolution,  and  to  break 
up  the  constitution,  as  to  all  the  other  States. 
It  strikes  a  deadly  blow  at  the  vital  principle  of 
the  whole  Union.  To  allow  State  resistance  to 
the  laws  of  Congress  to  be  rightful  and  proper, 
to  admit  nullification  in  some  States,  and  yet 
not  expect  to  see  a  dismemberment  of  the  en- 
tire government,  appears  to  me  the  wildest  illu- 
sion and  the  most  extravp(!;ant  folly.  The  gen- 
tk'inan  seems  not  conscious  of  tho  direction  or 
the  rapidity  of  his  own  course.  The  current  of 
his  opinions  sweeps  hira  along,  he  knows  not 
whither.  To  begin  with  nullification,  with  the 
avon-ed  intend,  nevertheless,  not  to  proceed  to 
secession,  dismemberment,  and  general  revolu- 
tion, is  as  if  one  were  to  take  the  plunge  of 
.Niugara,  and  cry  out  that  he  would  stop  half- 
way down.  In  the  one  case,  as  in  the  other, 
tiie  rash  adventurer  must  go  to  the  bottom  of 
the  dark  abyss  below,  were  it  not  that  that 
abyss  lias  no  discovered  bottom. 

'•Nullification,  if  successful,  arrests  the  power 
of  the  law,  absolves  citizens  from  their  duty, 
subverts  tho  foundation  both  of  protection  and 
obedience,  dispenses  with  oaths  and  obligations 
of  allegiance,  and  elevates  another  authority  to 
supreme  command.  Is  not  this  revolution  ? 
And  it  raises  to  supreme  command  four-and- 
tncnty  distinct  powers,  each  professing  to  be 
under  a  general  government,  and  yet  each  set- 
ting its  laws  at  defiance  at  pleasure.  Is  not 
this  anarchy,  as  well  as  revolution  ?  Sir,  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States  was  received 
as  a  whole,  and  for  the  whole  country.  If  it 
cannot  stand  altogether,  it  cannot  stand  in 
P^rts ;  and,  if  the  laws  cannot  be  executed 
every  where,  they  cannot  long  be  e.>;ecuted  any 
",,  i'"'^'.  '^^^  gentleman  very  well  knows  that 
all  duties  and  imposts  must  be  uniform  through- 
out the  country.  He  knows  that  we  cannot 
nave  one  rule  or  one  law  for  South  Carolina, 
■M'-\  another  for  other  States.  He  must  see, 
tncrefore,  and  does  see— every  man  sees— that 
the  only  alternative  is  a  repeal  of  tho  laws 
tui^jughout  liie  wiioie  Union,  or  their  execution 
m  Carolina  as  well  as  elsewhere.  And  this  re- 
peal is  de'.anded,  because  a  single  State  inter- 
poses her  veto,  and  threatens  resistance  !    The 


result  of  tho  gentleman's  opinions,  or  rather  tho 
very  text  of  his  doctrine,  is,  that  no  act  of  Con- 
gress can  bind  all  the  States,  the  constitutionali- 
ty of  which  is  not  admitted  by  all ;  or,  in  other 
words,  that  no  single  State  is  bound,  against  its 
own  dissent,  by  a  law  of  imposts.    This  was 
precisely  the  evil  experienced  under  the  old 
confederation,  and  for  remedy  of  which  this 
cc.otitution  was  adopted.     The  leading  object 
in  establishing  this  government,  an  object  forced 
on  the  country  by  the  condition  of  the  times, 
and  the  absolute  necessity  of  the  law,  was  to 
give  to  Congress  power  to  lay  and  collect  im- 
posts without  the  consent  of  particular  States. 
The  revolutionary  debt  remained  unpaid;  the 
national  treasury  was  bankrupt;   the  country 
was  destitute  of  credit ;   Congress  issued  its 
requisitions  on  the  States,  and  the  States  neg- 
lected them ;  there  was  no  power  of  coercion 
but  war;   Congress  could  not  lay  imposts,  or 
other  taxes,  by  its  own  authority;  the  whole 
general  government,  therefore,  was  little  more 
than  a  name.     The  articles  of  confederation,  as 
to  purposes  of  revenue  and  finance,  were  nearly 
a  dead  letter.    The  country  sought  to  escape 
from  this  condition,  at  once  feeble  and  disgrace- 
ful, by  constituting  a  government  which  should 
have  power  of  itself  to  lay  duties  and  taxes,  and 
to  pay  the  public  debt,  and  provide  for  the  gen- 
eral welfare  ;  and  to  lay  these  duties  and  taxes 
in  all  the  States,  without  asking  the  consent 
of  the  State  goverments.      This  was  the  very 
power  on  which  the  new  constitution  was  to  de- 
pend for  all  its  ability  to  do  good ;  and,  without 
it,  it  can  be  no  government,  now  or  at  any  time. 
Yet,  sir,  it  is  precisely  against  this  power,  so 
absolutely  indispensable  to  the  very  being  of 
the  government,  that  South  Carolina  directs  her 
ordinance.     She  attacks  the  government  in  its 
authority  to  raise  revenue,  the  very  mainspring 
of  the  whole  system  ;  and,  if  she  succeed,  every 
movement  of  that  system  must  inevitably  cease. 
It  is  of  no  avail  that  she  declares  that  she  does 
not  resist  the  law  as  a  revenue  law,  but  as  a 
law  for  protecting  manufactures.    It  is  a  reve- 
nue law ;  it  is  the  very  law  by  force  of  which 
the  revenue  is  collected ;  if  it  be  arrested  in  any 
State,  the  revenue  ceases  in  that  State ;  it  is,  in 
a  word,  the  sole  reliance  of  the  government  for 
the  means  of  maintaining  itself  and  performing 
its  duties." 

Mr.  Webster  condensed  into  four  brief  and 
pointed  propositions  his  opinion  of  the  nature 
of  our  federal  government,  as  being  a  Union 
in  contradistinction  to  a  League,  and  as  acting 
upon  INDIVIDUALS  in  contradistinction  to  States, 
and  as  being,  in  these  features  discriminated 
from  the  old  confederation. 

"  1.  That  the  constitution  of  the  United  States 
is  not  a  league,  confederacy,  or  compact,  between 
the  people  of  the  several  States  in  their  sove- 
but  a  government   proper, 


reign    capacities  ; 


840 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


founded  on  the  adoption  of  the  people,  and 
creatinp  ilircct  relations  between  itself  and  in- 
dividuals. 

'•2.  That  no  State  authority  has  power  to  dis- 
solve these  relations  ;  that  nothing  can  dissolve 
them  but  revolution ;  and  that,  consequently, 
there  can  bo  no  such  thing  as  secession  without 
revolution. 

"  3,  That  there  is  a  supreme  law,  consisting 
of  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  acts  of 
Congress  passed  in  pursuance  of  it,  and  trea- 
ties ;  and  that,  in  cases  not  capable  of  assuming 
the  character  of  a  suit  in  law  or  equity,  Con- 
gress must  judge  of,  and  linally  intcrjiret,  this 
supreme  law,  so  often  as  it  has  occasion  to  pass 
acts  of  legislation  ;  and,  in  cases  capable  of  as- 
suming, and  actually  assuming,  the  character  of 
a  suit,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
is  the  final  interpreter. 

"4.  That  an  attempt  by  a  State  to  abrogate, 
annul,  or  nullify  an  act  of  Congress,  or  to  arrest 
its  operation  within  her  limits,  on  the  ground 
that,  in  her  opinion,  such  law  is  unconstitu- 
tional, is  a  direct  usurpation  on  the  just  powers 
of  the  general  government,  and  on  the  equal 
rights  of  other  States  ;  a  plain  violation  of  the 
constitution,  and  a  proceeding  essentially  revo- 
lutionary in  its  character  and  tendency." 

Mr.  Webster  concluded  his  speech,  an  elabo- 
rate and  able  one,  in  which  he  appeared  in  the 
high  character  of  patriot  still  more  than  that  of 
orator,  in  which  he  intimated  that  some  other 
ca\ise,  besides  the  alleged  one,  must  be  at  the 
bottom  of  this  desire  for  secession.  He  was 
explicit  that  the  world  could  hardly  believe  in 
such  a  reason,  and  that  we  ourselves  who  hear 
and  see  all  that  is  said  and  done,  could  not  be- 
lieve it.     He  concluded  thus  : 

"  Sir,  the  world  will  scarcely  believe  that  this 
whole  controversy,  and  all  the  desperate  mea- 
sures which  its  support  requires,  have  no  other 
foundation  than  a  difference  of  opinion,  upon  a 
provision  of  the  constitution,  bet  veen  a  majori- 
ty of  the  people  of  South  Carolina,  on  one  side, 
and  a  vast  majority  of  the  whole  people  of  the 
United  States  on  the  other.     It  will  not  credit 
the  fact,  it  will  not  admit  the  possibility,  that, 
in  an  enlightened  age,  in  a  free,  popular  repub- 
lic, under  a  government  where  the  people  gov- 
ern, as  they  must  always  govern,  under  such 
systems,  by  majorities,  at  a  time  of  unjirecc- 
dentcd  happiness,  without  practical  oppression, 
without  evils,  such  as  may  not  only  be  pretend- 
ed, but  felt  and  experienced  ;  evils  not  slight  or 
temporary,  but  deep,  permanent,  and  intolera- 
ble ;    a  single  State  should  rush  into  contiict 
with  all   the  rest,  attempt  to   put   down   the 
power  of  the  Uiiiuii  by  her  own  laws,  runl  to 
support  those  laws  by  her  military  power,  and 
thus  break  up  and  destroy  the   world's   Last 
hope.    And  well  the  world  may  be  incredulous. 


We,  who  hear  and  see  it,  can  ourselves  hardly 
yet  believe  it.  Even  after  all  that  had  pricta- 
ed  it,  this  ordinance  struck  the  country  with 
amazement.  It  was  incredible  and  inconceiva- 
ble, that  South  Carolina  should  thus  plini);e 
headlong  into  resistance  to  the  laws,  on  a  mat- 
ter of  opinion,  and  on  a  question  in  which  the 
preponderance  of  oj)inion,  both  of  the  pre.;cnt 
day  and  of  all  past  time,  was  so  overwhelming- 
ly against  her.  The  ordinance  declares  that 
Congress  has  exceeded  its  just  power,  by  laying 
duties  on  imports,  intended  for  the  prgtectiou 
of  manufactures.  This  is  the  opinion  of  South 
Carolina ;  and  on  the  strength  of  that  opinion 
she  nullities  the  laws.  Yet  has  the  rest  of  the 
country  no  right  to  its  opinions  also  ?  Is  one 
State  to  sit  sole  uibitress  ?  She  maintains  that 
those  laws  are  plain,  deliberate,  and  palpable 
violations  of  the  constitution ;  that  she  has  a 
sovereign  right  to  decide  this  matter ;  and,  that, 
having  so  decided,  she  is  authorized  to  resist 
their  execution,  by  her  own  sovereign  power; 
and  she  declares  that  she  will  resist  it,  though 
such  resistance  should  shatter  the  Union  iutu 
atoms." 

Mr.  Davis,  of  Massachusetts,  had  been  still 
more  explicit,  in   the  expression  of  the  belief 
already  given  (in  the  extract  from  his  speech 
contained  in  this  work),  that  the  discontent  in 
South  Carolina  had  a  root  deeper  than  that  of 
the  tariff;  and  General  Jackson  intimated  the 
same  thing  in  his  message  to  the  two  Houses  on 
the  South  Carolina  proceedings,  and  in  which 
he  alluded  to  the  ambitious  and  personal  feelings 
which  might  be  involved  in  them.    Certainly  it 
was  absolutely  incomprehensible  that  this  doc- 
trine of  nullification  and  secession,  prefigured  in 
the  Roman  secession  to  the  sacred  mount,  and 
the  Jewish  disruption  of  the  twelve  tribes,  should 
be  thus  enforced,  and  impressed,  '■  )!•  that  cause 
of  the  tariff  alone ;  when,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
intention  of  the  President,  the  Congress  and  the 
country  to  reduce  it,  Mr.  Calhoun  himself  had 
provided  for  its  reduction,  satisfactorily  to  him- 
self, in  the  act  called  a  "compromise;"  to  which 
he  was  a  full  contracting  party.  ,  It  was  impos- 
sible to  believe  in  the  soleness  of  that  reason,  in 
the  presence  of  circumstances  which  annulled  it ; 
and  Mr.  Calhoun  himself,  in  a  part  of  his  speech 
which  had  been  quoted,   seemed  to  reveal  a 
glimpse   of  two  others— slavery,  about  which 
there  was  at  that  time  no  agitation— and  the 
presidency,  to   which  patriotic  Southern  men 
could  not  be  elected.     The  glimpse  exhibited  of 
the  first  of  these  causes,  was  in  this  sentence : 
•'  The  contest  (between   the  North   and  the 
South)  will,  in  Jact.he  a  contest  betweeajmer 


ANNO  1838.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


m 


341 


and  lihertij,  and  such  he  consulrred  the  pre- 
senl;  o,  contest  in  which  the  -weaker  section, 
villi  its  peculiar  labor,  productions  and  situ- 
ation, has  at  stake  all  that  is  dear  tofreeinni." 
Hi  re  is  a  distinct  di-claration  that  there  was 
tlien  a  contest  between  the  two  sections  of  the 
Union,  and  that  that  contest  was  between  power 
and  liberty,  in  wliich  the  fix;edom  and  the  slave 
proi)crty  of  the  South  were  at  stake.     This  de- 
claration at  the  time  attracted  but  little  atten- 
tion, there  being  then  no  sign  of  a  .slavery 
npitation ;   but  to  close  obfiervcr.s  it  was  an 
ominous  revelation  of  something  to  come,  and  an 
apparent  laying  an  anchor-to  windward  for  a 
ui'W  agitation  on  a  new  subject,  after  the  tariff 
was  done  with.     The  second  intimation  which 
be  pave  out,  and  which  referred  to  the  exclusion 
of  the  patriotic  men  of  the  South  from  the  presi- 
dency was  in  this  sentence:  "  Everij  Souther// 
man.  (rue  to  the  interests  of  his  section,  and 
faithful  to  the  duties  which  Providence  has 
allotted  him,  will  be  forever  excluded  from  the 
honors  and  emoluments  of  this  government 
vhit'k  will  be  reserved  for  those  only  who  have 
fptalifwd  themselves,  by  political  prostitution. 
for  admission   into   the  Magdalen  asylum." 
This  was  bitter ;  and  while  revealing  his  own 
feelings  at  the  prospect  of  his  own  failure  for 
tiie  presidency  (which  from  the  brightness  of 
tlie  noon-day   dun  was  dimning  down  to  the 
obscurity  of  dark  night),  was,  at  the  same  time, 
unjust,  and  contradicted  by  all  history,  previous 
and  subsequent,  of  our  national  elections ;  and 
by  his  own  history  in  connection  with  them. 
The  North  had  supported  Southern  men  for 
President— a  long  succession  of  them— and  even 
twice  concurred  in  dropping  a  Northern  Presi- 
dent at  the  end  of  a  single  term,  and  taking  a 
Southern  in  his  place     He  himself  bad  had 
signal  proofs  of  good  will  from  the  North  in  his 
tivo  elections  to  the  vice-presidency ;  in  which 
he  had  been  better  .supported  in  the  North  than 
in  the  South,  getting  the  whole  party  vote  in 
the  former  while  losing  part  of  it  in  the  latter. 
It  was  evident  then,  that  the  protective  tariff 
was  not  the  sole,  or  the  main  cause  of  the  South 
Carolina  discontent ;  that  nullification  and  seces- 
sion were  to  continue,  though  their  ostensible 
ause  ceased;  that  resistance  was  to  continue  on 
a  new  ground;  upon  the  same  principle,  until  a 
new  and  impossible  point  was  attained.    This 
was  declared  by  Mr.  Calhoun  in  his  place,  on  the 


day  of  the  pa.sRapc  of  the  "  compromiso ''  bill, 
and  on  hearing  that  the  "  force  bill "  had  finallj 
passed  the  IFou.se  of  Representatives.  He  then 
stood  up,  and  spoke  thus : 

"  He  had  said,  that  as  far  as  this  subject  was 
conceiTicd,  he  believed  that  pe  ce  and  harmony 
would  follow.  But  there  is  another  connected 
with  it,  which  had  passed  this  House,  and  which 
had  just  been  reported  as  having  passed  the  other, 
which  would  prevent  the  return  of  quiet.  Ho 
considered  the  measure  to  which  he  referred  as 
a  virtual  repeal  of  the  constitution  ;  and,  in  fact, 
worse  than  a  positive  and  direct  repeal ;  as  it 
would  leave  the  majority  without  any  shackles 
on  its  power,  while  the  minority,  hoping  to  shel- 
ter it.self  under  its  protection,  and  having  still 
s.)me  respect  left  for  the  instrument,  wotdd  bo 
trammelled  without  being  protected  by  its  pro- 
visions. It  would  be  idle  to  attempt  to  disguise 
that  the  bill  will  be  a  practical  assertion  of  one 
theory  of  the  constitution  against  another — the 
theory  advocated  by  the  supporters  of  the  bill, 
that  ours  is  a  consolidated  government,  in  which 
the  States  have  no  rights,  and  in  which,  in  fact, 
they  bear  the  same  relation  to  the  whole  com- 
munity as  the  counties  do  to  the  States  ;  and 
against  that  view  of  the  constitution  which  con- 
siders it  as  a  compact  formed  by  the  States  as 
separate  communities,  and  binding  between  the 
States,  and  not  between  the  individual  citiz-is. 
No  man  of  candor,  who  admitted  that  our  con- 
stitution is  a  compact,  and  was  formed  and  is 
binding  in  the  manner  he  had  just  stated,  but 
must  acknowledge  that  this  bill  utterly  over- 
throws and  prostrates  the  constitution ;  an(J 
that  it  leaves  the  government  under  the  control 
of  the  will  of  an  absolute  majority. 

"  If  the  measure  be  acquiesced  in,  it  will  be 
the  termination  of  that  long  controversy  .which 
began  in  the  convention,  and  which  has  been 
continued  under  various  fortunes  until  the  pre- 
sent day.  But  it  ought  not — it  will  not — it 
cannot  be  acquiesced  in — unless  the  South  is 
dead  to  the  sense  of  her  liberty,  and  blind  to 
those  dangers  which  surround  and  menace  them  ; 
she  never  will  cease  resistance  until  the  act  is 
erased  from  the  statute  book.  To  suppose  that 
the  entire  power  of  the  Union  may  be  placed  in 
the  hands  of  this  government,  and  that  all  the 
various  interests  in  this  widely  extended  country 
may  be  safely  placed  under  the  will  of  an  un- 
checked majority,  is  the  extreme  of  folly  and 
madness.  The  result  would  be  inevitable,  that 
power  would  be  exclusively  centered  in  the 
dominant  interest  north  of  this  river,  and  that 
all  the  Gouth  of  it  would  be  held  a.s  subjected 
provinces,  to  be  C(jntrolled  for  the  exclusive 
benefit  of  the  stronger  section.  Such  a  state  of 
things  could  not  endure  ;  and  the  constitution 
and  liberty  of  the  country  would  fall  in  the  con- 
test, if  permitted  to  continue. 

"  lie  trusted  that  that  would  not  be  the  case, 
but  that  the  advocates  of  liberty  every  where, 


Hi 


342 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


&H  well  in  tilt'  Norlli  ax  in  the  South  ;  that  those 
who  maintiuned  the  doctrines  of  '1)8,  and  the 
sovereigntiea  of  the  States  ;  that  the  ri'publican 
party  throuf^houf  the  country  would  rally  against 
tiiis  attempt  to  establiHh,  by  law,  doctrines  which 
nnist  subvert  the  principles  on  wliich  free  insti- 
tutions could  be  maintained." 

Here  was  a  new  departure,  upon  a  new  |)oint, 
SIS  violent  as  the  former  complaint,  luuking  to 
the  same  remedy,  and  unfounded  and  impf  Ma.i^le. 
This  force  bill,  which  was  a  repeal  of  iliv  i<>n 
stitution,  in  the  eyes  of  Mr.  Cci!.'  nn  ^M  u 
mere  revival  of  formerly  exislin;.'  statutes,  and 
could  have  uo  operation,  if  resistaisi.  o  to  the  tariff 
laws  ceased.  Yet,  nullification  and  secession 
were  to  proceed  until  it  was  ci-afled  from  th.; 
statute  book;  and  all  the  morbid  views  of  the 
constitution,  and  of  the  Virginia  resolutions  of 
'98  and  '99,  were  to  hold  their  places  in  Mr.  Cal- 
houn's imagination,  and  dominate  his  conduct  in 
all  his  political  actuu.  until  this  statute  was 
erased.  But  it  is  due  to  many  of  his  friends 
and  followers,  to  say  that,  while  concurring  in 
his  complaints  a.Niiust  the  federal  government, 
and  in  his  remeuics,  they  dissented  from  his 
source  of  derivation  of  those  remedies.  lie 
fouT'd  them  in  the  constitution,  shown  to  be 
there  by  the  '98-'99  Virginia  resolutions ;  the 
manly  sense  of  McDuflQe,  and  some  others,  re- 
jected that  sophistry,  and  found  their  justifica- 
tion wholly  in  the  revolutionary  right  of  self- 
defence  from  intolerable  oppn   lion. 


CH  APT  Ell    LXXXV. 

SECEE""'  niSTOEYOF  THE  "COMPItOMI:  T'/'OF  IW". 

Mk.  Calhoun  and  Mr.  Clay  were  early,  and 
long,  riv.ll  aspirants  for  the  Presidency,  a, id  an- 
tagonistic leaders  in  opposite  political  t-ysteuis; 
and  the  coalition  between  them  in  18.33  was 
only  a  hollow  truce  (embittered  by  the  humilia- 
tions to  which  Mr.  Calhoun  was  subjected  in  the 
protective  features  of  the  "  compromise  ")  and 
only  kept  alive  for  a  few  years  by  their  mutual 
interest  with  respect  to  (leneral  Jackson  and  Mr. 
Van  Buren.  A.  rapture  was  foreseen  by  every 
observer ;  and  in  a  few  years  it  took  place,  and 
in  open  Senate,  and  in  a  way  to  give  the  key  to 
the  secret  motives  which  led  to  that  compromise. 


It  became  a  question  between  them  which  had 
the  upper  hand  of  the  other — in  their  own  lan- 
guage— V  lich  was  master  of  the  other— on  that 
occa.sion.  Mr.  Calhoun  declared  that  he  had 
Mr.  Clay  dov  i — had  him  on  his  back— was  his 
master.  Mr. «.  lay  retorted  :  lie  my  muMtir !  1 
would  not  own  him  for  the  meanest  of  my  b1,ivck. 
Of  course,  there  were  calls  to  order  about  tliai 
time;  but  the  question  of  mastery,  and  the 
c.u  OS  which  produced  the  pa.s.sage  of  the  act. 
were  still  points  of  contestation  between  thera! 
and  came  up  for  altercation  in  otlicr  forms.  .Mr 
Calhoun  claimed  a  contmling  inlluence  for  the 
military  attitude  of  Soutli  Carolina,  and  its  in- 
timidating etlcct  upon  the  federal  govcrnmcDl 
Mr.  Clay  '•ulioiiV  i  this  idea  of  intimidation,  ami 
sold  I '  i;  Utile  Do^s  luat  niM.  tcr  in  the  streets  witli 
their  tiny  wooden  swords,  had  as  well  pvctcnd 
to  terrify  the  grand  army  of  15on;ij)arte :  and 
afterwards  said  he  would  tell  how  it  Impiiened. 
which  was  thus:  His  friend  from  Delaware  (.Mr. 
John  M.  Clayton),  said  to  him  one  day— these 
South  Carolinians  act  very  badly,  l.ul  tliey  niv 
good  fellows,  and  it  is  a  pity  to  let  Jacksoii  hang 
them.  This  was  after  Mr.  Clay  had  brought  in 
Ills  bill,  and  while  it  lingered  without  the  hast 
apiKirent  chance  of  passing — paralyzed  by  the 
vehemei  t  opjiosition  of  the  nianufacturtrs;  and 
111  urged  Mr.  Clay  to  take  a  new  move  with  hi& 
bill — to  get  it  referred  to  a  committee — and  by 
them  got  into  a  shape  in  which  it  could  pa.s5. 
Mr.  Clay  did  so — had  the  refet  nee  made- a  i 
a  committee  appointed  suitul  'u  for  the  measuri. 
— some  of  strong  will  nd  earnest  for  the  bul, 
&vA  some  of  gentle  temperament,  incliiu  i  to  easy 
measures  on  hard  occasions.  Tlicy  were: 
Messrs.  'lay,  Calhoun,  Cla3lon,  Dallas,  Grundy. 
Rivo.«. 

Vh.     was  the  movement,  and  the  induci: 
cau  e  on  one  side :  now  for  the  cause  on  tlu 
other.    jNIr.  Letcher,  a  representative  from  Ken- 
tucky, was  the  first  to  conceive  an  idea  of  s'nic 
comprijmise  to  release  South  CaroUna  from 
position  ;    ami  commuuicatcd  it  to  Mr.  C! 
w'  o  received  it  at  fiist  coolly  antl  'loubtfuiii 
.\       -.var  '    beginning  to  oTitoptain  ilio  idea,  li 
m.      .on-      tt  to  Mr.  AVebsi    ,  wiio  repulsed '• 
ens   'cly,  tu/ing— "It  wouh-     .c  yieldiiig  gniit 
principles  u>  faction;  and  tl       tlie  time  had 
cmie  to  1   St  thestrengtli  of  th"      mstitutien 
and  the  government."     After  that  no  was  no 
more  consulted.    Mr.  Clay  drew  up  his  bill,  ami 


ANNO  188S.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  rUEHIDENT. 


343 


gent  it  to  Mr.  Calhoun  through  Mr.  Letcher— 
he  and  Mi"-  Ciilhoiin  not  being  on  sfjcaking  tennB. 
He  objected  decidedly  to  jHirts  of  the  hill ;  niul 
sal  1,  if  Mr.  Clay  knew  \uh  reaHons,  ho  certainly 
would  yield  the  objectionable  parts.  Mr.  liCtch- 
er  undertook  to  arrange  an  interview; — which 
was  effected — to  take  place  in  Mr.  ClayV  room. 
The  meeting  was  coM,  di  (ant  and  civil.  Mr. 
Clay  rose,  bowed  to  his  visitor,  and  asked  him 
toia'ai  a  seat.  Mr.  Letcher,  to  ndievc  tfio  em- 
barrassment, immediately  opened  the  business  of 
the  interview:  which  ended  without  results. 
Mr.  Clay  remained  inflexible,  saying  that  if  ho 
gave  up  the  parts  of  the  bill  objected  to,  it  could 
not  bo  passed;  and  that  it  would  be  better  to 
pivc  it  up  at  once.  In  the  mean  time  Mr.  Let- 
cher bad  8(1  n  the  President,  and  sounded  him 
on  the  subject  of  a  compromise :  the  President 
answered,  he  would  have  no  negotiation,  and 
would  execute  the  laws.  This  was  told  by  Mr. 
ktcherto  Air.  McDufBe,  to  go  to  Mi.  Calhoun. 
Soon  after,  Mr.  Letcher  found  himself  requ'  "d 
to  make  a  din  ft  communication  to  Mr.  Calh  ai. 
Mr,  Josiah  S.  Johnson,  .senator  from  Louisiana, 
came  to  his  room  hi ; '  <■  night,  after  he  hadgone  to 
bed— and!  ■  ''•rmedhauofwhat  ho  had  just  learnt: 
—which  was,  that  General  Jacksiin  would  ad- 
mit of  no  further  delay,  and  was  d  rmined  to 
lu.<o  at  once  a  decided  court^e  with  Jlr.  Calhoun 
(an  arre.'^t  and  trinl  for  high  treason  bein- 
under'-  toed).  '  ^i  fohnson  deemed  it  of  the 
utmost  moment  that  Mr,  Calhoun  should  be 
Instantly  earned  of  bis  danger;  and  urg'd  Mr. 
Letcbt  :i)and  iipprise  liim.  Ilewent— lound 
Mr.  hounin'  — w..  dmitted  to  him — in- 
formed lii'u.  ,va8  evid  ,itly  disturbed." 
Mr.  Letcher  and  Mr.  CI  >vere  in  constant  com- 
municiition  with  Mr.  t  layt<<n. 

\ftci  the  comiui;  toe  had  been  appointed,  Mr. 
Clayton  assembled  the  manufacturers,  for  with- 
out (Jieir  consent  nothing  could  bo  ih  ;  and 
in  tin  meeting  with  them  it  was  resolvi  d  to 
pass  the  bill,  provided  the  Southern  sc  la  .rs, 
in'  ludingthe  nuUificrs,  should  vote  both  iho 
an.endments  which  should  be  proii  cd,  '. 
the  passage  of  ( he  bill  itself— the  ami  uduients  b. 
ng  the  same  aierward.s  offered  in  the  Sdiatv 
by  Mr.  Clay,  and  ospeciallv  thelK>nio  vuhiuuon 
fciture.  When  these  an.^udments,  thus  agreed 
iiponli  the  fiionds  of  f  he  tariff,  were  pr(  'wdin 
the  committee,  they  were  voted  down ;  id  not 
uting  able  to  agree  upon  any  thing  the     1  was 


carried  back  to  the  senate  without  alteration. 
T^nt  Mr.  Clayton  did  not  give  up.  Moved  by  a 
'EC  of  concern  for  those  who  were  in  peril, 
ior  the  state  of  the  country,  and  for  the 
snr.-ty  of  the  protective  system  of  which  he  was 
the  decided  advoca*x>,  ho  determined  to  have  the 
same  amendments,  so  agreed  upon  by  the  friends 
of  the  tariff  and  rejected  by  the  committee, 
offered  in  the  Senate  ;  and,  to  help  Mr.  Clay  with 
the  manufacturers,  he  put  them  into  his  hand.'* 
to  bo  so  offered — notifying  Mr.  Calhoun  and 
Mr.  Clay  that  unless  the  amendraentK  were 
adopted,  and  that  by  the  Southern  vot'  ,  every 
nuUifler  inclusively,  that  the  bill  should  not 
I)ass — that  ho  himself  would  move  to  lay  it  on 
the  table.  His  reasons  for  making  the  nul- 
lification vote  a  Bine  qxia  non  both  on  the 
amendments  and  on  the  bill,  and  lor  them  all, 
separately  and  collectively,  was  to  cut  them  off 
from  pleading  their  unconstitutionality  after  they 
were  passed ;  and  to  make  the  authors  of  dis- 
turbance and  armed  resistance,  after  resistance, 
parties  upon  the  record  to  the  measures,  and 
every  part  of  the  measure.-!,  which  were  to  pacify 
them.  Unless  these  leaders  were  thus  bound, 
ho  looked  upon  any  pacification  as  a  liollow  triicoj 
to  bo  succeeded  by  some  new  di8turl)anco  in  a 
short  time;  and  therefore  he  was  peremptory 
with  both  Ma  Clay  and  Mr.  Calhoun,  denounc- 
ing the  sacrifice  of  the  bill  if  his  term.s  were  not 
complied  with ;  and  letting  them  know  that  he 
had  friends  enough  bound  to  his  support.  They 
wished  to  know  the  names  of  the  senators  who 
were  to  stand  by  him  in  this  extreme  course— 
which  he  refuFed  to  give ;  no  doubt  restrained 
by  an  injuncti  )n  of  secrecy,  there  being  many 
men  of  gentle  temperaments  who  are  unwilling 
to  commit  themselves  toamea.-me  until  they 
see  its  issue,  that  the  eclat  of  success  may  con- 
secrate what  the  gloom  of  defeat  would  damn. 
Being  inexorable  in  hi  '  hiiuis,  Mr.  Clay  and 
Mr.  Calhoun  agreed  to  the  ar  ments,  and  all 
voted  for  them,  one  by  om .  .  ir.  Clay  offered 
th(in,  until  i(  came  to  the  last — that  revolting 

(loasure  of  the  home  valuation.  As  soon  as  it 
was  proposed,  Mr.  Calhoun  and  his  friends  met 

t  with  vioif>!  oppo.sition,  declaring  it  to  be 
uncon.«titutioii:i  ind  an  in.surmountable  ob.stacle 
to  till .  OS  I  the  bill  if  put  into  it.  It  was 
then  late  i  the  day,  and  the  last  day  but  one 
<  the  so!^  ,  and  Mr.  Clayton  found  himself 
in  the  predi  amcnt  which  required  the  ezecu- 


;vf 


),.' 


i 


41 1« 


',  r 


>     .  « 


344 


THIUTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


tion  of  his  threat.  Ho  cxi  Hted  It,  and  moved 
to  lay  it  on  the  tablo.  with  the  decliirution  thut 
It  was  to  lie  there.  Mr.  CIny  went  to  him  nnd 
be80ti((ht  him  to  withdraw  tho  nut  ion;  but  in 
vain.  IIo  remained  inflexible;  and  tin- hill  then 
appeared  to  be  deiid.  In  *hi8  extremity,  the 
Calhoun  wing  retired  to  the  eolonnndo  behind 
the  Vice-l'resident'H  chair,  nnd  held  a  brief  con- 
•ultation  among  themHolvcs :  and  presently  Mr. 
Bibb,  of  Kentu.  ky,.camc  out,  and  went  to  Mr. 
Clayton  and  asked  him  to  withdraw  his  motion 
to  give  him  time  lo  eonsider  the  amendment. 
Seeing  this  sign  of  yielding,  Mr.  Clayton  "  ith- 
drew  his  motion — to  bo  renewed  if  the  :■.  iiend- 
ment  was  not  voted  for.  A  friend  of  the  parties 
immediately  moved  an  adjouniuicnt,  which  was 
carried ;  and  that  night's  reflections  biought 
them  to  the  conclusion  that  the  amendment 
must  be  [lassed  ;  but  still  ith  the  belief,  that, 
there  being  enough  to  pa.ss  it  without  him,  Mr. 
(Jalhoun  should  be  spared  the  humiliation  of 
appearing  on  the  record  in  its  favor.  This  was 
told  to  Mr.  Clayton,  who  declared  it  to  be  im- 
possible— that  Mr.  Calhoun's  vote  was  indis- 
pensable, as  nothing  would  be  considered  secured 
by  the  passage  of  the  bill  unless  his  vote  npj)enrvd 
for  every  amendment  separately,  am'  for  the 
vhole  bill  collectively.  AVhen  the  Senate  met, 
and  the  bill  was  taken  up,  it  was  still  unknown 
what  he  would  do  ;  but  his  friends  fell  in,  one 
after  the  other,  yielding  their  objections  upon 
different  grounds,  and  giving  their  assent  to  this 
most  flagrant  instance  (and  that  a  new  one),  of 
that  protective  legislation,  against  which  they 
were  then  raising  troops  in  South  Carolina !  and 
limiting  a  day,  and  that  a  short  one,  on  which 
she  was  to  be,  ipso  fuctn^  a  seceder  from  the 
Union.  Mr.  Calhoun  remained  to  the  last,  and 
only  rose  when  the  vote  was  ready  to  be  taken, 
and  prefaced  a  few  remarks  with  the  very  notable 
declaration  that  he  had  then  to  "  determine  " 
which  way  he  would  vote.  He  then  declared 
in  favor  of  the  amendment,  but  upon  conditions 
which  he  desired  the  reporters  to  note ;  and 
which  being  futile  in  themselves,  only  showed 
the  desperation  of  his  condition,  and  the  state 
of  impossibility  to  which  he  was  reduced.  Sev- 
eral .senators  let  him  know  immediately  the 
futility  of  his  conditions ;  and  without  saying 
more,  he-  voted  on  aye-  and  nw?  fe-r  tlie  amend- 
ment ;  and  afterwards  for  the  whole  bill.  And 
tiais  concluding  scene  appears  quite  correctly 


reported  In  the  authentic  debated.  And  thus 
the  question  of  mastery  in  this  famoin  "lotn- 
promise,"  mooted  in  the  Senate  by  Mr.  (.'lay  nnd 
Mr.  Calhoun  as  a  problem  U'tween  theniseiv,  h 
is  shown  by  the  inside  view  of  this  bit  oC  history 
to  Ijclong  to  neither  of  them,  but  to  Mr.  Jolm 
M.  Clayton,  under  the  instmmontality  of  (ion 
Jackson,  who,  in  the  presidential  election,  had 
unhorsed  Mr.  Clay  and  all  his  sy  tcnis  ;  nnd  in 
his  determination  to  execute  the  laws  upon  Mr, 
Calhoun,  had  left  him  without  reinwiy,  cxrcpt 
in  the  resource  of  this  "compromise."  li„)|, 
the  outside  history  of  this  measure  which  I  iiave 
compiled,  like  a  chronicler,  from  the  docium-ntarv 
materials.  Mr.  Calhoun  and  M  i .  ('lay  appeur  nt! 
master  spirits,  appeasing  the  storm  wliicn  they 
had  raised  ;  (ni  the  inside  view  they  apprir  as 
subaltern  agents  dominated  by  the  neccuMitJcs 
of  their  condition,  and  providing  for  themselves 
instead  of  their  country — Mr.  Clay,  in  saving 
the  protective  policy,  and  preserving  the  support 
of  the  manufacturers ;  and  Mr.  Calhoun,  in  sav- 
ing himself  from  the  perils  of  his  condition :  and 
both,  in  leaving  themselves  at  liberty  to  act  to- 
gether in  future  against  General  Jackson  and 
Mr.  Van  Buren. 


CHAPTER    LXXXri. 

COMI'KOMISK  LK(iISLATION;  AND  TIIK  ACT,  80 
CALLED,  OF  1833. 

This  is  a  species  of  legislation  which  wears  a 
misnomer — which  has  no  foundation  in  the  con- 
stitution— and  which  generally  begets  more  mis- 
chief than  it  assumes  to  prevent ;  and  which, 
nevertheless,  is  very  popular — the  name,  though 
fictitious,  being  generally  accepted  for  the  reali- 
I  ty.     There  are  compromises  in  the  constitution, 
j  foimded  upon  what  gives  them  validity,  namely, 
I  mutual  consent ;  and  they  are  sacred.    All  com- 
I  promises  are  agreements,  made  vohuu.uiiy  by 
I  independent  parties -not  imposed  by  one  upon 
!  another.     They  may  be  made  by  compact — not 
by  votes.     The  majority  cannot  subject  the  mi- 
nority to  its  will,  except  in  the  present  decision 
— cannot  bind  future  Congresses — cannot  claim 
any  sanctity  ff>r  tlu'ir  act-  K"y<Mv',  that,  which 
grows  out  of  the  circumstances  in  which  they 
originate,  and  which  address  themselves  to  the 


ANNO  1833.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  I'UESIDENT. 


345 


tup:  Af-T,  80 


n,nri»I  «'"!*  of  their  suocessora,  and  to  reoBons 

of  juslit'i;  or  iwlicy  whicli  kIiouUI  cxcni|it  nii  act 
from  tlic  inherent  fate  of  all  Icpislatiou.  The 
,ct  of  i  H20,  called  the  Missouri  Comptomise,  Ih 
Olio  of  tlie  n'O'**'  respectable  and  intelligihlo  of 
this  siK'cicn  of  legislation.  It  ciimposcd  a  na- 
tional controversy,  and  upon  a  consi'leralion. 
It  (liviilod  ;i  great  province,  and  about  equal- 
ly ktvveen  slaveholding  and  non-slaveholding 
States,  It  admitted  a  State  intu  the  Union ; 
(11  that  State  accepted  that  aduiission  uj)on  the 
umilition  of  fidelity  to  that  compromise.  Au<l 
k'ing  founded  in  the  material  operation  of  a  line 
drawn  upon  the  enrth  under  an  astronomical 
law  subject  to  no  change  and  open  to  all  obser- 

ition,  visible  and  tangible,  it  became  an  object 
susceptible  rf  certainty,  both  in  its  brencli  and 
in  its  observance.  That  act  is  entitled  to  re- 
spect, esiKJcially  fi-om  the  party  which  imposed 
it  upon  the  other  ;  and  has  been  respected  ;  for 
it  has  remiiined  inviolate  for  thirty  years — 
udther  siile  attempting  to  break  or  abolish  it — 
cnoh  having  the  advantage  of  it — and  receiving 
ii!l  the  while,  like  the  first  mo^na  charta,  many 
coutirruations  from  successivo  Congresses,  and 
fioin  State  legislatures. 

The  act  of  1833,  called  a  "  compromise,"  was 
a  breach  of  all  the  rules,  and  all  the  principles 
of  legislation — concocted  out  of  doors,  managed 
by  politicians  dominated  by  an  outside  ''.vercst 
—kept  a  secret — passed  by  a  majority  pledged 
to  its  support,  and  pledged  against  any  amend- 
ment except  from  its  managers ; — and  issuing 
from  the  conjunction  of  rival  politicians  who 
iiad  lately,  and  long,  been  in  the  most  violent 
sta»«  of  legislative  as  well  as  political  antago- 
iiim,  It  comprised  every  title  necessary  to 
Mamp  a  vicious  and  reprehensible  act — bad  in 
the  matter — foul  in  the  manner — full  of  abuse — 
4iid  carried  through  upon  the  terrors  of  some, 
Uie  interests  of  others,  the  political  calculations 
of  many,  and  the  dupery  of  more  ;  and  all  upon 
B  pica  which  was  an  outrage  upon  leprcsenta- 
tivc  government— upon  the  actual  government 
—and  upon  the  people  of  the  States.  That  plea 
was,  that  the  elections  (presidential  and  con- 
gressional), had  decided  the  fate  of  the  protec- 
tive system — hod  condemned  it — had  .sentence' 
it  to  death — and  charged  a  new  Congiess  with 
the  execution  of  the  sentence ;  and,  therefore, 
that  it  should  be  taken  out  of  the  hands  of  that 
new  Congress,  withdrawn  from  it  before  it  met 


— and  laid  away  for  nine  y?nrs  and  a  half  under 
the  sanction  of  a.  so  called,  compromi.sc — intan- 
gible to  the  people — safe  in  its  existcnco  during 
all  that  time  ;  and  trusting  to  the  chapter  of  ac- 
cidents, aii<l  the  skill  of  management,  for  its 
complete  restoration  at  the  end  of  the  term. 
This  was  an  outrage  upon  popular  representn- 
tion — an  estoppel  upon  the  popular  will — the 
arrest  of  a  judgment  which  the  people  had  given 
— the  r  .urpation  of  the  rights  of  ensuing  Con- 
gresses. It  was  the  concej)tion  of  some  rival 
politicians  who  had  lately  distracted  the  coun- 
try by  their  contention,  and  now  undertook  to 
compose  it  by  their  conjunction ;  and  having 
faijed  in  the  game  of  agitation,  threw  it  up  for 
the  game  of  pacification  ;  and,  in  this  new  char- 
acter, undertook  to  settle  and  regulate  the  af- 
fairs of  their  country  for  a  term  only  half  a  year 
less  than  the  duration  of  the  siege  of  Troy ;  and 
long  enough  to  cover  two  prcsidentir.!  elections. 
This  was  a  bold  pretension.  Rome  had  existed 
above  five  hundi  ;d  years,  and  citizens  had  be- 
come masters  of  armies,  and  the  people  humbled 
to  the  cry  of  panem  el  circennea — bread  and 
the  circus — before  two  or  three  rivals  could  go 
together  in  a  corner,  and  arrange  the  afliiirs  of 
the  lepublic  for  five  years :  now  this  was  done 
among  us  for  double  that  time,  and  in  the  forty- 
fourth  year  of  our  age,  and  by  citizens  neither 
of  whom  had  headed,  though  one  had  raised,  an 
army.  And  now  how  could  this  be  effected, 
and  in  a  country  so  vast  and  intelligent  ?  I 
answer :  The  inside  view  which  I  have  given  of 
the  transaction  explains  it.  It  was  an  operation 
upon  the  best,  as  well  as  upon  the  worst  feelings 
of  our  nature — upon  the  patriotic  alarms  of 
many,  the  political  calculations  of  others,  the 
interested  schemes  of  more,  and  the  proclivity 
of  multitudes  to  be  deceived.  Some  political 
rivals  finding  tariff  no  longer  available  for  po- 
litical elevation,  either  in  its  attack  or  defence ; 
and.  Ii  )m  a  ladder  to  climb  on,  become  a  stum- 
bling-block to  fall  over,  and  a  pit  to  fall  into, 
agree  to  lay  it  aside  for  the  term  of  two  presi- 
dential elections  ;  upon  the  pretext  of  quieting 
the  countiy  which  they  had  boon  disturbing; 
but  in  reality  to  get  the  cfippled  hobby  out  of 
the  way,  and  act  in  concert  against  an  old  foe 
in  power,  and  a  new  adversary,  latelj'^  sui)posed 
to  have  been  killed  off,  but  now  appearing  high 
in  the  political  firmament,  and  verging  to  its  ze- 
nith.   That  new  adversary  was  Mr.  Van  Buren, 


¥ 

m 

"\ 

5.^ 

hi 

346 


THIRTY  YEARS*  VIEW. 


just  elected  Vice-President,  and  in  the  line  of 
old  precedents  for  the  presidency ;  and  the  main 
object  to  be  able  to  work  against  him,  and  for 
themselves,  with  preservation  to  the  tariff,  and 
extrication  of  Mr,  Calhoun.  The  masses  were 
alarmed  at  the  cry  of  civil  war,  concerted  and 
spread  for  the  purpose  of  alarm ;  and  therefore 
ready  to  hail  any  scheme  of  deliverance  from 
that  calamity.  The  manufacturers  saw  their 
advantage  in  saving  their  high  protecting  duties 
from  immediate  reduction.  The  friends  of  Mr. 
Clay  believed  that  the  title  of  pacificator,  which 
he  was  to  earn,  would  win  for  him  a  return  of 
the  glory  of  the  Missouri  compromise.  Mr. 
Calhoun's  friends  saw,  for  him,  in  any  arrange- 
ment, a  release  from  his  untenable  and  perilous 
position.  Members  of  gentle  temperaments  in 
both  Houses,  saw  relief  in  middle  courses,  and 
felt  safety  in  the  very  word  "  compromise,"  no 
matter  how  fictitious  and  ItiUacious.  The  friends 
of  Mr.  Van  Buren  saw  his  advantage  at  getting 
the  tariff  out  of  his  way  aho  ;  and  General 
Jackson  felt  a  positive  relief  in  being  spared 
the  dire  necessity  of  enforcing  t)ie  laws  by  the 
sword  and  by  criminal  prosecutions.  All  these 
parties  united  to  pass  the  act ;  and  after  it  was 
passed,  to  praise  it ;  and  so  it  passed  easily,  and 
was  ushered  into  life  in  the  midst  of  thundering 
applause.  Only  a  few  of  the  well-known  sena- 
tors voted  against  it — Jlr.  AVcbster,  Mr.  Dick- 
erson,  General  Samuel  Smith,  lie.  Benton. 

My  objections  to  this  bill,  and  its  mode  of 
being  passed,  were  deep  and  abiding,  and  went 
far  beyond  its  own  obnoxious  provisions,  and  all 
the  transient  and  temporary  considerations  con- 
nected with  it.  As  a  friend  tu  popular  repre- 
sentative government,  I  could  not  see,  without 
insurmountable  repugnance,  two  citizens  set 
themselves  up  for  a  power  in  the  State,  and 
undertake  to  regulate,  by  their  private  agree- 
ment (to  be  invested  with  the  forms  of  law), 
the  public  aflair.s  I'or  years  to  come.  I  admit  no 
man  to  stand  for  a  power  in  our  country,  and  to 
assume  to  be  able  to  save  the  Union.  Its  safety 
does  not  depend  upon  the  bargains  of  any  two 
men.  Its  safety  is  in  its  own  constitution — in 
its  laws — and  in  the  affections  of  the  people ; 
and  all  that  is  wanted  in  public  men  is  to  ad- 
minister the  constitution  in  its  integrity,  and  to 
enforce  thft  laws  withnnt  fear  or  affection.  A 
compromise  made  with  a  State  in  arms,  is  a 
capitulation  to  that  State ;  and  in  this  light,  Mr. 


Calhoun  constantly  presented  the  act  of  IBS'*  • 
and  if  it  had  emanated  from  the  government  hu 
would  have  been  right  in  his  fact,  and  in  his 
inductions ;  and  all  discontented  States  would 
have  been  justified,  so  far  as  successful  precedent 
was  concerned,  in  all  future  interpositions  of  lU 
fiat  to  arrest  the  action  of  the  federal  govern- 
ment. But  it  did  not  emanate  from  the  govern- 
ment. It  (the  government)  was  proceedina 
wisely,  justly,  constitutionally  in  settling  with 
South  Carolina,  by  removing  the  cause  of  lior 
real  grievance,  and  by  enforcing  the  laws  against 
their  violators.  It  (the  constituted  government) 
was  proceeding  regularly  in  this  way,  TJth  a 
prospect  of  a  successful  issue  at  the  actual  ses- 
sion, and  a  certainty  of  it  at  the  next  one,  wiicn 
the  whole  subject  was  taken  out  of  its  hands  by 
an  arrangement  between  a  few  membeis.  The 
injury  was  great  then,  and  of  permanent  evil 
example.  It  remitted  the  government  to  the 
condition  of  the  old  confederation,  acting  upon 
sovereignties  instead  of  individuals.  It  violated 
the  feature  of  our  Union  which  discriminated  it 
from  all  confederacies  which  ever  existed,  and 
which  was  wisely  and  patriotically  put  into  the 
constitution  to  save  it  from  the  fate  which  had 
attended  all  confederacies,  ancient  and  modern. 
All  these  previous  confederacies  in  their  general. 
or  collective  capacity,  acted  upon  communities, 
and  met  organized  resistance  as  often  as  they 
decreed  any  thing  disagreeable  to  oneof  its  strong 
members.  This  opposition  could  only  be  sub- 
dued by  force  ;  and  the  application  of  force  has 
always  brought  on  civil  war ;  which  has  ended 
in  the  destruction  of  the  confederacy.  Tiio 
framers  of  our  constitutional  Union  knew  all 
this,  and  had  =een  the  danger  of  it  in  history, 
and  felt  the  d-mger  of  it  in  our  confederation ; 
and  therefore  established  a  Union  instead  of  a 
Leaguk — to  be  sovereign  and  independent  within 
its  sphere,  acting  upon  persons  through  its  own 
laws  and  courts,  instead  of  acting  on  couinnini- 
ties  through  persuasion  or  force.  It  was  the 
crowning  wisdom  of  the  new  constitution ;  and 
the  effect  of  this  compromise  legislalion,  was  to 
destroy  that  great  leature  of  our  Union— to  bring 
the  general  and  State  governments  into  contlict 
— and  to  substitute  a  sovereign  State  fev  an  of- 
fending individual  as  often  as  a  State  c\\  o  to 
make  the  cause  f>f  thsit  individual  her  own.  A 
State  cannot  commit  treason,  but  a  citizen  cnn, 
and  that  against  the  laws  of  the  United  States ; 


ANNO  1833.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


347 


and  60  if  a  citizen  commits  treason  against  the 
United  States  he  may  (if  this  interposition  be 
admitted),  m  shielded  by  a  State.  Our  whole 
frame  of  government  is  unhinged  when  the 
federal  government  shifts  from  its  foundation, 
aud  goes  to  acting  upon  States  instead  of  indi- 
viduals; and,  therefore,  the  "compromise,"  as 
it  was  called,  with  South  Carolina  in  1833  was 
in  violation  of  the  great  Union  principle  of  our 
government — remitting  it  to  the  imbecility  of 
the  old  confederation,  giving  inducement  of  the 
Xasiiville  convention  of  the  present  year  (1850) ; 
and  which  has  only  to  he  followed  up  to  see  the 
States  of  this  Union,  like  those  of  the  Mexican 
republic,  issuing  their  proiiunciamientos  at 
every  discontent ;  and  bringing  the  general 
government  to  a  fight,  or  a  capitulation,  as 
often  as  they  please. 

I  omit  all  consideration  of  the  minor  vices  of 
the  act— great  and  flagrant  in  themselves,  but 
subordinate  in  comparison  to  the  mischiefs  done 
to  the  frame  of  our  government.  At  any  other 
time  these  vices  of  matter,  and  manner,  would 
have  been  crushing  to  a  bill.  No  bill  containing 
a  tithe  of  the  vices,  crowded  into  this  one,  could 
ever  have  got  through  Congress  before.  The 
overthrow  of  the  old  revenue  principle,  that 
duties  were  to  be  levied  on  luxuries,  and  not  on 
necessaries — substitution  of  universal  ad  valo- 
rms  to  the  exclusion  of  all  specific  duties — the 
substitution  of  the  home  for  the  foreign  valuation 
—the  abolition  of  all  discrimination  upon  articles 
in  the  imposition  of  duties — the  preposterous 
stipulation  against  protection,  wh:''  giving  pro- 
tection, and  even  in  new  and  unheard  of  forms ; 
ail  these  were  flagrant  vices  of  the  bill,  no  one 
of  which  could  ever  have  been  carried  through 
in  a  bill  before ;  and  which  perished  in  this  one 
before  they  arrived  at  their  period  of  operation. 
The  year  1842  was  to  have  been  the  jubilee  of 
all  these  inventions,  and  set  them  all  off  in  their 
career  of  usefulness  ;  but  that  year  saw  all  these 
line  anticipations  fail !  saw  the  high  protective 
policy  re-established,  more  burthensome  than 
ever;  but  of  this  hereafter.  Then  the  vices  in 
the  passage  of  the  bill,  being  a  political,  not  a 
i'gislative  action — dominated  by  an  outside  in- 
terest of  manufacturers — and  openly  carried  in 
the  Senate  by  a  douceur  to  some  men,  not  in 
■Kendal  Green,"  but  Kendal  cotton.  Yet  it 
was  received  by  the  country  as  a  deliverance, 
f  nd  the  ostensible  authors  of  it  greeted  as  public 


benefactors ;  and  their  work  declared  by  legis- 
latures to  be  sacred  and  inviolab'e,  and  every 
citizen  doomed  to  political  outlawry  that  did  not 
give  in  his  adhesion,  and  bind  himself  to  the 
perpetuity  of  the  act.  I  was  one  of  those  who 
refused  this  adhesion — who  continued  to  speak 
of  the  act  as  I  thought — and  who,  in  a  few  years, 
saw  it  sink  into  neglect  and  oblivion — die  with- 
out the  solace  of  pity  or  sorrow — and  go  into 
the  grave  without  mourners  or  witnesses,  or  a 
stone  to  mark  the  place  of  its  interment. 


CHAPTER    LXXXVII. 

VIEGINIA  RESOLUTIONS  OF  '98-'99-DISA BUSED  OF 
THEIU  SOUTH  CAROLINA  INTERPRETATlON-1. 
UPON  THEIR  OWN  WORDS— 2.  UPON  CONTEM 
POR/VNEOUS  INTERPRETATION. 

Thk  debate  in  the  Senate,  in  1830,  on  Jlr.  Foot's 
resolutions,  has  been  regarded  as  the  dawn  of 
those  ideas  which,  three  years  later,  under  the 
name  of  "  nullification,"  but  with  the  chr ractev 
and  bearing  the  seeds  of  disorganization  and 
civil  war,,  agitated  and  endangered  tlie  Union. 
In  that  debate,  Mr.  Hayne,  as  heretofore  stated, 
quoted  the  third  clause  ol  the  Virginia  resolu- 
tions of  1798,  as  the  extent  of  the  doctrines  he 
intended  to  avow.  Though  Mr.  Webster,  at  the 
time,  gave  a  dift'erent  and  more  portentous  in- 
terpretation to  Mr.  Hayne's  course  of  argument, 
I  did  not  believe  that  Mr.  Hayne  purposed  to  use 
those  resolutious  to  any  other  effect  than  that 
intended  by  their  authors  and  adopters ;  and 
they,  I  well  knew,  never  supposed  any  right  in 
a  State  of  the  Union,  of  its  own  motion,  to  annul 
an  act  of  Congress,  or  resist  its  operation.  Soon 
after  the  discussion  of  1830,  however,  nullifica- 
tion assumed  its  name,  with  a  clear  annunciation 
of  its  purpose,  namely,  to  maintain  an  inherent 
right  in  a  State  to  aninil  the  acts  of  the  federal 
government,  and  resist  iheir  operation,  in  any 
casein  which  the  State  might  judge  an  act  of 
Congress  to  exceed  the  limits  of  the  constitution. 
And  to  support  thi-  disorganizing  doctrine,  the 
resolutions  of  1798,  were  boldly  and  persever- 
ingly  appealed  to,  and  attempted  to  be  wrested 
from  their  real  intent.  Nor  is  this  effort  yet 
abandoned ;  nor  can  we  expect  it  to  be  whilst 
nullification  still  exists,  cither  avowed  or  covert. 


rn 


f 


yi"i 


348 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


The  illustrious  authorship  of  the  Resolutions  of 
1798;  the  character  and  reputation  of  the  legis- 
lators who  adopted  them ;  their  general  accept- 
ance by  the  republican  party  ;  the  influence 
they  exercised,  not  only  on  questions  of  the  day, 
but  on  the  fate  of  parties,  and  in  shaping  the 
government  itself,  all  combine  to  give  them  im- 
portance, and  a  high  place  in  public  esteem  ;  and 
would  go  far  to  persuade  the  country  that  nulli- 
fication was  right,  if  tliey  were  nullification.  In 
connection,  therefore,  with  the  period  and  events 
in  which  nullification  had  its  rise,  the  necessity 
is  imposed  of  an  examination  into  the  scope  and 
objects  of  those  resolutions ;  and  the  same  rea- 
sons that  have  made,  and  make,  the  partisans 
of  nullification  so  urgent  to  identify  their  fal- 
lacies with  the  resolutions,  must  make  every 
patriot  solicitoiis  for  the  vimUcation  of  them  and 
their  author  and  adopters  from  any  such  affinity. 
Fortunately,  the  material  is  at  hand,  and 
abundant.  The  resolutions  are  vindicated  on 
their  cext  alone ;  and  contemporaneous  authen- 
tic interpretation,  and  the  reiterated,  earnest — 
even  indignant — disclaimers  of  the  illustrious 
author  himself,  utterly  repudiate  the  intent 
that  nullification  attempts  to  impute  to  them. 
I  propose,  therefore,  to  treat  them  in  these  three 
aspects : 

I.  Vindicated  on  their  text. 

The  clause  of  the  resolutions,  chiefly  relied  on 
as  countenancing  nullification,  is  the  third  reso- 
lution of  the  series,  and  is  as  follows : 

"  That  this  assembly  doth  explicitly  and  per- 
emptorily declare  that  it  views  the  powers  of  the 
federal  government,  as  resulting  from  the  com- 
pact, to  which  the  States  are  parties,  a«  limited 
by  the  plain  sense  and  intention  of  the  instru- 
ment constituting  that  compact ;  and  that,  in 
case  of  a  deliberate,  palpable,  and  dangerous  ex- 
ercise of  other  powers  not  granted  by  the  said 
compact,  the  States,  who  are  the  parties  thereto, 
have  the  right,  and  are  in  duty  bound,  to  inter- 
pose for  arrestinj:;  the  progress  of  the  evil,  and 
for  maintaining,  within  their  resjiective  limits, 
the  authorities,  rights,  and  liberties  appertaining 
to  them." 

The  right  and  duty  of  interposition  is  cer- 
tainly here  claimed  for  the  States,  in  case  of  a 
"dcliKTate,  palpable,  and  dangerous  assumption 
of  powers,  by  the  federal  government ; "  but, 
looking  alone  to  the  words  of  the  text,  it  is  an 
unreasonable  inference,  that  forcible  or  nullify- 
ing interposition  is  meant.    The  word  does  not 


import  resistance,  but  rather  the  contrary  •  and 
can  only  be  understood  in  a  hostile  sense  when 
the  connection  in  which  it  is  used  necessarilv 
implies  force.  Such  is  not  the  case  in  this  reso- 
lution ;  and  no  one  has  a  right  to  suppose  that 
if  its  authors  had  intended  to  assert  a  principle 
of  such  transcendent  importance,  as  th\t  the 
States  were  severally  possessed  of  the  right  lo 
annul  an  act  of  Congress,  and  resist  its  execu- 
tion, they  would  not  have  used  words  to  declare 
that  meaning  explicitly,  or,  that  they  would  in- 
timate ccortly  a  doctrine  they  dared  not  avow. 

The  constitution  itself  suggests  several  modes 
of  interposition,  competent  for  either  the  States 
or  the  people.  It  provides  for  the  election  (by 
a  mixed  system,  popular  and  State),  at  brief  in- 
tervals, of  all  the  functionaries  of  the  federal 
government ;  and  hence,  the  interposition  of  the 
will  of  the  States  and  people  to  effect  a  chan"e 
of  rulers ;  hence,  of  policy.  It  provides  that 
freedom  of  speech  and  the  press,  shall  not  be 
abridged,  which  is  equivalent  to  a  provision  that 
those  powerful  means  be  perpetually  interposed 
to  affect  the  public  conscience  and  sentiment— 
to  counsel  and  alarm  the  public  servants ;  to 
influence  public  policy — to  restrain  and  remedy 
government  abuses.  It  recognizes  the  right, 
and  provides  that  it  shall  not  be  abridged,  of  the 
people  "  to  assemble  and  petition  the  govern- 
ment for  the  redress  of  grievances ; "  hence,  con- 
templating that  there  may  be  grievances  on  the 
part  of  the  goveinment,  and  rsuggosting  a  means 
of  meeting  and  overcoming  them.  Finally,  it 
provides  that,  on  the  application  of  a  designated 
proportion  of  the  States,  Congress  shall  cause  a 
convention  to  be  called,  to  provide,  in  the  con- 
stitution itself  should  it  be  judged  necessary, 
additional  securities  to  the  States  and  the  peo- 
ple, and  additional  restraints  on  the  govern- 
ment. 

To  act  on  the  sentiments  of  the  country, 
then ;  to  bring  to  their  aid  the  potent  engines: 
of  the  press  and  public  harangues  ;  to  move 
the  people  to  petition  and  remonstrance  ag.iinst 
the  obnoxious  measures  ;  to  draw  the  attention 
of  other  States  to  the  abuses  complained  of,  and 
to  the  latitudinous  construction  the  fiideral  au- 
thorities were  giving  to  their  powers  ;  and  thus 
bring  those  States,  in  like  manner,  to  act  on 
their  .senators  and  representatives,  and  on  the 
public  voice,  so  as  to  produce  an  immediate 
remedy,  or  to  co- operate  in  calling  a  conveution 


ANNO  1833.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESmENT. 


349 


gues  ;   to  move 


to  provide  further  securities— one  or  both ;  these 
alone  are  the  modes  of  "  interposition  "  the  Vir- 
einia  resoUitions  of  1798  contemplated  ;  all  they 
professed ;  all  they  attempted ;  all  that  the  re- 
solutions, or  their  history,  warrant  to  L:;  im- 
puted to  them.  These  modes  of  interposition 
are  all  consistent  with  peace  and  order ;  with 
obedience  to  the  laws,  and  respect  to  the  law- 
ful authorities ;  the  very  means,  as  was  well 
argued  by  the  supporters  of  the  resolutions, 
to  prevent  civil  strife,  insubordination,  or  revo- 
lution ;  in  all  respects,  the  antipodes  of  nulli- 
fication. 

To  enlarge  somewhat   on  the  force  of  the 
words  of  the  resolutions :  The  right  and  duty 
of  "the  States"  to  interpose,  certainly  does  not 
mean  the  right  of  "a  State"  to  nullify  and  set  at 
nought.    The  States— less  than  the  whole  num- 
ber—have a  right  to  interpose,  secured,  as  al- 
ready shown,  in  the  constitution ;  and  this,  not 
only  persuasively,  but  peremptorily ;  to  compel 
the  action  they  may  desire ;  and  it  is  demon- 
strable, that  it  was  this  constitutional  provision 
that  the  Virginia  legislature  had  in  mind,  as  a 
last  resort.    The  resolutions  do  not  speak  any 
where  of  the  right  of  a  State ;  but  use  the  plural 
number,  States.     Virginia  exercises  the  right 
that  pertains  to  a  State— all  the  right  that,  in 
the  premises,  she  pretends  to — m  passing  the 
resolutions,  declaring  her  views,  and  inviting  the 
like  action  of  her  co-States.    Instead,  therefore, 
of  the  resolutions  being  identical  with  nullifi- 
cation, the  two  doctrines  are  not  merely  hostile, 
but  exactly  opposites ;  the  sum  of  the  Virginia 
doctrine  being,  that  it  belongs  to  a  State  to 
take,  as  Virginia  does  in  this  instance,  the  initia- 
tive in  impeaching  any  objectionable  action  of 
the  federal  government,  and  to  ask  her  co-States 
to  co-operate  in  procuring  the  repeal  of  a  kw 
a  change  of  policy,  or  an  amendment  of  the 
constitution — according  as  one  or  tin^  other,  or 
a'l,  may  be  required  to  remedy  the  evil  com- 
plained of;  whcrca,s,  nullification  claims,  that  a 
single  Sate  may,  of  its  own  motion,  nullify  any 
act  of  the  federal  government  it  objects  to,  and 
stay  its  operation,  until  three  fourths  of  all  the 
States  come  to  the  aid  of  the  national  authority, 
and  re-enact  the  nullified  measure.   One  submits 
to  the  law,  till  a  majority  repeal  it,  or  a  conven- 
tion provides  a  constittitional  remedy  for  it ;  the 
other  undertakes  to  annul  tin  law,  and  P"spcnd 
its  operation,  so  long  as  three  fourths  of  the 


States  are  not  brought  into  active  co-operation 
to  declare  it  valid.  The  resolutions  maintain 
the  government  in  all  its  functions,  only  seeking 
to  call  into  use  the  particular  function  of  repeal 
or  amendment:  nullification  would  stop  the 
functions  of  government,  and  arrest  laws  indefi- 
nitely ;  and  is  incapable  of  being  brought  to  ac- 
tual experiment,  in  a  single  instance,  without  a 
subversion  of  authority,  or  civil  war.  To  this 
essential,  radical,  antagonistic  degree  do  the  Vir- 
ginia resolutions  and  the  doctrine  of  nullification 
difier,  one  from  the  other ;  and  thus  unjustly 
are  the  Virginia  republicans,  of  1798,  accused  of 
planting  the  seeds  of  dissolution — a  "  deadly 
poison,"  as  Mr.  Madison,  himself,  emphatically 
calls  the  doctrine  of  nullification — in  the  insti- 
tutions they  had  so  labored  to  construct. 

II.  Upon  their  contemporaneous  interpreta- 
tion. 
The  contemporaneous  construction  of  the  reso- 
lutions is  found  in  the  debates  on  their  adoption ; 
in  the  responses  to  them  of  other  State  legisla- 
tures ;  and  in  the  confirmatory  report  prepared 
by  the  same  author,  and  adopted  by  the  Virginia 
general  assembly,  in  January,  1800 ;  and  by  the 
conduct  of  the  State,  m  the  case  of  Cullender. 
And  it  is  remarkable  (when  we  consider  the 
uses  to  which  the  resolutions  have  subsequently 
been  turned),  that,  while  the  friends  of  the  reso- 
lutions nowhere  claim  more  than  a  declaratory 
right  for  the  legislature,  and  deny  all  idea  of 
force  or  resistance,  their  adversaries,  in  the  heat 
of  debate,  nor  the  States  which  manifested  the 
utmost  bitterness  in  their  responses,  have  not 
attributed  to  the  resolutions  any  doctrine  like 
that  of  nullification.  Both  in  the  debates  and 
in  the  State  responses,  the  opponents  of  the  re- 
solutions dniiounce  them  as  inflamatory,  and 
''tcnding"toproduce  insubordination,  and  what- 
ever othtr  evil  coidd  then  be  thought  of,  con- 
cerning them ;  but  no  one  attributes  to  them 
the  absurdity  of  claiming  for  the  State  a  right 
to  arrest,  of  its  own  motion,  the  operation  of  the 
acts  of  Congrcfs. 

The  principal  speakers,  in  the  Virginia  legisla- 
ture, in  opposition  to  the  resolutions,  wore: 
Mr.  George  Keitli  Taylor,  Mr.  Magiil,  Mr.  Brooke, 
Mr.  Cowan,  Gen.  Henry  Lee,  and  Mr.  Cureton. 
Nearly  the  whole  debate  turned,  not  on  the  ab- 
I  stract  propriety  or  expediency  oi"  su(;h  resoiu- 
I  tions,  on  the  question  whether  the  acts  of  Con- 


350 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


gress,  which  were  specially  complained  of,  were, 
in  fact,  unconstitutional.  It  was  admitted,  in- 
deed, hy  Gen.  Lee,  who  spoke  elaborately  and 
argumentatively  against  the  resolutions,  that,  if 
the  acts  were  unconstitutional,  it  was  "  proper 
to  interfere ; "  but  the  extreme  notions  of  the 
powers  of  the  federal  government  that  then 
prevailed  in  the  federal  party,  led  them  to  rcn- 
tend  that  those  powers  extended  to  the  acts  in 
question,  though,  at  this  day,  they  are  univer- 
sally acknowledged  to  be  out  of  the  pale  of  fede- 
ral legislation.  Beyond  the  discussion  of  this 
point,  and  one  or  two  others  not  pertinent  to 
the  present  matter,  the  speakers  dwelt  only  on 
the  supposed  "tendency"  of  such  declarations 
to  excite  the  people  to  insubordination  and  non- 
submission  to  the  law. 

Mr.  George  K.  Taylor  complained  at  the  com- 
mencement of  his  speech,  that  the  resolutions 
■'  contained  a  declaration,  not  of  opinion,  but  of 
fact ; "  and  he  apprehended  that  "  the  conse- 
quences of  pursuing  the  advice  of  the  resolutions 
Avould  be  insurrection,  confusion,  and  anarchy ;  " 
but  the  legal  effect  and  character  that  he  at- 
tributed to  the  resolutions,  is  shown  in  his 
concluding  sentence,  as  follows : 

"  The  members  of  that  Congress  which  had 
passed  those  lav  s,  had  been,  so  far  p,s  he  could 
understand,  since  gcnerall}^  re-elected  ;  therefore 
he  thoutrht  the  people  of  t'le  United  States  had 
decided  in  favor  of  their  constitutionality,  and 
that  such  an  attempt  as  they  were  then  making 
to  induce  Congress  to  repeal  the  laws  would 
be  nugatory." 

Mr.  Brooke  thought  resolutions  "declaring 
laws  which  had  been  made  bj'^  the  government 
of  the  United  States  to  be  unconstitutional,  ntiU 
and  void,"  were  "  dangerous  and  iii  proper ; " 
that  thej  had  a  "  tendency  to  inflonie  the  pub- 
lic mind  ;  "  to  lessen  the  confidence  that  ought 
to  subsist  between  the  representatives  of  the 
people  in  the  general  governmp  ■  and  their 
constituents;  and  to  "sap  the  ^c'j'  foundations 
of  the  government,  by  producing  resistance  to 
its  laws."  But  that  he  did  not  apprehend  the 
resolutions  to  bo,  or  to  intend,  any  thing  beyond 
an  exprci-sion  of  sentiment,  is  evident  froni  liis 
further  declaration,  that  he  was  opposed  to  the 
resolutions,  and  equally  opposed  to  any  modifi- 
cation of  them,  that  should  be  "  intended  as  an 
expression  of  the  general  sentiment  on  liie  sui)- 
ject,  because  he  conceived  't  to  be  an  improper 


mode  by  which  to  express  the  wishes  of  th 
people  of  the  State  on  the  subject." 

General  Lee  thought  the  alien  and  seditioa 
laws  "  not  unconstitutional ;  "  but  if  they  werp 
unconstitutional  he  "  admitted  the  right  of  jn- 
terposition  on  the  part  of  the  general  assembly '' 
But  he  thought  these  resolutions  showec'  "  jn- 
decorum  and  hostility,"  and  were  "not  tie 
likeliest  way  to  obtain  a  repeal  of  the  laws.'' 
He  "  suspected,"  in  fact,  that  "  the  repeal  of  the 
laws  was  not  the  leading  point  in  view "  but 
that  they  •'  covered  "  the  objects  of  "  promotion 
of  disunion  and  separation  of  the  States."  The 
resolutions  "struck  him  as  recommending  resist- 
ance. They  declared  the  laws  null  and  void. 
Our  citizens  thus  thinking  would  disobey  the 
laws."  His  plan  would  be,  if  he  thought  the 
laws  unconstitutional,  to  let  the  people  petition, 
or  that  the  legislature  come  forward  at  once 
"  with  a  proposition  for  amending  the  doubtful 
parts  of  the  constitution  ; "  or  with  a  "  respectful 
or  friendly  memorial,  urging  Congress  to  repeal 
the  laws."  But  he  •'  admitted  ■'  the  only  right 
which  the  resolutions  assert  for  the  State 
namely,  the  right  "  to  interpose."  The  remarks 
of  the  other  opponents  to  the  resolutions  were 
to  the  same  effect. 

On  behalf  of  the  resolutions,  the  principal 
speakers  were,  Mr.  John  Taylor,  of  Caroline, 
who  had  introduced  them,  Mr.  Ruffin,  Jlr.  Mer- 
cer^ Mr.  Pope,  Mr.  Foushec,  Mr.  Daniel,  Mr. 
Peter  Johnston,  Mr.  Giles,  Mr.  James  Barbour. 

Thej'  obviated  the  objection  of  the  speakers 
on  the  other  side,  that  the  resolutions  "  contained 
a  declaration,  not  of  opinion,  but  of  fact,"  by 
striking  out  the  words  which,  in  the  original 
draft,  declared  the  acts  in  question  to  be  "  null, 
void,  and  of  no  force  or  effect ; "  so  as  to  make 
it  manifest,  as  the  advocates  of  the  resolutions 
maintained,  that  they  intended  nothing  beyond 
an  expression  of  sentiment.  They  obviated 
another  objection  which  appeared  in  the  original 
draft,  which  asserted  the  States  alone  to  be  the 
jtarties  to  the  constitution,  by  striking  out  the 
word  "alone."  They  thoroughly  and  succes.sful- 
ly  combated  both  the  "surpicion"  that  they  hid 
any  ulteri(jr  object  of  dissension  or  disunion,  and 
the  "apprehension"  that  the  resolutions  would 
encourage  insubordination  among  the  people. 
They  acceded  to  and  affirmed,  that  their  object 
was  to  obtain  a  repeal  of  the  oireujivo  nica-surcs.. 
that  the  resolutions  might  ultimately  lead  to  a 


ANNO  1833.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


351 


convention  for  amending  the  constitution,  and 
that  they  were  intended  both  to  express  and  to 
affect  public  opinion ;  but  nothing  more. 
Says  Mr.  Taylor,  of  Caroline : 

•'  If  Congi'ess  should,  as  was  certainly  possible, 
Icislate  unconstitutionally,  it  was  evident  that 
in'^theory  they  have  done  wrong,  and  it  only 
remained  to  consider  whether  the  constitution 
is  so  defective  as  to  have  established  limitations 
and  reserA'ations,  without  the  means  of  enforcing 
them,  in  a  mode  by  which  they  could  bo  made 
practically  useful.  Suppose  a  clashing  of  opin- 
ion should  exist  between  Congress  and  the 
StAtcs,  respecting  the  true  limits  of  their  consti- 
tutional territories,  it  was  easy  to  see,  that  if 
tlie  rijrht  of  decision  had  been  vested  in  either 
party,  that  party,  deciding  in  the  spirit  of  party, 
would  inevitably  have  swallowed  up  the  other. 
The  constitution  must  not  only  have  foreseen 
the  possibility  of  such  a  clashing,  but  also  the 
consequence  of  a  preference  on  either  side  as 
to  its  construction.  And  out  of  this  foresight 
imift  have  arisen  the  fifth  article,  by  which  two 
thirds  of  Congress  may  call  upon  the  States  for 
an  explanation  of  any  such  controversy  as  the 
present ;  and  thus  correct  an  erroneous  construc- 
tion of  its  own  acts  by  a  minority  of  the  States, 
whilst  t'vo  thirds  of  the  States  are  also  allowed 
to  compel  Congress  to  call  a  convention,  in 
case  so  many  should  think  an  amendment  neces- 
sary for  the  purpose  of  checking  the  unconsti- 

tutonal  acts  of  that  body Congress 

is  the  creature  of  the  States  and  the  iieople  •,  but 
neither  the  States  nor  the  people  are  the  creatures 
of  Congress.  It  would  be  eminently  absurd, 
that  tiie  creature  should  exclusivelj'-  construe 
the  instrument  of  its  own  existence ;  and  there- 
fore this  construction  was  reserved  indiscrimi- 
nately to  one  or  the  other  of  those  powers,  of 
which  Congress  was  the  joint  work ;  namely, 
to  tlie  people  whenever  a  convention  was  re- 
sorted to,  or  to  the  States  whenever  the  operation 
should  be  carried  on  oy  three  fourths." 

"  Mr.  Taylor  then  proceeded  to  apply  thete 
observations  to  the  threats  of  war,  and  the 
apprehension  of  civil  commotion, '  towards  which 
the  resolutions  were  said  to  have  iv  tendency.' 
Are  the  republicans,  said  he,  possessed  of  fleets 
and  armies  1  If  not,  to  what  could  they  appeal 
for  delence  and  support  ?  To  nothing,  except 
iniblic  opii.'  •.  If  that  should  be  against  them, 
they  must  dd;  if  for  them,  did  gentlemen 
:nean  to  sa>,  that  public  will  should  be  assailed 
by  force?  ....  And  against  a  State 
which  was  pursuing  the  only  pc'ssiblo  and  or- 
dinary mode  of  ascertaining  the  cpiLhcu  of  two 
third?  of  the  States,  by  declaiiug  its  own  and 
asking  theirs  ?  " 

"  He  observed  that  the  rosolu  iop.s  had  been  ob- 
jected to,  as  fouched  in  language  too  strong  and 
offensive  ;  whilst  it  had  also  beevi  said  on  the  same 
fide,  that  if  the  laws  were  unconstitutional,  the 
people  ought  to  %  to  arms  and  resist  them.    To 


this  he  replied  that  ho  was  not  surpri  ;ed  to  hear 
the  enemies  of  the  resolutions  recommending 
measures  which  were  either  feeble  or  rash.  Tim- 
idity only  served  to  invite  a  repetition  of  injury, 
whilst  an  unconstitutional  resort  to  arms  would 
not  only  justly  exasperate  all  good  men.  but 
invite  those  who  differed  from  the  friends  of  the 
resolutions  to  the  same  appeal,  and  produce  u 
civil  war.  Hence,  those  who  wished  to  preserve 
the  peace,  as  well  as  the  constitution,  had  re- 
jected both  alternatives,  and  chosen  the  middle 
way.  They  had  uttered  what  they  conceived  to 
be  truth,  and  they  had  pursued  a  system  which 
was  only  an  appeal  to  public  opinion  ;  because 
that  appeal  was  warranted  by  the  constitution 
and  by  principle." 

Mr.  Mercer,  in  reply  to  :Mr.  G.  K.  Taylor, 

said : 

"  The  gentleman  from  Prince  George  had  told 
the  committee  that  the  resolutions  were  cal- 
culated to  rouse  the  people  to  resistance,  to 
excite  the  people  of  Virginia  against  the  federal 
government.  Mr.  fiercer  did  not  see  how 
such  consecjuences  could  result  from  their  adop- 
tion. They  contained  nothing  more  than  the 
sentiment  which  the  people  in  many  parts  of 
the  State  had  expressed,  and  which  had  been 
conveyed  to  the  legislature  in  their  memorials 
and  resolutions  then  lying  on  the  table.  He 
would  venture  to  say  that  an  attention  to  the 
resolutions  from  the  committee  would  prove 
that  the  qualities  attempted  to  be  attached  to 
them  by  the  gentleman  could  not  be  found." 

"  The  right  of  the  State  government  to  inter- 
fere in  the  manner  proposed  by  the  resolutions, 
Mr.  Mercer  cnn tended  was  clear  to  his  mind. 

I'he   State  believed  some   of  its 

rights  had  been  invaded  by  the  late  acts  of  the 
general  government,  and  proposed  a  remedy 
whereby  to  obtain  a  repeal  of  them.  The  plan 
contained  in  the  resolutions  appeared  to  Mr. 
Mercer  the  most  advisable.     Force   was   not 

thought  of  by  any  one The  States 

were  equally  concerned,  as  their  rights  had 
been  equally  invaded ;  and  nothing  seemed  more 
likely  to  produce  a  temper  in  Congress  for  5 
repeal." 

"The  objroi,  (of  the  friends  of  the  resolutions), 
in  addiessing  the  States,  is  to  obtain  a  similar 
dechiratio'.i  of  opinion,  with  respect  to  several 
late  acts  of  the  general  government,  .... 
and  thereby  to  obtain  a  lepeal." 

Mr.  Barbour,  likewise,  in  reply  to  Mr.  G.  K. 
Taylor,  said : 

"  The  gentleman  from  Prince  George  had  re- 
marked that  those  resolutions  invited  the  people 
to  insurrection  and  to  arms;  but,  if  he  could 
conceive  that  the  consequences  foretold  would 
grow  nut  nf  tb.e  measure,  ho  would  licoine  its 
bitterest  enemy."  .....  The  resolutions 
were  "  addressed,  not  to  the  people  but  to  the 


mm 


» ,1,. 


fur 


L-f 


352 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


sister  States ;  praying,  in  a  pacific  way,  tlieir 
co-operation,  in  arresting  the  tendency  and  eft'cct 
of  unconstitutional  laws. 

"  For  bis  part,  he  w  as  for  using  no  violence. 
It  was  the  peculiar  blessing  of  tlie  American 
people  to  have  redress  within  their  reach,  by 
constitutional  and  peaceful  means." 

On  the  same  point,  Mr.  Daniel  spoke  as  fol- 
lows : 

"  If  the  other  States  think,  with  this,  that  the 
laws  are  unconstitutional,  tho  laws  will  be  re- 
pealed, and  the  constitutional  question  will  be 
settled  by  this  declaration  of  a  majority  of  the 

States." "  If,  on  the  contrary,  a 

sufficient  majority  of  the  Stfites  should  declare 
their  opinion,  that  the  constitution  gave  Con- 
gress authority  to  pass  these  laws,  the  constitu- 
tional question  would  still  be  settled;  but  an 
attempt  might  be  made  so  to  amend  the  consti- 
tution as  to  take  from  Congress  this  authority." 

And,  finally,  Mr.  Taylor  of  Caroline,  in  clos- 
ing the  debate,  and  in  explanation  of  his  former 
remarks  in  respect  to  calling  a  convention,  said : 

"  He  would  explain,  in  a  few  words,  what  he 
had  before  said.  That  the  plan  proposed  by  the 
resolutions  would  not  eventuate  in  war,  but 
might  in  a  convention.  He  did  not  admit,  or 
contemplate,  that  a  convention  would  be  called. 
He  only  said,  that  if  Congress,  upon  being  ad- 
dressed to  have  these  laws  repealed,  should  per- 
sist, they  might,  by  a  concurrence  of  three 
fourths  of  the  States,  be  compelled  to  call  a  con- 
vention." 

It  is  seen,  then,  by  these  extracts,  that  the 
opposers  of  the  resolutions  did  not  charge  upon 
them,  nor  their  supporters  in  any  manner  con- 
tend for,  any  principle  hke  that  of  nullification ; 
that,  on  the  contrary,  the  supporters  of  the  re- 
solutions, so  far  from  the  cbsurd  proposition 
that  each  State  could,  for  itself,  annul  the  acts 
of  Congress,  and  to  i'.  ^  extent  stop  the  opera- 
tion of  the  federal  gov'.-ument,  they  did  not  re- 
cognize that  power  in  a  majority  of  the  States, 
nor  even  in  all  the  States  together,  by  a;, yextra- 
conatiUitional  combination  or  process,  or  to  an- 
nul a  law  otherwise  than  through  the  prescribed 
forms  of  legislative  repeal,  or  coi^stitutional 
amendment. 

The  resolutions  were,  however,  vigorously 
r.s.sailed  by  the  federal  party  throughout  the 
Union,  especially  in  the  responses  of  several  of 
the  States ;  and  at  the  ensuing  session  of  the 
Viiginia  legislature,  those  State  responses  were 
sent  to  a  committee,  who  made  an  elaborate  ex- 
amination of  tho  resolutions,  and  of  the  objec- 


tions that  had  been  made  to  them,  concludinif 
by  a  justification  of  them  in  all  particulars 
and  reiterating  their  declarations.  Tiiis  th'- 
port  was  adopted  by  tho  general  ussenil)lv 
and  is  a  part  of  the  contemporaneous  and  au- 
thentic interpretation  of  the  resolutions.  The 
report  says : 

"  A  declaration  that  proceedings  of  the  federal 
government  arc  not  warranted  by  the  constitu- 
tion, is  a  novelty  neither  among  the  citizens 
nor  among  the  legislatures  of  the  States.  ' 

"  Nor  can  the  declarations  of  either,  whether 
affirming  or  denying  the  constitutionality  of 
measures  of  the  federal  government,  or  whether 
made  before  or  after  judicial  decisions  tlicreon 
be  deemed,  in  any  point  of  view,  an  usswrnii. 
tion  of  the  oflfice  of  judge.  The  declaration.^, 
in  such  cases,  are  expressions  of  opinion,  unac- 
companied by  any  other  effect  than  what  thcv 
may  produce  on  opinion,  by  exciting  reflection. 
The  expositions  of  the  judiciary,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  carried  into  immediate  effect  by  force." 

Again:  "In  the  example  given  by  the  State, 
of  declaring  the  alien  and  sedition  acts  to  be 
unconstitutional,  and  of  communicating  the  dec- 
laration to  other  States,  no  trace  of  improper 
means  has  appeared.  And  if  the  other  Stute.^ 
had  concurred  in  making  a  like  declaration,  sui> 
ported  too,  by  the  numerous  applications  flow- 
ing immediately  from  the  people,  it  can  scarcely 
be  doubted,  that  these  simple  means  would 
h,ave  been  as  sufficient,  as  they  are  imcxcep- 
tionable. 

"  It  is  no  less  certain  that  other  means  might 
have  been  employed,  which  are  strictly  within 
the  limits  of  the  constitution.  The  lcgii;lature,>; 
of  the  States  might  have  made  a  d:'  "^t  represen- 
tation to  Congress,  with  a  view  to  obtain  a  re- 
scinding of  the  two  offensive  acts  ;  or  tliej- 
might  have  represented  to  their  respective  sena- 
tors in  Congress  their  wish,  that  two-think 
thereof  would  propose  an  explanatory  amend- 
ment to  the  constitution  ;  or  two-thirds  of 
themselves,  if  such  had  been  their  option,  might, 
by  an  application  to  Congress,  have  obtained  a 
convention  for  the  same  object. 

"  These  several  means,  thougii  not  equally 
eligible  in  themselves,  nor  probalily  to  tho 
States,  were  all  constitutionally  open  for  con- 
sideration. And  if  the  general  as.<enibly,  after 
declaring  the  two  acts  to  be  uncon.  titulional. 
the  first  and  most  obvious  proceeding  on  the 
subject,  did  not  undertake  to  point  ou!^  to  the 
other  States  a  choice  among  the  farther  mea- 
sures that  might  become  necessary  and  pinper, 
the  resource  will  not  be  misconstrued  by  liberal 
minds  into  any  culpable  imputation." 

These  extracts  are  vah  s.ble,  not  only  for 
their  positive  testimony  that  the  Ues. ' 'tion.s 
of  1798,  nor  their  authors,  had  ever  contem- 
plated such  a  doctrine  a.s  Nullificatiou ;  but 


ANNO  1833.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRE«<TDENT. 


353 


also  for  their  precise  definition  and  enumera- 
tion of  t)ie    powers   which,  in  the   premises, 
were  really  claimed  for  the  States,  by  the  State 
Bjirhts  Republicans  of  that  day.    They  are  all 
distinctly  laid  down : 

1.  By  a  solemn  declaration  of  opinion,  calcu- 
lated to  operate  on  the  public  sentiment,  and  to 
induce  the  co-operation  of  other  States  in  hkc 
declarations. 

2.  To  make  a  direct  representation  to  Con- 
gress, will,  n,  view  to  obtain  a  repeal  of  the  acts 
complained  of. 

3.  To  represent  to  their  respective  senators 
their  wish  that  two-thirds  thereof  would  pfo- 
pose  an  explanatory  amendment  to  the  consti- 
tution. 

4.  By  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  the 
States  to  cause  Congress  to  call  a  convention 
for  the  same  object. 

These  arc  the  entire  list  of  the  remedial 
powers  su.spected,  by  the  Resolutions  of  1798, 
and  their  author  and  adopters,  to  exist  in  the 
States  with  reference  to  federal  enactments. 
Their  variant  character  from  the  peremptory 
arrest  of  acts  of  Congress  proposed  by  nullifica- 
tion, is  well  illustrated  in  the  comparison  made 
Id  the  report  between  expressions  of  opinion 
like  those  of  the  resolutions,  and  the  compul- 
sory operation  of  a  judicial  process.  Supposing, 
says  the  report,  "  that  it  belongs  to  the  judicia- 
ry of  the  United  States,  an  '.  i.ot  the  State  legis- 
latures, to  declare  the  mcann  :  •  ,'  the  federal 
constitution,"  yet  the  declaration^  either  of  a 
State,  or  the  people,  "  whether  aiBrming  or  de- 
nying the  constitutionality  of  measures  of  the 
federal  government,  or  whether  made  before  r»r 
after  judicial  decisions  thereon,"  cannot  "be 
deemed  in  any  point  of  view  an  assumption  of 
the  office  of  the  judge  ;"  because,  "  the  (declara- 
tions in  such  cases  are  expressions  of  opinions 
unaccompanied  with  any  other  effect  than 
what  they  may  prodace  on  opinion,  by  excit- 
ing reflection  ; " — whereas,  "  the  cxposition.s  of 
the  judiciary  are  carried  into  immediate  cfTect 
by  force." 

The  Republicans  who  adopted  the  Resolu- 
tions of  1798,  never  contemplated  carrying  their 
expositions  into  effect  bj'  force ;  never  contemplat- 
ed imparting  to  them  the  'iharacter  of  deci^'ous, 
or  decrees,  or  the  legal  determination  of  a  ques- 
tion ;  or  of  arresting  by  means  of  them  the  ope- 
ration of  the  acts  they  condemned.    The  worst 

Vol.  I.— 23 


the  enemies  of  the  resolutions  undertook  to  say 
of  them,  was  that  they  we're  intemperate,  and 
might  mislead  the  people  into  disobedience  of 
the  laws.  This  was  successfully  combated  ; 
but  had  it  been  true — had  the  authors  of  the 
resolutions  even  intended  any  thing  so  base,  it 
would  still  have  been  nothing  comparable  to 
the  crime  of  State  nullification ;  of  placing  tho 
State  itself  in  hostile  array  to  the  federal  gov- 
ernment. Insubordination  of  individuals  may 
usually  be  overcome  by  ordinary  judicial  pro- 
cess, or  by  the  posae  of  the  county  where  it  oc- 
curs ;  or  even  if  so  extensive  as  to  require  the 
peace-officers  to  be  aided  by  the  military,  it  is 
still  but  a  matter  of  police,  and  in  our  country 
cannot  endanger  the  existence  of  the  govern- 
ment. But  the  array  of  a  State  of  the  Union 
against  the  federal  authority,  is  war — a  war  be- 
tween powers — both  sovereign  in  their  respec- 
tive spheres — and  that  could  only  terminate  in 
tho  destruction  of  the  one,  or  the  subjugation 
and  abasement  of  the  other. 

But  neither  the  one  or  the  other  of  these  crimes 
was  contemplated  by  the  authors  of  the  Resolu- 
tions of  1798.  The  remedies  they  claimed  a 
right  to  exercise  are  all  pointed  out  in  the  con- 
stitution itself ;  capable  of  application  without 
disturbing  the  processes  of  the  law,  or  suggesting 
an  idea  of  insubordination;  remediL'S  capable  of 
saving  the  liberties  of  the  people  and  the  rights 
of  the  States,  and  bringing  back  the  federal  gov- 
ernment to  its  constitutional  track,  without  a 
jar  or  a  check  to  its  maclnncry ;  runedies  felt 
to  be  sufficient,  and  by  crowning  experience 
soovf  j,;*.(V<?n  to  be  so.  It  is  due  to  *hc  memory 
of  those  mji'  and  those  times  that  their  acts 
^h  iMd  no  Vmgcr  be  misconstrued  to  cover  a 
do  J-.ri  3e  synonymous  with  disorganization  and 
ci  r  ,var.  The  conduct  both  of  the  government, 
and  the  people,  on  t!''^  occasion  of  these  resolu- 
tions, show  how  far  they  were  from  any  nulUfy- 
ing  or  insubordinate  intention ;  and  this  fur- 
nishes us  with  another  convincing  proof  of  the 
contemporaneous  interpretation  of  the  resolu- 
tions. So  far  (as  Mr.  Madison  justly  says,)* 
was  the  State  of  Virginia  from  countenancing  the 
nullifjnng  doctrine,  that  the  vHieasion  was  viewed 
as  a  proper  one  for  exemplifying  its  devotion  to 
public  order,  and  acquiescence  in  laws  which  it 
deemed  unconsstitutional,  while  those  laws  wtit) 
noi  repealed.    The  ianguago  r,f  tire  Oovernor  of 

•  Selections  from  tlio  corrwip*  tiilonce  of  Madison,  i .  380. 


,'5 


'4 1 


•if . 


"4 'I 


-  i     ' 


354 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


tho  State  (Jlr.  James  Monroe),  in  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Madison,  in  May  and  June  of  1800,  will  attest 
tho  pr'nciples  and  feelings  which  dictated  the 
course  pursued  on  tho  occasion,  and  whether  the 
people  understood  the  resolutions  in  any  inflam- 
matory or  vicious  sense. 

On  tho  15th  May,  1800,  Governor  Jlonroe 
wi'ites  to  Mr.  Madison  as  follows : 

"  Besides,  I  think  there  is  cause  to  suspect  the 
sedition  law  will  be  carried  into  effect  in  this 
State  at  the  approaching  federal  court,  and  I 
ought  to  be  there  (Richmond)  to  aid  in  prevent- 
ing trouble I  think  it  possible  an  idea 

may  be  entertained  of  opposition,  and  by  means 
whereof  the  fair  prospect  of  the  republican  party 
may  be  overcast.  But  in  this  they  are  deceived, 
as  certain  characters  in  llichmond  and  some 
neighboring  counties  are  already  warned  of 
their  danger,  so  that  an  attempt  to  excite  a  hot- 
water  insurrection  will  fail." 

And  on  the  4th  of  June,  1800,  he  wrote  again, 
as  follows : 

"  The  conduct  of  the  people  on  this  occasion 
was  exemplary,  and  does  them  the  highest 
honor.  They  seemed  aware  that  the  crisis  de- 
manded of  them  a  proof  of  their  respect  for  law 
and  order,  and  resolved  to  show  tliey  were  equal 
to  it.  I  am  satisfied  a  different  conduct  was  ex- 
pected from  them,  for  every  thing  that  could 
was  done  to  provoke  it.  It  only  remains  that 
this  business  be  closed  on  the  part  of  the  people, 
as  it  has  been  so  far  acted;  that  the  judge,  after 
finishing  his  career,  go  off"  in  peace,  without  ex- 
periencing the  slightest  insult  from  any  one; 
and  that  this  will  be  the  case  I  have  no  doubt." 

Governor  Monroe  was  correct  in  tho  supposi- 
tion that  the  sedition  law  would  be  carried  into 
cfifect,  at  the  approaching  session  of  the  federal 
court,  and  he  was  also  right  in  the  anticipation 
that  the  people  would  know  how  to  distinguish 
between  the  exercise  of  means  to  procure  the 
repeal  of  an  act,  and  the  exercise  of  violence  to 
stop  its  operation.  The  act  was  enforced ;  was 
"  carried  into  effect  "  in  their  midst,  and  a  fel- 
low-citizen incarcerated  under  its  odious  pro- 
visions, without  a  suggestion  of  official  or  other 
interference.  Thus  we  have  the  contemporane- 
ous interpretation  of  the  resolutions  exemplified 
and  set  at  rest,  by  the  most  powerful  of  argu- 
ments: by  the  impressive  fact,  that  when  the 
public  indignation  was  at  its  height,  subseqtient 
to  the  resolutions  of  1798,  and  subsequent  to  the 
report  of  "J9,  and  wlien  both  had  >s(-c??  univer- 
sally disseminated  and  read,  and  they  had  had, 
with  the  debates  upon  them,  their  entire  influ-  j 


encc  on  tho  public  mind  ;  that  at  that  moment 
the  act  of  Congress  against  which  the  resolutions 
were  chiefly  aimed,  and  the  indignation  of  the 
community  chiefly  kindled,  was  then  and  there 
carried  into  execution,  and  that  in  a  form— the 
unjust  deprivation  of  a  citizen  of  his  liberty— 
the  most  obnoxious  to  a  free  people,  and  the  most 
likely  to  rouse  their  opposition ;  yet  quietly  aii''. 
peaceably  done,  by  the  simple,  ordinary  proccsR 
of  the  federal  court.  This  fact,  so  creditable  to 
the  people  of  Virginia,  is  thus  noted  in  the  an- 
nual message  of  Governor  Monroe,  to  the  gene- 
ral assembly,  at  their  next  meeting,  December 
1800: 

"In connection  with  this  subject  [of  tho  reso- 
lutions] it  is  proper  to  add,  that,  since  your  la?t 
session,  the  sedition  law,  one  of  the  acts  com- 
plained of,  has  been  carried  into  effect  in  this 
commonwealth  by  the  decision  of  a  federal  court. 
I  notice  this  event,  not  with  a  view  of  ccnsurini' 
or  criticising  it.  The  transaction  has  gone  to 
the  world,  and  the  impartial  will  judge  of  it  as 
it  deserves.  I  notice  it  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
marking that  the  decision  was  executed  with  the 
same  order  and  tranquil  submission  on  the  part 
of  the  people,  as  could  have  been  shown  by  them 
on  a  similar  occasion,  to  any  the  most  necessary 
constitutional  and  popoular  acts  of  the  govern- 
ment." 

Governor  Monroe  then  adds  his  oiScial  and 
personal  testimony  to  the  proper  intent  and 
character  of  the  proceedings  of  '98,  '9,  as  follows : 

"  The  general  assembly  and  the  good  people 
of  this  commonwealth  have  acquitted  themselves 
to  their  own  consciences,  and  to  their  brethren 
in  America,  in  support  of  a  cause  which  tliey 
deem  a  national  one,  by  the  stand  which  they 
made,  and  the  sentiments  they  expressed  of 
these  acts  of  the  general  government ;  but  they 
have  looked  for  a  change  in  that  respect,  to  a 
change  in  the  public  opinion,  which  ought  to  be 
free ;  not  to  measures  of  violence,  discord  and 
disunion,  which  they  abhor." 


CHAPTER    LXXXVIII. 

VIEGINIA  RESOLUTIONS  OF  ITOSr-DISAnUSED  OP 
NULLIFICATION,  BY  TIIEIK  AUTHOli, 

Vindicated  upon  their  words,  and  upon  con- 
temporaneous interpretation,  another  vindica- 
tion, superfluous  in  point  of  proof,  but  due  to 
those  whose  work  has  been  perverted,  awaits 
these  resolutions,  Jeri\ed  from  the  words  of 


ANNO  1888.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


355 


their  author  (after  seeing  their  perversion) ;  and 
to  absolve  himself  and  hia  associates  from  the 
criniinnl  absurdity  attributed  to  them. 

The  contemporary  opponents  of  the  Resolu- 
tions of  1708  said  all  the  evil  of  them,  and  re- 
presented them  in  every  ocfious  light,  that  per- 
severing, keen  and  cnlightend  opposition  could 
discover  or  imagine.  Their  defenders  success- 
fully repelled  the  charges  then  made  against 
them;  but  could  not  vindicate  them  '  .-i  intend- 
ing the  modern  doctrine  of  Nulliflcatio;;,  because 
that  doctrine  had  not  then  been  invented,  and 
the  ingenuity  of  their  adversaries  did  not  conceive 
of  that  ground  of  attack.  Their  venerable  au- 
thor however — the  illustrious  Madison* — was 
still  alive,  when  this  new  perversion  of  his  reso- 
lutions had  been  invented,  and  when  they  were 
quoted  to  sustain  doctrines  synonymous  with 
disorganization  and  disunion.  He  was  still  alive, 
in  retirement  on  his  farm.  His  modesty  and 
sense  of  propriety  hindered  him  from  carrying 
the  prestige  and  influence  of  his  name  into  the  i 
politics  of  the  day  ;  but  his  vigorous  mind  still 
watched  with  anxious  and  patriotic  interest  the 
current  of  public  affairs,  and  recoiled  with  in- 
stinctive horror  both  from  the  doctrine  and  at- 
tempted practice  of  Nullification,  and  the  attempt- 
ed connection  of  his  name  and  acts  with  the  ori- 
gination of  it.  He  held  aloof  from  the  public 
contest ;  but  his  sentiments  were  no  secret.  His 
private  correspondence,  embracing  in  its  range 
distinguished  men  of  all  sections  of  the  Union 
and  of  all  parties,  was  full  of  the  subject,  from 
the  commencement  of  the  Nullification  excite- 
ment down  to  the  time  of  his  death ;  sometimes 
at  length,  and  argumentatively ;  sometimes  with 
a  brief  indignant  disclaimer;  always  earnestly 
and  unequivocally.  Some  of  these  letters,  al- 
thoagh  private,  were  published  during  Mr. 
Madison's  lifetime,  especially  an  elaborate  one  to 
Mr.  Edward  Everett ;  and  many  of  the  remain- 
der have  recently  been  put  into  print,  through 
the  liberality  of  a  patrotic  citizen  of  Washington 
(Mr.  J.  Maguire),  but  only  for  private  distiibu- 
tion,  and  hence  not  accessible  to  the  public. 
They  are  a  complete  storehouse  of  material,  not 

♦  Mr.  Jfadison  did  not  Introduce  tlio  He.>()Iiitions  into  tlie 
Vlrgiiiiii  luilsliiturc.  lie  was  not  ft  nu'tnlicr  of  tliiit  body  In 
1708,  The  resolutions  woio  reported  liy  .lolm  Taylor,  of  Caro- 
liiio.  Mr.  Madison,  however,  was  always  reimted  to  bo  their 
niilliur.  and  !n  a  Irttcr  to  \W.  .Tamos  l!i>!n>rts.in,  written  In 
March,  18:!1.  he  distinctly  avows  it.  He  was  both  tlie  author 
and  reporter  of  the  Report  and  Kesolutlon  of  179a-.]S00. 


only  for  the  vindication  of  Madison  and  his  com- 
peers, from  the  doctrine  of  Nullification,  but  of 
argument  and  reasons  against  Nullification  and 
every  kindred  suggestion. 

From  the  letter  to  Mr.  Everett,  published  in 
the  North  American  Review,  shortly  after  it 
was  written  (August,  1830),  the  following  ex- 
tracts are  taken : 

"  It  (the  constitution  of  the  United  States)  was 
formed  by  the  States,  that  is,  by  the  jjcoplo  in 
each  of  the  States,  acting  in  their  highest  sove- 
reign capacity ;  and  formed  consefjucntly  by  the 
same  authority  which  formed  the  State  con.'^ti- 
tutions. 

"  Being  thus  derived  from  the  same  source  as 
the  c(mstitutions  of  the  States,  it  has,  within 
each  State,  the  same  authority  as  the  constitution 
of  the  State,  and  is  as  much  a  constitution  in  the 
strict  sense  of  the  term  within  its  prescribed 
sphere,  as  the  constitutions  of  the  States  are 
within  their  respective  si)heres ;  but  with  this 
obvious  and  essential  difference,  that  being  a 
compact  among  the  States  in  their  highest 
sovereign  capacity,  and  constituting  the  people 
thereof  one  people  for  certain  purposes,  it  cannot 
be  altered  or  annulled  at  the  will  of  the  States 
individually,  as  the  constitution  of  a  State  may 
be  at  its  individual  will." 

"  Nor  is  the  goverimicnt  of  the  United  States, 
created  by  the  constitution,  less  a  government 
in  the  strict  sense  of  the  term,  within  the  sphere 
of  its  powers,  than  tho  governments  created  by 
the  constitutions  of  the  States  are,  within. their 
.several  splieres.  It  is  like  them  organized  into 
legislative,  ex  utive  and  ju(1''>iary  departments. 
It  operates,  like  them,  directly  on  persons  and 
things.  And,  like  them,  it  has  at  command  a 
physical  force  for  executing  the  powers  com- 
mitted to  it. 

"  Between  these  different  constitutional  go- 
vernments, the  One  opertiting  in  all  the  States, 
the  others  operating  separately  in  each,  with  the 
aggregate  powers  of  government  divided  between 
them,  it  could  not  escape  attention,  that  contro- 
versies would  arise  concerning  the  boundaries 
of  jurisdiction." 

'•  That  to  have  left  a  final  decision,  in  such 
cases,  to  each  of  the  State. ,  could  not  fail  to 
make  the  constitution  and  .aws  of  the  United 
States  different  in  different  States,  wa-s  obviou.s, 
and  not  less  obvious  that  this  diversity  of  inde- 
pendent decisi<ms,  must  altogether  distract  the 
government  of  the  Union,  and  speedily  put  an 
end  to  the  Union  itself." 

"To  have  made  the  decision  under  the  au- 
thority of  the  individual  States,  co-ordinate  in 
all  cases,  with  decisions  under  the  authority  of 
the  United  States,  would  unavoidably  produce 
collisions  incompiitible  with  the  peace  of  so- 
ciety." 

"To  have  referred  every  clashing  decision, 
under  tho  two  authorities,  for  a  final  decision,  to 


356 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


,; 


ii 


I 


th«  ,'^tatcs  ns  partion  to  the  constitution,  would 
bo  attended  with  delays,  with  iuconvcniuuces 
and  expenses,  amounting  to  a  prohibition  of 
tlio  expedient." 

'•  To  have  trusted  to  '  negotiation  '  for  adjust- 
ing disputes  betwcin  the  government  of  the 
United  States  and  the  State  gi>veinmentH,  us 
between  iiidepeudeiit  aii<l  separate  sovi.  f<'ignties, 
would  iiavc  ln(*t  sifjht  altogetht  r  of  i  eonstitu- 
tion  and  governimiit  of  the  Tnion,  ;uid  oi)ened 
a  direct  road,  froui  a  failure  of  that  resort,  to  the 
ulliina  ratio,  between  natiuus  wholly  indepen- 
dent of,  and  alien  to  each  other 

Although  the  iss\ic  of  negi>tiation  might  .some- 
times iivoid  this  extremity,  how  often  would  it 
happen  among  so  many  States,  that  an  unac- 
commodating spirit  in  sumo  would  render  that 
resource  unavailhig  ?  " 

After  thus  stating,  with  other  powerful  rea- 
sons, why  all  those  fanciful  and  inipra'^tieable 
theories  wore  rejected  in  the  constitution,  the 
letter  proceeds  to  show  what  the  constitution 
does  adopt  and  rely  on,  "as  a  security  of  the 
rights  and  powers  of  the  States,"  namely : 

"1.  The  responsibility  of  the  6ei\ators  and 
representatives  in  the  legislature  of  the  United 
States  to  the  legislatures  and  people  of  the 
States :  2.  The  responsibility  of  the  President 
to  the  people  of  the  United  States  ;  and,  3.  The 
liability  of  the  executive  and  judicial  function- 
aries of  the  United  States  to  impeachment  by 
the  representatives  of  the  people  of  the  States 
in  one  branch  of  the  legislatun^  of  the  United 
States,  and  trial  by  the  repr  ;■  jhitives  of  the 
States,  in  the  other  branch.' 

And  then,  in  order  xo  Kiuk  )i.iw  complete 
these  provisions  are  for  the  i«euiity  of  the 
States,  shows  that  while  the  States  thus  hold 
the  functionaries  of  the  United  Stales  to  these 
several  responsibilities,  the  State  functiona- 
ries, on  the  other  hand,  in  their  appointment 
and  responsibility,  are  "altogether  indepen- 
dent of  the  agency  or  authority  of  the  United 
States." 

Of  the  doctrine  of  nullification,  "the  expedient 
lately  advanced,"  the  letter  says  : 

"The  distinguished  names  and  high  authorities 
which  appear  to  have  asserted  and  given  a  prac- 
tical scope  to  this  doctrine,  entitle  it  to  a  respect 
which  it  might  be  difficult  otherwise  to  fi.'el 
for  it." 

"  The  resolutioas  of  Virginia,  as  vindicated  in 
the  report  on  them,  will  be  found  entitled  to  an 
exposition,  showing  a  consistency  in  their  jiarts, 
and  an  inconsistency  of  the  whole  with  the 
doctrine  under  consideration." 

"  That  the  legislature  could  not  have  intend- 
ed to  sanction  any  such  doctrine  is  to  be  infer- 


red from  the  debuies  in  the  House  of  Delegiu 
The  tenor  of  the  dtbnfcs,  which  were  ably  c.,  .- 
ducted,  discloses   nn   nlercnce    whati  \tT  to  a 
constitutional  right  in     i  individual  State  to  ar- 
rest by  force  a  law  of  Uic  United  States." 

'•  If  any  further  light  on  the  subject  could  h. 
needed,  a  very  Ftrong  one  is  reflected  in  the  an 
Bwers  to  the  n  nolutions,  by  the  States  v  hjch 
protested  agiiiiist  them.  .  ,  .  Had  the 
resolutions  been  t  garded  as  a  owii^  and  main- 
taining a  rifiht,  in  an  individp  I  Slji  to  awest 
by  force  the  execution  of  a  law  of  (,  Unitnl 
States,  it  m\i,-t  be  presumed  that  it  w  uld  hiui. 
been  a  conspicuous  object  of  their  .lenuiuin- 
tion." 

In  a  letter  to  ]\Tr.  Joseph  C.  Cabell  M 
1830,  Mr.  Madison  says  : 

"T  received  yesterdar  yours  of  the  26th 
Having  never  concealed  my  opinion  of  the  v,n\. 
lifying  dortrines  of  South  Carolina,  T  (''1  .ot 
regard  tht  allusion  to  it  in  the  Whijs,  e.-jiecialiy 
as  the  manner  of  the  allusion  showed  that  I  did 

not  obtrude  it 1   have  Inttcily 

been  drawn  into  a  corresiiuudenre  with  an  ad- 
vocate of  the  doctrine,  which  led  me  to  a  u  'w 
of  it  to  some  extent  and  particidariy  to  a  \  in- 
dication of  the  proceedings  of  Virginia  in  ! ,  >. 
'99,  against  the  misuse  made  of  them.  That 
you  may  see  the  views  I  have  taken  of  the  aber- 
rations of  South  Carolina,  I  enclose  you  an  ex- 
tract." 

And  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Daniel  Webster,  writ- 
ten a  few  days  previously,  he  uses  nearly  the 
same  language  ;  as  also  in  a  letter  in  February, 
1830,  to  Mr.  Trist. 

To  Mr.  James  Ilobertson,  March  27,  1831, 
Mr.  Madison  writes  as  follows  : 

"  The  veil  which  was  orignally  over  the  draft 
of  the  resolutions  oflbred  in  1798  to  the  Virginia 
Assembly  having  been  long  since  removed,  I 
may  say,  in  answer  to  your  inquiries,  that  it 
was  penned  by  me." 

"  With  respect  to  the  terms  following  the 
term  '  unconstitutional,'  viz.,  •  not  law.  but  null, 
void,  and  of  no  force  or  efiect,'  which  were 
stricken  out  of  the  seventh  resolution,  my 
memory  cannot  say  positively  whether  tliey 
were  or  were  not  in  the  original  draft,  and  no 
copy  of  it  a})pears  to  have  been  retained.  On 
the  presumption  that  they  were  in  the  draft  as 
it  went  from  me,  1  am  coniident  that  they  nui-l 
have  been  regarded  only  as  giving  accinnnlatcd 
emphasis  to  the  declaration,  that  the  alien  and 
.sedition  acts  had,  in  the  ojiinion  of  the  assem- 
bl}',  violateri  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  iinl  that  the  addition  of  them  could 
annul  the  acts  or  sanction  a  resistance  (if  them, 
The  resolution  was  expressly  (Ivchnatiinj.  and, 
proceeding  from  the  legislatuie  <<iily,  whicii  Wiis 
not  even  a  party  to  the  constitution,  could  be 
declaratory  of  opinion  only." 


A.NNO  '833.    ANPUKW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


357 


To  Joseph  C.  CuLolI,  Sept.  Ji,  IS^l  •■ 

"I  /ngrivtulatc  yon  on  tho  event  which  re- 
stores you  to  tlic  public  couiu  ils,  wliere  your 
jicrvia'S  will  be  viiliiahle,  particularly  in  dofcii'l- 
in<r  ( 1)1' constitution  aud  I'm  i  ngaiii'^t  the  false 
(liictrines  which  assail  the  I  That  o  nulliflca- 
tion  seems  to  I'f  gencralh  abanduiu  n  Vir- 
giuia,  by  those  mIh*  Iim  1  m  ,st  leaning  t.  wards 
it  But  it  still  flourisho!-  the  hot-bed  where 
it  sprunjc  >  I'." 

"I  kno  V  not  whoncp  tho  idea  could  proceed 

that  1  (iiiciirreil   ii  the  doctrine,  that  although 

a  State  could  not  null  ly  a  lav   ,)f  li,e  Union,  it 

h;i    a  right  t<    secede  from  t    ■  Union.     JJoth 

iniiig  froiu  tin;  same  poisonous  root." 

To  Mr.  N.  P  Trist,  December,  1831 : 

*  I  cannot  i-v,  the  advantage  of  this  perse- 
Tera'i''  "f  South  Carolina  in  claiming  the  au- 
tliorily  of  the  Vir;  inia  proceedings  in  1798,  ",)9, 
as  asserting  a  right  in  a  single  State  to  nullify 
an  net  of  the  United  States.  Where,  indeed,  is 
the  fairii'  -s  of  attempting  to  palm  on  Virginia 
an  intention  which  is  ('oiitradicte<l  by  such  a 
variety  of  comr  idictory  proofs  ;  which  has  at 
no  intervening  i.<  riod,  received  tlic  slightest 
onntenance  from  lior,  and  which  with  one  voice 
^henow  disclaims '?" 

"To  view  the  d(  •  in  its  true  character, 

it  must  be  rccollectt  it  assorts  a  right  in  a 

single  State  to  sti,.  .  .  execution  of  a  federal 
law,  until  a  convention  of  the  States  could  be 
broufiht  about  by  a  process  requiring  an  imcer- 
lain  time ;  and,  finally,  in  the  convention,  when 
formed,  a  vote  of  seven  States,  if  in  favor  of  the 
veto,  U\  give  it  a  prevalence  over  the  vast  ma- 
jority of  seventeen  States.  For  this  prepos- 
terous and  anarchical  pretension  there  is  not  a 
shadow  of  countenance  in  the  constitution  ;  and 
well  that  there  is  not,  for  it  is  certain  that,  with 
such  a  deadly  poison  in  it,  no  constitution  could 
be  sure  of  lasting  a  year." 

To  Mr.  C.  E.  Ilaynes,  August  26,  1832 : 

"  In  the  very  crippled  and  feeble  state  of  my 
liealtli,  I  cannot  undertake  an  extended  answer  to 
your  inquiries,  nor  should  I  suppose  it  necessary 
if  you  have  seen  my  letter  to  Mr.  Everett,  in 
Aupist,  1830,  in  which  the  proceedings  of  Vir- 
'liuia,  in  1798-'!)!),  were  explained,  and  the  novel 
d(jctrine  of  nullification  adverted  to. 

'•'I'he  distinction  is  obvious  between  such 
interpositions  on  tlie  part  of  the  States  against 
uuju?lifiable  acts  of  the  federal  government  as 
are  within  the  provisions  and  forms  of  the  con- 
;-;itution.  These  provisions  and  forms  certainly 
•lo  nut  embrace  the  nullifying  process  pro- 
claimed in  South  Carolina,  which  begins  with  a 
single  State,  and  ends  witti  the  ascendency  of  a 
minority  of  States  over  a  majority ;  of  seven 
over  seventeen ;  a  federal  law,  during  the  pro- 
cess, being  arrested  within  the  nullifying  State ; 
and,  if  a  revenue  law,  frustrated  through  all  the 
States." 


To  Mr.  Trist,  December  23, 1832: 

"  If  one  State  can,  at  will,  withdraw  from  the 
others,  the  others      in,  at  will,  withdraw  from 


her.  and  turn  her  ; 
Union.     Until  e    '  e 
wouhl  have  abhor 
South  Carolina,  oi  , 
of  it  to  herself     Tl 


f'-m  ralmtrm  out  of  the 
re  is  not  a  State  that 
I  doctrine  more  than 
dreaded  an  application 
tme  may  be  said  of  the 
doctrine  of  nidlificatio..  whieli  she  now  preaches  as 
the  only  faith  by  which  the  Union  can  be  saved." 


In  a  letti  i'  to  Mr.  Joseph  C.  Cabell,  December 
28,  1832 : 

"  It  is  not  probable  that  (in  the  adoption  of 
the  resolution  IS  of  1798),  such  an  idea  as  the 
South  lolinn  nullification  had  ever  entered 
the  tho  ights  ol  sintrle  member,  or  even  that 
of  a  citizen  of-  ''oliiia  herself." 


ToAi 


-n,  February  4,  1833 : 


"  I  hav<  your  communication  of  the 

29th  ultin  i  iiave  read  it  with  much   plea- 

sure.    It  nts  the  doctrine  of  nullification 

and  seoessi  ,,  in  lights  that  nmst  confound,  if 
failing  to  convince  tin  r  patrons.  You  have 
done  well  in  rescuing  the  proceedings  of  Vir- 
ginia in  1798-"99,  from  the  many  misconstruc- 
tions and  misajiplications  of  them." 

'■  Of  late,  attempts  are  observed  to  shelter  tho 
heresy  of  secession  under  the  case  of  expatriation, 
from  which  it  essentially  diil'ers.  The  expatria- 
ting party  removes  only  his  person  and  his  mov- 
able property,  and  does  not  incommode  tiiose 
whom  he  leaves.  A  seceding  State  mutilates 
the  domain,  and  disturbs  the  whole  system  from 
which  it  separates  itself.  Pu-lied  to  the  extent 
in  which   the   right  is  sometimes  asserted,  it 


might  break  into  fragments 
munity." 


every  single  com- 


To  Mr.  Stevenson,  February  10, 1833,  in  refer- 
ence to  the  South  Carolina  nullifying  ordinance : 

"  I  consider  a  successful  resisUmce  to  the  laws 
as  now  attempted,  if  not  immediately  mortal 
to  the  Union,  as  at  least  a  mortal  wound  to  it." 

To  "  a  Friend  of  the  Union  and  State  rights," 
t833: 

"It  is  not  usual  to  answer  communications 
without  proper  names  to  them.  But  the  ability 
and  motives  disclosed  in  the  essays  induce  me 
to  say,  in  compliance  with  the  wish  expressed, 
that  1  do  not  consider  the  proceedings  of  Vir- 
ginia, in  1798-'99,  as  countenancing  the  doctrine 
that  a  State  may,  at  will,  secede  from  its  con- 
stitutional compact  with  the  other  States." 

To  Mr.  Joseph  C.  Cabell,  April  1,  1833  : 

"  The  attempt  to  prove  me  a  nullifier,  by  a 
misconstruction  of  the  resolutions  of  1798-'99, 


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358 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


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illlH 


though  so  often  and  so  lately  corrected,  was,  I  j 
observe,  renewed  some  days  ago  in  the  '  llich-  , 
mond  Whig,'  by  an  inference  from  an  erasure 
in  the  House  of  Delegates  from  one  of  those 
resolutions,  of  the  words  '  are  null,  void  and  of 
no  effect,'  which  followed  the  word  'unconsti- 
tutional.' These  words,  though  synonymous 
with  'unconstitutional,'  were  alleged  by  the 
critic  to  mean  nullification  ;  and  being,  of  course, 
ascribed  to  me,  I  was,  of  course,  a  nullifier.  It 
seems  not  to  have  occurred,  that  if  the  insertion 
of  the  words  could  convict  me  of  being  a  nulli- 
fier, ths  erasure  of  them  (unanimous,  I  believe), 
by  the  legislature,  was  the  strongest  of  protests 

against  the  doctrine The  vote,  in 

that  case  seems  not  to  have  engaged  the  attention 
due  to  it.  It  not  merely  deprives  South  Caro- 
lina of  the  authority  of  Virginia,  on  which  she 
has  relied  and  exulted  so  much  in  support  of 
her  cause,  but  turns  that  authority  pointedly 
against  her." 

From  a  memorandum  "On  Nullification," 
written  in  1835-'36 : 

."  Although  the  legislature  of  Virginia  declared, 
at  a  late  session,  almost  unanimously,  that  South 
Carolina  was  not  supported  in  her  doctrine  of 
nullification  by  the  resolutions  of  1798,  it  ap- 
pears that  those  resolutioils  are  still  appealed 
to  as  expressly  or  constructively  favoring  the 
doctrine." 

"  And  what  is  the  text  in  the  proceedings  of 
Virginia  which  this  spurious  doctrine  of  nullifi- 
cation claims  for  its  patronage  ?  It  is  found  in 
the  third  of  the  resolutions  of  1798." 

"  Now  is  there  any  thing  here  from  which  a 
'single'  State  can  infer  a  right  to  arrest  or 
annul  an  act  of  the  general  government,  which 
it  may  deem  unconstitutional  ?  So  far  from  it, 
that  the  obvious  and  proper  inference  precludes 
such  a  right." 

"  In  a  word,  the  nullifying  claims,  if  reduced 
to  practice,  instead  of  being  the  conservative 
principle  of  the  constitution,  would  necessarily, 
and  it  may  be  said,  obviously,  be  a  deadly 
poison." 

''The  true  question,  therefore,  is,  whether 
there  be  a  '  constitutional '  right  in  a  single  State 
to  nullify  a  law  of  the  United  States  ?  We  have 
seen  the  absurdity  of  such  a  claim,  in  its  naked 
and  suicidal  form.  Let  us  turn  to  it,  as  modified 
by  South  Carolina,  into  a  right  in  every  State 
to  resist  within  itself  the  execution  of  a  federal 
law,  deemed  by  it  to  be  unconstitutional,  and  to 
demand  a  convention  of  the  States  to  decide  the 
question  of  constitutionality,  the  annulment  of 
the  law  to  continue  in  the  mean  time,  and  to  be 
permanent  unless  three  fourths  of  the  States 
concur  in  overruling  the  animlment. 

•'  Thus,  during  the  temporary  nullification  of 
the  law,  the  results  would  be  the  sainu  as  those 
proceeding  from  an  unqualified  nullification,  and 
the  result  of  a  convention  might  be  that  seven 
out  of  iwenty-four  States  might  make  the  tem- 


porary results  permanent.  It  follows,  that  anj- 
State  which  could  obtain  the  concurrence  of  six 
others,  might  abrogate  any  law  of  the  United 
States  whatever,  and  give  to  the  constitution, 
constructively,  any  shape  they  pleased,  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  construction  and  will  of  the  other 
seventeen.*  Every  feature  of  the  constitution 
might  thus  be  successively  changed  ;  and  after 
a  scene  of  unexampled  confusion  and  distraction, 
what  had  been  unanimously  agreed  to  as  a 
whole,  would  not,  as  a  whole,  be  agreed  to  by  a 
single  party." 

To  this  graphic  picture  of  the  disorders  which 
even  the  first  stages  of  nullification  would  neces- 
sarily produce,  drawn  when  the  graphic  liinner 
was  in  the  eighty-sixth  and  last  year  of  his  life, 
the  following  warning  pages,  written  only  a  few 
months  earlier,  may  be  properly  appended : 

"  What  more  dangerous  than  nullification,  or 
more  evident  than  the  progress  it  continues  to 
make,  either  in  its  original  shiipe  or  in  the  dis- 
guises it  assumes  ?  Nullification  has  the  effect 
of  putting  powder  under  the  constitution  and 
Union,  and  a  match  in  the  hand  of  every  party 
to  blow  them  up,  at  pleasure.  And  for  its  pro- 
gress, hearken  to  the  tone  in  which  it  is  now 
preached ;  cast  your  eyes  on  its  increasing  mi- 
norities in  most  of  the  Southern  States,  without 
a  decrease  in  any  one  of  them.  Look  at  Vir- 
ginia herself,  and  read  in  the  gazettes,  and  in 
the  proceedings  of  popular  meetings,  the  figure 
which  the  anarchical  principle  now  makes,  in 
contrast  with  the  scouting  reception  given  to  it 
but  a  short  time  ago. 

"  It  is  not  probable  that  this  oft'spring  of  the 
discontents  of  South  Carolina  will  ever  approach 
success  in  a  majority  of  the  States.  But  a  sus- 
ceptibility of  the  contagion  in  the  Southern 
States  is  visible ;  and  the  danger  not  to  be  con- 
cealed, that  the  sympathy  arising  from  known 
causes,  and  the  inculcated  impression  of  a  per- 
manent incompatibility  of  interests  between  the 
South  and  the  North,  may  put  it  in  the  power 
of  popular  leaders,  aspiring  to  the  highest  sta- 
tions, to  unite  the  South,  on  some  critical  occa- 
sion, in  a  course  that  will  end  in  creating  a  new 
theatre  of  great  though  inferior  extent.  In 
pursuing  this  course,  the  first  and  most  obvious 
step  is  nullification,  the  next,  secession,  and  the 
last,  a  farewell  separation.  How  near  has  this 
course  been  lately  exemphfied !  and  the  danger 
of  its  recurrence,  in  the  same  or  some  other 
quarter,  may  be  increased  by  an  increase  of  rest- 
less aspi:  -nts,  and  by  the  increasing  impracti- 

*  Tlio  above  was  written  wlien  the  number  of  tlie  States  was 
twenty-four.  Now,  wlien  theio  arc  tbirty-one  Slates,  tlie  pro- 
i  portion  would  bo  eiglit  to  twenty-Virce  .'  tbiit  Is,  tlint  » Finglo 
State  nullifying,  tlie  nulimciition  would  bold  mmi  till  »  euii- 
vention  were  called,  and  tlicn  if  tlie  nullifying  State  could 
procure  seven  otbora  to  Join,  tlie  nullfloation  would  becoiue 
absolute— the  eight  States  overruling  the  twenty-three, 


ANNO  1833.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


359 


cability  of  retaining  in  the  Union  a  large  and 
cemented  section  against  its  will.  It  may,  in- 
deed, liappen,  that  a  return  of  danger  from 
abroad,  or  a  revived  apprehension  of  danger  at 
home,  may  aid  in  binding  the  States  in  one  poli- 
tical system,  or  that  the  geographical  and  com- 
mercial ligatures  may  have  that  effect,  or  that 
the  present  discord  of  interests  between  the 
North  and  the  South  may  give  way  to  a  less 
diversity  in  the  application  of  labor,  or  to  the 
mutual  advantage  of  a  safe  and  constant  inter- 
change of  the  different  products  of  'abor  in  dif- 
ferent sections.  All  this  may  happen,  and  with 
the  exception  of  foreign  hostilityj  hoped  for. 
But,  in  the  mean  time,  local  prejudices  and  am- 
bitious leaders  may  be  but  too  successful  in 
finding  or  creating  occasions  for  the  nullifying 
experiment  of  breaking  a  more  beautiful  China 
vase*  than  the  British  empire  ever  was,  uito 
parts  which  a  miracle  only  could  reunite." 

Incidentally,  Mr.  Madison,  in  these  letters, 
vindicates  also  his  compeers,  Mr.  Jefferson  and 
Mr.  Monroe.  In  the  letter  to  Mr.  Cabell,  of 
May  31, 1830,  he  says : 

"  You  will  see,  in  vol.  iii.,  page  429,  of  Mr. 
Jefferson's  Correspondence,  a  letter  to  W.  C. 
Nicholas,  proving  that  he  had  nothing  to  do  with 
the  Kentucky  resolutions,  of  1799,  in  which  the 
word 'nullification' is  found.  The  resolutions 
of  that  State,  in  1798,  which  were  drawn  by 
him,  and  have  been  republished  with  the  pro- 
ceedings of  Virginia,  do  not  contain  this  or  any 
equivalent  word." 

In  the  letter  to  Mr.  Trist,  of  December,  1831, 
after  developinp;  at  some  length  the  inconsisten- 
cies and  fatuity  of  the  "  nullification  preroga- 
tive," Mr.  Madison  says : 

"Yet  this  has  boldly  sought  a  sanction,  under 
the  name  of  Mr,  Jefferson,  because,  in  his  letter 
to  Mr.  Cartwright,  he  held  out  a  convention  of 
the  States  as,  with  us,  a  peaceful  remedy,  in 
cases  to  be  decided  in  Europe  by  intestine  .i^ars. 
Who  can  believe  that  Mr.  Jefferson  referred  to 
a  convention  summoned  at  the  pleasure  of  a 
single  State,  with  an  interregnum  during  its  de- 
liberations ;  and,  above  all,  with  a  rule  of  deci- 
sion subjecting  nearly  three  fourths  to  one 
fourth  ?  No  man's  creed  was  more  opposed  to 
such  an  inversion  of  the  republican  order  of 
things." 

In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Townsend  of  South  Caro- 
lina, December  18,  1831 : 

"  You  ask  '  whether  Mr.  Jefferson  was  really 
the  author  of  the  Kentucky  resolutions,  of 
1799;'  [in  which  the  word  'nullify'  is  used, 
though  iiot  ill  the  sense  of  South  Carolina  nul- 
lification.]   The  inference  that  he  was  not  is 

*  See  I'ranklln's  letter  to  Lord  Howe,  In  1T76. 


as  conclusive  as  it  is  obvious,  from  his  letter  to 
Col.  Wilson  Cary  Nicholas,  of  September  5, 
1799,  in  which  he  expressly  declines,  for  reitsons 
stated,  preparing  any  tiling  for  the  legislature 
of  that  year. 

"  That  he  (Mr.  Jefferson)  ever  asserted  a 
right  in  a  single  State  to  arrest  the  execution 
of  an  act  of  Congress — the  arrest  to  be  valid 
and  permanent,  unless  reversed  by  three  fourths 
of  the  States — is  countenanced  bynothing  known 
to  have  been  said  or  done  by  him.  In  his  letter 
to  Major  Cartwright,  he  refers  to  a  convention 
as  a  peaceable  remedy  for  conflicting  claims  of 
power  in  our  compound  government;  but, 
whether  he  alluded  to  a  convention  as  prescribed 
by  the  constitution,  or  brought  about  by  any 
other  mode,  his  respect  for  the  will  of  majori- 
ties, as  the  vital  principle  of  republican  govern- 
ment, makes  it  certain  that  he  could  not  have 
meant  a  convention  in  which  a  minority  of  seven 
States  was  to  prevail  over  seventeen,  either  in 
amending  or  expounding  the  constitution." 

In  the  letter  (before  quoted)  to  Mr.  Trist,  De- 
cember 23,  1832 : 

"  It  is  remarkable  how  closely  the  nullifiers, 
who  make  the  name  of  Mr.  Jefferson  the  pedes- 
tal for  their  colossal  heresy,  shut  their  eyes 
and  lips  whenever  his  authority  is  ever  so  clearly 
and  emphatically  against  them.  You  have  w 
ticed  what  he  says  in  his  letters  to  Monroe  anu 
Carrington,  pages  43  and  302,  vol.  ii.,  with  re- 
spect to  the  powers  of  the  oid  Congress  to  coerce 
delinquent  States,  and  his  reasons  for  preferring 
for  the  purpose  a  naval  to  a  military  force  ;  and, 
moreover,  that  it  was  not  necessary  to  find  a 
right  to  coerce  in  the  federal  articles,  that  being 
inherent  in  the  nature  of  a  compact." 

In  another  letter  to  Mr.  Trist,  dated  August 
25,  1834 : 

"  The  letter  from  Mr.  Monroe  to  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son, of  which  you  inclose  an  extract,  is  impor- 
tant. I  have  one  from  Mr.  Monroe,  on  the  same 
occasion,  more  in  detail,  and  not  less  emphatic 
in  its  anti-nullifying  language." 

In  the  notes  "  On  Nullification,"  written  in 
1835-'6: 

"  The  amount  of  this  modified  right  of  nulli- 
fication is,  that  a  single  State  may  arrest  the 
operation  of  a  law  of  the  United  States,  and  in- 
stitute a  process  which  is  to  terminate  in  the 
ascenilency  of  a  minority  over  a  large  majority. 
And  this  new-fangled  theory  is  attempted  to  be 
fathered  on  Mr.  Jefferson,  the  apostle  of  repub- 
licanism, and  whose  own  words  declare,  that 
'acquiescence  in  the  decision  of  the  majority  is 
the  vital  principle  of  it.'  Wc!!  jii.ay  the  friends 
of  Mr.  Jefferson  disclaim  any  sanction  to  it,  or 
to  any  constitutional  right  of  nullification  from 
his  opinions." 


ft 


It . 

t, 


6-'  «t    -  : 


l»   , 


3G0 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


In  a  paper  drawn  by  Mr.  Madison,  in  Septem- 
ber. 1829,  when  his  anxieties  began  first  to  be 
disturbed  by  the  portentous  approach  of  the 
nullification  doctrine,  ho  concludes  with  this 
earnest  admonition,  appropriate  to  tho  time 
when  it  was  written,  and  not  less  so  to  tho  pre- 
sent time,  and  to  posterity : 

"  Tn  all  the  views  that  may  be  taken  of  ques- 
tions between  tho  State  governments  and  the 
general  government,  the  awful  consequences  of 
a  final  rupture  and  dissolution  of  the  Union 
should  never  for  a  moment  be  lost  sight  of. 
Such  a  prospect  must  be  deprecated — must  be 
shuddered  at  by  every  friend  of  his  country,  to 
liberty,  to  tho  happiness  of  man.  For,  in  the 
event  of  a  dissolution  of  the  Union,  an  impos- 
sibility of  ever  renewing  it  is  brought  home  to 
every  mind  by  the  difilculties  encountered  in  es- 
tablishing it.  The  propensity  of  all  communi- 
ties to  divide,  when  not  pressed  into  a  unity  by 
external  dangers,  is  a  truth  well  understood. 
There  is  no  instance  of  a  people  inhabiting  even 
a  small  island,  if  remote  from  foreign  danger, 
and  sometimes  in  spite  of  that  pressure,  who 
are  not  divided  into  alien,  rival,  hostile  tribes. 
The  happy  union  of  these  States  is  a  wonder; 
their  constitution  a  miracle ;  their  example  the 
hope  of  liberty  throughout  the  world.  Wo  to 
the  ambition  that  would  meditate  the  destruc- 
tion of  either." 

These  extracts,  voluminous  as  they  are,  are 
far  from  exhausting  the  abundant  material  which 
these  admirable  writings  of  Mr.  Madison  contain, 
on  the  topic  of  nullification.  They  come  to  us, 
for  our  admonition  and  guidance,  with  the  so- 
lenmity  of  a  voice  from  the  grave ;  and  I  leave 
them,  without  comment,  to  be  pondered  in  tl  e 
hearts  of  his  countrymen.  Notwithstanding 
the  advanced  age  and  growing  bodily  infirmities 
of  Mr.  Madison,  at  the  time  when  these  letters 
were  written,  his  mind  was  never  more  vigorous 
nor  more  luminous.  Every  generous  mind  must 
sympathize  %vith  him,  in  this  necessity,  in  which 
he  felt  himself  in  his  extreme  ago,  and  when 
done,  not  only  with  the  public  affairs  of  the 
country,  but  nearly  done  with  all  the  aflairs  of 
the  world,  to  defend  himself  and  associates  from 
the  attempt  to  fasten  upon  him  and  them,  in 
spite  of  his  denials,  a  criminal  and  anarchical 
design — wicked  in  itself,  and  subversive  of  the 
government  which  he  had  labored  so  hard  to 
found,  and  utterly  destructive  to  that  particular 
feature  considered  the  crowning  merit  of  the 
constitution ;  and  which  wise  men  and  patriotic 
had  specially  devised  to  save  our  Union  from 
the  fate  of  all  leagues.    We  sympathize  with 


him  in  such  a  necessity.  We  should  feel  for 
any  man,  in  the  most  ordinary  case,  to  whose 
words  a  criminal  intention  should  be  imputed 
in  defiance  of  his  disclaimers  j  but,  in  the  case 
of  Mr.  Madison — a  man  so  modest,  so  pure  go 
just— of  such  dignity  and  gravity,  both  for  his 
age,  his  personal  qualities,  and  the  exalted  olflcos 
which  he  had  held ;  and  in  a  case  which  went 
to  civil  war,  and  to  the  destruction  of  a  govern- 
ment of  which  he  was  one  of  the  most  faithful 
and  zealous  founders— in  such  a  case,  an  attempt 
to  force  upon  such  a  man  a  meaning  which  he 
disavows,  becomes  not  only  outrageous  and 
odious,  but  criminal  and  impious.  And  if;  after 
the  authentic  disclaimers  which  he  has  made  in 
his  advanced  age,  and  which  are  now  published, 
any  one  continues  to  attribute  this  heresy  to 
him,  such  a  person  must  be  viewed  by  the  pub- 
lic as  having  a  mind  that  has  lost  its  balance ! 
or,  as  having  a  heart  void  of  social  duty,  and 
fatnlly  bent  on  a  crime,  the  guilt  of  which  must 
be  thrown  upon  the  tenants  of  the  tomb- 
speechless,  but  not  helpless  !  for,  every  just  man 
must  feel  their  cause  his  own  !  and  rush  to  a 
defence  which  public  duty,  private  honor,  patri- 
otism, filial  affection,  and  gratitude  to  benefac- 
tors impose  on  every  man  (born  wheresoever 
he  may  have  been)  that  enjoys  the  blessings  of 
the  government  which  their  labors  gave  us. 


CHAPTER    LXXXIX. 

THE  AUTHORS  OWN  VIEW  OF  THE  NATURE  OF 
OUK  GOVERNMENT,  AS  BEING  A  UNION  IN  CON- 
TRADISTINCTION TO  A  LEAGUE:  PRESENTED 
IN  A  SUBSEQUENT  SPEECH  ON  MISSOURI  RESO- 
LUTIONS. 

I  DO  not  discuss  these  resolutions  at  this  time. 
That  discussion  is  no  part  of  my  present  object. 
I  speak  of  the  pledge  which  they  contain,  and 
call  it  a  mistake ;  and  say,  that  whatever  may 
be  the  wishes  or  the  opinions  of  the  people  of 
Missouri  on  the  subject  of  the  extension  or  non- 
extention  of  slavery  to  the  Territories,  they 
have  no  idea  of  resisting  any  act  of  Congress  on 
the  subject.  They  abide  the  law,  when  it  comes, 
be  it  what  it  may,  subject  to  the  decision  of  the 
ballot-box  and  the  judiciary. 

I  concur  with  the  people  of  Missouri  in  this 
view  of  their  duty,  and  believe  it  to  be  the  only 


A^NO  1883.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


361 


course  consistent  with  the  terms  and  intention 
of  our  constitution,  and  the  only  one  which  can 
gave  this  Union  from  the  fate  of  all  the  confed- 
eraties  wliich  have  successively  appeared  and 
disappeared  in  the  history  of  nations.  Anarchy 
mnong  the  members,  and  not  tyranny  in  the 
head,  has  been  the  rock  on  which  all  such  con- 
federacies have  split.  The  authors  of  our  present 
form  of  government  knew  the  danger  of  this 
rock,  and  they  endeavored  to  provide  against  it. 
They  formed  a  Union — not  a  league — a  federal 
legislature  to  act  upon  persons,  not  upon  States; 
and  they  provided  peaceful  remedies  for  all  the 
questions  which  could  arise  between  the  people 
and  the  government.  They  provided  a  federal 
judiciary  to  execute  the  federal  laws  when  found 
to  be  constitutional ;  and  popular  elections  to  re- 
peal them  when  found  to  be  bad.  They  formed  a 
government  in  which  the  law  and  the  popular  will, 
and  not  tlie  sword,  was  to  decide  questions ;  and 
they  looked  upon  the  first  resort  to  the  sword 
for  the  decision  of  such  questions  as  the  death 
of  the  Union. 

The  old  confederation  was  a  league,  with  a 
legislature  acting  upon  sovereignties,  without 
power  to  enforce  its  decr^.  <  ,^  ind  without  union 
except  at  the  will  of  the  parties.  It  was  power- 
less for  government,  and  a  rope  of  sand  for 
union.  It  was  to  escape  from  that  helpless  and 
totte  ng  government  that  the  present  constitu- 
tion was  formed ;  and  no  less  than  ten  numbers  of 
the  federalist — from  the  tenth  to  iK  wentieth 
—were  devoted  to  this  defect  oft  d  ■"■  em, 
and  the  necessity  of  the  new  one.  I  will  read 
some  extracts  from  these  numbers — the  joint 
product  of  Hamilton  and  Madison — to  show  the 
difference  between  the  league  which  we  abandon- 
ed and  the  Union  which  we  formed — the  dangers 
of  the  former  and  the  benefits  of  the  latter — that 
it  may  be  seen  that  the  resolutions  of  the  gene- 
ral assembly  of  Missouri,  if  carried  out  to  their 
conclusions,  carry  back  this  Union  to  the  league 
of  the  confederation — make  it  a  rope  of  sand, 
and  the  sword  the  arbiter  between  the  federal 
head  and  its  members. 

Mr.  B.  then  read  as  follows : 

"The  great  and  radical  vice,  in  the  structure 
of  the  existing  confederation,  is  in  the  principle 
of  legislation  for  States  or  governments,  in  their 
corporate,  or  collective  capacities,  and  as  contra- 
distinguished from  the  individuals  of  which  they 
consist.     Though  this  principle  does  not  run 


through  all  the  powers  delegated  to  the  Union, 
yet  it  provades  and  governs  those  on  which  the 
efficacy  of  the  rest  depends.  The  consequence 
of  this  is,  that,  though  in  theory  constitutionally 
binding  on  the  members  of  the  Union,  yet  in 
practice  they  are  mere  recommendations,  which 
the  States  observe  or  disrega.d  at  their  option. 
Government  implies  the  power  of  making  laws. 
It  is  essential  to  the  idea  of  a  law  that  it  be  at- 
tended with  a  sanction,  or,  in  other  words,  a 
penalty  or  punishment  for  disobedience.  This 
penalty,  whatever  it  may  be,  can  only  be  inflict- 
ed in  two  ways — by  the  agency  of  the  courts 
and  ministers  of  justice,  or  by  miUtary  force;  by 
the  coercion  of  the  magistracy,  or  by  the  co- 
ercion of  arms.  The  first  kind  can  evidently 
apply  only  to  men ;  the  last  kind  must  of  ne- 
cessity be  employed  against  bodies  politic,  or 
communities,  or  States.  It  is  evident  there  is 
no  process  of  a  court  by  which  their  observance 
of  the  laws  can,  in  the  last  resort,  be  enforced. 
Sentences  may  be  denounced  against  them  for 
violations  of  their  duty ;  but  these  sentences  can 
only  be  carried  into  execution  by  the  sword.  In 
an  association  where  the  general  authority  is 
confined  to  the  collective  bodies  of  the  commu- 
nities that  compose  it,  every  breach  of  the  laws 
must  involve  a  state  of  war ;  and  military  execu- 
tion must  become  the  only  instrument  of  civil 
obedience.  Such  a  state  of  things  can  certainly 
not  deserve  the  name  of  government,  nor  would 
any  prudent  man  choose  to  commit  his  happi- 
ness to  it." 

Of  the  certain  destruction  of  the  Union  when 
the  sword  is  once  drawn  between  the  members 
of  a  Union  and  their  head,  they  speak  thus : 

"  When  the  sword  \s  once  drawn,  the  passions 
of  men  observe  no  bounds  of  moderation.  The 
suggestions  of  wounded  pride,  the  instigations 
of  irritated  resentment,  would  be  apt  to  carry 
the  States,  against  which  the  arms  of  the  Union 
were  exerted,  to  any  extremes  necessary  to 
avenge  the  affront,  or  to  avoid  the  disgrace  of  sub- 
mission. The  first  war  of  this  kind  would  pro- 
bably terminate  in  a  dii'?  .lution  of  the  Union." 

Of  the  advantage  and  facility  of  the  working 
of  the  federal  system,  and  its  peaceful,  efficient, 
and  harmonious  operation — if  the  federal  laws 
are  made  to  operate  upon  citizens,  and  not  upon 
States — they  speak  in  these  terms : 

"  But  if  the  execution  of  the  laws  of  the  na- 
tional government  should  not  require  the  inter- 


S62 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


-.  '                  , 

,.   .   ;| 

; 

'        1 

'  i    !  ■ 
1              !.  .  I  ! 

i^ll 

'     :;  1  i 

1 

.     jjl 

H^l 

•J  h 

■Hi! 

^Hi 

I  .   . 

I'l. 

:■         i 

1 

I^^Hifl 

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HI 

;.::'" 

. ,  ;i:  „ . 

'  .                              1 

Tention  of  the  State  legislatures;  if  they  were 
to  pass  into  immediate  oporation  upon  the  citi- 
zens themselves,  the  particular  governments 
could  not  interrupt  their  progress  without  an 
open  and  violent  exertion  of  unconstitutional 
power.  They  would  be  obliged  to  act,  and  in 
such  manner  as  would  leave  no  doubt  that  they 
had  encroached  on  the  national  rights.  An  ex- 
periment of  this  nature  would  always  be  hazard- 
ous in  the  face  of  a  constitution  in  any  degree 
competent  to  its  own  defence,  and  of  a  people 
enlightened  enough  to  distinguish  between  a 
legal  exercise  and  an  illegal  usurpation  of  au- 
thority. The  success  of  it  would  require  not 
merely  a  fiictious  majority  in  the  legislature,  but 
the  (oncurrence  of  the  courts  of  justice,  and  of 
the  body  of  the  people.  If  the  judges  were  not 
embarked  in  a  conspiracy  with  the  legislature, 
they  would  pronounce  the  resolutions  of  such  a 
majority  to  be  contrary  to  the  supreme  law  of 
the  land,  unconstitutional  and  void.  If  the  peo- 
ple were  not  tainted  with  the  spirit  of  their  State 
representatives,  they,  as  the  natural  guardians 
of  the  constitution,  would  throw  their  weight 
into  the  national  scale,  and  give  it  a  decided 
preponderance  in  the  contest." 

Of  the  ruinous  effects  of  these  civil  wars 
among  the  members  of  a  republican  confedera- 
cy, and  their  disastrous  influence  upon  the  cause 
of  civil  liberty  itself  throughout  the  world,  they 
thus  speak : 

"  It  is  impossible  to  read  the  history  of  the 
petty  republics  of  Greece  and  Italy,  without 
feeling  sensations  of  disgust  and  horror  at  the 
distractions  with  which  they  were  continually 
agitated,  and  at  the  rapid  succession  of  revolu- 
tions by  which  they  were  kept  continually  vi- 
brating between  the  extremes  of  tyranny  and 
anarchy.  From  the  disorders  whic.i  disfigure 
the  annals  of  those  republics,  the  advocates  of 
despotism  have  drawn  arguments,  not  only 
against  the  forms  of  republican  government, 
but  against  the  very  principles  of  civil  liberty. 
They  have  decried  all  free  government  as  incon- 
sistent with  the  order  of  society,  and  have  in- 
dulged  themselves  in  malicious  exultation  over 
its  friends  and  partisans." 

And  again  they  say : 

"  It  must  carry  its  agency  to  the  persons  of 
the  citizens.  It  must  stand  in  need  of  no  inter- 
mediate legislation ;  but  must  itself  be  emi)ow- 
ered  to  employ  the  arm  of  the  ordinary  magis- 


trate to  execute  its  own  resolutions.  The  ma. 
jesty  of  the  national  authority  must  be  mani- 
fested through  the  medium  of  the  courts  of  jus- 
tice." '' 

After  reading  these  extracts,  Mr.  B.  said: 
It  was  to  get  rid  of  the  evils  of  the  old  confed^ 
eration  that  the  present  Union  was  formed  • 
and,  having  formed  it,  they  ^^ho  formed  it  un^ 
dertook  to  make  it  perpetual,  and  for  that  pur- 
pose had  recourse  to  all  the  sanctions  held 
sacred  among  men— commands,  prohibitions 
oaths.  The  States  were  forbid  to  form  com- 
pacts or  agreements  with  each  other ;  the  con- 
stitution and  the  laws  made  in  pursuance  of  it, 
were  declared  to  be  the  supreme  law  of  the 
land  ;  and  all  authorities.  State  and  federal, 
legislative,  executive,  and  judicial,  were  to  be 
sworn  to  support  it.  The  resolutions  which 
have  been  read  contradict  all  this;  and  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  mistook  their  own  powers  as 
much  as  they  mistook  the  sentiments  of  the 
people  of  Missouri  when  thoy  adopted  them. 


CHAPTER   XC. 

PUBLIC  LANDS:— DISTRIBUTION  nF  PROCEEDS. 

Mr.  Clay  renewed,  at  this  session,  1832-'33,the 
bill  which  he  had  brought  in  the  session  before, 
and  which  had  passed  the  Senate,  to  divide  the 
net  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  public  lands  among 
the  States,  to  be  applied  to  such  puq^oses  as  the 
legislatures  of  the  respective  States  should  think 
proper.  His  principal  arguments,  in  favor  of 
the  bill,  were :  Jirst,  the  aid  which  the  distribu- 
tion would  give  to  the  States,  in  developing 
their  resources  and  promoting  their  prosperity; 
secondlij^  the  advantage  to  the  federal  govern- 
ment, in  settling  the  qtiestion  of  the  mode  of 
disposing  of  the  public  lands.  He  explained  his 
bill,  which,  at  first,  contained  a  specification  of 
the  objects  to  which  the  States  should  apply  the 
dividend  they  received,  which  was  struck  out, 
in  the  progress  of  the  bill,  and  stated  its  provi- 
sions to  be : 

"To  set  apart,  for  the  benefit  of  the  new 
States,  twelve  and  a  half  per  cent.,  out  of  the 
aggregate  proceeds,  in  .addition  to  the  live  per 
cent.,  which  was  now  allowed  to  them  by  con*- 
pact,  before  any  division  took  place  among  the 


ll,  .-^MlteM 


ANNO  1833.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


363 


i 

1 


1  iF  PROCEEDS. 


session  before, 
),  to  divide  the 


States  ccnerolly.    It  wtw  thus  proposed  to  as- 
cjen  in  the  first  place,  seventeen  and  a  half  per 
cent  to  the  new  States,  and  then  to  divide  the 
whole  of  the  residue  among  the  twenty-four 
State?.    And,  in  order  to  do  away  any  inequality 
aiiiou"  the  new  States,  grants  are  specifically 
niadc'V  the  bill  to  those  who  had  not  received, 
heretofore,  as  much  lands  as  the  rest  of  the  new 
States,  from  the  general  government,  so  as  to 
put  all  the  new  States  on  an  equal  footing.    This 
twelve  and  a  half  per  cent.,  to  the  new  States, 
to  be  at  their  disposal,  for  either  education  or 
internal  improvement,  and  the  residue  to  be  at 
the  disposition  of  the  States,  subject  to  no  other 
hmitation  than  this:  that  it  shall  be  at  their 
option  to  apply  the  amount  received  either  to 
the  purposes  of  education,  or  the  colonization  of 
free  people  of  color,  or  for  internal  improve- 
ments or  in  debts  which  may  have  been  con- 
tracted for  intei'Uiil  improvements.    And,  with 
respect  to  the  duration  of  this  scheme  of  distri- 
Iv'tion  proposed  by  the  bill,  it  is  limited  to  five 
years,  unless  hostilities  shall  occur  between  the 
Uniteil  States  and  any  foreign  power ;  m  which 
event,  the  proceeds  are  to  be  applied  to  the  car- 
rying on  such  war,  with  vigor  and  effect,  against 
anv  "common  ►•nemy  with  whom  we  may  be 
brought  in  contact.    After  the  conclusion  of 
peace,  and  a/ter  the  discharge  of  the  debt  created 
by  any  such  war,  the  aggregate  funds  to  return 
to  that  peaceful  destination  to  which  it  was  the 
intention  of  the  bill  that  they  should  now  be 
directed,  that  is,  to  the  improvement  of  the  moral 
and  physical  condition  of  the  country,  and  the 
promotion  of  the  public  happiness  and  pros- 
perity." 

He  then  spoke  of  the  advantages  of  settlmg 
the  question  of  the  manner  of  disposing  of  the 
public  lands,  and  said : 

"  The  first  remark  which  seemed  to  him  to  be 
called  for,  in  reference  to  this  subject,  was  as  to 
the  expediency,  he  would  say  the  necessity,  of 
its  immediate  settlement.  On  this  point,  he  was 
happy  to  believe  that  there  was  a  unanimous 
concurrence  of  opinion  in  that  body.  However 
they  might  differ  as  to  the  terms  or.  which  the 
distrilDution  of  these  lands  should  be  made,  they 
all  agreed  that  it  was  a  question  which  ought  to 
be  promptly  and  finally,  he  hoped  amicably,  ad- 
justed. No  time  more  favorable  than  the  pre- 
sent moment  could  be  selected  for  the  settlement 
of  this  question.  The  last  session  was  much 
less  favorable  for  the  accomplishment  of  this 
object ;  and  the  reasons  were  sufficiently  obvi- 
ous, without  any  waste  of  time  in  their  specifi- 
cation. If  the  question  were  not  now  settled, 
but  if  it  were  to  be  made  the  subject  of  an  an- 
nual discussion,  mixing  itself  up  with  all  the 
measures  of  legislation,  it  would  be  felt  in  its 
influencfi  upon  all.  would  produce  great  dissen- 
sions both  in  and  out  of  the  House,  and  affect 
extensively  all  the  great  and  important  objects 
which  might  be  before  that  body.    They  had 


had,  in  the  several  States,  some  experience  on 
that  subject ;  and,  without  going  into  any  de- 
tails on  the  subject,  he  would  merely  state  that 
it  wa.s  known,  that,  for  a  long  period,  the  small 
amount  of  the  public  domain  possessed  by  some 
of  the  States,  in  comparison  with  the  qimntity 
possessed  by  the  general  government,  had  been 
a  cause  of  great  agitation  in  the  public  mind, 
and  had  greatly  influenced  the  course  of  legisla- 
tion. Persons  coming  from  the  quarter  of  the 
State  in  which  the  public  land  Xvas  situated, 
united  in  sympathy  and  interest,  constituted  al- 
ways a  body  who  acted  together,  to  promote 
their  common  object,  either  by  donations  to 
settlers,  or  reduction  in  the  price  of  the  public 
lands,  or  the  relief  of  those  who  are  debtors  for 
the  public  domain ;  and  were  always  ready,  as 
men  always  will  be,  to  second  all  those  measures 
which  look  towards  the  accomplishment  of  the 
main  object  which  they  have  in  view.  So.  if 
this  question  were  not  now  settled,  it  would  bo 
a  source  of  inexpressible  difficulty  hereafter,  in- 
fluencing all  the  great  interests  of  the  country, 
in  Congress,  affecting  great  events  without,  and 
perhaps  adding  another  to  those  unhappy  causes 
of  division,  which  unfortunately  exist  at  this 
moment." 

In  his  arguments  in  support  of  his  bill,  Mr. 
Clay  looked  to  the  lands  as  a  source  of  revenue 
to  the  States  or  the  federa'  government  from 
their  sale,  and  not  from  .heir  settlement  and 
cultivation,  and  the  revenue  to  be  derived  from 
the  wealth  and  population  to  which  their  settle- 
ment would  give  rise  ;  and,  concluding  with  an 
encomium  on  his  bill  under  the  aspect  of  revenue 
from  sales,  he  said : 

"  He  could  not  conceive  a  more  happy  dispo- 
sition of  the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands,  than 
that  which  was  provided  by  this  bill.  It  was 
supposed  that  five  years  would  be  neither  too 
long  nor  too  short  a  period  for  a  fair  experiment. 
In  case  a  war  should  break  out,  we  may  with- 
draw from  its  peaceful  destination  a  sum  of  from 
two  and  a  half  to  three  and  a  half  millions  of 
dollars  per  annum,  and  apply  it  to  a  vigorous 
prosecution  of  the  war— a  sum  which  would  pay 
the  interest  on  sixty  millions  of  dollars,  which 
might  be  required  to  sustain  the  war,  and  a  sum 
which  is  constantly  and  progressively  increasing. 
It  proposes,  now  that  the  general  government 
has  no  use  for  the  money,  now  that  the  surplus 
treasure  is  really  a  source  of  vexatious  embar- 
rassment to  us,  and  gives  rise  to  a  succession  of 
projects,  to  supply  for  a  short  time  a  fund  to 
the  States  which  want  our  assistance,  to  advance 
to  them  that  which  we  do  not  want,  and  which 
they  will  apply  to  great  beneficial  national  pur- 
poses ;  and,  should  war  take  place,  to  divert  it 
to  the  vigorous  support  of  the  war ;  and,  when 
it  ceases,  to  apply  it  again  to  its  peaceful  pur- 
poses.   And  thus  we  may  grow,  from  time  to 


^^ 


•| 


364 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


t 


time,  with  a  fund  which  will  endure  for  cen- 
turies, and  which  will  augment  with  the  growth 
of  the  nation,  aiding  the  States  in  seasons  of 
peace,  and  sustaining  the  general  government  in 
periods  of  war." 

Mr.  Calhoun  deprecated  this  distribution  of 
the  land  money  as  being  dangerous  in  itself  and 
unconstitutional,  and  as  leading  to  the  distribu- 
tion of  other  revenue — in  which  he  was  pro- 
phetic.   He  said : 

"  lie  could  not  yield  his  assent  to  the  mode 
which  this  bill  proposed  to  settle  the  agitated 
question  of  the  public  lands.  In  addition  to 
several  objections  of  a  minor  character,  he  had 
an  insuperable  objection  to  the  leading  principle 
of  the  bill,  which  proposed  to  distribute  the 
proceeds  of  tlie  lands  among  the  States.  He 
believed  it  to  be  both  dangerous  and  unconsti- 
tutional. He  could  not  assent  to  the  principle, 
that  Congress  had  a  right  to  denationalize  the 
public  funds.  He  agreed  that  the  objection  was 
not  so  decided  in  case  of  the  proceeds  of  lands,  as 
in  that  of  revenue  collected  from  taxes  or  duties. 
The  senator  from  Ohio  had  adduced  evidence 
from  the  deed  of  cession,  which  certainly  coun- 
tenanced the  idea  that  the  proceeds  of  the  lands 
might  bo  subject  to  the  distribution  proposed 
in  the  bill ;  but  he  was  far  from  being  satisfied 
that  the  argument  was  solid  or  conclusive.  If 
the  principle  of  distribution  could  be  confined  to 
the  proceeds  of  the  lands,  he  would  acknowledge 
that  his  objection  to  the  principle  would  be 
weakened. 

"  lie  dreaded  the  force  of  precedent,  and  he 
foresaw  that  the  time  would  come  when  the 
example  of  the  distribution  of  the  proceeds  of 
the  public  lands  would  be  urged  as  a  reason  for 
distributing  the  revenue  derived  from  other 
sources.  Nor  would  the  argument  be  devoid  of 
plausibility.  If  we,  of  the  Atlantic  States,  insist 
that  the  revenue  of  the  West,  derived  from  lands, 
should  be  equally  distributed  among  all  the 
States,  we  must  not  be  surprised  if  the  interior 
States  should,  in  like  wanner,  insist  to  distribute 
the  proceeds  of  the  customs,  the  great  source  of 
revenue  in  the  Atlantic  States.  Should  such  a 
movement  be  successful,  it  ipust  be  obvious  to 
every  one,  who  is  the  least  acquainted  with  the 
workings  of  the  human  heart,  and  the  nature  of 
government,  that  nothing  would  more  certainly 
endanger  the  existence  of  the  Union.  The  re- 
venue is  the  power  of  the  State,  and  to  distribute 
its  revenue  is  to  dissolve  its  power  into  its 
original  elements." 

Attempts  were  made  to  postpone  the  bill  to 
the  next  session,  which  foiled ;  and  it  passed  the 
Senate  by  a  vote  of  24  to  20. 

Yeas, — Messrs.  Bell,  Chambers,  Clay,  Clay- 
ton, Dallas,  Dickerson,  Dudley,  Ewinjr,  Foot, 
Frelinghuysen,  Hendricks,   Holmes,  Johnston, 


Knight,  Poindexter  Prentiss,  Robbins,  R„.„|es 

^^''"wrj/^''»bec.  Sprague,  Tomlinson,  wS 
man,  Wilkms— 24.  '       ''P" 

Nays.— Messrs.  Benton,  Black,  Brown  Buck 
ner,  Calhoun  Fonjyth,  Grundy,  Hill,  Kan^,  Kin. 
Mangunu  Miller  Moore,  Rives,  Robinson  Smith 
Tipton,  tyler,  \<^hite,  Wright-20.      °"'^"""'. 

The  bill  went  to  the  House  and  received 
amendments,  which  did  not  obtain  the  concur- 
rence  of  the  Senate  until  midnight  of  the  first 
of  March,  which,  being  the  short  session,  was 
within  twenty-four  hours  of  the  constitutional 
termination  of  the  Congress,  which  was  limited 
to  the  3d— which  falling  this  year  on  Sunday 
the  Congress  would  adjourn  at  micinight  of  tb' 
2nd.    Further  efforts  were  made  to  postpone 
it,  and  upon  the  ground  that,  in  a  bill  of  that 
magnitude  and  novelty,  the  President  was  en- 
titled to  the  full  ten  days  for  the  consideration 
of  it  which  the  constitution  allowed  him  and 
he  would  have  but  half  a  day ;  for  if  p.assed 
that  night  it  could  only  reach  him  in  the  fore- 
noon of  the  next  day— leaving  him  but  half  a 
day  for  his  consideration  of  the  measure,  where 
the  constitution  allowed  him  ten  ;  and  that  half 
day  engrossed  with  all  crowded  business  of  an 
expiring  s^jssion.    The  next  evening,  the  Presi- 
dent attended,  as  usual,  in  a  room  adjoining  the 
Senate  chamber,  to  be  at  hand  to  sign  bills  and 
make  nominations.    It  was  some  hours  in  the 
night  when  the  President  sent  for  me,  and  with- 
drawing into  the  recess  of  a  window,  told  mc 
that  he  had  a  veto  message  ready  on  the  land 
bill,  but  doubted  about  sending  it  in,  lest  there 
should  not  be  a  full  Senate ;  and  intimated  his 
apprehension  that  Mr.  Calhoun  and  some  of  liis 
friends  might  be  absent,  and  endanger  the  bill : 
and  wished  to  consult  me  upon  that  point.    I 
told  him  I  would  go  and  reconnoitre  the  cliamber, 
and  adjacent  rooms ;  did  so— found  that  Mr. 
Calhoun  and  his  immediate  friends  were  absent 
— returned  and  informed  him,  when  he  said  he 
would  keep  the  bill  until  the  next  session,  and 
then  return  it  with  a  fully  considered  message 
— his  present  one  being  brief;  and  not  snch  as 
to  show  his  views  fully.    I  told  him  I  thought 
he  ought  to  do  so — that  such  a  measure  oujrht 
not  to  be  passed  in  the  last  hours  of  a  session, 
in  a  thin  Senate,  and  upon  an  imperfect  view  of 
his  objections ;  and  that  the  public  good  required 
it  to  be  held  up.    It  was  eo;  and  durin','  the 
long  vacation  of  nine  months  which  intervened 
before  the  next  session,  the  opposition  presses 


ANNO  1888.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


365 


'fm 


nnd  orators  kept  tlio  country  filled  with  deniin- 
ciatioiiBo.  the  enormity  of  his  conduct  in  "pock- 
etins; "  tiie  bill — as  if  it  had  been  a  case  of ''  flat 
biifRlary,"  instead  of  being  the  exercise  of  a 
constitutional  right,  rendered  most  just  and 
proper  under  the  extraordinaiy  circumstances 
which  had  attended  the  passage,  and  intended 
return  of  the  bill.  At  the  commencement  of 
the  ensuing  session  he  returned  the  bill,  with  his 
wcU-considcred  objections,  in  an  ample  message, 
which,  after  going  over  a  full  history  of  the 
derivation  of  the  lands,  came  to  the  following 
conclusions : 

"  1.  That  one  of  the  fundamental  principles, 
on  wiiich  the  confederation  of  the  United  States 
was  originally  based,  was,  that  the  waste  lands 
of  the  AV'est,  within  their  limits,  should  be  the 
common  property  of  the  United  States. 

"2.  That  those  lands  were  ceded  to  the  United 
States  by  tlio  States  which  claimed  them,  and 
the  cessions  were  accepted,  on  the  express  con- 
dition that  they  should  be  disposed  of  for  the 
common  benefit  of  the  States,  according  to  their 
re?pective  proportions  in  the  general  charge  and 
expenditure,  and  for  no  other  purpose  what- 
soever. 

"3.  That,  in  execution  of  these  solemn  com- 
pacts, the  Congress  of  the  United  States  did, 
under  the  confederation,  proceed  to  sell  these 
lands,  and  put  the  avails  into  the  common  trea- 
sury ;  and,  under  the  new  constitution,  did  re- 
peatedly pledge  them  for  the  payment  of  the 
public  debt  of  the  United  States,  by  which 
pledpe  each  State  was  expected  to  profit  in  pro- 
portion to  the  general  charge  to  be  made  upon 
it  for  that  object. 

"These  are  the  first  principles  of  this  whole 
subject,  which,  I  think,  cannot  be  contested  by 
any  one  who  examines  the  proceedings  of  the 
revolutionary  Congress,  the  sessions  of  the 
several  States,  and  the  acts  of  Congress,  under 
the  new  constitution.  Keeping  them  deeply  im- 
pressed upon  the  mind,  let  us  proceed  to  exam- 
me  how  far  the  objects  of  the  cessions  have  been 
completed,  and  see  whether  those  compacts  are 
not  still  obligatory  upon  the  United  States. 

"The  debt,  for  which  these  lands  were  pledged 
by  Congress,  may  be  considered  as  paid,  and 
they  are  con.sequently  released  from  that  lien. 
But  that  pledge  formed  no  part  of  the  compacts 
with  the  States,  or  of  the  conditions  upon  which 
tl;-  cessions  were  made.  It  was  a  contract  be- 
tween new  parties— between  the  United  States 
and  their  creditors.  Upon  payment  of  the  debt, 
the  compacts  remain  in  full  force,  and  the  obli- 
gation of  the  United  States  to  dispose  of  the 
lands  for  the  common  benefit,  is  neither  des- 
troyed nor  iinpaired.  As  they  cannot  now  be 
excoitcd  lu  that  inodc,  the  only  legitimate  ques- 
tion which  can  arise  ie,  in  what  other  way  are 
tnese  lands  to  be  hereafter  disposed  of  for  the 


common  benefit  of  the  several  States, '  according 
to  their  respective  and  usual  proportion  in  the 
general  charge  and  expenditure  ? '  The  cessions 
of  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and  Georgia,  in  ex- 
press terras,  and  all  the  rest  impliedly,  not  only 
provide  thus  specifically  the  proportion,  accortf- 
mg  to  which  each  State  shall  profit  by  the  pro- 
ceeds of  the  land  sales,  but  they  proceed  to  de- 
clare that  they  shall  be  'faithfully  and  bma 
fide  disposed  of  for  that  purpose,  and  for  no 
other  use  or  purpose  whatsoever.'  This  is  the 
fundamental  law  of  the  land,  at  this  moment, 
growing  out  of  compacts  which  are  older  than 
the  constitution,  and  formed  the  corner  stone 
on  which  the  Union  itself  was  erected. 

"  In  the  practice  of  the  government,  the  pro- 
ceeds of  the  public  lands  have  not  been  set 
apart  as  a  separate  fund  for  the  payment  of  the 
public  debt,  but  have  been,  and  are  now,  paid 
into  the  treasury,  where  they  constitute  a  part 
of  the  aggregate  of  revenue,  upon  which  the 
government  draws,  as  well  for  its  current  ex- 
penditures as  for  payment  of  the  public  debt. 
In  this  manner,  they  have  heretofore,  and  do 
now,  lessen  the  general  charge  upon  the  people 
of  the  several  States,  in  the  exact  proportions 
stipulated  in  the  compacts. 

"These  general  charges  have  been  composed, 
not  only  of  the  public  debt  and  the  usual  ex- 
penditures attending  the  civil  and  military  ad- 
ministrations of  the  government,  but  of  the 
amounts  paid  to  the  States,  with  which  these 
compacts  were  formed ;  the  amounts  paid  the  In- 
dians for  their  right  of  possession ;  the  amounts 
paid  for  the  purchase  of  Louisiana  and  Florida ; 
and  the  amounts  paid  surveyors,  registers,  re- 
ceivers, clerks,  &c.,  employed  in  preparing  for 
market,  and  selling,  the  western  domain.  From 
the  origin  of  the  land  system,  down  to  the  30th 
September,  1832,  the  amount  expended  for  all 
these  purpose  has  been  about  $49,701,280  and 
the  amount  received  from  the  sales,  deducting 
payments  on  account  of  roads,  &c.,  about  $38,- 
"■•  !!,024.  The  revenue  arising  from  the  public 
-  's,  therefore,  has  not  been  sufficient  to  meet 
tlie  zeneraX  charges  on  the  treasury,  which  have 
grown  out  of  them,  by  about  $11,314,656.  Yet, 
in  having  been  applied  to  lessen  those  charges, 
the  conditions  of  the  compacts  have  been  thus 
far  fulfilled,  and  each  State  has  profited  accord- 
ing to  its  usual  proportion  in  the  general  charge 
and  expenditure.  Tlie  annual  proceeds  of  land 
sales  have  increased,  and  the  charges  have  dimin- 
ished ;  so  that,  at  a  reduced  price,  those  lands 
would  now  defray  all  current  charges  growing 
out  of  them,  and  save  the  treasury  from  further 
advances  on  their  account.  Their  original  intent 
and  object,  therefore,  would  be  accomplished,  as 
fully  as  it  has  hitherto  been,  by  reducing  the 
price,  and  hereafter,  as  heretofore,  bringing  the 
proceeds  into  the  treasury.  Indeed,  as  this  is 
the  only  mode  in  which  the  objecti  of  the  origi- 
nal compact  can  be  attained,  it  may  be  consi- 
dered, for  all  practical  purposes,  that  i*.  is  one  of 
their  requirements. 


>^!l 


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366 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


n 


I  i 


'1. 5 


IP 


"  The  bill  before  me  begins  with  an  entire  Hub- 
version  of  every  one  of  the  compacts  by  which 
the  United  States  became  possessed  of  their 
western  domain,  and  treats  the  snbject  as  if 
they  never  had  existence,  and  as  if  the  United 
States  were  the  original  and  unconditional  own- 
ers of  all  the  public  lands.  The  first  section 
directs — 

'"That,  from  and  after  the  31st  day  of  De- 
cember, 1832,  there  shall  be  allowed  and  paid 
to  each  of  the  Sfcitcs  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois, 
Alabama,  Missouri,  Mississippi,  and  Louisiana, 
over  and  above  what  each  of  the  said  States  is 
entitled  to  by  the  terms  of  the  compacts  entered 
into  between  them,  respectively,  upon  their  ad- 
mission into  the  Union  and  the  United  States, 
the  sum  of  twelve  and  a  half  per  centum  upon 
the  net  amount  of  the  sales  of  the  public  lands, 
which,  subsequent  to  the  day  afosesaid,  shall  be 
made  within  the  several  limits  of  the  said  States ; 
which  said  hum  of  twelve  and  a  half  per  centum 
ehall  be  appli''  i  to  some  object  or  objects  of  in- 
ternal ir.jiiovement  or  education,  within  the 
said  States,  under  the  direction  of  their  several 
legislatures.' 

"  This  twelve  and  a  half  per  centum  is  to  be 
taken  out  of  the  net  proceeds  of  the  land  sales, 
before  any  apportionment  is  made ;  and  the  same 
seven  States,  which  are  first  to  receive  this  pro- 
portion, are  also  to  receive  their  due  proportion 
of  the  residue,  according  to  the  ratio  of  general 
distribution. 

"  Now,  waiving  all  considerations  of  equity 
or  policy,  in  regard  to  this  provision,  what  more 
need  be  said  to  demonstrate  its  objectionable 
character,  than  that  it  is  in  direct  and  undis- 
guised violation  of  the  pledge  given  by  Congress 
to  the  States,  before  a  single  cession  was  made ; 
that  it  abrogates  the  condition  upon  which  some 
of  the  States  came  into  the  Union ;  and  that  it 
sets  at  nought  the  terms  of  cession  spread  upon 
the  face  of  every  grant  under  which  the  title  to 
that  portion  of  the  public  land  is  held  by  the 
federal  government  ? 

"  In  the  apportionment  of  the  remaining  seven 
eighths  of  the  proceeds,  this  bill,  in  a  manner 
equally  undisguised,  violates  the  conditions  upon 
which  the  United  States  acquired  title  to  the 
ceded  lands.  Abandoning  altogether  tiie  ratio 
of  distribution,  according  to  the  general  charge 
and  expenditure  provided  by  the  compacts,  it 
adopts  that  of  the  federal  representative  popu- 
lation. Virginia,  and  other  States,  which  ceded 
their  lands  upon  the  express  condition  that  they 
should  receive  a  benefit  from  their  sales,  in  pro- 
portion to  their  part  of  the  general  charge,  are, 
by  the  bill,  allowed  only  a  portion  of  seven 
eighths  of  then*  proceeds,  and  that  not  in  the 
proportion  of  general  charge  and  expenditure, 
but  in  the  ratio  of  their  federal  representative 
population. 

"The  constitution  of  the  United  States  did 
not  delegate  to  Congress  the  power  to  ubrogute 
these  compacts.  On  the  contrary,  by  declaring 
that  nothing  in  it '  shall  be  so  construed  as  to 


prejudice  any  claims  of  the  United  iStntcs,  or  of 
any  particular  State,'  it  virtually  provides  thut 
these  compacts,  and  the  rights  thuy  secure,  shall 
remain  untouched  bv  the  legislative  iK)wer,  wliicji 
shall  only  make  all '  needful  rules  niid  repulii- 
tions'for  carrying  them  into  effect.  All  bl;. 
yond  this,  would  seem  to  bo  an  assumption  of 
undelegated  power. 

"  These  ancient  compacts  are  invaluable  monu- 
ments of  an  age  of  virtue,  patriotism,  and  disin- 
terestedness. They  exhibit  the  price  that  ftrcat 
States,  which  had  won  liberty,  wore  willirf  to 
pay  for  that  Union,  without  which,  they  plainly 
saw,  it  could  not  be  preserved.  It  was  not  for 
territory  or  State  power  that  our  revolutionary 
fathers  took  up  arms;  it  was  for  individual 
liberty^  and  the  right  of  ?elf-governnient.  The 
expulsion,  from  the  continent,  of  British  armies 
and  British  power  was  to  them  a  barren  con- 
quest, if,  through  the  collisions  of  the  redeemed 
States,  the  individual  rights  for  which  they 
fought  should  become  the  prey  of  petty  military 
tyrannies  established  at  home.  To  avert  such 
consequences,  and  throw^  around  liberty  the 
shield  of  union.  States,  whose  relative  strength 
at  the  time,  gave  them  a  preponderating  power, 
magnanimously  sacrificed  domains  which  would 
have  made  them  the  rivals  of  empires,  only 
stipulating  that  they  should  be  disposed  of  for 
the  common  benefit  of  themselves  and  the  other 
confederated  States.  This  enlightened  policy 
produced  union,  and  has  secured  liberty.  It  has 
made  our  waste  lands  to  swarm  with  a  busy 
people,  and  added  many  powerful  States  to  our 
confederation.  As  well  for  the  fruits  which 
these  noble  works  of  our  ancestors  have  pro- 
duced, as  for  the  devotedness  in  which  they 
originated,  we  should  hesitate  before  we  demol- 
ish them. 

"  But  there  are  other  principles  asserted  in 
the  bill,  which  would  have  impelled  me  to  with- 
hold my  signature,  had  I  not  seen  in  it  a  viola- 
tion of  the  compacts  by  which  the  United  States 
acquired  title  to  a  larga  portion  of  the  public 
lands.  It  rcassertiJ  the  i)rinciple  contained  in 
the  bill  authorizing  a  subscription  to  the  stock 
of  the  Maysville,  Washington,  Paris,  and  Lex- 
ington Turnpike  Road  Company,  from  which  I 
was  compelled  to  withhold  my  consent,  for  rea- 
sons contained  in  my  message  of  the  27th  May, 
1830,  to  the  House  of  Representatives.  Tlie 
leading  principle,  then  asserted,  was,  that  Con- 
gress possesses  no  constitutional  power  to  ap- 
propriate any  part  of  the  moneys  of  the  United 
States  for  objects  of  a  local  character  within  the 
States.  That  principle,  I  cannot  he  mistaken  in 
supposing,  has  received  the  unequivocal  sanction 
of  the  American  people,  and  all  subsequent  re- 
flection has  but  satisfied  me  more  thoioughly 
that  the  interests  of  our  people,  and  the  purity 
of  our  government,  if  not  its  existence,  depend 
on  its  observance.  The  p\iblic  lands  are  the 
eomiiion  property  of  the  United  States,  aiiil  the 
moneys  arising  from  their  sales  arc  a  part  of  the 
public  revenue.    This  bill  proposes  to  raise  from, 


ANNO  1838.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


867 


ami  appropriate  a  portion  of,  thiH  public  revontio 
to  a-rtiiiii  States,  providing  oxpicKsly  tlmt  it 
ehail  'lie  nppliol  to  olijocts  of  intenml  improve- 
ment nri'iiiicition  witiiiu  tlioso  iStutcH,' and  then 
proceeds  to  iippropriiito  tlic  balance  to  all  tiie 
States,  with  the  dueliinition  tlmt  it  shall  bo  up- 
plied 'to  such  purpoi^i's  as  the  legislatures  of 
the  Haid  r('H]H'ctive  States  shall  deem  proj)er.' 
The  fiiriner  ajipropriation  is  expressly  for  inter- 
nal improvements  or  education,  without  (lualili- 
cation  us  to  the  kind  of  improvements,  and, 
therefore,  in  express  violation  of  the  principle 
maintained  in  my  objections  to  the  turnpike 
road  bill,  al)ovo  referred  to.     The  latter  appro- 

Eriation  is  more  broad,  and  gives  the  money  to 
0  applied  to  any  local  purpose  whatsoever.  It 
will  not  be  denied,  that,  under  the  provisions  of 
the  bill,  a  portion  of  the  money  might  have  been 
appliwl  to  making  the  very  road  to  which  the 
bill  of  IH.'iO  had  reference,  and  must,  of  course, 
come  within  the  scope  of  the  same  principle. 
If  the  money  of  the  United  States  cannot  be  ap- 
plied to  local  purposes  through  its  own  agents, 
as  little  can  it  be  permitted  to  be  thus  expended 
through  tlie  agency  of  the  State  governments. 

"It  has  been  supposed  that,  with  all  the  reduc- 
tions in  our  revenue  which  could  be  speedily 
eflected  by  Congress,  without  injury  to  the  sub- 
stantial interests  of  the  country,  there  might  be, 
for  some  years  to  come,  a  surplus  of  moneys  in 
the  treasury ;  and  that  there  was,  in  principle, 
no  objection  to  returning  them  to  the  people  by 
whom  they  weie  paid.  As  the  literal  accom- 
plishment of  such  an  object  is  obviously  imprac- 
ticable, it  was  thought  admissible,  as  the  nearest 
approximation  to  it,  to  hand  them  over  to  the 
State  governments,  the  moi-e  immediate  repre- 
,«entatives  of  the  i)eople,  to  be  by  them  applied 
to  the  benefit  of  those  to  whom  they  properly 
belonged.  The  principle  and  the  object  was,  to 
return  to  the  people  an  unavoidable  surplus  of 
revenue  which  might  have  been  paid  by  them 
under  a  system  which  could  not  at  once  be  aban- 
doned ;  but  even  this  resource,  which  at  one  time 
seemed  to  l)e  almost  the  only  alternative  to  save 
the  general  government  from  grasping  unlimited 
power  over  internal  improvements,  was  suggest- 
ed with  doui..  -i  if  Its  constitutionality. 

"But  this  bid  assumes  a  new  principle.  Its 
object  is  not  to  return  to  the  people  an  unavoidable 
surphLS  of  revenue  paid  in  by  them,  but  to  create 
a  surplus  for  distribution  among  the  States.  It 
seizes  the  entire  proceeds  of  one  source  of  reven- 
ue, and  sets  them  apart  as  a  surplus,  making  it 
necessary  to  raise  the  money  for  supporting  the 
government,  and  meeting  the  general  charges, 
from  other  sources.  It  even  throws  the  entire 
land  .system  upon  the  customs  for  its  support, 
and  makes  the  public  lands  a  perpetual  charge 
upon  the  treasury.  It  does  not  return  to  the 
people  moneys  accidentally  or  unavoidably  paid 
oy  them  to  the  govermnent  by  which  they  are 
not  w.aiited ;  but  compels  the  people  to  pay 
moneys  mto  the  treasury  for  the  mere  purpose 
ot  creating  a  surplus  for  distribution  to  their 


State  governmcntH.  If  this  principle  bo  once 
admitted,  it  is  not  diflleult  to  perceive  to  what 
conse(juenceH  it  nuiy  lead.  Already  this  bill,  bj 
thiowing  the  lan<l  .system  on  the  revenues  from 
imports  for  support,  virtually  distributes  among 
the  States  a  part  of  those  revenues.  The  pro- 
portion may  bo  increased  from  time  to  time, 
without  any  departure  from  the  principle  now 
asserted,  until  the  State  governments  shall  de- 
rive all  the  funds  necessary  for  their  support 
from  the  treasury  of  the  United  States  ;  or,  if  a 
sufficient  supply  should  be  obtained  by  some 
States  and  not  by  others,  the  deficient  States 
might  complain,  and,  to  i)ut  an  end  to  all  fur- 
ther difficulty.  Congress,  without  assuming  any 
new  principle,  need  go  but  one  stej)  further,  and 
put  the  salaries  of  all  the  State  governors,  jiidn;- 
es,  and  other  officers,  with  a  sufficient  sum  for 
other  expenses,  in  their  general  appropriation  bill. 

"It  appears  to  me  that  a  moie  direct  road  to 
consolidation  cannot  be  devised.  Money  ia 
power,  and  in  that  government  which  pays  all 
the  public  officers  of  the  States,  will  all  political 
power  be  substantially  concentrated.  The  State 
governments,  if  governments  they  might  be  call- 
ed, would  lose  all  their  independence  and  digni- 
ty. The  economy  which  now  distingiiishes  them 
would  be  converted  into  a  profusion,  limited  only 
by  the  extent  of  the  supply.  Being  the  depen- 
dants of  the  general  government,  and  looking  to 
its  treasury  as  the  source  of  all  their  emolu- 
ments, the  State  oflicer.s,  under  whatever  names 
they  might  pass,  and  by  whatever  forms  their 
duties  might  be  prescribed,  would,  in  effect,  be 
the  mere  stipondaries  and  instruments  of  the 
central  power. 

"I  am  quite  sure  that  the  intelligent  people 
of  our  several  States  will  be  -satisfied,  on  a  little 
reflection,  that  it  is  neither  wise  nor  safe  to  re- 
lease the  members  of  their  local  legislatures  from 
the  responsibility  of  levying  the  taxes  necessary 
to  support  their  State  governments,  and  vest  it 
in  Congress,  over  most  of  who.se  members  they 
have  no  control.  They  will  not  think  it  ex- 
pedient that  Congress  shall  be  the  tax-gatherer 
and  paymaster  of  all  their  State  governments, 
thus  amalgamating  all  their  officers  into  one  mass 
of  common  interest  and  conmion  feeling.  It  is 
too  obvious  that  such  a  course  would  subvert 
our  well-balanced  system  of  government,  and 
ultimately  deprive  us  of  the  blessings  now  de- 
rived from  our  happy  union. 

"  However  willing  I  might  be  that  any  un- 
avoidable surplus  in  the  treasury  should  be  re- 
turned to  the  people  through  their  State  govern- 
ments, I  cannot  assent  to  the  principle  that  a 
surplus  may  be  created  for  the  purpose  of  dis- 
tribution. Viewing  this  bill  as,  in  eflect,  assum- 
ing the  right  not  only  to  create  a  surplus  for 
that  purpose,  but  to  divide  the  contents  of  the 
treasury  among  the  States  without  limitation, 
from  whatever  source  they  may  be  dei  ived,  and 
as.surtiiig  the  power  to  raise  and  appropriate 
money  for  the  support  of  every  State  govern- 
ment and  institution,  as  well  as  for  making  every 


■il 


I 


r 


'!  .-I 


i'  -^-'i 


868 


THIRTY  YKAUS*  VIEW. 


J 


'.  1 

1. 


local  iinproveinent,  however  trivial,  T  cannot  frfvo 
It  inv  as.-<ont. 

"  ft  iH  (lifllciift  to  porceivn  wlint  advnntap-. 
woul  i  accriic  to  tlic  "Id  States  or  the  lU'W  from 
the  system  of  diHtrilmtion  whicili  tJiis  liill  pro- 
poses, if  it  were  otherwise  uiiohjcctioiinhle.  It 
requires  no  arj^iiment  to  prove,  that  if  three  mil- 
lions of  dolliirs  a  year,  or  any  other  smn,  shall  he 
taken  out  of  the  treasury  hy  this  hill  for  distrilm- 
tion.  it  must  he  replaeed  hy  the  same  sum  collect- 
ed from  the  jjcople  through  some  other  means. 
The  old  States  will  receive  annually  a  sum  of 
money  from  the  treasury,  hut  they  will  pay  in 
a  larger  sum,  togt'ther  with  the  expenses  of  col- 
lection and  distrihntion.  It  is  only  their  pro- 
portion of  seven  eiithts  of  tlio  proceeds  of  laud 
sales  which  they  are  to  receive,  but  they  must 

f)ay  their  due  proportion  of  the  whole.  Disguise 
t  as  we  may,  the  hill  proposes  to  them  a  dead 
loss  in  the  ratio  of  eight  to  seven,  in  mldition  to 
expenses  and  other  incidental  losses.  This  as- 
sertion is  not  the  less  true  because  it  may  not 
at  first  he  palpable.  Their  receipts  will  be  in 
large  sums,  but  their  payments  in  small  ones. 
The  governments  of  the  States  will  rei cive  seven 
dollars,  for  which  the  people  of  the  Stati  s  will  pay 
eight.  The  large  sinus  received  will  be  palpable 
to  the  senses;  the  small  sums  paid,  it  requires 
thought  to  identify.  But  a  little  consideration 
will  satisfy  the  people  that  the  effect  is  the  same 
as  if  seven  hundred  dollars  were  given  them  from 
the  public  treasury,  for  which  they  were  at  the 
same  time  required  to  pay  in  taxes,  direct  or  in- 
direct, eight  hundred. 

"1  deceive  my.self  greatly  if  the  new  States 
would  llutl  their  inteiests  promoted  by  such  a 
system  as  this  bill  proposes.  Their  true  policy 
consists  in  the  rapid  settling  and  improvement 
of  the  waste  lands  within  their  limits.  As  a 
means  of  hastening  those  events,  they  have  long 
been  looking  to  a  reduction  in  the  price  of  public 
lands  upon  the  final  payment  of  the  national 
debt.  The  effect  of  the  proposed  system  would 
be  to  prevent  that  reduction.  It  is  true,  the  bill 
reserves  to  Congress  the  power  to  reduce  the 
price,  but  the  effect  of  its  details,  as  now  ar- 
ranged, would  probably  be  forever  to  prevent  its 
exercise. 

"  With  the  just  men  who  inhabit  the  new 
States,  it  is  a  snfflcient  reason  to  reject  this 
system,  that  it  is  in  violation  of  the  fimdamental 
laws  of  the  republic  and  its  constitution.  But 
if  it  were  a  mere  question  of  interest  or  expe- 
diency, they  would  still  reject  it.  They  would 
not  sell  their  bright  prospect  of  increasing  wealth 
and  growing  power  at  such  a  price.  They 
would  not  place  a  sum  of  money  to  be  paid  into 
their  treasuries,  in  competition  with  the  settle- 
ment of  their  waste  lands,  and  the  increase  of 
their  population.  The\'  would  not  consider  a 
small  01  large  annual  sum  to  be  paid  to  their 
governments,  and  immediately  cxpendeil,  as  an 
rquivalent  for  that  enduring  wealth  which  is 
composed  of  Hocks  and  herds,  and  cultivated 
farms.    No  temptation  will  allure  them  from 


that  object  of  abiding  interest,  the  Hnttl,.,„pnt  of 
their  waste  lands,  and  the  increawe  of  a  lianiy 
race  of  free  citizens,  their  glory  in  peaco  anil 
their  defence  in  war. 

"On  the  whole,  I  adhere  to  the  opinion  ex- 
pressed  by  me  in  my  annual  message  of  iHljo 
that  it  is  our  true  policy  that  the  public  liimis 
shall  cea.so,  as  soon  as  practicable,  to  be  a  source 
of  ri  venue,  except  for  the  payment  of  tll()^o  pcn- 
eral  charges  win  ;h  grow  out  of  tlu(  acqiiisiii.  n 
of  the  lands,  till  ir  survey,  and  wale.  Although 
these  expenses  have  not  been  met  by  t)ie  |ij(,. 
cecds  of  sales  hert^toforc,  it  is  quite  certain  tticy 
will  be  hereaflei  ven  after  a  cousiderahle  rcduo 
tion  in  the  price.  By  meeting  in  the  tit  siKiiry  so 
much  of  the  t;eneral  charge  as  arises  dim  that 
source,  they  will  be  hereafter,  as  they  have  been 
heretofore,  disposed  of  for  the  conniioi'  bone 
fit  of  the  United  States,  according  to  the  com- 
j)act8  of  cession.  I  do  not  doubt  that  it  is  tlie 
real  interest  of  each  and  all  the  States  in  the 
Union,  and  particularly  of  the  new  States,  that 
the  price  of  these  lands  shall  be  reduced  and 
graduated ;  and  that,  after  they  have  been  ofTer- 
ed  for  a  certain  number  of  years,  the  refuse,  re- 
maining unsold,  .shall  be  abandoned  to  the  States 
and  the  machinery  of  our  land  system  entiivly 
withdrawn.  It  cannot  be  supposed  tlie  com- 
pacts intended  that  the  United  States  should 
retain  forever  a  title  to  lands  within  the  Stntcs, 
which  are  of  no  value ;  and  no  doubt  is  en- 
tertained that  the  general  interest  would  be 
best  promoted  by  surrendering  such  lands  to 
the  States. 

"  This  plan  for  disposing  of  the  pu])lic  land.s 
impairs  no  principle,  violates  no  compact,  and 
deranges  no  system.  Already  has  the  price  of 
those  lands  been  reduced  fiom  two  dollars  per 
acre  to  one  dollar  and  a  quarter ;  and  upon  tlie 
will  of  Congress,  it  depends  whether  there  .shall 
be  a  further  reduction.  While  the  burdens  of 
the  East  are  diminishing  by  the  reduction  of  the 
duties  upon  imports,  it  seems  but  eipial  jiistire 
that  the  chief  burden  of  the  We.^t  iOioiiid  be 
lightened  in  an  equal  degree  at  least.  It  would 
b(!  just  to  the  old  States  and  the  new,  conciliate 
every  interest,  disarm  the  subject  of  all  its  dan- 
gers, and  add  another  guaranty  to  the  perpetu- 
ity of  our  happy  Union." 

Statement  respecting  the  revenue  deriredfrom 
the  public  lauds,  accoinp/niyin'^  ihf  I'nsi- 
denOs  Message  to  the  Senal",  /Jririnhfr  M, 
1833,  slating  his  reasons  for  nut  itpproting 
the  Land  Bill : 

Statement  of  the  amount  of  money  which  has 
been  paid  by  the  United  States  for  the  litle  to 
the  public  lands,  including  the  payments  made 
under  the  Louisiana  and  Florida  tniities;  the 
compact  with  Georgia ;  the  settlement  with  the 
Yazoo  claimants;  the  contracts  willi  the  Indian 
tribes ;  and  the  expenditures  for  <•"!!!)  en.-ation 
to  commissioners,  clerks,  surveyors  mid  other 
officers,  employed  by  the  United  .•Miii's  fortiio 


ANNO  1888.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDKNT. 


369 


nnnii|?onictit  and  Halo  of  the  Western  domain  j 
the  gnwrt  amount  of  money  received  into  the 
trcBHury,  an  tho  proceeds  of  public  lands,  to  tiic 
,10th  of  Septeinlwr,  1832;  also,  tiie  net  amount, 
after  (leductinn  five  |)er  cent.,  expended  on  ac- 
count (if  roads  within,  and  Iciulint;  to  tho  Went- 
ern  States,  &'■.,  and  sums  refunded  on  account 
of  errors  in  the  entries  of  public  lands. 

Piivinent  on  account  of  tho  purchase  of  Louis- 

iiiim : 


Principal,    ■ 
lotntiwt  (ID 


|ll,Sfi<),000 


|28,8M,M8T1 


Payment  on  account  of  tho  purchase  of  Florida: 


Prtnclnol, »4,0H5,ft9«  82 

Iiiiuri'st  to  Sflth  Bsptoinber,  ISfl'i,  l,4Htf,7(W  (16 

I'nymiint  of  compact  with  Oeor({i»,  -    -    -    . 

r»ynirnt  of  tlio  Hettlciiioiit  with  tho  Vazoo 
clllllrmnl^ 

I'aviiifntof  contracts  with  tho  several  Indian 
trllit'x  (»ll  ('X|ion8i'ii  on  account  of  tnillaim), 

I'tyiriciit  of  coinnil-vlonere,  clerkd,  iind  other 
ollloers,  cniployiMl  by  tlio  United  HtiiKw  for 
tliu  ijinniigenieut  and  sale  of  the  Wetttern 
domnin, 


Amount  of  money  received  Into  tho  treasury 
Ai  till'  pnx'f'i  lU  of  public  lands  to  80th  Be\>- 
IcmbiT,  1S!)2, 

Deduct  (isyitu'.rts  from  tho  treasury  on  ac- 
count uf  roads,  ic,    •     ....... 


tA,47e,l)AS  4S 
:  'M18,484  06 

l,n80,808  04 

18,064,6TT  45 

8,750,71 «  48 
$49,701,280  17 

189,614,000  C7 

1,227,875  94 

(88,886,624  18 


T.  L.  Smith,  Beg. 
Treasury  Department.        } 
Register's  Office,  March  1,  1833.  \ 

Such  was  this  amplo  and  well-considered 
message,  one  of  tho  wisest  and  most  patriotic 
ever  delivered  by  any  President,  and  presenting 
General  Jackson  under  the  aspect  of  an  immense 
elevation  over  tho  ordinary  arts  of  men  who  run 
a  popular  career,  and  become  candidates  for 
popular  votes.  Such  arts  require  addresses  to 
popular  interests,  tho  conciliation  of  the  interest- 
ed passions,  tho  gratification  of  cupidity,  the 
favoring  of  the  masses  in  the  distribution  of 
money  or  property  as  well  as  the  enrichment  of 
classes  in  undue  advantages.  General  Jackson 
exhibits  himself  as  equally  elevated  above  all 
these  arts — as  far  above  seducing  the  masses 
with  agrarian  laws  as  above  enriching  tho  few 
with  the  plundering  legislation  of  banks  and 
tariffs ;  and  the  people  felt  this  elevation,  and 
did  honor  to  themselves  in  the  manner  in  which 
they  appreciated  it.  Far  from  losing  his  popular- 
ity, he  increased  it,  by  every  act  of  disdain 
which  he  exhibited  for  the  ordinary  arts  of  con- 
ciliating popular  favor.  His  veto  message,  on 
this  occasion  was  an  exemplification  of  all  the 
Vol.  I.— 24 


high  qualiticH  of  tho  public  man.  He  sat  out 
with  showing  that  these  imids,  so  far  as  thej 
were  divided  from  tho  Staten,  were  grunted  u 
a  common  ftmd,  to  bo  disposed  of  for  tho  bcneflt 
of  all  tho  States,  according  to  their  tisual  rcspcci" 
ivo  proportions  in  tho  general  charge  and  ex- 
penditure, and  for  no  other  uso  or  piiriwse  what- 
soever ;  and  that  by  tho  principles  of  our  gov- 
ernment and  sound  policy,  those  a<;qnired  from 
foreign  governmontH  could  only  bo  disposed  of 
in  tho  same  manner.  Ir  addition  to  these  great 
reasons  of  principle  and  policy,  tho  message 
clearly  points  out  the  roischiei  which  any  scheme 
of  distribution  will  inflict  upon  the  new  Statcf 
in  preventing  reductions  in  the  price  of  the 
public  lands — in  preventing  donations  to  settlers 
— and  in  preventing  tho  cession  of  tho  unsalable 
lands  to  tho  States  in  which  they  lie  j  antl  re- 
curs to  his  early  messages  in  support  of  tho 
policy,  now  that  tho  public  debt  was  paid,  of 
looking  to  settlement  and  population  as  the  chief 
objects  to  be  derived  from  these  lands,  and  for 
that  purpose  t!  ..it  they  be  sold  to  settlers  at  cost. 


CHAPTER    XCI. 

COMMKNCEMENT  OP  THE  TWENTY-THIRD  OON. 
ORE8S.— TUE  MEMBERS,  AND  f  UKSIDENT'B  MES- 
SAGE. 

On  the  second  day  of  December,  1833,  com- 
menced the  first  session  of  the  Twenty-third 
Congress,  commonly  called  the  Panic  session — 
one  of  the  most  eventful  and  exciting  which  tho 
coui'ry  had  ever  seen,  and  abounding  with  high 
talent    The  following  is  the  list  of  members : 

SENATE. 

Maine — Peleg  Sprague,  Ether  Shepley. 

New  Hampshire — Samuel  Bell,  Isaac  Hill. 

Massachusetts — Dan.'  '  Webster,  Nathaniel 
Silsbee. 

Rhode  Island — Nehemibu  R.  Knight,  Asher 
Robbins. 

Connecticut — Gideon 
Smith. 

Vermont — Samuel  Prentiss,  Benjamin  Swift. 

New  York— Silas  Wright,  N.  P.  Tallmadge. 

New  Jersey — Theodore  Frelinghuysen,  S.  L. 
Southard. 

Pennsylvania — William   Wilkins,    Samuel 

Delaware— John  M.  Clayton,  Arnold  Nau- 
dain. 


Tomlinson,    Nathan 


'■'i  %•  . 


\wM^ 


370 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW, 


1 
I 

{ 


n 


Maryland- -Ezekiel  F.  Chambers,  Joseph 
Kent. 

ViRGiNTA — Wm.  0.  Rives,  John  Tyler. 

North  Carolina — Bedford  Brown,  W.  P. 
Mangum. 

South  Carolina — J.  C.  Calhoun,  William 
C.  Preston. 

Gkokoia — John  Forsyth,  John  P.  King., 

Kkntuckv — George  M.  Bibb,  Henry  Clay. 

Tennkssef. — Felix  Grundy,  Hugh  L.  White. 

Ohio — Thomas  Ewing,  Thomas  Morris. 

Louisiana — G.  A.  Waggaman,  Alexander 
Porter. 

Indiana — Wm,  Hendricks,  John  Tipton. 

Missi!<sippi — George  Poindexter,  John  Black. 

Illinois — Elias  K^  Kane,  John  M.  Robinson. 

Alabama — William  R.  King,  Gabriel  Moore. 

Missouri — Thomas  H.  Benton,  Lewis  F.  Linn. 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 

Maine — George  Fjvans,  Joseph  Hall,  Leonard 
Jarvis,  Edward  Kavanagh,  Moses  Mason,  Rufus 
Mclntyrc,  Goiham  Parks,  Francis  0.  J.  Smith. 

New  Kvmtshire — Benning  M.  Bean,  Robert 
Burns,  Joseph  M.  Harper,  Henry  Hubbard, 
Franklin  Pierce. 

Massachusetts — John  Quincy  Adams,  Isaac 
C.  Bates,  \\'illiam  Baylies,  George  N.  Briggs, 
Rufus  Choate,  John  Davis,  Edward  Evcett, 
Benjamin  Gorham,  George  Grennell,  jr.,  Gayton 
P.  Osgood,  John  Reed. 

Rhode  Island — Tristam  Burgee,  Dutea  J. 
Pearce. 

Connecticut — Noyes  Barber,  William  W. 
Ellsworth,  Samuel  A.  Foot,  Jabez  W.  Hunting- 
ton, Samuel  Tweedy,  Ebenezer  Young. 

Vermcnt — Heman  Allen,  Benjamin  F.  Dem- 
ing,  Hornce  Everett,  Hiland  Hall,  William  Slade. 

New  York — John  Adams,  Samuel  Beardsley, 
Abraham  Bockee,  Charles  Bodle,  John  W. 
Brown,  Churchill  C.  Cambreleng,  Samuel  Clark, 
John  Cramer,  Rowland  Day,  John  Dickson, 
Millard  Fillmore,  Philo  0.  Fuller,  William  K. 
Fuller,  Ransom  II.  Gillet,  Nicoll  Halsey,  Gideon 
Hard,  Samuel  C.  Hathaway,  Abner  Hazeltine, 
Edward  Howell,  Abel  Huntington,  Noadiah 
Johnson,  Gerrit  Y.  Lansing,  Cornelius  W.  Law- 
rence, George  W.  Lay,  Abijah  Mann,  jr.,  Henry 
C.  Martindale,  Charles  McVean,  Henry  Mitchell, 
Sherman  Page,  Job  Picrson,  Dudley  Selden, 
William  Taylor.  Joel  Turrill,  Aaron  Vandcrpoel, 
Isaac  B.  Van  Ilouton,  Aaron  Ward,  Daniel 
Wardwell,  Reuben  W  ballon,  Campbell  P.  Wliite, 
Frederick  Whittlesey. 

New  Jersey — Philemon  Dickerson,  Samuel 
Fowler,  Thomas  Lee,  James  Parker,  Ferdinand 
S.  Schenck,  Williaia  N.  Shinn. 

Pennsylvania — Joseph  B.  Anthony,  John 
Banks,  Charles  A.  Barnitz,  Andrew  Beaumont, 
Horace  Binney.  George  Burd,  George  Cham- 
bers, William  Clark,  Richard  C^-Uer,  Edward 
Darlington,  Hiirmar  Denny,  John  Galbraith, 
Jamcjj  Harper,  Samuel  S.  Harrison,  William 
Hicster,  Joseph  Henderson,  Henry  King,  John 


Laporte,  Joel  K.  Mann,  Thomas  M.  T.  MoKennan 
Jesse  Miller,  Henry  A.  Muhlenberg,  David 
Potts,  jr.,  Robert  Ramsay,  Andrew  Stewart 
Joel  B.  Sutherland,  David  E.  Wagener,  John  G. 
Watmough. 

Delaware — John  J.  Milligan. 

Maryland — Richard  B.  Carmichael,  Littleton 
P.  Dennis,  James  P.  Heath,  William  Cost  .John- 
son, Isaac  McKim,  John  T.  Stoddcrt,  FrancLs 
Thomas,  James  Tuiiier. 

Virginia — John  J.  Alleu,  William  S.  Archer 
James  M.  II.  Beale,  Thomas  T.  Bouldin,  Joseph 
W.  Chinn,  Nathaniel  H.  Claiborne,  Thomas 
Davenport,  John  II.  Fulton,  James  U,  Gholpon. 
William  F.  Gordon,  George  Loyail,  Edward 
Lucas,  John  Y.  Mason,  William  MeComns, 
Charles  F.  Mercer,  Samuel  ISInDowell  Moure' 
John  M.  Patton,  Andrew  Stevenson.  AMlliam 
P.  Taylor,  Edgar  C.  Wilson,  Henry  A.  Wiso. 

North  Carolina — Daniel  L.  Barringer,  Jesse 
A.  Bynum,  Henry  W.  Connor,  Edmund  Dcbci  rv 
James  Graham,  Thomas  H.  Hall,  Micajali  t! 
Hawkins,  James  J.  McKay,  Abraham  Rencher 
William  B.  Shepard,  Augustine  H.  Shepperd' 
Jesse  Speight,  Lewis  Williams. 

South  Carolina — James  Blair,  William  K. 
Clowney,  Warren  R.  Davis,  John  51.  Felder 
William  J.  Grayson,  John  K.  Griffin,  George 
McDuffle,  Henry  L.  Pinckney. 

Georgia — Augustine  S.  Clayton,  John  Coffee, 
Thomas  F.  Foster,  Roger  L.  Gamble,  George  R. 
Gilmer,  Seaborn  Jones,  William  Schley,  James 
M.  Wayne,  Richard  H.  Wilde. 

Kentucky — Chilton  Allan,  Martin  Beat^v, 
Thomas  Chilton,  ,Amos  Davis,  Benjamin  Hardin, 
Albert  G.  Ilawes,  Richard  M.  Johnson,  James 
Love,  Chittenden  Lyon,  Thomas  A.  Marshall, 
Patrick  H.  Pope,  Christopher  Tompkins. 

Tennessee — John  Bell,  John  Blair,  Samuel 
Bunfh,  David  Crockett,  David  W.  Dickinson, 
William  C.  Dunlap,  John  B.  Forester,  William 
M.  Inge.  Cave  Johnson,  Luke  Lea,  Bahe  Peyton, 
James  K.  Polk,  James  Standifer. 

Ohio — William  Allen,  James  M.  Bell,  John 
Chaney,  Thomas  Corwin,  Joseph  II.  Crane, 
Thomas  L.  Ilamer,  Benjamin  .Tones,  Henry  H. 
Leavitt,  liobert  T.  Lytle,  Jeremiah  McLean, 
Robert  Mitchell,  William  Patterson,  Jonathan 
Sloane,  David  Spangler,  John  Thomson,  Joseph 
Vance,  Samuel  F.  Vinton,  Taylor  Webster. 
Elisha  AVhittlesey. 

Louisiana — Philemon  Thomas,  Edward  D. 
White. 

Indiana — Ratliff  Boon,  John  Carr,  John 
Ewing,  Edward  A.  Hannegan,  George  L.  Kin- 
nard,  Amos  Lane,  Jonathan  McCarty. 

Mississippi — Harry  Cage,  Franklin  E,  Plumer. 

Illinois — Zadok  Casey,  Joseph  Duncan, 
Charles  Slade. 

Alabama — Clement  C.  Clay,  Dixon  H. Lewis, 
Samuel  W.  JIardis,  John  Mckinley,  John  Mur- 

pby- 

Missouri — William  H.  Ashley,  John  Bull. 
Lucius  Lyon  also  appeared  as  the  delegate  from 
the  territory  of  Michigan. 


ANNO  1883.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


371 


ir,  William  K. 
hn  M.  Felder. 


Ambrose  H.  Sevier  also  appeared  as  the  dele- 
pate  from  the  ten-itory  of  Arkansas, — Joseph 
M.  White  from  Florida. 

Mr.  Andrew  Stevenson,  who  had  been  chosen 
Speaker  of  the  House  for  the  three  succeeding 
Consressos,  was  re-elected  by  a  great  majority 
-  indicating  the  administration  strength,  and 
his  own  popularity.  The  annual  message  was 
immediately  sent  in,  and  presented  a  gratifying 
view  of  our  foreign  relations — all  nations  being 
in  peace  and  amity  v.  ith  us,  and  many  giving 
fresh  proofs  of  friendship,  cither  in  new  treaties 
formed,  or  indemnities  made  for  previous  injuries. 
The  state  of  the  finances  was  then  adverted  to, 
and  shown  to  be  in  the  most  favorable  condition. 
The  message  said : 

'•It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  congratulate 
you  upon  the  prosperous  condition  of  the  finan- 
ces of  the  country,  as  will  appear  from  the  report 
which  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  will,  in  due 
time,  lay  before  you.  The  receipts  into  the 
Treasury  during  ^  present  yoar  will  amount 
to  more  than  t^.  ..y-two  millions  of  dollars. 
The  revenue  derived  from  customs  will,  it  is  be- 
lieved, be  more  than  twenty-eight  millions,  and 
the  public  lands  will  yield  about  three  millions. 
The  expenditures  within  the  your,  for  all  objects, 
including  two  millions  five  hundred  and  seventy- 
two  thousand  two  hundred  and  fortv  dollars 
and  ninety-nine  cents  on  account  of  the  public 
debt,  will  not  amount  to  twenty-five  millions, 
and  a  large  balance  will  remain  in  the  Treasury 
after  satisfying  all  the  appropriations  chargeable 
on  the  revenue  for  the  present  year." 

The  act  of  the  last  session,  called  the  "  com- 
promise," the  President  recommended  to  ob- 
servance, "  unless  it  should  be  found  to  produce 
more  revenue  than  the  necessities  of  the  govern- 
nior.t  required."  The  extinction  of  the  public 
debt  presented,  in  the  opinion  of  the  President, 
the  proper  occasion  for  organizing  a  system  of 
expenditure  on  the  principles  of  the  strictest 
economy  consistent  with  the  public  interest; 
and  the  passage  of  the  message  in  relation  to 
that  point  was  particularly  grateful  to  ^he  old 
friends  of  an  economical  administration  of  the 
government.    It  said: 


'But,  while  I  forbear  to  recommend  any  fur- 
ther reduction  of  the  duties,  beyond  that  already 
provided  for  by  the  existing  laws,  I  must  ear- 
nestly and  respectfully  press  upon  Congress  the 
importance  of  abstaining  from  all  appropriations 
which  are  not  absolutely  required  for  the  public 
interests,  and  authorized  by  the  powers  clearly 
delegated  to  the  United  States.    "We  are  begin- 


ning a  new  era  in  our  government.  The  national 
debt,  which  has  so  long  been  a  burden  on  the 
Treasury,  will  be  finally  discharged  in  the  course 
of  the  ensuing  year.  No  more  money  will 
afterwards  bo  needed  than  what  may  be  necessary 
to  meet  the  ordinary  expenses  of  the  government. 
Now  then  is  the  proper  moment  to  fix  our  sys- 
tem of  expenditure  on  firm  and  durable  prin- 
ciples;  and  I  cannot  too  strongly  urge  the 
necessity  of  a  rigid  economy,  and  an  inflexible 
determination  not  to  enlarge  the  income  beyond 
the  real  necessities  of  the  government,  and  not 
to  increase  the  wants  of  the  government  by 
unnecessary  and  profuse  expenditures.  Tf  a 
contrary  course  should  be  pursued,  it  may  hap- 
pen that  the  revenue  of  1834  will  fall  short  of 
the  demands  upon  it;  and  after  reducing  the 
tariff  in  order  to  lighten  the  burdens  of  the 
people,  and  providing  for  a  still  further  reduction 
to  take  effect  hereafter,  it  would  be  much  to  be 
deplored  i^  at  the  end  of  another  year,  we  should 
find  ourselves  obliged  to  retrace  our  steps,  and 
impose  additional  taxes  to  meet  unnecessary 
expenditures." 

The  part  of  the  message,  however,  which  gave 
the  paper  uncommon  emphasis,  and  caused  it  to 
be  received  with  opposite,  and  violent  emotions 
by  different  parts  of  the  community,  was  that 
which  related  to  the  Bank  of  the  United  States- 
its  believed  condition — and  the  consequent  re- 
moval of  the  public  deposits  from  its  keeping. 
The  deposits  had  been  removed — done  in  vaca- 
tion by  the  order  of  the  President — on  the 
ground  of  insecuriy,  as  well  as  of  misconduct 
in  the  corporation :  and  as  Congress,  at  the  pre- 
vious session  had  declared  its  belief  of  their  safe- 
ty, this  act  of  the  President  had  already  become 
a  point  of  vehement  newspaper  attack  upon  him 
— destined  to  be  continued  in  the  halls  of  Con- 
gress. His  conduct  in  this  removal,  and  the 
reasons  for  it,  were  thus  communicated : 


"  Since  the  last  adjournment  of  Congress,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  has  directed  the 
money  of  the  United  States  to  be  deposited  in 
certain  State  banks  designated  by  him,  and  he 
will  immediately  lay  before  you  his  reasons  for 
this  direction.  I  concur  with  him  entirely  in 
the  view  he  has  taken  of  the  subject ;  and,  some 
months  before  the  removal,  I  urged  upon  the  de- 
partment the  propriety  of  taking  that  step.  T  he 
near  approach  of  the  day  on  which  the  charter 
will  expire,  as  well  as  the  conduct  of  the  bank, 
appeared  to  me  to  call  for  this  measure  upon  the 
high  considerations  of  public  interest  and  public 
duty.  The  extent  of  its  misconduct,  however, 
although  known  to  be  great,  was  not  at  that 
time  fully  developed  by  proof.  It  was  not  until 
late  in  the  month  of  A'lf'ust,  that  I  received 
from  the  government  direccors  an  official  report, 


372 


rniRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


1 1, 


I. 


establishing  beyond  question  that  this  great  and 
powerful  institution  had  been  actively  engaged 
in  attemping  to  influence  the  elections  of  the 
public  officers  by  means  of  its  money ;  and  that, 
in  violation  of  tile  express  provisions  of  its  char- 
ter, it  had,  by  a  formal  resolution,  placed  its 
funds  at  the  disposition  of  its  President,  to  be 
employed  in  sustaining  the  political  power  of  the 
bank.  A  copy  of  this  resolution  is  contained  in 
the  report  of  the  government  directors,  before 
referred  to ;  and  however  the  object  may  be  dis- 
guised by  cautious  language,  no  one  can  doubt 
that  this  money  was  in  truth  intended  for  elec- 
tioneering purposes,  and  the  particular  uses  to 
which  it  was  proved  to  have  been  applied,  abun- 
dantly show  that  it  was  so  understood.  Not 
only  was  the  evidence  complete  as  to  the  past 
application  of  the  money  and  power  of  the  bank 
to  electioneering  purposes,  but  that  the  resolu- 
tion of  the  board  of  directors  authorized  the 
same  course  to  be  pursued  in  future. 

"  It  being  thus  established,  by  unquestionable 
proof,  that  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  was 
converted  into  a  permanent  electioneering  engine, 
it  appeared  to  me  tliat  the  path  of  duty  which 
the  Executive  department  of  the  government 
ought  to  pursue,  was  not  doubtful.  As  by  the 
terms  of  the  bank  charter,  no  officer  but  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  could  remove  the  de- 
posits, it  seemed  to  me  that  this  authority 
ought  to  be  at  once  exerted  to  deprive  that  great 
corporation  of  the  support  and  countenance  of 
the  government  in  such  a  use  of  its  funds,  and 
such  an  exertion  of  its  power.  In  this  point  of 
the  case,  the  question  is  distinctly  presented, 
whether  the  people  of  the  United  States  are  to 
govern  through  representatives  chosen  by  their 
unbiassed  suffrages,  or  whether  the  money  and 
power  of  a  great  corporation  are  to  be  secretly 
exerted  to  influence  their  judgment,  and  con- 
trol their  decisions.  It  must  now  be  determin- 
ed whether  the  bank  is  to  have  its  candidates 
for  all  oflices  in  the  country,  from  the  highest  to 
the  lowest,  or  whether  candidates  on  both  sides 
of  political  questions  shall  be  brought  forward 
as  heretofore,  and  supported  by  the  usual  means. 

"  At  this  time,  the  eflbrts  of  the  bank  to  con- 
trol public  opinion,  through  the  distresses  of 
some  and  the  fears  of  others,  are  equally  appar- 
ent, and,  if  possible,  more  objectionable.  By  a 
curtailment  of  its  accommodations,  more  rapid 
than  any  emergency  requires,  and  even  while  it 
retains  specie  to  an  almost  unprecedented  amount 
in  its  vaults,  it  is  attempting  to  produce  great 
embarrassment  in  one  portion  of  the  community, 
while,  through  presses  known  to  have  been  sus- 
tained by  its  money,  it  attempts,  by  unfounded 
alarms,  to  crcate  a  panic  in  all. 

"  These  are  the  means  by  which  it  seems  to 
expect  that  it  can  force  a  restoration  of  the  de- 
posits, and,  as  a  necessary  consequence,  extort 
from  Congress  a  renewal  of  its  charter.  I  am 
happy  to  know  that,  through  the  good  sense  of 
our  people,  the  effort  to  get  up  a  panic  has 


hitherto  failed,  and  that,  through  the  increased 
accommodations  which  the  State  banks  have 
been  enabled  to  aflbrd,  no  public  distress  has 
followed  the  exertions  of  the  bank ;  and  it  can- 
not be  doubted  that  the  exercise  of  its  power 
and  the  expenditure  of  its  money,  as  well  as  its 
efforts  to  spread  groundless  alarm,  v,i]I  be  met 
and  rebuked  as  they  deserve.  In  my  own  sphere 
of  duty,  I  should  feel  myself  called  on,  by  the 
facts  disclosed,  to  order  a  scire  facias  against 
the  bank,  with  a  view  to  put  an  end  to  the  char- 
tered rights  it  has  so  palpably  violated,  were  it 
not  that  the  charter  itself  will  expire  as  soon  as 
a  decision  would  probably  be  obtained  from  the 
court  of  last  resort. 

"  I  called  the  attention  of  Congress  to  this 
subject  in  my  last  annual  message,  and  informed 
them  that  such  measures  as  were  within  the 
reach  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  had  been 
taken  to  enable  him  to  judge  whether  the  pub- 
lic deposits  in  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
were  entirely  safe ;  but  that  as  his  single  powers 
might  be  inadequate  to  the  object,  I  recom- 
mended the  subject  to  Congress,  as  worthy  of 
their  serious  investigation :  declaring  it  as  my 
opinion  that  an  inquiry  into  the  transactions  of 
that  institution,  embracing  the  branches  as  well 
as  the  principal  bank,  was  called  for  by  the  credit 
which  was  given  throughout  the  cormtry  to 
many  serious  charges  impeaching  their  character, 
and  which,  if  true,  might  justly  excite  the  ap- 
prehension that  they  were  no  longer  a  safe  de- 
pository for  the  public  money.  The  extent  to 
which  the  examination,  thus  recommended,  was 
gone  into,  is  spread  upon  your  journals,  and  is 
too  well  known  to  require  to  be  stated.  Such 
as  was  made  resulted  in  a  report  from  a  major- 
ity of  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  touch- 
ing certain  specified  points  only,  concluding  with 
a  resolution  that  the  government  deposits  might 
safely  be  continued  in  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States.  This  resolution  was  adopted  at  the  close 
of  the  session,  by  the  vote  of  a  majority  of  the 
House  of  Representatives." 

The  message  concluded  with  renewing  the  re- 
commendation, which  the  President  had  annually 
made  since  his  first  election,  in  favor  of  so 
amending  the  constitution  in  the  article  of  the 
presidential  and  vice-presidential  elections,  as 
to  give  the  choice  of  the  two  first  officers  of  the 
government  to  a  direct  vote  of  the  people,  and 
that  "  every  intermediate  agency  in  the  election 
of  those  officers  should  be  removed."  This  re- 
commendation, like  all  which  preceded  it,  remain- 
ed without  practical  results.  For  ten  years 
committees  had  reported  amendments,  and  mem- 
bers had  supported  them,  but  without  obtaining 
in  Congress  the  requisite  two  thirds  to  refer tlie 
proposition  of  amendment  to  the  vote  of  tlie 


ANNO  1833.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


373 


M 


people.  Three  causes  combined  always  to  pre- 
vent the  concurrence  of  that  majority :  1.  The 
onservative  spirit  of  many,  who  are  unwilling, 
,,der  any  circumstances,  to  touch  an  existing 
,,t!titution.  2.  The  enemies  of  popular  elections, 
fl-ho  deem  it  unsafe  to  lodge  the  high  power  of 
the  presidential  election,  directly  in  the  hands  of 
the  people.  3.  The  intriguers,  who  wish  to 
manage  these  elections  for  their  own  benefit, 
and  have  no  means  of  doing  it  except  through 
the  agency  of  intermediate  bodies.  The  most 
potent  of  these  agencies,  and  the  one  in  fact 
which  controls  all  the  others,  if,  the  one  of 
latest  and  most  spontaneous  growth,  called 
"  conventions  " — originally  adopted  to  supersede 
the  caucus  system  of  nominations,  but  which 
retains  all  the  evils  of  that  system,  and  others 
peculiar  to  itself.  They  are  still  attended  by 
members  of  Congress,  and  with  less  responsi- 
bility to  their  constituents  than  when  acting  in 
a  Congress  caucus.  A  large  proportion  of  the 
delegates  are  either  self-appointed  or  so  intri- 
guingly  appointed,  and  by  such  small  numbers, 
as  to  constitute  a  burlesque  upon  popular  repre- 
sentation. Delegates  even  transfer  their  func- 
tions, and  make  proxies — a  prerogative  only  al- 
lowed to  peers  of  the  realm,  in  England,  in  their 
parliamentary  voting,  because  they  are  legisla- 
tors in  their  own  right,  and  represent,  each  one, 
himself,  as  his  own  constituent  body,  and  owing 
responsibility  to  no  one.  They  meet  in  tdverns, 
the  delegates  of  some  of  the  large  States,  at- 
tended by  one  or  two  thousand  backers,  sup- 
plied with  money,  and  making  all  the  public  ap- 
pliances of  feasting  and  speaking,  to  conciliate 
or  control  votes,  which  ample  means  and  deter- 
mined zeal  can  supply,  in  a  case  in  which  a  per- 
sonal benefit  is  expected.  The  minority  rules, 
that  is  to  say,  baffles  the  majority  until  it  yields, 
and  consents  to  a  "compromise,"  accepting  for 
that  purpose  the  person  whom  the  minority  has 
held  in  reserve  for  that  purpose ;  and  this  mi- 
nority of  one  third,  which  governs  two  thirds, 
is  itself  usually  governed  by  a  few  managers. 
And  to  complete  the  exclusion  of  the  people  from 
all  efficient  control,  in  the  selection  of  a  presi- 
dential candidate,  an  interlocutory  committee 
is  generally  appointed  out  of  its  members  to 
act  from  one  convention  to  another — during  the 
whole  int<<rval  -of  four  years  between  their  period- 
ical assemblages— to  guide  and  conduct  the  pub- 


lic mind,  in  the  different  States,  to  the  support  of 
the  person  on  whom  they  have  secretly  agreed. 
After  the  nomination  is  over,  and  the  election 
effected,  the  managers  in  these  nominations 
openly  repair  to  the  new  President,  if  they  have 
been  successful,  and  demand  rewards  for  their 
labor,  in  the  shape  of  offices  for  themselves  and 
connections.  This  is  the  way  that  presidential 
elections  are  now  made  in  the  United  States ; 
for,  a  party  nomination  is  an  election,  if  the 
party  is  strong  enough  to  make  it ;  and,  if  one 
is  not,  the  other  is ;  for,  both  parties  act  alike, 
and  thus  the  mass  of  the  people  have  no  more 
part  in  selecting  the  person  who  is  to  be  their 
President  than  the  subjects  of  hereditary  mon- 
archs  have  in  begetting  the  child  who  is  to  rule 
over  them.  To  such  a  point  is  the  greatest  of 
our  elections  now  sunk  by  the  arts  of  "  interme- 
diate agencies ; "  and  it  may  be  safely  assumed, 
that  the  history  of  free  elective  governments 
affords  no  instance  of  such  an  abandonment,  on 
the  part  of  legal  voters,  of  their  great  constitu- 
tional privileges,  and  quiet  sinking  down  of  the 
millions  to  the  automaton  performance  of  deli- 
vering their  votes  as  the  few  have  directed. 


CHAPTER    XCII. 

REMOVAL  OP  THE  DEPOSITS  FROM  THE  BANK 
OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  fact  of  this  removal  was  communicated  to 
Congress,  in  the  annual  message  of  the  Presi- 
dent ;  the  reasons  for  it,  and  the  mode  of  doing 
it,  were  reserved  for  a  separate  communication ; 
and  especially  a  report  from  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  to  whom  belonged  the  absolute 
right  of  the  removal,  without  assignment  of  any 
reasons  except  to  Congress,  after  the  act  was 
done.  The  order  for  the  removal,  as  it  was 
called — for  it  was  only  an  order  to  the  collectors 
of  revenue  to  cease  making  their  deposits  in 
that  bank,  leaving  the  amount  actually  in  it,  to 
be  drawn  out  of  intervals,  and  in  different  sums, 
according  to  the  course  at  the  government  dis- 
bursements— was  issued  the  22d  of  September, 
and  signed  by  Roger  B.  Taney,  Esc}.,  the  new 
SuciX'tary  of  the  Treasury,  appointed  in  place  of 
Mr.  AVm.  J.  Duane,  who,  refusing  to  make  the  re- 


f  •"  ^m 

■| 

K^^'A 

H 

i 

1 

ii 

jj'r'IH 

1 

374 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW, 


n  ,j 


kl' 


moval,  upon  the  request  of  the  President,  was 
himself  removed.    This  measure  (the  ceasing  to 
deposit  the  public  moneys  with  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States)  was  the  President's  own  mea- 
sure, conceived  by  him,  carried  out  by  him,  de- 
fended by  him,  and  its  fate  dependent  upon  him. 
He  had  coadjutors  in  every  part  of  the  business, 
but  the  measure  was  his  own ;  for  this  heroic 
civil  measure,  like     heroic  military  resolve,  had 
to  be  the  offspring  of  one  great  mind — self-act- 
ing and  poised— seeing  its  way  through  all  diffi- 
culties and  dangers;   and  discerning  ultimate 
triumph  over  all  obstacles  in  the  determination 
to  conquer  them,  or  to  perish.    Councils  are 
good  for  safety,  not  for  heroism— good  for  es- 
capes from  perils,  and  for  retreats,  but  for  ac- 
tion, and  especially  high  and  daring  action,  but 
one  mind  is  wanted.    The  removal  of  the  depo- 
sits was  an  act  of  that  kind— high  and  daring, 
and  requiring  as  much  nerve  as  any  enterprise 
of  arms,  in  which  the  President  had  ever  been 
engaged.    His  military  exploits  had  been  of  his 
own  conception  ;  his  great  civil  acts  were  to  be 
the  same:   more  impeded   than  promoted  by 
councils.    And  thus  it  was  in  this  case.    The 
majority  of  his  cabinet  was  against  him.     His 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  refused  to  execute 
his  will.    A  few  only— a  fraction  of  the  cabinet 
and  some  friends — concurred  heartily  in  the 
act:  Mr.  Taney,  attorney  general,  Mr.  Kendall, 
Mr.  Francis  P.  Blair,  editor  of  the  Globe;  and 
some  few  others. 

He  took  his  measures  carefully  and  deliber- 
ately, and  with  due  regard  to  keeping  himself 
demonstrably,  as  well  as  actually  right.  Obser- 
vation had  only  confirmed  his  opinion,  commu- 
nicated to  the  previous  Congress,  of  the  miscon- 
duct of  the  institution,  and  the  insecurity  of  the 
public  moneys  in  it :  and  the  almost  unanimous 
vote  of  the  House  of  Representatives  to  the 
contrary,  made  no  impression  upon  his  strong 
conviction.  Denied  a  legislative  examination 
into  its  affairs,  he  determined  upon  an  executive 
one,  through  inquiries  put  to  the  government 
directors,  and  the  researches  into  the  state  of 
the  books,  which  the  Secretary  of  the  Trea- 
sury had  a  right  to  make.  Four  of  those  di- 
rectors, namely,  Messrs.  Henry  D.  Gilpin,  John 
T.  Sullivan,  Peter  Wager,  and  Hugh  McEldery, 
made  two  reports  to  the  President,  according  to 
the  duty  assigned  them,  in  which  they  showed  i 


great  misconduct  in  its  management,  and  a  .^i-eat 
perversion  of  its  funds  to  undue  and  politjeji 
purposes.  Some  extracts  from  these  report? 
will  show  the  nature  of  this  report,  the  names 
of  persons  to  whom  money  was  paid  being  omit- 
ted,  as  the  only  object,  in  making  the  extracts" 
is  to  show  the  conduct  of  the  bank,  and  not  to 
disturb  or  affect  any  individuals. 

"  On  the  30th  November,  1830,  it  is  stated  on 
the  mmutes,  that '  the  president  submitted  to 
the  board  a  copy  of  an  article  on  banks  and  cur 
rency,  just  published  in  the  American  Quarlalii 
Review  of  this  city,  containing  a  favorable  no 
tice  of  this  institution,  and  suggested  the  exne 
diency  of  making  the  views  of  the  author  mire 
extensively  known  to  the  pub'ic  than  they  can 
be  by  means  of  the  subscription  list.'    Where- 

thc 


upon,  it  was,  on  motion,  'Eesolved,  That  m 
president  be  authorized  to  take  such  nieasnre^ 
in  regard  to  the  circulation  of  the  contents  of 
the  said  article,  either  in  whole  or  in  part  as  he 
may  deem  most  for  the  interests  of  the  bank ' 
On  the  11th  March,  1831,  it  again  appears  by 
the  mmutes  that  'the  president  stated  to  the 
board,  that,  in  consequence  of  the  general  de- 
sire expressed  by  the  directors,  at  one  of  their 
meetings  of  the  last  year,  subsequent  to  the  ad- 
journment of  Congress,  and  a  verbal  understand- 
ing with  the  board,  measures  had  been  taken  by 
him,  in  the  course  of  that  year,  for  furnishin"' 
numerous  copies  of  the  reports  of  General  Smith 
and  Mr.  McDuffie  on  the  subject  of  this  bank 
and   for  widely  disseminating   their  contents 
through  the  United  States;  and  that  he  has 
since,  by  virtue  of  the  authority  given  him  by 
a  resolution  of  this  board,  on  the  30th  day  of 
November  last,  caused  a  large  edition  of  Jlr. 
Gallatin's  essay  on  banks  and  currency  to  be 
published  and  circulated,  in  like  manner,  at  tlie 
expense  of  the  bank.    He  suggested,  at  the  same 
time,  the  propriety  and  expediency  of  extending 
still  more  widely  a  knowledge  of  the  concerns 
of  this  institution,  by  means  of  the  republica- 
tion of  other  valuable  articles,  which  had  issued 
from  the  daily  and  periodical  press.'    Where- 
upon, it  was,  on  motion,  ^Bcsolved,  That  the 
president  is  hereby  authorized  to  cause  to  be 
prepared  and  circulated,  such  documents  and 
papers  as  may  communicate  to  the  people  infor- 
mation, in  regard  to  the  nature  and  operations 
of  the  bank.' 

'J  In  pursuance,  it  is  presumed,  of  these  reso- 
lutions, the  item  of  stationary  and  printing  wa.s 
increased,  during  the  first  half  year  of  1831,  to 
the  enormous  sum  of  $29,970  92,  exceeding  that 
of  the  previous  half  year  by  $23,000,  and  ex- 
ceeding the  semi-annual  expenditure  of  1829, 
upwards  of  $26,000.  The  expense  account  it- 
Rc.i,  as  made  up  in  the  book  vvhieh  was  subuiil- 
ted  to  us,  contained  very  little  information  rela* 


ANNO  1888.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


375 


tive  to  the  particulars  of  this  expenditure,  and 
ffe  are  obliged,  in  order  to  obtain  them,  to  re- 
sort to  an  inspection  of  the  vouchers.  Among 
other  sums,  was  one  of  $7,801,  stated  to  have 
been  paid  on  orders  of  the  president,  under  the 
resolution  of  11th  March,  1831,  and  the  orders 
themselves  were  the  only  vouchers  of  the  expen- 
diture which  we  found  on  file.  Some  of  the  or- 
ders to  the  amount  of  about  $lj800,  stated  that 
the  expenditure  was  for  distnbuting  General 
Smith's  and  Mr.  McDuflBe's  reports,  and  Mr. 
Gallatin's  pamphlet ;  but  the  rest  stated  gene- 
rally that  it  was  made  under  the  resolution  of 
11th  of  March,  1831.  There  were  also  numer- 
ous bills  and  receipts  for  expenditures  to  indi- 
viduals :  ^1.300  for  distributing  Mr.  Gallatin's 
pamphlet;  §1,675  75  for  5,000  copies  of  General 
Smith's  and  Mr.  McDuffie's  reports,  &c. ;  $440 
for  11,000  extra  papers ;  of  the  Americnn  Sen- 
tinel, $125  74  for  printing,  folding,  packing,  and 
postage  on  3,000  extras ;  $1,830  27  for  upwards 
of  50,000  copies  of  the  National  Gazette,  and 
supplements  containing  addresses  to  members 
of  State  legislatures,  reviews  of  Mr.  Benton's 
speech,  abstracts  of  Mr.  Gallatin's  article  from 
the  American  Quarterly  Review,  and  editorial 
article  on  the  project  of  a  Treasury  Bank; 
$1,447  75  for  25,000  copies  of  the  reports  of 
Mr.  McDuffle  and  General  Smith,  and  for  25,000 
copies  of  the  address  to  members  of  the  State 
legislatures,  agreeably  to  order;  $2,850  for 
01.000  copies  of  'Gallatin  on  Banking,'  and 
2,000  copies  of  Professor  Tucker's  article. 

"  During  the  second  half  year  of  1831,  the 
item  of  stationery  and  printing  was  $13,224  87, 
of  which  $5,010  were  paid  on  orders  of  the 
president,  and  stated  generally  to  be  under  the 
resolution  of  11th  March,  1831,  and  other  sums 
were  paid  to  individuals,  as  in  the  previous  ac- 
count, for  printing  and  distributing  documents. 

"  During  the  first  half  year  of  1832,  the  item 
of  stationery  and  printing  was  $12,134  16,  of 
which  $2,150  was  stated  to  have  been  paid  on 
orders  of  the  president,  under  the  resolution  of 
11th  March,  1831.    There  are  also  various  in- 
dividual payments,  of  which  we  noticed  $106  38 
for  one  thousand  copies  of  the  review  of  Mr. 
Benton's  speech ;  $200  for  one  thousand  copies 
of  the  Saturday  Courier  ;  $1,176  for  twenty 
thousand  copies  of  a  pamphlet  concerning  the 
bank,  and  six  thousand  copies  of  the  minority 
report  relative  to  the  bank;  $1,800  for  three 
hundred  copies  of  Clarke  &  Hall's  bank  book. 
During  the  last  half  year  of  1832,  the  item  of 
stationery  and  printing  rose  to  $26,543  72,  of 
which  $0,350  are  stated  to  have  been  paid  on 
orders  of  the  president,  under  the  resolution  of 
1 1th  March,  1831.    Among  the  specified  charges 
we  observe  $821  78  for  printing  a  review  of  the 
veto ;  $1,371  04  for  four  thousand  copies  of  Mr. 
Ewing's  speech,  bank  documents,  and  review  of 
the  veto ;  $4,106  13  for  sixty-three  thousand 
copies  of  Mr.  Webster's  speech,  Mr.  Adams's 
and  Mr.  McDufBe's  reports,  and  the  majority 


and  minority  reports ;  $295  for  fourteen  thou, 
sand  extras  of  The  Protector,  containing  bank 
documents ;  $2,583  50  for  printing  and  distri- 
buting reports,  Mr.  Webster's  speech,  Ac.  ; 
$150  12  for  printing  the  speeches  of  Messrs. 
Clay,  Ewing,  and  Smith,  and  Mr.  Adams's  re- 
port ;  $1,512  75  to  Mr.  Clark,  for  printing  Mr. 
Webster's  speech  and  articles  on  the  veto,  and 
$2,422  65  for  fifty-two  thousand  five  hundred 
copies  of  Mr.  Webster's  speech.  There  is  also 
a  charge  of  $4,040  paid  on  orders  of  the  presi- 
dent, stating  that  it  is  for  expenses  in  measures 
for  protecting  the  bank  against  a  run  on  tho 
Western  branches. 

"  During  the  first  half  year  of  1833,  the  item 
of  stationery  and  printing  was  $9,093  59,  of 
which  $2,600  are  stated  to  have  been  paid  on 
orders  of  the  president,  under  the  resolution  of 
nth  March,  1831.  There  is  also  a  charge  of 
$800  for  printing  the  report  of  the  exchange 
committee." 


These  various  items,  amounting  to  about 
$80,000,  all  explain  themselves  by  their  names 
and  dates — every  name  of  an  item  referring  to 
a  political  purpose,  and  every  date  correspond- 
ing with  the  impending  questions  of  the  re- 
charter  and  the  presidential  election ;  and  all 
charged  to  the  expense  account  of  the  bank — a 
head  of  account  limited,  by  the  nature  of  the 
institution,  so  far  as  printing  was  concerned,  to 
the  printing  necessary  for  the  conducting  of  its 
own  business ;  yet  in  the  whole  sum,  making 
the  total  of  $80,000,  there  is  not  an  item  of  that 
kind  included.  To  expose,  or  correct  these 
abuses,  the  government  directors  submitted  the 
following  resolution  to  the  board : 

"  Whereas,  it  appears  by  the  expense  account 
of  the  bank  for  the  years  1831  and  1832,  that 
upwards  of  $80,000  were  expended  and  charged 
under  the  head  of  stationery  and  printing  dur- 
ing that  period ;  that  a  large  proportion  of  this 
sum  was  paid  to  the  proprietors  of  newspapers 
and  periodical  journals,  and  for  the  printing, 
distribution,  and  postage  of  immense  numbers 
of  pamphlets  and  newspapers ;  and  that  about 
$20,000  were  expended  under  the  resolutions 
of  30th  November,  1830,  and  11th  March,  1831, 
without  any  account  of  the  manner  in  which, 
or  the  persons  to  whom,  they  were  disbursed : 
and  whereas  it  is  expedient  and  proper  that  the 
particulars  of  this  expenditure,  so  large  and 
unusual,  which  can  now  be  ascertained  only  by 
the  examinaton  of  numerous  bills  and  receipts, 
should  be  so  stated  as  to  be  readily  submitted 
to,  and  examined  by,  the  board  of  directors  and 
the  stockholders :  Therefore,  liesulvcd,  That  the 
cashier  furnish  to  the  b«ard,  at  .%■?  early  a  day 
as  possible,  a  full  and  particular  statement  of 
all  these  expenditures,  designating  the  sums  of 


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376 


THIRTT  YEARS'  VIEW. 


! 


money  paid  to  each  person,  the  quantity  and 
names  of  tho  documents  furnished  by  him,  and 
his  charges  for  tho  distribution  and  postage  of 
the  same  j  together  with  aa  full  a  statement  as 
may  be  of  the  expenditures  under  the  resolu- 
tions of  30th  November,  1830,  and  11th  March, 
1831.  That  he  ascertain  whether  expenditures 
of  the  same  character  have  been  made  at  any  of 
the  offices,  and  if  so,  procure  similar  statements 
thereof,  with  the  authority  on  which  they  were 
made.  That  the  said  resolutions  be  rescinded 
and  no  further  expenditures  made  under  the 
same." 

This  resolution  was  rejected  by  the  board, 
and  in  place  of  it  another  was  adopted,  declar- 
ing perfect  confidence  in  the  president  of  the 
bank,  and  directing  him  to  continue  his  expen- 
ditures under  the  two  resolves  of  November 
and  March  according  to  his  discretion ;— thus 
continuing  to  him  the  power  of  irresponsible 
expenditure,   both   in   amount  and    object,  to 
any  extent  that  he  pleased.    The  reports  also 
showed  that  tho   government   directors  were 
treated  with  the  indignity  of  being  virtually 
excluded,  both    from  the  transactions  of  the 
bank,  and  the  knowledge  of  them ;  and  that 
the  charter  was  violated  to  effect  these  outrages. 
As  an  instance,  this  is  given  :   tho  exchange 
committee  was  in  itself  and  even  confined  to  its 
proper  duties,  that  of  buying  and  selling  ex- 
change, was  a  very  important  one,  having  the 
application  of  an  immense  amount  of  the  funds 
of  the  bank.     While  confined  to  its  proper  du- 
ties, it  was  changed  monthly,  and  the  directors 
served  upon  it  by  turns  ;  so  that  by  the  process 
of  rotation  and  speedy  renewal,  every  member 
of  the  directory  was  kept  well  informed  of  the 
transactions  of  this  committee,  and  had  their 
due  share  in  all  its  great  operations.    But  at 
this  time— (time  of  the  renewed  charter  and 
the  presidential  election)— both  the  duties  of 
the  committee,  and  its  mode  of  appointment 
were  altered ;  discounting  of  notes  was  permit- 
ted to  it,  and  the  appointment  of  its  members 
was  invested  in  Mr.  Biddle ;   and   no  govern- 
ment  director    was    henceforth   put  upon  it. 
Thus,  a  few  directors  made  the  loans  in  the 
committee's  room,  which  by  the  chartf  r  could 
only  be  made  by  seven  directors  at  the  board  ; 
and  the  government  directors,  far  from  having 
any  voice  in  these  exchange  loans,  were  igno- 
rant of  them   until  afterwards  found  on  the 
books.    It  was  in  this  exchange  committee  that 


most  of  the  loans  to  members  of  ConRress  were 
made,  and  under  whose  operations  the  greatest 
losses  were  eventually  incurred.  The  report  of 
the  four  directors  also  showed  other  great  mig 
conduct  on  the  part  of  the  bank,  one  of  which 
was  to  nearly  double  its  discounts  at  tho  ap- 
proaching termination  of  the  charter,  nmninp 
them  up  in  less  than  a  year  and  a  half  from 
about  forty-two  and  a  half  to  about  seventy  and 
a  half  millions  of  dollars.  General  Jackson  was 
not  the  man  to  tolerate  these  illegalities,  cor- 
ruptions and  indignities.  He,  therefore,  deter- 
mined on  ceasing  to  use  the  institution  any 
longer  as  a  place  of  deposit  for  the  public 
moneys ;  and  accordingly  communicated  his  in- 
tention to  the  cabinet,  all  of  whom  hiid  been 
requested  to  assist  him  in  his  deliberations  on 
the  subject.  The  major  part  of  them  dissented 
from  his  design ;  whereupon  iie  assembled  them 
on  the  22nd  of  September,  and  read  to  them  a 
paper,  of  which  the  following  are  the  more  es- 
sential parts : 

"  Having  carefully  and  anxiously  considered 
all  the  facts  and  arguments  which  have  been 
submitted  to  him,  relative  to  a  removal  of  the 
public  deposits  from  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  the  President  deems  it  his  duty  to  com- 
municate in  this  manner  to  his  cabinet  the  final 
conclusions  of  his  own  mind,  and  the  reasons 
on  which  they  are  founded,  in  order  to  put 
them  in  durable  form,  and  to  prevent  miscon- 
ceptions. 

"  The  President's  convictions  of  the  dangerous 
tendencies  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
since  signally  illustrated  by  its  own  acts,  were 
so  overpowering  when  he  entered  on  the  duties 
of  chief  magistrate,  that  he  felt  it  his  duty,  not- 
withstanding the  objections  of  the  friends  by 
whom  he  was  surrounded,  to  avail  himself  of 
the  first  occasion  to  call  the  attention  of  Con- 
gress and  the  people  to  the  question  of  its  re- 
charter.  The  opinions  expressed  in  his  annual 
message  of  December,  1829,  were  reiterated  in 
those  of  December,  1830  and  1831,  and  in  that 
of  1830,  he  threw  out  for  consideration  some 
suggestions  in  relation  to  a  substitute.  At  the 
session  of  1831-'32  an  act  was  passed  by  a  ma- 
jority of  both  Houses  of  Congress  rechartering 
the  present  bank,  upon  which  the  President  felt 
it  his  duty  to  put  his  constitutional  veto.  In 
his  message,  returning  that  act,  he  repeated  and 
enlarged  upon  the  principles  and  views  briefly 
asserted  in  his  annual  messages,  declaring  the 
bank  to  be,  in  his  opinion,  both  inexpedient  and 
unconstitutionalj  and  announcing  to  his  eonntrv- 
men,  very  unequivocally,  his  firm  determination 
never  to  sanction,  by  his  approval,  tb-^  continu- 


ANNO  1888.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


377 


Mce  of  that  institution  or  the  establishment  of 
any  "ther  upon  similar  principles. 

i  There  are  strong  reasons  for  believing  that 
the  motive  of  the  bank  in  asking  for  a  rechartcr 
at  that  cession  of  Congress,  was  to  make  it  a 
leading  question  in  the  election  of  a  President  of 
the  United  States  the  ensuing  November,  and 
all  stops  deemed  necessary  were  taken  to  pro- 
cure from  the  people  a  reversal  of  the  President's 

decision.  ... 

"Although  the  charter  was  approachmg  its 
termination,  and  the  bank  was  aware  that  it  was 
the  intention  of  the  government  to  use  the  public 
deposit  as  fast  as  it  has  accruwl,  in  the  pay- 
ment of  the  public  debt,  yet  did  it  extend  its 
loans  from  January,  1831,  to  May,  1832,  fi-om 
$42,402,304  24  to  !iJ70,428,070  72,  being  an  in- 
crease of  ^28,025,766  48,  in  sixteen  months. 
It  is  confidently  believed  that  the  leading  object 
«f  this  immense  extension  of  its  loans  was  to 
brin"  as  large  a  portion  of  the  people  as  pos.sible 
undei-  its  power  and  influence  ;  and  it  has  been 
disclosed  that  some  of  the  largest  sums  were 
granted  on  very  unusual  terms  to  the  conductors 
of  the  public  press.  In  some  of  these  cases,  the 
motive  was  made  manifest  by  the  nominal  or 
insufficient  security  taken  for  the  loans,  by  the 
large  amounts  discounted,  by  the  extraordinary 
time  allowed  for  payment,  and  especially  by  the 
subsequent  conduct  of  those  receiving  the  ac- 
commodations. 

"Having  taken  these  preliminary  steps  to 
obtain  control  over  public  opinion,  the  bank 
came  into  Congress  and  asked  a  new  charter. 
The  object  avowed  by  many  of  the  advocates  of 
the  bank,  was  to  ptit  the  President  to  the  lest, 
that  the  country  might  know  his  final  determina- 
tion relative  to  the  bank  prior  to  the  ensuing 
election.  Many  documents  and  articles  were 
printed  and  circulated  at  the  expense  of  the  bank, 
to  bring  the  people  to  a  favorable  decision  upon 
its  pretensions.  Those  whom  the  bank  appears 
to  have  made  its  debtors  for  the  special  occasion, 
were  warned  of  the  ruin  which  awaited  them, 
should  the  President  be  sustained,  and  attempts 
were  made  to  alarm  the  whole  people  by  paint- 
ing the  depression  in  the  price  of  property  and 
produce,  and  the  general  loss,  inconvenience,  and 
distress,  which  it  was  represented  would  imme- 
diately follow  the  re-election  of  the  President  in 
opposition  to  the  bank. 

"  Can  it  now  be  said  that  the  question  of  a 
recharter  of  the  bank  was  not  decided  at  the 
election  which  ensued?  Had  the  veto  been 
equivocal,  or  had  it  not  covered  the  whole 
ground — if  it  had  merely  taken  exceptions  to 
the  details  of  the  bill,  or  to  the  time  of  its  passage 
—if  it  had  not  met  the  whole  ground  of  consti- 
tutionality and  expediency,  then  there  might 
have  been  some  plausibility  for  the  allegation 
that  the  question  wa.s  not  decided  by  the  people. 
It  was  to  compel  the  President  to  take  his  stand, 
that  the  question  was  bt ought  forward  at  that 
particul".r  time.  He  met  the  challenge,  willingly 
took  the  position  into  which  bis  adversaries 


sought  to  force  him,  and  frankly  declared  his 
unalterable  opposition  to  the  bank  as  being  both 
unconstitutional  and  inexpedient.  On  that 
ground  the  case  was  argued  to  the  people,  and 
now  that  the  people  have  sustained  the  Presi- 
dent, notwithstanding  the  array  of  influence  and 
power  which  was  brought  to  bear  upon  him,  it 
is  too  late,  he  confidently  thinks,  to  say  that 
the  question  has  not  been  decided.  Whatev(  r 
may  be  the  opinions  of  others,  the  President  con- 
siders his  re-election  as  a  decision  of  the  people 
against  the  bank.  In  the  concluding  paragraph 
of  his  veto  message  he  said : 

" '  1  have  now  done  my  duty  to  my  country. 
If  sustained  by  my  fellow-citizens,  I  shall  be 
grateful  and  happy ;  if  not,  I  shall  find  in  the 
motives  which  impel  me,  ample  grounds  for  con- 
tentment and  peace.' 

"  He  was  sustained  by  a  just  people,  and  he 
desires  to  evince  his  gratitude  by  carrj'ing  into  ef- 
fect their  decision,  so  far  as  it  depends  upon  him. 

"  Of  all  the  substitutes  for  the  present  bank, 
which  have  been  suggested,  none  seems  to  have 
united  any  considerable  portion  of  the  public  in 
its  favof.  Most  of  them  arc  liable  to  the  same 
constitutional  objections  for  which  the  present 
bank  has  been  condemned,  and  perhaps  to  all 
there  are  strong  objections  on  the  score  of  ex- 
pediency. In  ridding  the  country  of  an  irre- 
sponsible power  which  has  attempted  to  control 
the  government,  care  must  be  taken  not  to  unite 
the  same  power  with  the  executive  branch.  To 
give  a  President  the  control  over  the  currency 
and  the  power  over  individuals  now  possessed 
by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  even  with  the 
material  difference  that  he  is  responsible  to  the 
people,  would  be  as  objectionable  and  as  danger- 
ous as  to  leave  it  as  it  is.  Neither  the  one  nor 
the  other  is  necessary,  and  therefore  ought  not 
to  be  resorted  to. 

"  But  in  the  conduct  of  the  bank  may  be  found 
other  reasons,  very  imperative  in  their  character, 
and  which  require  prompt  action.  Developments 
have  been  made  from  time  to  time  of  its  faith- 
lessness as  a  public  agent,  its  misapplication  of 
public  funds,  its  interference  in  elections,  its 
efforts,  by  the  machinery  of  committees,  to  de- 
prive the  government  directors  of  a  full  know- 
ledge of  its  concerns,  and  above  all,  its  flagrant 
misconduct  as  recently  and  unexpectedly  dis- 
closed, in  placing  all  the  funds  of  the  bank, 
including  the  money  of  the  government,  at  the 
disposition  of  the  president  of  the  bank,  as  means 
of  operating  upon  public  opinion  and  procuring 
a  new  diarter  without  requiring  him  to  render 
a  voucher  for  their  disbursement.  A  brief  reca- 
piti  'ation  of  the  facts  which  justify  these  charges 
and  which  have  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
public  and  the  President,  will,  he  thinks,  remove 
every  reasonable  doubt  as  to  the  course  which 
it  is  now  the  duty  of  the  President  to  pursue. 

"  Wc  have  seen  that  in  aiitecii  months,  ending 
in  May,  1832.  the  bank  had  extended  its  loans 
more  than  ^28,000,000,  although  it  knew  the 
government  intended  to  appropriate  most  of  its 


Mf  1 


378 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


r  H 


large  deposit  during  that  year  in  payment  of 
the  public  debt.  It  was  in  May,  1832,  that  its 
loans  arrived  at  the  maximum,  and  in  the  pre- 
ceding March,  bo  si  isible  was  the  bank  that  it 
would  not  be  able  to  pay  over  the  public  deposit 
when  it  would  be  required  by  the  government, 
that  it  commenced  a  secret  negotiation  without 
the  approbation  or  knowledge  of  the  government, 
with  the  agents,  for  about  $2,700,000  of  the 
three  per  cent,  stocks  held  in  Holland,  with  a 
view  of  inducing  them  not  to  come  forward  for 

EByment  for  one  or  more  years  after  notice  should 
e  given  by  the  Treasury  Department.  This 
arrangement  would  have  enabled  the  bank  to 
keep  and  use  during  that  time  the  public  money 
Bet  apart  for  the  payment  of  these  stocks. 

"Although  the  cnarter  and  the  rules  of  the 
bank,  both,  declare  that '  not  less  than  seven  di- 
rectors '  shall  be  necessary  to  the  transaction  of 
business,  yet,  the  most  importent  business,  even 
that  of  granting  discounts  to  any  extent,  is  in- 
trusted to  a  committee  of  five  members  who  do 
hot  report  to  the  board. 

"  To  cut  off  all  means  of  communication  with 
the  government,  in  relation  to  its  most  important 
acts,  at  the  commencement  of  the  present  year, 
not  one  of  the  government  directors  was  placed 
on  any  one  committee.  And  although  since,  by 
an  unusual  remodelling  of  those  bodies,  some 
of  liiose  directors  have  been  placed  on  some  of 
the  committees,  they  are  yet  entirely  excluded 
from  the  committee  of  exchange,  through  which 
the  greatest  and  most  objectionable  loans  have 
been  made. 

"When  the  government  directors  made  an 
effort  to  bring  back  the  business  of  the  bank 
to  the  board,  in  obedience  to  the  charter  and 
the  existing  regulations,  the  board  not  only  over- 
ruled their  attempt,  but  altered  the  rule  so  as 
to  make  it  conform  to  the  practice,  in  direct  vio- 
lation of  one  of  the  most  important  provisions 
of  the  charter  which  gave  them  existence. 

"  It  has  long  been  known  that  the  president 
of  the  bank,  by  his  single  will,  originates  and 
executes  many  of  the  most  important  measures 
connected  with  the  management  and  credit  of 
the  bank,  and  that  the  committee,  as  well  as  the 
board  of  directors,  are  left  in  entire  ignorance 
of  many  acts  done,  and  correspondence  carried 
on,  in  their  names,  and  apparently  under  their 
authority.  The  fact  has  been  recently  disclosed, 
that  an  unlimited  discretion  has  been,  and  is  now, 
vested  in  the  president  of  the  bank  to  expend 
its  funds  in  payment  for  preparing  and  circulat- 
ing articles,  and  purchasing  pamphlets  and  news- 
papers, calculated  by  their  contents  to  operate 
on  elections  and  secure  a  renewal  of  its  charter. 

"  AVith  these  facts  before  him,  in  an  ofBcial 
report  from  the  government  directors,  the  Pre- 
sident would  feel  that  he  was  not  only  responsi- 
ble for  all  the  abuses  and  corruptions  the  bank 
had  cuiiuuilled,  ur  may  commit,  but  almost  an 
accomplice  in  a  conspiracy  against  that  govern- 
ment which  he  has  sworn  honestly  to  administer, 
if  he  did  not  take  every  step,  within  his  consti- 


tutional and  legal  power,  likely  to  I  ,{  ,  jg^j 
in  putting  an  end  to  these  enormitieH.  if  it  i,. 
possible,  within  the  scope  of  human  alliiira  to 
lind  a  reason  for  removing  the  goveriuiicnt  de- 
posits,  and  leaving  the  bank  to  its  own  resource 
for  the  means  of  effecting  its  criminal  (losims 
we  have  it  here.  Wa8  Lt  expected,  when  the 
moneys  of  the  United  States  were  directed  to  be 
plficed  in  that  bank,  that  they  would  be  put 
under  the  control  of  one  man,  empoworod  to 
spend  millions  without  rendering  a  voucher  or 
specifying  the  object?  Can  they  h;  considered 
safe,  with  the  evidence  before  us  that  tens  of 
thousands  have  been  spent  for  highly  iniprvtpcr 
if  not  corrupt,  purposes,  and  that  the  same  mo-' 
tive  may  lead  to  the  expenditure  of  hundreds 
of  thousands  and  even  millions  more?  And 
can  we  justify  ourselves  to  the  people  by  longer 
lending  to  it  the  money  and  power  oC  the  govern- 
ment, to  be  employed  for  such  purpo.ses  ? 

"  In  conclusion,  the  President  must  be  per- 
mitted to  remark  that  he  looks  upon  the  pend- 
ing question  as  of  higher  consideration  than  the 
mere  transfer  of  a  sum  of  money  from  one  bank 
to  another.  Its  decision  may  affect  the  charac- 
ter of  our  government  for  ages  to  come.  Should 
the  bank  be  suffered  longer  to  use  the  public 
moneys,  in  the  accomplishment  of  its  purposes, 
^yith  the  proof  of  its  faithlessness  and  corrupt 
tion  before  our  eyes,  the  patriotic  among  our 
citizens  will  despair  of  success  in  struggling 
against  its  power ;  and  we  shall  be  responsible 
for  entailing  it  upon  our  country  for  ever.  View- 
ing it  as  a  question  of  transcendent  importance, 
both  in  the  principles  and  consequences  it  in- 
volves, the  President  could  not,  injustice  to  the 
responsibility  which  he  owes  to  the  country. 
refrain  from  pressing  upon  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  his  view  of  the  considerations  which 
impel  to  immediate  action.  Upon  him  has  ken 
devolved,  by  the  constitution  and  the  suffrages 
of  the  American  people,  the  duty  of  superin- 
tending the  operation  of  the  Executive  depart- 
ments of  the  governments,  and  seeing  that  the 
laws  are  faithfully  executed.  In  the  perform- 
ance of  this  high  trust,  it  is  his  undoubted  right 
to  express  to  those  whom  the  laws  and  his  own 
choice  have  made  his  associates  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  government,  his  opinion  of  their 
duties,  under  circumstances,  as  they  arise.  It 
is  this  right  which  he  now  exercises.  Far  be  it 
from  him  to  expect  or  require  that  anj  member 
of  the  cabinet  should,  at  his  request,  order,  or 
dictation,  do  any  act  which  he  believes  unlaw- 
ful, or  in  his  conscience  condemns.  T>om  them, 
and  fi-om  his  fellow-citizens  in  general,  he  de- 
sires only  that  aid  and  support  which  their  rea- 
son approves  and  their  conscience  sanctions. 

"  The  President  again  repeats  that  he  begs  his 
cabinet  to  consider  the  proposed  measure  as  his 
own,  in  the  support  of  which  he  shall  require 
no  one  of  them  to  make  a  sacrifice  of  opinion  or 
principle.  Its  responsibility  has  been  assumed, 
after  the  most  mature  deliberation  and  reflec- 
tion, as  necessary  to  preserve  the  morals  of  the 


ANNO  1888.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


m9 


people,  the  freedom  of  the  press,  and  the  purity 
of  the'elective  franchise,  without  which,  all  will 
jnitc  in  saying  that  the  blood  and  treasure  ex- 
pended by  our  forefathers,  in  the  establishment 
of  our  happy  system  of  government,  will  have 
been  vain  and  fruitless.  Under  these  convictions, 
he  feels  that  a  measure  so  important  to  the  Ame- 
rican people  cannot  be  commenced  too  soon ; 
and  he,  therefore,  names  the  first  day  of  October 
next  as  a  period  proper  for  the  change  of  the 
deposits,  or  sooner,  provided  the  necessary  ar- 
rangements with  the  State  banks  can  bo  made." 

I  was  in  the  State  of  Virginia,  when  the  Globe 
newspaper  arrived,  towards  the  end  of  Septem- 
ber, bringing  this  "  paper,"  which  the  President 
had  read  to  his  cabinet,  and  the  further  informa- 
tion that  he  had  carried  his  announced  design 
into  efl'ect.  I  felt  an  emotion  of  the  moral  sub- 
lime at  beholding  such  an  instance  of  civic  hero- 
ism. Here  was  a  President,  not  bred  up  in  the 
political  profession,  taking  a  great  step  upon  his 
own  responsibility  from  which  many  of  his  ad- 
visers shrunk ;  and  magnanimously,  in  the  act 
itself,  releasing  all  from  the  peril  Uiat  he  en- 
countered, and  boldly  taking  the  whole  upon 
himself.  I  say  peril ;  for  if  the  bank  should 
conquer,  there  was  an  end  to  the  political  pros- 
pects of  every  public  man  concurring  in  the  re- 
moval. He  believed  the  act  to  be  necessary ; 
and  believing  that,  he  did  the  act — leaving  the 
consequences  to  God  and  the  country.  I  felt 
that  a  great  blow  had  been  struck,  and  that  a 
great  contest  must  come  on,  which  could  only 
be  crowned  with  success  by  acting  up  to  the 
spirit  with  which  it  had  commenced.  And  I 
repaired  to  Washington  at  the  approach  of  the 
session  with  a  full  determination  to  stand  by 
the  President,  which  I  believed  to  be  standing 
by  the  country ;  and  to  do  my  part  in  justify- 
ing his  conduct,  and  in  exposing  and  resisting 
the  powerful  combination  which  it  was  certain 
would  be  formed  against  him. 


CHAPTER    XCIII. 

BANK  PKOCKEDINQS,  ON  SEEING  THE  DEv'ISION 
OP  THE  PRESIDENT,  IN  RELATION  TO  THL  RE- 
MOVAL OF  THE  DEPOSITS. 

Immediately  on  the  publication  in  the  Globe 
of  the  "  Paper  read  to  the  Cabinet,"  the  bank 
took  it  into  consideratiou  in  all  «tlie  forms  of  a 


co-ordinate  body.  It  summoned  a  meeting  of 
the  directors — appointed  a  committee — referred 
the  President's  "  Paper"  to  it — ordered  it  to  re- 
port— held  another  meeting  to  receive  the  re- 
port— adopted  it  (the  government  directors, 
Gilpin,  Wager,  and  Sullivan  voting  against  it) — 
and  ordered  five  thousand  copies  of  the  report 
to  be  printed.  A  few  extracts  from  the  report, 
entitled  a  Memorial  to  Congress,  are  here  given, 
for  the  purpose  of  showing.  First,  The  temper 
and  style  in  which  this  moneyed  corporation, 
derving  its  existence  from  the  national  Con- 
gress, indulged  itself,  and  that  in  its  corporate 
capacity,  in  speaking  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States  and  his  cabinet ;  and,  next,  to 
show  the  lead  which  it  gave  to  the  proceedings 
which  were  to  be  had  in  Congress.  Under  the 
first  head,  the  following  passages  are  given : 

"  The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  on  the 
24th  of  September,  a  paper  signed  'Andrew  Jack- 
son,' purporting  to  have  been  read  to  a  cabinet  on 
the  18th,  and  also  another  paper  signed  '  H.  D. 
Gilpin,  John  T.  Sullivan,  Peter  Wager,  and  Hugh 
McElaery,'  bearing  date  August  19th,  1833 — 
with  instructions  to  consider  the  same,  and  re- 
port to  the  board 'whether  any,  and  what  steps 
may  be  deemed  necessary  on  the  part  of  the 
board  in  consequence  of  the  publication  of  said 
letter  and  reportj'  beg  leave  to  state — 

"  To  justify  this  measure  is  the  purpose  of  the 
paper  signed  '  Andrew  Jackson.'  Of  the  paper 
itself,  and  of  the  individual  who  has  signed  it, 
the  committee  find  it  diflBcult  to  speak  with  the 
plainness  by  which  alone  such  a  document,  from 
such  a  source,  should  be  described,  without 
wounding  their  own  self-respect,  and  violating 
the  consideration  which  all  American  citizens 
must  feel  for  the  chief  magistracy  of  their  coun- 
try. Subduing,  however,  their  feelings  and  their 
language  down  to  that  respectful  tone  which  is 
due  to  the  oiBce,  they  will  proceed  to  examine 
the  history  of  this  measure,  its  character  and 
the  pretexts  offered  in  palliation  of  it. 

"  1st.  It  would  appear  from  its  contents  and 
from  other  sources  of  information,  that  the  Pre- 
sident had  a  meeting  of  what  is  called  the  cabi- 
net, on  Wednesday,  the  18th  September,  and 
there  read  this  paper.  Finding  that  it  made  no 
impression  on  the  majority  of  persons  assembled, 
the  subject  was  postponed,  and  in  the  mean  time 
this  document  Avas  put  into  the  newspapers.  It 
was  obviously  published  for  two  reasons.  The 
first  was  to  influence  the  members  of  the  cabinet 
by  bringing  to  bear  upon  their  immediate  decis- 
ion the  first  public  impression  excited  by  misre- 
presentation."-, which  thfi  objects  of  them  could 
not  refute  in  time — the  second  was,  by  the  same 
excitement,  to  affect  the  approaching  elections  in 
Pennsylvania,  Maryland  and  New  Jersey.    Its 


,1  'l 
If     1% 

t    .-m 


*'f  III 


I 


380 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


aflsailants  are  what  are  called  politicians  (i.  e., 
the  assailants  of  the  bank)." 

Such  is  the  temper  and  style  in  which  the 
President  of  the  United  States  is  spoken  of  by 
this  great  moneyed  corporation,  in  a  memorial 
addressed  to  Congress.  Erecting  itself  into  a  co- 
ordinate body,  and  assnming  in  its  corporate 
capacity  an  authority  over  the  President's  act, 
it  does  not  even  condescend  to  call  him  President. 
It  is  "  Andrew  Jackson,"  and  the  name  always 
placed  between  inverted  commas  to  mark  the 
higher  degree  of  contempt.  Then  the  corporation 
shrinks  from  remarking  on  the  "  paper "  itself, 
and  the  "  individual "  who  signed  it,  as  a  thing 
injurious  to  their  own  self-respect,  and  only  to  be 
done  in  consideration  of  the  "  oflBce  "  which  he 
fills,  and  that  after  "  subduing  "  their  feelings — 
and  this  was  the  insolence  of  the  moneyed  power 
in  defeat,  when  its  champion  had  received  but 
forty-nine  votes  for  the  Presidency  out  of  two 
hundred  and  eighty-eight  given  in!  What 
would  it  have  been  in  victory  1  The  lead  which 
it  gave  to  the  intended  proceedings  in  Congress, 
is  well  indicated  in  these  two  paragraphs,  and 
the  specifications  under  them : 

"  The  indelicacy  of  the  form  of  those  proceed- 
ings corresponds  well  with  the  substance  of 
them,  which  is  equally  in  violation  of  the  rights 
of  the  bank  and  the  laws  of  the  country. 

"  The  committee  willingly  leave  to  the  Con- 
gress of  the  linited  States,  the  assertion  of  their 
own  constitutional  power,  and  the  vindication  of 
the  principles  of  our  government,  against  the  most 
violent  assault  they  have  ever  yet  encountered ; 
and  will  now  confine  themselves  to  the  more  limit- 
ed purpose  of  showing  that  the  reasons  assigned 
for  this  measure  are  as  unfounded  as  the  object 
itself  is  illegal." 

The  illegality  of  the  proceeding,  and  the  vin- 
dication of  the  constitution,  and  the  principles 
of  the  government,  from  a  most  violent  assault, 
are  the  main  objects  left  by  the  bank  to  the  Con- 
gress ;  the  invalidity  of  the  reasons  assigned  for 
the  removal,  are  more  limited,  and  lest  the  Con- 
gress might  not  discover  these  violations  of  law 
and  constitution,  the  corporation  proceeds  to 
enumerate  and  establish  them.    It  says : 

"  Certainly  since  the  foundation  of  this  gov- 
ernment, nothing  has  ever  been  done  which 
more  deeply  wounds  the  spirit  of  our  free  insti- 
tutions. It,  in  fact,  resolves  itself  into  this — that 
whenever  the  laws  prescribe  certain  duties  to  an 
officer,  if  that  officer,  acting  under  the  sanctions 
of  his  official  oath  and  his  private  character,  re- 


ftiHCH  to  violate  that  law,  the  President  of  th« 
United  States  may  dismiss  him  and  appoint 
another;  and  if  ho  too  should  prove  to  Iwa  're- 
fractory subordinate,'  to  continue  his  removals 
until  ho  at  last  discovers  in  tho  descending  scale 
of  degradation  some  irresponsible  imlividuiil  fit 
to  be  the  tool  of  his  designs.  Unlinppily,  there 
are  never  wanting  men  who  will  think  as  their 
superiors  wish  them  to  think — men  who  rejinn', 
more  the  com|)ensation  than  the  duties  of  their 
office— men  to  whom  daily  bread  is  sufficient 
consolation  for  daily  shame. 

"  The  present  state  of  this  question  is  a  fearful 
illustration  of  the  danger  of  it.  At  this  moment 
the  whole  revenue  of  this  country  is  iit  the  dis- 
posal— the  absolute,  uncontrolled  disposal— of 
the  President  of  the  United  States.  The  laws 
declare  that  the  public  funds  shall  bo  placed  in 
the  Bank  of  the  tinited  States,  unless  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury  forbids  it.  The  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  will  not  forbid  it.  The  Presi- 
dent dismisses  him,  and  appoints  somebody  wiio 
will.  So  the  laws  declare  that  no  money  sliall 
be  drawn  from  the  Treasury,  except  on  warrants 
for  appropriations  made  by  law.  If  the  Treas- 
urer refuses  to  draw  his  warrant  for  any  dis- 
bursement, the  President  may  dismiss  him  and 
appoint  some  more  flexible  agent,  who  will  not 
hesitate  to  gratify  his  patron.  The  text  is  in  tiie 
official  gazette,  announcing  the  fate  of  the  di.s- 
missed  Secretary  to  all  wlio  follow  him.  '  The 
agent  cannot  conscientiously  perform  tlio  service, 
and  refuses  to  co-operate,  and  desiies  to  remain 
to  thwart  the  President's  measures.  To  put  an 
end  to  this  difficulty  between  the  head  and  the 
hands  of  the  executive  department,  the  constitu- 
tion arms  the  chief  magistrate  with  authority 
to  remove  the  refractory  subordinate.'  The 
theory  thus  avowed,  and  the  recent  practice  un- 
der it,  convert  the  whole  free  institutions  of  this 
country  into  the  mere  absolute  will  of  a  single 
individual.  Tkey  break  down  all  the  restraints 
which  the  framers  of  the  government  hoped  they 
had  imposed  on  arbitrary  power,  and  place 
the  whole  revenue  of  the  United  States  in  the 
hands  of  the  President. 

"  For  it  is  manifest  that  this  removal  of  the 
deposits  is  not  made  by  the  order  of  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury.  It  is  a  perversion  of  language  so 
to  describe  it.  On  the  contrary,  the  reverse  is 
openly  avowed.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  re- 
fused to  remove  them,  believing,  as  his  published 
letter  declares,  that  the  removal  was  '  unneces- 
sary, unwise,  vindictive,  arbitrary  and  unjust.' 
He  was  then  dismissed  because  he  would  not  re- 
move them,  and  another  was  appointed  because 
he  would  remove  them.  Now  this  is  a  palpable 
violation  of  the  charter.  The  bank  and  Congress 
agre  upon  certain  terms,  which  no  one  can 
change  but  a  particular  officer ;  who,  although 
necessarily  nominated  to  the  Senate  by  the  Pre- 
sident, was  designated  by  the  bank  and  by  Con- 
gress as  the  umpire  between  them.  Both  Con- 
gress and  the  bank  have  a  right  to  the  free  and 
honest  and  impartial  judgment  of  that  officer, 


AltPrO  1838.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


381 


whoeT'jr  ho  may  be— the  bank,  Ixjcauso  the  ro- 
moval  may  iiyuro  its  interestn— th«  Conp;re8s, 
k-cause  tilt)  removal  nw»y  greatly  incoimnode 
ami  diBtresH  their  conHtitiieiits.  In  this  caw, 
tlicy  arc  deprived  of  it  by  tho  unlawful  niterfer- 
oiiw  of  tho  President,  who  'ansuuies  the  rcspon- 
Mliitity,'  which,  beinR  interpreted,  means,  usurps 
the  liower  of  the  Secretary. 

'•  The  whole  structure  of  the  Treasury  showH 
that  tlio  di'sipin  of  Congress  was  to  make  the 
Secretary  as  independent  as  possible  of  the  I're- 
tident.  The  other  Secretaries  are  merely  execu- 
tive officers  ;  but  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
the  ({uardian  of  the  public  revenue,  comes  into 
more  immediate  sympathy  with  the  representa- 
tives of  the  people  who  pay  that  revenue ;  and 
althouKh,  according  to  the  general  scheme  of  aj)- 
pointment,  he  is  nominated  by  the  Tresident  to 
ttie  Senate,  yet  he  is  in  fact  the  officer  of  Con- 
gress not  the  officer  of  the  President. 

"This  independence  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury— if  it  be  true  in  general — is  more 
especially  true  in  regard  to  the  bank.  It  was 
in  fact  the  leading  principle  in  organizing  the 
bank,  that  the  President  should  be  excluded 
from  all  control  of  it.  The  question  which  most 
divided  the  House  of  Representives  was,  whether 
there  should  be  a»y  government  directors  at  all; 
and  although  thii  was  finally  adopted,  yet  its 
tendency  to  create  executive  influence  over  the 
bank  was  qualified  by  two  restrictions:  first, 
that  no  more  than  three  directors  should  be  ap- 
pointed from  any  one  State ;  and,  second,  that 
the  president  of  the  bank  should  not  be,  as  was 
originally  designed  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  chosen  from  among  the  government 
directors.  Accordingly,  by  the  charter,  the 
Secretory  of  the  Treasury  is  everv  thing— the 
President  comparatively  nothing.  The  Secretary 
has  the  exclusive  supervision  of  all  the  relations 
of  the  bank  with  the  government." 


These  extracts  are  sufficient  to  show  that  the 
corporation  charged  the  President  with  illegal 
and  unconstitutional  conduct,  subversive  of  the 
principles  of  our  government,  and  dangerous  to 
our  liberties  in  causing  the  deposits  to  be  re- 
moved—that they  looked  upon  this  illegal,  un- 
constitutional, and  dangerous  conduct  as  the 
principal  wrong — and  left  to  Congress  the  as- 
sertion of  its  own  constitutional  power,  and  the 
vindication  of  the  principles  of  the  government 
from  the  assault  which  they  had  received.  And 
this  in  a  memorial  addressed  to  Congress,  of 
which  five  thousand  copies,  in  pamphlet  form, 
were  printed,  and  the  members  of  Congress 
liberally  supplied  with  copies.    It  will  be  seen, 

nrnon   nra  /*f\ma    frt    flirt     »\Y»^'i'»P(^»r!'*''   O^  C^rvnrrvaca 

how  far  the  intimations  of  the  memorial  in 
Bhowing  what  ought  to  be  done,  and  leaving 


Congress  to  do  it,  was  complied  with  by  that 
body. 


CHAPTER    XCIV. 

KKPOUT  OF  THE  BECBETAUY  OF  THE  TBEAHlfRT 
TO  CONOKE88  ON  THE  REMOVAL  OF  THE  DB- 
POSlTd. 

By  the  clause  in  the  charter  authorizing  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  remove  the  de- 
posits, that  officer  was  required  to  communicate 
the  fact  immediately  to  Congress,  if  in  session, 
if  not,  at  the  first  meeting ;  together  with  hi» 
reasons  for  so  doing.    The  act  which  had  been 
done  was  not  a  "  removal,"  in  the  sense  of  that 
word  ;   for  not  a  dollar  was  taken  from  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States  to  be  deposited  else- 
where ;  and  the  order  given  was  not  for  a  "  re- 
moval," but  for  a  cessation  of  deposits  in  that 
institution,  leaving  the  public  moneys  which 
were  in  it  to  be  drawn  out  in  the  regular  course 
of  expenditure.     An  immediate  and  total  re- 
moval might  have  been  well  justified  by  the 
misconduct  of  the  bank ;  a  cessation  to  deposit 
might  have  been  equally  well  justified  on  the 
ground  of  the  approaching  expiration  of  the 
charter,  and  the  propriety  of  providing  in  time 
for  the  new  places  of  deposit  which  that  expira- 
tion would  render  necessary.    The  two  reasons 
put  together  made  a  clear  case,  both  of  justifi- 
cation and  of  propriety,  for  the  order  which  had 
been  given ;  and  the  secretary,  Mr.  Taney,  well 
set  them  forth  in  the  report  which  he  made, 
and  which  was  laid  before  Congress  on  the  day- 
after  its  meeting.    The  following  are  extracts 
from  it: 


"  The  Treasury  department  being  intrusted 
with  the  administration  of  the  finances  of  the 
country,  it  was  always  the  duty  of  the  Secreta- 
ry, in  the  absence  of  any  legislative  provision  on 
the  subject,  to  take  care  that  the  public  money 
was  deposited  in  safe  keeping,  in  the  hands  of 
faithful  agents,  and  in  convenient  places,  ready 
to  be  applied  according  to  the  wants  of  tbe  gov- 
ernment. The  law  incorporating  the  bank  has 
reserved  to  him,  in  its  full  extent,  the  power  he 
before  possessed.  It  does  not  confer  on  him  a 
new  power,  but  reserves  to  him  his  former  au- 
thority, without  any  new  limitation.  The  obli- 
gation to  assign  the  reasons  for  his  direction  to 
deposit  the  money  of  the  United  States  else- 
where, cannot  be  considered  as  a  restriction  of 


>  ? 


I 

I'SiH 

i: 

l^t^Hj'^^^B 

\ 

■'   ^! 

'flii 

■ 

!         i 

L'^K'-^^I 

382 


nilRTY  YKAIW  VIF.W. 


i! 


!S'i      1. 


f'if 


the  power,  hccaiiNo  the  ri^ht  of  the  Secretary  to 
designnte  the  pliiw  of  (It'jK)Hit  was  alwiiva  iiwcn- 
3«nl  V  subject  to  the  control  of  Congreis.  And 
M  the  S'  ^TrtiU'v  of  the  TreaNiiry  nn-Miden  over 
one  of  111*  p)f»yntive  departnieiitu  o(  the  govern- 
ment, and  hi  |*i)\ver  over  this  subject  fiit urn  a 
purf.  of  the  executive  iifiot*  of  hin  ofllce,  the 
manner  in  which  it  i  <  xcrf -^'d  must  be  Hubject 
to  the  KuiKTvision  of  the  «»tf/rer  to  whom  the 
constitution  has  conddcd  the  whole  executive 
power,  )nd  has  re(|uired  to  tuiio  care  tliat  the 
laws  be  iiiMifully  exconted. 

"The  faith  of  the  f  nited  States  is,  however, 
pledge*!,  accorrling  to  '"  temiH  of  the  Hcction 
al)ove  stated,  thiit  the  public  money  Hhall  bo  de- 
powited  in  tiiis  bank,  unless  'the  iSocretiiry  of 
the  Treasury  shall  otherwise  order  and  <hruct.' 
And  as  this  agreement  has  been  entered  into  by 
Congress,  in  behalf  of  the  United   States,  the 

1)Uce  of  deposit  could  not  bt>  changid  by  a 
cgislativo  act,  without  disregarding  a  pledge, 
which  the  legislature  has  given  ;  and  the  uioney 
of  the  United  States  must  therefore  continue  to 
bo  deposited  in  the  bank,  until  the  last  hour  of 
its  existence,  unless  it  shall  be  otherwise  ordered 
by  the  authority  mentioned  in  the  charter.  The 
power  over  the  place  of  deposit  for  the  public 
money  would  seem  proi)erly  to  belong  to  the 
legislative  department  of  the  government,  and  it 
is  diiHcult  to  imagine  why  the  authority  to  with- 
draw it  from  this  bank  was  confided  exclusively 
to  the  Executive.  But  the  tenns  of  the  charter 
appear  to  l)e  too  plain  to  admit  of  question ;  and 
although  Congress  should  be  satisfied  that  the 
public  money  was  not  safe  in  the  care  of  the 
bank,  or  should  be  convinced  that  the  interests 
of  the  people  of  the  United  States  imperiously 
demanded  the  removal,  yet  the  pasaage  of  a  law 
directing  it  to  be  done,  would  be  a  breach  of  the 
agreement  into  which  they  have  entered. 

"  In  deciding  upon  the  course  which  it  was  my 
duty  to  pursue  in  relation  to  the  deposits,  I  did  not 
feel  myself  justified  in  anticipating  the  renewal 
of  the  charter  on  either  of  the  above-mentioned 
grounds.  It  is  very  evident  that  the  bank  has 
no  claim  to  renewal,  founded  on  the  justice  of 
Congress.  For,  independently  of  the  many  seri- 
ous and  insurmountable  objections,  which  its 
own  conduct  has  furnished,  it ,.  nnot  be  supposed 
that  the  grant  to  this  corporation  of  exclusive 
privileges,  at  the  expense  of  the  ri'st  of  the  com- 
munit)',  for  twenty  year.,  can  give  it  a  right  to 
demand  the  still  further  enjoyment  of  its  profit 
able  monopoly.  Neither  could  I  act  upon  the 
assumption  that  the  public  interest  required  the 
recharter  of  the  bank,  because  I  am  firndy  per- 
suaded that  the  law  which  created  this  corpora- 
tion, in  many  of  its  provisions,  is  not  warranted 
by  the  constitution,  and  that  the  existence  of 
<uch  a  powerful  moneyed  monopoly,  is  danger- 
•yuf^  ^'i  the  liberties  of  the  people,  and  to  the 
'J-"  .iy  of  Our  'r  litiefii  iiistltUiiOoN. 

The  man  V  lations  of  public  opinion,  instead 
ii'  being  favorable  to  a  renewal,  have  been  decid- 
edly to  the  contrary.    And  I  have  always  regard- 


ed the  n-sidt  of  the  last  election  of  the  PrenMent 
of  the  Uniteil  States,  as  the  declaration  of  a  ma- 
jority  of  thi  i)eoplethat  the  charter  ought  not  to 
be  renewed.  It  is  not  necessary  to  state  hen- 
what  is  now  a  matter  of  history.  The  (|iiestion 
of  the  renewal  of  the  charter  was  introducfd 
into  the  election  by  the  coqioration  itself.  lu 
voluntary  application  to  Congress  for  the  ri'i.ew- 
al  of  its  charter  foiir  yrars  la'fore  it  e.\pin>(l  and 
ui)on  theevi  of  the  election  of  President,  was  im- 
derstood  on  aJ  sidea  as  bringing  forward  that 
question  for  incidental  decision,  at  the  then  ap- 
prodching  election.  It  was  accordingly  argued 
on  l)oth  sides,  before  the  tribunal  of  the  |K'opli> 
and  their  verdict  pronounced  against  the  hank' 
by  the  election  of  the  candidate  who  was  knowii 
to  have  Iwen  always  inflexibly  opposed  to  it. 

"The  monthly  statement  of  the  buiiL  of  ilie 
2d  September  la.st,  Inforeix'ferf  -l  (o  show  <tli;»i 
the  jiotrs  of  the  bank  and  iU  !  fanci.t!,  then  in 
circulation,  amounted  to  S'-'Ml.*},?!^?  07  and 
that  its  di^^counts  amounted  to  tiic  sum  of 
.'B(>2,C5;),;?5!)  5'J.  The  iMihfnse  circulation  above 
stated,  pervading  evei  j  ^  1 1,  of  the  United  State.-. 
and  most  commonly  used  in  the  business  of  com- 
merce between  (hstant  places,  must  all  be  with- 
drawn from  circulation  when  the  charter  ex- 
pires. If  any  of  the  notes  then  remain  in  the 
Lands  of  individuals,  remote  from  the  brnnclies 
at  which  they  are  payable,  their  inunediate  de- 
preciation will  subject  the  holders  to  certain  loss. 
Those  payable  in  the  principal  commercial  cities 
would,  jx'rhaps,  retain  nearly  their  nominal  val- 
ue ;  but  this  would  not  be  the  case  with  the  notes 
of  the  interior  branches,  remote  from  the  great 
marts  of  trade.  And  the  statements  of  the  bank 
will  show  that  a  great  part  of  its  circulation  is 
composed  of  notes  of  this  description.  The  bank 
would  seem  to  have  taken  jxains  to  introduce  in- 
to common  u.se  such  a  description  of  paper  ns  it 
could  depreciate,  or  raise  to  its  par  value,  as  best 
suited  its  own  views ;  and  it  is  of  the  first  impor- 
tance to  the  interests  of  the  public  that  these 
notes  .'-hould  all  be  taken  out  of  circulation,  be- 
fore they  depreciate  in  the  hands  of  the  individ- 
uals who  hold  them ;  and  they  otight  to  be  with- 
drawn gradually,  and  their  places  supplied,  as 
they  retire,  by  the  currency  which  will  become 
the  substitute  for  them.  How  long  will  it  re 
■,  ire  ""or  the  ordinary  operations  of  commerce, 
ami  f.ie  reduction  of  discounts  bj  Hie  bank,  to 
•ritl'  ''ir  ;',ie  amount  c?  :;rculation  befoie  mcn- 

i>  1,  .-  nout  giving  a  shock  to  the  currencj', 
or  producing  a  distressing  pressure  on  the  com- 
munity ?  I  am  convinced  that  the  time  which 
remained  for  the  charter  to  run,  after  the  1st  of 
October  (the  day  on  which  the  first  order  for 
removal  took  eflect),  was  not  more  than  was 
proper  to  accomplish  the  object  with  safety  to 
the  community. 

"  There  is,  howcTor,  another  view  of  the  sub- 
ject, which  in  my  opinion,  made  it  impcssiblc- 
further  to  postpone  the  removal.  About  the  Ist 
of  December,  1832,  it  had  been  ascertained  that 
the  present  Chief  Magistrate  was  re-elected,  and 


ANNO  1888.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  rRKHIDRNT. 


that  hit*  (Iccirtion  againRt  the  bank  had  thua  bMn 
Mndmn.'d  l>y  Hio  jHroplo.  At  that  time  tho  dis- 
coiinlH  of  til'-  l"nk  iiinonnUxl  to  lU(i|,.'i71,«52ft  (Itl. 
Althotinh  Ihi  ]  M'  which  tho  hank  took  nomiich 
pnins  t<i  fniriii'  til  iiowr  been  tried,  and  tho  do- 
cisiiiii  pn>iiiiiiPi(c  il  Hf,'ttin«t  it,  yet  no  HtepH  were 
taken  to  |)ivpHi«  for  itH  uj  ,.i'»arhinj<  end.  On 
thePoiitrttiy,it  pm,  ded  toenlari^r  itsihseounts, 
and,  oil  tli«'  2(1  of  Aupist,  IS33,  the}  iniomited 
to  liKU,!''*"'*^'  '■*'  being  lu.  increase  of  more 
than  two  and  a  naif  rnillionaintho  (%ht  months 
immi'diiitely  foiiowinti;  the  decision  against  them. 
And  NO  fur  from  prepiirin;'  to  arrange  its  affairs 
witli  a  view  to  wind  up  us  business,  it  seemed 
from  this  courso  of  conduct,  to  Ixi  the  design 
of  tiio  bunk  to  put  itself  in  such  an  attitude, 
that,  lit  tho  close  of  its  charter,  the  country 
would  he  comj)elIed  to  submit  to  its  renewal,  or 
to  bear  all  tho  consequences  of  a  currency  sud- 
denly derange<l,  and  also  a  severe  pressure  for  tho 
immense  outstanding  claims  which  would  then 
be  duo  to  the  corporation.  While  tho  bank  was 
thus  proreeding  to  enlarge  its  discounts,  an  agent 
was  appointed  by  tho  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
to  in(|uiro  upon  what  terms  the  State  banks 
would  undertake  to  jKirfonu  the  services  to  the 
government  which  have  heretofore  been  render- 
ed by  the  Bank  of  tho  United  States ;  and  also  to 
a«xrt!iin  their  condition  in  four  of  the  principal 
commercial  cities,  for  tho  purpose  of  enabling  tho 
department  to  judge  whether  they  would  bo  safe 
and  convenient  depositories  for  tho  public  money. 
It  was  deemed  necessary  that  suitable  ilscal 
agents  should  be  prepared  in  due  season,  and  it 
was  proper  that  time  should  bo  allowed  them  to 
make  arrangements  with  one  another  throughout 
the  counlry,  in  order  that  th^y  might  perform 
their  duties  in  concert,  and  in  a  manner  that 
would  he  convenient  and  acceptable  to  the  pub- 
lic. It  was  essential  that  a  change  so  important 
in  its  character,  and  so  extensive  in  its  operation 
uiwn  the  financial  concerns  of  tho  country, 
should  not  be  introduced  without  timely  prepara- 
tion. 

"The  United  States,  by  tho  charter,  reserved 
the  right  of  appointing  five  directors  of  the  bank. 
It  was  intended  by  this  means  not  only  to  pro- 
vide guardians  for  the  interests  of  tho  public  in 
the  general  administration  of  its  affairs,  but  also 
to  have  faithful  officers,  whose  situation  would 
enable  then-  to  become  intimately  acquainted 
with  all  the  transactions  of  the  institution,  and 
whose  duty  it  would  be  to  apprize  the  proper 
authorities  of  any  misconduct  on  the  part  of  the 
corporation  likely  to  affect  tho  public  interest. 
Ihe  fourth  fundamental  article  of  tho  constitu- 
tion of  the  corporation  declares  that  not  less 
than  seven  directors  shall  constitute  a  board  for 
the  transiiction  of  business.  At  these  meetings 
«  the  board,  tho  directors  on  tho  part  of  the 
Lnited  States  had  of  course  a  right  to  be  pre- 
sent; and,  consequently,  if  the  business  of  the 
corporation  had  been  transacted  in  the  manner 
Which  the  law  requh-es,  there  was  abundant  se- 
curity that  nothing  could  be  done,  injuriously 


afTectinjif  the  interB«t«  of  tho  people,  without  be- 
ing immediately  communicated  to  tho  nublio 
servants,  who  were  authorized  to  apply  the  re- 
medy. And  if  the  corporation  lias  so  arranged 
its  conrerns  as  to  noix ,.»!  frxm  the  public  direc- 
tors some  of  its  m.  ^1  imi-urtiuit  o|arationH,  and 
has  thereby  dcNtroyed  tho  safegiiards  which 
were  designi<l  to  secMro  tho  interests  of  the 
United  Stat  ^,  it  w(»uld  seem  to  bo  very  clear 
that  it  has  i  .rfeitcd  its  claim  to  confidence,  and 
is  no  longer  worthy  of  trust. 

"  Instead  of  a  lioanl  constitufwl  of  at  leant 
»'V('ii  directors,  according  to  tin'  charter,  at 
which  those  appointed  by  the  I  iiitcd  States 
have  a  right  to  ins  present,  man  ol  the  most 
important  m-mey  tmiisactions  of  tue  hank  have 
been,  nnd  still  are,  placed  under  the  utrol  o!  a 
comniiitee,  denominated  tho  exchange  commit- 
too,  of  which  no  one  of  Uie  public  dii\.  ois  has 
beiMi  allowed  to  l)e  a  niomwr  «inee  tl  •'om- 
niencement  of  the  present  year.  !}• 
too  is  not  even  elected  by  the 
iniblio  directors  have  no  vc.ico  in 
meiit.     Thev  are  chosen  li;   tho  pn 

bank,  and  the  business  of     lo  instil       

ought  to  be  decided  on  by  th>^'  boaru  oi  din 
tors,  is,  in  many  instances,  transactid  by  thid 
cotnmittoe;  and  no  one  had  a  right  t  •  pro- 
seii    lit  their  proceedings  but  the  pre^  and 

the  -e  whom  he  shall  please  to  name  at 
of  I,  is  committee.     Thus,  loans  are 
know  n  at  the  time  to  a  majority  of 
and  1    ])er  discounted  which  might  proi 
rejeci    I  at  a  regular  meeting  of  tho  dn 
Tho  111  St  important  operations  of  the  ba 
sometiii  es   resolved  on  and   executed   h 


-  I  lUt- 

i  ill  tho 
V  app'  int- 
ent of  .*he 

>n  which 


bent 
un- 


ird, 
f  be 
org. 

re 
(lis 
irg, 

'd, 


committ'o;  and  its  measuns  are,  it  nj 
designed  y,  and  by  regular  h\  -;tcm,  so  an 
as  to  conceal  from  the  officers  of  the  f;. 
ment  trai suctions  in  which  (he  public  intc  s 
arc  doeiil  involved.  And  this  fact  alone 
nishes  ev  lence  too  strong  to  be  resisted,  i  t 
the  concealment  of  certain  important  operation; 
of  the  corioration  from  tho  officers  of  tho  gov- 
ernment i.-  ino  of  tho  objects  which  is  intended 
to  be  accoii  >lished  by  means  of  this  committee. 
The  plain  w  rds  of  tho  charter  are  violated,  in 
order  lo  dep  ivo  the  poenle  of  tho  United  States 
of  one  of  th(  principal  securities  which  the  law 
had  provide  to  guard  their  interests,  and  to 
render  more  ife  tlic  public  money  intrusted  to 
the  care  of  o  bank.  Would  any  individual 
of  ordinary  di  retiou  continue  his  money  in  tho 
hands  of  an  a  iit  who  violated  his  instructions 
for  tho  purpos  of  hiding  from  him  the  manner 
in  which  he  was  conducting  the  business  confid- 
ed to  his  charge  ?  Would  he  continue  his  prop- 
erty in  his  han(r  s.  when  he  had  not  only  ascer- 
tained that  cone  :iltncnt  had  been  practised  to- 
wards hira,  but  -hen  the  agent  avowed  his  de- 
termination to  C(  itinue  in  the  same  course,  and 

in  vitV>Kf.l/l  <■-«.  V.»~i  ~-  e~-  -~  1 —  -r>ii!l  ~" 
-"     *- »*-*i>t*'.'t    It liiiii,    CITS    ittr    as   nc   tjOlliu,  nil 

knowledge  of  the  manner  in  which  he  was  em- 
ploying his  funds  ?  If  an  individual  would  not 
be  expected  to  continue  his  confidence  under 


384 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


I    *l 


ill 

pi  I J 


such  circumstances,  upon  what  principle  could  a 
different  lino  of  conduct  be  required  from  the 
officers  of  the  United  States,  charged  with  the 
care  of  the  public  interests  ?  The  public  money 
is  surely  entitled  to  the  same  care  and  protec- 
tion us  that  of  an  individual ;  and  if  the  latter 
would  be  buund,  in  justice  to  himself,  to  with- 
draw his  money  from  the  hands  of  an  agent 
thus  regardless  of  his  duty,  the  same  principle 
requires  that  the  money  of  the  United  States 
should,  under  the  like  circumstances,  be  with- 
drawn from  the  hands  of  their  fiscal  agent. 

Having  shown  ample  reasons  for  ceasing  to 
make  the  public  deposits  in  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  and  that  it  was  done,  the  Secre- 
tary proceeds  to  the  next  division  of  his  subject, 
naturally  resulting  from  his  aathority  to  re- 
move, though  not  expressed  in  the  charter ;  and 
that  was,  to  show  where  he  had  ordered  them 
to  be  placed. 

"  The  propriety  of  removing  the  deposits  being 
thus  evident,  and  it  being  consequently  my  duty 
to  select  the  places  to  which  they  were  to  be 
removed,  it  became  necessary  that  arrangements 
should  be  immediately  made  with  the  new  de- 
positories of  the  public  money,  which  would  not 
only  render  it  safe,  but  would  at  the  same  time 
secure  to  the  government,  and  to  the  community 
at  large,  the  conveniencies  and  facilities  that 
were  intended  to  be  obtained  by  incorporating 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  Measures  were 
accordingly  taken  for  that  purpose,  and  copies 
of  the  contracts  which  have  been  made  with  the 
pelected  banks,  and  of  the  letters  of  instructions 
to  them  from  this  department,  are  herewith  sub- 
mitted. The  contracts  with  the  banks  in  the 
interior  are  not  precisely  the  same  with  those 
in  the  Atlantic  cities.  The  differeuce  between 
them  arises  from  the  nature  of  the  business 
transacted  by  the  banks  in  these  diflerent  places. 
The  State  banks  selected  are  all  institutions  of 
high  character  and  undoubted  strength,  and  are 
under  the  management  and  control  of  persons 
of  unquestioned  probity  and  intelligence.  And, 
in  order  to  insure  the  safety  of  the  public  money, 
each  of  them  is  required,  and  has  agreed,  to  give 
security  whenever  the  amount  of  the  deposit 
shall  exceed  the  half  of  the  amount  of  the  capital 
actually  paid  in ;  and  this  department  has  re- 
served to  itself  the  right  to  demand  security 
whenever  it  may  think  it  advi.sable,  although 
the  amount  on  deposit  may  not  be  equal  to  the 
sum  above  stated.  The  banks  selected  have  also 
severally  engaged  to  transmit  money  to  any 
point  at  which  it  may  be  required  by  the  direc- 
tion of  this  department  fur  the  public  service, 
and  to  perform  all  the  services  to  the  government 
which  were  heretofore  rendered  by  the  Bank  of 
th.i  United  Stales.  And,  by  agreements  among 
themselves  to  bono,-  each  other's  notes  and 
dra.  ».=,  they  are  providing  a  general  currency  at 
least  ts  sound  as  that  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 


States,  and  will  afford  facilities  to  commerce  and 
in  the  business  of  domestic  exchange,  quite  ennal 
to  any  which  the  community  heretofore  enjoyod 
There  has  not  been  yet  sufficient  time  to  I'xifi'ct 
these  arrangements,  but  enough  has  alrendv 
been  done  to  show  that,  even  on  tlie  scoie  of  ex- 
pediency, a  Bank  of  the  United  States  is  not 
necessary,  eith vr  for  the  fiscal  ojjcrations  of  the 
government,  or  the  public  conveniens ;  and 
that  every  object  which  the  charter  to  the  prcsi-nt 
bank  was  designed  to  attain,  may  be  as  eitecti'.ally 
accomplished  by  the  State  banks.  And,  if  this 
can  be  done,  nothing  that  is  useful  will  be  lost 
or  endangered  by  the  change,  while  much  that 
is  desirable  will  be  gained  by  it.  Foi'  no  one 
of  these  corporations  will  possess  that  absolute 
and  almost  unlimited  dominion  over  the  property 
of  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  which  the 
present  bank  holds,  and  which  enables  it  at  any 
moment,  at  its  own  pleasure,  to  bring  distress 
upon  any  portion  of  the  community  wiicnovcr  it 
may  deem  it  useful  to  its  intercut  to  make  its 
power  felt.  The  influence  of  each  of  the  State 
banks  is  necessarily  limited  to  its  own  imme- 
diate neighborhood,  and  they  will  be  kept  in 
check  by  the  other  local  banks.  They  will  not 
therefore,  be  tempted  by  the  consciousne.ss  of 
power  to  aspire  to  political  influence,  nor  likely 
to  interfere  in  the  elections  of  the  public  sen'ants. 
They  will,  moreover,  be  managed  !)y  persons 
who  reside  in  the  midst  of  the  people  who  are 
to  be  immediately  affected  by  their  measures; 
and  they  cannot  be  insensible  or  indifferent  to  the 
opinions  and  peculiar  interests  of  those  by  whom 
they  are  daily  surrounded,  and  with  whom  they 
are  constantly  as.-;ociated.  These  circumstances 
always  furnish  strong  safeguards  against  an 
oppressive  exercise  of  power,  and  forcibly  re- 
commend the  employment  of  State  banks  in  pre- 
ference to  a  Bank  of  the  United  States,  with  its 
numerous  and  distant  branches. 

"  In  the  selection,  therefore,  of  the  State  banks 
as  the  fiscal  agents  of  the  government,  no  disad- 
vantages appear  to  have  been  incurred  on  the 
score  of  safety  or  convenience,  or  the  general 
interests  of  the  country,  while  much  that  is 
valuable  will  be  gained  by  the  cluuige.  I  am, 
however,  well  aware  of  the  vast  power  of  the 
Bank  cf  the  United  States,  and  of  its  ability  to 
brinf,  distress  and  suffering  on  the  country. 
This  is  one  of  the  evils  of  chartering  a  bank 
with  such  an  amount  of  capital,  with  the  right 
of  shooting  its  branches  into  every  part  of  the 
Union,  so  as  to  extend  its  inliueuce  to  every 
neighborhood.  The  immense  loan  of  more  than 
twenty-eight  millions  of  dollars  sudileiily  poured 
out,  chiefly  in  the  Western  States,  in  LSol,  and 
the  first  four  months  in  1882,  sufficiently  attests 
that  the  bank  is  sensible  of  tlie  power  uii'ch  its 
money  gives  it,  and  has  placed  itself  in  an  atti- 
tude to  make  the  people  of  the  United  Stai.s 
feel  the  weight  of  its  resentment,  if  tlu'V  presunit 
to  disappoint  the  wishes  of  the  corporation.  By 
a  severe  curtailment  it  has  already  m.iJe  it  pro- 
per to  withdraw  a  portion  of  the  money  it  held 


i-r* 


ANNO  1833.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


880 


on  deposit,  and  transfer  it  to  the  custody  of  the 
new  fiscal  agents,  in  order  to  shield  the  com- 
munity from  the  injustice  of  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States.  But  1  have  not  supposed  that 
the  course  of  the  government  ought  to  be  regu- 
lated by  the  fear  of  the  power  of  the  bank.  If 
Buch  a  motive  could  be  allowed  to  influence  the 
legislation  of  Congress,  or  the  action  of  the  ex- 
ecutive departments  of  the  government,  there  is 
an  end  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  people ;  and  the 
liberties  of  the  country  arc  at  once  surrendered 
at  the  feet  of  a  moneyed  corporation.  They  may 
now  demand  the  possession  of  the  public  money, 
or  the  renewal  of  the  charter ;  and  if  these  ob- 
jects are  yielded  to  them  from  apijrehensions 
of  their  power,  or  from  the  suflTering  which  rapid 
curtailments  on  their  part  are  inflicting  on  the 
community,  whiit  may  they  not  next  require  ? 
Will  submission  render  such  a  corporation  more 
forbearing  in  its  course  ?  What  law  may  it  not 
hereafter  demand,  that  it  will  not,  if  it  pleases, 
be  able  to  enforce  by  the  same  means  ?  " 

Thus  the  keeping  of  the  public  monej's  went 
to  the  local  banks,  the  system  of  an  independent 
treasury  being  not  then  established;  and  the 
notes  of  these  banks  necessarily  required  their 
notes  to  be  temporarily  used  in  the  federal 
payments,  the  gold  currency  not  being  at  that 
time  revived.  Upon  these  local  banks  the  fede- 
ral government  was  thrown— Jirstj  for  the  ssifc 
keeping  of  its  public  moneys ;  secondly,  to  sup- 
ply the  place  of  the  nineteen  millions  of  bank 
notes  which  the  national  had  in  circulation; 
thirdly,  to  relieve  the  community  from  the 
pressure  which  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
had  already  commenced  upon  it,  and  which,  it 
was  known,  was  to  be  pushed  to  the  idtimate 
ponit  of  oppression.  But  a  difficulty  was  ex- 
perienced in  obtaining  these  local  banks,  which 
would  be  incredible  without  understanding  the 
cause.  Instead  of  a  competition  among  them  to 
obtain  the  deposits,  there  was  holding  off,  and 
an  absolute  refusal  on  the  part  of  many.  Local 
banks  wore  shy  of  receiving  them — shy  of  re- 
ceiving the  greatest  possible  apparent  benefit  to 
themselves— shy  of  receiving  the  aliment  upon 
which  they  lived  an'i  grew !  and  why  this  so 
great  apparent  contradiction  ?  It  was  the  fear 
(if  the  Bank  of  the  United  States !  and  of  that 
capacity  to  destroy  them  to  which  Mr.  Biddle 
had  testified  in  his  answers  to  the  Senate's 
Finance  Committee;  and  which  capacity  was 
now  known  to  be  joined  to  the  will ;  for  the 
lank  placed  in  the  same  category  all  who  should 
be  concerned  in  the  removal— both  the  govern- 
ment that  ordered  it,  and  the  local  banks  which 
Vol.  I.— 25 


received  what  it  lost.  But  a  competent  number 
were  found  ;  and  this  first  attempt  to  prevent  a 
removal,  by  preventing  a  reception  of  the  de- 
posits elsewhere,  entirely  failed. 


CHAPTER    XCV. 

NOMINATION  OF  GOVEENMENT  DIKECT0R3,  AND 
TIIEIK  REJECTION. 

By  the  charter  of  the  bank,  the  government  was 
entitled  to  five  directors,  to  be  nominated  an- 
nually by  the  President,  and  confirmed  by  the 
Senate.  At  the  commencement  of  the  session 
of  1833-'34.  the  President  nominated  the  five, 
four  of  them  being  the  same  who  had  served 
during  the  current  year,  and  who  had  made  the 
report  on  which  the  order  <br  the  removal  of  the 
deposits  was  chiefly  foundcvl.  This  drew  upon 
them  the  resentment  of  the  bank,  and  caused 
them  to  receive  a  large  shar-  *"  reproach  and 
condemnation  in  the  report  vhiuh  (he  committee 
of  the  bank  drew  up,  and  wi.ivh  the  board  of 
directors  adopted  and  pubhshed.  When  these 
nominations  came  into  the  Senate  it  was  soon 
perceived  that  there  was  to  be  opposition  to 
these  four  ;  and  for  the  purpose  of  testing  the 
truth  of  the  objections,  Mr.  Kane,  of  Illinois, 
submitted  the  following  resolution : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  nominations  of  H.  D; 
Gilpin,  John  T.  Sullivan,  Peter  Wager,  and 
Hugh  McEldery,  be  recommitted  to  the  Com- 
mitte  on  Finance,  with  instructions  to  inquire 
into  their  several  qualifications  and  fitness  for  the 
stations  to  which  they  have  been  nominated ; 
also  into  the  truth  of  all  charges  preferred  by 
them  against  the  board  of  directors  of  the  Bank. 
of  the  United  States,  and  into  the  conduct  of 
each  of  the  said  nominees  during  the  time  he  may 
have  acted  as  director  of  the  said  bank ;  and  that 
the  said  nominees  have  notice  of  the  times  and 
places  of  meetings  of  said  committee,  and  have 
leave  to  attend  the  same." 

Which  was  immediately  rejected  by  the  fol- 
lowing vote : 

"Yeas. — Messrs.  Benton,  Brown,  Forsyth,, 
Grundy,  Hendricks,  Hill,  Kane,  King  of  Alaba- 
ma, Linn.  McKean,  Moor,  Morris,  Kives,  Robin- 
son, Shcpiey,  Tallmadge,  Tipton,  White,  Wil- 
kins,  Wright.— 20. 

"  Nays.— Messrs.  Bell,  Bibb,  Black,  Calhoun,, 
Chambers,  Clay,  Clayton,  Ewing,  Frelinghuysen,, 


:3a  ♦ 


! 


.       t 


386 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


'     ?l 


.1, 
I'  k 

\  r 


Kent,  Kill";  of  Georgia,  Knight,  Manguni,  Nau- 
dain,  Poindcxter,  Porter,  Prentiss,  Kobbins, 
Silsbee,  Sniitii,  Southard,  Sprague,  Swift,  Tom- 
linson,  Tylcv,  Waggaman,  Webster. — 27. 

And  this  resolution  being  rejected,  requiring 
a  two-fold  examination — one  into  the  character 
and  qualifications  of  the  nominees,  the  other  in- 
to the  truth  of  their  representations  against  the 
bank,  it  was  deemed  proper  to  submit  another, 
limited  to  an  inquiry  into  the  character  and  fit- 
ness of  the  nominees ;  which  was  rejected  by  the 
same  vote.  The  nominations  were  then  voted 
upon  separately,  and  each  of  the  four  was  reject- 
ed by  the  same  vote  which  applied  to  the  first 
one,  to  wu,  Mr.  Gilpin:  and  which  was  as  fol- 
lows: 

"Yeas. — Messrs.  Benton,  Black.  Brown,  For- 
syth, Grundy,  Hendricks,  Hill,  Kane,  King  of 
Alabama,  Linn,  McKean,  Moore,  ilorris,  Robin- 
son, Shcpley,  Tallmadge,  Tipton,  White,  Wil- 
kins,  Wright.— 20. 

"  Nays.— Messrs.  Bell,  Bibb,  Calhoun,  Cham- 
bers, Clay.  Ewing,  Frelinghnysen,  Kent,  Knight, 
Mangum,  Naudain,  Poindexter,  Porter,  Prentiss, 
Preston.  Bobbins,  Silsbee,  Smith,  Sprague,  Swift, 
Tomlinson,  Tyler,  Waggaman,  Webster. — 24. 

These  rejections  being  communicated  to  the 
President,  he  immediately  felt  that  it  presented 
a  new  case  for  his  energy  and  decision  of  conduct. 
The  whole  of  the  rejected  gentlemen  had  been 
confirmed  the  year  before — had  all  acted  as  di- 
rectors for  the  current  year — and  there  was  no 
complaint  against  them  except  from  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States;  and  that  limited  to  their 
conduct  in  giving  information  of  transactions  in 
the  bank  to  President  Jackson  at  his  written 
request.  Thei  r  characters  and  fitness  were  above 
question.  That  was  admitted  by  the  Senate, 
both  by  its  previous  confirmation  for  the  same 
places,  and  its  present  refusal  to  inquire  into 
those  points.  The  information  which  they  had 
given  to  the  President  had  been  copied  from  the 
books  of  the  bank,  and  the  transiictions  which 
they  communicated  had  been  objected  to  by  them 
at  the  time  as  illegal  and  improper ;  and  its  truth, 
unimpeachable  in  itself,  was  unimpeached  by  the 
Senate  in  their  refusal  to  inquire  into  their  con- 
duct while  directors.  It  was  evident  then  that 
they  had  been  rejected  for  the  report  which  they 
made  to  the  President ;  and  this  brought  up  the 
question,  whether  it  was  right  to  punish  them 
for  that  act  ?  and  whether  the  bank  should  have 
the  virtual  nomination  of  the  government  direc- 


tors by  causing  those  to  be  rejected  which  the 
government  nominated  ?  and  permitting  none  to 
serve  but  those  whose  conduct  should  be  subor- 
dinate to  the  views  and  pohcy  of  the  bank? 
These  were  questions,  first,  for  the  Senate  and 
then  for  the  country;  and  the  President  deter- 
mined to  bring  it  before  both  in  a  formal  mes 
sage  of  re-nomination.  He  accordingly  sent  back 
the  names  of  the  four  rejected  nominations  in  a 
message  which  contained,  among  others,  these 
passages : 

"  I  disclaim  all  pretension  of  right  on  the  part 
of  the  President  officially  to  inquire  into,  or  call 
in  question,  the  reasons  of  the  Senate  for  reject- 
ing any  nomination  whatsoever.  As  the  Presi- 
dent is  not  responsible  to  them  for  the  reasons 
which  induce  him  to  make  a  nomination,  so  they 
are  not  responsible  to  him  for  the  reasons  which 
induce  them  to  reject  it.  In  these  respects,  each 
is  independent  of  the  other  and  both  responsible 
to  their  respective  constituents.  Nevertheless, 
the  attitude  in  which  certain  vital  interests  of  the 
country  are  placed  by  the  rejection  of  the  gen- 
tlemen now  re- nominated  require  of  me,  frankly, 
to  communicate  my  views  of  the  consequences 
which  must  necess-arily  follow  this  act  of  the 
Senate,  if  it  be  not  feconsidered. 

"  The  characters  and  standing  of  these  gentle- 
men are  well  known  to  the  community,  and 
eminently  qualify  them  for  the  offices  to'which 
I  propose  to  appoint  them.  The'r  confirmation 
by  the  Senate  at  its  last  session  to  the  same  ofti- 
ces  is  proof  that  such  was  the  opinion  of  them 
entertained  by  the  Senate  at  that  time ;  and  un- 
less some  thing  has  occurred  since  to  change  it 
this  act  may  now  be  referred  to  as  evidence  that 
their  talents  and  pursuits  justified  their  selec- 
tion. 

"  The  refusal,  however,  to  confirm  their  nomi- 
nations to  the  same  offices,  shows  that  there  is 
something  in  the  conduct  of  these  gentlemen 
during  the  last  year  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
Senate,  disqualifies  them ;  and  as  no  charge  has 
been  made  against  them  as  men  or  citizens,  no- 
thing which  impeaches  the  fair  private  character 
they  possessed  when  the  Senate  gave  them  their 
sanction  at  its  last  session,  and  as  it  moreover 
appears  from  the  journal  of  the  Senate  recently 
transmitted  for  my  inspection,  that  it  was  deem- 
ed unnecessary  to  inquire  into  their  qualitications 
or  character,  it  is  to  be  inferred  inat  tlie  clianf!;e 
in  the  opinion  of  the  Senate  has  arisen  from  the 
official  conduct  of  these  gentlemen.  The  only 
ciromnstances  in  their  official  conduct  which 
have  been  deemed  of  sufficient  importance  to  at- 
tract public  attention  are  the  two  reports  made 
by  them  to  the  executive  department  of  the  gov- 
ernment, the  one  bearing  date  tiie  22d  day  of 
April,  and  the  other  the  Idth  day  of  August  last ; 
both  of  which  i-eports  were  communicated  to  the 
Senate  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  with 
his  reasons  for  removing  the  deposits. 


ANXO  1833.    ANDREW  JACKSOX,  PRESTDCNT. 


387 


"  The  truth  of  the  facts  stated  in  these  reports, 
is  not,  1  presume,  questioned  by  any  one.  The 
hi<ih  character  and  standing  of  the  citizens  by 
whom  they  were  made  prevent  any  doubt  upon 
the  subject.  Indeed  the  statements  have  not 
hecn  denied  by  the  president  of  the  bank,  and 
the  other  directors.  On  the  contrary,  they  have 
insisted  that  they  were  authorized  to  use  the 
money  of  the  bank  in  the  manner  stated  in  tiie 
two  reports,  and  have  not  denied  that  the  charges 
there  made  against  the  corporation  are  substan- 
tially true. 

"  It  must  be  taken,  therefore,  as  admitted  that 
the  statements  of  t'^e  public  directors,  in  the  re- 
ports ahove  mentioned,  are  correct :  and  they 
disclose  the  most  alarming  abuses  on  the  part 
of  the  corporation,  and  the  most  strenuous  ex- 
ertions on  their  part  to  put  an  end  to  them. 
They  prove  that  enormous  suras  were  secretly 
lavished  in  a  manner,  and  for  purposes  that 
cannot  be  justified ;  and  that  the  whole  of  the 
immense  capital  of  the  bank  has  been  virtually 
placed  at  the  disposal  of  a  single  individual,  to  be 
used,  if  he  thinks  proper,  to  corrupt  the  press, 
and  to  control  the  proceedings  of  the  government 
by  exercising  an  undue  influence  over  elections. 

"  The  reports  were  made  in  obedience  to  my 
official  directions  ;  and  I  herewith  transmit 
copies  of  my  letter  calling  for  information  of 
the  proceedings  of  the  bank.  Were  they  bound 
to  disregard  the  call  ?  Wjis  it  their  duty  to  re- 
main silent  while  abuses  of  the  most  injurious 
and  dangerous  character  were  daily  practised  ? 
AVere  they  bound  to  conceal  from  the  constitut- 
ed authorities  a  course  of  measures  destructive 
to  the  best  interests  of  the  country,  and  intend- 
ed, gradually  and  secretly,  to  subvert  the  foun- 
dations of  our  government,  and  to  transfer  its 
powers  from  the  hands  of  the  people  to  a  great 
moneyed  corporation?  Was  it  their  duty  to 
sit  in  silence  at  the  board,  and  witness  all  these 
abuses  without  an  attempt  to  correct  them  ;  or, 
in  case  of  failure  there,  not  to  appeal  to  higher 
authority?  The  eighth  fundamental  rule  au- 
thofizcs  any  one  of  the  directors,  whether  elect- 
ed or  appointed,  who  may  have  been  absent 
when  an  excess  of  debt  was  created,  or  who 
may  have  dissented  from  the  act,  to  exonerate 
himself  from  personal  responsibility  by  giving 
notice  of  the  fact  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States ;  thus  recognizing  the  propriety  of  com- 
municating to  that  officer  the  proceedings  of  the 
board  in  such  cases.  But,  independently  of  any 
argument  to  be  derived  from  the  principle  re- 
cognized in  the  rule  referred  to,  I  cannot  doubt 
for  a  moment  that  it  is  the  right  and  the  duty 
of  every  director  at  the  board  to  attempt  to 
correct  all  illegal  proceedings,  and  in  case  of 
fadure,  to  disclose  them ;  and  that  every  one  of 
them,  whether  elected  by  the  stockholders  or 
appointed  by  the  government,  who  had  know- 
'Cdge  of  the  facts,  and  concealed  them,  would  be 
justly  amenable  to  the  severest  censure. 

"But,  in  the  case  of  the  public  directors,  it 
was  their  peculiar  and  official  duty  to  make  the 


disclosures ;  and  the  call  upon  them  for  infor- 
mation could  not  have  been  disregarded  without 
a  flagrant  breach  of  their  trust.  The  directors 
appointed  by  the  United  States  canno;  be  re- 
garded in  the  light  of  the  onlinary  directors  of 
a  bank  appointed  by  the  stockholders,  r.nci 
charged  with  the  care  of  their  pecuniary  in- 
terests in  the  corporation.  They  have  higher 
and  more  important  duties.  They  are  public 
officers.  They  are  placed  at  the  board  not 
merely  to  represent  the  stock  hold  by  the  Uni- 
ted States,  but  to  observe  the  conduct  of  the 
corporation,  and  to  watch  over  the  public  in- 
terests. It  was  foreseen  that  this  great  money- 
ed monopoly  might  be  so  managed  as  to  endan- 
ger the  interests  of  the  country ;  and  it  was 
therefore  deemed  necessary,  as  a  meastire  of 
precaution,  to  place  at  the  board  watchful  sen- 
tinels, who  should  observe  its  conduct,  and 
stand  ready  to  report  to  the  proper  officers  of 
the  goverment  every  act  o*"  the  board  which 
might  affect  injuriously  the  interests  of  the 
people. 

"  It  was,  perhaps,  scarcely  necessary  to  pre- 
sent to  the  Senate  these  views  of  the  powers  of 
the  Executive,  and  of  the  duties  of  the  five  di- 
rectors appointed  by  the  United  States.  But 
the  bank  is  believed  to  be  nov/  striving  to  ob- 
tain for  itself  the  government  of  the  country, 
and  is  seeking,  by  new  and  strained  construc- 
tions, to  VTest  from  the  hands  of  the  constituted 
authorities  the  salutary  control  reserved  by  the 
charter.  And  as  misrepresentation  is  one  of  its 
most  usual  weapons  of  attack,  I 
my  duty  to  put  before  the  Ser 
not  to  be  misunderstood,  the  p' 
I  have  acted. 

"Entertaining,  as  I  do,  a  • 
of  the  truth  of  these  principles,  I  must  adhere 
to  them,  and  act  upon  them,  with  constancy  and 
firmness. 

"  Aware,  as  I  now  am,  of  the  dangerous  ma- 
chinations of  the  bank,  it  is  more  than  ever  my 
duty  to  be  vigilant  in  guarding  the  rights  of  the 
people  from  the  impending  danger.  And  I 
should  foel  that  I  ought  to  forfeit  the  confi- 
dence with  which  my  countrymen  have  honored 
me,  if  I  did  not  require  regular  and  full  reports 
of  every  thing  in  the  proceedings  of  the  bank 
calculated  to  affect  injuriously  the  public  in- 
terests, from  the  public  directors,  and  if  the  di- 
rectors should  fail  to  give  the  information  called 
for,  it  would  be  my  imperious  duty  to  exercise 
the  power  conferred  on  me  by  the  law  of  remov- 
ing them  from  office,  and  of  appointing  othei-s 
who  would  discharge  their  duties  with  more 
fidelity  to  the  public.  I  can  never  suffer  any 
one  to  hold  office  under  me,  who  would  connive 
at  corruption,  or  who  should  fail  to  give  the 
alarm  when  he  saw  the  enemies  of  liberty  en- 
deavoring to  sap  the  foundations  of  our  free  in- 
stitutions, and  to  subject  the  free  people  of  the 
United  States  to  the  dominion  of  a  great  mon- 
eyed corporation, 

"  Any  directors  of  the  bank,  therefore,  who 


*"  "ve  deemed  it 

in  a  manner 

oles  on  which 

jnin  conviction 


1 

1 

t      1 ' 

1 

f 

1  .-^i  -J 

.  -Vf 


388 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


'Ii    II 


might  be  appointed  by  the  povemmcnt,  wotild 
be  required  to  report  to  the  Executive  as  fully 
as  the  late  directors  have  done,  and  more  fre- 
quently, because  the  danger  is  more  imminent ; 
and  it  would  be  my  duty  to  require  of  them  a 
full  detail  of  every  part  of  the  proceedings  of 
the  corporation,  or  any  of  its  officers,  in  order 
that  I  might  be  enabled  to  decide  Avhether  I 
should  exercise  the  power  of  ordering  a  scire 
facifiSj  which  is  reserved  to  the  President  by  tlie 
charter,  or  adopt  such  other  lawful  measures  as 
the  interests  of  the  country  might  require.  It 
is  too  obvious  to  be  doubted,  that  the  miscon- 
duct of  the  corporation  would  never  have  been 
brought  to  light  by  the  aid  of  a  public  proceed- 
ing at  the  board  of  directors. 

"  The  board,  when  called  on  by  the  govern- 
ment directors,  refused  to  institute  an  inquiry 
or  require  an  account,  and  the  mode  adopted  by 
the  latter  was  the  (mly  one  by  which  the  ob- 
ject could  be  attained.  It  would  be  absurd  to 
admit  the  right  of  the  government  directors  to 
give  .information,  and  at  the  same  time  deny  the 
means  of  obtaining  it.  It  would  be  but  another 
mode  of  enabling  the  bank  to  conceal  its  proceed- 
ings, and  practice  with  impunity  its  corruptions. 
In  the  mode  of  obtaining  the  information,  there- 
fore, and  in  their  efforts  to  put  an  end  to  the 
abuses  disclosed,  as  well  as  in  reporting  them, 
the  conduct  of  the  late  directors  was  judicious 
and  praiseworthy,  and  the  "loncsty,  firmness, 
and  intelligence,  which  they  have  displayed, 
entitle  them,  in  my  opinion,  to  the  gratitude  of 
the  country. 

"If  the  views  of  the  Senate  be  such  as  I  have 
supposed,  the  difficulty  of  sending  to  the  Senate 
any  other  names  than  those  of  the  late  directors 
will  be  at  once  apparent.  I  cannot  consent  to 
place  before  the  Senate  the  name  of  any  one 
who  is  not  prepared,  with  firmness  and  honesty, 
to  discharge  the  duties  of  a  public  director  in 
the  manner  they  were  fulfilled  by  those  whom 
the  Senate  have  refused  to  confirm.  If,  for  per- 
forming a  duty  lawfully  required  of  them  by 
the  Executive,  they  are  to  be  punished  by  the 
subsequent  rejection  of  the  Senate,  it  would 
not  only  bo  useless  but  cruel  ti)  place  men  of 
character  and  honor  in  that  situation,  if  even 
such  men  could  be  found  to  accept  it.  If  they 
failed  to  give  the  required  information,  or  to 
take  proper  measures  to  obtain  it,  they  would 
be  removed  by  the  Executive.  If  they  gave  the 
information,  and  took  proper  measures  to  ob- 
tain it,  they  would,  upon  the  next  nomination, 
be  rejected  by  the  Senate.  It  would  be  unjust 
in  me  to  place  any  other  citizens  in  tho  predic- 
ament in  which  this  unlookod  for  decision  of 
the  Senate  has  placed  the  estimable  and  honor- 
able men  who  were  directors  during  the  last 
year. 

"If  I  am  not  in  error  in  relation  to  the  prin- 
ciples upon  which  th.ese  gi'utli  tiicn  bnvo  hern 
rejected,  the  necessary  consequence  will  be  that 
the  bank  will  hereafter  be  without  government 
directors  and  the  people  of  the  L'nited  States 


must  be  deprived  of  their  chief  means  of  pro. 
tection  against  its  abuses ;  for,  whatever  con- 
flicting opinions  may  exist  as  to  the  right  of 
the  directoi's  appointed  in  January,  I333  to 
hold  over  until  new  appointments  shall  be  made 
it  is  very  obvious  that,  whilst  their  rejectiun 
by  the  Senate  remains  in  force,  they  cannot 
with  pro{)riety,  attempt  to  exercise  such  a 
power.  In  the  present  state  of  things,  there- 
fore, the  corporation  will  be  enabled  eirectually 
to  accomplish  the  object  it  has  been  so  long 
endeavoring  to  attain.  Its  exchange  commit- 
tees, and  its  delegated  powers  to  its  jH'esidcnt, 
may  hereafter  be  dispensed  with  without  in- 
curring the  danger  of  exposing  its  proceedings 
to  the  public  view.  The  sentinels  which  the 
law  had  placed  at  its  board  can  no  longer  anpcar 
there. 

"  Justice  to  myself,  and  to  the  faithfid  offi- 
cers by  whom  the  public  has  been  so  well  and 
so  honorably  served,  without  compensation  or 
reward,  during  the  last  year,  has  required  of 
me  this  full  and  frank  expositionof  my  motives 
for  nominating  them  again  after  their  rejection 
by  the  Senate.  I  repeat,  that  I  do  not  question 
the  right  of  the  Senate  to  confirm  or  reject  at 
their  pleasure ;  and  if  there  had  been  any  rea- 
son to  suppose  that  the  rejection,  in  this  case, 
had  not  been  produced  by  the  causes  to  whicli 
I  have  attributed  it,  or  of  my  views  of  their 
duties,  and  the  present  importance  of  their  rigid 
performance,  were  other  than  they  are,  I  should 
have  cheerfully  acquiesced,  and  attempted  to 
find  others  who  would  accept  the  unenviable 
trust.  But  I  cannot  consent  to  appoint  direc- 
tors of  the  bank  to  be  the  subservient  instru- 
ments, or  silent  spectators,  of  its  abuses  and 
corruptions ;  nor  can  I  ask  honorable  men  to 
undertake  the  thankless  duty,  with  the  certain 
prospect  of  being  rebuked  by  the  Senate  for  its 
faithful  perftjrmance,  in  pursuance  of  the  lawful 
directions  of  the  Executive." 

This  message  brought  up  the  question,  vir- 
tually. Which  was  the  nominating  power,  in  the 
case  of  the  government  directors  of  the  bank  ? 
was  it  the  President  and  Senate  ?  or  the  hank 
and  the  Senate?  for  it  was  evident  that  the 
four  now  nominated  were  rejected  to  gratify 
the  bank,  and  for  reasons  that  would  apjdy  to 
every  director  that  would  discharge  h.s  duties 
in  the  way  these  four  had  done — namely,  as 
government  directors,  representing  its  stock. 
guarding  its  interest,  and  acting  for  the  govirn- 
ment  in  all  cases  which  concerned  the  welfare 
of  an  institution  whose  notes  were  a  national 
currency,  whose  coflers  were  the  depository  <( 
the  public  moneys,  and  in  whiciiit  had  a  direct 
interest  of  seven  millions  of  dollars  in  its  skcL 
It  brought  up  this  question :  and  if  nepatived, 
virtually  decided  tiiat  the  nominating  power 


ANNO  1838.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


389 


should  be  in  the  bank ;  and  that  the  govern- 
ment directors  should  no  more  give  such  infor- 
mation to  the  President  as  these  four  had  given. 
And  this  question  it  was  determined  to  try,  and 
that  dcjlinitively,  in  the  persons  of  these  four 
nominated  directors,  with  the  declared  deter- 
mination to  nominate  no  others  if  they  were 
rejected ;  and  so  leave  the  government  without 
representation  in  the  bank.  This  message  of 
re-nomination  was  referred  to  the  Senate's  Com- 
mittee of  Finance,  of  which  Mr.  Tyler  was  chair- 
man, and  who  made  a  report  adverse  to  the  re- 
nominations,  and  in  favor  of  again  rejecting  the 
nominees.  The  points  made  in  the  report  were, 
first^  the  absolute  right  of  the  Senate  to  reject 
noraiuations ;  secondly^  their  privilege  to  give 
no  reasons  for  their  rejections  (which  the  Pre- 
sident had  not  asked) ;  and,  thirdly^  against  the 
general  impolicy  of  making  re-nominations, 
while  admitting  both  the  right  and  the  practice 
in  extrordinary  03casions.  Some  extracts  will 
show  its  character :  thus : 

''  The  President  disclaims,  indeed,  in  terms, 
all  right  to  inquire  into  the  reasons  of  the  Sen- 
ate fur  rejecting  any  nomination ;  and  yet  the 
message  immediiitely  undertakes  to  infer,  from 
facts  and  circumstances,  what  those  reasons, 
which  influenced  the  Senate  in  this  case,  must 
have  been ;  and  goes  on  to  argue,  much  at  large, 
against  the  validity  of  such  supposed  reasons. 
The  committee  are  of  opinion  that,  if,  as  the 
President  admits,  he  cannot  inquire  into  the 
reasons  of  the  Senate  for  refusing  its  assent  to 
nominations,  it  is  still  more  clear  that  these 
reasons  cannot,  with  propriety,  be  assumed, 
and  made  subjects  of  comment. 

"In  cases  in  which  nominations  are  rejected 
for  reasons  affecting  the  character  of  the  per- 
sons nominated,  the  committee  think  that  no 
inference  is  to  be  drawn  except  what  the  vote 
shows ;  that  is  to  say,  tha .  the  Senate  with- 
holds its  advice  and  consent  from  the  nomina- 
tions. And  the  Senate,  not  being  bound  to 
give  reasons  for  its  votes  in  these  cases,  it  is 
not  bound,  nor  would  it  be  proper  for  it,  as  the 
committee  think,  to  give  any  answer  to  remarks 
founded  on  the  presumption  of  what  such  rea- 
sons must  have  been  in  the  present  case.  They 
feel  themselves,  therefore,  compelled  to  forego 
any  response  whatever  to  the  message  of  the 
President,  in  this  particular,  as  well  by  the  rea- 
sons before  assigned,  as  out  of  respect  to  that 
high  officer. 

'■The  President  acts  upon  his  own  views  of 
publin  policy,  in  making  nomin.'itions  to  the 
Senate ;  and  the  Senate  does  no  more,  when  it 
confirms  or  rejects  such  nominations. 

"  For  either  of  these  co-ordinate  departments 
to  enter  into  the  consideration  of  the  motives 


of  the  other,  would  not,  and  could  not,  fail,  in 
the  end,  to  break  up  all  harmonious  intercourse 
between  them.  This  your  committee  would 
deplore  as  highly  injurious  to  the  best  interests 
of  the  country.  The  President,  doubtless,  asks 
himself,  in  the  case  of  everj'  nomination  for 
office,  whether  the  person  be  fit  for  the  office ; 
whether  he  be  actuated  by  correct  views  and 
motives ;  and  whether  he  be  likely  to  be  influ- 
enced by  those  considerations  which  should 
alone  govern  him  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties 
— is  ho  honest,  capable,  and  faithful  ?  Being 
satisfied  in  these  particulars,  the  President  sub- 
mits his  name  to  the  Senate,  where  the  same 
inquiries  arise,  and  its  decision  should  be  pre- 
sumed to  be  dictated  by  the  same  high  consi- 
derations as  those  which  govern  the  President 
in  originating  the  nomination. 

"  For  these  reasons,  the  committee  have  alto- 
gether refrained  from  entering  into  any  discus- 
sion of  the  legal  duties  and  obligations  of  direc- 
tors of  the  bank,  appointed  by  the  President 
and  Senate,  which  forms  the  main  topic  of  the 
message. 

"  The  committee  would  not  feel  that  it  had 
fully  acquitted  itself  of  its  obligations,  if  it  did 
not  avail  itself  of  this  occasion  to  call  the  at- 
tention of  the  Senate  to  the  general  subject  of 
renomination. 

"  The  committee  do  not  deny  that  a  right  of 
renomination  exists ;  but  they  are  of  opinion 
that,  in  very  clear  and  strong  cases  only  should 
the  Senate  reverse  decisions  which  it  has  delib- 
erately formed,  and  olBcially  communicated  to 
the  President. 

"  The  committee  perceive,  with  regret,  an  in- 
timation in  the  message  that  the  President  may 
not  see  fit  to  send  to  the  Senate  the  names  of 
any  other  jjersons  to  be  directors  of  the  bank, 
except  those  whose  nominations  have  been  al- 
ready rejected.  AVhile  the  Senate  will  exercise 
its  own  rights  according  to  its  own  views  of  its 
duty,  it  will  leave  to  other  officers  of  the  go- 
vernment to  decide  for  themselves  on  the  man- 
ner they  will  perform  their  duties.  The  com- 
mittee know  no  reasons  why  these  offices  should 
not  be  filled ;  or  why,  iu  this  case,  no  further 
nomination  should  be  made,  after  the  Senate 
has  exercised  its  unquestionable  right  of  reject- 
ing particular  persons  who  have  been  nomi- 
nated, any  more  than  in  other  cases.  The  Sen- 
ate will  bo  ready  at  all  times  to  receive  and 
consider  any  such  nominations  as  the  President 
may  present  to  it. 

"  The  committee  recommend  that  the  Senate 
do  not  advise  and  consent  to  the  appointment 
of  the  persons  thus  renominated." 

While  these  proceedings  were  going  on  in 
the  Senate,  the  four  rejected  gentlemen  were 
paying  some  attention  to  their  own  case  ;  and, 
in  a  "  memorial "  addressed  to  the  Senate  and 
to  the  House  of  Representatives,  answered  the 
charges  against  them  in  the  Directors'  Report, 


■ 

f 
,'i 

1 

I 

I 

■ 

■ 

890 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


f  '1 


I 


|i      ^ 


and  vindicated  their  own  conduct  in  givinp;  the 
information  which  the  President  requested — 
reasserted  the  truth  of  that  information ;  and 
gave  furtlier  details  upon  the  manner  in  which 
they  had  been  systematically  excluded  fiom  a 
particii)ation  in  conducting  the  main  business 
of  the  bank,  and  even  from  a  knowledge  of  what 
was  done.     They  said: 

"Selected  by  the  President  and  Senate  as 
government  directors  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  we  have  endeavored,  during  the  present 
year,  faithfully  to  discharge  the  duties  of  that 
responsible  triist.  Appointed  without  solici- 
tation, deiivir.g  from  the  office  no  emohmient, 
w°  have  been  guided  in  our  conduct  by  no  views 
but  a  determination  to  uphold,  so  far  as  was  in 
our  power,  those  principles  which  we  believe 
actuated  the  people  of  the  United  States  in  es- 
tablishing a  natiouiil  bank,  and  in  providing  by 
its  charter  that  they  should  be  represented  at 
the  board  of  directors.  ^\'e  have  regarded 
that  institution,  not  merely  as  a  source  of  profit 
to  individuals,  but  as  an  organ  of  the  govern- 
ment, established  by  the  nation  for  its  own 
benefit.  We  have  regarded  ourselves,  not  as 
mere  agents  of  those  whose  funds  have  been 
subscril)ed  towards  the  capital  of  the  bank,  but 
as  officers  appointed  onbehalf  of  the  American 
people.  We  have  endeavored  to  govern  all  our 
conduct  as  faithful  representatives  of  them. 
We  have  been  deterred  from  this  by  no  pre- 
concerted system  to  deprive  us  of  our  rights, 
by  no  impeachment  of  our  motives,  by  no  false 
views  of  policy,  by  no  course  of  management 
which  might  be  supposed  to  promote  the  inter- 
ests of  those  concerned  in  the  institution,  at 
the  danger  or  sacrifice  of  the  general  good. 
We  have  left  the  other  directors  to  govern 
themselves  as  they  may  think  best  for  the 
interests  of  those  by  wlu)m  they  were  chosen. 
For  ourselves,  we  have  been  determined,  that 
where  any  differences  have  arisen,  involving  on 
the  one  hand  that  open  and  correct  course 
which  is  beneficial  to  the  whole  community, 
and,  on  the  other,  what  are  supposed  to  be  the 
interests  of  the  bank,  our  eftbrts  should  be 
steadily  directed  to  uphold  the  former,  our  re- 
monstrances against  the  latter  should  be  re- 
solute and  constant ;  and,  when  they  proved 
xmavailing,  our  appeal  should  be  made  to  those 
who  were  more  immediately  intrusted  with  the 
protection  of  the  public  welfare. 

"In  pursuing  this  course  we  have  been  met 
by  an  organized  system  of  opposition,  on  the 
part  of  the  majority.  Our  elibrts  have  been 
thwarted,  our  motives  and  actions  have  been 
misrepresented,  our  rights  have  been  denied, 
and  the  limits  of  our  duties  have  been  gratu- 
itously poi'ite'l  out  to  us,  by  those  who  have 
Bought  to  curtail  them  to  meet  their  own  policy, 
not  that  which  we  believe  led  to  the  creation 
of  the  offices  we  hold.     Asserting  that  injury 


has  been  done  to  them  by  the  late  measure  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  removing  the 
public  deposits,  an  elaborate  statement  has  lictn 
prepared  and  widely  circulated;  and  taking 
that  as  their  basis,  it  has  been  resolved  by  the 
majority  to  ])resent  a  menujrial  to  the  Senate 
an(i  House  of  Uepresentat'ves.  We  have  not 
and  do  not  interfere  in  the  controversy  nhich 
exists  between  the  majority  of  the  hoanl  aiMl 
the  e^.ecutive  department  of  the  government ; 
but  unjustly  assailed  as  we  have  bee'i  in  tiie 
statement  to  which  we  have  referred,  we  vi- 
spectfully  claim  the  same  right  of  surmiittin" 
our  conduct  to  the  same  tribunal,  and  a-skint; 
of  the  assembled  representatives  of  tlie  Anuri- 
can  peoi)le  that  imjiartial  hearing,  and  that  liiir 
protecticm,  which  all  their  officers  and  all 
citizens  have  a  right  to  demand.  We  sliall 
endeavor  to  present  the  view  we  have  taken  of 
the  relation  in  which  we  are  placed,  as  wtii 
towards  the  institution  in  question  as  towards 
the  government  and  people  of  the  United  States, 
to  prove  that  from  the  moment  we  took  our 
seats  among  the  directors  of  the  bank,  we  have 
been  the  objects  of  a  systematic  opposition ; 
our  rights  trampled  upon,  our  just  interfer- 
ence prevented,  and  our  offices  rendered  utteily 
useless,  for  all  the  i)urposes  required  by  the 
charter ;  and  to  show  that  the  statements  by 
the  majority  of  the  board,  in  the  document  to 
which  we  refer,  convey  an  account  of  tiieir  jiro- 
ceedings  and  conduct  altogether  illusory  and 
incorrect." 

The  four  gentlemen  then  state  their  opinions 
of  their  rights,  and  their  duties,  as  government 
directors — that  tliey  were  devised  as  instru- 
ments for  the  attainment  of  public  objects— 
that  they  were  public  directors,  not  elected  by 
stockholders,  but  appointed  by  the  President 
and  Senate — that  their  duties  were  not  merely 
to  represent  a  moneyed  interest  and  promote 
the  largest  dividend  for  stockholders,  but  also 
to  guard  all  the  public  and  political  interest  of 
the  government  i  i  an  institution  so  laigely 
sharing  its  support  and  so  deeply  interested  in 
its  safe  and  honorable  management.  And  in 
support  of  this  opinion  of  their  duties  they 
quoted  the  authority  of  Gen.  Hamilton,  founder 
of  the  first  bank  of  the  United  States  ;  and  that 
of  Mr.  Alexander  Dallas,  founder  of  the  second 
and  present  bank  ;  showing  that  each  of  them, 
and  at  the  time  of  establishing  the  two  l)anks 
respectively,  considered  the  government  direc- 
tors as  public  officers,  bound  to  watch  over  the 
operations  of  the  bank,  to  oppose  all  malprac- 
tices, and  to  report  them  to  the  governuieut 
whenever  they  occurred.  And  they  thus  quoted 
the  opinions  of  those  two  gentlemen : 


ANNO  1838.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


891 


"In  the  celebrated  report  of  Alexander  Ila- 
milton,  in  1790,  tliat  eminent  statesman  and 
financifr,  althoii(;;h  then  impressed  witli  a  per- 
Buasion  that  the  government  of  tlie  conntry 
might  well  leave  the  management  of  a  national 
hank  to  '  the  keen,  steady,  and,  as  it  were,  mag- 
netic sense  of  their  own  interest,'  exihting 
amimg  the  private  stockholders,  yet  holds  tiie 
following  remarkable  and  pregnant  langnage : 
'If  the  paper  of  a  bank  is  permitted  to  insinu- 
ate itself  into  all  the  revenues  and  receipts  of  a 
country ;  if  it  is  even  to  be  tolerated  as  the 
substitute  for  gold  and  silver,  in  all  the  trans- 
actions of  business ;  it  becomes,  in  either  view, 
a  natiiinal  concern  of  the  first  magnitude.  As 
such,  the  ordinary  rules  of  prudence  require 
that  the  government  should  possess  the  means 
of  ascertaining,  whenever  it  tliiuKs  fit,  thut  so 
delicate  a  trust  is  executed  with  fidelity  and 
care.  A  right  of  this  nature  is  not  only  desir- 
able, as  it  respects  the  government,  liiit  it  ought 
to  be  equally  so  to  all  those  concerned  in  the 
institution,  as  an  additional  title  to  piildic  and 
private  confidence,  and  as  a  thing  which  can 
only  be  formidable  to  practices  that  imply 
mismanagement.' 

"In  the  letter  addressed  by  Alexander  James 
Dallas,  the  author  of  the  existing  bank,  to  the 
chairman  of  the  committee  on  a  national  cur- 
rency, in  1815,  the  sentiments  of  that  truly 
di8tin;,'uishcd  and  patriotic  statesman  are  ex- 
plicitly conveyed  upon  this  very  point.  '  Nor 
can  it  be  doubted,'  he  remarks,  '  that  the  de- 
partment of  the  government  which  is  invested 
with  the  power  of  appointment  to  all  the  im- 
portant offices  of  the  State,  is  a  proper  depart- 
ment to  exercise  the  power  of  appointment  in 
relation  to  a  national  trust  of  incalculable  mag- 
nitude. The  national  bank  ought  not  to  be  re- 
garded simply  as  a  commercial  bank.  It  will 
not  operate  on  the  funds  of  the  stockholders 
alone,  but  much  more  on  the  funds  of  the  na- 
tion. Its  conduct,  good  or  bad,  will  not  affect 
the  corporate  credit  and  resources  alone,  but 
much  more  the  credit  and  resources  of  the  go- 
vernment. In  fine,  it  is  not  an  institution  cre- 
ated for  the  purposes  of  commerce  and  profit 
alone,  but  much  more  for  the  purposes  of  na- 
tional policy,  as  an  auxiliary  in  the  exercise  of 
some  of  the  highest  powers  of  the  government. 
Under  such  circumstances,  the  public  interests 
cannot  be  too  cautiously  guarded,  and  the  guards 
propused  can  never  be  injurious  to  the  ctimnier- 
cial  interests  of  the  institution.  The  right  to 
inspect  the  general  accounts  of  the  bank,  may 
be  employed  to  detect  the  evils  of  a  mal-admin- 
istratiun,  but  an  interior  agency  in  the  direc- 
tion (if  its  allairs  will  best  serve  to  prevent 
them.'  This  last  sentence,  extracted  from  the 
able  document  of  Secretary  Dallas,  dcvelopes 
at  a  glance  what  had  been  the  experience  of  the 
American  govrrntncnt  and  people,  in  the  period 
which  elapsed  between  the  time  of  Alexander 
Hamilton  and  that  immediately  preceding  the 
formation  of  the  present  bank.     Hamilton  con- 


ceived that '  a  riglit  to  inspect  the  general  ac- 
counts of  the  bank,'  would  enable  government 
'to  detect  the  evils  of  a  mal-administration,' 
and  their  detection  he  thought  suilicient.  He 
was  mistaken:  at  least  so  thought  Congress 
and  their  constituents,  in  1815.  Ilenco  the  in- 
flexible spirit  which  prevailed  at  the  organizar 
tion  of  a  new  bank,  in  establishing  '  an  interior 
agency  in  the  direction  of  its  aH'airs,'  by  the 
appointment  of  jiublic  officers,  through  whom 
the  evils  of  a  mal-administration  might  be  care- 
fully watched  and  prevented." 

The  four  gentlemen  also  showed,  in  their  me- 
morial, that  when  the  bill  for  the  charter  of  the 
present  bank  was  under  consideration  in  the 
Senate,  u  motion  was  made  to  strike  out  the 
clause  authoi'izing  the  appointment  of  the  go- 
vernment directors ;  and  that  that  motion  was 
resisted,  and  successfully,  upon  the  ground  that 
they  were  to  bo  the  guardians  of  tho  public  in- 
terests, and  to  secure  a  just  and  honorable  ad- 
ministration of  the  affairs  of  the  bank ;  that 
they  were  not  mere  bank  directors,  but  govern- 
ment officers,  bound  to  watch  over  the  rights 
and  interests  of  the  government,  and  to  secure 
a  safe  and  honest  management  of  an  institution 
which  bore  the  name  of  the  United  States — was 
created  by  it — and  in  which  the  United  States 
had  so  much  at  stake  in  its  stock,  iu  its  depo- 
sits, in  its  circulation,  and  in  the  safety  of  the 
community  which  put  their  faith  in  it.  Having 
vindicated  the  official  quality  of  their  charac- 
ters, and  shown  their  duty  as  well  as  their 
right  to  inform  the  government  of  all  mal-prac- 
tices,  they  entered  upon  an  examination  of  the 
information  actually  given,  showing  the  truth 
of  all  that  was  communicated,  and  declaring  it 
to  be  susceptible  of  proof,  by  the  inspection  of 
the  books  of  the  institution,  and  by  an  exami- 
nation of  its  directors  and  clerks. 

"  We  confidently  assert  that  there  is  in  it  no 
statement  or  charge  that  can  be  invalidated; 
that  every  one  is  substantiated  by  the  books 
and  records  of  the  bank ;  that  no  real  error  has 
been  pointed  out  iu  this  elaborate  attack  upon 
us  by  the  majority.  It  is  by  suppressing  facts 
well  known  to  them,  by  misrepresenting  wluvt 
we  say,  by  drawing  unjust  and  unfair  inferences 
from  particular  sentences,  by  selecting  insulated 
phrases,  and  by  exhibiting  partial  statements ; 
by  making  unfounded  insinuations,  and  by  un- 
worthily unpeaching  our  motives,  that  they  en- 
deavor to  controvert  that  which  they  are  un- 
able to  refute.  When  the  expense  accDunt  shall 
be  truly  and  fully  exhibited  to  any  tribunal,  if 
it  shall  be  found  that  the  charges  we  have 
stated  do  not  exist ;  when  the  minutes  of  the 


i' 


M  ';; 


392 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


board  shall  be  laid  open,  if  it  shall  bo  found  the 
resolutions  wo  have  quoted  are  not  recorded ; 
we  shall  acknowledge  that  wo  have  been  guilty 
of  injustice  and  of  error,  but  not  till  then. 

"We  have  thus  endeavored  to  present  to  the 
assembled  representatives  of  the  American  peo- 
ple, a  view  of  the  course  which,  for  neaily  a 
year,  the  majority  in  a  large  moneyed  institu- 
tion, established  by  them  for  their  benefit,  have 
thought  proper  to  pursue  towards  those  who 
have  been  placed  there,  to  guard  their  interests 
and  to  watch  and  control  their  conduct.  We 
have  briefly  stated  the  systematic  peries  of  ac- 
tions by  which  they  have  endeavored  to  deprive 
them  of  every  right  that  was  conferred  on  them 
by  the  charter,  and  to  assume  to  themselves  a 
secret,  irresponsible,  and  unlimited  power.  We 
have  shown  that,  in  endeavoring  to  vindicate  or 
to  save  themselves,  they  have  resorted  to  aceu- 
sat'ons  against  us,  which  they  are  unable  to 
sustain,  and  left  unanswered  charges  wiiich, 
were  they  not  ti'ue,  it  would  be  easy  t(j  repel. 
We  have  been  urged  to  this  from  no  desire  to 
entur  into  the  lists  with  an  adversary  sustained 
by  iJl  the  resources  which  boundless  wealth 
atforc.?.  We  have  been  driven  to  it  by  the  na- 
ture and  manner  of  the  attack  made  upon  us, 
in  the  document  on  which  the  intended  memo- 
rial to  Congress  is  founded." 

But  all  their  representations  were  in  vain. 
Their  nominations  were  immediately  rejected,  a 
second  time,  and  the  seal  of  secrecy  preserved 
inviolate  upon  tho  reasons  of  the  rejection. 
The  "proceedings"  of  the  Senate  were  allowed 
to  be  published ;  that  is  to  say,  the  acts  of  the 
Senate,  as  a  body,  such  as  its  motions,  votes, 
reports,  &c.,  but  nothing  of  what  was  said 
pending  the  nominations.  A  motion  was  made 
by  Mr.  Wright  to  authorize  the  publication  of 
the  debates,  which  was  voted  downj  and  so 
differently  from  what  was  done  in  the  case  of 
Mr.  Van  Buren.  In  that  case,  the  debates  on 
the  nomination  were  published;  the  reasons 
for  the  rejection  were  shown ;  and  the  public 
w^ere  enabled  to  judge  of  their  validity.  In  this 
case  no  publication  of  debates  was  allowed ;  the 
report  presented  by  Mr.  Tyler  gave  no  hint  of 
the  reasons  for  the  rejection ;  and  the  act  re- 
mained where  that  report  put  it — on  the  abso- 
lute right  to  reject,  without  the  exhibition  of 
any  reason. 

And  thus  the  nomination  of  the  government 
directors  was  rejected  by  the  United  States 
Senate,  not  for  the  declared,  but  for  tlie  known 
reason  of  reporting  the  misconduct  of  the  bank 


to  tho  President,  and  especially  as  it  related 
to  the  appointment  and  the  conduct  of  the  ex- 
change committee.     A  few  years  afterwards 
a  committee  of  tho  stockholders,  called  the 
"  Committee  of  Investigation,"  made  a  report 
upon  the  conduct  and  condition  of  the  bank  in 
Avhich  this  exchange  committee  is  thus  Hpoken 
of:  "The  mode  in  which  tho  committee  of  ex- 
change transacted  their  business,  show!  that 
there  really  existed  no  check  whatever  upon 
the  officers,  and  that  tho  funds  of  the  lank 
were  almost  entirely  at  their  disposition.    That 
committee  met  daily,  and  were  attended  by  the 
cashier,  and  at  times,  by  the  president.    They 
exercised  the  power  of  making  the  loans  and 
settlements,  to  full  as  great  an  extent  as  the 
board  itself.     They  kept  no  minutes  of  their 
proceedings — no  book  in  which  the  loans  made 
and  business   done,  were  entered;   but  their 
decisions  and  directions  were  given  verbally  to 
the   ofScers,  to  be  by  them  carried  into  ex- 
ecution.    The  established  course  of  business 
seems  to  have  been,  for  the  first  teller  to  pay 
on  presentation   at   the   counter,   all  checks 
notes,  or  due  bills  having  indorsed  the  order 
or  the  initials,  of  one  of  the  cashiers,  and  to 
place  these  as  vouchers  in  his  drawer,  for  so 
much  cash,  where  they  remained,  until  just 
bef  )re  the  regular  periodical  courting  of  the 
cash  by  the  standing  committee  of  the  board 
on  the  state   of  the  bank.     These   vouchers 
were  then  taken  out,  and  entered  as  'bills  re- 
ceivable,' in  a  small  memorandum-book,  under 
the  charge  of  one  of  the  clerks.     These  bills 
were  not  discounted,  but  bore  interest  semi-an- 
nually, and  were  secured  by  a  pledge  of  stock, 
or  some  other  kind  of  property.     It  is  evident- 
ly impossible  under  such  circumstances,  to  as- 
certain or  be  assured,  in  regard  to  any  particu- 
lar loan  or  settlement,  that  it  was  authorized 
by  a  majority  of  the  exchange  committee.    It 
can  be  said,  however,  with  entire    u'rtainty, 
that  tlie    very   large    business    transacted  in 
this  way  does   not  appear  upon  tlie  iiice  of 
the  discount  books — was  never  submitted  to 
the  examination  of  the  members  of  the  board 
at  its  regular  meetings,  nor  is  any  where  en- 
tered on  tlie  minutes  as  having  been  reported 
to  that  body  for  their  information  or  appro- 
bation," 


itire    uTtaintv, 


ANNO  18S8.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESmENT. 


393 


CHAPTER    XCVI. 


BECECTAEY'S  REPORT  ON  THE  REMOVAL  OF 
TUE  DEPOSITS. 

In  the  fli'st  days  of  the  sesBion  Mr.  Clay  called 
the  attention  of  the  Senate  to  the  report  of  the 
Sccif tary  of  the  Treasury,  communicating  the 
fact  tliat  he  had  ordered  the  public  deposits  to 
cease  to  be  made  in  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  and  giving  his  reasons  for  that  act ; 
and  said : 

"  When  Congress,  at  the  time  of  the  passage 
of  the  charter  of  the  bank,  made  it  necessary 
that  these  reasons  should  be  submitted,  they 
must  liave  had  some  purpose  in  their  mind.  It 
must  have  l)cen  intended  that  Congress  should 
look  into  these  reasons,  determine  as  to  their 
validity ;  and  approve  or  disapprove  them,  as 
might  be  thought  proper.  The  reasons  had 
now  been  submitted,  and  it  was  the  duty  of 
Congress  to  decide  whether  or  not  they  were 
sufficient  to  justify  the  act.  If  there  was  a 
subject  which,  more  than  any  other,  seemed  to 
require  the  prompt  action  of  Congress,  it  cer- 
tainly was  that  which  had  reference  to  the  cus- 
tody and  ca"-  of  the  public  treasury.  The 
Senate,  therefore,  could  not,  at  too  early  a  pe- 
riod, enter  on  the  question — what  was  the  ac- 
tual condition  of  the  treasury  1 

"  It  was  not  his  purpose  to  go  into  a  discus- 
sion, but  he  had  risen  to  state  that  it  appeared 
to  him  to  be  his  duty  as  a  senator,  and  he 
hoped  that  other  senators  took  similar  views 
of  tlicii'  duty,  to  look  into  this  subject,  and  to 
see  whui  was  to  be  done.  As  the  report  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  had  declared  the  rea- 
sons which  had  led  to  the  removal  of  the  pub- 
lic deposits,  and  as  the  Senate  had  to  judge 
whether,  on  investigation  of  these  reasons,  the 
act  was  a  wise  one  or  not,  he  considered  that 
it  would  not  be  right  to  refer  the  subject  to 
any  committee,  but  that  the  Senate  should  at 
once  act  on  it,  not  taking  it  up  in  the  form  of  a 
report  of  a  committee,  but  going  into  an  exam- 
ination of  the  reasons  as  they  had  been  sub- 
mitted." 

Mr.  Benton  oaw  two  objections  to  proceed- 
ing as  Sir.  Clay  proposed — one,  as  to  the  form 
of  his  proposition — the  other,  as  to  the  place 
in  which  it  was  made.  The  report  of  the  Sec- 
retary, charging  acts  of  misconduct  as  a  cause 
of  removal,  would  require  an  investigation  into 
their  truth.  The  House  of  Representatives 
being  the  grand  inquest  of  the  nation,  and 
properly  chargeable    with  all  inquiries    into 


abuses,  would  be  the  proper  place  for  the  con- 
sideration of  the  Secretary's  report— though 
he  admitted  that  the  Senate  could  also  make 
the  in([uiry  if  it  pleased ;  but  should  do  it  in 
the  proper  way,  namely,  by  inquiring  into  the 
truth  of  the  allegations  against  the  bank.  He 
said  : 


"  Ho  requested  the  Senate  to  bear  in  mind 
that  the  Secretary  had  announced,  among  f)ther 
reasons  which  he  had  assigned  for  the  removal 
of  the  deposits,  that  it  had  been  caused  by  the 
misconduct  of  the  bank,  and  he  had  gone  into 
a  variety  of  specifications,  charging  the  bank 
with  interfering  with  the  liberties  of  the  i)eo- 
plo  in  their  most  vital  elements — the  liberty 
of  the  press,  and  the  purity  of  elections,  '("he 
Secretary  had  also  charged  the  bank  with  dis- 
honoring its  owu  paper  on  several  occasions, 
and  that  it  became  necessary  to  compel  it  to 
receive  paper  of  its  own  branches.  Here, 
then,  were  grave  charges  of  misconduct,  and 
he  wished  to  know  whether,  in  the  face  of 
such  charges,  this  Congress  was  to  go  at  once, 
without  the  previous  examination  of  o  commit- 
tee, into  action  upon  the  subject  ? 

"He  desired  to  know  whether  the  Senate 
were  now  about  to  proceed  to  the  ccmsidera- 
tion  of  this  report  as  it  stood,  and,  without  re- 
ceiving any  evidence  of  the  charges,  or  taking 
any  course  to  establish  their  truth,  to  give  back 
the  money  to  this  institution  1  He  thought  it 
would  be  only  becoming  in  the  bank  itself  to 
ask  for  a  committee  of  scrutiny  into  its  con- 
duct, and  that  the  subject  ought  to  be  taken 
up  by  the  House  of  Representatives,  which,  on 
account  of  its  numbers,  its  character  as  the 
popular  branch,  and  the  fact  that  all  money 
bills  originated  there,  was  the  most  proper  tri- 
bunal for  the  hearing  of  this  case.  He  did  not 
mean  to  deny  that  the  Senate  had  the  power 
to  go  into  the  examination.  But  to  fix  a  day 
now  for  the  decision  of  so  important  a  case,  he 
considered  as  premature.  Were  the  whole  of 
the  charges  to  be  blown  out  of  the  paper  by 
the  breath  of  the  Senate  ?  Were  they  to  de- 
cide on  the  question,  each  senator  sittiu»'  there 
as  witness  and  juror  in  the  case  ?  He  did  not 
wish  to  stand  there  in  the  charijcter  of  a  wit- 
unless  he  was  to  be  examined  on  oath 


ness, 


either  at  the  bar  of  the  Senate,  or  liofore  a 
committee  of  that  body,  where  the  evidence 
would  be  taken  down.  He  wished  to  know 
the  manner  in  .  ^ '  3h  the  examination  was  to 
be  conducted ;  for  ne  regarded  this  motion  as 
an  admission  of  the  truth  of  eveiy  charge  which 
had  been  made  in  the  report,  and  as  a  flight 
from  investigation." 

Mr.  Clay  then  submitted  two  resolutions  in 
relation  to  the  subject,  the  second  of  whicli  aftf^r 
debate,  was  referred  to  the  committee  on  finance. 
They  were  in  these  words : 


I 


■I 


rf 


■  r 


1 


^^^^^ft^  ii^ii^yimu^ 

^HH  ' '  4    |H| 

394 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


!    1 


1st.  That,  by  disniissinp;  the  Into  Sceretiiry 
of  the  TredHiiry,  hecaune  he  would  not  contfary 
to  his  seiiwe  of  his  own  (hity,  remove  the  money 
of  the  [Jnitod  States  in  depsit  witii  (he  Hank 
of  the  United  States  ami  its  hranehes,  in  con- 
formity with  the  President's  opinion,  and  hy 
nppnintin;:  his  successor  to  elC'ct  such  removal, 
which  has  lieen  done,  the  Preaii  nt  lias  assumed 
the  exercise  of  a  power  over  he  Treasury  of 
tlie  United  States,  not  granted  to  him  hy  the 
constitution  and  laws,  and  danfjerous  to  the 
liberties  of  the  |)copIe. 

"  2d.  That  the  reasons  assigned  by  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasuiv  for  the  removal  of  the 
riKmey  of  the  United  States  deposited  in  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States  and  its  branches 
conununicated  to  Confrress  oii  the  3d  day  of 
December,  1833,  are  unsatisfactory  and  insuffi- 
cient." 

The  order  for  the  reference  >  the  finance 
committee  was  made  in  the  Senate  at  four 
o'clock  in  the  afteinoon  of  one  day ;  and  the 
report  upon  it  was  made  at  noon  the  next  day ; 
a  very  elaborate  argumentative  paper,  the  read- 
ing of  which  by  its  reporter  (Mr.  Webster) 
consumed  one  hour  and  a  quarter  of  time.  It 
recommended  the  adoption  of  the  resolution } 
and  ()000  copies  of  the  report  were  ordered  to 
be  printed.  Mr.  Forsyth,  of  Georgia,  compli- 
mented the  committee  on  their  activity  in 
getting  out  a  report  of  such  length  and  la. 
bor,  in  so  short  a  time,  and  in  the  time  usual- 
ly given  to  the  refreshment  of  dinner  and 
sleep.     He  said  : 


'  Certainly  great  credit  was  due  to  the  com- 
mittee on  finance  for  the  zeal,  ability,  and  indus- 
try with  which  the  report  had  been  brouglit  out. 
He  thought  tlie  reference  was  made  yesterday  at 
four  o'clock ;  and  tlie  committee  could  hardly 
have  had  time  to  agree  on  and  write  out  so  long 
a  report  in  the  short  space  of  time  interveniu"- 
smce  then.     It  was  possible  that  the  subjec" 
might  have  been  discussed  and  well  understood 
in  the  committee  before,  and  that  the  chairman 
had  time  to  embody  the  sentiments  of  the  vari- 
ous members  of  the  committee  previous  to  the 
reference.     If  such  was  the  case,  it  reminded 
him  of  what  had  once  happened  in  one  of  the 
courts  of  justice  of  the  State  of  Georgia.     A 
grave  question  of  constitutional  law  was  pre- 
sented before  that  court,  was  argued  for  days 
with  great  ability, and  when  the  argument  was 
concluded,  the  judge  drew  from  his  coat  pocket 
a  written  opinion,  which  he  read,  and  oruered  I 
to  be  recorded  as  the  opinion  of  the  court.     It ' 
appeared,    therefore,   that  unless    the   senator 
from  Massachusetts  carried  the  opinion  of  the 
committee  in  his  coat  pocket,  he  could  not  bi..v.' 
presented  his  report  wit!'  the  unexampled  dis- 
patch that  had  been  witnessed." 


Mr.  Webster,  evidently  nettled  at  tlio  8a^ 
castic  compliment  of  Mr.  Forsyth,  replied  to 
him  in  a  way  to  show  his  irritated  feelinfrM,  l,„t 
without  showing  how  ho  came  to  «lo  ho  niiich 
work  in  so  short  a  time.     He  said : 

"  Had  the  gentleman  come  to  the  Senate  thi. 

morning  in  his  usual  good  huumr,  he  wouW 

liavo  been  easily  satisfied  on  that  [loint     Up 

will  recollect  that  the  subject  now  under  'ijg 

cussion    was  deemed,   by  everybody    toh." 

peculiarly  fitted   for  the  consideration  „f  tW 

committee  on  finance ;  and  that,  three  wi^ks 

ago,  I  had  intimated  my  intention  of  tnovini? 

tor  such  a  reference.     I  had,  however,  deliiytli 

the  motion,  from  considerations  of  courtesy  to 

other  gentlemen,  on  all  sides.     But  the  .r,,nt.,al 

subject  of  the  removal  of  the  deposits,  lm,ll«n 

referred  t<>  the  committee  on  finance  by  ivlen- 

cnceofthat  part  of  the  President's  ines^nco. 

and  various  memorials,  in  relation  to  it  ImJ 

also  been  referred.     The  subject  has  uiidemjue 

an  ample  discussion  in  committee.    I  had  been 

more  than  once  instructed  by  the  coimiiitteeto 

move  for  the  reference  of  the  Secretary's  letter 

but  th  •  motion  was  postponed,  from  time  to 

time,  for  the  reasons  I  have  before  givm.    Had 

the  gentleman  from  Georgia  been  in  tiie  Senate 

yesten^y,  ho  would  have  known  that  this  i)a^ 

ticular  n.ode  of  proceeding  was  adopted  as  was 

then  well  understood,  for  the  sole  puri^ose  of 

facilitating  the  business  of  the  '^'  iiate,  and  of 

giving  the  committee  an  opportunity  to' express 

an  opinion,  the  result  of  their  coiisideialioii 

If  the  gentleman  had  heard  what  had  pas^^ed 

yesterday,  when  the  reference  wixa  made,  he 

would  not  have  expressed  surprise."  ' 


The  fact  was  the  report  had  been  drawn  by 
the  counsel  for  the  bank,  and  differed  in  no  way 
in  substance,  and  but  little  in  form,  from  the 
report  which  the  bank  committee  had  inude  on 
the  paper,  "  purporting  to  have  been  signed  by 
Andrew  Jackson,  and  read  to  what  was  called 
a  cabinet."     But  the  substance  of  the  resnlu^ 
tion  (No.  2,  of  Mr.  Clay's),  gave  rise  to  more 
serious  objections  than  the  marvellous  activity 
of  the  committee  in  reporting  upon  it  with  the 
elaboration  and  rapidity  with  which  they  had 
done.     It  was  an  empty  and   inoiierative  ex- 
pression of  opinion,  that  the  Secretary's  reas^ons 
were  "  unsatisfactory  and  insufficient ; "  without 
any  proposition  to  do  any  thing  in  conseijuence 
of  that  dissatisfaction  and  insufficiency ;  and, 
consequently,  of  no  legislative  avail,  and  of  no 
import  except  to  bring  the  opinion  of  senators, 
thus  imposingly  pronounced,  against  the  act  of 
the  Secretary.     The  resolve  was  not  practical 
— was  not  legislative— was  not  in  conformity 


ANNO  1833.    ANT)| V^V  ,,      KSON,  PREilT  RNT. 


395 


to  any  moilo  of  doiiij^  busineHH — and  led  to  no 
actiiin ;— lu'ither  to  a  restoration  of  tlio  dcpoMits 
nor  to  a  condemnation  of  their  keeping  hy  the 
State  banks.  Certainly  the  charter,  in  ordering 
the  Secretary  to  re<port,  and  to  report  at  the 
first  practicable  moment,  both  the  fact  of  a  re- 
moval, and  the  reasons  for  it,  was  to  enable 
Coni^ifsH  to  act— to  do  Homethin(j; — to  legislate 
upon  the  subject — to  judge  the  validity  of  the 
reasons — and  to  order  a  restoration  if  they  were 
found  to  be  imtrue  or  insufficient ;  or  to  con- 
demn tlie  new  place  of  deposit,  if  it  was  deemed 
insecure  or  improper.  All  this  was  too  obvious 
toesca])o  tl>e  attention  of  the  democratic  mem- 
bers who  inveighed  against  the  futility  and 
irrelevance  of  the  resolve,  unfit  for  a  legislative 
body,  and  only  suitable  for  a  town  meeting ; 
and  miswcrijig  no  purpose  as  a  senatorial  resolve 
but  that  of  j)olitical  eflect  against  public  men. 
On  this  point  Mr.  Forsyth  said : 

"  The  subject  had  then  been  taken  out  of  the 
hairls  of  tiie  Senate,  and  sent  to  the  committee 
on  finance  ;  and  for  what  jjurpose  was  it  sent 
thither?  Did  any  one  doubt  what  would  be 
the  opinion  of  the  committee  on  finance  ? 
■ffoulil  siu,-h  a  movement  have  been  made,  had 
it  not  heen  intended  thereby  to  give  strengtii 
to  the  course  of  the  opposition  ?  He  was  not 
in  tlie  Senate  when  the  reference  was  yesterday 
niaile,  hut  lie  had  supposed  that  it  was  made 
fur  the  [lurpose  of  some  report  in  a  legislative 
foini,  bill  it  has  come  back  with  an  argument, 
and  a  recommendation  of  the  adoption  of  the 
resolution  of  tlie  senator  from  Kentucky  ;  and 
when  the  resolutions  were  adopted,  would  they 
nut  still  be  sent  back  to  that  committee  for  ex- 
amination ?  Why  had  not  the  committee,  who 
seemed  to  know  so  well  what  would  be  the 
opinion  of  the  Senate,  imbodied  that  opinion  in 
a  legislative  form '? " 

To  the  same  eflect  spoke  many  members,  and 
among  <ither8,  Mr.  Silas  Wright,  of  New-York, 
who  said : 

"  He  took  occasion  to  say,  that  with  regard 
to  the  reference  made  yesterday,  he  was  not  so 
unfortunate  as  his  friend  from  Georgia,  to  be 
absent  at  the  time,  and  he  then,  while  tlie  mo- 
tion was  landing,  expressed  bis  opinion  that  a 
reference  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  to  be 
returned  with  a  report  at  twelve  the  next  day, 
would  materially  change  the  aspect  of  the  case 
before  the  Senate.  He  was  also  of  opinion,  that 
tht,  ..atural  eflect  of  sending  this  proposition  to 
the  couiinittee  on  finance  would  be,  to  have  it 
returned  with  a  recoiiurKuidation  for  sonie  Icis- 
lative  action.  In  this,  however,  he  had  been 
disappointed,  the  proposition  had  been  brought 


b:t "k  to  the  Soi' 
■uiniittee. 


ugiiment  uuti  that  m< 


in  the  same  form  aa  sent  to 
h  the  exc<  ntion  of  tlu  very 


a.K." 


Mr.  Webster  felt  him-  'f  .  ntled  upoi  ,  an- 
swer these  objections,  anu  did  «o  in  a  v^  uy  to 
intimate  that  the  committee  were  not  "  green " 
enough, — that  is  to  say,  were  too  jv'm-  to  pro- 
pose any  legislative  action  on  the  part  of  Con- 
gress in  relation  to  this  removal.     lie  said  : 

"  There  is  another  thing,  sir,  to  which  the 
gentleman  has  objected.  He  wiuild  have  pie- 
ferrecl  that  some  legislative  recommemlation 
should  have  accompanied  the  reiiort — that  some 
law,  or  joint  resolution,  should  have  been  re- 
commended. Sir,  do  we  not  see  what  llie 
gentleman  probably  desires?  H  not,  we  must 
be  green  politicians.  It  was  not  my  intent iim, 
at  this  stage  of  the  business,  to  propose  any 
law,  or  joint  resolution.  I  do  not,  at  present, 
know  the  opinions  of  the  committee  on  this 
subject.  On  this  (luestion,  at  least,  to  luse  the 
gentleman's  expression,  I  do  not  carry  their 
opiiii(ms  in  my  coat  pocket.  The  question, 
when  it  arrives,  will  be  a  very  grave  one — one 
of  deep  and  solenin  import — and  when  tbe[)ro- 
per  time  for  its  discussion  arrives,  the  gentleman 
from  Georgia  will  have  an  opportunity  to  ex- 
amine it.  The  first  thing  is,  to  ascertain  the 
judgment  of  the  Senate,  on  the  Secretary's 
reasons  for  his  act." 

The  meaning  of  Mr.  Webster  in  this  reply — 
this  intimation  that  the  finance  committee  had 
got  out  of  the  sap,  end  were  no  longer  "  green  " 
— was  a  declaration  that  any  legislative  mea- 
sure they  might  have  recommended,  would 
have  been  rejected  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, and  so  lost  its  efficacy  as  a  senatorial 
opinion ;  and  to  .avoid  that  rejection,  and  save 
the  ellect  of  the  Senate's  opinion,  it  must  be  a 
single  and  not  a  joint  resolution  ;  and  so  con- 
fined to  the  Senate  alone.  The  reply  of  Mr. 
Webster  was  certainly  candid,  but  unparlin,- 
mentary,  and  at  war  with  all  ideas  of  legislation, 
thus  to  refuse  to  propose  a  legislative  enactment 
because  it  would  bt  negatived  in  the  other 
branch  of  the  national  legislature.  Final  Ij-,  the 
resolution  was  adopted,  and  by  a  vote  oi.'  28  to 
18;  thus; 

"  Yeas. — Messrs.  Bibb,  Black,  Calhoun.  Clay, 
Clayton,  Ewing,  Frelinghuysen,  Hendricks, 
Kent,  King  of  Georgia,  Knight,  Leigh,  Manguni, 
Naiidain,  Poindexter,  Porter,  Prentiss,  J'reston, 
Robbins,  Silsbee,  Smith,  Southard,  Sprague, 
Swift,  Tomlinson.  Tyler,  Waggaman.  A\  cl.'ster. 

"Nays. — Messrs.  Benton,  Brown,  Forsyth, 
Grundy,  Hill,  Kane,  King  of  Alabama,  Linn, 


'  i\- 


~m. 


896 


TIITRTT  YEARS'  VIEW. 


3' 


i 


ijiiAiiAiii,.feadiJi 


McKean  Monro,  Rohinoon,  ShopIey.Tollmadirc, 
Tipton,  VVhito,  Wilkins,  Wright." 

The  ftitility  of  tliis  rcHolvo  was  iimdo  inanifoHt 
soon  aftt'r  its  puHMaRo.     It  was  nutriUory,  and 
remained  nulied.     It  required   notiiiiig  to  i)o 
done,  and  nothing  wbh  done  under  it.    It  be- 
came  ridiculouH.      And  eventually,  and   near 
the  end  of  tiie  Hession,  Mr.  Clay  propoMed  it  over 
again,  with  another  resolve  attached,  directing 
the  return  of  the  depositH  to  the  Hank  of  the 
United  States;  and  making  it  joint,  ho  as  to  re- 
quire the  conHcnt  of  both  houses,  and  thus  lead 
to  legislative  action.     In  submitting  his  resolu- 
tion in  this  new  form  he  took  occasion  to  al- 
lude to  their  fate  in  the  other  branch  of  the 
legislature,  where  rejection  was  certain,  and  to 
intimate  censure  upon  the  President  for  not 
conforming  to  the  opinion  of  the  Senate  in  its 
resolves ;  as  if  the  adverse  opinion  of  the  House 
(from  its  recent  election,  its  superior  numbers, 
and  its  particular  cliarge  of  the  revenue),  was  not 
more  than  a  counterpoise  to   the  opinion  of 
the  Senate.    In  this  sense,  ho  stood  up,  and  said : 

';  Whatever  might  l)e  the  fate  of  these  reso- 
lutions at  the  otiier  end  of  the  capitol,  or  in 
another  building,  that  consideration  ought  to 
have  no  influence  on  the  course  of  this  body. 
The  Senate  owed  it  to  its  own  character,  and 
to  the  country,  to  proceed  in  the  discJiarge  of  its 
duties,  and  to  leave  it  to  others,  whether  at  the 
otlter  end  of  the  capitol  or  in  another  building, 
to  perform  tlieirown  obligations  to  the  country^ 
according  to  their  own  sense  of  their  (Uity.  and 
their  own  convictions  of  resi)onsil)ility.  To 
them  it  ought  to  be  left  to  determine  what  was 
their  duty,  and  to  discharge  that  duty  as  they 
might  tiiink  best.  For  himself,  he  should  be 
ashamed  to  return  to  his  constituents  without 
having  made  every  lawful  effort  in  liis  power  to 
cause  the  restoration  of  the  public  deposits  to 
the  United  States  Bank.  While  a  (iliancc  yet 
reiuained  of  ellecting  the  restoration  of  the 
reign  of  the  constitution  and  tiie  laws,  he  felt 
that  he  should  not  have  discharged  tiiis  duty 
if  be  failed  to  make  every  ctibrt  to  accomplish 
that  desirable  object. 

''The  Senate,  after  passing  the  resolution 
which  they  liad  already  passed,  and  waiting  two 
months  to  see  whether  the  Executive  would 
conform  his  course  to  the  views  expressed  by 
this  branch  of  the  legislature;  after  waitint'  all 
this  time,  and  perceiving  that  the  error,  as  the 
Senate  had  declared  it  to  be,  was  still  persever- 
ed in,  and  seeing  the  wide  and  rapid  sweep  of 
ruin  oyer  every  section  of  the  country,  there  ; 
was  aim  uiic  measure  left  which  might  unest 
the  evil,  and  that  was  in  the  oflering  of  these 
resolutions— to  present  them  to  this  body;  and,  | 


If  they  passed  hero,  to  send  them  to  the  oth., 
Hoje  ;  and.  should  they  pass  them,  to  pro  e 
to  the  President  the  plain  (piestion,  if  how , 
return  to  the  constitutional  track;  or.  i„  om  ' 
s.  i..n  to  the  expressed  will  of  the  legiMlZ. 
retain  the  control  over  the  millions  of  T; 
inoney  which  are  alreiuly  riepositedin  the  uZ 
banks,  and  which  are  still  <!oming  in  there." 

Mr.  Benton  replied  to  Mr.  Clay,  showing  the 
propriety  of  these  resolutions  if  otlered  at  tht 
commencement  of  the  session-their  in.uility 
now,  so  near  its  end;  ami  the  indelicacy  i,,  the 
Senate,  in  throwing  itself  between  the  hnnlc 
and  the  Ilou^e  of  Representatives,  at  u  moment 
when  the  bunk  directors  were  standing  out  in 
contempt  against  the  House,  refusing  to  he  ex- 
amined by  its  committee,  and  a  motion  actuHJly 
depending  to  punish  them  for  this  contempt.  For 
this  was  then  the  actual  condition  of  the  cor- 
poration ;  and,  for  the  Senate  to  pass  a  resolu- 
tion to  restore  the  deposits  in  these  circum- 
stances, was  to  take  the  part  of  the  bank  against 
the  House— to  justify  its  contumacy— and  to 
express  an  oi)iiiion  in  favor  of  its  re-clini'ter 
as  all  admitted  that  restoration  of  the  deposits 
was  wrong  unless  a  re-charter  was  granted. 
Mr.  B.  said: 


"  He  deemed  the  present  moment  to  be  the 
most  objectionable  time  that  could  have  been 
selected  for  proposing  to  restore  the  public  de- 
posits to  the  United  States  Bank.     Such  a  pro- 
position might  have  been  a  proper  proceeding' 
at  the  commencement  of  the  .'•e.si^ioii.    A  joint 
resolution,  at  that  time,  would  have  been  the 
proper  mode ;  it  coiibl  have  been  followed  l)y 
action  ;  and    if  ccnistitutionally  pji.^sed.  would 
have  compelled  the  restoration  of  these  dopos- 
it-^.     But  the  course  was  (liU'ereiit.     A  sejiarate 
le.soliitiou  was  bruiight  in,  and  pu.-^sed  the  Sen- 
ate;  and  there  it  stopped.     It  was  a  niig.atory 
I  rescdution,  leading  to  no  iiction.     It  was  such 
I  a  one  as  a  State  legislature,  or  a  public  meeting, 
might  adopt,  becauise  they  had  no  power  to  le- 
gislate on  the  subject.     But  the  Senate  had  the 
power  of  legislation ;  and,  six  months  ago.  when 
the  separate   resolution   \>as  brouglil  in,  the 
Senate,  if  it  intended  to  act  legislatively  on  the 
subject  at  all,  ought  to  have  proceeded  by  joint 
resolution,  or  by  bill,  at   that   time.     But  it 
thought  otherwise.     The  sejiarate   re:i(diition 
was  adopted ;  after  adoption,  no  iut^tniction  wns 
given  to  a  committee  to  bring  in  a  bill;  nothing 
was  done  to  give  legislative  ell'ect  to  tlie  deci- 
sion of  the  Senate ;  and  now,  at  the  end  of  six 
months,  the  first  attempt  is  made  to  move  in 
our  legislative  capacity,  and  to  i)ass  a  join*  re- 
solution— equivalent  to  a  statute — to  compel  the 
restoration  of  these  deposits.     This  is  llie  state 
of  the  proceeding;  and,  Mr.  B.  nmst  be  permit- 


ANNO  1888.    ANDREW  JACKSON.  PRESIDENT. 


397 


ted  to  t^v .  ai"l  t"  k't"  *''■  reaaons  for  fiayin«, 
ttwt  the  nme  Holi'oted  for  thiH  flrHt  ntt'|),  in  our 
),  inliitive  rapacity,  in  a  cane  ho  lot>>(  (li'ijciidiii);, 
i»  iiiont  iiiuppropriatu  and  ol»jectioiial)lc.  Mr. 
11  tt'diild  not  dwi'!  "  the  pnlpublu  objections 
to  thin  pidOi'iidiiiK,  ■  ''ich  miiHt  Htriko  every 
mn\i\.  'I'hi'  iidviiiKrd  mIu^'d  of  tlio  KOHnion — the 
propositions  to  aiyourn — thoqtiantityofhuniniHH 
„ii  liand — tlic  litllo  prolialiility  that  the  llonso 
unil  the  I'lrnident  woidd  concur  with  the  Sen- 
ate, or  thill  two  thinlsof  tlie  two  HouHescoidd 
(h;  i)i(Mi^dit  to  purirt  tlie  rcHohition,  if  the  I'resi- 
dt'iit  (Icchned  to  give  it  his  ajjprohation.  Tliene 
piilpftl)lool>J('ctionMniiiststrii<e  every  mind  and 
mulvt'  it  appear'  to  bo  a  nweless  constunittion  of 
tiiiiu  fi>r  tlie  Senate  to  pass  the  rosohition. 

" Viitiiaily,  it  inchnUid  a  propofiitioii  to  re- 
charter  the  bank ;  for  the  most  conlhUintial 
friiiids  of  that  institution  aihnitted  that  it  was 
impniper  to  restore  the  deposits,  unless  the  bank 
cliiirtcr  wa.-i  to  l)e  continued.  Tlie  proposition 
to  res  to  re  tivcm,  virtually  included  the  propo- 
eitiiiii  tore-charter;  and  that  was  a  proposition 
wliich,  after  haviuf!;  licen  opeidy  made  on  this 
floor,  and  leave  asked  to  brinj^  in  a  iiill  to  that 
ellect,  had  been  al)audoned,  under  the  clear  con- 
viction that  the  measure  could  not  pass.  Pass- 
in;;  from  these  palpal)le  objections,  Mr.  Ti.  pro- 
avded  to  state  another  reason,  of  a  dillerent 
kind,  and  which  he  held  to  be  imperative  of  the 
eoiir.-ic  which  the  Senate  should  now  pursue :  he 
allndcil  to  the  stale  of  tiic  questions  at  this 
moment  depending;  lietween  the  Jlank  of  the 
United  States  and  the  House  of  Kepresoiita- 
tiveH,  and  the  nature  of  which  exacted  from  the 
Seuiiie  the  observance  of  a  strict  neutrality,  and 
an  iili.si)late  non-interference  between  those 
two  hodies.  Tlie  House  of  Representatives  had 
ordiTtMl  an  incpiiry  into  the  atlairs  and  conduct 
oftlifbank.  The  points  of  in(piiry  indicated 
misconduct  of  the  firavcst  import,  and  had  been 
ordei'e  I  l)y  the  larsost  majority,  not  less  than 
tiiree  or  f  )iu'  to  one.  That  incpury  was  not  yet 
flni-ihed  ;  it  was  still  depending  ;  thoconimittee 
appointed  to  conduct  it  remains  organized,  and 
has  onl.- reported  in  part.  That  report  is  be- 
fore the  Soiiale  anil  tiie  i)ublic;  and  shows  that 
the  (lirtT'iors  of  the  Hank  of  the  United  States 
have  iisisted  the  authority  of  the  House — have 
niade  a,i  is<ue  of  po^ver  between  itself  and  the 
House — r)r  tlie  trial  of  which  issue  a  resolution 
is  now  .Jepi'iidin;;-  in  the  House,  and  is  made  the 
order  of  tne  day  for  Tuesday  next. 

"  llci'e,  then,  are  two  questions  depending 
bctrtecii  liie  House  and  the  bank;  the  first, 
an  iu'juiry  into  the  mi.sconduct  of  the  bank; 
tlie  ,•-(  ■  md,  a  propo.sitiou  to  compel  the  bank  to 
submit  to  tlie  authority  of  the  House.  Was  it 
rigiit  fn'  tlie  Senate  to  interpose  between  those 
bodie.s,  whdo  these  qnestio-  3  were  depending? 
Was  it  riiilit  to  interfere  on  the  part  of  the 
bank  ?  Was  it  ri'^dit  for  the  Senate  to  leap 
into  tie  arena,  tlu-ow  itself  between  the  con- 
tending parties,  take  sides  with  the  bank,  and 
virtually  declare  to  the  American  people  that 


tliere  wo«  in)  caiiKo  for  inquiry  into  the  conduct 
of  the  liank,  ami  no  ground  of  leimuro  for  re- 
sisting the  authority  of  the  House?  Such 
would,  doubtless,  bo  the  oliect  of  tlie  conduct 
of  the  Senate,  if  it  Bhoiild  entertain  the  propo- 
Hition  which  is  now  submitted  to  it.  That 
proposition  is  one  of  honor  and  contidonco  to 
the  bank.  Ft  proceeds  upon  the  assumjition 
that  the  bank  is  right,  and  the  House  is  wrong, 
in  tl><!  questions  now  depending  between  them; 
that  tht*  bank  has  done  notiiing  to  merit  in- 
(luiry,  or  to  deservo  censure  ;  aiul  that  the  \m\y- 
W  moneys  ought  to  be  restored  ti>  her  keeping, 
without  waiting  the  end  of  the  investigation 
which  the  House  has  ordered,  or  the  decision 
of  the  resolution  which  atllrins  that  the  bank 
has  resisted  the  authority  of  the  House,  and 
connnitted  a  contemiit  against  it.  This  is  the 
full  and  fair  interpretation — the  clear  and  speak- 
ing effect — of  the  measure  now  proposed  to  the 
Senate,  [s  it  right  to  treat  the  House  thus? 
Will  the  Senate,  virtually,  intelligibly,  and  jirac- 
tically,  aciiuit  the  bank,  when  the  bank  will  not 
acquit  itself  ?  -will  not  sutler  its  innocence  to 
be  tested  by  the  recorded  voice  of  its  own  books, 
and  the  living  voice  of  its  own  directors  ?  These 
directors  have  refused  to  testify ;  they  have 
refused  to  bo  sworn ;  thoy  have  refused  to 
touch  tho  book ;  because,  being  directors  and 
coi'iiorators,  and  therefore  parties,  they  cannot 
be  required  to  give  evidence  against  themselves. 
And  this  refusal,  the  public  is  gravely  told,  is 
made  upon  the  a(lvico  of  eminent  counsel.  AVhat 
cotmsel  ?  The  counsel  of  the  law,  or  of  fear? 
Certainlv,  no  lawyer — not  even  a  junior  appren- 
tice to  the  law — could  give  such  advice.  The 
right  to  stand  mute,  does  not  extend  to  tho 
privilege  of  refusing  to  bo  sworn.  The  right 
docs  not  attach  until  after  the  oath  is  taken, 
and  is  then  limi'cd  to  the  specific  que.;tion,  tho 
answer  to  wlnc'i  might  inculpate  the  witness, 
and  which  he  may  refuse  to  answer,  because  ho 
will  say,  upon  his  oath,  that  the  answer  will 
criminate  himself.  But  these  bank  directors 
refuse  to  be  sworn  at  all.  They  refuse  to  touch 
the  book ;  and,  in  that  refusal,  commit  a  llaui  aut 
contcmjit  against  the  House  of  llepresentatives, 
and  do  an  act  for  which  any  citizen  would  bo 
sent  to  jail  by  any  justice  of  the  peace  in  Ame- 
rica. And  is  the  vSenate  to  justify  the  directors 
for  this  contempt?  to  get  between  them  and 
the  House  ?  to  adopt  a  resolution  beforehand — ■ 
before  the  day  fixed  for  the  decision  of  the  con- 
tempt, which  shall  throw  the  weight  of  the 
Senate  into  the  scale  of  the  directors  against 
the  House,  and  virtually  declare  that  they  are 
right  in  refusing  to  be  sworn?" 

The  resolutions  were,  nevertheless,  adoiited, 
and  by  the  fixed  majority  of  twenty-eight  to 
eighteen,  and  sent  to  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives lor  concurrence,  where  they  met  the  fate 
which  all  knew  they  were  to  receive.  The 
House  did  not  even  take  them  up  for  considera- 


W> 


"  -Hi 


398 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


tion,  but  continued  the  course  which  it  had  be- 
gan at  the  commencement  of  the  session ;  and 
which  was  in  exact  conformity  to  the  legisla- 
tive course,  and  exactly  contrary  to  the  course 
of  the  Senate.  The  report  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Trciis-.iry.  the  memorial  of  the  bank,  and 
that  of  the  government  directors,  were  all  refer- 
red to  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means ;  and 
by  that  committee  a  leport  was  made,  by  their 
chairman,  Mr.  Polk,  sustaining  the  action  of 
the  Secretary,  and  concluding  with  the  four  fol- 
lowing resolutions : 

"  1.  Eesolred,  That  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States  ought  not  to  be  re-chartered. 

"  2.  liesoLced.  That  the  public  deposits  ought 
not  to  be  restored  to  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States. 

"  3.  Reaolved,  That  the  State  banks  ought  to 
be  continued  as  the  places  of  deposit  of  the 
public  money,  and  that  it  is  expedient  for  Con- 
gress to  make  further  provision  by  law,  pre- 
scribing the  mode  of  selection,  the  securities  to 
be  taken,  and  the  manner  and  terms  on  which 
they  are  to  be  employed. 

"4.  liesotced,  That,  for  the  purpose  of  ascer- 
taining, as  far  as  practicable,  the  cause  of  the 
conimercial  embarrassment  and  distiess  com- 
plained of  by  numerous  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  in  sundry  memorials  which  liave  been 
presented  to  Congress  at  the  present  session 
and  of  inquiring  whether  the  charter  of  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States  has  been  violated ; 
and,  also,  what  corruptions  and  abuses  have  ex- 
isted in  its  management ;  whether  it  has  used 
its  corporate  power  or  money  to  control  the 
press,  to  interfere  iu  politics,  or  influence  elec- 
tions; and  whether  it  has  had  any  agency, 
through  its  management  or  money,  in  producing 
the  existing  pressure;  a  select  committee  be 
appointed  to  insjxict  the  books  and  examine 
into  tlie  proceedings  of  the  said  bank,  who  shall 
report  whether  the  provisions  of  the  charter 
have   been   violated   or  not;   and,  also,  what 
abuses,  corruptions,  or  malpractices  have  ex- 
isted in  the  management  of  said  bank  ;  and  that 
the  said  committee  be  authorized  to  send  for 
persons  and  papers,  and  to  summon  and  examine 
witnesses,  on  oath,  and  to  examine  into  the 
affairs  of  the  said  bank  and  branches  ;  and  they 
are  further  authorized  to  visit  the  principal 
bank,  or  any  of  its  branches,  for  the  purpose  of 
inspecting  tiie  books,  correspondence,  accounts, 
and  other  papers  connected  with  its  manage- 
ment or  business  ;  and  that  the  said  committee 
be  required  to  report  the  result  of  such  inves- 
tigation, together  with  the  evidence  they  may 
take,  at  as  early  a  day  as  practicable." 

These  resolutions  were  long  and  vehemently 
debated,  and  eventually,  each  and  every  one 
adopted  by  decided,  and  some  by  a  great  ma- 


jority. The  first  one,  being  that  upon  the 
question  of  the  recharter,  was  carried  bva 
majority  of  more  than  fifty  votes— 134  to  89. 
showing  an  immense  difference  to  the  prejudice 
of  the  bank  since  the  veto  session  of  18.32.  Th 
names  of  the  voters  on  this  great  question  so 
long  debated  in  every  form  in  the  halls' of 
Congress,  the  chambers  of  the  State  legislatures 
and  in  the  forum  of  the  people,  deserve  to  be 
commemorated— and  are  as  follows : 

"  Yeas.— Messrs.  John  Adams,  William  Allen 
Anthony,  Archer,  Beale.  Bevn,  Beardslev  Beau' 
mont,  John  Bell,  John  Blair,  Bockee,' Boon 
Bouldin  Brown,  Bunch,  Bynum,  Canhrelen^' 
Campbell,  Carmichael,  Carr,  Casey,  Chanev 
Chmn,  Claiborne,  Samuel  Clark,  Clay,  Clayton 
Clowney,  Coffee,  Connor,  Cramer,  W.  1\  Davis' 
Davenport,  Day,  Dickerson,  Dickinson,  Dutilan' 
Felder,  Forester,  Foster,  W.  K.  Fuller,  Fulton 
Galbraith,  Gholson,  Gillet,  Gilmer,  Gordon' 
Grayson,  Griffin,  Jos.  Hall,  T.  H.  Hall,  Halsey' 
Hamer,  Hannegan,  Jos.  M.  Harper,  Harrison 
Hathaway,  Hawkins,  Hawes.  Heath,  Henderson' 
Howell,  Hubbard,  Abel  Huntington,  Inge  .Jar- 
vis,  Richard  M.  Johnson,  Noadiah  Johnso-i 
Cave  Johnson,  Seaborn  Jones,  Benjamin  Jones' 
Kavanagh,  Kinnard,  Lane,  Lansing,  Laporte' 
Lawrence,  Lay,  Luke  Lea,  Thomas  Lee,  {.eavitt' 
Loyall,  Lucas,  Lyon,  Lytic,  Abijah  Mann,  Joel 
K.  Mann,  Mardis,  John  Y.  Mason,  Moses  iMa- 
son,  Mclntire,  McKay,  McKinley,  xMcLene 
McVean,  Miller,  Henry  Mitchell,  Robert  Mit- 
chell, Muhlenberg,  Murphy,  Osgood,  Pa<'e 
Parks,  Parker,  Patterson,  D.  J.  Pearce,  Pey- 
ton, Franklin  Pierce,  Pierson  Pinckney,  'pium- 
mer,  Polk,  Bencher,  Schenck,  Schley,  Shinn, 
Smith,  Speight,  Standifer,  Stoddert,  Suther- 
land, William  Taylor,  Wm.  P.  Taylor,  Fran- 
cis Thomas,  Thomson,  Turner,  Turrill,  Van- 
derpoel,  Wagener,  Ward,  Wardwcll,  Wayne, 
Webster,  Whallon.— 134.  ' 

"  Nays. — Messrs.  John  Quincy  Adams,  John 
J.  Allen,  Heman  Allen,  Chilton  Allan,  Ashley, 
Banks,  Barber,  Barnitz,  Barringer,  '  Baylies 
Beaty,  James  M.  Bell,  Binney,  Briggs,  Bull, 
Burgos,  Cage,  Chambers,  Chilton,  Choate,  Wil- 
liam Clark,  Corwin,  Ccjulter,  Crane,  Crockett, 
Darlington,  Amos  Davis,  Deberiy,  Deming, 
Deimy,  Dennis,  Dickson,  Duncan,*  Ellsworth, 
Evans,  Edward  Everett,  Horace  Everett,  Fill- 
more, Foot,  Philo  C.  Fuller,  Graham,  Grcnnel, 
Hiland  Hall,  Hard,  Hardin,  James  Harper, 
Hazeltine,  Jabez  W.  Huntington,  Jackson, 
William  C.  Johnson,  Lincoln,  Martindalc,  Mar- 
shall, McCarty,  McComas,  McDuffic,  McKennan, 
Mercer,  Milligan,  Moore,  Pope,  Potts,  Reed, 
William  B.  Shepherd,  Aug.  H.  Shcpperd,  Wil- 
liam Slade,  Charles  Slade,  Sloane,  Spangler, 
Philemon  Thomas,  'J'ompkins,  Tweedy,  \'ancej 
Vinton,  Watmough,  Edward  D.  White,  Fred- 
erick Whittlesey,  Elisha  Whittlesey,  Wilde, 
Williams,  Wilson,  Young.— 82." 


ANNO  1833.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESmENT. 


399 


The  second  and  third  resolutions  were  carried 
by  good  majorities,  and  the  fourth  overwhelm- 
ingly—1'^  to  42.  Mr.  Polk  immediately  moved 
i'iie  appointment  of  the  committee,  and  that  it 
cousist  of  seven  members.  It  was  appointed 
accordingly,  and  consisted  of  Messrs.  Francis 
Thomas  of  Maryland,  chairman;  Everett  of 
Massachusetts;  Muhlenberg  of  Pennsylvania; 
John  Y.  Mason  of  Virginia ;  Ellsworth  of  Con- 
nectinut ;  Mann  of  New- York ;  and  Lytle  of 
Ohio.  The  proceedings  of  this  committee,  and 
the  reception  it  met  with  from  the  bank,  will 
be  the  subject  of  a  future  and  separate  chapter. 
Under  the  third  resolution  the  Committee  of 
Ways  and  Means  soon  brought  in  a  bill  in  con- 
formity to  its  provisions,  which  was  passed  by 
a  majority  of  22,  that  is  to  say,  by  112  votes 
against  90,  And  thus  all  the  conduct  of  the 
President  in  relation  to  the  bank,  received  the 
full  sanction  of  the  popular  representation ;  and 
presented  the  singular  spectacle  of  full  support 
in  one  House,  and  that  one  specially  charged 
with  the  subject,  while  meeting  condemnation 
in  the  other. 


CHAPTER    XCVII. 

CALL  ON  THE  PRESIDENT  FOR  A  COPT  OF  THE 
"PAPER  READ  TO  THE  CABINET." 

In  the  first  days  of  the  session  Mr.  Clay  sub- 
mitted a  resolution,  calling  on  the  President  to 
inform  the  Senate  whether  the  "  paper,"  pub- 
lished as  alleged  by  his  authority,  and  purporting 
to  have  been  read  to  the  cabinet  in  relation  to 
the  removal  of  the  deposits,  "  be  genuine  or 
not;"  and  if  it  be  "genuine,"  requesting  him 
to  cause  a  copy  of  it  to  be  laid  before  the  Senate. 
Mr.  Forsyth  considered  this  an  unusual  call,  and 
wished  to  know  for  what  purpose  it  was  made. 
He  presumed  no  one  had  any  doubt  of  the  au- 
thenticity of  the  published  copy.  He  certainly 
had  not.  Mr.  Clay  justified  his  call  on  the 
ground  that  the  "  paper  "  had  been  published— 
had  become  public— and  was  a  thing  of  general 
notoriety.  If  otherwise,  and  it  had  remained  a 
confidential  communication  to  his  cabinet,  he 
certainly  should  not  ask  for  it;  but  not  an- 
swering as  to  the  use  he  proposed  to  make  of 
it,  Mr.  Forsyth  returned  to  that  point,  and  said  ; 


he  could  imagine  that  one  branch  of  the  legis- 
lature under  certain  circumstances  might  have 
a  right  to  call  for  it ;  but  the  Senate  was  not 
that  branch.  If  the  paper  was  to  be  the  ground 
of  a  criminal  charge  against  the  President,  and 
upon  which  he  is  to  be  brought  to  trial,  it 
should  come  from  the  House  of  Ilcprcsentatives, 
with  the  charges  on  which  he  was  to  be  tried. 
Mr.  Clay  rejoined,  that  as  to  the  uses  which 
were  to  be  made  of  this  "  paper  "  nothing  seemed 
to  run  in  the  head  of  the  Senator  from  Georgia 
but  an  impeachment.  This  seemed  to  be  the 
only  idea  he  could  connect  with  the  call.  But 
there  were  many  other  purposes  for  which  it 
might  be  used,  and  he  had  never  intended  to 
make  it  the  ground  of  impeachment.  It  might 
show  who  was  the  real  author  of  the  removal 
of  the  deposits — whether  the  President,  or  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  ?  and  whether  this 
latter  might  not  have  been  a  mere  automaton. 
Mr.  Benton  said  there  was  no  parliamentary 
use  that  could  be  made  of  it,  and  no  such  use 
had  been,  or  could  be  specified.  Only  two  uses 
can  be  made  of  a  paper  that  may  be  rightfully 
called  for — one  for  legislation;  the  other  for 
impeachment ;  and  not  even  in  the  latter  case 
when  self-crimination  was  intended.  No  legis- 
lative use  is  intimated  for  this  one ;  and  the 
criminal  use  is  disavowed,  and  is  obliged  to  be, 
as  the  Senate  is  the  tribunal  to  try,  not  the 
inquest  to  originate  impeachments.  But  this 
paper  cannot  be  rightfully  called  for.  It  is  a  com- 
munication to  a  cabinet ;  and  communications  to 
the  cabinet  are  the  same  whether  in  writing,  or 
in  a  speech.  It  is  all  parol.  Could  the  copy  of 
a  speech  made  to  the  cabinet  be  called  for? 
Could  an  account  of  the  President's  conversation 
with  his  cabinet  be  called  for  ?  Certainly  not ! 
and  there  is  no  difference  botween  the  written 
and  the  spoken  communication — between  the 
set  speech  and  a  conversation — between  a  thing 
made  public,  or  kept  secret.  The  President  may 
refuse  to  give  the  copy ;  and  certainly  will  consult 
his  rights  and  his  self-respect  by  so  refusing.  As 
for  the  contents  of  the  paper,  he  has  given  them 
to  the  country,  and  courts  the  judgment  of  the 
country  upon  it.  He  avows  his  act — gives  his 
reasons — and  leaves  it  to  all  to  judge.  He  is 
not  a  man  of  concealments,  or  of  irresponsibility. 
He  gave  the  paper  to  the  public  instantly,  and 
authentically,  with  his  name  fully  signed  to  it ; 
and  any  one  can  say  what  they  please  of  it.  If 


400 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


it  is  wanted  for  an  invective,  or  philippic,  there  it 
is!  ready  for  use,  and  seeking   no  shelter  for 
want  of  authenticity.     It  is  given  to  the  world 
and  is  expected  to  stand  the  test  of  all  examina- 
tion.   Mr.  Forsyth  asked  the  yeas  and  nays  on 
Mr.  Clay's  callj  they  were  ordered;  and  the 
resolution  passed  by  23  to  18.     The  next  day 
the  President  replied  to  it,  and  to  the  eftectthat 
was  generally  foreseen.    He  declared  the  Execu- 
tive to  be  a  co-ordinate  branch  of  the  government 
and  denied  the  right  of  the  Senate  to  call  upon 
him  for  any  copies  of  his  communications  to  his 
cabinet— either  written  or  spoken,     feeling  his 
responsibility  to  the  American  people,  he  said 
he  should  be  always  ready  to  explain  to  them 
his  conduct ;  knowing  the  constitutional  rights 
of  the  Senate,  he  should  never  withhold  from  it 
any  information  in  his  power  to  give,  and  neces- 
sary to  the  discharge  of  its  duties.    This  was 
the  end  of  the  call ;  and  such  an  end  was  the 
full  proof  that  it  ought  not  to  have  been  made. 
No  act  could  be  predicated  upon  it— no  action 
taken  on  its  communication — none  upon  the  re- 
fusal, either  of  censure  or  coercion.    The  Pres- 
ident stood  upon  his  rights;  and  the  Senate 
could  not,  and  did  not,  say  that  he  was  wrong. 
The  call  was  a  wrong  step,  and  gave  the  Pres- 
ident an  easy  and  a  graceful  victory. 


u 


I.;  ,. 


CHAPTER    XCVIII. 

MISTAKES  OF  PUBLIC  MEN:-GKEAT  COMBI- 
NATION  AGAINST  GENKKAL  JACKSON :— COM- 
MENCEMENT OF  THE  PANIC. 

In  the  year  1783,  Mr.  Fox,  the  great  parlia- 
mentary debater,  was  in  the  zenith  of  his  power 
and  popularity,  and  the  victorious  leader  in  the 
House  of  Commons.  He  gave  ofTence  to  the 
King,  iind  was  dismised  from  the  ministry,  and 
immediatelyformedacoalition  with  Lord  North; 
and  commenced  a  violent  opposition  to  the  acts 
of  tlie  government.  Patriotism,  love  of  liberty, 
hatred  of  misrule  and  oppression,  were  the 
avowed  objects  of  his  attacks ;  '•  but  evciy  one 
saw  (to  adopt  the  language  of  history),  that 
the  real  difficulty  was  his  own  exclusion  from 
othce  ;  and  that  his  coalition  with  his  old  enemy 
and  all  these  violent  assaults,  were  only  to  force 


himself  back  into  power:  and  this  being  seen, 
his  efforts  became  unavailing,  and  distasteful  to 
the  public;  and  he  lost  his  power  and  influence 
with  the  people,  and  simkhis  friends  with  him. 
More  than  one  hundred  and  sixty  of  his  support- 
ers in  the  House  of  Commons,  lost  thoir  places 
at  the  ensuing  election,  and  were  sportively  call- 
ed  "  Fox's  Martyrs ; "  and  when  they  had  a  pro- 
cession in  London,  wearing  the  tails  of  foxes  in 
their  hats,  and  some  one  wondered  where  so  many 
tails  of  that  animal  had  come  from,  Mr.  I'itt 
slyly  said  a  great  many  foxes  had  been  latdy 
taken:  one,  upon  an  average,  in  every  borough, 
Mr.  Fox,  young  at  that  time,  lived  to  recover 
from  this  prostration ;  but  his  mistake  was  one 
of  those  of  which  history  is  full,  and  the  lesson 
of  which  is  in  vain  read  to  succeeding  genera- 
tions.   Public  men  continue  to  attack  their  ad- 
versaries in  power,  and  oppose  their  measures 
while  having  private  griefs  of  their  own  to  re- 
dress, and  personal  ends  of  their  own  to  accom- 
phsh ;  and  the  instinctive  sagacity  of  the  people 
always  sees  the  sinister  motive,  and  condemns 
the  conduct  founded  upon  it. 

Jlr.  Clay,  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  Mr.  Webster  were 
now  all  united  against  General  Jackson,  with 
all  their  friends,  and  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States.   The  two  former  had  their  private  griefs : 
Mr.  Clay  in  the  results  of  the  election,  and  Jlr. 
Calhoun  in  the  quariel  growing  out  of  the  dis- 
covery of  his  conduct  in  Mr.  Monroe's  cabinet; 
and  it  would  nave  been  difficult  so  to  have  con- 
ducted their  opposition,  and  attack,  as  to  have 
avoided  the  imputation  of  a  personal  motive. 
But  they  so  conducted  it  as  to  authorize  and 
suggest  that  imputation.     Theil-  n'lovements  all 
took  a  personal  and  vindictive,  instead  of  a  legis- 
lative and  remedial,  nature.   Mr.  Taney's  reasons 
for  removii;g  the  deposits  were  declajed  to  be 
"  unsatisfactory  and  insufficient  "—being  words 
of  reproach,  and  no  remedy  ;  nor  was  the  reme- 
dy of  restoration  proposed  until  driven  into  it. 
The  resolution,  in  relation  to  Gen.  Jackson,  was 
still  more  objectionable.  The  Senate  had  nothing 
to  do  with  him  persoiially,  yet  a  resolve  was 
proposed  against  him  entirely  personal,  charging 
him  with  violating  the  laws  and  the  constitution ; 
and  proposing  no  remedy  for  this  imputed  vio- 
lation, nor  for  the  act  of  which  it  was  the  sub- 
ject.   It  was  purely  and  sitnply  a  personal  cen- 
sure— a  personal  condemnation  that  was  pro- 
posed ;  and,  to  aggravate  the  proposition,  it  came 


ANNO  1833.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


401 


\H 


from  the  su;     stion  of  the  bank  directors'  me- 
morial to  Congress. 

The  combination  was  formidable.    The  bank 
itself  was  a  great  power,  and  was  able  to  carry 
distress  into  all  the  business  departments  of  the 
country ;  the  political  array  against  the  President 
was  unprecedented  in  point  of  number,  and  great 
ill  point  of  ability.     Besides  the  three  eminent 
chiefs,  there  were,  in  the  Senate:  Messrs.  Bibb 
of  Kentucky ;  Ezekiel  Chambers  of  Maryland ; 
Clayton  of  Delaware;  Ewing  of  Ohio;  Free- 
linghuysen  of  New  Jersey ;  AVatkins  Leigh  of 
Virginia;  Mangum  of  North  Carolina;  Poindex- 
ter  of  Mississippi ;  Alexander  Porter  of  Louisi- 
ana; William  C.  Preston  of  South  Carolina; 
Southard  of  New  Jersey;  Tyler  of  Virginia. 
In  the  House  of  Representatives,  besides  the 
ex-President.  Mr.  Adams,  and  the  eminent  jurist 
from  Pennsylvania,  Mr.  Horace  Binney,  there 
was  a  long  catalogue  of  able  speakers :  Messrs. 
Archer  of  Virginia ;  Bell  of  Tennessee ;  Burgess 
of  Rhode  Island ;  Rufus  Choate  of  Massachu- 
setts; Corwin  of  Ohio;  Warren  R.  Davis  of 
South  Carolina;  John  Davis  of  Massachusetts; 
Edward  Everett  of  Massachusetts  ;  Millard  Fill- 
more of  New- York,  afterwards  President ;  Ro- 
bert P.  Letcher  of  Kentucky ;  Benjamin  Hardin 
of  Kentucky;  McDufiBe  of  South  Carolina ;  Pey- 
ton of  Tennessee;  Vance  of  Ohio;  Wilde  of 
Georgia ;  Wise  of  Virginia :  in  all,  above  thirty 
able  speakers,  many  of  whom  spoke  many  times ; 
besides  many  others  of  good  ability,  but  with- 
out extensive  national  reputations.    The  busi- 
ness of  the  combination  was  divided— distress 
and  panic  the  object— and  the  parts  distributed, 
and  separately  cast  to  produce  the  effect.    The 
bank  was  to  make  the  distress— a  thing  easy  for 
it  to  do,  from  its  own  moneyed  power,  and  its 
power  over   other    moneyed  institutions   and 
money  dealers ;  also  to  get  up  distress  meetings 
and  memorials,  and  to  lead  the  public  press :  the 
politicians  were  to  make  the  panic,  by  the  alarms 
which  they  created  for  the  safety  of  the  laws,  of 
the  constitution,  the  public  liberty,  and  the  pub- 
lic money :  and  most  zealously  did  each  division 
of  the  combination  perform  its  part,  and  for  the 
long  period  of  three  full  months.    The  decision 

Vol.  I.—26 


of  the  resolution  condemning  General  Jackson, 
on  which  all  this  machinery  of  distress  and  panic 
was  hung,  required  no  part  of  that  time.  There 
was  the  same  majority  to  vote  it  the  first  day 
as  the  last ;  but  the  time  was  wanted  to  get  up 
the  alarm  and  the  distress ;  and  the  vote,  when 
taken,  was  not  from  any  exhaustion  of  the  means 
of  terrifying  and  agonizing  the  country,  but  for 
the  purpose  of  having  the  sentence  of  condem- 
nation ready  for  the  Virginia  elections— ready 
for  spreading  over  Virginia  at  the  approach  of 
the  April  elections.  The  end  proposed  to  them- 
selves by  the  combined  parties,  was,  for  the  bank, 
a  recharter  and  the  restoration  of  the  deposits ; 
for  the  politicians,  an  ascent  to  power  upon  the 
overthrow  of  Jackson. 

The  friends  of  General  Jackson  saw  the  ad- 
vantages which  were  presented  to  them  in  the 
unhallowed  combination  between  the  moneyed 
and  a  political  power — in  the  personal  and  vin- 
dictive character  which  they  gave  to  the  p'-o- 
ceediiigs— the  private  griefs  of  the  leading  as- 
sailants—the unworthy  objects  to  be  attained 
—and  the  cruel  means  to  be  used  for  their  at- 
tainment.    These  friends  were  also  numerous, 
zealous,  able,  determined ;  and  animated  by  the 
consciousness   that  they  were  on  the  side  of 
their  country.     They  were,  in  the  Senate  :— 
Messrs.  Forsyth  of  Georgia;   Grundy  of  Ten- 
nessee ;  Hill  of  New  Hampshire ;  Kane  of  Illi- 
nois ;    King  of  Alabama ;    Rives  of  Virginia ; 
Nathaniel  Tallmadge  of  New  York ;   Hugh  L. 
White  of  Tennessee ;  Wilkins  of  Pennsylvania ; 
Silas  Wright  of  New-York ;  and  the  author  of 
this    Thirtv  Years'  View.      In  the  House, 
were :— Messrs.  Beardsley  of  New- York;  Cam- 
breleng  of  New-York ;  Clay  of  Alabama ;  GU- 
lett  of  New- York ;   Hubbard  of  New  Hamp- 
shire ;    McKay   of  North    Carolina ;  Polk  of 
Tennessee;  Francis  Thomas  of  Maryland;  Van- 
derpoel  of  New-York  ;  and  Wayne  of  Georgia. 

Mr.  Clay  opened  the  debate  in  a  prepared 
speech,  commencing  in  the  style  which  the  rhe- 
toricians call  ex  abruptu—heing  the  style  of 
opening  which  the  occasion  required— that  of 
rousing  and  alarming  the  passions.  It  will  be- 
found  (its  essential  parts)  in  the  next  chapter. 


W 


402 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


CHAPTER    XCIX. 

MB.  CLAY'S  SPEECH  AGAINST  TKESIDENT  JACK- 
BON  ON  THE  KEMOVAL  OF  THE  DEl'OSITS-EX- 
TRACTS. 

"  Mr.  Clay  addressed  the  Senate  as  follows  : 
Wo  are,  said  he,  in  the  midst  of  a  revolucion, 
hitherto  bloodless,  but  rapidly  tending  towards 
a  total  change  of  the  pure  rcjtublican  character 
of  the  government,  and  to  the  concentration  of 
all  power  in  the  hands  of  one  man.  The  powers 
of  Congress  are  paralyzed,  except  when  exerted 
in  conformity  with  his  will,  by  frequent  and  an 
extraordinary  cxeicise  of  the  executive  veto,  not 
anticipated  by  the  founders  of  the  constitution, 
and  not  practised  by  any  of  the  predecessors  of 
the  present  Chief  Magistrate.  And,  to  cramp 
them  still  more,  a  new  expedient  is  sjjringing 
into  use,  of  withholding  altogether  bills  which 
have  received  the  sanction  of  both  Houses  of 
Congress,  thereby  cutting  oif  all  opportunity 
of  passing  them,  even  if,  after  their  return,  the 
members  should  be  unanimous  in  their  favor. 
The  constitutional  participation  of  the  Senate 
in  the  appointing  power  is  virtually  abolished, 
by  the  constant  use  of  the  power  of  removal 
from  oflice  without  any  known  cause,  and  by 
the  appointment  of  the  same  individual  to  the 
game  office,  after  his  rejection  by  the  Senate. 
How  often  have  we,  senators,  felt  that  the 
check  of  the  Senate,  instead  of  being,  as  the 
constitution  intended,  a  salutary  control,  was 
an  idle  ceremony  ?  How  often,  when  acting  on 
the  case  of  the  nominated  successor,  have  we 
felt  the  injustice  of  the  removal  ?  How  often 
have  we  said  to  each  other,  well,  what  can  we 
do  ?  the  oflice  cannot  remain  vacant  without 
prejudice  to  the  public  interests  ;  and,  if  we  re- 
ject the  proposed  substitute,  we  cannot  restore 
the  displaced,  and  perhaps  some  more  unworthy 
man  may  he  nominated. 

"The  judiciary  has  not  been  exempted  from 
the  prevailing  rage  for  innovation.  Decisions 
of  the  tribunals,  deliberately  pronounced,  have 
been  conteniptuouBly  disregarded,  and  the  sanc- 
tity of  numerous  treaties  openly  violated.  Our 
Indian  relations,  coeval  with  the  existence  of 
the  government,  and  recognized  and  established 
by  numerous  laws  and  treaties,  have  been  sub- 
verted ;  the  rights  of  tine  helpless  and  unfortu- 
nate aborigines  trampled  in  the  dust,  and  they 
brouglit  luuler  subjection  to  unknown  laws,  in 
which  they  have  no  voice,  promulgated  in  an 
unknown  language.  The  most  extensive  and 
most  valuable  public  domain  that  ever  fell  to 
the  lot  of  one  nation  is  threatened  with  a  total 
sacrifice.  Tlie  general  currency  of  the  cx)untry, 
the  life-blood  of  ail  its  busines>,  is  in  ti..:  most 
imminent  danger  of  universal  disorder  and  con- 
fusion. The  {wwer  of  internal  improvement  lies 
crushed  beneath  the  veto.    The  .system  of  pro- 


tection of  American  industry  was  snatched  from 
impending  destruction  at  the  last  session  ;  but 
we  are  now  coolly  told  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  without  a  blush, '  that  it  is  understood 
to  be  conceded  on  all  hands  that  a  tariff  for 
protection  merely  is  to  be  finally  abandoned.' 
By  the  3d  of  March,  18,'!7,  if  the  progress  of  in- 
novation continue,  there  will  be  scarcely  a  ves- 
tige remaining  of  the  government  and  its  policy 
as  they  existed  prior  to  the  3d  of  March,  1829! 
In  a  term  of  years,  a  little  more  than  equal  to 
that  which  was  required  to  establish  our  liber- 
ties, the  government  will  have  been  transformed 
into  an  elective  monarchy — the  worst  of  all 
forms  of  government. 

"  Such  is  0  melancholy  but  faithful  picture  of 
the  present  condition  of  our  public  affiiirs.  It 
is  not  sketched  or  exhibited  to  excite,  here  or 
elsewhere,  irritated  feeling  ;  I  have  no  such 
purpose.  I  would,  on  the  contrary,  implore  the 
Senate  and  the  people  to  discard  all  passion  and 
prejudice,  and  to  look  calmly  but  resolutely 
upon  the  actufil  state  of  the  constitution  and 
the  country.  Although  I  bring  into  the  Senate 
tlie  same  unabated  spirit,  and  the  same  firm  de- 
termination, which  have  ever  guided  me  in  the 
support  of  civil  liberty,  and  the  defence  of  our 
constitution,  I  contemplate  the  prospect  before 
us  with  feelings  of  deep  humiliation  and  pro- 
found mortification. 

"  It  is  not  among  the  least  unfortunate  symp- 
toms of  the  times,  that  a  large  proportion  of 
the  g(jod  and  enlightened  men  of  the  Union,  of 
all  parties,  are  yielding  to  sentiments  of  despon- 
dency. There  is,  unhappily,  a  feeling  of  dis- 
trust and  insecurity  poivading  the  community. 
Many  of  our  best  citizens  entertain  serious  ap- 
prehensions that  our  Union  and  our  institutions 
are  destined  to  a  speedy  overthrow.  Sir,  I 
trust  that  the  hopes  and  confidence  of  the  coun- 
try will  revive.  There  is  much  occasion  for 
manl_\  independence  and  patriotic  vigor,  but 
none  for  despair.  Thank  God,  we  are  yet  free; 
and,  if  we  put  on  the  chains  which  are  forging 
for  us,  it  will  be  because  we  deserve  to  wear 
them.  We  should  never  despan-  of  the  repub- 
lic. If  our  ancestors  had  been  capable  of  sur- 
rendering themselves  to  such  ignoble  senti- 
ments, our  independence  and  our  liberties 
would  never  have  been  achieved.  The  winter 
of  1776-77,  was  one  of  the  gloomiest  periods 
of  our  revolution ;  but  on  this  day,  fifty-seven 
years  ago,  the  father  of  his  country  achieved  a 
glorious  victory,  which  diffused  joy,  and  glad- 
ness, and  animation  throughout  the  States. 
Let  us  cherish  the  hope  that,  since  he  has  gone 
from  among  us,  Providence,  in  the  dispensation 
of  his  mercies,  has  near  at  hand,  in  reserve  for 
us,  though  yet  unseen  by  us,  some  sure  and 
happy  deliverance  from  all  impending  dangers. 
''  When  we  assembled  here  last  year,  we  vrere 
full  of  dreadful  forebodings.  Ou  the  one  hand, 
we  were  menaced  with  a  civil  war,  which,  light- 
ing up  in  a  single  State,  might  spread  its  flames 
throughout  one  of  the  largest  sections  of  the 


as  snatched  from 
last  session ;  but 
Secretary  of  the 
it  it  is  understood 
that  a  tariff  for 
ally  abandoned.' 
ic  progress  of  in- 
le  scarcely  a  vcs- 
nt  and  its  policy 
lofiMarch,  1829, 
re  than  equal  to 
ablish  our  liber- 
been  transformed 
he  worst  of  all 

aithful  picture  of 
)ublic  affairs.  It 
to  excite,  here  or 
I  have  no  such 
trary,  implore  the 
■d  all  passion  and 
y  but  resolutely 
constitution  and 
g  into  the  Senate 
the  same  firm  de- 
guided  me  in  the 
he  defence  of  our 
e  prospect  before 
liliation  and  pro- 

mfortunate  symp- 

ge  proportion  of 

of  the  Union,  of 

.iments  of  despon- 

a  feeling  of  dis- 
;  the  community, 
crtain  serious  ap- 
,d  our  institutions 
rerthrow.  Sir,  I 
dcnce  of  the  coun- 
luch  occasion  for 
triotic  vigor,  but 
I,  we  are  yet  free ; 
ivhich  are  forging 

deserve  to  wear 
pair  of  the  repub- 
3n  capable  of  sur- 
di  ignoble  seuti- 
nd  our  liberties 
ved.  The  winter 
gloomiest  periods 
,s  day,  fifty-seven 
ountry  achieved  a 
ed  joy.  and  glad- 
hout  the  States, 
since  he  has  gone 
1  the  dispensation 
md,  in  reserve  for 
•!,  some  sure  and 
pending  dangers. 
Itist  year,  we  Ts-ere 
On  tlie  one  hand, 
war,  which,  light- 
;  spread  its  flames 
it  eections  of  the 


ANKO  1833.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


Union.  On  the  other,  a  cherished  system  of 
policy,  essential  to  the  successful  prosecution 
of  tiie  industry  of  our  countrymen,  was  exjiosed 
to  imminent  danger  of  destruction.  Means  were 
happily  applied  by  Congress  to  avert  both  ca- 
lamities, the  country  was  reconciled,  and  our 
Union  once  more  became  a  band  of  fi-iends  and 
brothers.  And  I  shall  be  greatly  disappointed 
if  we  do  not  find  those  who  were  denounced  as 
being  unfriendly  to  the  continuance  of  our  con- 
fedeiaoy,  among  the  foremost  to  fly  to  its  pre- 
servation, and  to  resist  all  ex'ecutive  encroach- 
ments. 

^  "Mr.  President,  when  Congress  adjourned  at 
the  termination  of  the  last  session,  there  was 
one  remnant  of  its  powers— that  over  the  purse 
—left  untouched.      The  two  most  important 
powers  of  civil  government  are  those  of  the 
sword  ami  purse  ;  the  first,  with  some  restric- 
tions, is  confided  by  the  constitution  to  the 
Executive,  and  the  last  to  the  legislative  depart- 
ment.   If  they  are  separate,  and  exercLscd  by 
different  responsible  departments,  civil  liberty 
is  safe ;  but  if  they  are  united  in  the  hands  of 
the  same  individual, '  it  is  gone.     That  clear- 
sighted and  revolutionary  orator  and  patriot 
Patricli  Henry,  justly  said,  in  the  Virginia  con- 
vention, in  reply  to  one  of  his  opponents,  'Let 
him  candidly  tell  me  where  and  when  did  free- 
dom exist,  when  the   swf)rd  and  purse  were 
given  up  from  the  people  ?     Unless  a  miracle 
in  human  aflairs  interposed,  no  nation  ever  re-  ■ 
tallied  its  liberty  after  the  loss  of  the  sword  ' 
and  the  purse.     Can  you  prove,  by  any  argu- 
mentative deduction,  that  it  is  possible  to  be 
safe  without  one  of  them  ?    If  you  give  them 
up,  you  are  gone.' 

"Up  to  the  period  of  the  termination  of  the  ' 
ast  session  of  d^rrviins,  the  exclusive  consti- 
tutional povver  of  Congress  over  the  treasury 
01  the  Lnited  States  had  never  been  contested 
Among  Its  earliest  acts  was  one  to  establish" 
he  treasury  department,  which  provided  for 
the  appointment  of  a  treasurer,  who  was  re- 
quired to  give  bond  and  security,  in  a  vi  -v 
?I:T""i'*.°  Jf„^_«^- -IH-P  t5- mone/s 


403 


-r\- 


of  the  Lnited  States,  and  disburse  the  same 
upon  warrants  drawn  by  the  Secretary  of  the  ' 
treasury   countersigned  by  the  Comptroller  '< 
recorded  by  the  Register,  and  not  otherwise'', 
J'il   TT^f  establishment  of  the  present  Bank 
ot  the  United  States,  no  treasury  or  place  had  ' 
k  Pnif  "''r'^.t'*  '''.'^.^''Snated  by  law  for  the  safe 
^vTul  ?   I  -^  P"^*"'  "'^"''y^'  J^ut  the  treasurer 
was  left  to  his  own  discretion  and  responsibili- 

if;.n«.  ^^^.^'[''*^°S  bank  was  established, 
Vf  provided  that  the  public  moneys  should 
be  deposited  with  it,  and,  consequently,  that 
W  u-w  ""  *^'  ^'■'"^"'■y  °f  the  United  States; 
Wi  nrii,'''"""  |s  designated  by  law  for  the 
Keeping  of  the  public   money  of  the  United 

S"ff  ^-^^  ."^'■\°*"  th"^  t^«»«»'-er  «f  the 
surv  It  11'/''  ^"^  ^^"^  ^^'^  h^'»g'  the  trea- 
Sf  aFo  •  ?  */  '^'''  '^'■''^"  'n  question  by  the 
thief  Magistrate,  and  an  agent  was  appointed 


a  little  more  than  a  year  ago  to  investigate  it.s 
ability.  lie  reported  to  the  Executive  that  it 
was  perfectly  safe.  His  apprehensions  of  its 
soluhty  were  communicated  by  the  President 
to  Congress,  and  a  committee  was  appointed  to 
examine  the  subject ;  they,  also,  reported  in  fa- 
vor of  Its  security.  And,  finally,  among  the 
last  acts  of  the  II<,use  of  Representatives  prior 
to  the  close  of  the  last  session,  was  the  adop- 
tion of  .a  resolution,  manifesting  its  entire  con- 
fidence in  the  ability  and  solidity  of  the  bank. 

After  all  these  testimonies  to  the  perfect 
safety  of  the  public  moneys  in  the  place  ap- 
pointed by  Congress,  who  could  have  supposed 
that  the  place  would    have    been    chanr-ed  ? 
Who  could  have  imagined  that,  within  sixty 
days  of  the  meeting  of  Congress,  and,  as  it 
w-ere,  m  utter  contem'      if  its  authority,  the 
change    should    have    fteen    ordered?      Who 
would  have  dreamed  that  the  treasurer  should 
have  thrown  away  the  single  key  to  the  trea- 
sury, over  which  Cfmgress  held  ample  control 
and  accepted,  in  lieu  of  it,  some  dozens  of  keys' 
over  which  neither  Congress  nor  he  has  any 
adequate  control  ?    Yet,  sir,  all  this  has  been 
fionc ;  and  it  is  now  our  solemn  duty  to  inquire 
J    o^  ''■  l?^*"  authority  it  has  been  ordered 
and    2d.  ^\  hether  the  order  has  been  given  in 
conformity  with  the  constitution  and  laws  of 
the  United  States. 

"I  agree,  sir,  and  I  am  very  happy  whenever 
1  can  agree  with  the  President,  as  to  the  im- 
mense importance  of  these  questions.     He  savs 
in  the  paper  which  I  hold  in  my  hand,  that  he 
looks  upon  the  pending  question  as  involving 
higher  considerations  than  the 'mere  transfer 
of  a  sum  of  money  from  one  bank  to  another 
Its  decision  may  affect  the  character  of  our 
government  for  ages  to  come.'    And,  with  him 
1  view  it  as  'of  transcendent  importance,  botli 
in  the  principles  and  the  consequences  it  in- 
volves.    It  IS  a  question  of  all  time,  for  pos- 
terity as  well  as  for  us— of  constitutional  gov- 
ernment or  monarchy— of  liberty  or  slavery. 
As  I  regard  it,  I  hold  the  bank  as  nothing,  as 
perfectly  insignificant,  faithful  as  it  has  been  in 
the  performance  of  all  its  duties.      I  hold  a 
sound  currency  as  nothing,  essential  as  it  is  to 
the  prosperity  of  every  branch,  of  business,  and 
to  all  conditions  of  society,  and  eflScient  as  the 
agency  of  the  bank  has  beer  in  ..roviding  the 
country  with  a  t  jrrency  as  so      '  is  ever  exist- 
ed, and  unsurpassed  by  any  in  t    .  .stendom      I 
conside   .vt    the  public  faith,  sabred  vio- 

lable  as  it  ever  should  be,  as  comp... 
nothing.  All  these  questions  are  mergpt. 
the  greater  and  mightier  question  of  the  consti- 
tutional distribution  of  the  powers  of  the  gov- 
ernment, as  aftected  by  the  recent  executive  in- 
novation. The  real  inquiry  is,  shall  all  the 
barriers  which  have  been  erected  by  the  cau- 
tion and  wisdom  of  our  ancestors,  for  the  pues- 
ervation  of  civil  liberty,  be  prostrated  and  trod- 
den under  foot,  and  the  sword  and  the  purse  be 
at  once  united  in  the  hands  of  one  man  ?    Shall 


404 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


E'   > 


!' 


11 

1J! 


.  'i 


\i 


r  i\ 


U  !l 


the  power  of  Congress  over  the  treasury  of  the 
Unitefl  States,  hitherto  never  contested,  be 
wrested  from  its  possession,  and  be  hencefor- 
ward wiehled  by  the  Cliicf  Magistrate?  En- 
tertaining tliese  views  of  ti»e  magnitude  of  the 
question  before  us,  I  shall  not,  at  least  to-day, 
examine  the  reasons  which  the  President  has 
assigned  for  his  act.  If  he  has  no  power  to 
perform  it.  no  reason.-*,  however  cogent,  can 
justify  the  deed.  None  can  sanctify  an  illegal 
or  unconstitutional  act. 

"The  question  is,  by  virtue  of  whose  will, 
power,  dictation,  was  the  removal  of  the  de- 
posits ell'ected  ?  By  whose  authority  and  de- 
termination were  they  transferred  from  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  where  they  were 
required  by  the  law  to  be  placed,  and  put  in 
banks  which  the  law  had  never  designated  ? 
And  I  tell  gentlemen  opposed  to  me,  that  I  am 
not  to  be  answered  by  the  exhibition  of  a 
formal  order  bearing  the  signature  of  II.  B. 
Taney,  or  any  one  else.  I  want  to  know,  not 
the  amanuensis  or  clerk  who  prepared  or  sign- 
ed the  official  form,  but  the  authority  or  the 
individual  who  dictated  or  commanded  it ;  not 
the  hangman  who  executes  the  culprit,  but  the 
tribunal  which  pronounced  the  sentence.  I 
want  to  know  that  power  in  the  government, 
that  original  and  controlling  authority,  which 
requii'ed  and  commanded  the  removal  of  the 
deposits.  And,  I  repeat  the  question,  is  there 
a  senator,  or  intelligent  man  in  the  whole  coun- 
try, who  entertains  a  solitary  doubt  ? 

"Hear  what  the  President  himself  says  in 
his  manifesto  read  to  his  cabinec:  'The  Presi- 
dent deems  it  his  duty  to  communicate  in  this 
manner  to  his  cabinet  the  final  conclusions  of 
his  own  mind,  and  the  reasons  on  which  they 
are  founded.'  And,  at  the  conclusion  of  this  pa- 
per, what  does  he  say  ?  '  The  President  again 
repeats  that  he  begs  his  cabinet  to  consider  the 
proposed  measure  as  his  own,  in  the  support  of 
which  he  shall  require  no  one  of  them  to  make 
a  sacrifice  of  opinion  or  principle.  Its  respon- 
sibility has  been  assumed,  after  the  most  ma- 
ture deliberation  and  reflection,  as  necessary  to 
preserve  the  morals  of  the  people,  the  freedom 
of  the  press,  and  the  purity  of  the  elective  fran- 
chise, without  which  all  will  unite  in  saying 
that  the  blood  and  treasure  expended  by  our 
forefathers,  in  the  establishment  of  our  happy 
system  of  government,  will  have  been  vain  and 
fruitless.  Under  these  convictions,  he  feels 
that  a  measure  so  important  to  the  American 
people  cannot  be  commenced  too  soon ;  and  he 
therefore  names  the  1st  day  of  October  next  as 
a  period  proper  for  the  change  of  the  deposits, 
or  sooner,  provided  the  necessary  arrangements 
with  the  State  banks  can  be  made.'  Sir,  is 
there  a  senator  here  who  will  now  tell  me  that 
the  removal  was  not  the  measure  and  the  act 
of  the  President  ? 

"Thus  is  it  evident  that  the  President, neither 
by  the  act  creating  the  treasury  department, 
nor  by  the  bank  charter,  has  any  power  over 


the  public  treasury.  Has  lie  anv  by  the  con- 
stitution ?  None,  none.  We  have  already 
seen  that  the  constitution  positively  forbids 
any  money  fiom  being  drawn  from  the  treasu- 
ry but  in  virtue  of  a  previous  act  of  appropria- 
tion. But  the  President  himself  says  that 
'upon  him  has  been  devolved,  by  the  constitu- 
tion, and  the  suffrages  of  the  American  people 
the  duty  of  superintending  the  opeiution  of  the 
execuli\e  departments  of  the  government,  and 
seeing  that  the  laws  are  faithfully  executed.' 
If  there  existed  any  such  double  source  of  exe- 
cutive power,  it  has  been  seen  that  the  treasury 
department  is  not  an  executive  department ;  but 
that,  in  all  that  concerns  the  public  treasury 
the  Secretary  is  the  agent  or  representative  0/ 
Congres.s,  acting  in  obedience  to  tlieir  will,  and 
maintaining  a  direct  intercourse  with  them.'  By 
what  authority  does  the  President  derive  power 
from  the  mere  result  of  an  election  ?  In  another 
part  of  this  same  cabinet  paper  he  refers  to  the 
suffrages  of  the  people  as  a  source  of  power 
independent  of  a  system  in  which  power  has 
been  most  carefully  separated,  and  distributed 
between  three  separate  and  independent  de- 
partments. We  have  been  told  a  thousand 
times,  and  all  experience  assures  us,  that  such 
a  division  is  indispensable  to  the  existence  and 
preservation  of  freedom.  We  have  established 
and  designated  offices,  and  appointed  officers  in 
each  oftho.se  departments,  to  execute  the  duties 
respectively  allotted  to  them.  The  President, 
it  is  true,  presides  over  the  whole  ;  specific  du- 
ties are  often  assigned  by  particular  law.^  to 
him  alone,  or  to  other  officers  under  his  super- 
intendence. His  parental  eye  is  presumed  to 
survey  the  whole  extent  of  the  system  in  all 
its  movements  ;  but  has  he  power  to  come  into 
Congress,  and  to  say  such  laws  only  shall  you 
pass ;  to  go  into  the  courts,  and  prescribe  the 
decisions  which  they  may  pronounce  ;  or  even 
to  enter  the  offices  of  administration,  and,  where 
duties  are  specifically  confided  to  those  officers, 
to  substitute  his  will  to  their  duty  ?  Or,  has 
he  a  right,  when  those  functionaries,  deliberat- 
ing upon  their  own  solemn  obligations  to  the 
people,  have  moved  forward  in  their  assigned 
spheres,  to  arrest  their  'awful  progress,  because 
they  have  dared  to  act  contrary  to  his  pleasure  1 
No,  sir;  iiOj  sir.  His  is  a  high  and  glorious 
station,  but  it  is  one  of  observation  and  super- 
intendence. It  is  to  see  that  obstructions  in 
the  forward  movement  of  government,  unla**^- 
fully  interposed,  shall  be  abated  by  legitimate 
and  competent  means. 

"  Such  are  the  powers  on  which  the  President 
relies  to  justify  his  seizure  of  <ho  treasury  of 
the  United  States.  I  have  examined  them,  one 
by  one,  and  they  all  fail,  utterly  fail,  to  bear  out 
the  act.  We  are  brought  irresistibly  to  the 
conclusions,  1st,  That  the  invasion  of  the  public 
treasury  has  been  perpetrated  by  the  removal 
of  one  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  who  would 
not  violate  his  conscientious  obligations,  and  by 
the  appointment  of  another,  who  stood  ready 


ANNO  1833.     ANDREW  JACKSON',  PRESIDENT. 


405 


to  subscribe  his  name  to  the  orders  of  the  Pres- 
ident; and,  2dly,  That  tiie  President  has  no 
color  of  authority  in  the  constitution  or  laws 
for  the  act  whicli  he  has  thus  caused  to  be  per- 
formed. 

"And  now  let  us  glance  at  some  of  the  tre- 
mendous con,sequences  which  may  ensue  from 
this  high-handed   measure.     If  the   President 
may,  in  a  case  in  which  the  law  has  assigned  a 
specific  duty  exclusively  to  a  designated  ofHccr, 
command  it  to  be  executed,  contrary  to  his  own 
judgment,  under  the  penalty  of  an  expulsion 
from  office,  and,  upon  his  refusal,  may  appoint 
some  obsecjuious  tool  to  perforin  the  required 
act,  where  is  the  limit  to  his  authority  ?    Has 
he  not  the  same  right  to  interfere  in  every  other 
case,  and  remove  from  office  all  that  he  can  re- 
move, who  hesitate  or  refuse  to  do  his  bidding 
contrary  to  their  own  solemn  convictions  of 
their  duty?    There  is  no  resisting  this  inevit- 
able conclusion.     Well,  then,  how  stands  the 
matter  of  the  public  treasury  ?    It  has  been  seen 
that  the  issue  of  warrants  upon  the  treasury  is 
guarded  by  four  independent  and  hitherto  res- 
ponsible checks,  each  controlling  every  other 
and  all  bound  by  the  law,  but  all  holding  their 
offices,  according  to  the  existing  practice  of  the 
government,  at  the  pleasure  of  the  President. 
The  Secretary  signs,  the  Comptroller  counter- 
signs, the  Register  records,  and  the  Treasurer 
pays  the  warrant.     We   have  seen   that  the 
President  has  gone  to  the  first  and  highest  link 
in  the  chain,  and  coerced  a  conformity  to  his 
will.    What  is  to  prevent,  whenever  he  desires 
to  draw  money  from  the  public  treasury  his 
applying  the  same  penalty  of  expulsion,  under 
which  Mr.  Duane  sufiered.  to  every  link  of  the 
chain,  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  down 
and  thus  to    obtain  whatever  he  demands? 
What  IS  to  prevent  a  more  compendious  accom- 
plishment of  his  object,  by  the  agency  of  transfer 
drafts,  drawn  on  the  sole  authority  of  the  Sec- 
retary, and  placing  the  money  at  once  wherever 

"''<!  wl^^*^^'^''^^''  '^'^"^•'''  *'^^  ^'resident  pleases  i 
What  security  have  the  people  against  the 
awless  conduct  of  any  President?  Where  is 
the  boundary  to  the  tremendous  power  which 
he  has  assumed  ?  Sir,  every  barrier  around  the 
public  treasury  is  broken  down  and  annihilated. 
iTom  the  moment  that  the  President  pronounced 
the  words,  'This  measure  is  my  own:  I  take 
upon  myself  the  responsibility  of  it,'  every  safe- 
guard around  the  treasury  was  prostrated,  and 
henceforward  it  might  as  well  be  at  the  Hermit- 
age Ihe  measure  adopted  by  the  President  is 
^   hout  precedent.    I  beg  pardon-there  is  one ; 

mlrfTnf  .*^^"'"  ^^''^^°  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Christian  era.    It  will  be  recollected 

tnr,Af /'r° '^J^^  *^"'^^'^''^^°t  with  Roman  his- 

\Jk    I'  after  Pompey  was  compelled  to  retire 

to  Jirundusium,  Cjesar.  who  had  boon  anxious 

redulln  r/'i  ^>''"^''  '"i"™^'^  *«  Rome,  'having 
'  n  Sv  f  ^'    'rl'  *^^  venerable  biographer, 

d  y  of  t^.?^'~'^*^%"-?^^  P''""^  betwien  the 
aay  of  the  removal  of  the  deposits  and  that  of 


the  commencement  of  the  present  session  of 
Congress,  without  the  usual  allowance  of  any 

''u^j.*'^,P'^'^*'J~'"  ■'-'^ty  days,  without  blood- 
shed.     The  biographer  proceeds : 

"  'Finding  the  city  in  a  more  settled  condition 
than  he  expected,  and  many  senators  there,  ho 
addressed  them  in  a  mild  and  gracious  manner 
[as  the  President  addressed  his  late  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury],  and  desired  them  to  send  depu- 
ties to  Pompey  with  an  offer  of  honorable  tc.    is 
of  peace,'  &c.    As  Metellus,  the  tribune,  opposed 
his  taking  money  out  of  the  public  treasury,  and 
cited  some  laws  against  it— [such.  Sir,  I  suppose, 
as  I  have  endeavored  to  cite  on  this  occasion]— 
Caesar  said  '  Arms  and  laws  do  not  flourish  to- 
gether.    If  you  :.re  not  pleased  at  what  I  am 
about,  you  have  ouly  to  withdraw.     [Leave  the 
office,  Mr.  Duane  !]     War,  indeed,  will  not  tole- 
rate much  liberty  of  speech.     When  I  say  thi.s, 
1  am  renouncing  my  own  right ;  for  you,  and 
all  those  whom  I  have  found  exciting  a  spirit  of 
faction  against  me,  are  at  my  disposal.'     Having 
said  this,  he  ajiproached  the  doors  of  the  trea- 
sury and,  as  the  keys  were  not  produced,  he 
sent  for  workmen  to  break  them  open.    Metellus 
again  opposed  him,  and  gained  credit  with  some 
for  his  firmness  ;  but  Caesar,  with  an  elevated 
voice,  threatened  to  put  him  to  death  if  he  gave 
him  any  further  trouble.     '  And  you  know  veiy 
well,  young  man,'  said  he,  '  that  this  is  harder  for 
nrie  to  say  than  to  do.'     Metellus,  terrified  by 
the  menace,  retired ;  and  Cassar  was  afterwards 
easily  and  readily  supplied   with  every  thing 
necessary  for  that  war. 

"Mr.  President  (said  Mr.  C.)  the  people  of 
the  United  States  are  indebted  to  the  President 
for  the  boldness  of  this  movement ;  and  as  one 
among  the  humblest  of  them,  I  profess  my  ob- 
ligations to  him.  He  has  told  the  Senate,  in  his 
message  refusing  an  official  copy  of  his  cabinet 
paper,  that  it  has  been  published  for  the  infor- 
mation of  the  people.  As  a  part  of  the  people,  the 
Senate,  if  not  in  their  official  character,  have  a 
right  to  its  use.  In  that  extraordinary  paper 
he  has  proclaimed  that  the  measure  is  his  own 
and  that  he  has  taken  upon  himself  the  respon- 
sibility of  it.  In  plain  English,  he  has  proclaimed 
an  open,  palpable  and  daring  usurpation  ! 

"  For  more  than  fifteen  years,  Jfr.  President 
I  have  been  struggling  to  avoid  the  present  state 
of  things.  I  thought  I  perceived,  in  some  pro- 
ceedings, during  the  conduct  of  the  Seminole 
war,  a  spirit  of  defiance  to  the  constitution  and 
to  all  law.  With  what  sincerity  and  truth— 
with  what  earnestness  and  devotion  to  civil 
liberty,  I  have  struggled,  the  Searcher  of  all  hu- 
man hearts  best  knows.  With  what  fortnne, 
the  bleeding  constitution  of  my  country  now 
fatally  attests. 

"  I  have,  nevertheless,  persevered ;  and,  under 
every  discouragement,  during  the  short  time 
that  I  expect  to  remain  in  the  public  councils, 
I  will  persevere.  And  if  a  bountiful  Providence 
would  allow  an  unworthy  sinner  to  approach 
the  throne  of  grace,  I  would  beseech  Him,  as 


III 


'"• 


if'' I 


\  !'' 


406 


THTRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


1^ 


.  1  ill ' 


the  greatest  favor  lie  coukl  grant  to  nic  here 
below,  to  spare  me  until  1  live  to  behold  the 
people,  risin}^  in  their  majesty,  with  a  peaceful 
and  constitutional  exercise  of  their  power,  to 
expel  the  Goths  from  Rome;  to  rescue  the 
public  treasury  from  pilla-io,  to  preserve  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States ;  to  uphold  the 
Union  ap;ainst  the  danger  of  the  concentration 
and  consolidation  of  all  power  in  the  hands  of 
the  Executive ;  and  to  sustain  the  liberties  of 
the  people  of  tliis  country  afiain.-t  the  imminent 
perils  to  which  they  now  stand  exposed. 

"And  now,  Mr.  Pivsident,  what,  under  all 
these  circumstances,  is  it  our  duty  to  do  ?  Is 
there  a  senator  who  can  hesitate  to  affirm,  in 
the  language  of  the  resolutions,  that  the  Pres- 
ident has  assumed  a  dangerous  power  over  the 
treasury  of  the  United  States,  not  granted  to 
him  by  the  constitution  and  the  laws ;  and  that 
the  reasons  assigned  for  the  act  by  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury  are  insufficient  and  unsa- 
tisfactory ? 

"  The  eyes  and  the  hopes  of  the  American 
people  are  anxiously  turned  to  Congress.  They 
feel  that  they  have  "been  deceived  and  insulted; 
their  confidence  abused ;  their  interests  betray- 
ed ;  and  their  liberties  in  uanger.  They  see  a 
rapid  and  alarnrag  coaccniration  of  all  power 
in  one  man's  hands.  They  see  that,  by  the  ex- 
ercise of  the  positive  authority  of  the  Executive, 
and  his  negative  power  exerted  over  Congress, 
the  will  of  one  man  alone  prevails,  and  governs 
the  republic.  The  question  is  no  longer  what 
laws  will  Congress  pass,  but  what  will  the  Ex- 
ecutive not  veto  1  The  President,  and  not 
Congress,  is  addressed  for  legislative  action. 
We  have  seen  a  corporation,  charged  with  the 
execution  of  a  great  national  work,  dismiss  an 
experienced,  faithful,  and  zealous  president,  af- 
terwards testify  to  his  ability  by  a  voluntary 
resolution,  and  reward  his  extraordinary  services 
by  a  large  gratuity,  and  appoint  in  his  place  an 
executive  favorite,  totally  inexperienced  and  in- 
competent, to  propitiate  the  President.  We 
behold  the  usual  incidents  of  approaching  tyran- 
ny. The  land  is  fdled  witli  spies  and  informers, 
and  detraction  and  denunciation  are  the  orders 
of  the  day.  People,  especially  official  incumbents 
in  this  place,  no  longer  dare  speak  in  the  fearless 
tones  of  manly  freemen,  but  in  the  cautious 
whispers  of  trembling  slaves.  The  premonitory 
symptoms  of  despotism  are  upon  us ;  and  if 
Congress  do  not  apply  an  instantaneous  and 
effective  remedy,  the  fatal  coUajJse  will  soon 
come  on,  and  we  shall  die — ignobly  die — base, 
mean,  and  abject  slaves ;  the  scorn  and  con- 
tempt of  mankind ;  unpitied,  unwept,  unmourn- 
ed!» 


CHAPTER   C. 

MU.  BENTON'S  SPEECH  IN  IlEPLY  TO  UIX.  C  .AT- 
EXTEACT3. 

Mr.  Clay  had  spoken  on  thrco  successive  days 
being  the  last  days  of  the  year  1 833.  Mr.  Ben- 
ton followed  him, — and  seeing  the  advantage 
which  was  presented  in  the  character  of  tlie 
resolve,  and  that  of  the  speech  in  support  of  it,  ail 
bearing  the  imi)ress  of  acriminal  procc  eding,  with- 
out other  result  than  to  procure  a  sentence  of  con- 
demnation against  the  President  for  violutingthe 
laws  and  the  constitution,  endangering  the  pul> 
lie  liberty  and  establishing  a  tyranny,— he  took 
up  the  proceeding  in  that  sense ;  iind  immedi- 
ately turned  all  the  charges  against  the  resolu- 
tion itself  and  its  mover,  as  a  usurjjation  of  the 
rights  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in 
originating  an  impeachment,  and  a  violation  of 
law  and  constitution  in  trying  it  ea;  parte;  and 
said: 

"  The  first  of  these  resolutions  contained  im- 
peachable matter,  and  was  in  fact,  though  not 
in  form,  a  direct  impeachment  of  the  President 
of  the  United  States.  He  recited  the  constitu- 
tional provision,  that  the  President  might  be 
impeached — 1st,  for  treason;  2d,  for  bribery; 
3d,  for  high  crimes ;  4th,  for  misdemeanors ; 
and  said  that  the  first  resolution  charged  botli 
a  high  crime  and  a  misdemeanor  upon  the  Presi 
dent ;  a  high  crime,  in  violating  the  laws  and 
constitution,  to  obtain  a  power  over  the  public 
treasure,  to  the  danger  of  the  liberties  of  tlie 
people ;  and  a  misdcJaeanor,  in  dismissing  the 
late  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  from  office.  Mr. 
B.  said  that  the  terms  of  the  resolution  were 
sufficiently  explicit  to  define  a  high  crime,  with- 
in the  meaning  of  the  constitution,  without  hav- 
ing recourse  to  the  arguments  and  declarations 
used  by  the  mover  in  illustration  of  his  mean- 
ing ;  but,  if  any  doubt  remained  on  that  head, 
it  would  bo  removed  by  the  whole  tenor  of  the 
argument,  and  especially  that  part  of  it  which 
compared  the  President's  conduct  to  that  of 
Cajsar,  in  seizing  the  public  treasure,  to  aid  him 
in  putting  an  end  to  the  liberties  ot  his  country ; 
and  every  senator,  in  voting  upon  it,  would  vote 
as  directly  upon  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the 
President,  as  if  he  was  responding  to  the  ques- 
tion of  guilty  or  not  guilty,  in  the  concluding 
sentence  of  a  formal  impeachment. 

"  We  are,  then,  said  Mr.  B.,  trying  an  im- 
peachment !  But' how  ?  The  constitution  gives 
to  the  House  of  Representatives  the  sole  power 
to  originate  impeachments  ;  yet  we  originate 
this  impeachment  ourselves.  The  constitution 
gives  the  accused  a  right  to  be  present;  but  he 


Vi 


ANNO  1884.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


407 


LY  TO  UVL.  C  AT- 


B.   trying  an  im- 


ig  not  hero.  It  requires  the  Senate  to  be  sworn 
as  judpi'H ;  but  we  are  not  so  sworn.  It  re- 
quiit'S  tlie  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States  to 
preside  wlien  the  President  is  tried ;  but  the 
Ciiief  Justice  is  not  presiding.  It  gives  the 
House  of  Representatives  a  riglit  to  be  present, 
and  to  manage  the  prosecution ;  but  neither  the 
House  nor  its  managers  arc  here.  It  requires 
tlie  forms  of  criminal  justice  to  be  strictly  ob- 
served ;  yet  all  these  forms  are  neglected  and 
vioirtted.  It  is  a  proceeding  in  which  the  First 
Mftgi-trateof  the  republic  is  to  be  tried  without 
being  heard,  and  in  which  his  accusers  are  to 
act  as  his  judges  ! 

"  Mr.  B.  called  upon  the  Senate  to  consider 
WL'U  what  they  did  before  they  proceeded  fur- 
ther in  the  consideration  of  this  resolution.  He 
called  upon  them  to  consider  what  was  due  to 
the  House  of  Representatives,  whose  privilege 
was  invaded,  and  who  had  a  right  to  send  a 
message  to  the  Senate,  complaining  of  the  pro- 
ceeding, and  demanding  its  abandonment.  He 
conjured  them  to  consider  what  was  due  to  the 
President,  who  was  thus  to  be  tried  in  his  ab- 
sence for  a  most  enormous  crime ;  whfit  was 
due  to  the  Senate  itself,  in  thus  combining  the 
incompatible  characters  of  accusers  and  judges, 
and  which  would  itself  be  judged  by  Europe 
and  America.  lie  dwelt  particularly  on  the 
figure  which  the  Senate  would  make  in  going 
on  with  the  consideration  of  this  resolution.  It 
accused  tlie  President  of  violating  the  constitu- 
tion; and  itself  committed  twenty  violations  of 
the  same  constitution  in  making  the  accusa- 
tion !  It  accused  him  of  violating  a  single  law, 
and  itself  violated  all  the  laws  of  criminal  jus- 
tice in  prosecuting  him  for  it.  It  charged  him 
with  designs  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the 
citizens,  and  immediately  trampled  upon  the 
rights  of  all  citizens,  in  the  person  of  their 
Chief  Magistrate. 

"Mr.  B.  descanted  upon  the  extraordinary 
organization  of  the  Senate,  and  drew  an  argu- 
ment from  it  in  favor  of  the  reserve  and  deco- 
rum of  their  proceedings.  The  Senate  were 
lawgivers,  and  ought  to  respect  the  laws  already 
made ;  they  were  the  constitutional  advisers  of 
the  President,  and  should  observe,  as  nearly  as 
possible,  the  civil  relations  which  the  office  of 
adviser  presumes  ;  they  might  be  his  judges,  and 
should  be  the  last  in  the  world  to  stir  up  an  ac- 
cusation against  him,  to  prejudge  his  guilt,  or  to 
attack  Ins  character  with  defamatory  language. 
Decorum,  the  becoming  ornament  of  every  fimc- 
tionary,  should  be  the  distinguishing  trait  of  an 
American  senator,  who  combines,  in  his  own 
office,  the  united  dignities  of  tlie  executive,  the 
legislative,  and  the  judicial  character.  In  his 
judicial  capacity  especially,  he  should  sacrifice 
to  decorum  and  propriety ;  and  shun,  as  he 
would  the  contagions  touch  of  sin  and  pesti- 
lence, the  slightest  approach  to  the  character  of 
prosecutor.  lie  referred  to  British  parliamen- 
tary law  to  show  that  the  Lords  could  not  join 
m  an  accusation,  because  they  were  to  try  it ; 


but  here  the  Senate  was  sole  accuser,  and  had 
nothing  from  the  House  of  Representatives  to 
join  ;  but  made  the  accusation  out  and  out,  and 
tried  it  theniselves.  He  said  the  accusation 
was  a  double  one — for  a  high  crime  and  a  mis- 
demeanor— and  the  latter  a  more  flagrant  pro- 
ceeding than  the  former ;  for  it  assumed  to 
know  for  what  cause  the  President  had  dis- 
missed his  late  Secretary,  and  luidcrtook  to  try 
the  President  for  a  thing  which  was  not  triable 
or  impeachable. 

"  From  the  foundation  of  the  government,  it 
had  been  settled  that  the  President's  right  to 
dismiss  his  secretaries  resulted  from  his  consti- 
tutional obligation  to  see  that  the;  laws  were 
faithfully  executed.  Many  Presidents  had  dis^ 
mis.scd  secretaries,  and  this  was  the  first  time 
that  the  Senate  had  ever  undertaken  to  found 
an  impeachment  upon  it,  or  had  assumed  to 
know  the  reasons  for  which  it  was  done. 

"Mr.  B.  said  that  two  other  impeachments 
seemed  to  be  going  on,  at  the  same  time,  against 
two  other  officers,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
and  the  Treasurer ;  so  that  the  Senate  was  brim- 
ful of  criminal  business.  The  Treasurer  and 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  weie  both  civil 
officers,  and  were  both  liable  to  impeachment 
for  misdemeanors  in  office ;  and  great  misdemea- 
nors were  charged  upon  them.  Thej'  were,  in 
fact,  upon  trial,  without  the  formality  of  a  reso- 
lution ;  and,  if  hereafter  impeached  by  the  House 
of  Representatives,  the  Senate,  if  they  believed 
what  they  heard,  would  be  ready  to  pronounce 
judgment  and  remove  them  from  office,  without 
delay  or  further  examination. 

"Mr.  B.  then  addressed  himself  to  the  Vice- 
President  (Mr.  Van  Buren),  upon  the  novelty 
of  the  scene  which  was  going  on  before  him,  and 
the  great  change  which  had  taken  place  since 
he  had  served  in  the  Senate.  He  commended 
the  peculiar  delicacy  and  deconnn  of  the  Vice- 
President  himself,  who,  in  six  years'  service,  in 
high  party  times,  and  in  a  decided  opposition, 
never  uttered  a  word,  either  in  open  or  secret 
session,  which  could  have  wounded  the  feefings 
of  a  political  adversary,  if  he  had  been  present 
and  heard  it.  He  extolled  the  decorum  of  the 
opposition  to  President  Adams'  administration. 
If  there  was  one  brilliant  exception,  the  error  was 
redeemed  bj'  classic  wit,  and  the  heroic  readiness 
with  which  a  noble  heart  bared  its  bosom  to  the 
bullets  of  those  who  felt  aggrieved.  Still  ad- 
dressing himself  to  the  Vice-President.  Mr.  B. 
said  that  if  ho  should  receive  some  hits  in  the 
place  where  he  sat,  without  the  right  to  reply, 
he  must  find  consolation  in  the  case  of  his  most 
illustrious  predecessor,  the  great  apostle  of  Ame- 
rican liberty  (Mr.  Jefferson),  who  often  told  his 
friends  of  the  manner  in  which  he  had  been  cut 
at  when  presiding  over  the  Senate,  and  person- 
.nlly  annoyed  by  the  inferior — r.'.>,  jT-ung  and 
inconsiderate — members  of  the  federal  party. 

"Mr.  B.  returned  to  the  point  in  debate.  The 
President,  he  repeated,  was  on  trial  for  a  high 
crime,  in  seizing  the  pubfic  treasure  in  violation 


408 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


of  the  laws  and  tho  constitution.  Was  the 
chargo  true  ?  Does  tlie  act  wliicli  ho  lias  done 
deserve  the  definition  which  has  been  put  upon 
it?  llo  liad  made  up  his  own  mird  that  tlie 
pubUc  deposits  ()Uf!;ht  to  bo  removed  from  tlie 
liank  of  the  United  States.  lie  communicated 
that  opinion  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Tieasury  ; 
the  Secretary  refused  to  remove  them ;  the  Pre- 
sident removed  him,  and  a|)pointed  a  Secretary 
who  gave  llie  order  which  he  thoui;ht  the  occa- 
sion recjuired.  All  tliis  ho  did  in  virtue  of  his 
constitutional  oblij^ation  to  sec  the  laws  faith- 
fully executed;  and  in  obedience  to  the  same 
sense  of  duty  which  would  lead  him  to  dismiss 
a  Secretary  of  War,  or  of  tho  Navy,  who  would 
refuse  to  j|,ive  an  order  for  troops  to  march,  or  a 
fleet  to  sail.  True,  it  is  made  the  duty  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  direct  tho  removal 
of  the  deposits ;  but  the  constitution  makes  it 
the  duty  of  the  President  to  see  that  the  Secre- 
tary performs  his  duty  ;  and  the  constitution  is 
as  nmch  above  law  as  the  President  is  above  the 
Secretary. 

"  The  President  is  on  tri.il  for  a  misdemeanor 
— for  dismissing  his  Secretary  without  sufficient 
cause.  To  this  accusation  there  are  ready  an- 
swers :  first,  that  the  President  may  dismiss  his 
Secretaries  without  cause;  secondly,  that  the 
Senate  has  no  cognizance  of  the  case ;  thirdly, 
that  the  Seniite  cannot  assume  to  l.now  for 
what  cause  the  Secretary  in  question  was  dis- 
missed. 

"  Tho  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  on  trial. 
In  order  to  get  at  the  President,  it  was  found  ne- 
cessary to  get  at  a  gentleman  who  had  no  voice 
on  this  floor.  It  had  been  found  necessary  to 
assail  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  in  a  man- 
ner heretofore  unexampled  in  the  history  of  the 
Senate.  His  religion,  his  politics,  his  veracity, 
his  understanding,  his  Missouri  restriction  vote, 
had  all  been  arraigned.  Mr.  B.  said  he  would 
leave  his  religion  to  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States,  Catholic  as  ho  was,  and  although 
'the  Presbyterian  might  cut  off  his  head  the 
first  time  he  went  to  mass;'  for  he  could  see 
no  other  point  to  the  anecdote  of  Cromwell  and 
the  capitulating  Catholics,  to  whom  he  granted 
the  free  exercise  of  their  religion,  only  he  would 
cut  off  their  heads  if  they  went  to  mass.  His 
understanding  he  would  leave  to  himself.  Tho 
head  which  could  throw  the  paper  which  was 
taken  for  a  stone  on  this  floor,  but  which  was, 
in  fact,  a  double-headed  chain-shot  fu-ed  from  a 
forty-eight  pounder,  carrying  sails,  masts,  rig- 
ging, all  before  it,  was  a  head  that  could  take 
care  of  itself.  His  veracity  would  be  adjourned 
to  the  trial  which  was  to  take  place  for  mis- 
quoting a  letter  of  Secretary  Crawford,  and  he 
had  no  doubt  would  end  as  the  charge  did  for 
suppressing  a  letter  whicli  was  printed  in  cx- 
tenso  among  our  documents,  and  withholding 
the  naiiiu  and  compeii.->aliuii  of  an  agent ;  when 
that  name  and  the  ftict  of  no  compensation  was 
lying  ou  the  table.  The  Secretary  of  the  Trea- 
Bury  was  arraigned  for  some  incidental  vote  on 


tho  Missouri  restriction,  when  he  w.i8  a  member 
of  the  Maryland  legislature.  Mr.  B.  did  not 
know  what  that  vote  was  ;  but  he  did  know  timt 
a  certain  gentleman,  who  lately  stood  in  the  re- 
lation of  sergeant  to  another  pentleinun,  in  a 
certain  high  election,  was  the  leader  of  the  forces 
which  deforced  Missouri  of  her  place  in  the 
Union  for  the  entire  session  which  ho  ilv.st  at- 
tended (not  served)  in  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States.  His  politics  could  not  be  severe- 
ly tried  in  the  time  of  the  alien  and  sedition 
law,  when  he  w.as  scarce  of  age ;  but  were  well 
tried  di.ring  the  late  war,  when  he  sided  with 
his  country,  and  received  the  constant  denuncia- 
tions of  that  great  organ  of  federalism,  the  Fede- 
ral Republican  nowspajjor.  Foi-  tho  rest,  Jlr. 
B.  admitted  that  tho  Secretary  had  voted  for 
tho  elder  Adams  to  bo  Presideni  of  the  United 
States,  but  denied  the  right  of  certain  persons 
to  make  that  an  objection  to  him.  Mr.  B.  dis- 
missed these  personal  charges,  for  the  present 
and  would  adjourn  their  consideration  until  his 
(Mr.  Taney's)  trial  came  on,  for  which  the  sen- 
ator from  Kentucky  (Mr.  Clay),  stood  pledged; 
and  after  the  trial  was  over,  he  had  no  doubt 
but  that  the  Secretary  of  tho  Treasury,  although 
a  Catholic  and  o  federalist,  would  be  found  to 
maintain  his  station  in  the  first  rank  of  Ameri- 
can gentlemen  and  American  patriot's. 

"  Mr.  B.  took  up  the  serious  charges  against 
the  Secretary :  that  of  being  the  mere  instru- 
ment of  the  President  in  removing  the  deposits, 
and  violating  the  constitution  anil  laws  of  vi.e 
land.  How  far  ho  was  this  mere  instrument, 
making  up  his  mind,  in  three  days,  to  do  what 
others  would  not  do  at  all,  might  be  judged  by 
ever}'  person  who  would  I'cfer  to  the  oiiposition 
papers  for  the  division  in  the  cabinet  about  tiie 
removal  of  the  deposits;  and  which  constantly 
classed  Mr.  Taney,  then  the  Attorney  General, 
on  the  side  of  removal.  This  classification  was 
correct,  and  notorious,  and  ought  to  exempt  an 
honorable  man,  if  any  thing  could  exempt  him, 
from  the  imputation  of  being  a  mere  instrument 
in  a  great  transaction  of  which  he  was  a  prime 
counsellor.  The  fact  is,  he  had  long  since,  in  his 
character  of  legal  adviser  to  tho  President,  ad- 
vised the  removal  of  these  deposits ;  and  when 
suddenly  and  imexpectedly  called  upon  to  take 
the  oflice  which  would  make  it  his  duty  to  act 
upon  his  own  advice,  he  accepted  it  from  the 
single  sense  of  honor  and  duty ;  and  that  he 
might  not  seem  to  desert  the  President  in  flinch- 
ing from  the  perfonnance '  of  what  he  had  re- 
commended. Ills  personal  honor  was  clean ;  his 
personal  conduct  magnanimous ;  his  official  deeds 
would  abide  the  test  of  law  and  truth. 

"  Mr.  B.  said  he  would  make  short  work  of 
long  accusations,  and  demolish,  in  three  minutes, 
what  had  been  concocting  for  three  months,  and 
delivering  for  three  days  in  the  Senate.  He 
would  call  the  attention  of  the  Senate  to  certain 
clauses  of  law,  and  certain  treasury  instructions 
which  had  been  left  out  of  view,  but  which 
were  decisive  of  the  accusation  against  the  So- 


ANNO  1884.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


409 


crctnry, 
charter 


The  first  was  tho  clauso  in  tho  bank 
wliich  invested  the  Secretary  with  the 
„„v.  .  -'  triinsferrinf;  the  public  funds  from  pluce 
to  pliice.  It  was  tlie  l.'ith  section  of  tho  char- 
ter: liL'  would  read  it.  It  enacted  that  when- 
ever rt'fiuircd  by  tho  .Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
the  biinlv  MJiould  ^ive  tho  necessary  facilities  for 
transferrint:  the  public  funds  from  place  to  place, 
within  the  United  States,  or  territories  thereof; 
and  for  distributing  tho  mt\\t  in  piiyment  of  the 
public  creditors,  Ac. 

"Here  is  authority  to  the  Secretary  to  trans- 
fer the  public  moneys  from  place  to  place,  limit- 
ed only  by  the  bounds  of  the  United  States  and 
its  territories ;  and  this  clauso  of  three  lines  of 
law  puts  to  lli;;ht  all  tho  nonsens*  about  the 
United  States  Bank  being  the  treasury,  and  the 
Treasurer  beiujj;  tho  keeper  of  the  public  moneys, 
with  which  some  politicians  and  newspaper  wri- 
ters have  been  worrying  their  brains  for  the  last 
three  months.  In  virtue  of  this  clause,  tho  Se- 
cretary of  tho  Treasury  gave  certam  transfer 
drafts  to  the  amount  of  two  millions  and  a  quar- 
ter; and  his  legal  right  to  give  the  draft  was 
just  as  clear,  untler  this  clause  of  the  bank  char- 
ter, as  his  right  to  remove  the  deposits  was  un- 
der another  clause  of  it.  The  transfer  is  made 
by  draft ;  a  payment  out  of  tho  ti'easury  is  made 
upon  a  warrant ;  and  the  difl'erence  between  a 
transfer  draft  anil  a  treasury  warrant  was  a  thing 
necessary  to  be  known  by  every  man  who  aspired 
to  the  oflice  of  illuminating  a  nation,  or  of  con- 
ducting a  criminal  prosecution,  or  even  of  under- 
standing what  he  is  talking  about.  They  have 
no  relation  to  each  other.  The  warrant  takes 
the  money  out  of  the  treasury :  the  draft  trans- 
fers it  from  point  to  point,  for  the  purpose  of 
making  payment :  and  all  this  attack  upon  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  simply  upon  the 
blunder  of  mistaking  the  draft  for  the  warrant. 

"  The  senator  from  Kentucky  calls  upon  the 
people  to  rise,  and  drive  the  Goths  from  the 
Capitol.  Who  are  those  Goths  ?  They  are 
General  Jackson  and  the  democratic  party, — 
he  just  elected  President  over  the  senator  him- 
self, and  tho  party  just  been  made  the  majority 
in  the  House — all  by  tho  vote  of  the  people.  It 
is  their  act  that  has  put  these  Goths  in  posses- 
sion of  the  capitol  to  the  discomfiture  of  the 
senator  and  his  fiicnds ;  and  ho  ought  to  be 
quite  sure  that  he  felt  no  resentment  at  an  event 
so  disastrous  to  his  hopes,  when  he  has  indulged 
himself  with  so  much  license  in  vituperating 
those  whom  the  country  has  put  over  him. 

"  The  senator  from  Kentucky  says  the  eyes 
and  tho  hopes  of  the  country  are  now  turned 
upm  Congress.  Yes,  Congress  is  his  word, 
and  I  hold  him  to  it.  And  what  do  they  see  ? 
They  see  one  House  of  Congress — the  one  to 
which  the  constitution  gives  the  care  of  the 
purse,  and  the  origination  of  impeachments,  and 
which  !R  frc-h  fmm  the  popular  elections  t  they 
see  that  body  with  a  majority  of  above  fifty  in 
favor  of  the  President  and  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  and  approving  the  act  which  "the  sen- 


ator condenms.  They  see  that  pnpidar  appro- 
bation in  looking  atone  branch  of  (Jongrcss, and 
the  one  charged  by  the  constitution  with  tho 
inquisition  into  federal  grievances.  In  the  other 
branch  they  see  a  body  far  removc<l  fi'om  the 
pfojile,  neglecting  its  proper  duties,  seizing  upon 
those  of  another  branch,  converting  itself  into  a 
grand  in(iuest,  and  trying  oU'enccs  which  itself 
prefers ;  uiul  in  a  spirit  which  bespeaks  a  zeal 
(luickencd  by  the  sting  of  jjcrsonal  montiflca- 
tion.  lie  says  tho  country  feels  itself  deceived 
and  betraye(f— insulted  and  wronged — its  liber- 
ties endangered — and  the  treasury  robbed  :  the 
representatives  of  the  people  in  the  other  House, 
say  tho  reverse  of  .dl  this — that  the  President 
has  saved  tho  country  from  the  corrupt  domin- 
ion of  a  great  corrupting  bank,  b^^  taking  away 
from  her  the  public  money  which  she  was  using 
in  bribing  tho  press,  subsidizing  members,  pur- 
chivsing  tho  venal,  and  installing  herself  in  su- 
premo political  power. 

"  The  senator  wishes  to  know  what  wc  are  to 
do?  What  is  our  duty  to  do?  I  answer,  to 
keep  ourselves  within  our  constitutional  duties 
— to  leave  this  impeachment  to  the  House  of 
Representatives — leave  it  to  tho  House  to  which 
it  belongs,  and  to  those  who  have  no  private 
griefs  to  avenge — and  to  judges,  each  of  whom 
should  retire  from  the  bench,  if  he  happened  to 
feel  in  liis  heart  the  spirit  of  a  prosecutor  in- 
stead of  a  judge.  The  Senate  now  tries  Gene- 
ral Jackson  ;  it  is  subject  to  trial  itself — to  be 
tried  by  tho  people,  and  to  have  its  sentence 
reversed." 

Tho  corner-stone  of  Mr.  Clay's  whole  argu- 
ment was,  that  tho  Bank  of  the  United  States 
was  the  treasury  of  the  United  States.  This 
was  his  fundamental  position,  and  utterly  un- 
founded, and  shown  to  be  so  by  the  fourteenth 
article  of  what  was  called  the  constitution  of 
the  bank.  It  was  the  article  which  provided 
for  the  establishment  of  branches  of  the  mother 
institution,  and  all  of  which  except  the  branch 
at  Washington  city,  wore  to  bo  employed,  or 
not  employed,  as  tho  directors  pleased,  as  de- 
positories of  the  public  money  ;  and  conse- 
quently were  not  made  so  by  any  law  of  Con- 
gress.   The  article  said  : 

"  The  directors  of  said  corporation  shall  es- 
tablish a  competent  office  of  discount  and  de- 
posit in  the  District  of  Columbia,  whenev  cr  any 
law  of  the  United  States  shall  require  such  an 
establishment ;  also  one  such  office  of  discount 
and  deposit  in  any  State  in  which  two  thousand 
shares  shall  have  been  subscribed,  or  may  be 
held,  whenever,  upon  application  of  the  legisla- 
ture of  ouch  St.atc,  CnngresR  may,  by  law.  re- 
quire the  same :  Provided,  The  directors  afore- 
said shall  not  be  bound  to  establish  such  office 
before  the  whole  of  the  capital  of  the  bank  shall 


M'V 


'■H- 


'  I.. 


410 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


lil 


havo  been  paid  up.  Ami  it  shall  \h>  lawful  for 
the  (liri-ctors  of  the  Hnid  corporation  to  ivstahlinh 
offlcos  of  (liscoiiiitniid  di'iiosit  whcri'MocviT  tlioy 
■hall  think  fit,  within  tl'o  United  Stuton  or  thi- 
tcrritoric'M  thcnof,  to  cich  fwrHons,  and  under 
Buch  regulations,  as  th  -v  nliall  deem  proper,  not 
being  contmry  to  law,  ur  tlu;  constitution  of  the 
bank.  Or,  instead  of  establishiiiK  hucIi  ofHcos, 
It  Hhall  ho  lawful  for  tho  directors  of  tlie  said 
corporation,  from  time  to  time,  to  employ  any 
other  bank  or  banks,  to  In;  first  approved  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  at  any  place  or  places 
that  they  may  deem  safe  and  proper,  to  mauajre 
and  transact  th  •  business  proposed  as  aforesaid, 
other  than  for  the  purposes  of  discount,  to  be 
managed  and  transacted  by  such  officers,  under 
BUch  aRreements,  and  subject  to  such  regula- 
tions, as  they  shall  deem  just  and  proper. 

"  Mr.  B.  went  on  to  remark  u|)on  this  article, 
that  it  placed  the  establishment  of  but  one  branch 
in  the  reach  or  power  of  Congress,  and  that  one 
was  m  the  District  of  Columbia— in  a  district  of 
ten  miles  scpiare— leaving  the  vast  extent  of 
twenty-four  States,  and  thive  Territories,  to  ob- 
tam  branches  for  themselves  upon  contingencies 
not  dependent  upon  the  will  or  power  of  Con- 
gress ;  or  requiring  her  necessities,  or  even  her 
convenience,  to  be  taken  into  the  account.  A 
law  of  Congress  could  obtain  a  branch  in  this 
district;  but  with  respect  to  every  State,  the 
establishment  of  the  branch  depended,  first,  upon 
the  mere  will  and  pleasure  of  the  lank  ;  and 
secondly,  upon  the  double  contingency  of  a  sub- 
scription, and  a  legislative  act,  within  the  State. 
If  then,  the  mother  bank  does  not  think  fit,  for 
its  own  advantage,  to  establish  a  branch  ;  or,  if 
the  people  of  a  State  do  not  acquire  2,000  shares 
of  the  stock  of  the  bank,  and  the  legislature 
therefore,  demand  it,  no  branch  will  be  estab- 
lished in  any  State,  or  any  Territory  of  the 
Union.  Congress  can  only  require  a  branch,  in 
any  State,  after  two  contingencies  have  happened 
in  the  State;  neither  of  them  having  the  slight- 
est reference  to  the  necessities,  or  even  conve- 
nience, of  the  federal  jovemment. 

"Here,  then,  said  Mr.  B.,  is  the  Treasury 
established  for  the  United  States !  A  Treasury 
which  is  to  have  an  existence  but  at  the  will  of 
the  bank,  or  the  will  of  a  State  let'islature,  and 
a  few  of  Its  citizens,  enough  to  owr.  2,000 shares 
of  stock  worth  $100  a  share !  A  Treasury 
which  Congress  has  no  hand  in  establishing,  and 
cannot  preserve  after  it  is  established  ;  for  the 
mother  bank,  after  establishing  her  branches, 
may  bhut  them  up,  or  withdraw  them.  Such  a 
thing  has  already  happened.  Branches  in  the 
West  have  been,  some  shut  up,  some  withdrawn ; 
and,  in  these  cases,  the  Treasury  was  broken  up, 
according  to  the  new-fangled  conception  of  a  na- 
tional Treasury.  No  !  said  Mr.  B.,  the  Federal 
bank  is  no  more  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States  than  the  State  banks  are.  One  is  just  as 
uiuuii  the  Treasury  as  ihe  other ;  and  naade  so 
by  this  very  14th  fundamental  article  of  the 
constitution  of  the  bank.    Look  at  it !    Look  at 


the  alti-niativc !     Where  bninchen  nm  „«« 
tabliHlu.1,  the  State ba..ks  axxtXZZ   u 
"The  Bank  of  the  Ignited  Stlte/in     Ti'''. 
the  State  bank  ;  the  Secretary  o?  UhT^;::* 
IS  to  approve  the  solcction  ;  m,hI  ifj,,.  Z.    ' 
the  State   bank  so   selected  and  so  n.J   vS' 
becon,es  the  keeper  of  th,-  ,,ublic  num^!^^ 
becomes  the  de,K>sitory  of  the  ,,„bli,.  niU 
It  transfers  them;   it  nays  them  ....t ;  it   £ 
every  thuig  except  .maU-  discounts  for  the  2l 
ther  bank  and  issue  notes  ;  it  dens  evervth  « 
which  the  fedeml  government  wants  done    3 
that  IS  nothmg  but  what  a  bank  of  d.posit .  ' 
do.     1  ho  government  makes  no  ( lioice  betwiin 
State  banks  and  |)ranch  hanks.    Thev  im.  ,, 
one  to  her.     They  stand  e.pml  in  h.r  eve.;th  J 
stand  equal  m  the  charter  of  the  bank  itself-  ami 
the  horror  that  has  now  bn.ken  out  a-Minst  tlJ 
State  banks  is  a  thing  of  recent  cnception-ft 
very  modem  impulsion  ;  which  is  lobiikcd  ami 
condemned  by  the  very  authority  to  wliich  it 
traces  its  source.     Mr.  B.  said,  the  State  banks 
were  ju.st  as  much  made  the  fe(U.nil  tieasurv  bv 
the  bank  charter,  as  the  United  States  Bank 
Itself  was:  and  that  was  .sufficient  to  annihilate 
the  argument  which  now  sets  up  the  fwlml 
bank  for  the  federal  treasury.     But  the  fact  was 
that  neither  was  made  the  Tieasnvy ;  and  it 
would  be  absurd  to  entertain  such  an  idea  fo 
an  instant ;  for  the  federal  bank  may  siirifiulcr 
her  charter,  and  C(  ise  to  exist— it  cm  do  so  at 
any  moment  it  pleases— the  State  bank.^  may 
expire  upon   their  limitation ;   they  may  sur- 
render; they  may  bo  dissolved  in  many  ways 
and  so  cease  to  exist ;  and  then  there  would  be 
"?  J''T'""^'  •     ^V'>at  an  idea,  that  thj existence 
of  the  Ireasury  of  this  givat  republic  is  to  de- 
pend, not  upon  itself,  but  uix)n  corporations 
which  may  cease  to  exist,  on  any  day,  by  their 
own  will,  or  their  own  crimes." 


The  debates  on  this  subject  brought  out  the 
conclusion  that  the  treasury  of  the  United  States 
had  a  legal,  not  a  material  existence— that  the 
Treasurer  having  no  buildings,  and  keefHirs,  to 
hold  the  public  moneys,  resorted  (when  the 
treasury  department  was  first  established),  to 
the  collectors  of  the  revenue,  leaving  the  money 
in  their  hands  until  drawn  out  for  the  public 
service— which  was  never  long,  as  th  i  revenues 
were  then  barely  adequate  to  meet  the  daily 
expenses  of  the  government ;  afterwards  to  the 
first  Bank  of  the  United  States— then  to  local 
banks ;  again  to  the  second  bank ;  and  now 
again  to  local  >)ank8.  In  all  these  cases  the 
keepers  of  the  public  moneys  were  nothing  but 
keepers,  being  the  mere  agents  of  the  Secretary 
oi  uic  treasuijf  Ui  uoiiimg  tiie  moneys  which  iiu 
had  no  means  of  holding  himself.  From  these 
discussions  came  the  train  of  ideas  which  led  to 


ANNO  1884.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


411 


Jilt  estiibliMliment  of  the  iiuU'iu-ndfiit  trcnuury 
—that  in  to  say,  to  tho  crt'utioii  of  ofliccrs,  and 
th«  erection  of  bnildingH,  to  liolJ  tho  |»iiblic 
moneyi*. 


CHAPTER    CI. 

CONDEMNATION  OV  PKESIDKNT  JACK80N-MB. 
CALllOlJN'e)  BI'EKCU-KXTUACTB. 

It  was  foreseen  at  tlio  time  of  tlie  coalition  be- 
tween Mr.  Calhoun  ami  Mr.  Clay,  in  which  they 
came  together — a  conjunction  of  tho  two  political 
poles — on  the  subject  of  the  tariff,  and  laid  it 
away  for  a  term  to  include  twj  presidential 
electlonst— that  the  effect  would  be  (even  if  it 
was  not  the  design),  to  bring  thcni  togetlwr  ujion 
all  other  subjects  against  General  Jackso/u  This 
expectation  was  not  disappointed.  Early  in  tho 
debate  on  Mr.  Clay's  condemnatory  resolution, 
Mr,  Calhoun  took  the  floor  in  its  sujjport ;  and 
did  Mr.  Clay  tho  honor  to  adopt  his  leading 
ideas  of  a  revolution,  and  of  a  robbery  of  the 
treasury.  He  itot  only  agreed  that  we  were  in 
the  middle  of  a  revolution,  but  also  asserted,  by 
way  of  consolation  to  those  who  loved  it,  that 
revolutions  never  go  backwards — an  aphorism 
destined,  in  this  case,  to  be  deceived  by  the  event. 
In  the  pleasing  anticipation  of  this  aid  from  Mr. 
Calhoun  and  his  friends,  Mr.  Clay  had  com- 
placently intimated  the  expectation  of  this  aid 
iu  lii  opening  speech;  and  in  tlmt  intimation 
there  was  no  mistake.  Mr.  Calhoun  responded 
to  it  tlms : 

"The  Senator  from  Kentucky  [Mr.  Clay]  an- 
ticipates with  confidence  that  the  small  party, 
who  were  denounced  at  tho  last  session  as  trai- 
tors and  disunionists,  will  be  found,  on  this 
trying  occasion,  standing  in  the  front  rank,  and 
manfully  resisting  the  advance  of  despotic  power. 
I  (said  Mr.  C.)  heard  the  anticipation  with  plea- 
sure, not  on  account  of  tho  complinu  i,i  which  it 
implied^  but  the  evid-nce  which  it  atlords  that 
the  cloud  w  hich  has  been  so  indusi  riously  thrown 
over  the  character  and  motive  of  thi.t  small  but 
patriotic  party  begins  to  be  dissipated.  The  Se- 
nator hazarded  nothing  in  the  prcdiclion  That 
party  is  the  determined,  the  fixed,  and  sworn 
enemy  to  usurpation,  come  from  what  quarter 
and  under  what  form  it  may— whether  from  the 
executive  upon  the  other  der>artments  of  thip, 
govornment,  or  from  this  government  on  the 
sovereignty  and  rights  of  the  States.  Tho  reso- 
lution and  fortitude  with  which  it  maintained  its 


position  at  th<>  last  Hesiiion.  under  mo  many  diffl- 
cultieH  and  dangers,  in  nifence  of  the  Statcn 
against  the  encroachmonts  of  the  general  go- 
veninient,  liirnished  evidence  not  to  be  mistaken, 
that  that  party,  in  the  present  momentous 
Ktruirgle,  would  be  found  armyed  in  defence  of 
tho  rights  of  Congress  againut  the  eticroach- 
ments  of  the  President.  An<l  let  me  fell  tho 
8cnat.>r  from  Kenlucky  (said  Mr.  ('.)  that,  if 
tho  present  struggle  against  executive  usuipa- 
tion  be  successful,  it  will  be  owing  to  the  success 
with  which  we,  tne  nullifiers — I  am  not  afraid 
of  the  word — maintained  the  rights  of  the  Slates 
against  tho  encroachment  of  the  general  govern- 
ment at  the  last  session." 

This  assurance  of  aid  was  no  sooner  given 
than  complied  with.  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  all  his 
friends  came  immediately  to  the  Hiipi)ort  of  tho 
resolution,  and  even  exceeded  their  author  in 
their  zeal  against  the  President  and  his  Secre- 
tary. Notwithstanding  the  private  grief  which 
Mr.  Calhoun  hud  against  General  Jackson  in 
tho  affair  of  the  "  correspondence ''  and  tho 
"exposition" — the  contents  of  which  latter 
were  well  known  though  not  published — and 
notwithstanding  every  person  was  obliged  to 
remember  that  grief  while  Mr.  Calhoun  was 
assailing  the  General,  and  alleging  patriotism 
for  the  motive,  and  therefore  expected  that  it 
should  have  imposed  a  reserve  upon  him ;  yet, 
on  the  contrary  he  was  most  personally  bitter, 
and  used  language  which  would  be  incredible, 
if  not  found,  as  it  is,  in  his  revised  reports  of 
his  i)eeches.  Thus,  in  enforcing  Mr.  Clay's 
idea  of  a  robbery  of  tlie  treasury  after  the  man- 
ner of  Julius  Caesar,  he  said : 

"  The  senator  from  Kentucky,  in  connection 
with  this  part  of  his  argument,  read  a  striking 
passage  from  one  of  the  most  pleasing  and  in- 
structive writers  in  any  langnagc  [Plutarch] 
the  description  of  Caesar  forcing  himself,  sword 
in  hand,  into  the  treasury  of  the  Roman  common- 
wealth. We  are  at  the  same  stage  of  our  poli- 
tical revolution,  and  the  analogy  between  the 
two  cases  is  complete,  varied  only  by  the  char- 
acter of  the  actors  and  the  circumstances  of  the 
times.  That  was  a  case  of  an  intrepid  and  bold 
warrior,  as  an  open  plunderer,  seizing  forcibly 
the  treasury  of  the  country,  which,  in  that  re- 
public, as  well  as  ours,  was  confined  to  the  cus- 
tody of  the  legislative  department  of  the  govern- 
ment. ,  The  actors  in  our  case  are  of  a  different 
character — artful,  cunning,  and  corrupt  poli- 
ticians, and  not  fearless  warriors.  They  have 
entered  tho  treasury,  not  ^word  in  hand,  as  pub- 
lic plunderers,  but,  with  the  false  keys  of  soph- 
istry, is  pilferers,  under  the  silence  of  midnight. 
The  motive  and  the  object  are  the  same,  varied 


ml 


'■:  I, 


••#1 


■    r« 

i" 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


in  like  nmiincr  by  circumstances  and  character. 
VVith  money  I  will  get  men,  and  with  men 
money,'  was  the  maxim  of  tlie  Roman  plunderer 
With  money  we  will  get  partisanr,,  with  partisans 
votes,  and  with  votes  money,  is  the  maxim  of  our 
public  pdforcis.  With  men  and  money  Cwsar 
struck  do\yn  Koman  liberty,  at  the  fatal  battle 
ot  1  harsaha,  never  to  rise  again ;  from  which  dis- 
astrous hour  all  the  powers  of  the  Roman  repub- 
lic were  consolidated  in  tho  person  of  Ca3sar,and 
perpetuated  in  his  line.  With  money  and  cor- 
rupt partisans  a  great  cflbrt  is  now  making  to 
choke  and  stifle  the  voice  of  American  liberty 
through  all  its  natural  organs ;  by  corrupting 

j^«^^**'  V  overawing  the  other  departments'; 
and,  finall}^,  by  setting  up  a  new  and  polluted 
organ,  composed  of  office-holders  and  corrupt 
partisans,  under  the  name  of  a  national  conven- 
tion, which,  counterfeiting  the  voice  of  the  people, 
will,  if  not  resisted,  in  their  name  dictate  the 
succession ;  when  the  deed  will  be  done,  the  re- 
volution be  completed,  and  all  the  powers  of  our 
republic,  in  like  manner,  be  consolidated  in  the 
rresideut,  and  perpetuated  by  his  dictation." 

On  the  subject  of  the  revolution,  "bloodless 
as  yet,"  in  the  middle  of  which  wo  were  engaged, 
and  which  was  not  to  go  backwards,  Mr?  Cal- 
houn said : 


Viewing  the  question  in  its  true  light,  as  a 
struggle  on  the  part  of  the  Executive  to  seize  on 
the  power  of  Congress,  and  to  unite  in  the  Pre- 
sident the  power  of  the  sword  and  the  purse  the 
senator  from  Kentucky  [Mr.  Clay]  said  truly 
and,  let  me  add,  philosophically,  that  we  are  m 
the  midst  of  a  revolution.  Yes,  the  very  exis- 
tence of  free  governments  rests  on  the  proijer 
distribution  and  organization  of  power ;  and  to 
destroy  this  distribution,  and  thereby  concentrate 
power  in  any  one  of  the  departments,  is  to  effect 
a  revolution.  But  while  I  agree  with  the  sen- 
ator that  we  are  in  the  midst  of  a  revolution  I 
cannot  agree  with  him  as  to  the  time  at  which 
It  commenced,  or  the  point  to  which  it  has  pro- 
gressed. Looking  to  the  distribution  of  the 
powers  of  the  general  government,  into  the  leg- 
islative, executive,  and  judicial  departments,  and 
conhning  his  views  to  the  encroachment  of  the 
executive  upon  the  legislative,  he  dates  the  com- 
mencement of  the  revolution  but  sixty  days 
previous  to  the  meeting  of  the  present  Congress. 
I  (said  Mr.  C.)  take  a  wider  range,  and  date  it 
from  an  earlier  period.  Besides  the  distribution 
among  the  departments  of  the  general  govern- 
ment, there  belongs  to  our  system  another,  and 
a  far  more  important  division  or  distribution  of 
power— that  between  the  States  and  the  general 
government,  the  reserved  and  delegated  rights 
the  maintenance  of  which  is  still  more  essential  to 
the  prcsLTvation  of  our  institutions.  Taking  this 
wide  view  of  our  political  system,  the  revolu- 
tion, in  tiie  midst  of  which  we  are,  began,  not  as 
supposed  by  the  seiiator  from  Kentucky,  shortly 


before  the  commencement  of  the  present  session 
but  many  years  ago,  with  the  commencement  o? 
tiie  restrictive  system,  and  terminated  its  (i,«f 
stage  with  the  passage  of  the  force  bill  of  th' 
last  session,  which  absorbed  all  the  richts  inH 
sovereignty  of  the  States,  and  consoldated'tliem 
in  this  government.  Whilst  this  process  waR 
going  on,  of  absorbing  the  reserved  powers  of 
the  States,  on  the  part  of  the  general  government 
another  commenced,  of  concentrating  in  the  ex' 
ecutive  the  powers  of  the  other  two^the  Wit 
lative  and  judicial  departments  of  the  gov^n 
ment ;  which  constitutes  the  second  stage  of  tho 
revolution,  in  which  we  have  advanced  almost 
to  the  termination." 

Mr.  Calhoun  brought  out  in  this  debate  the 
assertion,  in  which  he  persevered  afterwards  un- 
til it  produced  the  quarrel  in  the  Senate  between 
himself  and  Mr.  Clay,  that  it  was  entirely  owing 
to  the  military  and  nullifying  attitude  of  South 
Carolina  that  the  "  compromise  "  act  was  passed 
and  that  Mr.  Clay  himself  would  have  been 
prostrated  in  tho  attempt  to  compromise.  He 
thus,  boldly  put  forward  that  pretension : 

"To  the  interposition  of  the  State  of  South 
Carolina  we  are  indebted  for  the  adjustment  of 
the  tariff  question;  without  it,  all  the  influence 
of  the  senator  from  Kentucky  over  the  manu- 
fiicturing  intercst,  great  as  it  deservedly  is,  would 
have  been  wholly  incompetent,  if  he  had  even 
thought  proper  to  exert  it,  to  adjust  the  ques- 
tion. The  attempt  would  have  prostrated  him 
and  those  who  acted  with  him,  and  net  the  sys- 
tem. It  was  the  separate  action  of  the  State 
that  gave  him  the  place  to  stand  upon,  created 
the  necessity  for  the  adjustment,  and  disposed 
the  minds  of  all  to  compromise." 


The  necessity  of  his  own  position,  and  the  in- 
dispensability  of  Mr.  Calhoun's  support,  restrain- 
ed Mr.  Clay,  and  kept  him  quiet  under  this 
cutting  taunt;  but  he  took  ample  satisfaction 
for  it  some  years  later,  when  the  triumph  of 
General  Jackson  in  the  "  expunging  resolution," 
and  the  decline  of  their  own  prospects  for  the 
Presidency,  dissolved  their  coalition,   and  re- 
mitted them  to  their  long  previous  antagonistic 
feelings.    But  there  was  anotherpoint  in  which 
Jlr.  Calhoun  intelligibly  indicated   what  was 
fully  believed  at  the  time,  namely,  that  the  basis 
of  the  coalition  which  ostensibly  had  for  its  ob- 
ject the  reduction  of  the  tariff,  was  in  reality  a 
political  coalition  to  act  against  General  Jackson, 
.and  tn  tlie  success  of  which  it  was  essential  that 
their  own  great  bone  of  contention  was  to  be  laid 
aside,  and  kept  out  of  the  way,  while  the  coali- 
tion was  in  force.    It  was  to  enable  them  to 


ANNO  1834.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


413 


an,  and  the  in- 


unite  thoir  forces  against  the  "encroachments 
and  corruptions  of  the  Executive"  that  the  tariff 
was  then  laid  away ;  and  although  the  removal  of 
the  deposits  was  not  then  foreseen,  as  the  first 
cccftsion  for  this  conjunction,  yet  there  could 
have  been  no  failure  of  finding  occasions  enough 
for  the  same  purpose  when  the  will  was  so 
etron" — as  subsequent  events  so  fully  proved. 
General  Jackson  could  do  but  little  during  the 
remainder  of  his  Presidency  which  was  not 
found  to  be  "  unconstitutional,  illegal,  corrupt, 
usurping,  and  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the 
people;"  and  as  such,  subject  to  the  combined 
attack  of  Mr.  Clay  and  Mr.  Calhoun  and  their 
respective  friends.  All  this  was  as  good  as 
told,  and  with  an  air  of  self-satisfaction  at  the 
foresight  of  it,  in  these  paragraphs  of  Mr.  Cal- 
houn's speech : 

"  Now,  I  put  the  solemn  question  to  all  who 
hear  me:  if  the  tariff  had  not  then  been  adjust- 
ed—if it  was  now  an  open  question — what  hope 
of  successful  resistance  against  the  usurpations 
of  the  Executive,  on  the  part  of  this  or  any 
other  branch  of  the  government,  could  be  enter- 
tained ?  Let  it  not  be  said  that  this  is  the  re- 
sult of  accident — of  an  unforeseen  contingency. 
It  was  clearly  perceived,  and  openly  stated,  that 
no  successful  resistance  could  be  made  to  the 
corruption  and  encroachments  of  the  Executive, 
while  the  tariff  question  remained  open,  while  it 
separated  the  North  from  the  South,  and  wasted 
the  energy  of  the  honest  and  patriotic  portions 
of  the  community  against  each  other,  the  joint 
effort  of  wliich  is  indispensably  necessary  to  ex- 
pel those  from  authority  who  are  converting 
the  entire  powers  of  government  into  a  corrupt 
electioneering  machine ;  and  that,  without  sepa- 
rate State  interposition,  the  adjustment  was  im- 
possible. The  truth  of  this  position  rests  not 
upon  the  accidental  state  of  things,  but  on  a 
profound  principle  growing  out  of  the  nature  of 
government,  and  party  struggles  in  a  free  State. 
History  and  reflect,"  on  teach  us,  that  when  great 
interests  come  into  conflict,  and  the  passions  and 
the  prejudices  of  men  are  aroused,  such  strug- 
gles can  never  be  composed  by  the  influence  of 
any  individuals,  however  great ;  and  if  there  be 
not  somewhere  in  the  system  some  high  consti- 
tutional power  to  arrest  their  progress,  and  com- 
pel the  parties  to  adjust  the  difference,  they  go 
on  till  the  State  falls  by  corruption  or  violence. 

"I  will  (said  Mr.  C.)  venture  to  add  to  these 
remarks  another,  in  connection  with  the  point 
under  consideration,  not  less  true.  We  are  not 
only  indebted  to  the  cause  which  I  have  stated 
for  our  present  .strength  in  this  body  r.gainst 
the  present  usurpation  of  the  Executive,  but  if 
the  adjustment  of  the  tariff  had  stood  alone,  as 
It  ought  to  have  done,  without  the  odious  bill 
which  accompanied  it— if  those  who  led  in  the 


compromise  had  joined  the  State-rights  party 
in  their  resistance  to  that  unconstitutional  meas- 
ure, and  thrown  the  responsibili  /  on  its  real 
authors,  the  administration,  their  party  would 
have  been  so  prostrated  throughout  the  entire 
South,  and  their  power,  in  consequence,  so  re- 
duced, that  they  would  not  have  dared  to  attempt 
the  present  measure;  or,  if  they  had,  they 
would  have  been  broken  and  defeated." 

Mr.  Calhoun  took  high  ground  of  contempt 
and  scorn  against  the  Secretary's  reasons  for 
removing  the  deposits,  so  far  as  founded  in  the 
misconduct  of  the  bank  directors — declaring 
that  he  would  not  condescend  to  notice  them — 
repulsing  them  as  intrusive — and  shutting  his 
eyes  upon  these  accusations,  although  heinous 
in  their  nature,  then  fully  proved ;  and  since 
discovered  to  be  far  more  criminal  than  then 
suspected,  and  such  as  to  subject  their  authors, 
a  few  years  afterwnrdh.  to  indictments  in  the 
Court  of  General  Sessions,  for  the  county  of 
Philadelphia,  for  a  "conspiracy  to  cheat  and 
defraud  the  stockholders ;" — indictments  on 
which  they  were  saved  from  jury  trials  by  be- 
ing "fiabeas  carpus' d"  out  of  the  custody  of 
the  sheriff  of  the  county,  who  had  arrested 
them  on  bench  warrants.  Mr.  Calhoun  thus 
repulsed  all  notice  of  these  accusations : 

"  The  Secretary  has  brought  forward  many 
and  grievous  charges  against  the  bank.  I  will 
not  condescend  to  notice  them.  It  is  the  con- 
duct of  the  Secretary,  and  not  that  of  the  bank, 
which  is  immediately  under  examination ;  and 
he  has  no  right  to  drag  the  conduct  of  the  bank 
into  the  issue,  beyond  its  operations  in  regard 
to  the  deposits.  To  that  extent  I  am  prepared 
to  examine  his  allegations  against  it;  but  be- 
yond that  he  has  no  right — no,  not  the  least — 
to  arraign  the  conduct  of  the  bank ;  and  I,  for 
one,  will  not,  by  noticing  his  charges  beyond 
that  point,  sanction  his  authority  to  call  its  con- 
duct in  question.  But  let  the  point  in  issue 
be  determined,  and  I,  as  far  as  my  voice  ex- 
tends, will  give  to  those  who  desire  it  the  means 
of  the  freest  and  most  unlimited  inquiry  into  its 
conduct." 

But,  while  supporting  Mr.  Clay  generally  in 
his  movement  against  the  President,  Mr.  Cal- 
houn disagreed  with  him  in  the  essential  aver- 
ment in  his  resolve,  that  his  removal  of  Mr. 
Duane  because  he  would  not,  and  the  appoint- 
ment of  Mr.  Taney  because  he  would,  remove 
them  was  a  usurpation  of  power.  Sir.  Calhoun 
held  it  to  be  only  an  "  abuse ;"  and  upon  that 
point  he  procured  a  modification  of  his  resolve 
fix>m  Mr.  Clay,  nothwithstanding  the  earnest- 


m     ,) 


h  't 


I 


SI         !    Jl 


!.r-  ¥ 


414 


THIRTY  TEARS'  VIEW. 


ness  of  his  speech  on  the  charge  of  usurpation. 
And  he  thus  stated  his  objection : 

"  But,  while  I  thus  severely  condemn  the  con- 
duct of  the  President  in  removing  the  former 
Secretary  and  appointing  the  present,  I  miist 
say,  that  in  my  opinion  it  is  a  case  of  the  abuse, 
and  not  of  the  usurpation  of  power.  I  cannot 
doubt  that  the  President  has,  under  the  consti- 
tution, the  right  of  removal  from  office ;  nor  can 
I  doubt  that  the  power  of  removal,  wherever  it 
exists,  does,  from  necessity,  involve  the  power 
of  general  supervision  ;  nor  can  I  doubt  that  it 
might  be  constitutionally  exercised  in  •  eference 
to  the  deposits.  Reverse  the  present  c;ise ;  sup- 
pose the  late  Secretarj-,  instead  of  being  against, 
had  been  in  favor  of  the  removal ;  and  that  the 
President,  instead  of  being  for,  had  been  against 
it,  deeming  the  removal  not  only  inexpedient, 
but,  under  circumstances  illegal ;  would  any 
man  doubt  that,  under  such  circumstances,  he 
had  a  right  to  remove  his  Secretary,  if  it  were 
the  only  means  of  preventing  the  removal  of  the 
deposits  1  Nay,  would  it  not  be  his  indispen- 
sable duty  to  have  removed  him  ?  and,  had  he 
not,  would  not  he  have  been  universally  and 
justly  held  responsible?" 

In  all  the  vituperation  of  the  Secretary,  as 
teing  the  servile  instrument  of  the  President's 
will,  the  members  who  indulged  in  that  species 
of  attack  were  acting  against  public  and  record- 
ed testimony.  Mr.  Taney  was  complying  with 
his  own  sense  of  public  duty  when  he  ordered 
the  removal.  lie  had  been  attorney-general 
of  the  United  States  when  the  deposit-removal 
question  arose,  and  in  all  the  stages  of  that 
question  had  been  in  favor  of  the  removal ;  so 
that  his  conduct  was  the  result  of  his  own  judg- 
ment and  conscience ;  and  the  only  interference 
of  the  President  was  to  place  him  in  a  situation 
where  he  would  carry  out  his  convictions  of 
duty.  Mr.  Calhoun,  in  this  speech,  absolved 
himself  from  ail  connection  with  the  bank,  or 
dependence  upon  it,  or  favors  from  it.  Though 
its  chief  author,  he  would  have  none  of  its  ac- 
commodations :  and  said : 

"I  am  no  partisan  of  the  bank;  I  am  con- 
nected with  it  in  no  way,  by  moneyed  or  politi- 
cal ties.  I  might  say,  with  truth,  that  the  bank 
owes  as  much  to  me  as  to  any  other  individual 
in  the  country ;  and  I  might  even  add  that,  had 
it  not  been  for  my  efforts,  it  would  not  have 
been  chartered.  Standing  in  this  relation  to 
the  institution,  a  high  sense  of  delicacy,  a  regard 
to  indeixjndence  and  character,  has  restrained 
me  from  any  connection  with  the  institution 
what  .ver,  exce[)t  some  trifling  accommodations, 
in  the  way  of  ordinary  business,  which  were 


not  of  the  slightest  importance  either  to  the 
bank  or  myself." 

Certainly  there  was  no  necessity  for  Mr.  Cal- 
houn to  make  this  disclaimer.  His  character 
for  pecuniary  integrity  placed  him  above  the 
suspicion  of  a  venal  motive.  His  errors  came 
fiom  a  different  source — from  the  one  that  Cae- 
sar thought  excusable  when  empire  was  to  be 
attained.  Mr.  Clay  also  took  the  opportunity 
to  disclaim  any  present  connection  with,  or  past 
favors  from  the  bank ;  and, 

"  Begged  permission  to  trespass  a  few  mo- 
ments longer  on  the  Senate,  to  make  a  state- 
ment concerning  himself  personally.  He  had 
heard  that  one  high  in  office  had  allowed  him- 
self to  assert  that  a  dishonorable  connection 
had  subsisted  between  him  (Mr.  C),  and  the 
Bank  of  tlio  United  States.  When  the  present 
charter  was  granted,  he  voted  for  it ;  and.  hav- 
ing done  so,  he  did  not  feel  himself  at  liberty 
to  subscribe,  and  he  did  not  subscribe,  for  a  sin- 
gle share  in  the  stock  of  the  bank,  altliough  he 
confidently  anticipated  a  great  rise  in  the  value 
of  the  stock.  A  few  years  afterwards,  during 
the  presidency  of  Mr.  Jones,  is  was  thought,  br 
some  of  his  friends  at  Philadelphia,  tsxpedient  to 
make  him  (Mr.  C),  a  director  of  th"  T*  -k  of 
the  United  States;  and  he  was  mad  i  "jtor 
without  any  consultation  with  hir  ■   that 

purpose  five  shares  were  purcha.seu  ftr  ,iini,  by 
a  friend,  for  which  he  (Jlr.  C),  afterwards  paid. 
When  he  ceased  to  be  a  director,  a  short  time 
subsequently,  he  disposed  of  thase  shares.  He 
docs  not  now  own,  and  has  not  for  many  years 
been  the  proprietor  of,  a  single  share. 

"  When  Mr.  Cheves  was  appointed  president 
of  the  bank,  its  affiiirs  in  the  States  of  Kentucky 
and  Ohio  were  in  great  disorder ;  and  his  (Mr. 
C.'s),  professional  services  were  engaged  during 
several  jears  for  the  bank  in  those  States.  He 
brought  a  vast  number  of  suits,  and  transacted 
a  great  amount  of  professional  business  for  the 
bank.  Among  other  suits  was  that  for  the  re- 
covery of  the  one  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
seized  under  the  authority  of  a  law  of  Ohio, 
which  he  carried  through  the  inferior  and  su- 
preme courts.  He  was  paid  by  the  bank  the 
usual  compensation  for  these  services,  and  no 
more.  And  he  ventured  to  assert  tuat  no  pro- 
fessional fees  were  ever  more  honest!}-  and  fair- 
ly earned.  Ho  had  not,  however,  been  the 
counsel  for  the  bank  for  upwards  of  eight  j'ears 
past.  lie  docs  not  owe  the  bank,  or  any  one 
of  its  branches,  a  solitary  cuut.  About  twelve 
or  fifteen  years  ago,  owing  to  the  failure  of  a 
highly  estimable  (now  deceased),  friend,  a  large 
amount  of  debt  had  been,  as  his  indors^er,  thrown 
n.non  him  ^Mr.  C).  and  it  was  pnnfip^iHy  due 
to  the  Banlc  of  the  United  States.  He  (Mr  C), 
established  for  himself  a  rigid  economy,  a  sinlc- 
ing  fund,  and  worked  hard,  and  paid  off  the  debt 


ANNO  1834.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIT)ENT. 


415 


ace  either  to  the 


long  since,  without  receiving  from  the  bank  the 
glightcst  favor.  Whilst  others  around  him 
were  discharging  their  debts  in  property,  at 
high  valuations,  he  periodically  renewed  his 
note  paying  the  discount,  until  it  was  wholly 
cxtingui'Shcd." 

But  it  was  not  every  member  who  could  thus 
absolve  himself  from  bank  connection,  favor,  or 
dependence.  The  list  of  congressional  bor- 
rowers, or  retainers,  was  large — not  less  than 
fifty  of  the  former  at  a  time,  and  a  score  of  the 
latter ;  and  even  after  the  failure  of  the  bank 
and  the  assignment  of  its  effects,  and  after  all 
possible  liquidations  had  been  effected  by  tak- 
ing property  at  "high  valuation,"  allowing 
largely  for  "professional  services,"  and  liberal 
resorts  to  the  " profit  and  loss"  account,  there 
remained  many  to  be  sued  by  the  assignees  to 
whom  tlieir  notes  were  passed ;  and  some  of 
such  early  date  as  to  be  met  by  a  plea  of  the 
statute  of  limitations  in  bar  of  the  stale  de- 
mand. Jlr.  Callioun  concluded  with  a  "  lift  to 
the  panic  "  in  a  reference  to  the  "  fearful  crisis  " 
in  which  we  were  involved — the  dangers  ahead 
to  the  liberties  of  tfce  country — the  perils  of  our 
institutions — and  a  hint  at  his  permanent  reme- 
dy—his panacea  for  all  the  diseases  of  the  body 
politic — dissolution  <if  the  Union.  He  ended 
thus: 

"  We  ha\\5  (said  Mr.  C),  arrived  at  a  fearful 
crisis;  things  cimnot  long  ^p  a.'  as  they  are. 
It  behooves  all  who  love  ;  '.  c  Jntry,  who 
Lave  affection  for  their  offspring,  or  who  have 
any  stake  in  our  institutions,  to  pause  and  re- 
flect. Confidence  is  daily  withdrawing  from 
the  general  government.  Alienation  is  hourly 
going  on.  These  will  necessarily  create  a  state 
of  things  inimical  to  the  existence  of  our  insti- 
tutions, and,  if  not  speedily  arrested,  convul- 
sions must  follow,  and  then  comes  dissolution 
or  despotism :;  when  a  thick  cloud  will  be 
thrown  over  the  cause  of  liberty  and  the  future 
prospects  of  our  country." 


CHAPTER    CII. 

rUBUC   DISTRESS. 

From  tlie  moment  of  the  removal  of  the  depos- 
it^, it  «^.  seen  thnt  tlv"  plan  of  the  Bank  of  thr- 
United  States  was  to  force  their  return,  and 
with  it  a  renewal  of  its  charter,  by  operating  on 


the  business  of  the  country  and  the  alarms  of 
the  people.  For  this  purpose,  loans  and  accom- 
modations were  to  cease  at  the  mother  bank 
and  all  its  branches,  and  in  all  the  local  banks 
over  which  the  national  bank  had  control ;  and 
at  the  same  time  that  discounts  were  stopped, 
curtailments  were  made ;  and  all  business  men 
called  on  for  the  payment  of  all  thej'  owed,  at 
the  same  time  that  all  the  usual  sources  of  sup- 
ply were  stopped.  This  pressure  was  made  to 
fall  upon  the  business  community,  especially 
upon  large  establishments  employing  a  great 
many  operatives ;  so  as  to  throw  as  many  labor- 
ing people  as  possible  out  of  employment.  At 
the  same  time,  politicians  engaged  in  making 
panic,  had  what  amounts  they  plea.scd,  an  in- 
stance of  a  loan  of  $100,000  to  a  single  «Mie  of 
these  agitators,  being  detected;  and  a  loan  of 
$1,100,000  to  a  broker,  employed  in  making  dis- 
tress, and  in  relieving  it  in  favored  cases  at  & 
usury  of  two  and  a  half  per  centum  per  month. 
In  this  manner,  the  business  community  was 
oppressed,  and  in  all  parts  of  the  Union  at  the 
same  time :  the  organization  of  the  national 
bank,  with  branches  in  every  State,  and  its  con- 
trol over  local  banks,  being  sufBcient  to  enable 
it  to  have  its  policy  canied  into  effect  in  all 
plaees,  and  at  the  same  moment.  The  first  step' 
in  this  policy  was  to  get  up  distress  meetings — 
a  thing  easily  done — and  then  to  have  these- 
meetings  properly  oflBcered  and  conducted.  Men 
who  had  voted  for  Jackson,  but  now  renounced! 
him,  were  procured  for  president,  vice-presi- 
dents, secretaries,  and  orators ;  distress  oration» 
were  delivered ;  and,  after  sufficient  exercise  in 
that  way,  a  memorial  and  a  set  of  resolves^, 
prepared  for  the  occasion,  were  presented  and 
adopted.  After  adoption,  the  old  way  of  send- 
ing by  the  mail  was  discarded,  and  a  deputation 
selected  to  proceed  to  Washington  and  make 
delivery  of  their  lugubrious  document.  These 
memorials  generally  came  in  duplicate,  to  be 
presented,  in  both  Houses  at  once,  by  a  senator 
from  the  State  and  the  representative  from  the 
district.  These,  on  presenting  the  pelition,  de- 
livered a  distress  harangue  on  its  contents, 
often  supported  by  two  or  three  adjmict  speak- 
ers, although  there  was  a  rule  to  forbid  any 
thing  being  said  on  such  occasions,  except  to 
make  a  brief  Ptatcmcnt  of  the  contents.  Now 
they  were  read  in  violation  of  the  rule,  and 
spoke  upon  in  violation  of  the  rule,  and  printed 


;-,'- 


'  r. 


416 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


:  ! 


^S 


never  to  bo  read  again,  and  referred  to  a  com- 
mittee, never  more  to  bo  seen  by  it ;  and  boimd 
up  in  volumes  to  encumber  the  shelves  of  the 
public  documents,  Every  morning;,  for  three 
months,  the  presentation  of  these  memorials. 
with  speeches  to  enforce  them,  was  the  occupa- 
tion of  each  House :  all  the  memorials  bearing 
the  impress  of  the  same  mint,  and  the  orations 
generally  cast  after  the  same  pattern.  These 
harangues  generally  gave,  in  the  first  place,  some 
topographical  or  historical  notice  of  the  county 
or  town  from  which  it  came — sometimes  with  a 
hint  of  its  revolutionary  services — then  a  de- 
scription of  the  felicity  which  it  enjo3cd  while 
the  bank  had  the  deposits  ;  then  the  ruin  which 
came  upon  it,  at  their  loss;  winding  up  usually 
with  a  great  quantity  of  indignation  against  the 
man  whose  illegal  and  cruel  conduct  had  occa- 
sioned such  destruction  upon  their  business. 
The  meetings  were  sometimes  held  by  young 
men  ;  sometimes  by  old  men ;  sometimes  by  the 
laboring,  sometimes  by  the  mercantile  class ; 
sometimes  miscellaneous,  and  irrespective  of 
party ;  and  usually  sprinkled  over  with  a  smart 
number  of  former  Jackson-men,  who  had  ab- 
jured him  on  account  of  this  conduct  to  the 
bank.  Some  passages  will  be  given  from  a  few 
of  these  speeches,  as  specimens  of  the  whole;  the 
quantity  of  which  contributed  to  swell  the  pub- 
lication of  the  debates  of  that  Congress  to  four 
large  volumes  of  more  than  one  thousand  pages 
each.  Thus,  IMr.  Tyler  of  Virginia,  in  present- 
ing a  memorial  from  Culpeper  county,  and  hint- 
ing at  the  military  character  of  the  county, 
said: 

"  The  coimty  of  Culpeper,  as  he  had  before  ob- 
served, had  been  distinguished  for  its  whiggism 
from  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution ;  and, 
if  it  had  not  been  the  first  to  hoist  the  revolu- 
tionary banner,  at  the  tap  of  the  drum,  they 
were  second  to  but  one  county,  and  that  was  the 
good  county  of  Hanover,  which  had  expressed 
the  same  opinion  with  them  on  this  all-imi)ort- 
ant  subject.  He  presented  the  memorial  of  these 
sons  of  the  whigs  of  the  Revolution,  and  asked 
that  it  might  be  read,  referred  to  the  appropri- 
ate committee,  and  printed." 

Mr.  Robbins  of  Rhode  Island,  in  presenting 
memorials  from  the  towns  of  Smithfield  and 
Cumberland  in  that  State : 

"A  3iTin]l  river  runs  through  these  town.=i,  call- 
ed Blackstone  River;  a  narrow  stream,  of  no 
great  volume  of  water,  but  perennial  and  un- 
filing, and  possessing  great  power  from  the  fre- 


quency and  greatness  of  its  falls.     Prior  to 
1791,  this  power  had  always  run  to  waste,  ex- 
cept here  and  there  a  saw  mill  or  a  grist  mill  to 
supply  the  exigencies  of  a  sparse  neighborhood 
and  one  inconsiderable  forge.   Since  that  psrioi 
from  time  to  time,  and  from  place  to  place  thai 
power.  in.stead  of  nmning  to  waste,  has'ljecn 
applied  to  the  use  of  pi-opelling  machinery  till 
the  valley  of  that  small  river  has  become' the 
Manchester  of  America.     That  power  is  so  un- 
limited, that  scarcely  any  limitation  can  bo  fixed 
to  its  capability  Ox"  progressive  increase  in  it<! 
application.    That  valley,  in  these  towns,  already 
has  in  it  over  thirty  dillerent  establishments-  it 
has  in  it  two  millions  of  fixed  capital  in  tii'osc 
establishments ;  it  has  expended  in  it  annually 
in  the  wages  of  manual  labor,  five  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars ;  it  has  in  it  one  hundred  thousand 
spindles  in  operation.    I  should  say  it  had— for 
one  half  of  these  spindles  are  already  suspended 
and  the  other  half  soon  must  be  suspended  if 
the  present  state  of  things  continues.    On  the 
bank  of  that  river,  the  first  cotton  spindle  was 
established  in  America.    The  invention  of  Ark- 
wright,  in  1791,  escaped  from  the  jealous  prohi- 
bitions of  England,  and  planted  itself  there,    it 
was  brought  over  by  a  Mr.  Slater,  who  had  been 
a  laboring  manufacturer  in  England,  but  w'lo 
was  not  a  machinist.    He  brought  it  over  not 
in  models,  but  in  his  own  miud,  and  fortunately 
he  was  blessed  with  a  mind  capacious  of  such 
things,  and  which  by  its  fair  fruits,  has  made 
him  a  man  of  immense  fortune,  and  one  of  the 
greatest   benefactors   to  his  adopted  country. 
There  he  made  the  first  essays  that  laid  the 
foundation  of  that  system  which  h.ts  spread  so 
far  and  wide  in  this  country,  and  risen  to  such 
a  height  that  it  makes  a  demand  annually  for 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  bales  of  cotton 
—about  one  fourth  of  all  the  cotton  crop  of  all 
our  cotton-growing   States;   makes  for  those 
States,  for  their  staple,  the  best  market  in  the 
M^orld,  except  that  ot  England :  it  was  rapidly 
becoming  to  them  the  best  market  in  the  world, 
not  excepting  that  of  England ;  still  better,  it 
was  rapidly  becoming  for  them  a  market  to 
weigh  down  and  preponderate  in  the  scale  against 
all  the  other  markets  of  the  world  taken  to- 
gether.   Now,  all  those  prospects  are  blasted  by 
one  breath  of  the  Executive  administration  of 
this  country.    Now  every  thing  in  that  valley, 
every  thing  in  possession,  evei^  thing  in  pros- 
pect, is  tottering  to  its  fiilL    One  half  of  those 
one  hundred  thousand  spindles  are,  as  1  before 
stated,  already  stopped ;  the  other  half  are  still 
continued,  but  at  a  loss  to  the  owners,  and  pure- 
ly from  charity  to  the  laborers ;  but  this  charity 
has  its  limit;  and  regard  to  their  own  safety 
will  soon  constrain  them  to  stop  the  other  half 
Five  months  ago,  had  one  travelled  through  thai 
valley  and  witnessed  the  scenes  then  displayed 
there — their  aumcfoug  and  dense  population,  a!} 
industrious,  and  thriving,  and  contented— hai* 
heard  the  busy  hum  of  industry  in  their  houn 
of  labor — the  notes  of  joy  in  their  hours  of  re- 


ANNO  1834.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


417 


taation — had  seen  the  plenty  of  their  tables, 
the  coiiiforts  of  their  firesides — had,  in  a  word, 
seen  in  every  countenance  the  content  of  every 
heart;  and  if  that  same  person  should  travel 
through  the  same  valley  hereafter,  and  should 
find  it  then  deserted,  and  desolate,  and  silent  as 
the  valley  of  death,  and  covered  over  with  the 
solitary  and  mouldering  ruins  of  those  numer- 
ous establishments,  he  would  say, '  Surely  the 
hand  of  the  ruthless  destroyer  has  been  here  I ' 
Now,  if  the  present  state  of  things  is  to  be  con- 
tinued, as  surely  as  blood  follows  the  knife  that 
has  been  plunged  to  the  heart,  and  death  ensues, 
so  Burely  that  change  there  is  to  take  place ;  and 
he  who  ought  to  have  been  their  guardian  angel, 
will  have  been  that  ruthless  destroyer." 

And  thus  Mr.  Webster,  in  presenting  a  me- 
morial from  Franklin  county,  in  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania : 

"The  county  of  Franklin  was  one  of  the  most 
respectable  and  wealthy  in  the  great  State  of 
Pennsylvania.  It  was  situated  in  a  rich  lime- 
stone valley,  and,  in  its  main  character,  was 
agricultural.  He  had  the  pleasure,  last  year,  to 
pass  through  it,  and  see  it  for  the  first  time, 
when  its  rich  fields  of  wheat  and  rye  were  ri- 
pening, and,  certainly,  he  little  thought  then, 
that  he  should,  at  this  time  have  to  present  to 

the  Senate  such  undeniable  proofs  of  their  actual, 

fruits,  has  made  H  severe  and  pressing  distress.  As  he  had  said, 
the  inhabitants  of  Franklin  county  wero  princi- 
pally agriculturists,  and,  of  these,  the  majority 
were  the  tillers  of  their  own  land.  They  were  in- 
terested, also,  in  manufactures  to  a  great  extent ; 
they  had  ten  or  twelve  forges,  and  upwards  of 
four  thousand  persons  engaged  in  the  maiiufac- 
ture  of  iron,  dependent  for  their  daily  bread  on 
the  product  of  their  own  labor.  The  hands 
employed  in  this  business  were  a  peculiar  race 
'-miners,  colliers,  &c. — and,  if  other  employment 
was  to  be  afforded  them,  they  would  find  them- 
selves unsuited  for  it.  These  manufactories  had 
been  depressed,  from  causes  so  well  explained, 
and  so  well  understood,  that  nobody  could  now 
doubt  them.  They  were  precisely  in  the  situa- 
tion of  the  cotton  factories  he  had  adverted  to 
some  days  ago.  There  was  no  demand  for  their 
products.  The  consignee  did  not  receive  them 
—he  did  not  hope  to  dispose  of  them,  and  would 
not  give  his  paper  for  them.  It  was  well  known 
that,  when  a  manufactured  article  was  sent  to 
the  cities,  the  manufacturer  expected  to  obtain 
an  advance  on  them,  which  he  got  cashed.  This 
whole  operation  having  stopped,  in  consequence 
of  the  derangement  of  the  currency,  the  source 
of  business  was  dried  up.  There  were  other 
manufactories  in  that  county  that  also  felt  the 
pressure— paper  factories  and  manufactories  of 
straw  paper,  which  increased  the  gains  of  agri- 
culture. ^  Thusc,  too,  have  been  under  the  neces- 
sity of  dismissing  many  of  those  employed  by 
them,  which  necessity  brought  this  matter  of 
Executive  interference  home  to  every  man's 

Vol.  I.— 27 


labor  and  property.  He  had  ascertained  the 
prices  of  produce  as  now,  and  in  November  last, 
in  the  State  of  Pennysylvania,  and  from  those,  it 
would  be  seen  that,  in  the  interior  region,  on  the 
threshing  floors,  they  had  not  escaped  the  evils 
which  had  affected  the  prices  of  corn  and  rye  at 
Chambersburg.  They  were  hardly  to  be  got 
rid  of  at  any  price.  The  loss  on  wheat,  the 
great  product  of  the  coui.ty,  was  thirty  cents. 
Clover  seed,  another  great  product,  had  fallen 
from  six  dollars  per  bushel  to  four  dollars. 
This  downfall  of  agricultural  produce  described 
the  effect  of  the  measure  of  the  Executive  better 
than  all  the  evidences  that  had  been  hitherto 
offered.  These  memorialists,  for  themselves, 
were  sick,  sick  enough  of  the  Executive  experi- 
ment." 

And  thus  Mr.  Southard  in  presenting  the 
memorial  of  four  thousand  "  young  men  "  of  the 
city  of  Philadelphia : 

"  With  but  very  few  of  them  am  I  personally 
acquainted — and  must  rely,  in  what  I  say  of 
them,  upon  what  I  know  of  those  few,  and  upon 
the  information  received  from  others,  which  I 
regard  as  sure  and  safe.  And  on  these,  I  ven- 
ture to  assure  the  Senate,  that  no  meeting  of 
young  men  can  be  collected,  in  any  portion  of 
our  wide  country,  on  any  occasion,  containing 
more  intelligence — more  virtuous  purpose — 
more  manly  and  honorable  feeling — more  de- 
cided and  energetic  character  What  they  say, 
they  think.  What  they  resolve  they  will  ac- 
complish. Their  proceedings  were  ardent  and 
animated — their  resolutions  are  drawn  with 
spirit ;  but  are  such  as,  I  think,  may  be  pro- 
perly received  and  respected  by  the  Senate. 
They  relate  to  the  conduct  of  the  Executive — 
to  the  present  condition  of  the-  country — to  the 
councils  which  now  direct  its  destinies.  They 
admit  that  older  and  more  mature  judgments 
may  better  understand  the  science  of  govern- 
ment and  its  practical  operations,  but  they  act 
upon  a  feeling  just  in  itself,  and  valuable  in  its 
effects,  that  they  are  fit  to  form  and  express 
opinions  on  public  measures  and  public  princi- 
ples, which  shall  be  their  own  guide  in  their 
present  and  future  conduct ;  and  they  express  a 
confident  reliance  on  the  moral  and  physical 
vigor  and  untamable  love  of  freedom  of  the  young 
men  of  the  United  States  to  save  us  from  des- 
potism, open  and  avowed,  or  silent,  insidious, 
and  deceitful.  They  were  attracted,  or  rather 
urged,  sir,  to  this  meeting,  and  to  the  expres- 
sion of  their  feelings  and  opinions^  by  what  they 
saw  around,  and  knew  of  the  action  of  the  Ex- 
ecutive upon  the  currency  and  prosperity  of  the 
country.  They  have  just  entered,  or  are  about 
entering,  on  the  busy  occupations  of  manhood, 
and  are  suddenly  surprised  by  a  state  of  things 
around  them,  new  to  their  observation  and  ex- 
perience. Calamity  had  been  a  stranger  in  their 
pathway.  They  have  grown  up  through  their 
boyhood  in  the  enjoyments  of  present  comfortj 


T^^ 


.'i  t 


"i  n 


418 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW 


and  the  anticipations  of  future  prosperity — their 
seniors  actively'  and  successfully  engaged  in  the 
various  occupations  of  the  community,  and  the 
whole  circlo  of  employments  open  before  their 
own  industry  and  hopes — the  institutions  of 
their  country  beloved,  and  their  protecting  in- 
fluence covering  the  exertions  of  all  for  their 
benefit  and  happiness.  In  this  state  they  saw 
the  public  prosperity,  with  which  alone  they 
were  familiar,  blasted,  and  for  the  time  destroyed. 
The  whole  scene,  their  whole  country,  was 
changed  ;  they  witnessed  fortunes  falling,  home- 
steads ruined,  merchants  failing,  artisans  broken, 
mechanics  impoverished,  all  the  employments 
on  which  they  were  about  to  enter,  paralyzed ; 
labor  denied  to  the  needy,  and  reward  to  the 
industrious;  losses  of  millions  of  property  and 
gloom  settling  where  joy  and  happiness  before 
existed.  They  felt  the  sirocco  pass  by,  and 
desolate  the  plains  where  peace,  and  animation, 
and  happiness  exulted." 

And  thus  Mr.  Clay  in  presenting  a  memorial 
from  Lexington,  Kentucky : 

"  If  there  was  any  spot  in  the  Union,  likely 
to  be  exempt  from  the  calamities  that  had  af- 
flicted the  others,  it  would  be  the  region  about 
Lexington  and  its  immediate  neighborhood.  No- 
where, to  no  other  country,  has  Providence 
been  more  bountiful  in  its  gifts.     A  country  so 
rich  and  fertile  that  it  yielded  in  fair  and  good 
seasons  from  sixty  to  seventy  bushels  of  corn 
to  the  acre.    It  was  a  most  beautiful  country — 
all  the  land  in  it,  not  in  a  state  of  cultivation, 
was   in  parks  (natural  meadows),  filled  nith 
flocks   and  herds,  fattening  on   its   luxuriant 
grass.     But  in  what  country,  in  what  climate, 
the  most  favored  by  Heaven,  can  happiness  and 
prosperity  exist  against  bad  government,  against 
misrule,  and  against  rash  and  ill-advised  experi- 
ments ?    On  the  mountain's  top,  in  the  moun- 
tain's cavern,  in  the  remotest  borders  of  the 
country,  every  where,  every  interest  has  been 
afi'ccted  by  the  mistaken  policy  of  the  Executive. 
While  he  admitted  that  the  solicitude  of  his 
neighbors  and  friends  was  excited  in  some  de- 
gree by  the  embarrassments  of  the  country,  yet 
they  felt  a  deeper  solicitude  for  the  restoration 
of  the  rightful  authority  of  the  constitution  and 
the  laws.    It  is  this  which  excites  their  appre- 
hensions, and  creates  all  their  alarm.    lie  would 
not,  at  this  time,  enlarge  further  on  the  subject 
of  this  memorial.    He  would  only  remark,  that 
hemp,  the  great  staple  of  the  part  of  the  country 
from  whence  the  memorial  came,  had  fiillen 
twenty  per  cent,  since  he  left  home,  and  that 
Indian  corn,  another  of  its  greatest  staples,  the 
most  valuable  of  the  fruits  of  the  earth  for  the 
use  of  man,  which  the  farmer  converted  into 
most  of  the  articles  of  his  consumption,  fur- 
nishing him  with  food  and  raiment,  had  fallen  to 
an  ecjuai  extent.     There  were  in  that  county 
six  thousand  fat  bullocks  now  remaining  unsold, 
when,  long  before  this  tune  last  year,  there  was 


scarcely  one  to  be  purchased.  They  were  not 
sold,  because  the  butchers  could  not  obtain 
from  the  banks  the  usual  facilities  in  the  way 
of  discounts ;  they  could  not  obtain  funds  in 
anticipation  of  their  sales  wherewith  to  pur 
chase;  and  now  ^100,000  worth  of  this  species 
of  property  remains  on  hand  which,  if  sold  would 
have  been  scattered  through  the  countiy  by  the 
graziers,  producing  all  the  advantages  to  be 
derived  from  so  large  a  circulation.  Everv 
farmer  was  too  well  aware  of  these  facts  one 
moment  to  doubt  them.  We  are,  said  Mr  C 
not  a  complaining  people.  We  think  not  so 
much  of  distress.  Give  us  ouv  laws— guaranty 
to  us  our  constitution— and  we  will  be  content 
with  almost  any  form  of  government." 

And  Mr.  Webster  thus,  in  presenting  a  me- 
morial from  Lynn,  Massachusetts : 

"  Those  members  of  the  Scn;ite,  said  Mr.  W 
who  have  travelled  from  Boston  to  Salem  or  to 
Nahant,  will  remember  the  town  of  Lynn.  It 
is  a  beautiful  town,  situated  upon  the  sea  is 
highly  industrious,  and  has  been  hitherto  pros- 
perous and  flourishing.  With  a  jiopulation  of 
eight  thousand  souls,  its  great  business  is  the 
manufacture  of  shoes.  Three  thousand  persons, 
men,  women,  and  children,  are  engaged  in  this 
manufacture.  They  make  and  sell,  ordinarily 
two  millions  of  pairs  of  shoes  a  year,  for  which! 
at  75  cents  a  pair,  they  receive  one  million  five 
hundred  thousand  dollars.  They  consume  half 
a  million  of  dollars  vorth  of  leather,  of  which 
tliey  buy  a  large  portion  in  Philadelphia  and 
Baltimore,  and  the  rest  in  their  own  neighbor- 
hood. The  articles  manufactured  by  them  are 
sent  to  all  parts  of  the  country,  finding  their 
way  into  every  principal  port,  from  Eastport 
round  to  St.  Louis.  Now,  sir,  when  I  was  last 
among  the  people  of  this  handsome  town,  all 
was  prosperity  and  happiness.  Their  business 
was  not  extravagantly  profitable;  they  were 
not  growing  rich  over  fast,  but  they  wore  com- 
fortable, all  employed,  and  all  satisfied  and  con- 
tented. But,  sir,  with  them,  as  with  others,  a 
most  serious  change  has  taken  place.  They  find 
their  usual  employments  suddenly  arrested,  from 
the  same  cause  which  has  smitten  other  parts 
of  the  country  with  like  effects;  and  they 
have  sent  forward  a  memorial,  which  I  have 
now  the  honor  of  laying  before  the  Senate. 
This  memoral,  sir.  is  signed  by  nine  'lundred  of 
the  legal  voters  of  the  town ;  and  I  understand 
the  largest  number  of  votes  known  to  have  been 
given  is  one  thousand.  Their  memorial  is  short; 
it  complains  of  the  illegal  removal  of  the  depos- 
its, of  the  attack  on  the  bank,  and  of  the  eti'ect 
of  these  measures  on  their  business." 

And  thus  Mr.  Kent,  of  Maryland,  in  present- 
ing petitions  from  Washington  county  in  that 
Statu : 

"  They  depict  in  strong  colors  the  daily  in- 
creasing distress  with  which  they  are  suiTOund- 


^^i  Wikk 


ANNO  1834.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


419 


ed.  They  deeply  deplore  it,  without  the  ability 
to  relieve  it,  and  they  ascribe  their  condition  to 
tlie  derangement  of  the  currency,  and  a  total 
want  of  confidence,  not  only  between  man  and 
mail  hut  between  banks  situated  even  in  the 
sanio  neighborhood  —  all  proceeding,  as  they 
believe,  from  the  removal  of  the  public  deposits 
from  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  Four 
months  since,  and  the  counties  from  whence 
Jhese  memorials  proceed,  presented  a  popula- 
tion as  contended  and  pro.sperou8  as  could  be 
found  in  any  section  of  the  country.  But,  sir, 
in  that  short  period,  the  picture  is  reversed. 
Their  rich  and  i)roductive  lands,  which  last  fall 
were  sought  after  with  avidity  at  high  prices, 
they  inform  us,  have  fallen  25  per  cent.,  and  no 
purchasers  are  to  be  found  even  at  that  reduced 
price.  Wheat,  the  staple  of  that  region  of  the 
country,  was  never  much  lower,  if  as  low.  Flour 
is  quoted  in  Alexandria  at  $3  75,  where  a  lar>.' 
portion  of  their  crops  seek  a  market.  These 
honest,  industrious  people  cannot  withstand 
the  cruel  and  ruinous  consequences  of  this  des- 
perate and  unnecessary  experiment.  The  coun- 
try or.  inot  bear  it,  and  unless  speedy  relief  is 
afforded,  the  result  of  it  will  be  as  disastrous  to 
those  who  projected  it,  as  to  the  country  at 
large,  who  are  afflicted  with  it." 

And  thus  Mr.  Webster,  presenting  a  petition 
from  the  n'aster  builders  of  Philadelphia,  sent 
on  by  a  large  deputation : 

"I  rise,  sir,  to  perform  a  pleasing  duty.  It  is 
to  lay  before  the  Senate  the  proceedings  of  a 
meeting  of  the  building  mechanics  of  the  city 
and  county  of  Philadelphia,  convened  for  the 
purpo.e  of  expressing  their  opinions  on  the  pre- 
sent state  of  the  country,  on  the  24th  of  Febru- 
ary, This  meeting  consisted  of  three  thousand 
persons,  and  was  composed  of  carpenters,  masons, 
brickmakers,  bricklayers,  painters  and  glaziers, 
lime  burners,  plasterers,  lumber  merchants  and 
others,  whose  occupations  are  connected  with 
the  building  of  houses.  I  am  proud,  sir,  that  so 
respectable,  so  important,  and  so  substantial  a 
class  of  mechanics,  have  intrusted  me  with  the 
presentment  of  their  opinions  and  feelings,  re- 
spoeting  the  present  distress  of  the  country,  to 
the  Senate.  I  am  happy  if  they  have  seen,  in 
the  course  pursued  by  me  here,  a  policy  favor- 
able to  the  protection  of  their  interest,  and  the 
prosperity  of  their  families.  These  intelligent 
and  sensible  men,  these  highly  useful  citizens, 
have  witnessed  the  effect  of  the  late  measures 
of  government  upon  their  own  concerns  j  and 
the  resolutions  which  I  have  now  to  present, 
fnlly  express  their  convictions  on  the  subject. 
They  propose  not  to  reason,  but  to  testify;  they 
speak  what  they  do  know. 

"Sir,  listen  to  the  statement;  hear  the  fiicts. 
The  committee  state,  sir,  that  eight  thousand 
persons  are  ordinarily  employed'  in  building 
houses,  in  the  city  and  county  of  Philadelphia; 
a  number  which,  with  their  families,  would  make 


quite  a  considerable  town.  They  further  state, 
that  the  average  number  of  houses,  which  this 
body  of  mechanics  has  built,  for  the  la,st  five 
years,  is  twelve  hundred  houses  a  year.  Tho 
average  cost  of  these  houses  is  computed  at  two 
thou.sand  dollars  each.  Here  is  a  business,  then, 
sir,  of  two  millions  four  hundred  thou.sand  dol- 
lars a  year.  Such  has  been  the  average  of  the 
last  five  years.  And  what  is  it  now?  Sir,  the 
committee  state  that  the  business  has  fallen  off 
seventy-five  per  cent,  at  least ;  that  is  to  say, 
that,  at  most,  only  one-quarter  part  of  their 
usual  employment  now  remains.  This  is  the 
season  of  the  year  in  which  building  contracts 
are  made.  It  is  now  known  what  is  to  be  the 
business  of  the  year.  Many  of  these  persons, 
who  have  heretofore  had,  every  year,  contracts 
for  .several  houses  on  hand,  have  this  year  no 
contract  at  all.  They  have  been  obliged  to  dis- 
miss their  hands,  to  turn  them  over  to  any 
scraps  of  employment  they  could  find,  or  to 
leave  them  in  idleness,  for  want  of  any  employ- 
ment. • 

"Sir.  the  agitations  of  the  country  are  not  to 
be  husned  by  authority.  Opinions,  fiom  how- 
ever high  quarters,  will  not  quiet  them.  The 
condition  of  the  nation  calls  for  action,  for  mea- 
sures, for  the  prompt  interposition  of  Congress ; 
and  until  Congress  shall  act,  be  it  sooner  or  be 
it  later,  there  will  be  no  content,  no  repo.se,  no 
restoration  of  former  prosperitj'.  Whoever  .sup- 
poses, sir,  that  he,  or  that  any  man,  can  quiet  the 
discontents,  or  hush  the  complaints  of  the  people 
by  merely  saying,  "peace,  be  still!"  mistakes, 
shockingly  mistakes,  the  real  condition  of  things. 
It  is  an  agitation  of  interests,  not  of  opinions  ;  a 
severe  pressure  on  men's  property  and  their  means 
of  living,  not  a  barren  contest  about  abstract 
sentiments.  Even,  sir,  the  voice  of  party,  often  so 
sovereign,  is  not  of  power  to  subdue  discontents 
and  stifle  complaints.  The  jjcople,  sir,  feel  great 
interests  to  be  at  stake,  and  tiiey  are  rousing 
themselves  to  protect  those  interests.  They 
consider  the  question  to  be,  whether  the  govern- 
ment is  made  for  the  people,  or  the  people  for 
the  government.  They  hold  the  former  of  these 
two  propositions,  and  they  mean  to  prove  it. 

"  Mr.  President,  this  measure  of  the  Secretary 
has  produced  a  degree  of  evil  that  cannot  be 
home.  Talk  about  it  as  we  will,  it  cannot  be 
borne.  A  tottering  state  of  credit,  cramped 
means,  loss  of  property  and  los.-.  m'  employment, 
doubts  of  the  condition  of  others,  doubts ' "  their 
own  condition,  constant  fear  of  failures  and  new 
explosions,  an  awful  dread  of  the  future — sir, 
when  a  consciousness  of  all  these  things  accom- 
panies a  man,  at  his  breakfast,  his  dinner  and 
his  supper:  when  it  attends  him  through  his 
hours,  both  of  labor  and  rest ;  when  it  even  dis- 
turbs and  haunts  his  dreams,  and  when  he  feels, 
too,  that  that  which  is  thus  gnawing  upon  him 
ia  the  pure  result  of  foolish  and  rash  meas- 
ures of  government,  depend  upon  it  he  will  uot 
bear  it.  A  deranged  and  disordered  currency, 
the  ruin  of  occupation,  distress  for  present  means, 


IfiA 


.if 


..t  f 


420 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


1 


the  prostration  of  credit  and  confidence,  and  all 
this  without  hope  of  improvement  or  change,  ia 
a  state  of  things  which  no  intelligent  people  can 
long,  endure." 

Mr.  Clay  rose  to  second  the  motion  of  Mr. 
Wehstcr  to  refer  and  print  this  memorial ;  and, 
after  giving  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  property 
of  the  country  had  been  reducec^  four  hundred 
millions  of  dollars  in  value,  by  the  measures  of 
the  government,  thus  apostrophized  the  Vice- 
President  (Mr.  Van  Buren),  charging  him  with 
a  message  of  prayer  and  supplication  to  Presi- 
dent Jackson : 

"  But  there  is  another  quarter  which  possesses 
suflBcient  power  and  influence  to  relievo  the  pub- 
lic distresses.  In  twenty -four  hours,  the  execu- 
tive branch  could  adopt  a  measure  which  would 
afford  an  eflicacious  and  substantial  remedy,  and 
re-establish  confidence.  And  those  who,  in  this 
chamber,  sfkpport  the  administration,  could  not 
render  a  better  service  'han  to  repair  to  the  e.\e 
cutivo  mansion,  and,  placing  before  the  Chief 
Magistrate  the  naked  and  undisguised  truth, 
prevail  upon  him  to  retrace  his  steps  and  aban- 
don his  fatal  experiment.  No  one,  sir,  can  per- 
form that  duty  with  more  propriety  than  your- 
self. [The  Vice-President.]  You  can,  if  you 
will,  induce  him  to  change  his  course.  To  you, 
then,  sir.  in  no  unfriendly  spirit,  but  with  feel- 
ings softened  and  subdued  by  the  deep  distress 
which  pervades  every  class  of  our  countrymen, 
I  make  the  appeal.  By  your  official  and  per- 
sonal relations  with  the  President,  you  maintain 
with  him  an  intercourse  which  I  neither  enjoy 
nor  covet.  Go  to  him  and  tell  him,  without 
exaggeration,  but  in  the  language  of  truth  and 
sincerity,  the  actual  condition  of  his  bleeding 
country.  Tell  him  it  is  nearly  ruined  and  un- 
done by  the  measures  which  he  has  been  in- 
duced to  put  in  operation.  Tell  him  that  his 
experiment  is  operating  on  the  nation  like  the 
philosopher's  experiment  upon  a  convulsed  ani- 
mal, in  an  exhausted  receiver,  and  that  it  must 
expire,  in  agony,  if  he  does  not  pause,  give  it  ft-ee 
and  sound  circulation,  and  suffer  the  energies  of 
the  people  to  be  revived  and  restored.  Tell  him 
that,  in  a  single  city,  more  than  sixty  bankrupt- 
cies, involving  a  loss  of  upwards  of  fifteen  mil- 
lions of  dollars,  have  occurred.  Tell  him  of  the 
alarming  decline  in  the  value  of  all  property,  of 
the  depreciation  of  all  the  products  of  industry, 
of  the  stagnation  in  every  branch  of  businet^s, 
and  of  the  close  of  numerous  manufacturing  es- 
tablishments, which,  a  few  short  months  ago, 
were  in  active  and  flourishing  operation.  De- 
pict to  him,  if  you  can  find  language  to  portray, 
the  heart- rending  wretchedness  of  thousands  of 
the  working  classes  cast  out  of  employment. 
Tell  him  of  the  tears  of  helpless  widows,  no 
longer  able  to  earn  their  bread,  and  of  uuclad 
and  unfed  orphans  who  have  been  driven,  by  his 
policy,  out  of  the  busy  pursuits  in  which  but 


yesterday  they  were  gaining  an  honest  livdi 
hood.  Say  to  him  that  if  firmness  be  honor 
able,  when  guided  by  truth  and  justice  it  i<  in 
timately  allied  to  another  quality,  of  the  most 
pernicious  tendency,  in  the  prosecution  of  an 
erroneous  system.  Tell  him  how  much  more 
true  glorv  is  to  be  won  by  retraci:ig  false  nt^x 
than  by  blindly  rushing  on  until  his  lountrv  ij 
overwhelmed  in  bankruptcy  and  ruin.  'l\'\\  him 
of  the  ardent  attachment,  the  unbounded  dtvo- 
tion,  the  enthusiastic  gratitude,  towards  hira  so 
often  signally  manifested  by  the  American  peo- 
pie,  and  that  they  deserve,  at  his  hands  better 
treatment.  Tell  him  to  guard  himself  Lalnst 
the  possibility  of  an  odious  comparison  witli 
that  worst  of  the  lloman  emperors,  who  con- 
templating with  indifference  the  confla-'ratiou 
of  the  mistress  of  the  world,  regaled  himself 
during  the  terrific  scene  in  the  tlirong  of  his 
dancing  courtiers.  If  you  desire  to  secure  for 
younself  the  reputation  of  a  public  benefactor 
describe  to  him  truly  the  universal  distress  al- 
ready produced,  and  the  certain  i-uin  which  must 
ensue  from  perseverance  in  his  measures.  Tell 
him  that  he  has  been  abused,  deceived,  betray- 
ed, by  the  wicked  counsels  of  unprincipled  men 
around  him.  Inform  him  that  all  efforts  in  Con- 
gress to  alleviate  or  terminate  the  public  distress 
are  paralyzed  and  likely  to  prove  totally  ni- 
availing,  fVom  his  influence  upon  a  large  portion 
of  the  members,  who  are  unwilling  to  withdraw 
their  support,  or  to  take  a  course  repugnant  to 
his  wishes  and  feelings.  Tell  him  that,  in  his 
bosom  alone,  under  actual  circumstances,  docs 
the  power  abide  to  relieve  the  country ;  and 
that,  unless  he  opens  it  to  conviction,  and  cor- 
rects the  errors  of  his  administration,  no  human 
imagination  can  conceive,  and  no  human  tongue 
can  express  the  awful  consequences  which  may  fol- 
low. Entreat  him  to  pause,  and  to  reflect  that 
there  is  a  point  beyond  which  human  endurance 
canuotgo;  and  let  him  not  drive  this  brave,gener- 
ous,and  patriotic  people  to  madness  and  despair." 

During  the  delivery  of  this  apostrophe,  the 
Vice-President  maintained  the  utmost  decorum 
of  countenance,  looking  respectfully,  and  even 
innocently  at  the  speaker,  all  the  while,  as  if 
treasuring  up  every  word  he  said  to  be  faithfully 
repeated  to  the  President.  After  it  was  over, 
and  the  Vice-President  had  called  some  senator 
to  the  chair,  he  went  up  to  Jlr.  Clay,  and  asked 
him  for  a  pinch  of  his  fine  maccoboy  snuff  (as 
he  often  did) ;  and,  having  received  it,  walked 
away.  But  a  public  meeting  in  Philadelphia 
took  the  performance  seriously  to  heart,  and 
adopted  this  resolution,  which  the  indefatigable 
Ilezekiah  Niles  "registered"  for  the  infoimation 
of  posterity : 

"  Resolved^  That  Martin  Van  Buren  deserves, 
and  will  receive  the  execrations  of  all  good  men, 


1 "  -I 

i**     ■'imbi 


ANNO  1834.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


421 


m  Burcn  deserves, 
IS  of  all  good  men, 


should  he  shrink  from  the  responsibility  of  con- 
veying to  Andrew  Jackson  the  mcHsage  sent 
bv  tiie  honorable  Henry  Clay,  when  the  build- 
ers' memorial  was  presented  to  the  Senate.  I 
ci)argo  you,  said  ho,  go  the  President  and  tell 
iiim— tell  him  if  he  would  save  his  country — if 
he  would  save  himself — tell  him  to  stop  short, 
and  ponder  well  his  course — tell  him  to  retrace 
hia  steps,  before  the  injured  and  insulted  people. 
Infuriated  by  his  experiment  upon  the'  ■•  happi- 
ness, rises  in  the  majesty  of  power,  and  hurls 
the  usurper  down  from  the  scat  ho  occupies,  like 
Lucifer,  never  to  rise  again." 

Mr.  Benton  replied  to  these  distress  petitions, 
and  distress  harangues,  by  showing  that  they 
were  nothing  but  a  reproduction,  with  a  change 
of  names  and  dates,  of  the  same  kind  of  speeches 
and  petitions  which  wer«  heard  in  the  year  1811, 
when  the  charter  of  the  fust  national  bank  was 
expiring,  and  when  General  Jackson  was  not 
President — when  Mr.  Taney  was  not  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury — when  no  deposits  had  been 
removed,  and  when  there  was  no  quarrel  be- 
tween the  bank  and  the  government ;  and  he 
read  copiously  from  the  Congress  debates  of  that 
day  to  justify  what  he  said ;  and  declared  the 
two  scenes,  so  far  as  the  distress  was  concerned, 
to  1k!  identical.  After  reading  from  these  peti- 
tions and  speeches,  he  proceeded  to  say : 

"  AH  the  miichinery  of  alarm  and  distress  was 
in  as  full  activity  at  that  time  as  at  present,  and 
with  the  same  identical  effects.  Town  meetings 
—memorials — resolutions — deputations  to  Con- 
gress— alarming  speeches  in  Congress.  The 
price  of  all  property  was  shown  to  be  depressed. 
Hemp  sunk  in  Philadelphia  from  $350  to  $250 
\)QV  ton;  flour  sunk  from  $11  a  barrel  to  $775 ; 
all  real  estate  fell  thirty  per  cent. ;  five  hundred 
houses  were  suspended  in  their  erection;  the 
rent  of  money  rose  to  one  and  a  half  per  month 
on  the  best  paper.  Confidence  destroyed — 
manufactories  stopped — workmen  dismissed — 
and  tlie  ruin  of  the  country  confidently  pre- 
dicted. This  was  the  scene  then  ;  and  for  what 
object  ?  Purely  and  simply  to  obtain  a  recharter 
of  the  bank — purely  and  simply  to  force  a  re- 
charter  from  the  alarm  and  distress  of  the 
country ;  for  there  was  no  removal  of  deposits 
tiien  to  be  complained  of,  and  to  be  made  the 
scape-goat  of  a  studied  and  premeditated  attempt 
to  operate  upon  Congress  through  the  alarms 
of  the  people  and  the  destruction  of  their  pro- 
perty. There  was  not  even  a  curtailment  of 
discounts  then.  The  whole  scene  was  fictitious  ; 
but  it  was  a  case  in  which  fiction  does  the  mis- 
chief of  truth.  A  false  alarm  in  the  money 
market  pi-oduccs  all  the  offocts  of  real  danger ; 
and  thus,  as  much  distress  was  proclaimed  in 
Congress  in  1811 — as  much  distress  was  proved 
to  exist,  and  really  did  exist— then  as  now; 


without  a  single  caiisc  to  be  alleged  then,  which 
is  alleged  now.  But  the  power  and  organization 
of  the  bank  made  the  alarm  then ;  its  power 
and  organization  make  it  now;  and  fictitiouuon 
both  occasions ;  and  men  were  ruined  then,  as 
now,  by  the  power  of  imaginary  danger,  which 
in  the  moneyed  world,  has  all  the  ruinous  effects 
of  real  danger.  No  deposits  were  removed  then, 
and  the  reason  was,  as  assigned  by  Mr.  Gallatin 
to  Congress,  that  the  government  had  borrowed 
more  than  the  amount  of  the  dejjosits  from  the 
bank ;  and  this  loan  would  enable  her  to  pro- 
tect licr  interest  in  every  contingency.  The 
open  object  of  the  bank  then  was  a  recharter. 
The  knights  entered  the  lists  with  their  visors 
off^no  war  in  disguise  then  for  the  renewal 
of  a  charter  under  the  tilting  and  jousting  of  a 
masquerade  scufHe  for  recovery  of  deposits." 

This  was  a  complete  reply,  to  which  no  one 
could  make  any  answer ;  and  the  two  distresses 
all  proved  the  same  thing,  that  a  powerful  na- 
tional bank  could  make  distress  when  it  pleased ; 
and  would  always  please  to  do  it  when  it  had  an 
object  to  gain  by  it — either  in  forcing  a  recharter 
or  in  reaping  a  harvest  of  profit  by  making  a 
contraction  of  debts  after  having  made  an  ex- 
pansion of  credits. 

It  will  bo  difficult  for  people  in  after  times  to 
realize  the  degree  of  excitement,  of  agitation  and 
of  commotion  which  was  produced  by  this  or- 
ganized attempt  to  make  panic  and  distress. 
The  great  cities  especially  were  the  scene  of 
commotions  but  little  short  of  frenzy — public 
meetings  of  thousands,  the  most  inflammatory 
harangues,  cannon  firing,  great  feasts — and  the 
members  of  Congress  who  spoke  against  the 
President  received  when  they  travelled  with 
public  honors,  like  conquering  generals  return- 
ing from  victorious  battle  fields — met  by  masses, 
saluted  with  acclamations,  escorted  by  process- 
ions, and  their  lodgings  surrounded  by  thousands 
calling  for  a  view  of  their  persons.  The  gaining 
of  a  municipal  election  in  the  city  of  New-York 
put  the  climax  upon  this  enthusiasm ;  and  some 
instances  taken  from  the  every  day  occurrences 
of  the  time  may  give  some  faint  idea  of  this  ex- 
travagant exaltation.    Thus : 

"  Mr.  Webster,  on  his  late  journey  to  Boston, 
was  received  and  parted  with  at  Philadelphia, 
New-York,  Providence,  &c.,  by  thousands  of  the 
people." 

"  Messrs.  Poindexter,  Preston  and  McDuffio 
visited  Philadelphia  the  beginning  of  this  week, 
and  received  the  most  flattering  attention  of  the 
citizens — thousands  having  waited  upon  to 
honor  them ;  and  they  wore  dined,  &c.,  with 
great  enthusiasm." 


423 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIKW. 


;!^ 


"A  very  large  piihlic  meeting  was  held  at  the 
Musical  FuikI  Hall,  Philadelphia,  on  Monday 
afternonii  last,  to  compliment  the  'whigs'  of 
New- York  on  the  late  victory  gained  by  them. 
Though  thousands  were  in  the  huge  room,  other 
thousands  could  not  get  in  !  It  was  a  complete 
'jam.'  John  Sergeant  was  callefl  to  the  chair, 
and  delivered  an  address  of  'great  power  and 
ability '— '  one  of  the  happiesi  efforts  '  of  that 
distinguished  man.  Mr.  Preston  of  the  Senate, 
and  Mr.  McDuffle  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, were  present.  The  first  was  loudly  called 
for,  when  5lr.  Sergeant  had  concluded,  and  he 
addressed  the  meeting  at  considerable  I'-ngth. 
Mr.  McDufFie  was  then  as  loinlly  named,  and  he 
also  spoke  with  his  usual  ardency  and  power, 
in  which  he  paid  a  handsome  compliment  to  Mr. 
Sergeant,  who,  though  he  haddiflered  in  opinion 
with  him.  ho  regarded  as  a  •  sterling  patriot,'  &c 
Each  of  these  speeches  were  rcc(Mved  with  hearty 
and  continued  marks  of  approbation,  and  often 
interrupted  with  .shunts  of  applause.  The  like, 
it  is  said,  had  never  before  been  witnessed  in 
Philadelphia.  The  people  were  in  the  highest 
possible  state  of  enthnsiasin." 

"  An  immense  multitude  of  people  partook  of 
a  collation   in   Castle   Garden,  New-York,  on 
Tuesdajr    afternoon,   to    celebrate  the   victory 
gained  in  the  '  three  days.'     The  garden  was 
dressed  with  flags,  and  every  thing  prepared  on 
a  grand  scale.     Pipes  of  wine  and  barrels  of 
beer  were  present  in  abundance,  with  a  full 
supply  of  eatables.    After  partaking  of  refresh- 
ments (in  which  a  great  deal  of  business  was 
done  in  a  short  time,  by  the  thousands  employed 
—for  many  mouths,   like   many  hands,  make 
quick  work !)  the  meeting  was  orp,unized,  by 
appointing  Benjamin  Wells,  carpenter,  president, 
twelve  vice-presidents,  and  four  secretaries,  of 
whom  there  was  one  cartman,  one  sail  maker, 
one  grocer,  one  watchmaker,  one  ship  carpenter, 
one  potter,  one  mariner,   one   physician,    one 
printer,  one  surveyor,  four  merchants,  &c.    The 
president  briefly,  but  strongly,  addressed  the 
multitude,  as  did  several  other  gentlemen.     A 
committee  of  congratulation  from  Philadelphia 
was  presented  to  the  people  and  received  with 
shouts.    When  the  time  for  adjournment  ar- 
rived, the  vast  multitude,  in  a  solid  colirmn, 
taking  a  considerable  circuit,  proceeded  to  Green- 
wich-street, where  Mr.  Webster  was  dining  with 
a  friend.    Loudly  called  for,  he  came  forward, 
and  was  instantly  surrounded  by  a  dense  mass 
of  merchants  and  cartmen,  sailors  and  mechanics, 
professional  men  and  laborers,  &c.,  seizing  him 
by  his  hands.     He  was  asked  t  j  say  a  few  words 
to  the  people,  and  did  so.     He  exhorted  them 
to  perseverance  in  support  of  the  constitution, 
and,  as  a  dead  silence  prevailed,  he  was  hcaid 
by  thousands.     He  thanked  them,  and  ended  by 
hoping  that  God  would  bless  them  all." 

"  Saturday  Messrs.  Webster.  Preston  and 
Binney  were  expected  at  Baltimore ;  and,  though 
raining  hard,  thousands  assembled  to  meet  them. 
Sunday  they  arrived,  and  were  met  by  a  dense 


mass,  and  spcecheH  exacted.  A  reverend  minis- 
ter of  the  Gos|K^l,  in  excuse  of  such  a  gatherini! 
on  the  Sabbath,  said  that  in  revolutionary  times 
there  were  no  Sabbaths.  They  were  coudutttd 
to  the  hotel,  where  5,0U0  well-dressed  citizens 
received  them  with  enthusiasm." 

"  Mr.  McDuffle  reached  Baltimore  in  the  nftir- 
noon  of  Saturday  last,  on  his  leturn  , o  Wusii- 
ington,  and  was  received  by  fmm  1,500  to  11 000 
people,  who  were  waiting  on  the  wharf  for' the 
purpose.  He  was  escorted  to  the  City  Ilotij 
and,  from  the  steps,  addressed  the  crowd  (now 
increased  to  about  3,000  persons),  in  as  eurntst 
a  tpeech,  perhaps,  as  he  ever  pronounceij— ami 
the  vianiier  o{h\H  delivery  was  not  less  forcible 
than  the  matter  of  his  remarks.  Mr.  McD 
spoke  for  about  half  an  hour;  and,  while  atone 
moment  he  produced  a  roar  of  laughter,  in  tiie 
next  he  commanded  the  entire  attention  of  the 
audience,  or  elicited  loud  shouts  of  applause. 

"The  brief  addresses  of  Messrs.  Webster 
Binney,  McDuffle,  and  Prestmi,  to  assembled 
multitudes  in  Baltimore,  and  the  manner  in 
which  they  were  recei'ed,  show  a  new  state  of 
feelings  and  of  things  in  this  city.  When  Mr. 
.McDuffle  said  that  ten  days  after  the  entrance 
of  soldiers  into  the  Senate  chamber,  to  send  the 
senators  home,  that  200,000  volunteers  woi  id 
be  in  Washington,  theie  was  such  a  shout  as  vo 
have  seldom  before  heard." 

"  There  was  a  mighty  meeting  of  the  people,  and 
such  a  feast  as  was  never  before  prepared  in  tlie 
United  States,  held  near  Philadelphia,  on  Tues- 
day last,  as  a  rallying  'to  support  the  constitu- 
tion,' and  '  in  honor  of  the  late  whig  victorv  at 
New- York,'  a  very  large  delegation  from  iliat 
city  being  in  attendance,  bringing  with  tlieni 
their  frigate-rigged  and    highly-finished  boat, 
called  the  'Constitution,'  which  had  been  passed 
through  the  streets  during  the  'three  days.' 
The  arrival  of  the  steamboat  with  this  delega- 
tion on  board,  and  the  procession  that  was  then 
formed,  arc  described  in  glowing  terms.    The 
whole  number  congregated  was  supposed  not  to 
be  less  than  fifty  thousand,  multitudes  attend- 
ing from  adjacent  parts  of  Pennsylvania,  New 
Jersey,  Delaware,  &c.     Many  cattle  and  other 
animals  had  been  roasted  whole,  and  there  were 
200  great  rounds  of  beef,  400  hams,  as  many 
beeves'  tongues,  &c..and  15,000  loaves  of  bread, 
with  crackers  and  cheese,  &c.,and  equal  supplies 
of  wine,  beer,  and  cider.  This  may  giv  e  some  idea 
of  the  magnitude  of  the  feast.    John  Sergeant 
presided,  assisted  by  a  large  number  of  vice- 
presidents,  &c.     Strong  bands  of  music  played 
at  intervals,  and  several  salutes  were  fir:'d  from 
the  miniature  frigate,  which  w  re  returned  by 
heavy  artillery  provided  for  the  purpose." 

Notices,  such  as  these,  might  be  cited  in  any 
number ;  but  those  given  are  enough  to  show  to 
what  a  degree  people  can  be  excited,  when  a  great 
moneyed  power,  and  a  great  political  party,  com- 
bine for  the  purpose  of  exciting  the  passions 


ANNO  1834.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRICSlDENT. 


423 


through  th  ■  public  HufferingH  and  tho  public 
alarmH.  hmnenso  amouutB  of  money  were  ex- 
pended in  these  operations  ;  and  it  was  notorious 
that  it  chiefly  came  from  tho  great  moneyed  cor  ■ 
poratiou  in  Philadelphia. 


CHAPTER    CIII. 

BENATORUL  CONDEMNATION  OF  PKESIDKNT 
JACKBON:  1119  rUOTKST:  NOTICE  OF  TllK  KX- 
l-UNOINO  EESOl.r'TION. 

Mr.  Clay  and  Mr.  Calhoun  were  the  two  lead- 
ing spirits  in  tho  condemnation  of  President 
Jackson.  Mr.  Webster  did  not  speak  in  favor 
of  their  resolui  ii,  but  aideil  it  incidentally  in 
the  delivery  of  his  distress  speeches.  The  reso- 
lution was  theirs,  modified  from  time  to  time  by 
themselves,  without  any  vote  of  the  Senate,  and 
by  virtue  of  the  privilege  which  belongs  to  the 
mover  of  any  motion  to  change  it  as  lio  pleases, 
until  the  Senate,  by  some  action  upon  it,  makes 
it  its  own.  It  was  altered  repeatedly,  and  up  to 
tho  last  moment ;  and  after  undergoing  its  final 
mutation,  at  the  moment  when  the  yeas  and 
nays  were  abont  to  be  called,  it  was  passed  by 
the  same  majority  that  would  have  voted  for  it 
on  the  first  day  of  its  introduction.  The  yeas 
were:  Messrs.  Bi  ib  of  Kentucky;  Black  of 
Mississippi ;  Calhoun ;  Clay  ;  Clayton  of  Dela- 
ware; Ewing  of  Ohio;  Frelinghuysen  of  New 
Jersey ;  Kent  of  Maryland ;  Knight  of  Rhode 
Island ;  Ijeigh  of  Virginia ;  Mangum  of  North 
Carolina;  Naudain  of  Delaware ;  Poindexterof 
Mississippi ;  Porter  of  Louisiana ;  Prentiss  of 
Vermont;  Preston  of  South  Carolina;  Bobbins 
of  Rhode  Island ;  Silsbee  of  Massachusetts ;  Na- 
than Smith  of  Connecticut ,  Southard  of  New 
Jersey ;  Sprague  of  Maine ;  Swift  of  Vermont ; 
Tomlinson  of  Connecticut;  Tyler  of  Virginia; 
Waggaman  of  Louisiana;  Webster. — 26.  The 
nays  were :  Messrs.  Benton ;  Brown  of  North 
Carolina ;  Forsyth  of  Georgia ;  Tlrundy  of  Ten- 
nessee; Hendricks  of  Indiana;  Hill  of  New 
Hampshire ;  Kane  of  Illinois  ;  King  of  Alaba- 
ma; King  of  Georgia;  Linn  of  Missouri;  Mc- 
Kean  of  Pennsylvania ;  Moore  of  Alabama ; 
Morris,  of  Ohio ;  Robinson  of  Illinois ;  Shep- 
ley  of  Maine;  Tallmadge  of  New  York;  Tipton 
of  Indiana ;  Hugh  L.  White  of  Tennessee ;  Wil- 


kins  of  Pennsylvania;  Silas  Wright  nf  New 
York. —20.  And  thus  tho  resolution  was  pass- 
ed, and  was  nothing  but  an  empty  fuhnination 
— a  mere  personal  censure — havinii;  no  relation 
to  any  business  or  proceeding  in  tho  Senate ; 
and  evidently  intended  for  effect  on  tho  people. 
To  increase  this  efleet,  Mr.  Clay  proposed  a  re- 
solve that  the  Secretary  si  ould  count  tho  names 
of  the  signers  to  tho  memorials  for  and  against 
the  act  of  the  rcnoval,  and  strike  the  balance 
between  them,  which  he  computed  at  an  hun- 
dred thousand  :  evidently  intending  to  adtl  the 
etl'ect  of  this  popular  voice  to  the  weight  of  the 
senatorial  condemnation.  The  number  turned 
out  to  bo  unexpectedly  small,  considering  the 
means  by  which  they  were  collected. 

When  j)as3ed,  the  total  irrelevance  of  the  re- 
solution to  any  right  or  duty  of  the  Senate  was 
miide  manifest  by  the  insignificance  that  attend- 
ed its  decision.  There  was  nothing  to  be  done 
with  it,  or  tipon  it,  or  under  it,  or  in  relation  to 
it.  It  went  to  no  committee,  laid  the  founda- 
tion for  no  action,  was  not  communicable  to  the 
other  House,  or  to  the  President ;  and  n  niained 
an  intrusive  fuhnination  on  the  Senate  .Journal : 
put  there  not  for  any  legislative  purpose,  but 
purely  and  simply  for  popular  efTt-ct.  Great  re- 
liance was  I  'iiced  upon  that  effect.  It  was  fully 
believed — not^vithstanding  the  experience  of  the 
Senate,  in  Mr.  Van  Buren's  case — that  a  senato- 
rial condenuiation  would  destroy  whomsoever  it 
struck — even  General  Jackson.  Vain  calculation  1 
and  equally  condemned  by  the  lessons  of  his- 
tory, and  by  the  impulsions  of  the  hun)iui  heart. 
Fair  play  is  the  first  feeling  of  the  masses ;  a 
fair  and  im{mrtial  trial  is  the  law  of  the  heart,  as 
well  as  of  the  land ;  and  no  condomna '  n  is  toler- 
ated of  any  man  by  his  enemies.  An  such  are 
required  to  retire  from  the  box  and  the  bench, 
on  a  real  trial:  much  more  to  refrain  from  a 
simulated  one ;  and  above  all  from  instigating 
one.  Mr.  Calhoun  and  Mr.  Clay  were  both 
known  to  have  their  private  griefs  against  Gene- 
ral Jackson  and  also  to  hav<»  been  in  vehement 
opposition  to  each  other,  and  that  they  had 
'•compromised"  their  own  bone  of  contention  to 
be  able  to  act  in  conjunction  against  him.  Tho 
instinctive  sagacity  of  the  people  saw  all  this; 
and  their  innate  sense  of  justice  and  decorum 
revolted  at  it ;  and  at  the  end  of  thc.^e  proceed- 
ings, the  results  were  in  exact  contradiction  to 
the  calculation  of  their  effect.    General  Jackson 


l]\k 


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424 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


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iii!-.' 


W8H  more  popular  than  uvor}  the  h»>]vr<  in  the 
movfiiiciit  against  him  wciv  nationally  cripplotl ; 
thoir  friends,  in  many  instancen,  were  politiciilly 
destroyed  in  thoir  States.  It  woh  a  second  edi- 
tion of  '•  Fox'h  martyrs." 

During  ail  the  progress  of  this  proceeding- 
while  u  phalanx  of  orators  and  speakers  were 
daily   Eliminating    against    him— wliile    many 
hundred  newspapers  incessantly  assaiieil  him  — 
while  public  meetings  were  held  in  all  parts, 
and  men  of  all  sorts,  even  biardless  youths,' 
harangued  against  him  as  if  ho  had  been  a  Nero 
— wli  lo  a  stream  of  committees  was   pouring 
upon  i.ini  (as  they  wore  called),  and  whom  he 
soon  refused  to  receive  in  that  character ;  during 
the  hinxired  days  thatall  this  was  going  on,  and 
to  judge  fiom  the  imposing apjR'arance  which  the 
crowds  made  that  came  to  Washington  to  bring 
up  the  "  distress,"  and  to  give  countenance  to  the 
Senate,  and  emphasis  to  its  proceedings,  and  to 
fill  the  daily  gallery,  applauding  the  speakers 
against  the  President— saluting  with  noise  ;aid 
confusion  these  who  spoke  on  his  side:  durii  ^  nil 
this  time,  and  when  a  nation  seemed  to  be  in  arms, 
and  the  earth  in  commotion  against  him,  he  was 
tranquil  and  quiet,  confident  of  eventual  victory 
and  firmly  relying  upon  God  and  tlio  people  to 
set  all  right.     I  was  accustomed  to  .see  him 
often  during  that  time,  always  in  the  night  (for 
I  had  no  time  to  quit  my  seat  during  the  day) ; 
and  never  saw  him  appear  more  truly  heroic 
and  grand  than  at  this  time.     He  was  perfectly 
mild  in  his  language,  cheerful  in  his  temper, 
firm  ill  his  conviction  ;  and  confident  in  his  re- 
liance on  the  power  in  which  he  put  his  trust. 
I  have  seen  him  in  a  great  many  situations  of 
peril,  and  even  of  desperation,  both  civil  and  mili- 
tary, and  always  saw  him  firmly  relying  upon 
the  success  of  the  right  through  God  and  the 
people  ;   and  never  saw  that  confidence  more 
firm  and  steady  than  now.    After  giving  him  an 
account  of  the  day's  proceedings,  talking  over 
the  state  of  the  contest,  and  ready  to  return  to 
Bleep  a  little,  and  prepare  much,  for  the  combats 
of  the  next  day,  he  would  usually  say :  "  Wo 
shall  whip  them  yet.    The  people  will  take  it 
up  after  a  while."    But  he  also  had  gootl  de- 
fenders present,  and  in  both  Houses,  and  men 
who  did  not  confine  themselves  to  the  defensive 
—did  not  limit  themselves  to  returning  blow 

for   blow — but  assailed  the  assailants linlf!)- 

charging  upon  them  their  own  illegal  conduct— 


oxposing  the  rottenness  of  their  oily,  the  b»nk 
—showing  its  corruption  in  eonciliating  ,K)iiti. 
cians,  and  its  criminality  in  distressing  the  m 
ple-and  the   unholinoss  of  the  coinl,inati„n 
which,  to  ottain  political  power  and  ^'ciiro  a 
bank  charter,  were  seducing  the  venal,  terrify- 
ing the  timid,  disturbing  the  country,  deHtroy" 
ing  business  and  jiroperty,  and  falsely  aocus. 
ing  the  President  of  great  crimes  and  nuH.k.- 
meanors ;  because,  faithful  and  feai  h  ,h,  lie  stood 
sole  obstacle  to  the  success  of  the  combined 
powers.     Our  labors  were  great  and  incessant 
for  wo  had  superior  numbers,  and  great  ability 
to  contend  against.      I   spoke   myself  above 
thirty  times;  others  as  often  ;  all  many  times- 
and  all  strained  to  the  utmost ;   for  we  felt' 
that  the  cause  .  .f  .Jackson  was  that  of  the  coun- 
try—his  deitMir   that  of  the  people-aiid  the 
suecess  of  the  combination,  the  delivering  up 
of  the  government  to  the  domination  of  a  mon- 
eyed power  which  knew  no  mode  of  govern- 
ment  but  that  of  corruption  and  oppression. 
We  contended  strenuously  in  both   IIousdi; 
and  as  courageously  in  the  Senate  against  a 
fixed  majority  as  if  we  had  some  chance  for 
success ;   but  our  exertions  were  not  for  the 
Senate,  but  for  the  people— not  to  change  sena- 
torial votes,  but  to  rouse  the  masses  through- 
out the  land  5  and  while  borne  down  by  a  ma- 
jority of  ten  in  the  Senate,  we  looked  with 
pride  to  the  other  end  of  the  building  j  and  de- 
rived confidence  from  the  contemplation  of  a 
majority  of  fifty,  fresh  from  the  elections  of  the 
people,  and  strong  in  their  good  cause.    It  was 
a  scene  for  Mons.  De  Tocqueville  to  have  look- 
ed on  to  have  learnt  which  way  the  dilTerence 
lay  between  the  men  of  the  direct  vote  of  the 
people,  and  those  of  the  indirect  vote  of  the 
General    Assembly,    "filtrated"  through   the 
"refining"  process  of  an  intermediate  body. 

But  although  fictitious  and  forged,  yet  the 
distress  was  real,  and  did  an  immensity  of  mis- 
chief. "Vast  numbers  of  individuals  were  niin- 
ed,  or  crippled  in  their  ailiiirs ;  a  great  many 
banks  were  broken— a  run  being  made  upon  all 
that  would  not  come  into  the  system  of  the  na- 
tional bank.  The  deposit  banks  above  all  were 
selected  for  pressure.  Several  of  them  were 
driven  to  suspension- some  to  give  up  the  de- 
posits—and the  bank  in  Washington,  in  which 
the  treasury  did  iia  business,  was  only  saved 
from  closing  its  doors  by  running  wagons  with 


ANNO  1884.    ANDRFW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


425 


ipecie  through  iimkI  and  mire  from  the  mint  in 
Philadelpli"*  to  the  hanlt  in  Wn  liiigton,  In 
supply  tho  place  of  what  was  hauled  from  the 
bank  in  WaHhington  to  the  national  bank  in 
Piiiladolpliia — the  two  boIh  of  wagons,  one  go- 
ing anil  ""<■  coming,  often  passing  each  other 
on  the  Mad.  But,  while  ruin  was  going  on 
upon  others,  the  great  corpor  tion  in  Philadel- 
phia WHS  doing  well.  The  distress  of  the  roun- 
try  wris  its  harvest ;  and  its  monthly  retumH 
allowed  constant  increases  of  specie. 

When  all  was  over,  and  the  Senate's  scn- 
tenre  had  been  nent  out  to  do  its  office  among 
the  people,  General  .fackson  felt  that  the  time 
had  cnirii'  for  him  to  speak ;  and  did  so  in  a 
"Protest,"  addrcsHod  to  the  Senate,  and  re- 
markable for  the  temperance  and  moderation 
of  its  language.  Ho  had  considered  the  pro- 
ceeding (igainst  him,  from  the  beginning,  an 
illegal  tr- J,  1 1 1;'  -as  having  no  legislative  aim 
orobj'.'t — as  bt-u.-ij  intended  merely  for  cen- 
sure; and  therel.pi),  not  coming  within  any 
power  '  r  onty  of  he  Senate.  He  deemed  it 
eiitra-judi  '  •!  it',  unparliamentary,  legally  no 
more  than  ..oe  act  of  a  town  meeting,  while  in- 
vested with  the  forms  of  a  l-ga!  proceeding; 
and  intended  to  act  upon  the  public  mind  with 
the  force  of  a  sentence  of  conviction  on  an  im- 
peachment, while  in  reality  but  a  personal  act 
against  him  in  his  personal,  and  not  in  his 
official  character.  This  idea  ho  prominently 
put  forth  in  his  "  Protest  j"  from  which  some 
passages  are  here  given : 

"The  resolution  in  question  was  introduced, 
discussed,  and  passed,  not  as  a  joint,  but  as  a 
separate  resolution.  It  asserts  no  legislative 
power,  proposes  no  legislative  action  ;  and 
neither  possesses  the  form  nor  any  of  the  attri- 
butes of  (I  le<^i,slative  measure.  It  does  not  ap- 
pear to  liavc  been  entertained  or  pa.ssed,  with 
any  view  or  expectation  of  its  issuing  in  a  law 
or  joint  resolution,  or  in  the  repeal  of  uny  law 
or  Joint  resolution,  or  in  any  other  legislative 
action. 

"  Whilst  wanting  both  the  form  and  substance 
of  a  legislative  measure,  it  is  equally  manifest, 
that  the  resolution  was  not  justified  by  any  of 
the  exiTutive  powers  conferred  on  the  Senate. 
These  powers  relate  exclusively  to  the  consider- 
ation of  treaties  and  nominations  to  office  ;  and 
they  are  exercised  in  secret  session,  and  with 
closed  doors.  This  resolution  does  not  apply 
to  any  treaty  or  nomination,  and  was  passed  in 
a  public  5e5,>iou. 

"Nor  does  this  proceeding  in  any  way  belong 
to  that  class  of  incidental  resolutions  which  re- 


late to  Iha  offirors  of  the  .Senate,  to  their  cham- 
Ix'r,  and  other  appurtenances,  to  subjectii  of 
order,  and  other  matterN  of  the  ike  nature — in 
all  which  iiUuT  House  may  lawfully  proceed 
without  any  (n  ujieration  with  the  other,  or 
with  the  I'resklent. 

"On  the  cwitniry  the  whole  phmf^'ology  and 
sense  of  the  resolution  seem  t'  lie  judicial.  Its 
essence,  true  character,  and  oiib-  nni'tical  ell'ect, 
arc  to  Ik>  found  in  the  onductwhi*  h  it  charges 
uiH)n  the  President,  and  .  i  the  judgment  which 
it  pronounces  on  that  conduct.  The  resolution, 
therefore,  though  d  cussed  and  adopted  by  the 
Senate  in  its  legislative  capacity,  is.  in  its  office, 
and  in  ali  its  characteristics,  essentially  judicial. 

"That  the  Senate  possesses  a  high  judicial 
power,  and  that  instances  may  occur  in  which 
the  President  of  the  United  States  will  be  ame- 
nable to  it,  is  undeniable.  But  under  the  pro- 
visions of  the  constitution,  it  would  seem  to  bo 
equally  plain  that  'i^'iier  the  President  nor  any 
other  officer  ran  hi  •Ightfiilly  subjected  to  the 
operation  of  the  ju-liCii/i  power  of*  the  Senate, 
except  in  the  cases  and  under  the  forms  pre- 
scribed by  the  constitution. 

"  The  constitution  declares  that  '  the  Presi- 
dent, Vice-President,  and  all  civil  officers  of  the 
United  States,  siiall  be  remove  I  from  office  on 
impeachment  for^  and  convii;li<  n  of  treason,  bri- 
bery, or  other  high  crimes  am'  jiisdemeanors' 
— that  the  House  of  Representatives  '  shall  have 
till  'ole  power  of  impeachment' — that  the  Senate 
'  shall  have  the  sole  power  to  try  all  impeach- 
ments'—that  'when  sitting  for  that  purpose, 
they  shall  bo  on  oath  or  affirmation' — that 
'when  the  President  of  the  United  States  is 
tried,  the  Chief  Justice  shall  preside '—that  no 
person  shall  bo  convicted  without  the  concur- 
rence of  two-thirds  of  the  members  present' 
— and  that  'judgment  shall  not  extend  further 
than  to  remove  from  office,  and  disqualification 
to  hold  and  enjoy  any  office  of  honor,  trust  or 
profit,  under  the  United  States.' 

"  The  resolution  above  quoted,  charges  in  sub- 
stance that  in  certain  proceedings  relating  to  the 
p\iblic  revenue,  the  President  has  usurped  au- 
thority and  power  not  conferred  upon  him  by 
the  constitution  and  laws,  and  that  in  doing  so 
he  violated  both.  Any  such  act  constitutes  a 
high  crime— one  of  the  highest,  indeed,  which 
the  President  can  commit— a  crime  which  justly 
exposes  him  to  impeachment  by  the  House  of 
Representatives,  and  upon  due  conviction,  to  re- 
moval from  office,  and  to  the  complete  and  im- 
mutable disfranchisement  prescribed  by  the  con- 
stitution. 

"  The  resolution,  then,  was  in  substance  an 
impeachment  of  the  President ;  and  in  i»s  pas- 
sage amounts  to  a  declaration  by  a  majority  of 
the  Senate,  that  he  is  guilty  of  an  impeachable 
offence.  As  such  it  is  spread  uj)on  the  journals 
of  the  Senate — published  to  tlx;  nntion  und  to 
the  world — made  part  of  our  enduring  archives 
— and  incorporated  in  the  history  of  the  age. 
The  punishment  of  removal  from  office  and  fti* 


426 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


■■I 


ture  disqualification,  docs  not,  it  is  true,  follow 
this  decision  ;  nor  would  it  have  followed  the 
like  decision,  if  the  regular  forms  of  proceodinfr 
had  been  pursued,  because  the  requisite  number 
did  not  concur  in  the  result.  But  the  moral 
influence  of  a  solemn  declaration,  by  a  majority 
of  the  Senate,  that  the  accused  is  guilty  of  the 
offence  charged  upon  him,  has  been  as  effectual- 
ly secured,  as  if  the  like  declaration  had  b :en 
irade  upon  an  impeachment  expressed  in  the 
same  terms.  Indeed,  a  greater  practical  eflect 
has  been  gained,  because  the  votes  given  for  the 
resolution,  though  not  suflBcient  to  authorize  a 
judgment  of  guilty  on  an  impeachment,  were 
numerous  enough  to  carry  that  resolution. 

"  That  the  resolution  does  not  expressly  allege 
that  the  assumption  of  power  and  authority, 
which  it  condemns,  was  intentional  and  corrupt, 
is  no  answer  to  the  preceding  view  of  its  char- 
acter and  effect.  The  act  thus  condemned,  ne- 
cessaiily  implies  volition  and  design  in  the  in- 
diviilual  to  whom  it  is  iinputed,  and  being  un- 
lawful in  its  character,  the  legal  conclusion  is, 
that  it  wa-.  prompted  by  improper  motives,  and 
committed  with  an  unlawful  intent.  The  charge 
is  not  of  a  mistake  in  the  exercise  of  supposed 
powers,  but  of  the  a.ssumption  of  powers  not 
conferred  by  the  constitution  and  laws,  but  in 
derogation  of  both,  and  nothing  is  suggested  to 
excuse  or  palliate  the  turpitude  of  the  act.  In 
the  ab<ence  of  any  such  excuse,  or  palliation, 
there  is  room  only  for  one  inference ;  and  that 
is,  that  the  intent  was  unlawful  and  corrupt. 
Besides,  the  resolution  not  only  contains  no 
mitigating  suggestion,  but  on  the  contrary,  it 
hohls  up  the  act  complained  of  as  justly  ob- 
noxious to  censure  and  reprobation ;  and  thus 
as  distinctly  stamps  it  with  impurity  of  motive, 
as  if  the  strongest  epithets  had  been  used. 

"  The  President  of  the  United  States,  there- 
fore, has  been  by  a  majority  of  his  constitutional 
triers,  accused  and  found  guilty  of  an  iniiieach- 
able  offence ;  hut  in  no  part  of  this  proceeding 
have  the  directions  of  the  constitution  been  ob- 
served. 

"  The  impeachment,  instead  of  being  preferred 
and  prosecuted  by  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, origitiated  in  the  Senate,  and  was  piose- 
cuted  without  the  aid  or  concurrence  of  the 
other  House  The  oath  or  affirmation  pre- 
scribed by  tiie  constitution,  was  not  taken  by 
the  senators ;  the  Chief  Justice  did  not  preside ; 
no  notKc  of  the  ch.irge  was  given  to  the  accus- 
ed ;  and  no  opportunity  afforded  him  to  respon<l 
to  the  accusation,  to  meet  his  accusers  face  to 
face,  to  cioss-e.\aniine  the  witnesses,  to  procure 
counteracting  testimony,  or  to  be  heard  in  his 
defence.  The  safeguards  and  formalities  which 
the  constitution  has  connected  with  the  power 
of  impeachment,  were  doubtless  supposed  by 
the  framers  of  that  instrument,  to  be  essential 
to  the  protection  of  the  public  servant,  to  the 
attainment  of  justice,  and  to  the  order,' impar- 
1  ility,  and  dignity  of  the  procedure.  These 
safeguards  and  formalities  were  not  only  practi- 


cally disregarded,  in  the  commencement  and  con. 
duet  of  these  proceedings,  but  in  their  result  I 
find  myself  convicted  by  less  than  two-tliirds  of 
the  members  present,  of  an  impeachable  offence." 

Having  thus  shown  the  proceedings  of  the 
Senate  to  have  been  extra-judicial  and  the  mere 
fulmination  of  a  censure,  such  as  might  come 
from  a  "  mass  meeting,"  and  finding  no  warrant  in 
any  right  or  duty  of  the  body,  and  intended  for 
nothing  but  to  operate  upon  him  personally,  he 
then  showed  that  senators  from thiee States  had 
voted  contrary  to  the  sense  of  their  respective 
State  legislatures.    On  this  point  he  said : 

"There  are  also  some  other  circTunstanccs  con- 
nected  with  the  discussion  and  passage  of  the 
resolution,  to  which  I  feel  it  to  be,  not  only  my 
right,  but  my  duty  to  refer.  It  appears  by  the 
journal  of  the  Senate,  that  among  the  twenty- 
six  senators  who  voted  for  the  resolution  on  its 
final  passage,  and  who  had  supported  it  in  de- 
bate, in  its  original  form,  were  one  of  the  sena- 
tors from  the  State  of  Maine,  the  two  senators 
from  New  Jersey,  and  one  of  the  .senators  from 
Ohio.  It  also  appears  by  the  same  journal,  and 
by  the  files  of  the  Senate,"  that  the  legi.sluturos  of 
theseStates  had  severally  exjjvessed  their  opin- 
ions in  respect  to  the  Executive  proceedings 
drawn  in  question  before  the  Senate. 

"It  is  thus  seen  that  four  senators  have  de- 
clared by  their  votes  that  the  President,  in  the 
late  Executive  proceedings  in  relation  to  the 
revenue,  had  been  guilty  of  the  impcachablo  of- 
fence of  '  assuming  upon  himself  authority  and 
power  not  conferred  by  the  constitution  and 
laws,  but  in  derogation  of  both,'  whilst  the  leg- 
islatures of  their  respective  States  had  deliber- 
ately approved  those  very  proceedings,  ns  consist- 
ent with  the  constitution,  and  demanded  hv  the 
public  good.  If  these  four  votes  had  been  gl/en 
in  accordance  with  the  sentiments  of  the  legisla- 
tures, as  above  expressed,  there  wo.dd  have  been 
but  twenty-four  votes  out  of  forty-six  for  cen- 
suring the  President,  and  the  unprecedented  re- 
cord of  his  conviction  could  not  have  been  placed 
upon  the  journals  of  the  Senate. 

"  In  thus  referring  to  the  resolutions  and  in- 
structions of  State  legislatures,  I  disclaim  and 
repudiate  all  authority  or  design  tointorftre  with 
the  responsibility  due  from  members  of  the  Se- 
nate to  their  own  consciences,  their  constituents 
and  their  country.  The  facts  now  stated  belong 
to  the  history  of  these  proceedings,  and  are  im- 
portant to  the  just  development  of  the  principles 
and  interests  involved  in  them,  as  well  as  to  the 
proper  vindication  of  the  Executive  department; 
and  with  that  view,  and  that  view  only,  are  they 
here  made  the  topic  of  remark." 

The  President  then  entered  his  solemn  prt 
test  against  the  Senate's  pi-oceedings  in  thes? 
words : 


ANNO  1834.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


427 


his  solemn  pn. 


"With  this  view,  and  for  the  reasons  which 
have  been  stated,  I  do  hereby  solemnly  protest 
against  the  aforementioned  proceedings  of  the 
Senate  as  unauthorized  by  the  constitution ;  con- 
trary to  its  spirit  and  to  several  of  its  express 
provisions ;  subversive  of  that  distribution  of  the 
powers  of  government  which  it  has  ordained  and 
established ;  destructive  of  the  checks  and  safe- 
guards by  which  those  powers  were  intended, 
on  the  one  hand,  to  be  controllod,  and,  on  the 
other  to  be  protected ;  and  calculated,  by  tlieir 
immediate  and  collateral  effects,  by  their  charac- 
ter and  tendency,  to  concentrate  in  the  hands 
of  a  body  not  directly  amenable  to  the  people, 
a  degree  of  influence  and  power  dangerous  to 
tlieir  liberties,  and  fatal  to  the  constitution  of 
their  choice." 

And  it  concluded  with  an  affecting  appeal  to 
his  private  history  for  the  patri^^  ism  and  integ- 
rity of  his  life,  and  the  illustration  of  his  con- 
duct in  relation  to  the  bank,  and  showed  his  re- 
liance on  God  and  the  People  to  sustain  him ; 
and  looked  with  confidence  to  the  place  which 
justice  would  assign  him  on  the  page  of  history. 
This  moving  peroration  was  in  these  words : 

"  The  resolution  of  the  Senate  contains  an  im- 
putation upon  my  private  as  well  as  upon  my 
public  character ;  and  as  it  must  stand  for  ever 
on  their  journals,  I  cannot  close  this  substitute 
for  tliat  defence  which  I  have  not  been  allowed 
to  present  in  the  ordinary  form,  without  remark- 
ing, that  I  have  lived  in  vain,  if  it  be  necessary 
to  enter  into  a  formal  vindication  of  my  charac- 
ter and  purposes  from  such  an  imputation.  In 
vain  do  [  bear  upon  my  person,  enduring  memo- 
rials of  that  contest  in  which  American  liberty 
was  purchased;  in  vain  have  I  since  perilled 
property,  fame,  and  life,  in  defence  of  the  rights 
and  privileges  so  dearly  bought :  in  vain  am  I 
now,  without  a  personal  aspiration,  or  the  hope 
of  individual  advantage,  encountering  responsi- 
bilities and  dangers,  from  which,  by  mere  in- 
activity in  relation  to  a  single  point,  I  might 
have  been  exempt — if  any  serious  doubts  can 
be  entertained  as  to  the  purity  of  my  purposes 
and  motives.  If  I  had  been  ambitious,  I  should 
have  sought  an  alliance  with  that  powerful  in- 
stitution, which  eveu  now  aspires  to  no  divided 
empire.  If  I  had  been  venal,  I  should  have 
sold  myself  to  its  designs.  Had  I  preferred 
personal  comfort  and  oflScial  ea^e  to  the  perform- 
ance of  my  arduous  duty,  I  should  have  ceased 
to  molest  it.  In  the  history  of  conquerors  and 
usurpers,  never,  in  the  fire  of  youth,  nor  in  the 
vigor  of  manhood,  could  I  find  an  attraction  to 
lure  me  from  the  path  of  duty ;  and  now,  I  shall 
scarcely  find  an  inducement  to  commence  the 
career  of  ambition,  when  gray  hairs  and  a  de- 
caying frame,  instead  of  inviting  to  toil  and  bat- 
tle, call  me  to  the  contemplation  of  other 
worlds,  where  conquerors  cease  to  bo  honored, 


and  usurpers  expiate  their  crimes.  The  only 
ambition  I  can  feel,  is  to  acquit  myself  to  Ilim 
to  whom  I  must  soon  render  an  account  of  my 
stewardship,  to  serve  my  fellow-men,  and  live 
respected  and  honored  in  the  history  of  my 
country.  No;  the  ambition  which  leads  me 
on,  is  an  anxious  desire  and  a  fixed  determina- 
tion, to  return  to  the  people,  unimpaired,  the 
sacred  trust  they  have  confided  to  my  charge — 
to  heal  the  wounds  of  the  constitution  and  pre- 
serve it  from  further  violation ;  to  persuade  my 
countrymen,  so  far  as  I  may,  that  it  is  not  in  a 
splendid  government,  supported  by  powerful 
monopolies  and  aristocratical  establishments, 
that  they  will  find  happiness,  or  their  liberties 
protected,  but  in  a  plain  system,  void  of  pomp 

■protecting  all,  and  granting  favors  to  none — 
dispensing  its  blessings  like  the  dews  of  heaven, 
unseen  and  unfelt,  save  in  the  freshness  and 
beauty  they  contribute  to  produce.  It  is  such 
a  government  that  the  genius  of  our  people  re- 
quires— such  a  one  only  under  which  our  States 
may  remain  for  ages  to  come,  united,  prosper- 
ous, and  free.  If  the  Almighty  Being  who  has 
hitherto  sustained  and  protected  me,  will  but 
vouchsafe  to  make  my  feeble  powers  instru- 
mental to  such  a  result,  I  shall  anticipate  with 
pleasure  the  place  to  be  assigned  me  in  the 
history  of  my  country,  and  die  contented  with 
the  belief,  that  I  have  contributed  in  some  small 
degree,  to  increase  the  value  and  prolong  the 
duration  of  American  liberty. 

"  To  the  end  that  the  resolution  of  the  Se- 
nate may  not  be  hereafter  drawn  into  precedent, 
with  the  authority  of  silent  acquiescence  on  the 
part  of  the  Executive  department ;  and  to  the 
end,  also,  that  my  motives  and  views  in  the 
Executive  proceeding  denounced  in  that  resolu- 
tion may  be  ''nown  to  my  fellow-citizens,  to  the 
world,  and  to  all  posterity,  I  respectfully  re- 
quest that  this  message  and  protest  may  be  en- 
tered at  length  on  the  journals  of  the  Senate." 

No  sooner  was  this  Protest  read  in  the  Senate 
than  it  gave  rise  to  a  scene  of  the  greatest  ex- 
citement. Mr.  Poindexter,  of  Mississippi,  imme- 
diately assailed  it  as  a  breach  of  the  privileges  of 
the  Senate,  and  unfit  to  be  received  by  the  body- 
He  said :  "  I  will  not  dignify  this  paper  by  con- 
sidering it  in  the  light  of  an  Executive  message: 
it  is  no  such  thing.  I  regard  it  simply  as  a 
paper,  with  the  signature  of  Andrew  Jackson ; 
and,  should  the  Senate  refuse  to  receive  it,  it 
will  not  be  the  first  paper  with  the  same  signa- 
ture which  has  been  refused  a  hearing  in  this 
body,  on  the  ground  of  the  abusive  and  vitupe- 
rative language  which  it  contained.  This  effort 
to  denounce  and  overawe  the  deliberations  of 
the  Senate  may  properly  be  regarded  as  capping 
the  climax  of  that  systematic  plan  of  operations 
which  had  for  several  years  been  in  progress, 


ill 
II 

I 


^H 


428 


THIRTY  TJLAHS'  VIEW. 


designed  to  bring  this  body  into  disrepute  among 
the  people,  and  thereby  remove  the  only  exist- 
ing barrier  to  tlie  arbitrary  encroachments  and 
usurpations  of  Executive  power:" — and  he  mov- 
ed that  the  paper,  as  he  called  it,  should  not  be 
received.    Mr.  Benton  deemed  this  a  proper 
occasion  to  give  notice  of  his  intention  to  move 
a  strong  measure  which  he  contemplated— an 
expunging  resolution  against  the  sentence  of  the 
Senate: — a  determination  to  which  he  had  come 
from  his  own  convictions  of  right,  and  which  he 
now  announced  without  consultation  with  any 
of  his  friends.     He  deemed  this  movement  too 
bold  to  be  submitted  to  a  council  of  friends— too 
daring  to  expect  their  concurrence ;— and  believed 
it  way  better  to  proceed  without  their  know- 
ledge, than  against  their  decision.    He,  there- 
fore, delivered  his  notice  ex  ahruptu,  accom- 
panied by  an  earnest  invective  against  the  con- 
duct of  the  Senate  ;  and  committed  himself  irre- 
vocably to  the  prosecution  of  the  "  expunging 
resolution  "  until  he  should  succeed  in  the  effort, 
or  terminate  his  political  life :  He  said : 

"The  public  mind  was  now  to  be  occupied 
with  a  question  of  the  very  first  moment  and 
importance,  and  identical  in  all  its  features  with 
the  great  question  growing  out  of  the  famous 
resolutions  of  the  English  House  of  Commons 
in  the  case  of  the  Ztliddlesex  election  in  the  year 
1768 ;  and  which  engrossed  the  attention  of  the 
British  empire  for  fourteen  years  before  it  was 
settled.  That  question  was  one  in  which  the 
House  of  Commons  was  judged,  and  condemned, 
for  adopting  a  resohition  which  was  held  by  the 
subjects  of  tlie  British  crown  to  be  a  violation 
of  their  constitution,  and  a  subversion  of  the 
rights  of  Englishmen :  the  question  now  before 
the  Senate,  and  which  will  go  before  the  Ame- 
rican people,  grows  out  of  a  resolution  in  which 
he  (Mr.  B.)  behoved  that  the  constitution  had 
been  violated— the  privileges  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  invaded— and  the  rights  of  an 
American  citizen,  in  the  person  of  the  President, 
subverted.  Tiie  resolution  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  after  fourteen  years  of  annual  mo- 
tions, was  expmigcd  from  the  Journal  of  the 
House ;  and  he  pledged  himself  to  the  American 
people  to  commence  a  similar  series  of  motions 
with  respect  to  this  resolution  of  the  Senate. 
He  had  made  up  his  mind  to  do  so  without  con- 
sultation with  any  human  being,  and  without 
deigning  to  calculate  the  chances  or  the  time  of 
success.  He  rested  under  the  firm  conviction 
that  the  resolution  of  the  Senate,  which  had 
drawn  from  the  President  the  calm,  temperate, 
and  dignified  protest,  which  had  been  ivud  at 
the  table,  was  a  resolution  which  ought  to  bo 
expunged  from  the  Journal  of  the  Senate ;  and 
tf  any  thing  was  necessary  to  stimulate  hie 


sense  of  duty  in  making  a  motion  to  that  effect 
and  m  encouraging  others  after  he  was  gone  in 
following  up  that  motion  to  success,  it  would  be 
found  in  the  history  and  termination  of  the  simi- 
lar motion  which  was  made  in  the  English  House 
of  Commons  to  which  he  had  referred.    That 
motion  was  renewed  for  fourteen  years— from 
17G8  to  1782— before  it  was  successful.    For 
the  first  seven  years,  the  lofty  and  indienant 
majority  did  not  condescend  to  reply  to  the 
motion.    They  sunk  it  under  a  dead  vote  as 
often  as  presented.    The  second  seven  years 
they  replied  ;  and  at  the  end  of  the  term  and 
on  the  assembling  of  a  new  Parliament!  the 
veteran  motion  was  carried  by  more  than  two 
to  one ;  and  the  gratifying  spectacle  was  beheld 
of  a  public  expurgation,  in  the  face  of  the  as- 
sembled Commons  of  England,  of  the  obnoxious 
resolution  from  the  Journal  of  the  House.   The 
elections  in  England  were  septennial,  and  it 
took  two  terms  of  seven  yeare,  or  two  general 
elections,  to  bring  the  sense  of  the  kingdom  to 
bear  upon  their  representatives.     The  elections 
of  the  Senate  were  sexennial,  with  intercalary 
exits  and  entrances,  and  it  might  take  a  less  or 
a  longer  period,  he  would  not  presume  to  say 
which,  to  bring  the  sense  of  the  American  people 
to  bear  upon  an  act  of  the  American  Senate. 
Of  that,  he  would  make  no  calculation  ;  but  tht 
final  success  of  the  motion  in  the  English  House 
of  Commons,  after  fourteen  years'  perseverance 
was  a  sufficient  encouragement  for  him  to  bcain' 
and  doubtless  would  encourage  others  to  con- 
tinue, until  the  good  work  should  be  crowned 
with  success ;  and  the  only  atonement  made- 
which  it  was  in  the  Senate's  power  to  make,  to 
the  violated  majesty  of  the  constitution,  the  in- 
vaded privileges  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
and  the  subverted  rights  of  an  American  citizen. 
"  In  bringing  this  great  question  before  the 
American  people,  Mr.  B.  should  consider  him- 
self as  addressing  the  calm  intelligence  of  an 
enlightened  community.     He  believed  the  body 
of  the  Ameriam  people  to  be  the  most  enlighten- 
ed community  upon  earth ;  and,  without  the  least 
disparagement  to  the  present  Senate,  he  must 
be  permitted  to  believe  that  many  such  Senates 
might  be  drawn  from  the  ranks  of  the  people, 
and  still  leave  no  dearth  of  intelligence  behind. 
To  such  a  community — in  an  appeal,  on  a  great 
question  of  constitutional  law,  to  the  under- 
standings of  such  a  people— declamation,  pas- 
sion,  epithets,    opprobrious    language,    would 
stand  for  nothing.     They  would  flout,  harmless 
and  unheeded,  through  the  empty  air,  and  strike 
in  vain  upon  the  ear  of  a  sober  and  dispassionate 
tribunal.     Indignation,  real  or  affected  ;  wrath, 
however  hot ;  fury,  however  enraged ;  assevera- 
tions, however  violent ;  denunciation,  however 
furious  ;  will  avail  nothing.     Facts—inexorable 
facts— are  all  that  will  be  attended  to  ;  reason, 
calm  and  self-possefiKwlj  isjil!  thnt  will  lie  liston- 
ed  to.    An  intelligent  tribunal  will  exact  the 
respect  of  an  address  to  their  understandings; 
and  he  that  wishes  to  be  heard  in  this  great 


ANNO  1834.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESmENT. 


429 


question,  or  being  heard,  would  wish  to  be 
heeded,  will  have  occasion  to  be  clear  and  cor- 
rect in  his  facts  ;  close  and  perspicuous  in  his 
application  of  law ;  fair  and  candid  in  his  con- 
clusions and  inferences  ;  temperate  and  deco- 
rous in  his  language;  and  scrupulously  free 
from  every  taint  of  vengeance  and  malice.  So- 
lemnly impressed  with  the  truth  of  all  these 
convictions,  it  was  the  intention  of  himself  (Mr. 
B.)  whatever  the  example  or  the  provocation 
might  be — never  to  forget  his  place,  his  subject, 
his  audience,  and  his  object — never  to  forget 
that  he  was  speaking  in  the  American  Senate, 
on  a  question  of  violated  constitution  and  out- 
raged individual  right,  to  an  audience  compre- 
hending the  whole  body  of  the  American  people, 
and  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a  righteous 
decision  from  the  calm  and  sober  judgment  of 
a  high-minded,  intelligent,  and  patriotic  com- 
munity. 

"  The  question  immediately  before  the  Senate 
was  one  of  minor  consequence ;  it  might  be 
called  a  question  of  small  import,  except  for 
the  effect  which  the  decision  might  have  upon 
the  Senate  itself.  In  that  point  of  view,  it 
might  be  a  question  of  some  moment ;  for,  with- 
out reference  to  individuals,  it  was  essential  to 
the  cause  of  free  governments,  that  every  de- 
partment of  the  government,  the  Senate  inclu- 
sive, should  so  act  as  to  preserve  to  itself  the 
respect  and  the  confidence  of  the  country.  The 
immediate  question  was,  upon  the  rejection  of 
the  President's  message.  It  was  moved  to 
reject  it — to  reject  it,  not  after  it  ■^"s  considered, 
but  before  it  was  considered!  r  i  us  to  tell 
the  American  people  that  their  i  ■  i  nient  shall 
not  be  heard — should  not  be  allowed  to  plead 
his  defence — in  the  presence  of  the  body  that 
condemned  him — neither  before  the  condemna- 
tion, nor  after  it !  This  is  the  motion :  and 
certainly  no  enemy  to  the  Senate  could  wish  it 
to  miscarry.  The  President,  in  the  conclusion 
of  his  message,  has  respectfully  requested  that 
his  defence  might  be  entered  upon  the  Journal 
of  the  Senate — upon  that  same  Journal  which 
contains  the  record  of  his  conviction.  This  is 
the  request  of  the  President.  Will  the  Senate 
deny  it  ?  Will  they  refuse  this  act  of  sheer 
justice  and  common  decency  ?  Will  they  go 
further,  and  not  only  refuse  to  place  it  on  the 
Journal,  but  refuse  even  to  suffer  it  to  remain 
in  the  Senate  ?  Will  they  refuse  to  permit  it 
to  remain  on  file,  but  send  it  back,  or  throw  it 
out  of  doors,  without  condescending  to  reply  to 
it  ?  For  that  is  the  exact  import  of  the  motion 
now  made !  Will  senators  exhaust  their  minds, 
and  their  bodies  also,  in  'oading  this  very  com- 
munication with  epithetb,  and  then  say  that  it 
shall  not  be  received  ?  Will  they  receive  me- 
morials, resolutions,  essays,  from  all  that  choose 
to  abuse  the  President,  and  not  receive  a  word 
of  defence  from  him  1  Will  they  continue  the 
spectacle  wliich  had  been  presented  here  for 
tlu'ee  months— a  daily  presentation  of  attacks 
upon  the  President  from  all  that  choose  to  at- 


tack him,  young  and  old,  boys  and  men — attacks 
echoing  the  very  sound  of  this  resolui  ion,  and 
which  are  not  only  received  and  filed  here,  but 
printed,  which,  possibly,  the  twenty-six  could 
not  unite  here,  nor  go  to  trial  upon  any  where ! 
He  remarked,  in  the  third  place,  upon  the  effect 
produced  in  the  character  of  the  resolution,  and 
affirmed  that  it  was  nothing.  He  said  that  the 
same  charge  ran  through  all  three.  They  all 
three  imputed  to  the  President  a  violation  of 
the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  country — of 
that  constitution  which  he  was  sworn  to  sup- 
port, and  of  those  laws  which  he  was  not  only 
bound  to  observe  himself,  but  to  cause  to  be 
faithfully  observed  by  all  others. 

"A  violation  of  the  constitution  and  of  the 
laws,  Mr.  B.  said,  were  not  abstractions  and  meta- 
physical subtleties.  They  must  relate  to  persons 
or  things.  The  violations  cannot  rest  in  the 
air ;  they  mtpt  affix  themselves  to  men  or  to 
property ;  they  must  connect  themselves  with 
the  transactions  of  real  life.  They  cannot  be 
ideal  and  contemplative.  In  omitting  the  spe- 
cifications relative  to  the  dismission  of  one 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  the  appointment 
of  another,  what  other  specifications  were  adopt- 
ed or  substituted  ?  Certainly  none !  What 
others  were  mentally  intended  ?  Surely  none ! 
What  others  were  suggested  ?  Certainly  none  1 
The  general  charge  then  rests  upon  the  same 
specification;  and  so  completely  is  this  the  fact, 
that  no  supporter  of  the  resolutions  has  thought 
it  necessary  to  make  the  least  alteration  in  his 
speeches  which  supported  the  original  resolu- 
tion, or  to  say  a  single  additional  word  in  favor 
of  the  altered  resolution  as  finally  passed.  The 
omission  of  the  specification  is  then  an  omission 
of  form  and  not  of  substance ;  it  is  a  change  of 
words  and  not  of  things  ;  and  the  substitution 
of  a  derogation  of  the  laws  and  constitution, 
for  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the  people,  is  a 
still  more  flagrant  instance  of  change  of  words 
without  change  of  things.  It  is  tautologous 
and  nonsensical.  It  adds  n( !  hing  to  the  general 
charge,  and  takes  nothing  nom  it.  It  neither 
explains  it  nor  qualifies  it.  In  the  technical 
sense  it  is  absurd;  for  it  is  not  the  cast  of  a 
statute  in  derogation  of  the  common  law 
wit,  repealing  a  part  of  it ;  in  the  common  par 
lance  understanding,  it  is  ridiculous,  for  the 
President  is  not  even  charged  with  defaming 
the  constitution  and  the  laws ;  and,  if  he  was 
so  charged,  it  would  present  a  curious  trial  of 
scandalum  magnaturn  for  the  American  Senate 
to  engage  in.  No !  said  Mr.  13.,  this  derogation 
clause  is  an  expletion !  It  is  put  in  to  fill  up ! 
The  regular  impeaching  clause  of  dangerous  to 
the  liberties  of  the  people,  had  to  be  taken  out. 
There  was  danger,  not  in  the  people  certainly, 
but  to  the  character  of  the  resolution,  if  it  staid 
in.  It  identified  that  resolution  as  an  im- 
peaolaueut,  and,  therefore,  constituted  a  piece 
of  internal  evidence  which  it  was  necessary  to 
withdraw;  but  in  withdrawing  which,  the  cha- 
racter of  the  resolution  was  not  altered.    The 


'   t  ? 

'.'  'II 


430 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW, 


chai^ge  for  violating  the  laws  and  the  constitu- 
tion still  stood  ;  and  the  substituted  clause  was 
nothing  but  a  stopper  to  a  vacuum — additional 
sound  without  additional  sense,  to  fill  up  a 
blank  and  round  off  a  sentence. 

"  After  showing  the  impeaching  character  of 
the  Senate's  resolution,  from  its  own  internal 
evidence,  Mr.  B.  had  recourse  to  another  de- 
scription of  evidence,  scarcely  inferior  to  the 
resolutions  themselves,  in  the  authentic  inter- 
pretations of  their  meaning.  He  alluded  to  the 
speeches  made  in  support  of  them,  and  which 
had  resounded  in  this  chamber  for  three  months, 
and  were  now  circulating  all  over  the  country 
in  every  variety  of  newspaper  and  pamphlet 
form.  These  speeches  were  made  by  the  friends 
of  the  resolution  to  procure  its  adoption  here, 
and  to  justify  its  adoption  before  the  countiy. 
Let  the  country'  then  read,  let  the  people  read, 
what  has  been  sent  to  them  for  tj|e  purpose  of 
justifying  these  resolutions  which  they  are  now 
to  try  !  They  will  find  them  to  be  in  the  cha- 
racter of  prosecution  pleadings  against  an  ac- 
cused man,  on  his  trial  for  the  coinmission  of 
great  crimes  !  Let  them  look  over  these 
speeches,  and  mark  the  passages ;  they  will 
find  language  ransacked,  history  rummaged,  to 
find  words  sufficiently  strong,  and  examples 
sufficiently  odious,  to  paint  and  exemplify  the 
enormity  of  the  crime  of  which  the  President 
was  alleged  to  be  guilty.  After  reading  these 
passages,  let  any  one  doubt,  if  he  can,  as  to  the 
character  of  the  resolution  which  was  adopted. 
Let  him  doubt,  if  he  can,  of  the  impeachable 
nature  of  the  offence  which  was  charged  upon 
the  President.  Let  him  doubt,  if  he  can,  that 
every  Senator  who  voted  for  that  resolution, 
voted  the  President  to  be  guilty  of  an  impeach- 
able offence— an  offence,  for  the  trial  of  which 
this  Senate  is  the  appointed  tribunal — an  offence 
which  it  will  be  the  immediate  duty  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  to  bring  before  the 
Senate,  in  a  formal  impeachment,  unless  they 
disbelieve  in  the  truth  and  justice  of  the  reso- 
lution which  has  been  adopted. 

"  Mr.  B.  said  there  were  three  characters  in 
which  the  Senate  could  act ;  and  every  time  it 
acted  it  necessarily  did  so  in  one  or  the  other  of 
these  characters.  It  possessed  executive,  legis- 
lative, and  judicial  characters.  As  a  part  of  the 
e-xecutive,  it  acted  on  treaties  and  nominations 
to  office ;  as  a  part  of  the  legislative,  it  assisted 
in  making  laws ;  as  a  judicial  tribunal,  it  decided 
impeachment^.  Now,  in  which  of  these  charac- 
ters did  the  Senate  act  when  it  adopted  the  re- 
solution in  question?  Not  in  its  executive 
character,  it  will  be  admitted;  not  in  its  legisla- 
tive character,  it  will  be  proved :  for  the  reso- 
lution was,  in  its  nature,  wholly  foreign  to  legis- 
lation. It  was  directed,  not  to  the  formation  of 
a  law,  but  to  the  condemnation  of  the  President. 
It  wa-«  to  condemn  him  for  dismissing  one  Sf>p- 
retary,  because  he  would  not  do  a  thing,  and 
appointing  another  that  he  might  do  it;  and 
certainly  tliis  was  not  matter  for  legislation ;  for 


Mr.  Duano  could  not  be  restored  by  law  nor 
Mr.  Taney  be  put  out  by  law.  It  was  to'con- 
vict  the  President  of  violating  the  constitution 
and  the  laws ;  and  surely  these  infractions  are 
not  to  be  amended  by  laws,  but  avenged  by  trial 
and  punishment.  The  very  nature  of  the  reso- 
lution proves  it  to  be  foreign  to  all  legislation  • 
its  form  proves  the  same  thing ;  for  it  is  not 
joint,  to  require  th"  action  of  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, and  thus  ripen  into  law;  nor  is  it 
followed  by  an  instruction  to  a  committee  to 
report  a  bill  in  conformity  to  it.  No  sucli  in- 
struction could  even  now  be  added  without  com- 
mitting an  absurdity  of  the  most  ridiculous 
character.  There  was  another  resolution  with 
which  this  must  not  be  confounded,  and' upon 
which  an  instruction  to  a  committee  might  have 
been  bottomed;  it  was  the  resolution  ivhich 
declared  the  Secretary's  reasons  for  removing 
the  deposits  to  be  insufficient  and  unsatisfac- 
tory ;  but  no  such  instruction  has  been  bottom- 
ed even  upon  that  resolution ;  so  that  it  is  evi- 
dent that  no  legislation  of  any  kind  was  intended 
to  follow  either  resolution,  even  that  to  which 
legislation  might  have  been  appropriate,  much 
less  that  to  which  it  would  have  been  an  absurd- 
ity. Four  months  have  elapsed  since  the  reso- 
lutions were  brought  in.  In  all  that  time,  the-e 
has  been  no  attempt  to  found  a  legislative  att 
upon  either  of  them  ;  and  it  is  too  late  now  to 
assume  that  the  one  which,  in  its  nature  and  in 
its  form,  is  wholly  foreign  to  legislation,  is  a 
legislative  act,  and  adopted  by  the  Senate  in  its 
legislative  character.  No  !  This  resolution  is 
judicial ;  it  is  a  judgment  pronounced  upon  an 
imputed  ofl'ence ;  it  is  the  declared  sense  of  a 
majority  of  the  Senate,  of  the  guilt  of  tlie  Presi- 
dent of  a  high  crime  and  misdemeanor.  It  is, 
in  substance,  an  impeachment-— an  impeachment 
in  violation  of  all  the  forms  prescribed  by  the 
constitution— in  violation  of  the  privileges  of 
the  House  of  Representatives- in  subversion  of 
the  rights  of  the  accused,  and  the  record  of  which 
ought  to  be  expunged  from  the  Journal  of  the 
Senate. 

'•  Mr.  B.  said  the  selection  of  a  tribunal  for 
the  trial  of  impeachments  was  felt,  by  the  con- 
vention which  framed  the  constitution,  as  one 
of  the  most  delicate  and  difficult  tasks  which 
they  had  to  perform.  Those  gi'eat  men  wore 
well  read  in  history,  both  ancient  and  modern, 
and  knew  that  the  impeaching  power — the  usual 
mode  for  trying  political  men  for  political  of- 
fences— was  often  an  engine  for  the  gratilication 
of  factious  and  ambitious  feelings.  An  impeach- 
ment was  well  known  to  be  the  beaten  road  for 
runnmg  down  a  hated  or  successful  political 
rival.  After  great  deliberation — after  weighing 
all  the  tribunals,  even  that  of  the  Supreme 
Court— the  Senate  of  the  United  States  was 
fixed  ujion  as  the  body  which,  from  its  constitu- 
tion, would  bij  tlu  most  impartial,  Tioutr.tl,  and 
equitable,  that  could  be  selected,  and,  with  the 
check  of  a  previous  inquisition,  and  present- 
ment of  charges  by  the  House  of  Representa' 


ANNO  1884,    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


431 


tives,  would  be  the  safest  tribunal  to  which 
coula  be  confidfd  a  power  so  great  in  itself,  and 
so  susceptible  of  being  abused.  The  Senate  was 
selected ;  and  to  show  that  he  had  not  over- 
stated the  difficulties  of  the  convention  in  making 
the  selection,  lie  would  take  leave  to  read  a  pas- 
sage from  a  work  v/hich  was  canonical  on  this 
subject,  and  from  an  article  in  that  work  which 
was  written  by  the  gentleman  whose  authority 
would  have  most  weight  on  this  occasion.  He 
spoke  01  the  Federalist,  and  of  the  article  writ- 
ten by  General  Hamilton  on  *ho  impeaching 
power: 

" '  A  well-constituted  court  for  the  trial  of  im- 
peachments is  an  object  not  more  to  be  desired 
than  dillieidt  to  be  obtained,  in  a  government 
wholly  elective.  The  subjects  of  its  jurisdiction 
are  tliosc  offences  which  proceed  from  the  mis- 
conduct of  public  men ;  or,  in  other  words,  from 
the  abuse  or  violation  of  some  public  trust. 
They  are  of  a  nature  which  may,  with  peculiar 
propriety,  be  denominated  political,  as  they  re- 
late chieliy  to  injuries  done  immediately  to  so- 
ciety it.-;elf.  The  prosecution  of  them,  for  this 
reason,  will  seldom  fail  to  agitate  the  passions 
of  the  whole  community,  and  to  divide  it  into 
parties  more  or  less  friendly  or  inimical  to  the 
accused,  lu  many  cases,  it  will  connect  itself 
with  tlie  pre-existing  factions,  and  will  enlist  all 
their  animosities,  partialities,  influence,  and  in- 
terest, on  one  side  or  on  the  other ;  and,  in  such 
cases,  there  will  always  be  the  greatest  danger 
that  the  decision  will  be  regulated  more  by  the 
comparative  stiength  of  parties,  than  by  the 
real  demonstrations  of  innocence  or  guilt.  The 
delicacy  and  magnitude  of  a  trust  which  so 
deeply  concorns  tlie  jiolitical  reputation  and  ex- 
istence of  every  man  engaged  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  public  aliairs,  speak  for  themselves. 
The  difficulty  of  placing  it  rightly  in  a  govern- 
ment resting  entirely  on  the  basis  of  periodical 
elections,  will  as  i-eadily  be  perceived,  when  it 
is  considered  that  the  most  conspicuous  charac- 
ters in  it  will,  from  that  circumstance,  be  too 
often  the  leaders  or  the  tools  of  the  most  cun- 
ning or  the  most  numerous  faction ;  and,  on  this 
account,  can  hardly  be  expected  to  possess  the 
requisite  neutrality  towards  those  whose  con- 
duct may  be  the  subject  of  scrutiny. 

" '  The  division  of  the  powers  of  impeachment 
between  the  two  branches  of  the  legislature,  as- 
signing to  one  the  riglit  of  accusing,  to  the  other 
the  right  of  trying,  avoids  the  inconvenience  of 
making  the  same  persons  both  accusers  and 
judges;  and  guards  against  the  danger  of  per- 
secution from  tlie  prevalency  of  a  factious  spirit 
in  either  of  those  branches.' 

"Mr.  B.  said  there  was  much  matter  for  elu- 
cidation of  the  present  object  of  discussion  in 
the  extract  which  he  had  read.  Its  definition 
of  an  impeachable  ollonce  covered  the  indentical 
charge  wliich  wa,-;  contained  in  the  resolution 
adopted  by  the  Senate  against  the  President. 
The  offence  chai-ged  upon  him  possessed  every 
feature  of  the  mnieachment  defined  by  General 


Hamilton.  It  imputes  misconduct  to  a  publio 
man,  for  the  abuse  and  violation  of  a  public 
trust.  The  discussion  of  the  charge  has  agitated 
the  passions  of  the  whole  comnumity ;  it  has 
divided  the  people  into  parties,  some  friendly, 
some  inimical,  to  the  accused ;  it  has  connected 
itself  with  the  pre-existing  parties,  enlisting  the 
whole  of  the  opposition  parties  under  one  ban- 
ner, and  calling  forth  all  their  animosities — all 
their  partialities — all  their  influence — all  their 
interest;  and,  what  was  not  foreseen  by  Gene- 
ral Hamilton,  it  has  called  forth  the  tremendous 
moneyed  power,  and  the  pervading  organization 
of  a  great  moneyed  power,  wielding  a  mass  of 
forty  millions  of  money,  and  sixty  millions  of 
debt;  wielding  the  whole  in  aid  and  support  ot 
this  charge  upon  the  President,  and  working 
the  double  battery  of  seduction,  on  one  hand, 
and  oppression  on  the  other,  to  put  down  the 
man  against  whom  it  is  directed  !  This  is  what 
General  Hamilton  did  not  foresee ;  but  the  next 
feature  in  the  picture  he  did  foresee,  and  most 
accurately  describe,  as  it  is  now  seen  by  us  all. 
He  said  that  the  decision  of  these  impeachments 
would  offer  be  regulated  more  by  the  compara- 
tive strength  of  parties  than  by  the  guilt  or  in- 
nocence of  the  accused.  How  prophetic !  Look 
to  the  memorials,  resolutions,  and  petitions,  sent 
in  here  to  criminate  the  President,  so  clearly 
marked  by  a  party  line,  that  when  an  exception 
occurs,  it  is  made  the  special  subject  of  public 
remark.  Look  at  the  vote  in  the  Senate,  upon 
the  adoption  of  the  resolution,  also  as  clearly 
defined  by  a  party  line  as  any  party  question 
can  ever  be  expected  to  be. 

"  To  guard  the  most  conspicuous  characters 
from  being  persecuted — Mr.  B.  said  he  was 
using  the  language  of  General  Hamilton — to 
guard  the  most  conspicuous  characters  from 
being  persecuted  by  the  leaders  or  the  tools  of 
the  most  cunning  or  the  most  numerous  faction 
— the  convention  had  placed  the  power  of  try- 
ing impeachments,  not  in  the  Supreme  Court, 
not  even  in  a  body  of  select  judges  chosen  for 
the  occasion,  but  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  and  not  even  in  tiicm  without  an  inter- 
vening check  to  the  abuse  of  that  power,  by 
associating  the  House  of  Representatives,  and 
forbidding  the  Senate  to  proceed  against  any 
officer  until  that  grand  inquest  of  the  nation 
should  demand  his  trial.  How  far  fortunate, 
or  otherwise,  the  convention  may  have  been  in 
the  selection  of  its  tribunal  for  the  trial  of  im- 
[leachments,  it  was  not  for  him,  Mr.  B.,  to  say. 
It  was  not  for  him  to  say  how  far  the  requisite 
neutrality  towards  those  whose  conduct  niiiy 
be  under  P'^rutiny,  may  be  found,  or  has  beo/i 
found,  in  tiiia  body.  But  he  must  take  leave  to 
say,  that  'S.  a  public  man  inay  be  virtually  im- 
peached— actually  condenined  by  the  Senate  of 
an  impeachable  olTei  i.e,  without  the  iiitw  v<  ation 
of  tlie  House  of  KC|j:eseulatives.  Ihtn  lus  the 
constitution  failed  at  one  of  its  most  vita!  ;H'\ut8, 
and  a  ready  means  found  for  doing  a  thing 
which  had  filled  other  countries  with  persecu 


i]  1 


L/  -ft 


r; 


' :  P 


PN'  fill 


432 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW, 


tion,  faction,  and  violence,  and  which  it  was 
intended  should  never  be  done  here. 

"  Mr.  E.  called  upon  the  Senate  to  recollect 
what  wa;'.  the  feature  in  the  famous  court  of 
the  Star  ('hamber  which  rendered  that  court 
the  most  odious  tnat  ever  sat  in  England.    It 
was  not  the  mass  of  its  enormities — great  as 
they  were— for  the  regular  tribunals  which  yet 
existed,  exceeded  that  court,  both  in  the  mass 
and  in  the  atrocity  of  their  crimes  and  opproti  • 
sions.     The  regular  courts  in  the  compass  of  a 
single  reit';n— that  of  James  the  Second  ;  u  oin- 
gle  judgi   in  a  single  riding — Jeffries,  on  ('.-.r 
Western  ("ircuit — surpassed  all  the  enormu'cs 
of  the  Star  Chamber,  in  the  whole  course  ot  its 
existence.     What  then  rendered  iiiat  court  f-o 
intoleraoly  odious  to  the  English  poople?    S-;-, 
said  Mr.  B.,  it  was  becauKe  that  court  had  no 
grand  jury— bif-ausc  it  pr'iceeded  withoiu  pre- 
sentment, witn'ut  indictmtnt — upon  informa- 
tion alone— auti  thus  got  ui  i:.s  victims  without 
the  intervention,  without  the  rest'.int,  ol'  an 
accusing  body.     TV. is  is  the  fvt hire  whic'i  sunk 
the  '-  Uar  Chamber  in  England.     It  is  the  f  JiUure 
which  no  criminal  tribunal  in  this  America  is 
allowed  to  possess.     The  most  incoasiderablo 
cflendor,  in  tiny  State  of  the  Union,  must  be 
i.hr""n;ed  In  a  jijrand  jury  before  he  can  be  tried 
hy  the  court.     In  this  Senate,  sitting  as  a  high 
court,  of  impeachment,  a  charge  must  f^'-st  be 
{■resented   by  the    House  of  Representatives, 
sitting  i\s  the  grand  inquest  of  the  nation.     But 
if  the  Senate  can  proceed,  without  the  inter- 
vention of  this  grand  inquest,  wherein  in  »t  to 
differ  from  the   Star  Chamber,  except  in  the 
mere   execution   of  its   decrees  ?     And  viiat 
other  execution  is  now  required  for  delinqu(,nt 
public  men,  than  the  force  of  public  opinion  ? 
No  !  said  Mr.  B.,  we  live  in  an  age  when  public 
opinion  over  public  men,  is  omnipotent  and  ir- 
reversible !— when  public  sentiment  annihilates 
a  public  man  more  effectually  than  the  scaffold. 
To  this  new  and  omnipotent  tribunal,  all  the 
public  men  of  Europe  and  America  are  now 
happily  subject.     The  fiat  of  public  opinion  has 
superseded  the  axe  of  the  executioner.     Struck 
by  that  opinion,  kings  and  emperors  in  Europe, 
and  the  highest  functionaries  among  ourselves, 
fall  powerless  from  the  political  stage,  and  wan- 
der, while   their  bodies  live,  as  shadows  and 
phantoms  over  the  land.     Should  he  give  ex- 
amples ?    It  might  be  invidious  ;  yet  all  would 
recollect  an  eminent  example  of  a  citizen,  once 
sitting  at  the  head  of  this  Senate,  afterwards 
falling  under  a  judicial  prosecution,  from  which 
he  escaped  untouched  by  the  sword  of  the  law, 
yet  that  eminent  citizen  was  more  utterly  an- 
nihilated by  public  opinion,  than  any  execution 
of  a  capital  sentence  could  ever  have  an  (.!:i  ■ 
plished  upon  his  name. 

"What  occasion  then  has  the  Senate,  f  i'rmg 
as  a  court  of  impeachment,  for  iL.-  nowii'  of 
excciUion?  The  only  elfect  of  a  rn;^!  1;,"  im- 
pei..i:'iient  now,  is  to  remove  fron;  dke,  and 
disqualification  for  office.   Aa  irregular  i  u  ;  '^ach- 


ment  will  be  tantamount  to  removal  and  dis- 
qualification, if  the  justice  of  the  sentence  is 
confided  in  by  the  people.  If  this  condemnation 
of  the  President  had  been  pronounced  in  the 
first  term  of  his  administration,  and  the  people 
had  believed  in  the  truth  and  justice  of  the  sen- 
tence,  certainly  President  Jackson  would  not 
have  been  elected  a  second  time;  and  every 
object  that  a  political  rival,  or  a  political  party 
I  .oald  tiavc  wished  from  his  removal  from  office 
!  and  disqiialiflcation  for  office,  would  have  been 
!  ;.( complibhed.  I>"squalification  for  office— loss 
i  of  public  favor- ;.olitical  death— is  now  the 
I  ...hioct  of  politi(.d  :;*i,alship;  and  all  this  can  be 
accompli -hed  b.'  sn  informal,  as  well  .as  hy  a 
fcrmnl  impeachm  lit,  if  the  sentence  is  only  con- 
fided in  by  the  people.  If  the  people  believed 
that  the  President  has  violated  the  constitution 
and  the  Iaw.s,  he  ceases  to  be  the  object  of  their 
respect  and  their  confidence ;  he  loses  their 
luvor;  ho  dies  a  political  death;  and  that  this 
might  be  the  object  of  the  resolution,  Mr.  B. 
would  leave  to  the  determination  of  these  who 
sivould  read  the  speeches  which  were  delivered 
:;i  support  of  the  measure,  and  which  would 
constitute  a  public  and  lasting  monument  of 
the  temper  in  which  the  resolution  was  pre- 
sented, and  the  object  intended  to  be  accom- 
plished by  it 

"  It  was  in  vain  to  say  there  could  be  no 
object,  at  this  time,  in  annihilating  the  political 
influence  of  President  Jackson,  and  killing  him 
off  as  a  public  man,  with  a  senatorial  conviction 
for  violating  the  laws  and  constitution  of  the 
country.  Such  an  assertion,  if  ventured  upon 
by  any  one,  would  stand  contradicted  by  facts, 
of  which  Europe  and  America  are  witnesses. 
Does  he  not  stand  between  the  country  and  the 
bank  ?  Is  he  not  proclaimed  the  sole  obstacle 
to  the  recharter  of  the  bank  ;  and  in  its  rccharter 
is  there  not  wrapped  up  the  destinies  of  a  poli- 
tical party,  now  panting  f(jr  power  ?  Kemove 
this  sole  obstacle — annihilate  its  influence— kill 
off  President  Jackson  with  a  .';ontence  of  con- 
demnation for  a  high  crime  and  misdemeanor, 
and  the  charterof  the  bank  will  be  renewed,  and 
in  its  renewal,  a  political  party,  now  tliundering 
at  the  gates  of  the  capitol,  will  leap  into  power. 
Here  then  is  an  object  for  desiririg  the  extinction 
of  the  political  influence  of  President  .Jackson! 
An  object  large  enough  to  be  seen  by  all  Ameri- 
ca !  and  attractive  enough  to  enlist  tie  combined 
interest  of  a  great  moneyed  power,  and  of  a  great 
political  party." 

Thus  spoke  Mr.  Benton ;  but  the  debate  on 
the  protest  went  on ;  and  the  motion  of  Mr. 
Poindexter,  digested  into  four  different  propo- 
sitions, after  undergoing  rejieated  modifications 
upon  consultations  among  its  friends,  and  after 
much  acrimony  on  both  sides,  was  adopted  by 
the  fixed  majority  of  twenty-seven.  In  voting 
that  the  orotest  was  a  breach   if  the  privileges 


ANNO  1884     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


433 


of  tho  Senate,  that  body  virtually  afflrmcd  the 
irapeaohmcnt  character  of  the  condemnatory 
resolutions,  and  involved  itself  in  the  predica- 
ment of  voting  an  impeachable  matter  without 
observing  a  single  rule  for  tho  conduct  of  im- 
peachments. The  protest  placed  it  in  a  dilemma. 
It  averred  the  Senate's  judgment  to  be  without 
autliority — without  any  warrant  in  the  consti- 
tution—any right  in  the  body  to  pronounce  it. 
To  receive  that  protest,  and  enter  it  on  the 
journal,  was  to  record  a  strong  evidence  against 
themselves;  to  reject  it  as  a  breach  of  pri- 
vilege was  to  claim  for  their  proceeding  the 
immunity  of  a  regular  and  constitutional  act ; 
and  as  the  proceeding  was  on  criminal  matter, 
amounting  to  a  hiu;h  crime  and  misdemeanor, 
on  which  matter  the  Senate  could  only  act  in 
its  judicial  capacity  ;  therefore  it  had  to  claim 
the  immunity  that  would  belong  to  it  in  that 
capacity ;  and  assume  a  violation  of  privilege. 
Certainly  if  the  Senate  had  tried  an  impeach- 
ment in  due  form,  the  protest,  impeaching  its 
justice,  might  have  been  a  breach  of  privilege ; 
but  the  Senate  had  no  privilege  to  vote  an  im- 
peachable matter  without  a  regular  impeach- 
meut ;  and  therefore  it  was  no  breach  of  privilege 
to  impugn  the  act  which  they  had  no  privilege 
to  commit. 


CHAPTFTl    CIV. 

MB.  WEBSTER'S  PLAN  OF  BELIEF. 

It  has  already  been  seen  that  Mr.  "Webster  took 
no  direct  part  in  promoting  the  adoption  of  the 
resolutions  against  General  Jackson.  He  had 
no  private  grief  to  incite  him  against  the  Presi- 
dent; and,  as  first  drawn  up,  it  would  have 
been  impossible  for  him,  honored  with  the  titles 
of  "  expounder  and  defender  of  the  constitu- 
tion," to  have  supported  the  resolve :  bearing 
plainly  on  '.cs  face  impeachable  matter.  After 
severai  modifications,  he  voted  for  it ;  but,  from 
the  beginning,  he  had  his  own  plan  in  view, 
which  was  entirely  different  from  an  attack  on 
the  President ;  and  solely  looked  to  the  advan- 
tage of  the  bank,  and  the  relief  of  the  distress, 
in  a  practical  and  parliamentary  mode  of  legis- 
lation, lie  looked  to  a  renewal  of  the  bank 
charter  for  a  short  term,  and  with  such  modifi- 

VoL.  I.— 28 


cations  as  would  tend  to  disarm  opposition,  and 
to  conciliate  favor  for  it.  Tho  term  of  tho  re- 
newal was  onlj'  to  bo  for  six  years  :  a  length  of 
time  well  chosen  ;  because,  from  the  shortness 
of  the  period,  it  would  have  an  attraction  for  all 
that  class  of  members — always  more  or  less 
numerous  in  every  assembly — who,  in  every  dif- 
ficulty, are  disposed  to  temporize  and  compro- 
mise ;  while,  to  the  bank,  in  carrying  its  exist- 
ence beyond  tno  presidential  term  of  General 
Jackson,  it  felt  secure  in  the  future  acquisition 
of  a  full  term.  Besides  the  attraction  in  tho 
short  period,  Mr.  Webster  proposed  another 
amelioration,  calculated  to  have  serious  effect ; 
it  was  to  give  up  the  exclusive  or  monopoly 
feature  in  the  charter — leaving  to  Congress  to 
grant  any  other  charter,  in  the  mean  time,  to  a 
new  company,  if  it  pleased.  The  objectionable 
branch  bank  currency  of  petty  drafts  was  also 
given  up.  Besides  this,  and  as  an  understand- 
ing that  the  corporation  would  not  attempt  to 
obtain  a  further  existence  beyond  the  six  years, 
tho  directors  were  to  be  at  liberty  to  begin 
to  return  the  capital  to  the  stockholders  at 
any  time  within  the  period  of  three  years,  be- 
fore the  expiration  of  the  six  renewed  years 
The  deposits  were  not  to  be  restored  until  aftei 
the  first  day  of  July  ;  and,  as  an  agreeable  con- 
cession to  the  enemies  of  small  paper  currency, 
the  bank  wa.s  to  issue,  or  use,  no  note  under  the 
amount  of  twenty  dollars.  He  had  drawn  up  a 
bill  with  these  provisions,  and  asked  leave  to 
bring  it  in ;  and,  asking  the  leave,  made  a  very 
plausible  business  speech  in  its  favor :  the  best 
perhaps  that  could  have  been  devised.  In  addi- 
tion to  his  own  weight,  and  the  recommenda- 
tions in  the  bill,  it  was  understood  to  be  the 
preference  of  Mr.  Biddle  himself — his  own  choice 
of  remedies  in  the  difficulties  which  surrounded 
his  institution.  But  he  met  opposition  from 
quarters  not  to  be  expected:  from  Mr.  Clay,  who 
went  for  the  full  term  of  twenty  years ;  and 
Mr.  Calhoun,  who  went  for  twelve.  It  was  dli- 
ficult  to  comprehend  why  these  two  gentlemen 
should  wish  to  procure  for  the  bank  more  than 
it  asked,  and  which  it  was  manifestly  impossible 
for  it  to  gain.  Mr.  "Webster's  bill  was  the  only 
one  that  stood  the  least  chance  of  getting 
through  the  two  Houses ;  and  on  that  point  he 
had  private  assurances  of  support  from  friends 
of  the  administration,  if  all  the  friends  of  the 
bank  stood  firm     In  favoring  this  charter  for 


484 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


Ml 


t       i 


twelve  years,  Mr.  Calhoun  felt  that  an  explana- 
tion of  his  conduct  was  due  to  the  public,  as  he 
was  well  known  to  have  been  opposed  to  the 
renewed  charter,  when  so  vehemently  attempt- 
ed, in  1832 ;  and  also  against  banks  generally. 
His  explanation  was,  that  he  considered  it  a 
currency  question,  and  a  question  between  the 
national  and  local  banks;  and  that  the  renewed 
charter  was  to  operate  against  them ;  and,  in 
winding  itself  up,  was  to  cease  for  ever,  having 
first  established  a  safe  currency.  His  frequent 
expression  was,  that  his  plan  was  to  "  unbank 
the  banks : »  a  process  not  very  intelligibly  ex- 
plained at  the  time,  and  on  which  he  should  be 
allowed  to  speak  for  himself.  Some  passages 
are,  therefore,  given  from  his  speech : 


After  a  full  survey  of  the  whole  subject,  I 
can  see  no  means  of  extricating  the  country 
from  Its  present  danger,  aud  to  arrest  its  fur- 
ther mcrcase,  but  a  bank,  the  agency  of  which 
in  some  form,  or  under  some  authority,  is  indis- 
pensable.   The  country  has  been  brought  into 
the  present  diseased  state  of  the  currency  by 
banks,  and  must  be  extricated  by  their  agency. 
We  must,  in  a  word,  use  a  bank  to  unbank  the 
banks,  to  the  extent  that  may  be  necessary  to 
restore  a  safe  and  stable  currency— just  as  we 
apply  snow  to  a  frozen  limb,  in  order  to  restore 
vitiility  and  circulation,  or  hold  up  a  burn  to 
the  flame  to  extract  the  inflammation.   AJI  must 
see  that  it  is  impossible  to  suppress  the  bank- 
ing system  at  once.    It  must  continue  for  a  time. 
Its  greatest  enemies,  and  the  advocates  of  an 
exclusive  specie  circulation,  must  make  it  a  part 
of  their  system  to  tolerate  the  banks  for  a  longer 
3r  a  shorter  period.    To  suppress  them  at  once, 
would,  if  it  were  possible,  vrork  a  greater  revolu- 
tion :  a  greater  change  in  the  relative  condition 
of  the  various  classes  of  the  community  than 
would  the  conquest  of  the  country  by  a  savage 
enemy.    What,  then,  must  be  done  ?    I  answer 
a  new  and  safe  system  must  gradually  grow  up 
under,  and  replace,  the  old ;  imitating,  in  this 
respect,  the  beautiful  process  which  we  some- 
times see,  of  a  wounded  or  diseased  part  in  a 
living  organic  body,  gradually  superseded  by  the 
healing  process  of  nature. 

"  How  is  this  to  be  effected  ?  How  is  a  bank 
to  be  used  as  the  means  of  correcting  the  excess 
of  the  banking  system  ?  And  what  bank  is  to 
be  selected  as  the  agent  to  effect  this  salutary 
change  ?  I  know,  said  Mr.  C,  that  a  diversity 
of  opinion  will  be  found  to  exist,  as  to  the  agent 
to  be  selected,  among  those  who  agree  on  every 
other  point,  and  who,  in  particular,  agree  on  the 
necessity  of  using  some  bank  as  the  means  of 
eflecting  the  object  intended  :  one  preferrin"  a 
simple  recharter  of  the  existing  bank— another 
the  charter  of  a  new  bank  of  the  United  States 
—a  third,  a  new  bank  ingrafted  upon  the  old— 


and  a  fourth,  the  use  of  the  State  banks  as  iU 
agent.    I  wish,  said  Mr.  0,  to  leave  all   hcse  !! 
open  questions,  to  be  carefully  surveyed' and 
compared  with  each  other,  calmly  ancl  di.Z 
sionately.  without  prejudice  or  party  feeling  ;5 
that  to  <.o  selected  which,  on  the  whole,  £! 
appear  to  be  best-thc  most  safe;  the' mo 
efficient;  the  most  prompt  in  applieation,  airj 
the  least  liable  to  constitutional  objection      t 
would,  however,  be  wanting  in  candor  on  mv 
part,  not  to  declare  that  my  impression  is  that 
a  new  IJank  of  the  United  States,  ingrafted  unon 
the  old,  will  be  found,  under  dfthe  cK 
stances  of  the  case,  to  combine  the  greatest  ad 
vantages,  and  to  be  liable  to  the  fewest  objec- 
tions ;  but  this  impression  is  not  so  firmly  fixed 
as  to  be  inconsistent  with  a  calm  rcvio^  of  the 
whole  ground,  or  to  prevent  my  yielding  to  the 
conviction  of  reason,  should  the  rcsuli  of  such 
review   prove    that    any  other   is   preferable 
Among  its  peculiar  recommendations,  may  be 
ranked  the  consideration,  that,  while  it  would 
attord  the  means  of  a  prompt  and  effectual  ap- 
plication for  mitigating  and  finally  removini;  the 
existing  distress,  it  would,  at  the  same  time 
open  to  the  whole  community  a  fair  opportu- 
nity of  participation  in  the  advantages  of  the 
institution,  be  they  what  they  may. 

"Let  us  then  suppose  (in  order  to  illustrate 
and  not  to  indicate  a  perference)  that  the  pre- 
sent bank  be  selected  as  the  agent  to  effect  the 
intended  object.  What  provisions  will  be 
necessary  ?  I  will  suggest  those  that  have  oc- 
curred to  me,  mainly,  however,  with  a  view  of 
exciting  the  reflection  of  those  much  more  fa- 
miliar with  banking  operations  than  myself  and 
who,  of  course,  are  more  competent  to  form  a 
correct  judgment  on  their  practical  cflect. 

"Let,  then,  the  bank  charter  be  renewed  for 
twelve  years  alter  the  expiration  of  the  present 
term,  with  such  modifications  and  limitations  as 
may  be  judged  proper,  and  that  after  that  period, 
It  shall  issue  no  notes  under  ten  dollars ;  that 
/ivernment  shall  not  receive  in  its  dues  any 
;.um  less  than  ten  dollars,  except  in  the  legal 
coins  of  the  United  States ;  that  it  shall  not 
receive  in  its  dues  the  notes  of  any  bank  that 
issues  notes  of  a  denomination  less  than  five 
dollars;    and   that   the   United  States  Bank 
shall  not  receive  in  payment,  or  on  deposit,  the 
notes  of  any  bank  whose  notes  are  not  receiv- 
able in  dues  of  the  government;  nor  the  notes 
of  any  bank  which  may  receive  the  notes  of  any 
bank  whose  notes  are  not  receivable  by  the  gov- 
ernment. At  the  expiration  of  six  years  from  the 
commencement  of  the  renewed  charter,  let  the 
bank  be  prohibited  from  issuing  anv  note  un- 
der twenty  dollars,  and  let  no  sum  under  that 
amount  be  received  in  the  dues  of  the  govern- 
ment, except  in  specie ;  and  let  the  value  of 
gold  be  raisedat  least  equal  to  that  of  silver, 
to  take  effect  iiunicdiatoly,  so  that  the  cuuntiy 
may  be  replenished  with  the  coin,  the  lightest 
and  the  most  portable  in  proportion  to  its  value, 
to  take  the  place  of  the  recedujg  bank  notes. 


ANNO  1884.    A^l)REW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


43d 


It  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  state,  that  at  pre- 
sent, tlie  standard  value  of  gold  is  several  per 
cent,  less  than  that  of  silver,  the  necessary  ef- 
fect of  which  has  been  to  expel  gold  entirely 
from  our  circulation,  and  thus  to  deprive  us  of 
t  coin  so  well  calculated  for  the  circulation  of 
a  country  so  great  in  extent,  and  having  so  vast 
an  intercourse,  commercial,  social,  and  political, 
between  all  its  parts,  as  ours.  As  an  addition- 
al lecommendation  to  raise  its  relative  value, 
gold  has,  of  late,  become  an  iinportant  product 
of  three  considerable  States  of  the  Union,  Vir- 
ginia, North  Carolina,  and  Georgia — to  the  in- 
dustry of  which,  the  measure  proposed  would 
give  a  strong  impulse,  and  which  in  turn  would 
greatly  increase  the  quantity  produced. 
"  Such  are  the  means  which  have  occurred  to 
There  are  members  of  this  body  far  more 


me. 


competent  to  judge  of  their  practical  operation 
than  myself,  and  as  my  object  is  simply  to  sug- 
gest them  for  their  reflection,  and  for  that  of 
others  who  are  more  familiar  with  this  part  of 
the  subject,  I  will  not  at  present  enter  into  an 
inquiry  us  to  their  efficiency,  with  a  view  of 
determining  whether  they  are  fully  adequate 
to  eft'ect  the  object  in  view  or  not.  There  are 
doubtless  others  of  a  similar  description,  and 
perhaps  more  efficacious,  that  may  occur  to  the 
experienced,  which  I  would  freely  embrace,  as 
my  object  is  to  adopt  the  best  and  most  effi- 
cient. And  it  may  be  hoped  that,  if  on  expe- 
rience it  should  be  found  that  neither  these  pro- 
visions nor  any  other  in  the  power  of  Congress, 
are  fully  adequate  to  effect  the  important  re- 
form which  I  have  proposed,  the  co-operation 
of  the  States  may  be  afforded,  at  least  to  the 
extent  of  suppressing  the  circulation  of  notes 
under  five  dollars,  where  such  are  permitted  to 
bo  issued  under  their  authority." 

The  ultimate  object  proposed  to  be  accom- 
plished by  Mr.  Calhoun  in  this  process  of  "  un- 
banking  the  banks,"  was  to  arrive  eventually, 
and  by  slow  degrees,  at  a  metallic  currency,  and 
the  revival  of  gold.  This  had  been  my  object, 
and  so  declared  in  the  Senate,  from  the  time  of 
the  jrst  opposition  to  the  United  States  Bank. 
He  had  talked  his  plan  over  to  myself  and  others : 
we  had  talked  over  ours  to  him.  There  was  a 
point  at  which  we  all  agreed — the  restoration  of  a 
metallic  currency;  but  differed  about  the  means 
—he  expecting  to  attain  it  slowly  and  eventu- 
ally, through  the  process  which  he  mentioned ; 
and  we  immediately,  through  the  revival  of  the 
gold  currency,  the  extinction  of  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  the  establishment  of  an  indepen- 
dent treasury,  and  the  exclusion  of  all  paper 
money  from  the  federal  receipts  and  payments. 
Laying  hold  of  the  point  on  which  we  agreed, 
(and  which  was  also  the  known  policy  of  the 


President),  Mr.  Calhoun  appealed  to  Mr.  Silas 
Wright  and  myself  and  other  friends  of  the  ad- 
ministration, to  support  his  plan.    He  said : 

"If  I  understand  their  views,  as  expressed 
by  the  senator  from  Missouri,  behind  me  TMr. 
Benton) — the  senator  from  New-York  (Mr. 
Wright) ;  and  other  distinguished  members  of 
the  party,  and  the  views  of  the  President,  as 
expressed  in  reported  conversations,  I  see  not 
how  they  can  reject  the  measure  (to  wit :  his 
plan).  They  profess  to  be  the  advocates  of  a 
metallic  cinrency.  I  propose  to  restore  it  by 
the  most  effectual  measures  that  can  be  devised; 
gradually  and  slowly,  and  to  the  extent  that 
experience  may  show  that  it  can  be  done  con- 
sistently with  due  regard  to  the  public  interest. 
Further,  no  one  can  desire  to  go." 

The  reference  here  made  by  Mr.  Calhoun  to 
the  views  of  the  senator  from  Missouri  was  to 
conversations  held  between  them;  in  which 
each  freely  communicated  his  own  plan.  Mr. 
Benton  had  not  then  brought  forward  his  pro- 
position for  the  revival  of  the  gold  currency ; 
but  did  so,  (in  a  speech  which  he  had  studied), 
the  moment  Mr.  Calhoun  concluded.  That  was 
a  thing  understood  between  them.  Mr.  Cal- 
houn had  signified  his  wish  to  speak  first ;  to 
which  Mr.  Benton  readily  assented :  and  both 
took  the  opportunity  presented  by  Mr.  Web- 
ster's motion,  and  the  presentation  of  his  plan, 
to  present  their  own  rrtpectively.  Mr.  Benton 
presented  his  the  moment  Mr.  Calhoun  sat 
down,  in  a  much  considered  speech,  which  will 
be  given  in  the  next  chapter ;  and  which  was 
the  first  of  his  formal  speeches  in  favor  of  re- 
viving the  gold  currency.  In  the  mean  time, 
Mr.  Webster's  plan  lingered  on  the  motion  for 
leave  to  bring  in  his  bill.  That  leave  was  not 
granted.  Things  took  a  strange  turn.  The 
friends  of  the  bank  refused  in  a  body  to  give 
Mr.  Webster  the  leave  asked :  the  enemies  of 
the  bank  were  in  favor  of  giving  him  the  leave — 
chiefly,  perhaps,  because  his  friends  refused  it. 
In  this  state  of  contrariety  among  his  friends, 
Mr.  Webster  moved  to  lay  his  own  motion  on 
the  table ;  and  Mr.  Forsyth,  to  show  that  this 
balk  came  from  his  own  side  of  the  chamber, 
asked  the  yeas  and  nays ;  which  were  granted 
and  were  as  follows : 

''  Yeas. — Messrs  Black,  Calhoim,  Clay,  Clay- 
ton, Ewing,  Frelinghuysen,  Hendricks,  King 
of  Georgia,  Mangum,  Moore,  Naudain,  Poindex- 
ter,  Porter,  Prentiss,  Pi-eston,  Robbins,  Sil* 


' 

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436 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


bee,  8raith,  Southard,  Spraguc,  Swift,  Tomlin- 
Bon,  Wagf^aman,  Wcbstor. 

"Na vs.— Messrs.  li<  nton,  Brown,  Forsyth 
Grundy,  Hill,  Kane,  Ki.ig  of  Ahibaina,  Morris, 
Robinson  Shcploy,  Tallmadge,  Tipton,  White, 
Wiikina,  Wright.''  '      »-      .  > 


The  excuse  for  the  movement — for  this  un- 
exp^Tlod  termination  (o  Mr.  Webf^tor'a  motion 
—was  that  the  Senate  might  proceed  with  Mr, 
Olav'^,  ,vs()lut;^n  against  General  Jackson,  iiiid 
cn„io , ',  .4  <;f.ni  lii.,ion  upon  it.  It  wivs  now  time  for 
fhaf  i-f  !f  I  .*'"n.  It  was  near  the  last  of  Marrh, 
ftud  the  Virginia  elections  came  on  in  April : 
but  the  real  cause  for  Mr.  Webster's  motion 
was  the  settled  opposition  of  his  political  friends 
to  his  plan ;  and  that  was  proved  by  its  subse- 
quent fate.  In  his  motion  to  lay  '  is  application 
on  the  table,  he  ti.  .ited  it  as  a  temponuy  dis- 
position of  it— the  application  to  be  renewed 
at  some  future  time :  winch  it  never  was. 


CHAPTER    CV. 

REVIVAL  OF  THE   OOLD  CURRENCY-MR.   BEN- 
TON'S  SPEECH. 

Mr.  Benton  said  it  was  now  six  years  since  he 
had  begun  to  oppose  the  renewal  of  tlie  charter 
of  this  bank,  but  ho  h&A  \nA.  until  the  prcHont 
moment,  found  a  suitable  occasion  for  showiiu 
the  people  the  kind  of  currency  which  ('  ,^y 
were  entitled  to  possess,  and  probai'v  would 
possess,  on  the  dissolution  of  the  Bauk  of  the 
United  State''.  Tiiis  was  a  view  of  the  subject 
which  many  wished  t-  see,  and  which  he  felt 
bound  to  give ;  and  ^  aich  he  elmuld  proceed 
to  lent,  .,ith  all  tl  brevity  aii.4  perspicuity 
of  which  he  was  n  sister. 

1.  In  the  first  place,  he  was  one  of  those  who 
belie ,  A  taat  the  govei  ,ment  of  tl.c  United 
States  w  as  intended  to  be  a  hard  money  govern- 
ment: that  it  was  the  intention,  and  the  decla- 
ration of  the  constitution  oi  the  United  States, 
that  the  federal  c  x-ncy  ^'  mid  consist  of  gold 
and  silver ;  and  tl  'he  s  no  power  in  t  u- 
gress  to  issue,  or  au  ze  any  company  f 
individuals  to  issue,  any  species  of  federal  pajx 
currency  whatsoever. 

Every  clause  in  the  con&iitution,  said  Mr.  B. 
which  bears  upon  the  subject  of  money— every 


early  statute  of  Congress  which  interprets  th« 
meaning  of  these  clauses- and  every  historic 
recollection  which  refers  to  them,  go  hand  in 
hand,  in  giving  to  that  niHtrument  th.-  n..  aning 
which  this   proposition  ascribes   to  it.     The 
power  granted  to  Congress  to  coin  money  is  an 
authority  to  8tamp  metallic  money,  and  ia  not 
an  authority  for  eniitt.iig  slips  of  paper  contain- 
ing promises   to  pay  iioney.    The  autliority 
granted  to  Congress  to  -cgulate  the  value  of 
coin,  is  an  authority  tu  regulate  the  value  of  the 
metallic  money,  r^t  of  paper.    The  prohibition 
upon  the  States  against  making  any  |  hing  bm 
gold  and  silver  a  legal  tender,  is  a  moral  pro- 
hibition, founded  in  virtue  and  honesty,  and  is 
just  as  binding  upon  the  federal  government  as 
upon  the  State  governments ;  and  that  witaout 
a  written  prohibition;  for  the  ditlerenco  in  tlic 
nature  of  the  two  go\  crnments  is  such,  that  tlie 
States  may  do  all  things  whicli  tiiey  arc  not 
forbid  to  do  ;  and  the  federal  government  can 
do  nothing  which  it  is  not  authorized  by  the 
constitution  to  do.     The  power  to  i)unish  the 
crime  of  counterfeiting  is  limited  to  the  I'lurcnt 
coin  of  the  United  States,  and  to  tlie  hci     ,ties 
of  the  United  States  ;  and  canii  :  be  extended 
to  the  oflence  of  forcing  paper  money,  but  by 
that  unjustifiable  power  of  construction  which 
fouii  Is  an  implication  upon  an  implication,  and 
hangs  one  implied  powei-  upon  another     Die 
word  curreii  y  is  not  in  tl  '  consi     u  ,.,  nor 
any  word  ■"      h  can  be  made  to  cover  a  circu- 
lation of  buuk  notes.     Gold       I  silver  is  the 
only   thint,  recognized  for      . .,  y.    J»  is  the 
mouiy,  and  the  only  monev     ftheco'        tion 
and  every  historic  recollection,  aS  wei,  n 

phrase  in  tlie  constitution,  and  every  earl)  fi 
.lite  on  the   subject  of  moi)"y,  confirms  that 
idea.     Peoj  '(^  were  sick    f  p.iper  money  about 
the  time  tl    t  this  constitution  was  formed. 
The  Congress  of  the  confi  deration,  in  the  time 
of  the  Revolution,  had  issued  a  currency  of  pajier 
money,     i    had  run  the  full  career  of  that  cur- 
rency.   T'     wreck  of  tv     hundred  millions  of 
paper  dollars  lay  upon  f    ^  land.     The  framers 
of  ihat  COL  litution  worked  in  the  midst  of 
that  wreck.     Tliey  saw  the  havoc  wli,  h  paper 
money  hau  made  upon  the  fortunes  of  im'ividu- 
als,  and  the  morals  of  the  public.    They  deter 
iriined  to  have  no  more  fedcia!  paper  mone.,. 
They  created  a  hard  money  government ;  they 
intended  the  new  goveruiuent  to  recognize  no- 


I 


ANNO  1884.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


437 


thing  for  monev  but  Rold  and  Hilvcr ;  and  every 
fforfl  iidiTiii  to  till)  constitution,  upon  tlic 

Hubjcctol'iii'  defines  and  catabliahca  that 

sacred  intontj.    . 

Lcgislati .  e  cii;u;tmcnt,  continued  Mr.  B.,  cnnio 
quickly  to  the  aid  of  constitutional  intention 
and  liistoric  recollection.  The  fifth  statute 
passed  at  the  first  scHfion  of  the  first  Congress 
that  ever  sat  under  the  present  constitution, 
was  fidl  and  explicit  on  this  head.  It  defined 
the  Icind  of  money  which  the  federal  treasury 
should  nx'eive.  The  enactments  of  the  statute 
are  remarkable  for  their  brevity  and  compre- 
hension, as  well  as  for  thoir  clear  interpretation 
of  the  constitution  ;  and  deserve  to  be  repeated 
and  remembered.  They  are :  That  the  fees  and 
duties  payable  to  the  federal  government  shall 
be  received  in  gold  and  silver  coin  only ;  the 
gold  coins  of  France,  Spain,  Portugal,  and  Eng- 
land, and  all  other  gold  coins  of  equal  fineness, 
at  eigli*"-nino  cents  for  every  pennyweight; 
the  M  an  dollar  at  one  hundred  cents ;  the 
crown  of  France  at  one  hundred  anil  eleven 
cents;  and  all  other  silver  coins  of  equal  fine- 
ness, at  one  hundred  and  eleven  cents  per  ounce. 
This  statute  was  passed  the  30th  day  of  July, 
1789— just  one  month  after  Congress  had  com- 
menced the  work  of  legislation.  It  shows  the 
sense  of  ii  o  Congress  composed  of  the  men,  in 
great  part,  who  had  framed  the  constitution,  and 
who,  by  using  the  word  only,  clearly  expressed 
thei"  intention  that  gold  and  silver  alone  was 
to  constitute  the  currency  of  the  new  govern- 
ment. 

In  support  of  this  construction  of  the  consti- 
tion,  Mr.  B.  referred  to  the  phrase  so  often  used 
by  our  most  aged  and  eminent  statesmen,  that 
this  was  intended  to  be  a  hard  money  govern- 
ment. Yes,  said  Mr.  B.,  the  framers  of  the 
CO!  Mtution  were  hard  money  men  b»t  the 
chiet  vpounder  and  executor  of  that  consHfri- 
tion  Wi  not  a  hard  money  man,  but  a 
systi-m  man !  a  man  devoted  to  the  paper  syatem 
of  England,  with  all  the  firmness  of  conviction, 
andallthi  icrvor  of  enthus' ism.  God  forbid, 
said  Mr.  1.  that  I  should  ■  injustice  to  Gen. 
HarailtiU — that  I  should  sa_,  or  insinuate,  aught 
to  derogate  from  the  fust  f.  rus  of  that  great 
mnn  !  He  has  many  lii  os  to  the  gratitude  and 
adij  ition  of  his  coun  men,  and  the  heart 
coi;  not  be  A  iierican  w  oh  could  dishonor  or 
&!  ^  age  his  memory.    But  his  ideas  of  govern- 


ment did  not  receive  the  sanction  of  general 
approbation;  and  of  all  his  political  Uriets,  his 
attachment  to  the  paper  system  was  most 
strongly  opi^sed  at  the  time,  and  has  produced 
the  most  lasting  and  deplorable  results  upon  the 
country.  In  the  year  1791,  this  great  man, 
then  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  brought  forward 
his  celebrated  plan  for  the  support  of  public 
credit— that  plan  which  unfolded  the  entire 
scheme  of  the  paper  system,  and  immediately 
developed  the  greitl,  political  lino  between  the 
fod(  1  lists  nd  the  republicans.  The  establish- 
ment of  a  natioi  '  bank  wos  the  loading  and  pre- 
dominant feature  of  that  plan  ;  and  the  original 
report  of  the  Secretary,  in  favor  of  establishmg 
the  bank,  contained  this  fatal  and  deplorable 
recommendation : 

"  The  bills  and  notes  of  the  bank,  ori;  inally 
made  payable,  or  which  shall  have  becon     pay- 
able, on  demand,  in  gold  and  silver  coi   ,  .-.lin 
be  receivable  in  all  payments  to  the  (Jniteu 
States." 

This  fatal  recommendation  became  a  clause  in 
the  charter  of  the  bank.  It  was  transferred 
from  the  report  '  the  Secretary  to  the  pages  of 
the  statute  book;  aid  from  that  moment  the 
moneyed  character  of  the  federal  governni(!nt 
stood  changed  and  reversed.  Federal  bank  notes 
took  the  place  of  hard  money ;  and  the  whole 
edifice  of  the  new  government  slid,  at  once,  from 
the  solid  rock  of  gold  and  silver  money,  on  which 
its  framers  had  placed  it,  into  the  troubled  and 
tempestuous  ocean  of  a  paper  currency. 

Mr.  B.  said  it  was  no  answer  to  this  most 
serious  charge  of  having  changed  the  moneyed 
character  of  the  federal  government,  and  of  the 
whole  Union,  to  say  that  the  notes  of  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States  are  not  made  a  legal  tender 
between  man  and  man.  Tlicre  was  no  necessity, 
he  said,  for  a  statute  law  to  that  effect ;  it  was 
sufBcicnt  that  they  were  made  a  legal  tender 
to  the  federal  government ;  the  law  of  necessity, 
far  superior  to  that  of  the  statute  book,  would 
do  the  rest.  A  law  of  tender  was  not  necessary ; 
a  forced,  incidental  tender,  resulted  as  an  inevi- 
table consequpnco  from  the  credit  and  circulation 
which  the  fedc  i  al  government  gave  them.  What- 
ever was  received  at  the  custom-houses,  at  the 
land-offices,  at  tho  post-offices,  at  the  marshals' 
and  district  attornej  offices,  and  in  all  the 
various  dues  to  the  federal  government,  must  be 
received  and  will  be  received  by  the  people.    It 


■' 

IK. 


Wlmm 


if^  ¥ 


^W||p 


438 


TUPRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


1 1'       il 


.  I  i; 


li:^i«ii&j 


bccomcH  tho  actual  uiid  practical  currency  of  the 
land.  Peo[)lc  niuHt  take  it,  or  got  nothing ;  and 
thuH  tho  federal  government,  eHtablinhinK  ii  paper 
currency  for  itself,  establishes  it  alno  for  tho 
States  and  for  the  people  5  and  every  body  muHt 
use  it  from  necoHsity,  whether  compi' Hod  by  law 
or  not. 

Mr.  B.  said  it  was  not  to  In;  supposed  that 
the  objection  which  ho  now  took  to  the  uncon 
Btitutionality  of  the  clause  which  made  the  notes 
of  the  federal  bank  a  legal  tender  tf  tho  federal 
government,  was  an  objection  which  could  be 
overlo  '  id,  or  disregarded,  by  the  adversaries 
of  the  oank  in  17i)l.     It  was  not  overlooked,  or 
disregarded;  on  tho contrarA', it  was donoum » d, 
and  combated,  as  in  itself  a  seimraio  and  dis- 
tinct breach  of  tho  constitutinn,goiiJr  the  whole 
length  of  emitting  paper  money  ;  and  tho  more 
odious  and  reprehensible  because  a  privileged 
company  was  to  have  tho  monopoly  of  tho  emis- 
aion.    Tho  genius  of  Hamilton  was  piit  in  re- 
quisition to  answer  this  objection  ;  and  tho  best 
answer  which  that  great  man  could  give  it,  was 
a  confes-sion  of  the  omnipotence  of  tho  objection, 
and  the  total  impossibility  of  doing  it  away. 
His  answer  surrendered  the  whole  question  of 
acii    oncy.    Itsunk  the  notes  of  the  hank,  which 
were  then  to  be  tendered  to  the  federal  .rovern- 
m<  nt,  to  tho  condition  of       riplies  furnished  to 
the  government,  and  to  be  consumed  by  it .    The 
answer  took  refuge  under  the  natural  power, 
independent  of  all  constitutions,  for  tho  tax  re- 
ceiver to  receive  his  taxes  in  what  articles  he 
pleased.    To  do  justice  to  General  Hamilton, 
and  to  detect  and  expose  the  true  clmracter  of 
this  bank  paper,  Mr.  B.  read  a  clause  from  Gen. 
Hamilton's  reply  to  the  cabinet  opinions  of  Mr. 
Jeflerson,  and  the  Attorney  General  Randolph, 
when  President  Washington  had  the  charter  of 
the  first  bank  under  advisement  with  his  Sec- 
retaries.   It  was  the  clause  in  which  General 
Hamilton  replied  to  the  objection  to  the  con- 
stitutionality of  making  tho  notes  of  the  bank 
receivable  in  payment  of  public  dues.    "To 
designate  or  appoint  the  money  or  thing  in  which 
taxes  are  to  be  paid,  is  net  only  a  proper,  but  a 
necessary  exercise  of  the  jjower  of  collecting 
them.    Accordingly,  Congress,  in  the  law  con- 
cerning the  colk'ction  of  the  duties,  imposts,  and 
tonnage,  has  proN  iled  that  they  shall  be  pay- 
able in  gold  and  silver.     But,  while  it  was  an 
indispensable  part  of  the  work  to  say  in  what 


they  should  bo  paid,  the  choice  of  the  (tpeciflc 
thing  was  a  mere  matter  of  discretion.    The 
payment  might  have  been  required  in  the  com- 
moditioH  themselves.    Taxes  in  kind,  however 
ill  judged,  are  not  without  precedents,  even  in 
tho  United  States;  or  it  might  have  been  in  the 
pa[)er  money  of  the  several  Stat<'K ;  or  in  the  hillg 
of  the  Bank  of  North  America,  Now-Vork,  and 
Massachusetts,  all,  or  either  of  them  ;  it  might 
have  been  in  bills  issued  under  the  authority  of 
tho  United  States.     N     part  of  this,  it  is  pre- 
sumed, can  be  disputed.    The  appointment  of 
the  money  or  thing  in  which  tho  taxes  are  to  bo 
paid,  13  an  incident  of  the  power  of  colltrtion. 
And  among  the  expedients  which  may  bo  adopt- 
ed, is  tliat  of  bills  issued  under  the  authority 
of  the  United  States."    Mr.  B.  would  read  no 
further,  although  tho  argument  of  General  Ham- 
ilton extended  through  several  pages.     Tho 
nature  of  tho  argument  is  fully  disclosed  in  what 
is  read.    It  surrenders  tho  whole  (pu.stion  of  a 
paper  currency.     Neither  the  power  to  furnish  a 
currency,  or  to  regulate  currency,  is  pretended  to 
be  claimed.    The  notes  of  the  new  bank  are  put 
upon  the  footing,  not  of  money,  but  of  commo- 
dities—things— articles  in  kind— which  the  tax 
receiver  nuiy  accept  from  the  tax  payer ;  and 
which  are  to  be  used  and  consumed  by  the  tax 
receiver,  and  not  to  be  returned  to  the  people, 
much  less  to  hv  diffused  over  tho  country  in 
place  of  money.    This  is  the  original  idea  and 
conception  of  these  notes.    It  is  the  idea  under 
whi(  h  they  obtained  the  legal  rapacity  of  receiv- 
ability  in  payment  of  public  dues ;  and  from 
this  humble  conception,  this  degraded  assimila- 
tion to  corn  and  grain,  tn  clothes  and  provisions, 
they  have,  by  virtue  ol    hat  <  hmse  in  the  char- 
ter, crept  up  to  the  character  of  money— become 
the  real,  practical  currency  of  the  land— driven 
tho  currency  of  the  constitution  from  the  land 
—and  so  depraved  the  public  intellect  as  now 
to  be  called  for  as  money,  and  proclaimed  to  bo 
indispt-nsable  to  the  country,  when  tne  author 
of  the  bank  could  not  rank  it  higher  than  an  ex- 
pedient for  paying  a  tax. 

2.  In  tile  next  place,  Mr.  B.  believed  that  the 
quantity  of  specie  derivable  from  foreign  com- 
merce, added  to  the  quantity  of  gold  derivable 
from  our  own  mines,  were  fully  sufficient,  if  not 
expelled  from  the  country  by  unwise  laws,  to 
furnish  the  people  with  an  abundant  circulation 
of  gold  and  silver  coin,  for  their  common  cur- 


ANNO  1834.    ANDUEW  JACK80N,  I'UESIDENT. 


439 


r«ncy,  without  having  recoane  to  a  circulation 

of  hdiallitittili  notcH. 

The  truth  of  tlieso  propogitionH,  Mr.  B.  he-Id 
to  b«!  Husncptiblo  ofcoinploto  am!  ivjidy  proof. 
He  n[Hi\n!  lirst  of  tho  domcHtic  supply  of  native 
f  111,  nivi  Huid  that  nu  inincB  had  over  developed 
III. lie  rujiidly  tliaii  thcHC  had  done,  or  promised 
more  abundantly  than  they  now  do.  In  tlio 
year  1H24  tliey  were  a  spot  in  tlio  State  of 
North  Carolina;  they  are  now  a  region  Hpread- 
inginto  six  States.  In  the  year  1824  the  pro- 
duct wan  IjJ.'ijOOO  ;  in  the  last  year  the  product, 
iu  coined  gold,  was  $808,000 ;  in  uncoined,  as 
much  ni'ipo;  and  tho  product  of  the  present 
year  computed  at  two  millions ;  with  every  pros- 
pt' ct  of  continued  and  permanent  increase.  The 
probability  was  that  these  mines  alone,  in  tho 
lapse  of  a  few  years,  would  furnish  an  abundant 
supply  of  gold  to  establish  a  plentilul  circulation 
of  that  inotal,  if  not  expelled  from  tho  country 
by  unwise  laws.  But  the  great  source  of  supply, 
both  for  gold  and  silver,  Mr.  B.  said,  was  in  our 
foreign  commerce.  It  was  this  foreign  com- 
merce which  filled  the  States  with  hard  money 
immeiUatcly  after  I  lie  close  of  the  Revolutionary 
War,  when  the  domestic  mines  were  unknown ; 
and  it  is  the  same  foreign  commerce  which,  even 
now,  when  federal  laws  discourage  tho  impor- 
tation of  foreign  coins  and  compel  their  exporta- 
tion, is  bringing  in  an  annual  supply  of  seven 
or  eighl  millions.  With  an  amendment  of  tho 
laws  which  now  discourage  tho  importation  of 
foreign  coins,  and  compel  their  exportation, 
there  could  be  no  delay  in  the  rapid  accumula- 
tion of  a  Buflicient  stock  of  the  precious  metals 
to  supply  tho  largest  circulation  which  tho 
common  business  of  the  country  could  require. 

Mr.  B.  believed  the  product  of  foreign  mines, 
and  tho  quantity  of  gold  and  -ilver  now  in  ex- 
istence, to  be  much  greater  than  was  commonly 
supposed;  and,  ns  a  statement  of  its  amount 
would  establish  bih  proposition  in  favor  of  an 
adequate  supply  of  these  metals  for  the  common 
currency  of  the  country,  ho  would  state  that 
amoiiiit.  as  ho  found  it  calculated  in  approved 
works  of  political  economy.  He  looked  to  the 
three  grc;-  sources  of  supply:  1.  Mexico  and 
South  Amuica;  2.  Europe  and  Northern  Asia; 
3.  The  coast  of  Africa.  Taking  the  discovery 
"f  the  New  'Woi'd  as  the  starting  point  from 
which  the  calculation  would  commence,  and  the 
product  was : 


1.  Mexico  and  Snalb  Amcrlo*, 
3.  Kuropo  aiul  Niirtliern  Aala, 
8.  Th«  ooMt  of  AMcn,   . 


|<,tf8,000,000 

fl'iS.OOO.OOO 
lfiO,000,000 


>';  isand  two 
I   '.ho  short 


— making  a  total  product  of  sevf 
hundred  and  thirty-six  millic,! 
space  of  three  centuries  and  'n.f.  To  this  ia 
to  be  aiUled  tho  quantity  exisung  at  tho  time 
tho  Now  World  was  discovercd,  and  which  was 
computed  at  l$2,30O,00O,000.  Upon  all  these 
data,  the  political  cconomii^tH,  Mr.  B.  said,  after 
deducting  i[}i2,()00,000,()(){)  for  waste  and  con- 
sumption, still  computed  tho  actual  stock  of 
gold  and  silver  in  Europe,  Asia,  and  America, 
in  1832,  at  about  seven  thousand  millions  of 
dollars ;  and  that  quantity  constantly  and  rapid- 
ly increasing. 

Mr.  B.  had  no  doubt  but  that  the  quantity  of 
gold  and  silver  in  Europe,  Asia,  and  America, 
was  sufficient  to  carry  on  tho  whole  business  of 
tho  world.  lie  said  that  states  and  empires 
— far  greater  in  wealth  and  population  than  any 
now  existing — far  superior  in  public  and  private 
magnificence — had  carried  on  all  tho  business  of 
private  life,  and  all  tho  affairs  of  national  govern- 
ment, upon  gold  and  silver  alone ;  and  that  be- 
fore the  mines  of  Mexico  and  Peru  were  known, 
or  dreamed  of.  lie  alluded  to  the  great  nations 
of  antiquity — to  the  Assyrian  and  Persian  em- 
pires ;  to  Egypt,  Carthage,  Rome  ;  to  tho  Gre- 
cian republics ;  the  kingdoms  of  Asia  Minor ;  and 
to  the  empire,  transcending  all  these  put  toge- 
ther —the  Saracenic  empire  of  the  Caliphs,  which, 
taking  for  its  centre  tho  eastern  limit  of  tho  Roman 
world,  extended  its  dominion  as  far  west  as  Rome 
had  conquered,  and  further  cast  than  Alexander 
had  marched.  These  great  nations,  whose  n  rmies 
crushed  empires  at  a  blow,  whose  monumental 
edifices  still  attest  their  grandeur,  had  no  idea 
of  bank  credits  and  paper  money.  They  used 
gold  and  silver  alone.  Such  degenerate  phrases 
as  sound  currency,  paper  medium,  circulating 
media,  never  once  sounded  in  their  heroic  ears. 
But  why  go  back,  exclaimed  Mr.  B.,  to  the 
nations  of  antiquity?  Why  quit  our  own 
day  ?  Why  look  beyond  tho  boundaries  of 
Europe  ?  We  have  seen  an  empire  in  our  own 
day,  of  almost  fabulous  grandeur  and  magnifi- 
cence, carrying  on  all  its  vast  undei'takings  upon 
a  currency  of  gold  and  silver,  without  deigning 
tc-  recognize  paper  for  money.  I  speak,  paid  Mr, 
B.,  of  France — great  and  imperial  France — and 
have  my  eye  upon  that  first  year  of  the  consu- 


Uj 


P 


'    t    s. 


J: 

; 

.*' 

^ 

i: 

■' 

1 

i:    : 

I'       ; 

'       ^i 

c;  ., 

1    -^ 

\ 

si    ■ 

1     '  ' 

f; 

440 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


I    'l'. 


r  ,    J>|;(":!a 


late,  when  a  young  and  victorious  general,  just 
transferred  from  the  camp  to  a  council,  an- 
nounced to  his  astonished  ministers  that  specie 
payments  should  commence  in  France  by  a  given 
day  ! — in  that  France  which,  for  so  many  years, 
had  seen  nothing  but  a  miserable  currency  of 
depreciated  mandats  and  assignats !  The  annun- 
ciation was  heard  with  the  inward  contempt,  and 
open  distrust,  which  the  whole  tribe  of  hack 
politicians  every  where  feel  for  the  statesinan- 
ship  of  military  men.  It  was  followed  by  the 
success  which  it  belongs  to  genius  to  inspire  and 
to  command.  Specie  payments  commenced  in 
France  on  the  day  named ;  and  a  hard  money 
currency  has  been  the  sole  currency  of  France 
from  that  day  to  this. 

Such,  said  Mr.  B.,  is  the  currency  of  France ; 
a  country  whoso  taxes  exceed  a  thiusand  mil- 
lions of  francs— whose  public  and  private  ex- 
penditures require  a  circulation  of  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty  millions  of  dollars— and  which 
possesses  that  circulation,  every  dollar  of  it,  in 
gold  and  silver.    After  this  example,  can  any 
one  doubt  the  capacity  of  the  United  States  to 
supply  itself  with  specie  ?    Reason  and  history 
forbid  the  doubt.     Reason  informs  us  that  hard 
money  flows  into  the  vacuum  the  instant  that 
small  bank  notes  are  driven  out.     France  reco- 
vered a  specie  circulation  within  a  year  after  the 
consular  government  refused  to  recognize  paper 
for  money.    England  recovered  a  gold  circulation 
of  about  one  hundred  millions  of  dollars  within 
four  years  after  the  one  and  two  pound  notes 
were  suppressed.     Our  own  country  filled  up 
with  Spanish   milled  dollars,   French  crowns, 
doubloons,  lialf  joes,  and  guineas,  as  by  magic, 
at  the  conclusion  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  and 
the  suppression  of  the  contin  ntal  bills.     The 
business  of  the  United  States  would  not  require 
above  sixty  or  seventy  millions  of  gold  and  sil- 
ver for  the  common  currency  of  the  people,  and 
the  basis  of  large  bank  notes  and  bills  of  ex- 
change.   Of  that  sum,  more  than  one  third  is 
now  in  the  country,  but  not  in  circulation.    The 
Rank  of  the  United  States  hoards  above  ten  mil- 
lions.   At  the  expiration  of  her  charter,  in  183G, 
that  sum  will  be  paid  out  iu  redumption  of  its 
notes— will  go  into  the  hands  of  the  people— 
and,  of  itself,  will  nearly  double  the  ouanMty  of 
Bilver  now  in  circulation.     Our  native  mines  will 
be  yielding,  annually,  some  millions   of  gold; 
foreign  commerce  will  be  pouring  in  her  accus- 


tomed copious  supply  5  the  correction  of  the  cn 
roneous  value  of  gold,  the  liberal  admission  of 
foreign  coins,  and  the  suppression  of  small  notes 
will  invite  and  retain  an  adequate  metallic  cur- 
rency. The  present  moment  is  peculiarly  fa- 
vorable  for  these  measures.  Foreign  exchanges 
are  now  in  our  favor ;  silver  is  coming  here  al- 
though not  current  by  our  laws ;  both  golct  and 
silver  would  flow  in,  and  that  immediately,  to 
an  immense  amount,  if  raised  to  their  proper 
value,  and  put  on  a  proper  footing,  by  our  laws. 
Three  days'  legislation  on  these  subjects  would 
turn  copious  supplies  of  gold  and  silver  into  tho 
country,  diffuse  them  through  every  neighbor- 
hood, and  astonish  gentlemen  when  they  get 
home  at  midsummer,  at  finding  hard  money 
where  they  had  left  paper. 

3.  In  the  third  place,  jMr.  B.  undertook  to 
affirm,  as  a  proposition  free  from  dispute  or  con- 
testation, that  the  value  now  set  upon  gold  by 
the  laws  of  the  United  States,  was  unjust  and 
erroneous ;  that  these  laws  had  expelled  gold 
from  circulation;  and  that  it  was  the  bound^n 
duty  of  Congress  to  restore  that  coin  to  circula- 
tion, by  restoring  it  to  its  just  value. 

That  gold  was  undervalued  by  the  laws  of  the 
United  States,  and  expelled  from  circulation,  was 
a  fact,  Mr.  B.  said,  which  every  body  knew ;  hut 
there  was  something  else  which  every  body  did 
not  know ;  which  few,  in  reality,  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  knowing,  but  which  was  necessary  to 
be  known,  to  enable  the  friends  of  gold  to  go  to 
work  at  the  right  place  to  cfTect  the  recovery 
of  that  precious  metal  which  their  fathers  ouce 
possessed— which  the  subjects  of  European  kings 
now  possess — which  the  citizens  of  the  young 
republics  to  the  South  all  possess — which  even 
the  free  negroes  of  San  Domingo  possess— bnt 
which  the  yeomanry  of  this  America  iiave  been 
deprived  of  for  more  thiui  twenty  years,  and 
will  be  deprived  of  for  ever,  unless  they  (li.sco\er 
the  cause  of  the  evil,  and  apply  the  remedy  to 
its  root. 

I  have  already  shown,  said  Mr.  B.,  that  the 
plan  for  the  support  of  public  credit  which  Gene- 
ral Hamilton  brought  forward,  in  ITfl,  w;vs  a 
plan  for  the  establishment  of  the  paper  .system 
in  our  America.  We  had  at  that  time  a  gold 
currencj)  which  was  circulating  freely  and  fully 
all  over  '  e  country.  Gold  is  the  antagonist  of 
paper,  and,  with  fair  play,  will  keep  a  paper  cur- 
rency within  just  and  proper  limits.    It  will 


ANNO  1834.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


441 


keep  down  the  small  notes;  for,  no  man  will 
carry  a  five,  a  ten,  or  a  t^vcnty  dollar  note  in  his 
pocket,  wlicn  he  can  get  guineas,  eagles,  half 
cables  doubloons,  and  half  joes  to  carry  in  their 
place.  The  r.etes  of  the  new  Bank  of  the  United 
States  which  bank  formed  the  leading  feature 
in  the  plan  for  the  support  of  public  credit,  had 
already  derived  one  undue  advantage  over  gold, 
ill  being  put  on  a  level  with  it  in  point  of  legal 
tender  to  the  federal  government,  and  universal 
fcceivability  in  all  payments  to  that  government: 
they  were  now  to  derive  another,  and  a  still 
greater  uiulue  advantage  over  gold,  in  the  law  for 
the  establishment  of  the  national  mint ;  an  in- 
etitution  whicli  also  formed  a  featufe  of  the  plan 
for  the  support  of  public  crecht.  It  is  to  that 
plan  that  we  trace  the  origin  of  the  erroneous 
valuation  of  gold,  which  has  banished  that  metal 
from  the  country.  Mr,  Secretary  Hamilton,  in 
Ills  proi)Osition  for  the  establishment  of  a  mint, 
recommended  that  the  relative  value  of  gold  to 
silver  should  be  fixed  at  fifteen  for  one ;  and 
that  icconmicndation  became  the  law  of  the  land ; 
and  has  remained  so  ever  since.  At  the  same 
time,  the  relative  value  of  these  metals  in  Spain 
and  Portugal,  and  throughout  their  vast  domin- 
ions in  the  new  world,  whence  our  principal 
supplies  of  gold  were  derived,  was  at  the  rate  of 
sixteen  for  one ;  thus  making  our  stan, lard  six 
per  cent,  below  the  standard  of  the  countries 
whicli  chietly  produced  gold.  It  was  also  below 
the  English  standard,  and  the  French  standard, 
and  below  the  standard  which  prevailed  in  these 
States,  before  the  adoption  of  the  constitution, 
and  which  was  actually  prevailing  in  the  States, 
at  tlie  time  that  this  new  proportion  of  fifteen 
to  one  was  established. 

Jlr.  B.  was  ready  to  admit  that  there  was  some 
nicety  recinisite  in  adjusting  the  relative  value 
of  two  different  kinds  of  money — gold  and  silver 
for  example — so  as  to  preserv'c  an  exact  equi- 
poise between  them,  and  to  pi'cvent  either  from 
expelling  the  other.  There  was  some  nicety, 
but  no  iiu^uperable  or  even  extraordinary  diffi- 
culty, in  making  the  adjustment.  The  nicety 
of  the  qiR'stioii  was  aggravated  in  the  year  '92, 
by  tlie  difficulty  of  obtaining  exact  knowledge 
of  the  relative  value  of  these  metals,  at  that 
time,  in  France  and  England;  and  Mr.  Gallatin 
has  since  slmwn  that  tho  infnrmation  which  was 
then  relied  iiiwn  was  clearly  erroneous.  The  con- 
sequence of  any  mistake  in  fixing  our  standard, 


was  also  well  known  in  the  year  '92.  Mr.  Sec- 
retary Hamilton,  in  his  proposition  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  mint,  exjjressly  declared  that  the 
consequence  of  a  mistake  in  the  relative  value 
of  the  two  metals,  would  be  tlio  expulsion  of 
the  one  that  was  undervalued.  Mr.  Jellerson, 
then  Secretary  of  State,  in  his  cotemporaneous 
report  upon  foreign  coins,  declared  the  same 
thing.  Mr.  Robert  Morris,  financier  to  the 
revolutionary  government,  in  his  proposal  to 
establish  a  mint,  in  1782,  was  equally  explicit 
to  the  same  effect.  The  delicacy  of  the  question 
and  the  consequence  of  a  mistake,  were  then 
fully  understood  forty  years  ago,  when  the  rela- 
tive value  of  gold  and  silver  was  fixed  at  fifteen 
to  one.  But,  at  that  time,  it  unfortunately  hap- 
pened that  the  paper  system,  then  omnipotent 
in  England,  was  making  its  transit  to  our  Amer- 
ica ;  and  every  thing  that  would  go  to  establish 
♦Iiat  system — every  thing  that  would  go  to  sus- 
tain the  new-born  Bank  of  the  United  States — 
that  eldest  daughter  and  spem  gregis  of  the 
paper  system  in  America — fell  in  with  the  pre- 
vailing current,  and  became  incorporated  in  the 
federal  legislation  of  the  day  Gold,  it  was  well 
known,  was  the  antag'  "ist  of  paper ;  from  its 
intrinsic  value,  the  natural  predilection  of  all 
mankind  for  it,  its  small  bulk,  and  the  facility 
of  carrying  it  about,  it  wi  ihl  be  preferred  to 
paper,  either  for  tr.  elling  or  keeping  in  the 
house ;  and  thu^  would  limit  and  circumscribe 
the  general  circulation  of  bank  notes,  and  pre- 
vent all  plf^"  of  necessity  for  issuing  smaller 
notes.  Silver,  on  the  contrary,  from  its  incon- 
venience of  transportation,  would  favor  the  cir- 
culation of  bank  notes.  Hence  the  birth  of  the 
doctrine,  that  if  a  mistake  was  to  be  committed, 
it  should  be  on  the  side  of  silver !  Mr.  SecretOr 
ry  Hamilton  declares  the  existence  of  this  feel- 
ing when,  in  his  report  upon  the  establishment 
of  a  mint,  he  says :  "  It  is  sometimes  observed, 
that  silver  ought  to  be  encouraged,  rather  than 
gold,  as  being  more  conducive  to  the  extension 
of  bank  circulation,  from  the  greater  difficulty 
and  inconvenience  which  its  greater  bulk,  com- 
pared with  its  value,  occasions  in  the  transpor- 
tation of  it."  This  passage  in  the  Secretary's 
report,  proves  the  existence  of  the  feeling  in  fa- 
vor of  silver  against  gold,  and  the  cause  of  that 
feeling.  Quytations  might  bo  mufh  from  the 
speeches  of  other>'  to  show  that  they  acted  upon 
that  feeling ;  but  it  is  due  to  General  Hamilton 


■i'l 


442 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


ilt 


to  say  that  he  disclaimed  such  a  motive  for  him- 
self, and  expressed  a  desire  to  retain  both 
metala  in  circulation,  and  even  to  have  a  gold 
dollar. 

The  proportion  of  fifteen  to  one  was  establish- 
ed.   The  11th  section  of  the  act  of  April,  1792, 
enacted  ihat  every  fifteen  pounds  weight  of  pure 
silver,  should  be  equal  in  value,  in  all  payments 
with  one  pound  of  pure  gold ;  and  so  in  propor- 
tion for  less  quantities  of  the  respective  metals. 
This  act  was  the  death  warrant  to  the  gold  cur- 
rency.    The  diminished  circulation  of  that  coin 
soon  began  to  be  observable  j  but  it  was  not  im- 
mediately extinguished.    Several  circumstances 
delayed,  but  could  not  prevent  that  catastrophe. 
1.  The  Bank  of  the  United  States  then  issued 
no  note  of  less  denomination  than  ten  dollars, 
and  but  few  of  them.    2.  There  were  but  three 
other  banks  in  the  United  States,  and  they  issu- 
ed but  few  small  notes ;  so  that  a  small  note 
currency  did  not  come  directly  into  conflict  with 
gold.     3.  The  trade  to  the  lower  Jlississipi  con- 
tinued to  bring  up  from  Natchez  and  Ne  w  Orleans, 
for  many  years,  a  large  supply  of  doubloons;  and 
long  supplied  a  gold  currency  to  the  new  States 
in  the  West.     Thus,  the  absence  of  a  small  note 
currency,  and  the  constant  arrivals  of  doubloons 
from  the  lower  Mississippi,  deferred  the  fate  of  the 
gold  currency  ;  and  it  was  not  until  the  lapse  of 
near  twenty  years  after  the  adoption  of  the  er- 
roneous standard  of  1792,  that  the  circulation  of 
that  metal,  both  foreign  and  domestic,  became 
completely  and  totally  extinguished  in  the  Uni- 
ted States.    The  extinction  is  now  complete,  and 
must  remain  so  until  the  laws  are  altered 


In  making  this  annunciation,  and  in  thus 
standing  forward  to  expose  the  error,  and  to  de- 
mand the  reform  of  the  gold  currency,  he  (Jlr. 
B.)  was  not  sotting  up  for  the  honors  of  a  first 
discoverer,  or  first  inventor.  Far  from  it.  He 
was  treading  in  the  steps  of  other,  and  abler 
men,  who  had  gone  before  him.  Four  Secre- 
taries of  the  Treasury,  Gallatin,  Dallas,  Craw- 
ford, Ingham,  had,  each  in  their  day,  pointed 
out  the  error  in  the  gold  standard,  and  recom- 
mended its  correction,  llepeated  reports  of 
committees,  in  both  Houses  of  Congress,  had 
done  the  same  thing.  Of  these  reports  he 
would  name  those  of  the  late  Mr.  Lowndes  of 
South  Carolina ;  of  Mr.  Sanford,  late  a  senator 
from  New- York;  of  Mr.  rampbel!  P.  White, 
now  a  representative  from  the  city  of  New- York. 


Mr.  B.  took  pleasure  in  recalling  and  presenting 
to  public  notice,  the  names  of  the  eminent  men 
who  had  gone  before  him  in  the  exploration  of 
this  path.  It  was  due  to  them,  now  that  the 
good  cause  seemed  to  be  in  the  road  to  success 
to  yield  to  them  all  the  honors  of  first  explor- 
ers ;  it  was  due  to  the  cause  also,  in  this  hour 
of  final  trial,  to  give  it  the  high  sanction  of  their 
names  and  labors. 

Mr.  B.  would  arrest  for  an  instant  the  current 
of  his  remarks,  to  fix  the  attention  of  the  Se- 
nate upon  a  reflection  which  must  suggest  it- 
self to  the  minds  of  all  considerate  persons. 
He  would  ask  how  it  could  happen  that  so  many 
men,  and  such  men  as  he  had  named,  laboring 
for  so  many  years,  in  a  cause  so  just,  for  an  oh- 
ject  so  beneficial,  upon  a  state  of  facts  so  unde- 
niable, could  so  long  and  so  uniformly  fail  of 
success?    How  could  this  happen?    Sir  ex- 
claimed Mr.  B.,  it  happened  because  tliQ  policy 
of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  required  it  to 
happen  !    The  same  policy  which  required  gold 
to  be  undervalued  in  1792,  when  the  first  lank 
was  chartered,  has  required  it  to  be  luulei-valu- 
ed  ever  since,  now  that  a  second  bank  has  been 
established ;  and  the  same  strength  which  en- 
abled these  banks  to  keep  themselves  up,  also  en- 
abled them  to  keep  gold  down.  This=  is  the  answer 
to  the  question;  and  this  the  secret  of  the  failure 
of  all  these  eminent  men  in  their  laudable  efforts 
to  raise  gold  again  to  the  dignity  of  money. 
This  is  the  secret  of  their  failure ;  and  this  secret 
being  now  known,  the  road  which  leads  to  the 
reformation  of  the  gold  currency  lies  uncovered 
and  revealed  before  us :  it  is  the  road  which 
leads  to  the  overthrow  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
F  dtes— to  the  sepulchre  of  that  institution: 
for,  while  that  bank  lives,  or  has  the  hope  of 
life,  gold  cannot  be  restored  to  life.     Here  then 
lies  the  question  of  the  reform  of  the  gold  cur- 
rency.    If  the  bank  is  defeated,  that  currency 
is  reformed ;  if  the  bank  is  victorious,  gold  re- 
mains degraded ;  to  continue  an  article  of  mer- 
chandise m  the  hands  of  the  bank,  and  to  be 
expelled  from  circulation  to  make  room  for  its 
five,  its  ten,  and  its  twenty  dollar  notes.    Let 
the  people  then,  who  are  in  favor  of  restoring 
gold  to  circulation,  go  to  work  in  the  right 
place,  and  put  down  the  power  that  first  put 
down  gold,  and  which  will  never  sutler  that 
coin  to  rise  while  it  has  power  to  prevent  it. 
Mr.  B.  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  dcscnt 


ANNO  1834.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


443 


and  expatiate  upon  the  merits  and  advantages 
of  a  gold  currency.  These  advantages  had  been 
too  well  known,  from  the  earliest  ages  of  the 
V.  odd.  to  be  a  subject  of  discussion  in  the  nine- 
teenth century ;  but,  as  it  was  the  policy  of  the 
paper  system  to  disparage  that  metal,  and  as 
that  system,  in  its  forty  years'  reign  over  the 
American  people,  had  nearly  destroyed  a  know- 
ledge of  that  currency,  he  would  briefly  enume- 
rate its  leading  and  prominent  advantages.  1. 
It  had  an  intrinsic  value,  which  gave  it  curren- 
cy all  over  the  world,  to  the  full  amount  of  that 
value,  without  regard  to  laws  or  circumstances. 
2.  It  had  a  uniformity  of  value,  which  made  it 
the  safest  standard  of  the  value  of  property 
which  the  wisdom  of  man  had  ever  yet  discov- 
ered. 3.  Its  portability ;  which  made  it  easy  for 
the  traveller  to  carry  it  about  with  him.  4.  Its 
indestructibility ;  which  made  it  the  safest  mo- 
ney that  people  could  keep  in  their  houses.  5. 
Its  inherent  purity ;  which  made  it  the  hardest 
money  to  be  counterfeited,  and  the  easiest  to  be 
detected,  and,  therefore,  the  safest  money  for 
the  people  to  handle.  G.  Its  superiority  over 
all  other  money ;  which  gave  to  its  possessor 
the  choice  and  command  of  all  other  money. 
7.  Its  power  over  exchanges ;  gold  being  the 
currency  which  contributes  most  to  the  equali- 
zation of  exchange,  and  keeping  down  the  rate 
of  exchange  to  the  lowest  and  most  uniform 
point.  8.  Its  power  over  the  paper  money; 
gold  being  the  natural  enemy  of  that  system, 
and,  with  fair  play,  able  to  hold  it  in  check. 
9.  It  is  a  constitutional  currency  and  the  peo- 
ple have  a  right  to  demand  it,  for  their  cur- 
rency, as  lorg  as  the  present  constitution  is  per- 
mitted to  exist. 

Mr.  B.  said,  that  the  false  valuation  put  upon 
gold  liau  rendered  the  mint  of  the  United  States, 
so  far  as  the  gold  coinage  is  concerned,  a  most  ri- 
diculous and  absurd  institution.  It  has  coined, 
and  that  ut  a  large  expense  to  ihe  United  States, 
2,202,717  pieces  of  gold,  worth  $11,852,890; 
and  where  are  these  pieces  now  ?  Not  one  of 
thera  to  be  seen !  all  sold,  and  exported  !  and 
so  regular  is  this  operation  that  the  director 
ofthemint,  in  his  latest  report  to  Congress, 
says  that  the  new  coined  gold  frequently  re- 
mains in  the  mint,  uncalled  for,  though  ready  for 
delivery,  until  the  day  arrives  for  a  packet  to 
8  i'  ro  Europe.  He  calculates  that  two  millions 
of  native  gold  will  be  coined  annually  hereafter; 


the  whole  of  which,  without  a  reform  of  the 
gold  standard,  will  be  conducted,  like  exiles, 
from  the  national  mint  to  the  sea-shore,  and 
transported  to  foreign  regions,  to  be  sold  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States. 

Mr.  B.  said  this  was  not  the  time  to  discuss 
the  relative  value  of  gold  and  silver,  nor  to  urge 
the  particular  proportion  which  ought  to  be 
established  between  them.  That  would  be  the 
proper  work  of  a  committee.  At  present  it 
might  be  sufficient,  and  not  irrelevant,  to  say 
that  this  question  was  one  of  commerce — that 
it  was  purely  and  simply  a  mercantile  problem 
— as  much  so  as  an  acquisition  of  any  ordinary 
merchandise  from  foreign  countries  could  be. 
Gold  goes  where  it  finds  its  value,  and  that 
value  is  what  the  laws  of  great  nations  give  it. 
In  Mexico  and  South  America — the  countries 
which  produce  gold,  and  from  which  the  United 
States  must  derive  their  chief  supply — the  value 
of  gold  is  16  to  1  over  silver ;  in  the  island  of 
Cuba  it  is  17  to  1 ;  in  Spain  and  Portugal  it  is 
IG  to  1 ;  in  the  West  Indies,  generally,  it  is  the 
same.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  gold  will 
come  from  these  countries  to  the  United  States, 
if  the  importer  is  to  lose  one  dollar  in  every  six 
teen  that  he  brings ;  or  that  our  own  gold  will 
remain  with  us,  when  an  exporter  can  gain  a 
dollar  upon  every  fifteen  that  he  carries  out. 
Such  results  would  be  contrary  to  the  laws  of 
trade ;  and  therefore  we  must  place  the  same 
value  upon  gold  that  other  nations  do,  if  we 
wish  to  gain  any  part  of  theirs,  or  to  regain  any 
part  of  our  own.  Air.  B.  said  that  the  case  of 
England  and  France  was  no  exception  to  tl's 
rule.  They  rated  gold  at  something  less  than 
IG  for  1,  and  still  retained  gold  in  circulation ; 
but  it  was  retained  by  force  of  peculiar  laws  and 
advantages  which  do  not  prevail  in  the  United 
States.  In  England  the  circulation  of  gold  was 
aided  and  protected  by  four  subsidiary  laws, 
neither  of  which  exist  here:  one  which  prevent- 
ed silver  from  being  a  tender  for  more  than  forty 
shillings  ;  another  which  required  the  Bank  of 
England  to  pay  all  its  notes  in  gold ;  a  third 
which  suppressed  the  small  note  circulation ;  a 
fourth  which  alloyed  their  silver  nine  per  cent,, 
below  the  relative  value  of  gold.  In  France  the 
relative  proportion  of  the  two  metals  wi'S  also 
below  what  it  was  in  Spain,  Portugal,  Mexico, 
and  South  America,  and  .still  a  plentiful  supply 
of  gold  remained  in  circulation ;  but  this  result 


444 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


was  aided  by  two  peculiar  causes;  first;  the  to- 
tal absence  of  a  paper  currency ;  secondly,  the 
proximity  of  Spain, and  the  inferiority  of  Spanish 
manufactures,  which  gave  to  France  a  ready 
and  a  near  nnirket  for  the  sale  of  her  fine  fabrics, 
which  were  paid  for  in  the  gold  of  the  New  "World. 
In  the  United  States,  gold  would  have  none  of 
these  subcidiary  helps;  on  the  contrary  it  would 
have  to  cont^'nd  with  a  paper  currency,  and 
would  have  to  be  obtained,  the  product  of  our  own 
mines  excepted,  from  Mexico  and  South  America, 
where  it  is  rated  as  sixteen  to  one  for  silver. 
All  these  circumstances,  and  many  others,  would 
have  to  be  taken  into  consideration  in  fixing  a 
standard  for  the  United  States.  Mr.  B.  repeat- 
ed that  there  was  nicety,  but  no  difficulty,  in 
adjusting  the  relative  value  of  gold  and  silver  so 
as  to  retain  botli  in  circulation.  Several  nations 
of  antiquity  had  done  it ;  some  modern  nations 
also.  The  English  have  both  in  circulation  at 
this  time.  The  French  liave  both,  and  have  had 
for  thirty  years.  The  States  of  this  Union  also 
had  both  in  the  time  of  the  confederation;  and 
retained  them  until  this  federal  government 
was  established,  and  the  paper  system  adopted. 
Congress  should  not  admit  that  it  cannot  do 
for  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  what  so 
many  monarchies  have  done  for  their  subjects. 
Gentlemen,  especially,  who  decry  military  chief- 
tains, should  not  confess  that  they  themselves 
cannot  do  for  America,  what  a  military  chieftain 
did  for  France. 

Mr.  B.  made  his  acknowledgments  to  the 
great  apostle  of  American  liberty  /"Mr.  Jeffer- 
son), for  the  wine,  practical  idea,  that  the  value  j 
of  gold  was  a  commercial  question,  to  be  settled 
by  its  value  in  other  countries.  He  had  seen 
t.  It  remark  in  the  works  of  that  great  man,  and 
treasured  it  up  as  teaching  the  plain  and  ready 
way  to  accomplish  an  apparently  difficult  object; 
and  he  fully  concurred  with  the  senator  from 
~outh  Carolina  [Mr.  Calhoun],  that  gold,  in  the 
United  States,  ought  to  be  the  preferred  metal ; 
not  that  silver  should  be  expelled,  but  both  re- 
tained ;  the  mistake,  of  any,  to  be  in  favor  of 
gold,  instead  of  being  against  it. 

IV.  Mr.  B.  believed  that  it  was  the  intention 
and  declared  meaning  of  the  constitution,  that 
foreign  coins  should  pass  currently  as  money, 
and  at  their  full  value,  within  the  United  States; 
that  it  was  the.  diity  of  Congress  to  promote  the 
circulation  of  these  coins  by  giving  them  their 


full  value  ;  that  this  was  the  design  of  the  States 
in  conferring  upon  Congress  the  exclusive  power 
of  regulating  the  value  of  these  coins ;  that  all 
the  laws  of  Congress  for  preventing  the  cireula- 
tion  of  foreign  coins,  and  underrating  their  value 
were  so  many  breaches  of  the  constitution,  and 
so  many  mischiefs  inflicted  upon  the  States ;  and 
that  it  was  the  boundcn  duty  of  Congress  to  re- 
peal all  such  laws ;  and  to  restore  foreign  coins 
to  the  same  free  and  flivored  circulation  which 
they  possessed  when  the  federal  constitution  was 
adopted. 

In  support  of  the  first  branch  of  his  first  po- 
sition Mr.  B.  quoted  the  words  of  the  constitu- 
tion which  authorized  Congress  to  regulate  the 
value  of  foreign  coins ;  secondly,  the  clause  in 
the  constitution  which  authorized  Congress  to 
provide  for  punishing  the  counterfeiting  of  cur- 
rent coin,  in  which  term,  foreign  coin  was  includ- 
ed;  thirdly,  the  clause  which  prohibited  the 
States  from  making  any  thing  but  gold  and  sil- 
ver coin  a  tender  in  payment  of  debts ;  a  clause 
which  did  not  limit  the  prohibition  to  dcmcstic 
coins,  and    therefore    included    foreign    ones. 
These  three  clauses,  he  said,  were  concurrent, 
and  put  foreign  coin  and  domestic  coin  upon  the 
same  precise  footing  of  equality,  in  every  parti- 
cular which  concerned  their  current  circulation 
their  value,  and  their  protection  from  couutor- 
feiters.    Historical  recollections  were  the  next 
evidence  to  which  Mr.  B.  referred  to  siistain  his 
position.     He  said  that  foreign  coins  vrcre  the 
only  coins  known  to  the  United  States  at  the 
adoption  of  the  constitution.     No  mint  had  been 
established  up  to  that  time.     The  coins  of  other 
nations  furnished  the  currency,  the  exclusive 
metallic  currency,  which  the  States  had  used 
from  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  AVar  up  to 
the  formation  of  this  federal  government.    It 
was  these  foreign  coins  then  which  the  frainers 
of  the  constitution  had  in  view  when  tliey  in- 
serted all  the  clauses  in  *'•>'  constitution  which 
bear  upon  the  value  and      -'-ent  circulation  of 
coin ;  its  protection  from  counterfeiters,  and  the 
prohibitory  restriction  upon  the  States  with  re- 
spect to  the  illegality  of  tenders  of  any  thing  ex- 
cept of  gold  and  silver.     To  make  this  point  sti:! 
plainer,  if  plainer  it  could  be  made,  Mr.  B.  lui- 
vertcd  to  the  early  statutes  of  Congress  wlii  ; 
related  to  foreign  coins.     He  had  seen  no  less 
than  rine  statutes,  pass'jd  in  the  first  fourjearo 
of  the  action  of  this  federal  government,  all  en« 


ANNO  1834.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


445 


•encj',  the  exclusive 


acted  for  the  purpose  of  regulating  the  value, 
protecting  the  purity,  and  promoting  the  circu- 
lation of  these  coins.  Not  only  the  well-known 
coins  of  the  principal  nations  were  provided  for 
in  these  statutes,  but  the  coins  of  all  the  nations 
with  whom  we  traded,  how  rare  or  small  might 
be  the  coin,  or  how  remote  or  inconsiderable 
might  be  the  nation.  By  a  general  provision 
of  the  act  of  1789,  the  gold  coins  of  all  nations, 
which  equalled  those  of  England,  Franco,  Spain 
and  Portugal,  in  fineness,  were  to  be  current  at 
89  cents  the  pennyweight;  and  the  silver  coins  of 
all  nations,  which  equalled  the  Spanish  dollar 
in  fineness,  were  to  be  current  at  111  cents  the 
ounce.  Under  these  general  provisions,  a  great 
influx  of  the  precious  metals  took  place  j  doub- 
loons, guineas,  half  joes,  were  the  common  and 
familiar  currency  of  farmers  and  laborers,  as 
well  as  of  merchants  and  traders.  Every  sub- 
stantial citizen  then  kept  in  his  house  a  pair 
of  small  scales  to  weigh  gold,  which  are  now 
used  by  his  posterity  to  weigh  physic.  It  is  a 
great  many  years — a  whole  generation  has 
grown  up — since  these  scales  were  used  for  their 
original  purpose ;  nor  will  they  ever  be  needed 
again  for  that  use  until  the  just  and  wise  laws 
of  '89  and  '90,  for  the  general  circulation  of 
foreign  coins,  shall  again  be  put  in  force.  These 
early  statutes,  added  to  historical  recollections, 
could  leave  no  doubt  of  the  true  meaning  of  the 
constitution,  and  that  foreign  coins  were  intend- 
ed to  be  for  ever  current  within  the  United 
States. 

With  this  obvious  meaning  of  the  constitu- 
tion, and  the  undeniable  advantage  which  re- 
dounded to  the  United  States  from  the  acquisi- 
tion of  the  precious  metals  from  all  foreign  na- 
tions, the  inquiry  naturally  presents  itself,  to 
know  for  what  reason  these  coins  have  been 
outlawed  by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
and  driven  from  circulation  ?  The  inquiring 
mind  wishes  to  know  how  Congress  could  be 
brought,  in  a  few  short  years  after  the  adop- 
tion of  the  constitution,  to  contradict  that  in- 
strument in  a  vital  particular— to  repeal  the 
nine  statutes  which  they  had  passed  in  favor 
of  foreign  coin— and  to  illegalize  the  circula- 
tion of  that  coin  whose  value  they  were  to 
regulate,  and  whose  purity  to  protect  ? 

Sir,  said  Mr.  B.,  I  am  unwilling  to  appear 
always  ir.  the  same  train,  tracing  up  all  tlie 
evils  of  our  currency  to  the  same  fouatain  of 


mischiefs — the  introduction  of  the  paper  sys- 
tem, and  the  first  establishment  of  a  federal 
bank  among  us.  But  justice  must  have  its 
sway;  historical  truth  must  take  its  course; 
facts  must  be  told ;  and  authentic  proof  shall 
supply  the  place  of  narrative  and  assertion. 
We  ascend,  then,  to  the  year  '91— to  the  exhi- 
bition of  the  plan  for  the  support  of  public 
credit— and  see  in  that  plan,  as  one  of  its  fea- 
tures, a  proposition  for  the  establishment  of  a 
national  mint ;  and  in  that  establishment  a 
subsidiary  engine  for  the  support  of  the  federal 
bank.  We  have  already  seen  that  in  the  pro- 
position for  the  establishment  of  the  mint,  gold 
was  largely  undervalued ;  and  that  this  under- 
valuation has  driven  gold  from  the  country  and 
left  a  vacuum  for  the  circulation  of  federal  bank 
notes ;  we  are  now  to  see  that  the  same  mint 
establishment  was  to  give  further  aid  to  the 
circulation  of  these  notes,  by  excluding  foreign 
coins,  both  gold  and  silver,  from  circulation, 
and  thus  enlarging  the  vacuum  which  was  to 
be  filled  by  bank  paper.  This  is  what  we  are 
now  to  see ;  and  to  see  it,  we  will  look  at  the 
plan  for  the  support  of  public  credit,  and  that 
feature  of  the  plan  which  proposes  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  national  mint. 

Mr.  B.  would  remark,  that  four  points  were 
presented  in  this  plan :  1.  The  eventual  aboli- 
tion of  the  currency  of  foreign  coins ;  2.  The 
reduction  of  their  value  while  allowed  to  circu- 
late ;  3.  The  substitution  of  domestic  coins ; 
and,  4.  The  substitution  of  bank  notes  in  place 
of  the  uncurrent  and  undervalued  foreign  coins. 
Such  were  the  recommendations  of  Secretary 
Hamilton ;  and  legislative  enactments  quickly 
followed  to  convert  his  recommendations  into 
law.  The  only  power  the  constitution  had 
given  to  Congress  over  foreign  coins,  was  a 
power  to  regulate  their  value,  and  to  protect 
them  from  debasement  by  counterfeiters.  It 
was  certainly  a  most  strange  cons;^?uction  of  that 
authority,  first,  to  underrjite  ^  v  due  of  these 
coins,  and  next,  to  prol  oit  ir  circulation ! 
Yet  both  things  were;^'  Ti     mint  went  in- 

to operation  in  1794;  for^,,.  '  were  to  cease 
to  be  a  legal  Wnder  in  Vi  97  ;  but,  at  the  end  of 
that  time,  the  contingencies  on  which  the  Secre- 
tary calculated,  to  enable  the  couatiy  to  do  with- 
out foreign  coins,  had  not  occurred;  the  sub- 
stitutes had  not  appeared;  the  mint  had  not 
supplied  the  adequate  quantity  of  domestic  coin, 


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446 


THIRTY  TEARS'  VIEW. 


li  3r  had  the  circulation  of  bank  notes  become 
sufficiently  familiar  to  the  people  to  supersede 
gold.    The  law  for  the  exclusion  of  foreign  coins 
was  found  to  be  impracticable ;  and  a  suspension 
of  it  for  three  years  was  enacted.    At  the  end  of 
this  time  the  evil  was  found  to  be  as  great  as 
ever ;  and  a  further  suspension  of  three  years 
was  made.    This  third  term  of  three  years  also 
rolled  over,  the  supply  of  domestic  coins  was 
still  found  to  be  inadequate,  and  the  people  con- 
tinued to  be  as  averse  as  ever  to  the  bank  note 
substitute.     A  fourth  suspension  of  the  law  be- 
came necessary,  and  in  1806  a  further  suspension 
for  three  years  was  made  ;  after  that  a  fifth,  and 
finally  a  sixth  suspension,  each  for  the  period 
of  three  years ;  which  brought  the  period  for  the 
actual  and  final  cessation  of  the  circulation  of 
foreign  coins,  to  the  month  of  November,  1819. 
From  that  time  there  was  no  further  suspension 
of  the  prohibitory  act.    An  exception  was  con- 
tinued, and  still  remains,  in  favor  of  Spanish 
milled  dollars  and  parts  of  dollars ;  but  all  other 
foreign  coins,  even  those  of  Mexico  and  all  tlie 
South  American  States,  have  ceased  to  be  a  legal 
tender,  and  have  lost  their  chaiacter  of  current 
money  within  the  United  States.     Their  value 
is  degraded  to  the  mint  price  of  bullion ;  and 
thus  the  constitutional  currency  becomes  an  ar- 
ticle of  merchandise  and  exportation.    Even  the 
Spanish  milled  dollar,  though  continued  as  a 
legal  tender,  is  valued,  not  as  money,  but  for  the 
pure  silver  in  it,  and  is  therefore  undervalued 
three  or  four  per  cent,  and  becomes  an  article  of 
merchandise.     The  Bank  of  the  United  States 
has  collected  and  sold  4,450,000  of  them.   Every 
money  dealer  is  employed  in  buying,  selling,  and 
exporting  them.    The  South  and  West,  which 
receives  them,  is  stripped  of  them. 

Having  gone  through  this  narrative  of  facts, 
and  shown  the  exclusion  of  foreign  coins  from 
cirrnlation  to  be  a  part  of  the  paper  system,  and 
intended  to  facilitate  the  substitution  of  a  bank 
note  currency,  Mr  B.  went  on  to  stato  the  in- 
juries resuUing  from  the  measure.  At  the  head 
of  these  injuries  he  was  bound  to  place  the  vio- 
lation of  the  constitution  of  the  United  States, 
which  clearly  intended  that  foreign  coins  should 
circulate  among  us,  and  which,  in  giving  Con- 
gress authority  to  regulate  their  value,  and  to 
protect  them  from  counterfeiters,  could  never 
have  intended  to  stop  their  circulation,  and  to 
abandon  them  to  debasement.   2.  lie  denounced 


this  exclusion  of  foreign  coins  as  a  fraud,  and  a 
fraud  of  the  most  injurious  nature,  upon  the 
people  of  the  States.    The  States  had  surren- 
dered their  power  o^er  the  coinage  to  Congress' 
they  made  the  surrender  in  language  which 
clearly  implied  that,  their  currency  of  foreign 
coins  was  to  be  continued  to  them ;  yet  that 
currency  is  suppressed ;  a  currency  of  intrinsic 
value,  for  which  they  paid  interest  to  nobody  is 
suppressed;  and  a  curre..  v  without  intrinsic 
value,  a  currency  of  paper  subject  to  every  flue- 
tuation,  and  for  the  supply  of  which  corporate 
bodies  receive  interest,  is  substituted  in  its  place. 
3.  He  objected  to  this  suppression  as  depriving 
the  whole  Union,  and  especially  the  Western 
States,  of  their  due  and  necessary  supply  of  hard 
money.    Since  that  law  took  effect,  the  United 
States  had  only  been  a  thoroughfiire  for  foreign 
coins  to  pass  through.    All  that  was  brought 
into  the  country,  had  to  go  out  of  the  country. 
It  was  exported  as  fast  as  imported.    The  cus- 
tom-house books  proved  this  fact.   They  proved 
that  from  1821  to  1833,  the  imports  of  ..pccie 
were  $89,428,462 ;  the  exports,  for  the  same 
time,  were  $88,821,433 ;  lacking  but  three  quar- 
ters of  a  million  of  being  precisely  equal  to  the 
imports  !    Some  of  this  coin  was  rccoincd  be- 
fore it  was  exported,  a  foolish  and  e.xjxjnsive 
operation  on  the  part  of  the  United  States;  but 
the  greater  part  was  exported  in  the  samefo   ; 
+hat  it  was  received.    Mr.  B.  had  only  been  abit 
to  get  the  exports  and  imports  from  1821 ;  if  he 
could  have  obtained  those  of  1820.  and  tlie  con- 
cluding part  of  1819,  when  the  prohibitory  law 
took  effect,  the  amount  would  have  been  about 
ninety-six    millions  of  dollars ;  the  whole  of 
which  was  lost  to  the  country  by  the  prohibi- 
tory law,  while  much  of  it  would  have  been 
saved,  and  retained  for  home  circulation,  if  it 
had  not  been  for  this  law.     The  loss  of  this 
great  sum  in  specie  was  an  injury  to  the  whole 
Union,  but  especially  to  the  Western  States, 
whose  sole  resource  for  coin  was  from  foreign 
countries ;   for  the  coinage  of  the  mint  could 
never  flow  into  that  region ;  there  was  nothing 
in  the  course  of  trade  and  exchanges,  to  carry 
money  from  the  Atlantic  States  to  the  V,'c<t] 
and  the  mint,  if  it  coined  thousands  of  millions, 
could  not  supply  them.     The  taking  ctTecc  of 
the  law  in  the  year  1819,  was  an  aggravation 
of  the  injury.   It  was  the  most  unfortunate  and 
ruinous  of  all  times  for  driving  spede  from  the 


ANNO  1834.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


447 


country.    The  Western  banks,  from  their  ex- 
ertions to  aid  the  country  during  the  war,  had 
strctch'-d  their  issues  to  the  utmost  limit  j 
their  notes  had  gone  into  the  land  offices;  the 
federal  government  turned  them  over  to  the 
Banli  of  the  United  States  ;  and  that  bank  de- 
iDiinded  specie.    Thus,  the  necessity  for  specie 
was  increased  at  the  very  moment  that  the  sup- 
ply was  diminished ;  and  the  general  stoppage 
of  the  Western  banks,  was  the  inevitable  and 
natural  result  of  theae  combined  circumstances. 
Having  shown  the  great  evils  resulting  to  the 
country  from  the  operation  of  this  law,  Mr.  B. 
called  upon  its  friends  to  tell  what  reason  could 
now  be  given  for  not  repealing  it  ?   lie  affirmed 
that,  of  the  two  causes  to  which  the  law  owed 
its  origin,  one  had  failed  in  toto,  and  the  other 
had  succeeded  to  a  degree  to  make  it  the  curse 
and  tlie  nuisance  of  the  coimtry.    One  reason 
wa?  to  induce  an  adequate  supply  of  foreign 
coins  to  be  brought  to  the  mint,  to  be  recoin- 
td;  the  other  to  facilitate  the  substitution  of  a 
bank  note  currency.    The  foreign  coins  did  not 
go  to  the  mint,  those  excepted  which  were  im- 
ported in  its  own  neighborhood ;  and  even  these 
were  exjiorted  nearly  as  fast  as  recoined.     The 
authority  of  the  director  of  the  mint  had  al- 
ready been  quoted  to  show  that  the  new  coin- 
ed gold  was  transferred  direct  from  the  na- 
tional mint  to  the  packet  ships,  bound  to  Eu- 
rope.   The  custom-house  returns  showed  the 
large  exportation  of  domestic   coins.      They 
would  be  found  under  the  head  of  "  Domestic 
Manufactures  Exported  ;»  and  made  a  large 
figure  in  the  list  of  thesa  exports.     In  the 
year  1832,  ;,  a. -ounted  to  $2,058,474,  and  in 
the  year  18^  ;  •  4;-:\410,'.m  ;  and  every  year 
it  wns  more  or  1  •;-, ;  go  that  the  national  mint 
had  degenerated  in+o  a  domestic  manufactory 
of  gold  and  silver,  for  exportation  to  foreign 
countries.    But  the  coins  imported  at  New  Or- 
leans, at  Charleston,  and  at  other  points  re- 
mote from  Philadelphia,  did  not  go  there  to  be 
recoined.    They  were,  in  part,  exported  direct 
from  the  place  of  import,  and  in  part  used  by 
the  people  as  current  money,  in  disregaixl  of 
the  prohibitory  law  of  1810.     But  the  greater 
part  was  exported— for  no  ownci  of  foreign 
coiu  couM  incur  the  trouble,  risk,  and  expense, 
of  sending  it  some  hundred  or  a  thousand  niilos 
to  rhlladelpiuH,  to  have  it  recoined ;  and  thi  a 
mcuning  the  same  expense,  risk,  and  trouble 


(lying  out  of  the  use  of  the  money,  and  receiv- 
ing no  Interest  all  the  while),  of  bringing  it 
back  to  be  put  into  circulation ;  with  the  fur- 
ther risk  of  a  deduction  for  want  of  standai-d 
fineness  at  the  mint,  when  ho  could  sell  and 
export  it  upon  the  spot.    Foreign  coins  could 
not  be  recoined,  so  as  to  supply  the  Union,  by 
a  solitary  mint  on  the  Atlantic  coast.     The 
great  West  could  only  be  supplied  from  New 
Orleans.    A  branch  of  the  mint,  placed  there, 
could  supply  the  West  with  domestic  coins. 
Mexico,  since  she  became  a  free  country,  has 
established  seven  mints  in  different  places,  be- 
cause it  was  troublesome  and  expensive  to  car- 
ry bullion  from  all  parts  of  the  country  to  be 
coined  in  the  capital ;  and  when  coined  there, 
there  was  nothing  in  the  course  of  trade  to  car- 
ry them  back  into  the  country ;  and  the  owners 
of  it  would  not  be  at  the  expense  and  trouble 
ofcarryingitback,  and  getting  it  into  circula- 
tion, being  the  exact  state  of  things  at  present 
in  the  gold  mines  of  the  Southern  States.    The 
United  States,  upon  the  same  principles  and  fop 
the  same  reasons,  should  establish  branches  of 
the  mint  in  the  South,  convenient  to  the  gold 
mine  region,  and  at  New  Orleans,  for  the  ben- 
efit of  that  city  and  the  West.    Without  a 
branch  of  the  mint  at  New  Orleans,  the  admis- 
sion of  foreign  coins  is  indispensable  to  the 
West;   and  thus  the  interest  of  that  region 
joins  itself  to  the  voice  of  the  constitution  in 
demanding  the  immediate  repeal  of  all  laws  for 
illegalizing  the  circulation  of  these  coins,  and 
I'lr  sinking  them  from  their  current  value  .^ 
money,  to  their  mint   value  as  bullion.     The 
design  of  supplying  the  mint  with  foreign  coins, 
for  recoinage,  had  then  failed ;  und  in  that  re- 
spect the  exclusion  of  foreign  coins  has  failed 
in  one  of  its  objects— in  the  other,  that  of  mak- 
ing room  for  a  substitute  of  bank  notes,  the 
success  of  the  scheme  has  been  complete,  ex- 
cessive, and  deplorable. 

Foixngn  coins  were  again  made  a  legal  tender, 
their  value  regulated  and  their  inipoi  tMion  en- 
couraged, at  the  expiration  of  the  charter  of  the 
first  Bank  of  the  Unite<l  States,  This  continued 
to  be  the  case  until  after  the  present  Bank  of  tl« 
United  States  was  chartered;  as  soon  as  that 
event  happened,  and  bank  policy  again  became 
pixidominant  in  the  biills  of  rongress.  fbe  cir- 
culation of  foreign  coins  was  again  struck  at ; 
ami,  iu  the  second  ^ear  of  the  existence  of  the 


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448 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW, 


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bank,  the  old  act  of  1793,  for  rendering  these 
coins  uncurrent,  was  cairied  into  final  and  com- 
plete effect.    Since  that  time,  the  bank  has  en- 
joyed all  her  advantages  from  this  exclusion. 
The   expulsion  of  these  coins  has  created  a 
vacuum,  to  be  filled  up  by  her  small  note  cir- 
culation;  the  traffic  and  trade  in   them  has 
been  as  largo  a  source  of  profit  to  her  as  of 
loss  to  the  country.     Gold  coin  she  has  sold  at 
an  advance  of  five  or  six  per  cent. ;  silver  coin 
at  about  two  or  three  per  cent.;  and,  her  hand 
being  in,  she  made  no  difference  between  selling 
domestic  coin  and  foreign  coin.    Although  forbid 
by  her  charter  to  deal  in  coin,  she  has  employed 
her  branches  to  gather  .'$10,040,000  of  coin  from 
the  States;  a  large  part  of  which  she  admits  that 
she  has  sold  and  transported  to  Europe.    For 
the  sale  of  the  foreign  coin,  she  sots  up  the  law- 
yer-like plea,  that  it  is  not  coin,  but  bullion ! 
resting  the  validity  of  the  plea  upon  English 
statute  law !  while,  by  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States,  all  foreigi.'  coins  are  coin;  while, 
by  her  own  charter,  the  coins,  both  gold  and 
silver,  of  Great  Britain,  France,  Spain,  and  Por- 
tugal, and  their  dominions,  arc  declared  to  be 
coin ;  and,  as  such,  made  receivable  in  payment 
of  the  specie  proportion  of  the  bank  stock— and, 
worse  yet !  while  Spanish  dollars,  by  statute^ 
remain  the  current  coin  of  the  United  States, 
the  bank  admits  the  sale  of  4,450,142  of  these 
identical  Spanish  milled  dollars ! 

Mr.  B.  then  took  a  rapid  view  of  the  present 
condition  of  the  statute  currency  of  the  United 
States— of  that  currency  which  was  a  legal  ten- 
der—that currency  with  which  a  debtor  had  a 
right  by  law  to  protect  his  property  from  execu- 
tion, and  his  body  from  jail,  by  offering  it  as  a 
matter  of  right,  to  his  creditor  in  payment  of  his 
debt.    lie  stated  this  statute  currency  to  be : 
1st.  Coins  from  the  mint  of  the  United  States; 
2dly.  Spanish  milled  dollars,  and  the  parts  of 
such  dollars.    This  was  the  sum  total  of  the 
statute  currency  of  the  United  States ;  for  hap- 
pily no  paper  of  any  bank,  State  or  federal, 
could  be  made  a  legal  tender.    This  is  the  sum 
total  out  of  which  any  man  in  debt  con  legally 
pay  his  debt :  and  what  is  his  chance  for  making 
payment  out  of  this  brief  list  ?     Let  us  see. 
Coinage  from  the  mint :  not  a  particle  of  gold, 
nor  a  single  whole  dollar  to  be  found ;  very  few 
half  dollars,  except  in  the  uoighhorhood  of  the 
mint,  and  in  the  hands  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 


States  and  its  branches ;  the  twenty,  ten,  and 
five  cent  pieces  scarcely  seen,  except  as  a  cu- 
riosity,  in   the  interior  parts  of  the  country 
So  much  for  the  domestic  coinage.    Now  for 
the  Spanish  milled  dollars— how  do  they  stand 
in  the  United  States  ?    Nearly  as  scarce  as  our 
own  dollars;  for,  there  has  been  none  coined 
since  Spain  lost  her  dominion  over  hci  colo- 
nics in  the  New  World ;  and  the  coinage  of  these 
colonies,  now  independent  States,  neither  is  in 
law,  nor  in  fact,  Spanish  milled.     That  term 
belongs  to  the  coinage  of  the  Spanish  crown 
with  a  Spanish  king's  head  upon  the  face  of  it' 
although  the  coin  of  the  new  States,  the  silver 
dollars  of  Mexico,  Central  America,  Peru,  and 
Chili,  are  superior  to  Spanish  dollars,  in  v^lue 
because  they  contain  more  pure  silver,  btill 
they  are  not  a  tender;  and  all  the  francs' from 
France,  in  a  word,  all  for^gn  coin  except  Span- 
ish milled  dollars,  the  coinage  of  which  has 
ceased,  and  the  country  stripped  of  all  that 
were  in  it,  by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
are  uncurrent,  and  illegal  as  tenders :  so  that  the 
people  of  the  United  States  are  reduced  to  so 
small  a  list,  and  so  small  a  supply  of  statute 
currency,  out  of  which  debts  can  legally  be 
paid,  that  it  may  be  fairly  assumed  that  the 
whole  debtor  part  of  the  community  lie  at  the 
mercy  of  their  creditors,  to  have  their  bodies 
sent  to  jail,  or  their  property  sold  for  nothing, 
at  any  time  that  their  creditors  please.     To 
such  a  condition  are  the  free  and  high-minded 
inhabitants  of  this  country  reduced !  and  re- 
duced by  the  power  and  policy  of  the  first  and 
second  Banks  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
controlling  influence  which  they  have  exercised 
over  the  moneyed  system  of  the  Union,  from 
the  year  1791  down  to  the  present  day. 

Mr.  B.  would  conclude  what  he  had  to  say, 
on  this  head,  with  one  remark ;  it  was  this : 
that  while  the  gold  and  silver  coin  of  all  the 
monarchs  of  Europe  were  excludeci  from  circu- 
lation in  the  United  States,  the  paper  notes  of 
their  subjects  were  received  as  current  money. 
The  Bank  of  the  United  States  was,  in  a  great 
degree,  a  foreign  institution.  Foreigners  held 
a  great  part  of  its  stock,  and  may  hold  it  all. 
The  paper  notes  issued  by  this  institution,  thus 
composed  in  great  part  of  the  subjects  of  Euro- 
pean kings,  are  made  legal  tenders  to  the  fed- 
era!  gnvernmcst,  and  thus  forced  into  cireula- 
tion  among  the  people ;  while  the  gold  and  sil 


ANNO  1884.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


449 


Ter  coin  of  the  kings  to  which  they  belong,  is 
rejected  and  excluded,  and  expelled  from  the 
country !  He  demanded  if  any  thing  conld 
display  the  vice  and  deformity  of  the  pai)er  sys- 
tem in  a  more  revolting  and  humiliating  point 
of  view  than  this  single  fact  ? 

V.  Mr.  B.  expressed  his  satisfaction  at  find- 
in?  60  many  points  of  concurrence  between  his 
.'.  "ments  on  currency,  and  those  of  the  sena- 
tor from  South  Carolina  (Mr.  Calhoun).    Re- 
form of  the  gold  currency — recovery  of  specie 
—evils  of  excessive  banking — and  the  eventual 
suppression  of  small  notes — were  all  points  in 
which  they  agreed,  and  on  which  he  hoped  they 
siiould  be  found  acting  together  when  these 
measures  should  be  put  to  the  test  of  legisla- 
tive action,    lie  regretted  that  he  could  not 
concur  with  that  senator  on  the  great  points  to 
which  all  the  others  might  be  found  to  be  subor- 
dinate and  accessorial.     He  alluded  to  the  pro- 
longed existence  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States!  and  especially  to  the  practical  views 
nhich  that  senator  had  taken  of  the  beneficial 
operation  of  that  institution,  first,  as  the  regu- 
lator of  the  local  currencies,  and  next,  as  the 
supplier  of  a  general  currency  to  the  Union. 
On  both  these  points,  he  differed — immeasura- 
bly differed— from  that  senator ;  and  dropping 
all  other  views  of  that  ban^  he  came  at  once 
to  the  point  which  the  senator  from  South  Ca- 
rolina marked  out  as  the  true  and  practical 
question  of  debate;  and  would  discuss  that 
question  simply  under  its  relation  to  the  cur- 
rency ;  he  would  view  the  bank  simply  as  the 
regulator  of  local  currencies  and  the  supplier 
of  a  national  currency,  and  would  give  his  rea- 
sons for  differing— irreconcilably  differing— 
from  the  senator  from  South  Carolina  on  these 
points. 

Mr.  B.  took  three  distinct  objections  to  i  he 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  as  a  regulator  of 
currency :  1,  that  this  was  a  power  whica  be- 
longed to  the  government  of  the  United  States ; 
2,  that  it  could  not  be  delegated ;  3,  that  it 
ought  not  be  delegated  to  any  bank. 

1.  The  regulation  of  the  currency  of  a  nation, 
Mi  B.  said,  was  one  of  the  highest  and  most 
delicate  acts  of  sovereign  power.  It  was  pre- 
cisely equivalent  to  the  power  to  create  cur- 
rency;  for,  a  power  to  make  more  or  less,  was, 
m  effect,  a  power  to  make  much  or  none.  It 
was  the  coining  power;  a  power  that  belonged 

Vol.  L— 29 


to  the  sovereign ;  and,  where  a  paper  currency 
was  tolerated,  the  coining  power  was  swallow- 
ed up  and  fiuperseded  by  the  manufactory  which 
emitted  paper.    In  the  present  state  of  the  cur- 
rency of  the  United  States,  the  federal  bank 
was  the  mint  for  issuing  money;  the  federal 
mint  was  a  manufactory  for  preparing  gold  and 
silver  for  exportation.    The  States,  in  the  for- 
mation of  the  constitution,  gave  the  coining 
power  to  Congress ;  with  that  power,  they  gave 
authority  to  regulate  the  currency  of  the  Union, 
by  regulating  the  v.-ilue  of  gold  and  silver,  and 
preventing  any  thing  but  metallic  money  from 
being  made  a  tender  In  payment  of  debts.    It 
is  by  the  exercise  of  these  powers  that  the 
federal  government  is  to  regulate  the  ci'rrency 
of  the  Union ;  and  all  the  departments  of  the 
government  are  required  to  act  their  parts  in 
effecting  the  regulation :  the  Congress,  as  the 
department  that  passes  the  law ;  the  President, 
as  the  authority  that  recommends  it,  approves 
it,  and  sees  that  it  is  faithfully  executed  ;  the 
judiciary,  as  standing  between  the  debtor  and 
creditor,  and  preventing  the  execution  from  be- 
ing discharged  by  a.  y  thing  but  gold  and  silver ; 
and  that  at  the  rate  which  the  legislative  de- 
partment has  fixed.   This  is  the  power,  and  sole 
power,  of  regulating  currency  which  the  federal 
constitution  contains ;  this  power  is  vested  in 
the  federal  government,  not  in  one  department 
of  it,  but  in  the  joint  action  of  the  three  de- 
partments ;  and  while  this  power  is  exercised 
by  the  government,  the  currency  of  the  whole 
Union  will  be  regulated,  and  the  regulation  ef- 
fected according  to  the  intention  of  the  consti- 
tution, by  keeping  all  the  local  banks  up  to  the 
point  of  specie  payment ;  and  thereby  making 
the  value  of  their  notes  equivalent  to  specie, 

2.  This  great  and  delicate  power,  thus  involv- 
ing the  sacred  relations  of  debtor  and  creditor 
and  the  actual  rise  or  fall  in  the  value  of  every 
man's  property,  Mr.  B.  undertook  to  affirm, 
could  not  be  delegated.     It  was  a  trust  from 
the  State  governments  to  the  federal  govern-- 
ment.     The  State  governments  divested  them- 
selves of  this  power,  and  invested  the  federal) 
government  with  it,  and  made  its  exercise  de- 
pend upon  the  three  branches  of  the  new  gov 
ernment;  and  this  new  government  could  no 
more  delegate  it,  than  they  could  delegate  any 
other  great  power  which  they  were  bound  to 
execute  themselves.    Not  a  word  of  this  regu. 


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450 


TIIIllTy  "iT.ARS*  VIEW 


lating  j()\v(T,  Mr.  B.  said,  was  \vwA  of  when 
the  first  bank  was  cliartcred,  in  the  year  17'.»l. 
No  person  whifporcd  such  a  reasim  for  the  es- 
tablislimcnt  of  a  bank  at  that  time ;  tho  whole 
conccptiiin  is  newfaii|;led — an  afterthoiipht — 
growing  out  of  the  very  evils  which  the  bank 
itself  has  bro\ight  upon  the  country,  and  iiicb 
are  to  be  cured  by  imtting  down  that  gro 
bank  ;  after  which,  the  Congress  and  the  judi- 
ciary will  easily  manage  the  small  banks,  by 
holding  them  np  to  specie  paynitntB,  and  ex- 
cluding every  unsolid  note  from  revcm  '  pay- 
ments, 

3.  Mr,  B.  said  that  the  government  ought  not 
to  delegate  this  power,  if  it  could.  It  wns  too 
great  a  power  to  be  trusted  to  any  bankin  - 
compiuiy  whatever,  o'  to  any  authority  but  the 
highest  and  most  responsible  which  was  known 
to  our  form  of  government,  Tlie  government 
itself  ceased  to  oc  indepnndent — it  cruses  to  l.io 
safe — when  the  national  currency  is  at  the  wili 
of  a  company.  The  government  can  undertake 
no  great  enterprise,  neither  of  war  nor  peace, 
Avithout  the  consent  and  co-operation  of  that 
company  ;  it  cannot  count  its  revenues  for  six 
months  ahead  without  referring  to  the  action 
of  that  company — its  friendship  or  its  enmity — 
its  concurrence  or  opposition — to  see  how  far 
that  company  will  permit  money  to  be  plenty, 
or  make  it  scarce  ;  how  far  it  will  let  the  mo- 
neyed system  go  on  regularly,  or  throw  it  into 
disorder  ;  how  far  it  will  suit  the  interests,  or 
polic}'^,  of  that  company  to  create  a  tempest,  or 
to  sufler  a  calm,  in  the  moneyed  ocean.  The 
people  are  not  safe  when  a  company  hiiH  such  a 
power.  The  temptation  is  too  great — the  op- 
portunity too  easy — to  put  np  and  put  down 
prices ;  to  make  and  break  fortunes ;  to  bring 
the  whole  community  upon  its  knees  to  the 
Neptunes  who  preside  over  the  flux  and  reflux 
of  paper.  AW  property  is  at  their  mercy.  The 
price  of  real  estate — of  every  growing  crop — 
of  every  staple  article  in  market — is  at  their 
command.  Stocks  are  their  playthings — their 
gambling  theatre — on  which  the}'  ganddc  daily, 
with  as  little  secrecy,  and  as  little  morality, 
and  far  more  mischief  to  fortunes,  than  common 
gamblers  carry  on  their  operations.  The  philo- 
sophic Voltaire,  a  century  ago,  from  his  retreat 
in  Ferney,  gave  a  lively  description  of  tbis  t'.x\ov- 
ation,  by  which  he  was  made  a  winner,  without 
the  trouble  of  playing,    I  have  a  friend,  said 


he,  wl.  )  is  a  direct vr  in  the  Bank  of  France, 
u  lio  writes  to  mo  when    hey  are  going  to  make 
money  plenty,  an''  make  Htocks  rise  iind  then  I 
give  orders  to  my  broker  to  sell ;  and  lie  wr^i 
to  me  wJicn  they  are  going  to  make  mou 
scarce,  and  make  stocks  fall,  anrl  'hen  T  write  l 
my   broker  to  buy  ;    and  thus,  at  a  I'liridi 
leagues  from  Paris,  and  witliout  moving  from  i 

liair.  T  make  money.     Thi     said  Mr,  T?.,  is  the 

iperation  on  stocks  to  the  jjresenf  day ;  and  it 

cannot  be   afe  to  the  holders  of  stock  thai  there 

i^hould  be  a  moneyed  powergrcn  i  enough  in  this 

HI  try  )  rai(=e  and  depress  the  prices  of  their 
pro.tirtj  at  pleasure.  The  gref  ''ities  of  t!io 
I'nion  arc  not  safe,  while  a  coujaiiy,  in  any 
other  city,  have  power  their  moneyed  sys- 

teii,  ;iiid  are  able,  l>y  making  mon  y  scarce  or 
plenty — by  exciting  panics  and  alarms— to  put 
up,  or  put  down,  the  price  of  the  staple  articlis 
in  which  they  deal.  Every  commercial  <  ity,  for 
its  c  vn  safctj'',  should  have  an  im'tiendent  mo- 
neyed system —  ndd  be  free  from  the  ontrcl 
and  regul'itioi  distant,  posL-ilily  a  rival  city, 

in  the  n    :ii      of  carrying  on   its  i  ide. 

Thus,  the  sal  ty  of  the  government,  tl'  i 

the  people,  the  interest  of  all  owners  oi  property 
— of  all  ji;ro\  iig  crops — the  holders  of  all  stocks 
— the  exporters  of  all  staple  articles — require 
that  the  regulation  of  the  currency  shoidd  be 
kept  out  of  the  hands  of  a  great  banking  com- 
pany ;  that  it  should  remain  where  the  cnnstitii 
tion  placed  it — in  the  hands  of  the  federal  go- 
vernment— in  the  hands  of  their  representatives 
who  are  elected  by  them,  responsible  to  them, 
may  be  exchanged  by  them,  who  can  pass  no 
law  for  regulating  currency  which  will  not  bear 
npon  themselves  as  well  as  upon  their  consititu- 
ents.  This  is  what  the  safety  of  the  community 
requires  ;  and,  for  one,  he  (Mr,  B.)  would  not, 
if  he  could,  delegate  the  power  of  repiiliiting  tlic 
currency  of  this  great  country  to  any  banking 
company  whatsoever.  It  was  a  power  too  tre- 
mendous to  be  trusted  to  a  company.  The 
States  thought  it  too  great  a  power  to  lie  tnistcil 
to  the  State  governments ;  he  (Mr.  B.)  thought 
so  too.  The  States  confided  it  to  the  federal  go- 
vernment ;  he,  for  one,  would  confine  it  to  tlie 
federal  government,  and  would  make  that  go- 
vernment exercise  it.  Above  all,  he  would  not 
confer  it  npon  a  bank  which  was  itself  ahove 
regulation ;  and  on  this  point  he  called  upon 
the  Senate  to  recollect  the  question,  apparently 


ANNO  1884.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


451 


ite,  but  replete  with  profound  sagacity — that 
sagacity  which  it  belongs  to  great  men  to  poh- 
gcss  and  to  express — which  "•««  put  to  the  Con- 
gress (/f  1810,  when  this  bank  rter  was  under 
discussion,  and  the  regului  on  bo  currency 

vag  one  of  the  attributes  \  i;h  it  was  to 

he  invested;   he  alluded   to  late  esteemed 

fiK nd  (Mr.  Randolph),  and  to  nis  cull  upon  the 
House  to  tell  him  who  was  to  bell  the  cat  ? 
That  singK'  question  -^jntains  in  its  answer,  and 
in  its  allusion,  the  e.vact  history  of  tlie  people  of 
the  T-iited  States,  and  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  at  this  day.  h  was  a  flash  of  lightning 
into  the  dark  vi  of  futurity,  shouiiifr  in  1810 
what  we  all  see  m  1834. 

Mr.  B.  took  up  th 
disagreed  with  <"  '  ' 
[Mr.  Cidhoun],  n  m 
of  the  United  Stat 
rency  to  the  Union, 
he  would  drop  all 


'  on  which  he 
-outh  Carolina 
ipacity  of  the  Bank 
l>]»ly  a  general  cur- 
iiandling  this  question 
T  inquiries — lay  asWe 
every  other  objection — overlook  e  very  consider- 
ation of  the  constitutionality  and  expediency  of 
the  bank,  and  confine  himself  to  the  strict  ques- 
tion of  its  ability  to  diffuse  and  retain  in  circu- 
lution  a  paper  currency  over  this  extended  Union. 
He  would  come  to  the  question  as  a  bankc  r 
would  come  to  it  at  his  tabic,  or  a  merchant  in 
his  counting-room,  looking  to  the  mere  operation 
of  a  money  system.  It  was  a  question  for  wise 
men  to  think  of,  and  for  abler  men  than  himself 
to  discuss.  It  involved  the  theory  and  the  sci- 
ence of  banking — Jlr.  B.  would  say  the  philoso- 
phy of  banking,  if  such  a  term  could  be  applied 
to  a  moneyed  system.  It  was  a  question  to  be 
studied  as  the  philosopher  studies  the  laws  which 
govern  the  material  world — as  he  would  '^tudy 
tlio  laws  of  gravitation  and  attraction  which 
govern  the  movements  of  the  planets,  or  draw 
the  waters  <  the  mountains  to  the  level  of  the 
ocean.  T'  .  moneyed  system,  said  Mr.  B.,  has  its 
laws  of  iitraction  and  gravitation — of  repulsion 
and  adhesion  ;  and  no  man  may  be  permitted  to 
indulge  the  hope  of  establishing  a  moneyed  sys- 
tem contrary  to  its  own  laws.  The  genius  of 
man  has  not  yet  devised  a  bank— the  historic 
page  is  yet  to  be  written  which  tells  of  a  bank 
— which  has  diff'used  over  an  extensive  country, 
and  retained  in  circulation,  a  general  paper  cur- 
rency. England  is  too  small  a  tboatrn  for  a 
complete  example ;  but  even  there  the  impossi- 
bility is  confessed,  and  has  been  confessed  for  a 


century.  The  Bank  of  England,  in  her  greatcflt 
day  of  pre-eminence,  could  not  furnish  a  general 
currency  for  Kngland  alone — a  territory  not 
larger  than  Virginia.  The  country  banks  fur- 
nished the  local  paper  currency,  and  s'ill  furnish 
it  as  fur  as  it  is  used.  They  cairicd  on  their 
banking  uiwn  Bank  of  England  notes,  until  the 
gold  currency  was  restored;  and  local  paier 
formed  the  mass  of  local  circulation.  The  mtea 
of  the  Bank  of  England  flowed  to  the  great 
commercial  capitals,  and  made  but  brief  ♦^ojouni 
in  the  counties.  But  England  is  not  a  fair  ex- 
ample for  the  United  States  ;  it  is  too  small ;  a 
fairer  example  Ls  to  bo  f  lund  nearer  homo,  in  our 
own  country,  and  in  this  very  Bank  of  the  United 
States  which  is  now  existing,  and  in  favor  of 
which  the  function  of  supplying  a  general  cur- 
rency to  this  extended  confederacy  is  claimed. 
We  have  the  experiment  of  this  bank,  not  once, 
but  twice  made ;  and  each  experiment  proves 
the  truth  of  the  laws  which  govern  the  system. 
The  theory  of  bank  circulation,  over  an  extended 
territory,  is  this,  that  you  may  put  out  as  many 
notes  as  you  may  in  any  one  place,  they  will 
immediately  fall  into  the  track  of  commerce — 
into  the  current  of  trade — into  the  course  of  ox- 
chaugt — and  fol.inv  that  current  wherever  it 
leads.  In  these  United  States  the  current  sets 
from  every  part  of  the  interior,  and  especially 
from  the  South  and  "West  into  the  Northeast — 
into  the  four  commercial  cities  north  of  the 
Potomac;  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  New-York, 
and  Boston :  and  all  the  bank  notes  which  will 
pass  for  money  in  those  places,  fall  into  ■;  he  cur- 
rent which  sets  in  that  direction.  When  there, 
there  is  nothing  in  the  course  of  tr.ide  to  bring 
them  back.  There  is  no  reflux  in  that  current ! 
It  is  a  trade-wind  which  blows  twelve  months  in 
the  year  in  the  same  direction.  This  is  the 
theory  of  bank  circulatif)n  over  extended  terri- 
tory; and  the  history  of  the  present  bank  is  an 
exemplification  of  the  truth  of  that  theory. 
Listen  to  Mr.  Cheves.  Read  his  report  made  to 
the  stockholders  at  their  triennial  meeting  in 
1822.  He  stated  this  law  of  circulation,  and 
explained  the  inevitable  tendency  of  the  branch 
bank  notes  to  flow  to  the  Northeast;  the  impos- 
sibility of  preventing  it ;  and  the  resolution  which 
he  had  taken  and  executed,  to  close  all  the 
Southern  and  Western  hranches,  .<ind  prevent 
them  from  issuing  any  more  notes.  Even  while 
issuing  their  own  notes,  they  had  so  far  forgot 


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452 


THIRTY  TEARS'  VIEW. 


their  charter  as  to  carry  on  operations,  in  part, 
upon  the  notes  of  the  local  banks — having  col- 
lected those  notes  in  great  quantity,  and  loaned 
them  out.  This  was  reported  by  the  investiga- 
ting committee  of  1819,  and  made  one  of  the 
charges  of  misconduct  against  the  bank  at  that 
time.  To  counteract  this  tendency,  the  bank 
applied  to  Congress  for  leave  to  issue  their  bank 
notes  on  terms  which  would  have  made  them  a 
mere  local  currency.  Congress  refused  it ;  but 
the  bank  is  now  attempting  to  do  it  herself,  by 
refusing  to  take  the  notes  received  in  payment 
of  the  federal  revenue,  and  sending  it  back  to  be 
paid  where  issued.  Such  was  the  history  of  the 
branch  bank  notes,  and  which  caused  that  cur- 
rency to  disappear  from  all  the  interior,  and  from 
the  whole  South  and  West,  so  soon  after  the 
bank  got  into  operation.  The  attempt  to  keep 
out  branch  notes,  or  to  send  the  notes  of  the 
mother  bank  to  any  distance,  being  found  im- 
practicable, there  was  no  branch  currency  of 
any  kind  in  circulation  for  a  period  of  eight  or 
nine  years,  until  the  year  1827,  when  the  branch 
checks  were  invented,  to  perform  the  miracle 
which  notes  could  not.  Mr.  B.  would  say  no- 
thing about  the  legality  of  that  invention ;  he 
would  now  treat  them  as  a  legal  issue  under  the 
charter;  and  in  that  most  favorable  point  of 
view  for  them,  he  would  show  that  these  branch 
checks  were  nothing  but  a  quack  remedy — an 
empirical  contrivance — which  made  things  worse. 
By  their  nature  they  were  as  strongly  attracted 
to  the  Northeast  as  the  branch  notes  had  been ; 
by  their  terms  they  were  still  more  strongly 
attracted,  for  they  bore  Philadelphia  on  their 
face  !  they  were  payable  at  the  mother  bank ! 
and,  of  course,  would  naturally  flow  to  that  place 
for  use  or  payment.  This  was  their  destiny, 
and  most  punctually  did  they  fulfil  it.  Never 
did  the  trade-winds  blow  more  truly — never  did 
the  gulf  stream  flow  more  regularly— than  those 
checks  flowed  to  the  Northeast !  The  average 
of  four  years  next  ensuing  the  invention  of  these 
checks,  which  went  to  the  mother  bank,  or  to 
the  Atlantic  branches  north  of  the  Potomac,  in- 
cluding the  branch  notes  which  flowed  with  them, 
was  about  nineteen  millions  of  dollars  per  an- 
num 1  Mr.  B.  then  exhibited  a  table  to  prove 
what  he  alleged,  and  from  which  it  appeared  that 
tlie  flow  of  the  branch  paper  to  the  Northeast 
was  as  regular  and  uniform  as  an  operation  of 
nature ;  that  each  city  according  to  its  commer- 


cial importance,  received  a  greater  or  less  pro- 
portion  of  this  inland  paper  gulf  stream ;  and 
that  the  annual  variation  was  so  slight  as  only 
to  prove  the  regularity  of  the  laws  by  which  it 
was  governed.  The  following  is  the  table  which 
he  exhibited.  It  was  one  of  the  tabular  state- 
ments obtained  by  the  investigating  committee 
in  1832: 


Amount  of  Branch  Bank  Taper  recHved  at— 


1.  New-York, . 
8.  Philadelphia, 
8.  Boston,  .  . 
4.  Baltimore,  . 


1828. 

11,988,860 

4,468,180 

1.010,730 

1,487,100 


1829. 
11,294,960 
4,106,985 
1,844,170 
1,420,860 


1880. 
9,168,870 
4,679,726 
1,794,750 
1,876,820 


1881. 

12,284,820 
8,899,S0O 
1,816,480 
1,5S8,680 


18,883,880    18,666,476  16,919,160    21,092,280 

After  exhibiting  this  table,  and  taking  it  for 
complete  proof  of  the  truth  of  the  theory  which 
he  had  laid  down,  and  that  it  demonstrated  the 
impossibility  of  keeping  up  a  circulation  of  the 
United  States  Bank  paper  in  the  remote  and 
interior  parts  of  the  Union,  Mr.  B.  went  on  to 
say  that  the  story  was  yet  but  half  told— the 
mischief  of  this  systematic  flow  of  national  cui- 
rency  to  the  Northeast,  was  but  half  disclosed; 
another  curtain  was  yet  to  be  lifted— anotlier 
vista  was  yet  to  be  opened— and  the  eflect  of 
the  system  upon  the  metallic  currency  of  the 
States  was  to  be  shown  to  the  people  and  the 
States.  This  view  would  show,  that  as  fast  as 
the  checks  or  notes  of  any  branch  were  taken  up 
at  the  mother  bank,  or  at  the  branches  north  of 
the  Potomac,  an  account  was  opened  against  the 
branch  from  which  they  came.  The  branch  was 
charged  with  the  amount  of  the  notes  or  checks 
taken  up ;  and  periodically  served  with  a  copy 
of  the  account,  and  commanded  to  send  on  specie 
or  bills  of  exchange  to  redeem  them.  When 
redeemed,  they  were  remitted  to  the  branch  from 
which  they  came ;  while  on  the  road  they  were 
called  notes  in  transitu  ;  and  when  arrived  they 
were  put  into  circulation  again  at  that  place- 
fell  into  the  current  immediately,  which  carried 
them  back  to  the  Northeast — there  taken  up 
again,  charged  to  the  branch — the  branch  re- 
quired to  redeem  them  again  with  specie  or  bills 
of  exchange ;  and  then  returned  to  her,  to  bo 
again  put  into  circulation,  and  to  undergo  again 
and  again,  and  until  the  branch  could  no  longer 
redeem  them,  the  endless  process  of  flowing  to 
the  Northeast.  The  result  of  the  whole  was,  is, 
and  for  ever  will  be,  that  the  branch  will  have 
to  redeem  its  circulation  till  redemption  is  im* 


ANKO  1834.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


eater  or  less  pro- 
gulf  stream ;  and 
so  slight  as  only 
laws  by  which  it 
is  the  table  which 
he  tabular  s+ate- 
^ting  committee 


453 


16,919,160    2im,m 

and  taking  it  for 
the  theory  which 
lemonstrated  the 
lirculation  of  the 

the  remote  and 
T.  B.  went  on  to 
It  half  told— the 
r  of  national  em- 
it half  disclosed ; 
e  lifted — anotlier 
ind  the  effect  of 
I  currency  of  the 
5  people  and  tlie 
w,  that  as  fast  as 
ch  were  taken  up 
iranches  north  of 
pened  against  the 

The  branch  was 
e  notes  or  checks 
•ved  with  a  copy 

to  send  on  specie 
m  them.  When 
)  the  branch  from 
e  road  they  were 
hen  arrived  they 
»  at  that  place — 
ly,  which  carried 
-there  taken  up 
—the  branch  re- 
ith  specie  or  bills 
ed  to  her,  to  bo 
to  undergo  again 

could  no  longer 
jss  of  flowing  to 
he  whole  was,  is, 
branch  will  have 
ademption  is  im* 


possible ;  until  it  has  exhausted  the  country  of 
its  specie ;  and  then  the  country  in  which  the 
branch  is  situated  is  worse  off  than  before  she 
had  a  branch ;  for  she  had  neither  notes  nor  specie 
left.    Mr.  B.  said  that  this  was  too  important  a 
view  of  the  case  to  be  rested  on  argument  and 
assertion  alone ;  it  required  evidence  to  vanquish 
incredulity,  and  to  prove  it  up ;  and  that  evi- 
dence was  at  hand.    He  then  referred  to  two 
tables  to  show  the  amount  of  hard  money  which 
the  mother  bank,  under  the  operation  of  this 
system,  had  drawn  from  the  States  in  which  her 
branches  were  situated.    All  the  tables  were  up 
to  the  year  1831,  the  period  to  which  the  last 
investigating  committee  had  brought  up  their 
inquiries.    One  of  these  statements  showed  the 
amount  abstracted  from  the  whole  Union;  it 
was  $40,040,622  20;  another  showed  the  amount 
taken  from  the  Southern  and  Western  States  ; 
it  was  ^22,523,387  94;  another  showed  the 
amount  taken  from  the  branch  at  New  Orleans ; 
it  was  $12,815,798  10.    Such,  said  Mr.  B.,  has 
been  the  result  of  the  experiment  to  diffuse  a 
national  paper    currency  over   this  extended 
Union.    Twice  in  eighteen  years  it  has  totally 
failed,  leaving  the  country  exhausted  of  its  spe- 
cie, and  destitute  of  paper.    This  was  proof 
enough,  but  there  was  still  another  mode  of 
proving  the  same  thing;  it  was  the  fact  of 
the  present  amount  of  United  States  Bank  notes 
m  circulation.    Mr.  B.  had  heard  with  pain  the 
assertion  made  in  so  many  memorials  presented 
to  the  Senate,  that  there  was  a  great  scarcity  of 
currency ;  that  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
had  been  obliged  to  contract  her  circulation  in 
consequence  of  the  removal  of  the  deposits,  and 
that  her  notes  had  become  so  scarce  that  none 
could  be  found;  and  strongly  contrasting  the 
present  dearth  which  now  prevails  with  the 
abundant  plenty  of  these  notes  which  reigned 
over  a  happy  land  before  that  fatal  measure  came 
to  blast  a  state  of  unparalleled  prosperity.    The 
fact  was,  Mr.  B.  said,  that  the  actual  circulation 
of  the  bank  is  greater  now  than  it  was  before 
the  removal  of  the  deposits ;  greater  than  it  has 
been  in  any  month  but  one  for  upwards  of  a 
year  past.    The  discounts  were  diminished,  he 
said,  but  the  circulation  was  increased. 

Mr.  B.  :hen  exhibited  a  table  of  the  actual 
Eireulation  of  the  Bauk  of  the  United  States  for 
the  whole  year  1833,  and  for  the  two  past  months 
of  the  present  year ;  and  stated  it  to  be  taken 


from  the  monthly  statements  of  the  bank,  as 
printed  and  laid  upon  the  tables  of  members.  It 
was  the  net  circulation— the  quantity  of  notes 
and  checks  actually  out— excluding  all  that  were 
on  the  road  returning  to  the  branch  banks, 
called  notes  in  transitu,  and  which  would  not 
be  counted  till  again  issued  by  the  branch  to 
which  they  were  returned. 


TTie  following  is  the  table 

January,  1833, 

February, 

March, 


April, 

May, 

June, 

July, 

August, 

September,  "  . 

October,       " 

November,   "  . 

December,    "    , 

January,  1834, 

February,     "    , 


=  $17,666,444 

.  18,384,050 
.    18,033,205 

.  18,384,075 
.    18,991,200 

.  19,366,555 
.    18,890,505 

,  18,413,287 
.    19,128,189 

.  18,518,000 
,    18,650,912 

.  not  found. 
,    19,208,375 

.  19,260,472 


By  comparing  the  circulation  of  each  month, 
as  exhibited  on  this  table,  Mr.  B.  said,  it  would 
be  seen  that  the  quantity  of  United  States  Bank 
notes  now  in  circulation  is  three  quarters  of  a 
million  greater  than  it  was  in  October  last,  and 
a  million  and  a  half  greater  than  it  was  in  Jan- 
uary, 1833.     How,  then,  are  we  to  account  for 
this  cry  of  no  money,  in  which  so  many  respec- 
table men  join  1    It  is  in  the  single  fact  of  their 
flow  to  the  Northeast.     The  pigeons,  which 
lately  obscured  the  air  with  their  numbers, 
have  all  taken  their  flight  to  the  North !    But 
pigeons  wiP  i-etum  of  themselves,  whereas  these 
bank  notes  will  never  return  till  they  are  pur- 
chased with  gold  and  silver,  and  brought  back. 
Mr.  B.  then  alluded  to  a  petition  from  a  meet- 
ing in  his  native  State^  North  Carolina,  and  in 
which  one  of  his  esteemed  friends  (Mr.  Carson), 
late  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
was  a  principal  actor,  and  which  stated  the  ab- 
solute disappearance  of  United   States   Bank 
notes  from  all  that  region  of  country.    Certain- 
ly the  petition  was  true  in  that  statement ;  but 
it  is  equally  true  that  it  was  mistaken  in  sup- 
posing that  the  circulation  of  the  bank  was  di- 
minished.   The  table  which  he  had  read  had 
shown  the  contrary ;  it  showed  an  increase,  vor 


•.■!!, 

Vl 

lftf> 

; 

''tiII'mIB 

I 

Wm\'> 

Izmm  iH 

■1*  rilra^w  -^^^H 

IKf' 

^m 

454 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


stead  of  a  diminution,  of  the  circulation.  The 
only  difference  was  that  it  had  all  loft  that  part 
of  the  count'.y,  and  that  it  would  do  for  e^er  ! 
If  a  hundred  millions  of  United  States  Etmk 
notes  were  carried  to  the  upper  parts  of  North 
Carolina,  and  put  into  circulation,  it  would  he 
but  a  short  time  before  the  whole  would  have 
fallen  into  the  current  which  sweeps  the  paper 
of  that  bank  to  the  Northeast.  Mr.  B.  said 
there  were  four  other  classes  of  proof  which  ho 
could  bring  in,  but  it  would  be  a  consumption 
of  time,  and  a  work  of  supererogation.  He 
would  not  detail  them,  but  state  their  heads : 

1.  One  was  the  innumerable  orders  which  the 
mother  bank  had  forwarded  to  her  branches  to 
send  on  specie  and  bills  of  exchange  to  redeem 
their  circulation — to  pour  in  reinforcements  to 
the  points  to  which  their  circulation  tends  ; 

2.  Another  was  in  the  examination  of  Mr.  Bid- 
die,  president  of  the  bank,  by  the  investigating 
committee,  in  1832,  in  which  this  absorbing 
tendency  of  the  branch  paper  to  flow  to  the 
Northeast  was  fully  charged  and   admitted ; 

3.  A  third  was  in  the  monthly  statement  of  the 
notes  in  transitu,  which  amount  to  an  average 
of  four  millions  and  a  half  for  the  last  twelve 
months,  making  fifty  millions  for  the  year ;  and 
which  consist,  by  far  the  greater  part,  of  branch 
notes  and  checks  redeemed  in  the  Northeast, 
purchased  back  by  the  branches,  and  on  their 
way  back  to  the  place  from  which  they  issued ; 
and,  4.  The  last  clasa  of  proof  was  in  the  fact, 
that  the  branches  north  of  the  Potomac,  being 
unable  or  unwilling  to  redeem  these  notes  any 
longer,  actually  ceased  to  redeem  them  last  fall, 
even  when  taken  in  revenue  payment  to  the 
United  State3,  until  coerced  by  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury;  and  that  they  will  not  be  re- 
deemed for  mdividuals  now,  and  are  actually 
degenerating  into  a  mere  local  currency.  Upon 
these  proofs  and  arguments,  Mr.  B.  rested  his 
case,  and  held  it  to  be  fully  established,  first,  by 
argument,  founded  in  the  nature  of  bank  circu- 
lation over  an  extended  territory ;  and  s'lcondly, 
by  proof,  derived  from  the  operation  of  the  pre- 
sent bank  of  the  United  States,  that  neither  the 
present  bank,  nor  any  one  that  the  wisdom  of 
man  can  device,  can  ever  succeed  in  diffusing  a 
general  paper  circulation  over  the  States  of  this 
Union. 

VI.    Dropping  every  other  objection  to  the 
bank — looking  at  it  purely  and  simply  as  a  sup- 


plier of  national  currency — ^he,  Mr.  B.,  could  not 
consent  to  prolong  the  existence  of  the  present 
bank.  Certainly  a  profuse  issue  of  paper  at  all 
points — an  additional  circulation  of  even  a  few 
millions  poured  out  at  the  destitute  points- 
would  make  currency  plenty  for  a  little  while 
but  for  a  little  while  only.  Nothing  permanent 
would  result  from  such  a  measure.  On  the  con- 
trary, in  one  or  two  years,  the  destitution  and 
distress  would  be  greater  than  it  now  is.  At 
the  same  time,  it  is  completely  in  the  power  of 
the  bank,  at  this  moment,  to  grant  relief,  full, 
adequate,  instantaneous  relief!  In  making  this 
assertion,  Mr  B.  meant  to  prove  it ;  and  to  prove 
it,  he  meant  to  do  it  in  a  way  that  it  should 
reach  the  understanding  of  every  candid  and 
impartial  friend  that  the  bank  posse''  d ;  for  ho 
meant  to  discard  and  drop  from  the  inquiry,  all 
his  own  views  upon  the  subject ;  to  leave  out  of 
view  every  statement  made,  and  every  opinion 
entertained  by  himself,  and  his  friends,  and  pro- 
ceeed  to  the  inquiry  upon  the  evidence  of  the 
bank  alone — upon  that  evidence  which  flowed 
from  the  bank  directory  itself,  and  from  the 
most  zealous,  and  best  informed  of  its  friends  en 
this  floor.  Mr.  B.  assumed  that  a  mere  cessa- 
tion to  curtail  discounts,  at  this  time,  would 
be  a  relief— that  it  would  be  the  salvation 
of  those  who  were  pressed — and  put  an  end  to 
the  cry  of  distress ;  he  averred  that  this  curtail- 
ment must  now  cease,  or  the  bank  must  find  a 
new  reason  for  carrying  it  on ;  for  the  old  reason 
is  exhausted,  arid  cannot  apply.  Mr.  B.  then 
took  two  distinct  views  to  sustain  his  position ; 
one  founded  in  the  actual  conduct  and  present 
condition  of  the  bank  itself,  and  the  other  in  a 
comparative  view  of  the  conduct  and  condition 
of  the  former  Bank  of  the  United  States,  at  the 
approaching  period  of  its  dissolution. 

I.  As  to  the  conduct  and  condition  of  the 
present  bank. 

Mr.  B.  appealed  to  the  knowledge  Oi'  all  pre- 
sent for  the  accuracy  of  his  assertion,  when  ho 
said  that  the  bank  had  now  reduced  her  dis- 
counts, dollar  for  dollar,  to  the  amount  of  pub- 
lic deposits  withdrawn.  The  adversaries  of  the 
bank  said  the  reduction  was  much  laigcr  than 
the  abstraction ;  but  he  dropped  that,  and  con- 
fined himself  strictly  to  the  admissions  and  de- 
clarations of  the  bank  itself.  Taking  then  the 
fact  to  be,  as  the  bank  alleged  it  to  be,  that  she 
had  merely  brought  down  her  business  in  pro- 


ANNO  1834.    ANPP.E;7  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


455 


portion  to  the  capital  taken  from  her,  it  followed 
of  course  that  there  was  no  reason  for  reducing 
her  business  any  lower.  Her  relative  position 
—her  actual  strength — was  the  same  now  that 
it  was  before  the  removal ;  and  the  old  reason 
could  not  be  available  for  the  reduction  of  ano- 
ther dollar.  Next,  as  to  her  condition.  Mr,  B. 
undertook  to  affirm,  and  would  quickly  prove, 
that  the  general  condition  of  the  bank  was  bet- 
ter now  than  it  had  been  for  years  past ;  and 
that  the  bank  was  better  able  to  make  loans,  or 
to  increase  her  circulation,  than  she  was  in  any 
of  those  past  periods  in  which  she  was  so  lav- 
ishly accommodating  the  public.  For  the 
proof  of  this,  Mr.  B.  had  recourse  to  her  specie 
fund,  always  the  true  test  of  a  bank's  ability, 
and  showed  it  to  be  greater  now  than  it  had 
been  for  two  years  past,  when  her  loans  and  cir- 
culation were  so  much  greater  than  they  are 
now.  He  took  the  month  of  May,  1832,  when 
the  whole  amount  of  specie  on  hand  was  $7,890, 
347  59 ;  when  the  net  amount  of  notes  in  cir- 
culation was  $21,044,415 ;  and  when  the  total 
discounts  were  $70,428,070  72 :  and  then  con- 
trasted it  with  the  condition  of  the  bank  at 
this  time,  that  is  to  say,  in  the  monthof  Fi'-i  i- 
ary  last,  when  the  last  return  was  made  j  the 
items  stands  thus :  specie,  $10,523,385  69 ; 
net  amount  of  notes  in  circulation,  $19,260,472; 
total  discounts,  $54,842,973  64.  From  this 
view  of  figures,  taken  from  the  official  bank  re- 
turns, from  which  it  appeared  that  the  specie  in 
the  bank  was  nearly  three  millions  greater  than 
it  was  in  May,  1832,  her  net  circulation  nearly 
tivo  millions  less,  and  her  loans  and  discounts 
upwards  of  fifteen  millions  less ;  Mr.  B.  would 
sjbmit  it  to  all  candid  men  to  say  whether  the 
bank  is  not  more  able  to  accommodate  the  com- 
munity now  than  she  was  then  ?  At  all  events, 
he  would  demand  if  she  was  not  now  able  to 
cease  pressing  them  ? 

II.  As  to  the  comparative  condition  and  con- 
duct of  the  first  Bank  of  the  United  States  at 
the  period  of  its  approaching  dissolution. 

Mr.  B.  took  the  condition  of  the  bank  from 
Ml.  Gallatin's  statement  of  its  affairs  to  Con- 
gress, made  in  January,  1811,  just  three  months 
Lefoie  the  charter  expired;  and  which  showed 
the  discounts  and  loans  of  the  bank  to  be  $14, 
578,234  25,  her  capital  being  $10,000,000 ;  so 
that  the  amount  of  her  loans,  three  months  be- 
fore her  dissolution,  wad  nearly  in  proportion — 


near  enough  for  all  practical  views — to  the  pro- 
portion which  the  present  loans  of  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States  bear  to  its  capital  of  thirty- 
five  millions.    Fifty  per  cent,  upon  the  former 
would  give  fifteen  miiKous ;  fifty  per  cent,  upon 
the  latter  would  give  fifty-two  millions  and  a 
half.     To  make  tne  relative  condition  of  t^e 
two  banks  preasely  equal,  it  will  be  sufficient 
that  the  lor.ns  and  discounts  of  the  present  bank 
shall  be  reduced  to  fifty-two  millions  by  the 
month  of  January,  1836 ;  that  is  to  say,  it  need 
not  make  any  further  sensible  reduction  of  its 
loans  for  nearly  two  years  to  come.    Thus,  the 
mere  imitation  of  the  conduct  of  the  old  bank 
wil  be  a  relief  to  the  community.    A  mere  ces- 
sation to  curtail,  will  put  an  end  to  the  distress, 
and  let  the  country  go  on,  quietly  and  regularly, 
in  its  moneyed  operations.    If  the  bank  will 
not  do  this — if  it  will  go  on  to  curtail — it  is 
bound  to  give  some  new  reason  to  the  country. 
The  old  reason,  of  the  removal  of  the  deposits, 
will  no  longer  answer.    Mr.  B.  had  no  faith  in 
that  reason  from  the  beginning,  but  he  was  now 
taking  the  bank  upon  her  own  evidence,  and 
trying  her  upon  her  own  reasons,  and  he  held 
it  to  be  impossible  for  her  to  go  on  without  the 
production  of  a  reason.    The  hostility  of  the 
government — rather  an  incomprehensible,  and 
altogether  a  gratuitous  reason,  from  the  begin- 
ning— will  no  longer  answer.    The  government 
in  1811  was  as  hostile  to  the  old  bank,  as  the 
government  now  is  to  this  one ;  and  rather  more 
?o*b  Houses  of  Congress  were  then  hos- 
»,  ,^  lO  u, .  nd  hostile  unto  death !    For  they  let 
it  die !  die  on  the  day  appointed  by  law  for  its 
death,  without  pity,  without  remorse,  without 
the  reprieve  of  one  day.    The  government  can 
do  no  worse  now.    The  Secretary  of  the  Trea- 
sury has   removed  the  deposits;  and  that  ac- 
count is  settled  by  the  reduction  of  an  equal 
amount  of  loans  and  discounts.    The  rest  de- 
pends upon  the  government ;  and  the  hostility 
of  the  government  cannot  go  further  than  to 
kill  the  bank,  and  cannot  kill  it  more  dead  than 
the  old  bank  was  killed  in  1811.    Mr,  B.  had  a 
further  comparison  to  draw  between  the  conduct 
of  the  old  bank,  and  the  present  one.     The  old 
bjmk  permitted  her  discounts  to  remain  at  their 
maxininm  to  the  very  end  of  her  charter ;  she 
discounted  sixty  days'  paper  up  to  the  last  day  of 
her  existence ;  while  this  bank  has  commenced  a. 
furious  curtailment  two  years  and  a  half  be 


456 


THIRTY  TEARS'  VIEW. 


fore  the  expiration  of  her  charter.  Again :  the 
old  bank  had  not  an  hour,  as  a  corporation,  to 
wind  up  her  business  after  the  end  of  her  char- 
ter ;  this  bank  has  the  use  of  all  her  corporate 
faculties,  for  that  purpose,  for  two  years  after 
the  end  of  her  charter.     Again :  the  present 
bank  pretends  that  she  will  have  to  collect  the 
whole  of  her  debts  within  the  period  limited  for 
winding  up  her  affairs ;  the  old  bank  took  up- 
wards of  twelve  years  after  the  expiration  of  her 
charter,  to  collect  hers  !    She  created  a  trust ; 
she  appointed  trustees ;  all  the  debts  and  credits 
were  put  into  their  hands,  the  trustees  proceed- 
ed like  any  other  collectors,  giving  time  to  all 
debtors  who  would  secure  the  debt,  pay  in- 
terest punctually,  and  discharge  the  principal 
by  instalments.     This  is  what  the  old  bank 
did ;  and  she  did  not  close  her  affairs  until  the 
16th  of  June,  in  the  year  1823.    The  whole 
operation  was  conducted  so  gently,  that  the 
public  knew  nothing  about  it.    The  cotempora- 
ries  of  the  dissolution  of  the  bank,  knew  nothing 
about  its  dissolution.     And  this  is  what  the 
present  bank  may  do,  if  it  pleases.    That  it  has 
not  done  so— that  it  is  now  grinding  the  com- 
munity, and  threatening  to  grind  them  still 
harder,  is  a  proof  of  the  dangerous  nature  of  a 
great  moneyed  power ;  and  should  be  a  warning 
to  the  people  who  now  behold  its  conduct— 
who  feel  its  gripe,  and  hear  its  threat— never  to 
suffer  the  existence  of  such  another  power  in 
our  free  and  happy  land. 

VII.  Mr.  B.  deprecated  the  spirit  which  seem- 
ed to  have  broken  out  against  State  banks ;  it 
was  a  spirit  which  augured  badly  for  the  rights 
of  the  States.  Those  banks  were  created  by 
the  States ;  and  the  works  of  the  States  ought 
to  be  respected ;  the  stock  in  those  banks  was 
held  by  American  citizens,  and  ought  not  to  be 
injuriously  assailed  to  give  value  to  stock  held 
in  the  federal  bank  by  foreigners  and  aliens. 
The  very  mode  of  carrying  on  the  warfare 
against  State  banks,  has  itself  been  an  injury, 
and  a  just  cause  of  complaint.  Some  of  the 
most  inconsiderable  have  been  picked  out— 
their  affairs  presented  in  the  most  unfavorable 
light ;  and  then  held  forth  as  a  fair  sample  of  the 
whole.  How  much  more  easy  would  it  h&xe 
been  to  have  acted  a  more  grateful,  and  a  more 
equitable  part !  a  part  more  just  to  the  State 
governments  which  cjtjated  those  banks,  and 
the  American  citizens  who  held  stock  in  them  ! 


Instead  of  hunting  out  for  remote  and  incon. 
siderable  banks,  and  instituting  a  most  dispar* 
aging  scrutiny  into  their  small  affairs,  and  mak- 
ing this  high  Senate  the  conspicuous  theatre  for 
the  exhibition  of  their  insignificance,  why  not 
take  the  higher  order  of  the  State  banks  ?- 
those  whose  names  and  characters  are  well 
known?  whose  stock  upon  the  exchange  of 
London  and  New-York,  is  superior  to  that  of 
the  United  States  Bank?  whose  individual  de- 
posits are  greater  than  those  of  the  rival  branch- 
es of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  seated  in 
their  neighborhood?  whose  bills  of  exchange 
are  as  eagerly  sought  for  as  those  of  the  federal 
bank  ?  which  have  reduced  exchange  below  the 
rates  of  the  federal  bank?  and  which,  in  every 
particular  that  tries  the  credit,  is  superior  to 
the  one  which  ia  receiving  so  much  homage 
and  admiration  ?    Mr.  B.  said  there  were  plenty 
of  such  State  banks  as  he  had  described;  they 
were  to  be  found  in  every  principal  city,  from 
New  Orleans  to  Boston.    Some  of  them  had  been 
selected  for  deposit   banks,  others   not;  but 
there  was  no  difiBculty  in  making  a  selection  of 
an  ample  number. 

This  spirit  of  hostility  to  the  State  banks, 
Mr.  B.  said,  was  of  recent  origin,  and  seemed  t( 
keep  pace  with  the  spirit  of  attack  upon  the 
political  rights  of  the  States.    When  the  firet 
federal  bank  was  created,  in  the  year  1791  it 
was  not  even  made,  by  its  charter,  a  place  of 
deposit  for  the  public  moneys.    Mr.  Jefferson 
preferred  the  State  banks  at  that  time;  and  so 
declared  himself  in  his  cabinet  opinion  to  Pre- 
sident Washington.    Mr.  GaUatin  deposited  a 
part  of  the  public  moneys  in  the  State  banks 
during  the  whole  of  the  long  period  that  he  was 
at  the  head  of  the  treasury.    At  the  dissolution 
of  the  first  Bank  of  the  United  States,  he  turned 
over  all  the  public  moneys  which  he  held  in  de- 
posit to  these  banks,  taking  their  obligation  to 
pay  out  all  the  treasury  warrants  drawn  upon 
them  in  gold  and  silver,  if  desired  by  the  hold- 
er.   When  the  present  bank  was  chartered,  the 
State  banks  stood  upon  an  equal  footing  with 
the  federal  bank,  and  were  placed  upon  an  equal- 
ity with  it  as  banks  of  deposit,  in  the  very  char- 
ter which  created  the  federal  bank.    Mr.  B.  was 
alluding  to  the  14th  fundamental  article  of  the 
constitution  of  the  bank— the  article  which  pro 
vided  for  the  establishment  of  branches— and 
which  presented  an  argument  in  justification  ol 


ANNO  1834.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


457 


the  removal  of  the  deposits  which  th«,  adrersa- 
ries  of  that  measure  most  pertinaciously  decline 
to  answer.  The  government  wanted  banks  of 
deposit,  not  of  circulation ;  and  by  that  article, 
the  State  banks  are  made  just  as  much  banks 
of  deposit  for  the  United  States  as  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States  is.  They  are  put  upon  exact 
equality,  so  far  as  the  federal  government  is  con- 
cerned; for  she  stipulates  but  for  one  single 
branch  of  the  United  States  Bank,  and  that  to 
be  placed  at  Washington  city.  As  for  all  other 
branches,  their  establishment  was  made  to  de- 
pend—not on  the  will,  or  power,  of  the  federal 
government — not  on  any  supposed  or  real  ne- 
cessity on  her  part  to  have  the  use  of  such 
branches — but  upon  contingencies  over  which 
she  had  no  control;  contingencies  depending, 
one  upon  the  mere  calculation  of  profit  and  loss 
by  the  bank  itself,  the  other  upon  the  subscrip- 
tions of  stock  within  a  State,  and  the  applica- 
tion of  its  legislature.  In  these  contingencies, 
namely,  if  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  thought 
it  to  her  interest  to  establish  branches  in 
the  States,  she  might  do  it ;  or,  if  2,000  shares 
of  stock  was  subscribed  for  in  a  State,  and  there- 
upon an  application  was  made  by  the  State  le- 
gislature for  the  institution  of  a  branch,  then  its 
establishment  within  the  State  became  obliga- 
tory upon  the  bank.  In  neither  contingency 
had  the  will,  the  power,  or  the  necessities  of 
the  federal  government,  the  least  weight,  con- 
cern, or  consideration,  in  the  establishment  of 
the  branch.  If  not  established,  and  so  far  as 
the  government  is  concerned,  it  might  not  be, 
then  the  State  banks,  selected  by  the  United 
States  Bank,  and  approved  by  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  were  to  be  the  banks  of  deposit 
for  the  federal  moneys.  This  was  an  argument, 
Mr.  B.  said,  in  justification  of  the  removal  of  the 
deposits,  and  in  favor  of  the  use  of  the  State 
banks  which  gentlemen  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  question — gentlemen  who  take  so  much 
pains  to  decry  State  banks — have  been  careful 
not  to  answer. 

The  evils  of  a  small  paper  circulation,  he  con- 
sidered among  the  greatest  grievances  that  could 
aSSict  a  community.  The  evils  were  innumer- 
able, and  fell  almost  exclusively  upon  those  who 
were  least  able  to  bear  them,  or  to  guard  against 
them.  If  a  bank  stops  payment,  the  holders  of 
the  small  notes,  who  are  usually  the  working 
part  of  the  community,  are  the  last  to  find  it 


out,  and  the  first  to  suffer.  If  counterfeiting 
is  perpetrated,  it  is  chiefly  the  small  notes 
which  are  selected  for  imitation,  because  they 
are  most  current  among  those  who  know  the 
least  about  notes,  and  who  are  most  easily  made 
the  dupes  of  imposition,  and  the  victims  of 
f^aud.  As  the  ezpeller  of  hard  money,  small 
notes  were  the  bane  and  curse  of  a  country.  A 
nation  is  scaice,  or  abundant,  in  hard  money, 
precisely  in  the  degree  in  which  it  tolerates  the 
lower  denominations  of  b^nk  notes.  France 
tolerates  no  noteless  than  $100;  and  has  a  gold 
and  silver  circulation  of  350  millions  of  dollars. 
England  tolerates  no  note  of  less  than  $25 ;  and 
has  a  gold  and  silver  circulation  of  130  millions 
of  dollars :  in  the  United  States,  where  $5  is 
the  minimum  size  of  the  federal  bank  notes,  the 
whole  specie  circulation,  including  what  is  in 
the  banks,  does  not  amount  to  thirty  millions 
of  dollars.  To  increase  the  quantity  of  hard 
money  in  the  United  States,  and  to  supply  the 
body  of  the  people  with  an  adequate  specie  cur- 
rency to  serve  for  their  daily  wants,  and  ordi- 
nary transactions,  the  bank  note  circulation  be- 
low twenty  dollars,  ought  to  be  suppressed.  If 
Congress  could  pass  a  law  to  that  effect,  it  ought 
to  bed  one ;  but  it  cannot  pass  such  a  law :  it  has 
no  constitutional  power  to  pass  it.  Congress 
can,  however,  do  something  else,  which  will,  in 
time,  effectually  put  down  such  a  currency.  It 
can  discard  it,  and  disparage  it.  It  can  reject 
it  from  all  federal  payments.  It  can  reject  the 
whole  circulation  of  any  bank  that  will  continue 
to  issue  small  notes.  Their  rejection  from  all 
federal  payments,  would  check  their  currency, 
and  confine  the  orbit  of  their  circulation  to  the 
immediate  neighborhood  of  the  i^tuing  bank. 
The  bank  itself  would  find  but  litt'.o  profit  from 
issuing  them — public  sentiment  would  come  to 
the  aid  of  federal  policy.  The  people  oS  the 
States,  when  countenanced  and  sustained  by  the 
federal  government,  would  indulge  their  natural 
antipathy  and  honest  detestation  of  a  small 
paper  currency.  They  would  make  war  upon 
all  small  notes.  The  State  legislatures  would 
be  under  the  control  of  the  people ;  and  the  States 
that  should  first  have  the  wisdom  to  limit  their 
paper  circulation  to  a  minimum  of  twenty  dol- 
lar bills,  would  immediately  fill  up  with  gold  and 
silver.  The  common  currency  would  be  entirely 
metallic ;  and  there  would  be  a  broad  and  solid 
basis  for  a  superstructure  of  large  notes ;  while 


458 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW, 


H 


the  States  which  continued  to  tolerate  the 
small  notes,  would  be  afflicted  with  all  the 
evils  of  a  most  pestilential  part  of  the  paper 
Bystem,— small  notes,  part  counterfeit,  part  un- 
current,  half  worn  out ;  and  all  incapable  of  be- 
ing used  with  any  regard  to  a  beneficial  econo- 
my. Mr.  B.  went  on  to  depict  the  evils  of  a 
small  note  currency,  which  he  looked  upon  as 
the  bane  and  curse  of  the  laboring  part  of  the 
community,  and  the  reproach  and  opprobrium 
of  any  government  that  tolerated  it.  He  said 
that  the  government  which  suffered  its  curren- 
cy to  fall  into  such  a  state  that  the  farmer,  the 
artisan,  the  market  man,  the  day  laborer,  and 
the  hired  servant,  could  only  be  paid  in  small 
bank  notes,  was  a  government  which  abdicated 
one  of  its  most  sacred  duties ;  and  became  an 
accomplice  on  the  part  of  the  strong  in  the  op- 
pression of  the  weak. 

Mr.  B.  placed  great  reliance  upon  the  restora- 
tion of  the  gold  currency  for  putting  down  a 
small  note  circulation.    No  man  would  choose 
to  carry  a  bundle  of  small  bank  notes  in  his 
pocket,  even  new  and  clean  ones,  much  less  old, 
ragged,  and  filthy  ones,  when  he  could  get  gold 
in  their  place.    A  limitation  upon  the  receiva- 
bility  of  these  notes,  in  payment  of  federal  dues, 
would  complete  their  suppression.    Mr.  B.  did 
not  aspire  to  the  felicity  of  seeing  as  fine  a  cur- 
rency in  the  United  States  as  there  is  in  France, 
where  there  was  no  bank  note  under  five  hun- 
dred francs,  and  where  there  was  a  gold  and  sil- 
ver circulation  at  the  rate  of  eleven  dollars  a 
head  for  each  man,  woman,  and  child,  in  the  king- 
dom, namely,  three  hundred  and  fifty  millions 
of  dollars  for  a  population  of  thirty-two  millions 
of  souls;  but  he  did  aspire  to  the  comparative 
happiness  of  seeing  as  good  currency  established 
for  ourselves,  by  ourselves,  as  our  old  fellow- 
subjects- the  people  of  old  England— now  pos- 
sess from  their  king,  lords,  and  commons.   They 
—he  spoke  of  England  proper— had  no  bank 
note  less  than  five  pounds  sterling,  and  they 
possessed  a  specie  circulation  (of  which  three- 
fourths  was  gold)  at  the  rate  of  about  nine  dol- 
lars a  head,  men,  women,  children  (even  pau- 
pers) included;  namely,  about  one  hundred  and 
thirty  millions  for  a  population  of  fourteen  mil- 
lions.   He,  Mr.  B.,  must  be  allowed  to  aspire  to 
the  happiness  of  possessing,  and  in  his  sphere 
to  labor  to  aequiix-,  as  good  a  circulation  as  these 
English  have;  and  that  would  be  an  immea- 


surable improvement  upon  our  present  condi- 
tion.  We  have  local  bank  notes  of  one,  two 
three,  four  dollars;  we  have  federal  bank  'notes 
of  five  and  ten  dollars— the  notes  of  those  Eng. 
lish  who  are  using  gold  at  home  while  we  are 
using  their  paper  hero :— we  have  not  a  particU 
of  gold,  and  not  more  silver  than  at  the  rate  of 
about  two  dollars  a  head,  men,  women,  children 
(even  slaves)  included;  namely,  about  thirty 
millions  of  silver  for  a  population  of  thirteen 
millions.  Mr.  B.  believed  there  was  not  upon 
the  face  of  the  earth,  a  country  whose  actual 
currency  was  in  a  more  deplorable  condition 
than  that  of  the  United  SUtes  was  at  present  • 
the  bitter  fruit  of  that  fatal  paper  system  which 
was  brought  upon  us,  with  the  establishment  of 
the  first  Bank  of  the  United  States  in  1791,  and 
which  will  be  continued  upon  us  until  the  cita- 
del of  that  system— the  Bastile  of  paper  money 
the  present  Bank  of  the  United  States,— shall 
cease  to  exist. 

Mr.  B.  said,  that  he  was  not  the  organ  of  the 
President  on  this  floor— he  had  no  autlio-itj 
from  the  President  to  speak  his  sentiments  to 
the  Senate.  Even  if  he  knew  them,  it  would 
be  unparliamentary,  and  irregular,  to  state  them. 
There  was  a  way  for  the  Senate  to  communicate 
with  the  President,  which  was  too  well  known 
to  every  gentleman  to  require  any  mdication 
from  him.  But  he  might  be  pbrmitted  to  sug- 
gest— in  the  absence  of  all  regular  information 
—that  if  any  Senator  wished  to  understand,  and 
to  comment  upon,  the  President's  opinions  on 
currency,  he  might,  perhaps,  come  something 
nearer  to  the  mark,  by  commenting  ou  what  he 
(Mr.  B.)  had  been  saying,  than  by  having  re- 
course to  the  town  meeting  reports  of  inimical 
bank  committees. 


CHAPTER    CVI. 

ATTEMPTED   INVESTIGATION  OF  TUE  BANK  OF 
THE  UNITED  STATES. 


The  House  of  Representatives  had  appointed 
a  select  committee  of  its  members  to  investigate 
the  affairs  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States- 
seven  in  number,  and  consisting  of  Mr.  Franris 
Thomas,  of  Maryland ;  Mr.  Edward  Everett,  of 
Massachusetts;  Mr.  Henry  A.  Muhlenberg,  of 


ANNO  1834.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


459 


Pennsylvania ;  Mr.  John  Y.  Mason,  of  Virginia ; 
Mr.  W.  W.  Ellsworth,  of  Connecticut;    Mr. 
Abijah  Mann,  Jr.  of  New-York ;  Mr.  Robert  T. 
Lytle,  J  Ohio.    The  authority  under  which  the 
committee  acted,  required  them  to  ascertain ;  1. 
Tlie  causes  of  the  commercial  embarrassment, 
and  the  public  distress  complained  of  in  the  nu- 
merous distress  memorials  presented  to  the  two 
Houses  during  the  session ;  and  whether  the 
banii  had  been  any  way  instrumental,  through 
its  management  or  money,  in  producing  the  dis- 
tress and  embarrassment,  of  which  so  much  com- 
plaint was  made.     2.  To  inquire  whether  the 
charter  of  the  bank  had  been  violated  ;  and  what 
corruptions  and  abuses,  if  any,  had  existed  in  its 
management.    3.  To  inquire  whether  the  bank 
had  used  its  corporate  power,  or  money,  to  con- 
trol the  press,  to  interpose  in  politics,  or  to  in- 
fluence elections.    The  authority  conferred  upon 
the  committee  was  ample  for  the  execution  of 
these  inquiries.    It  was  authorized  to  send  for 
persons  and  papers ;  to  summon  and  examine 
witnesses  on  oath ;  to  visit,  if  necessary,  the 
principal  bank,  and  its  branches ;  to  inspec^  the 
books,  correspondence  and  accounts  of  the  bank, 
and  other  papers  connected  with  its  manage- 
ment.   The  right  of  the  House  to  make  this 
inyestigation  was  two-fold:   Jirst,  under  the 
twenty-third  article  of  the  charter:  secondly, 
as  the  founder  of  the  corporation ;  to  whom 
belongs,  in  law  language,  the  right  to  "  visit " 
the  mstitution  it  has  founded ;   which  "  visit- 
ing" is  for  examination — as  a  bishop  "vis- 
its" his  diocese — a  superintendent  "visits "  the 
works  and  persons  under  his  care ;  not  to  see 
them,  but  to  examine  into  their  management 
and  condition.    There  was  also,  a  third  right  of 
examination,  resulting  from  the  act  of  the  cor- 
poration; it  was  again  soliciting  a  re-charter, 
and  was  bound  to  show  that  the  corporators 
had  used  their  actual  charter  fairly  and  legally 
before  it  asked  for  another.   And,/ouithly,  there 
vras  a  further  right  of  investigation,  still  result- 
ing from  its  conduct.    It  denied  all  the  accusa- 
tions brought  against  it  by  the  goveriunent  di- 
rectors, and  brought  before  Congress  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury ;  and  joined  issue  upon 
those  accusations  in  a  memorial  addressed  to 
the  two  Houses  of  Congress.  To  refuse  examina- 
tion under  these  Gircumstances  would  be  shrink- 
ing from  the  issue  which  itself  had  joined.    The 
committee  proceeded  to  Philadelphia,  and  soon 


found  that  the  bank  did  not  mean  to  submit  to 
an  examination.    Captious  and  special  pleading 
objections  were  made  at  every  step,  until  at- 
tempts on  one  side  and  objections  on  the  other 
ended  in  a  total  r»»fu8al  to  submit  their  books 
for  inspection,  or  themselves  fur  an  examination. 
The  directors  had  appointed  a  company  of  seven 
to  meet  the  committee  of  the  House — a  proce- 
dure unwarranted  by  any  right  or  usage,  and 
offensive  in  its   pretentious  equality ;  but  to 
which  the  committee  consented,  at  first,  from 
a  desire  to  do  nothing  to  balk  the  examination. 
That  corporation  committee  was  to  sit  with 
them,  in  the  room  in  the  bank  assigned  for  the 
examination  ;   and  took  care    always  to  pre- 
occupy it  before  the  House  committee  arrived  ; 
and  to  act  as  if  at  home,  receiving  guests.    The 
committee  then  took  a  room  in  a  hotel,  and 
asked  to  have  the  bank  books  sent  to  them ; 
which  was  refused.    They  then  desired  to  have 
the  books  subjected  to  their  inspection  in  the 
bank  itself;  in  which  request  they  were  baffled, 
and  defeated.    The  bank  committee  required 
written  specification  of  their  points  of  inquiry, 
either  in  examining  a  book,  or  asking  a  ques- 
tion— that  it  might  judge  its  legality;  which 
the}'  confined  to  mere  breaches  of  the  charter. 
And  when  the  directors  were  summoned  to  an- 
swer questions,  they  refused  to  be  sworn,  and 
excused  themselves  on  the  ground  of  being  par- 
ties to  the  proceeding.    Some  passages  from  the 
committee's  report  will  show  to  what  extent 
this  higgling  and  contumacy  was  carried  by  this 
corporation — deriving  its  existence  from  Con- 
gress, and  endeavoring  to  force  a  renewed  char- 
ter from  it  while      (rising  to  show  how  it  had 
used  the  first  one.    '.'  bus : 

"  On  the  23d  of  April,  their  chairman  address- 
ed to  the  President  of  the  bonk,  a  communica- 
tion, inclosing  a  copy  of  the  resolution  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  notifying  him  of 
the  readiness  of  the  committee  to  visit  th%  bank 
on  the  ensuing  day,  at  any  hour  agreeable  to 
him.  In  reply,  the  President  informed  the  com- 
mittee that  the  papers  thus  received  should  b« 
submitted  to  the  board  of  directors,  at  a  special 
meeting  to  be  called  for  that  purpose.  It  ap- 
pears, in  the  journal  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
committee,  herewith  presented  to  the  House, 
that  this  was  done,  and  that  the  directors  ap- 
pointed a  committee  of  seven  of  their  board,  to 
receive  the  committee  of  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives, and  io  offer  for  their  inspection  such 
books  and  papers  of  the  bank,  as  may  be  neces- 
sary to  exhibit  the  proceedings  of  the  corporation, 


{■pl 

TH 

'HI 

1 

1 

III' 

11 

1 

460 


THIRTY  TEARS'  VIEW. 


according  to  the  roqnirement  of  the  charter.  In 
the  letter  of  John  Scrt^eant,  Esq.,  as  chairman 
of  the  committee  of  directors  communicating  the 
proceedings  of  the  boanl,  he  says  that  ho  waa 
directetl  to  inform  the  chairman  of  this  committee 
that  the  committso  of  the  directors  '  will  imme- 
diately direct  the  necessary  arrangements  to  be 
inafle  for  the  accommodation  of  the  committee 
of  the  House  of  Representatives,'  and  would 
attend  at  the  bank  to  receive  them  the  next  day, 
at  eleven  o  clock.  Your  committee  attended, 
and  were  received  by  the  committee  of  di- 
rectors. 

"  Up  to  this  period,  nothing  had  occurred  to 
justify  the  belief  that  a  disposition  was  felt,  on 
the  part  of  the  managers  of  the  bank,  to  embar- 
rass the  proceedings  of  the  committee,  or  have 
them  conducted  differently  from  those  of  the 
two  preceding  committees  of  investigation.  On 
assemblmg,  however,  the  next  morning,  at  the 
'>*"'^,  they  foiind  the  room  which  had  been 
offered  for  their  accommodation,  jreoccupicd  by 
the  committee  of  the  board,  ...th  the  president 
ot  the  bank,  as  an  ex  officio  member,  claiming 
the  right  to  be  present  at  the  inyestigations  and 
examma^-ons  of  this  committee.  This  proceeding 
the  committee  were  not  prepared  to  expect. 
When  the  appointment  of  the  committee  of 
seven  was  first  made,  it  was  supposed  that  that 
measure,  however  designed,  was  not  well  calcu- 
lated to  facilitate  the  examination. 

'  With  a  previous  determination  to  be  present 
when  their  books  were  to  be  inspected,  they 
could  have  waited  to  avow  it  until  these  books 
were  called  for,  and  the  attempt  made  to  inspect 
them  in  their  absence.    These  circumstances  are 
now  reviewed,  because  they  then  excited  an  ap- 
prehension, which  the  sequel  formed  into  con- 
viction, that  this  committee  of  directors  had 
been  appointed  to  supervise  the  acts  and  doings 
of  your  committee,  and  to  limit  and  restrain 
their  proceedings,  not  according  to  the  directions 
contained  in  the  resolution  of  the  House,  but 
the  will  and  judgment  of  the  board  of  directors. 
Your  committee  have  chosen  to  ascribe  this  claim 
of  the  committee  of  directors  to  sit  conjointly 
with  them,  to  the  desire  to  prevent  them  from 
making  use  of  the  books  and  papers,  for  some 
ot  the  purposes  pointed  out  by  the  resolution  of 
the  House.    They  are  sensible  that  this  claim  to 
be  present  at  all  examinations,  avowed  prema- 
turely, and  subsequently  persisted  in  with  pe- 
culiar pertinacity,  could  be  attributed  to  very 
ditterent  motives;  but  respect  for  themselves 
and  respect  for  the  gentlemen  who  compose  the 
committee  of  directors,  utterly  forbids  the  ascrip- 
tion to  them  of  a  feeling  which  would  merit 
compassion  and  contempt  much  more  than  re- 
sentment. ■ 

"This novel  position,  voluntarily  and  deliber- 
ately taken  by  the  committee  of  the  directors 
predicated  on  an  idea  of  equality  of  rights  with 
vour  committee,  under  yov.r  resolution,  rendered 
It  probable,  and  in  some  measure  necessary,  that 
your  committee  should  express  its  opinions  of 


the  relative  rights  of  the  corporation  and  th. 
House  of  Representatives,     fo  avoid  all  mj 
understanding  and  future  misrepresentations  t 
was  desirable  that  each  question  should  bo  ji' 
cided  separately.     Contemplating  an  extendi 
mvesHgation,  but  unwilling  that  an  apprehenl 
should  exist  of  improper  disclosures  GeinrmS 
of  the  transactions  of  the  bank  and  its  customer 
your  committee  following  the  example  of  the 
committee  of  18:12,  adopted  a  resolution  declann; 
that  their  proceedings  should  be  confidential 
until  otherwise  ordered  by  the  con.mittre  and 
also  a  resolution  that  the  committee  would'con 
duct  its  investigations  '  without  the  presence  of 
any  person  not  required  or  invited  to  attend ' 
A  copjr  of  these  resolutions  was  furnished  to  the 
committee  of  directors,  in  the  hope  that  the  ex 
elusive  control  of  a  room  at  the  bank,  durine  its 
hours  of  business,  would  thereafter  be  conceded 
to  your  committee,  while  the  claim  of  the  com 
mittee  of  directors  to  be  present  when  the  books 
were  submitted  for  inspection,  should  be  post- 
poned for  decision,  when  the  books  were  called 
for  and  produced  by  them. 

"On  the  28th  ult.  this  committee  assembled 
at  the  banking  house,  and  again  found  the  room 
they  expected  to  find  set  apart  for  tlieir  use 
preoccupied  by  the  committee  of  directors  antj 
others,  oflBcers  of  the  bank.  And  instead  of 
such  assurances  as  they  had  a  right  to  expect 
they  received  copies  of  two  resolutions  adopted 
by  the  board  of  directors,  in  which  they  were 
given  to  understand  that  their  continued  occu- 
pation of  the  room  must  be  considered  a  favor 
and  not  a  matter  of  right;  and  in  which  the 
board  indulge  in  unjust  commentaries  oa  the 
resolution  of  the  House  of  Representatives ;  and 
intimate  an  apprehension  that  your  committee 
design  to  make  their  examinations  secret  par 
tial,  unjust,  oppressive  and  contrary  to  common 
right." 


On  receiving  this  offensive  communication, 
manifestly  intended  to  bring  on  a  quarrel,  tlie 
committee  adopted  a  resolution  to  sit  in  a  room 
of  their  hotel,  and  advised  the  bank  accordingly ; 
and  required  the  president  and  directors  to  sub- 
mit the  books  to  their  inspection  in  the  room 
so  chosen,  at  a  day  and  hour  named.    To  this 
the  directors  answered  that  they  could  not  com- 
ply ;  and  the  committee,  desirous  to  do  all  they 
could  to  accomplish  the  investigation  committed 
to  them,  then  gave  notice  that  they  would  attend 
at  the  bank  on  a  named  day  and  hour  to  inspect 
the  books  in  the  bank  itself— either  at  the 
counter,   or  in  a  room.     Arriving  at  the  ap- 
pointed time,  and  asking  to  see  the  books,  they 
were  positively  refused,  reasons  in  writing  being 
a-ssigned  for  the  refusal.    They  then  made  a 
written  request  to  see  certain  books  specifically, 
and  for  a  specified  purpose,  namely,  to  ascertain 


ANNO  1834.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  rRESIDENT. 


461 


the  truth  of  the  report  of  the  gOTomment  dl- 
rectorB  in  using  the  money  and  power  of  the 
buiic  in  politicfl,  in  elections,  or  in  producing 
the  (listresn.  The  manner  in  which  this  call 
wu  treated  must  be  given  in  the  words  of  the 
report  itecif ;  thus : 

"Without  giving  a  specific  answer  to  these 
calls  for  books  and  papers,  the  committee  of 
directors  presented  a  written  communication, 
which  was  said  to  Ixj '  indicative  of  the  mode  of 
proceeding  deemed  right  by  the  hank.' 

"The  committee  of  the  board  in  that  commu- 
nication, express  the  opinion,  that  the  inquiry 
can  onlv  be  rightfully  extended  to  alleged  viola- 
tions of  the  charter,  and  deny  virtually  the  right 
of  the  House  of  Representatives  to  authorize 
the  inquiries  required  in  the  resolution. 

"  They  also  required  of  the  committee  of  in- 
Tcstigation,  'when  they  asked  for  books  and 
papers,  to  state  specifically  in  writing,  the  pur- 
poses for  which  they  are  proposed  to  be  inspect- 
ed ;  and  if  it  be  to  establish  a  violation  of  the 
charter,  then  to  state  specifically  in  writing, 
what  are  the  alleged  or  supposed  violations  of 
charter,  to  which  the  evidence  is  alleged  to  be 
applicable.' 

"To  this  extraordinary  requirement,  made 
on  the  supposition  that  your  committee  were 
charged  with  the  duty  of  crimination,  or  prose- 
cution for  criminal  onence,  and  implyiiig  a  right 
on  the  part  of  the  directors  to  determine  for 
what  purposes  the  inspection  should  be  made, 
and  what  books  or  papers  should  be  submitted 
to  inspection,  your  committee  replied,  that  they 
were  not  charged  with  the  duty  of  criminating 
the  bank,  its  directors,  or  others  ;  but  simply 
to  inquire,  amongst  other  things,  whether  any 
prosecution  in  legal  form  should  be  instituted, 
and  from  the  nature  of  their  duties,  and  the  in- 
structions of  the  House  of  Representatives,  they 
were  not  bound  to  state  specifically  in  writing 
any  charges  against  the  bank,  or  any  special 
purpose  for  which  they  required  the  productipn 
of  the  books  and  papers  for  inspection."        * 

The  committee  then  asked  ft  •  ipies  of  the 
accounts  and  entries  which  they  wished  to  see, 
and  were  answered  that  it  would  require  the 
labor  of  two  clerks  for  ten  months  to  make  them 
out ;  and  so  declined  to  give  the  copies.  The  com- 
mittee finding  tlvat  they  could  make  nothing  oat 
of  books  and  papers,  determined  to  change  their 
examination  of  things  into  that  of  persons  ;  and 
for  that  purpose  had  recourse  to  the  subpoenas 
furnished  by  the  House ;  and  had  them  served 
by  the  United  States  marshal  on  the  president 
and  directors.  This  subpoena,  which  contained 
ft  clause  of  duces  tecum,  with  respect  to  the 
books,  was  so  far  obeyed  as  to  bring  the  direc- 


tors in  person  l)eforo  the  committee ;  and  so  far 
disobeyed  as  to  bring  Jhem  without  the  books  , 
and  so  far  exceeded  as  to  bring  them  with  a 
written  refusal  to  Imj  sworn — for  reasons  which 
they  stated.  But  this  part  descnes  to  be  told 
in  the  language  of  the  report ;  which  says : 

"  Believing  they  had  now  cxhaui^tod,  in  their 
effbrts  to  execute  the  duty  devolved  upon  them, 
all  reasonable  moans  depending  solely  u\nm  the 
provisions  of  the  bank  charter,  to  obtain  the 
inspection  of  the  books  of  this  corporation,  your 
committee  were  at  last  reluctantly  compelled  to 
resort  to  the  subpoenas  which  had  been  furnished 
to  them  under  the  seal  of  this  House,  and  at- 
tested by  its  clerk.  They,  thereby,  on  the  9th 
inst.  directed  the  marshal  of  the  eastern  district 
of  l\'nnsylvania  to  summon  Nicholas  Biddle, 
president,  and  thirteen  other  persona,  directors 
of  the  bank,  to  attend  at  their  committee  room, 
on  the  next  day,  at  twelve  o'clock,  ut  noon,  to 
testify  concerning  the  matters  of  which  your 
committee  were  authorized  to  inquire,  and  to 
bring  with  them  certain  books  therein  named 
for  inspection.  The  marshal  served  the  sum- 
mons in  due  form  of  law,  and  at  the  time  ap- 
pointed, the  persons  therein  named  appeared 
before  the  committee  and  presented  a  written 
communication  signed  by  each  of  them,  as  the 
answer  of  each  to  the  requirements  of  the  sub- 
poena, which  is  in  the  appendix  to  this  report. 
In  this  paper  they  declare  'that  they  do  not 
produce  the  books  required,  because  they  are 
not  in  the  custody  of  either  of  us,  but  as  has 
been  heretofore  stated,  of  the  board,'  and  add, 
'  considering  that  as  corporators  and  directors, 
we  are  parties  to  the  proceeding — we  do  not 
consider  ourselves  bound  to  testify,  and  there- 
fore respectfully  decline  to  do  so.'  '' 

This  put  an  end  to  the  attempted  investiga- 
tion. The  committee  returned  to  Washington 
— made  report  of  their  proceedings,  and  moved  : 
"  That  the  speaker  of  this  House  do  issue  his 
warrant  to  the  sergeant-at-anns,  to  arrest  Ni- 
cholas Biddle,  president — Manuel  Eyre,  Law- 
rence Lewis,  Ambrose  White,  Daniel  W.  Cox, 
John  Holmes,  Charles  Chauncey,  John  Goddard, 
John  R.  Neff;  William  Piatt,  Maithew  Newkirk, 
James  C.  Fisher,  John  S.  Henry,  and  John 
Sergeant,  directors— of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  and  bring  them  to  the  bar  of  this  House. 
to  answer  for  tht>  contempt  of  its  lawful  au- 
thority." This  resolve  was  not  acted  upon  by 
the  House ;  and  the  directors  had  the  satisfaction 
to  enjoy  a  negative  triumph  in  their  contempt 
of  the  House,  flagrant  as  that  contempt  was 
upon  its  own  showing,  and  still  more  so  upon 
its  contrast  with  the  conduct  of  the  same  bank 


mi 


462 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


(though  under  a  different  set  of  directors),  in 
the  year  IHl!).  A  committee  of  investigation 
AVU8  tlien  appointed,  nrnied  with  the  sanio  powers 
which  were  grants  i  to  this  committee  of  the 
year  1804 ,  nnd  the  directors  of  that  time  readily 
submitted  to  every  spciesof  examination  which 
the  committee  chose  to  make.  Tlicy  visited  the 
principal  bank  at  Philadelphia,  and  several  of 
its  branches.  They  had  free  and  unrestrained 
access  to  the  Ijooks  and  papers  of  the  bank. 
They  wore  furnished  l^jr  the  offlcera  with  all  the 
copies  and  extracts  they  asked  for.  They  sum- 
moned before  them  the  directors  ond  officers  of 
the  bank,  examined  them  on  oath,  took  their 
testimony  in  writing— and  obtained  full  answers 
to  all  their  questions,  whether  they  implied 
illegalities  violative  of  the  charter,  or  abuses,  or 
mismanagement,  or  mistakes  and  errors. 


CHAPTER     CVII. 

MR.  TANEY'S  REPORT  ON  THE  FINANCES-EXPO- 
SURE OF  Tllli  DISTRESS  ALAKM8— END  OF  TUK 
PAN  10. 

About  the  Lime  when  the  panic  was  at  its  height, 
and  Congress  most  heavily  assailed  with  dis- 
tress memorials,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
was  called  upon  by  a  resolve  of  the  Senate  for 
a  report  upon  the  finances— with  the  full  be- 
lief thai  the  finances  were  going  to  ruin,  and 
that  the  government  would  soon  be  left  without 
adequate  revenue,  and  driven  to  the  mortifying 
resource  of  loans.  The  call  on  the  Secretary 
was  made  early  in  May,  and  was  answered  the 
middle  of  June ;  and  was  an  utter  disappoint- 
ment to  those  who  called  for  it.  Far  from 
showing  the  financial  decline  which  had  been 
expected,  it  showed  an  increase  in  every  branch 
of  the  revenue  !  and  from  that  authentic  test  of 
the  national  condition,  it  was  authentically 
shown  that  the  Union  was  prosperous !  and  that 
the  distress,  of  which  so  miich  was  heard,  was 
confined  to  the  victims  of  the  United  States 
Bank,  so  far  as  it  was  real;  and  that  all  beyond 
that  was  fictitious  and  artificial — the  result  of 
the  machinery  for  organizing  panic,  oppressing 
debtors,  breaking  up  labor,  and  alarming  the 
timid.  When  the  report  came  into  the  Senate,  the 
readinGT  of  it  was  commenced  at  the  tahlft  of  thr: 
Secretary,  and  hud  not  proceeded  far  when  Mr. 


Webster  moved  to  ccaso  the  reading,  and  mi 
it  to  the  C'-mmittce  on  Finance— that  commit 
tee  in  which  a  report  of  that  kind  could  notn^ 
pcct  to  find  either  an  early  or  favorable  noti,. 
We  had  expected  a  motion  to  get  rid  of  it 
some  quiet  way,  and  had  prepared  for  wliatev!' 
might  happen.  Mr.  Taney  had  sent  for  me,  the 
day  before  it  came  in;  read  it  over  with  me. 
showed  mo  all  the  tables  om  which  it  vjjj 
founded ;  and  prepared  mc  to  sustain  and  tni- 
blazon  it :  for  it  was  our  intention  that  guch  a 
report  should  go  to  the  couiu.y,  not  in  the 
quiet,  subdued  tone  of  a  State  paper,  but  with 
all  the  emphasis,  and  all  the  challenges  to  pub. 
lie  attention,  which  the  amplifications,  the  ani- 
mation, and  the  fire  and  freedom  which  the 
speaking  stylo  admitted.  The  instant,  thin, 
that  Mr.  Webster  made  his  motion  to  stop  the 
reading,  and  refer  the  report  to  the  Finance 
Committee,  Mr.  Benton  rose,  and  demandci 
that  the  reading  be  continued :  a  demand  which 
he  had  a  right  to  make,  as  the  rules  gave  it  to 
every  member.  lie  had  no  occasion  to  hear  it 
read,  and  probably  heard  nothing  of  it;  but  the 
form  was  necessary,  as  the  report  was  to  be  the 
text  of  his  speech.  The  instant  it  was  done  he 
rose  and  delivered  his  speech,  seizing  the  circum- 
stance of  the  interrupted  reading  to  furnish  the 
brief  exordium,  and  to  give  a  fresh  and  im- 
promptu air  to  what  he  was  going  to  say.  The 
following  is  the  speech : 

Mr.  Benton  rose,  and  said  that  this  report 
was  of  a  nature  to  deserve  some  attention,  be- 
fore it  left  the  chamber  of  the  Senate,  and  went 
to  a  committee,  from  which  it  might  not  re- 
turn in  time  for  consideration  at  this  session, 
It  had  been  called  for  under  circumstances 
which  attracted  attention,  and  disclosed  info^ 
mation  which  deserved  to  be  known.  It  wa.« 
called  for  early  in  May,  in  the  crisis  of  the 
alarm  operations,  and  with  confident  assertions 
that  the  answer  to  the  call  would  prove  the 
distress  and  the  suffering  of  the  country.  It 
was  confidently  asserted  that  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  had  over-estimated  the  revenues 
of  the  year ;  that  there  would  be  a  great  falling 
off— a  decline — a  bankruptcy;  that  confidence 
was  destroyed — enterprise  checked — industry 
paralyzed — commerce  suspended  I  that  the  dire- 
ful act  of  one  man,  in  one  dire  order,  had  changed 
the  fr,cc  of  the  country,  from  a  scone  nf  ^lnpa^ 
alleled  prosperity  to  a  scene  of  unparallelei) 


ANNO  1184.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDRNT. 


403 


desolation !  that  tho  oanul  wag  a  Holitiulc,  the 
lake  a  tk-xort  wasto  »)f  waters,  tho  ocean  with- 
out uliip"",  the  coiiuncrciiil  towns  deserted,  nilent, 
and  »a<l  i  orders  for  ^oods  countcnnanded ;  for- 
eign purchases  stopped  I  ond  that  the  answer 
of  the  Secretary  would  prove  nil  this,  in  show- 
ing tho  fiilsity  of  his  own  estimates,  and  the 
great  decline  in  the  revenue  and  importations 
of  the  country.  Such  were  tho  assertions  and 
predictions  under  which  tho  call  was  made,  and 
to  which  tho  public  attention  was  attracted  l>y 
every  device  of  theatrical  declamiition  from  this 
floor.  Well,  tho  answer  comes.  Tho  Secretary 
ceiuls  in  his  report,  with  every  statement  called 
for.  ft  is  a  report  to  make  the  patriot's  heart 
rejoice !  full  of  hij^h  and  gratifying  facts ;  re- 
plete with  rich  information ;  and  pregnant  with 
evidences  of  national  prosperity.  How  is  it  re- 
reived— how  received  by  those  who  called  for  it? 
With  downcast  looks,  and  wordless  tongues  I  A 
motion  is  even  made  to  stop  the  reading  I  to  stop 
tiio  reading;  of  such  a  report  I  called  for  under 
Buch  circumstances ;  while  whole  days  are  given 
up  to  reading  the  monotonous,  tautologous,  and 
indless  repetitions  of  distress  memorials,  the 
echo  of  our  own  speeches,  and  tho  thousandth 
edition  of  the  same  work,  without  emendation 
or  correction !  All  these  can  bo  read,  and 
piinted,  too, and  lauded  with  studied  eulogium, 
and  their  contents  sent  out  to  the  people, 
freighted  upon  every  wind ;  but  this  official 
report  of  tho  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  upon 
the  stcte  of  their  own  revenves,  and  of  theii 
own  commerce,  called  for  by  an  order  of  the 
Senate,  is  to  be  treated  like  an  unwelcome  and 
worthless  intruder ;  received  without  a  word — 
not  even  read — slipped  out  upon  a  motion — 
disposed  of  as  tho  Abb6  Sieyes  voted  for  the 
death  of  Louis  the  Sixteenth:  mart  sam phrase  ! 
death,  without  talk !  But  he,  Mr.  B.,  did  not 
mean  to  suffer  this  report  to  be  dispatched  in 
this  unceremonious  and  compendious  style.  It 
had  been  called  for  to  be  given  to  the  people, 
and  the  people  should  hear  of  it.  It  was  not 
Avhat  was  expected,  but  it  is  what  is  true,  and 
what  will  rejoice  the  heart  of  every  patriot  in 
America.  A  pit  was  dug  for  Mr.  Taney ;  the 
diggers  of  the  pit  have  fallen  into  it ;  the  fault 
is  not  his ;  and  the  sooner  they  clamber  out,  the 
better  for  themselves.  The  people  have  a  right 
lo  know  the  contents  of  this  report,  and  know 
them  they  shall ;  and  if  there  is  any  man  Iq  this 


America,  whose  heart  in  so  constructed  or  to 
grieve  over  tho  pros|H.'rity  of  his  country,  let 
hhn  prepare  himself  for  sorrow  ;  for  the  jimif 
is  forthcoming,  that  never,  since  America  had  u 
pluco  among  nations,  was  the  prosperity  of  the 
country  e<iuid  to  what  it  is  at  this  day ! 

Mr.  15.  tlieii  reciuestod  tho  Secrc'ary  of  tho 
Senate  to  send  him  the  report,  and  comparative 
statements ;  which  being  done,  Mr.  B.  ()pene<l 
tho  report,  and  went  over  the  heads  of  it  to 
show  that  liio  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  had 
not  over-estimate*!  the  revenue  of  the  year,  a.s 
ho  had  been  charged,  and  as  the  report  wns  ex- 
pected to  prove  :  that  tho  revenue  was,  in  fact, 
superior  to  the  estimate ;  and  that  the  impor- 
tatioi  ;  would  eciual,  if  not  exceed,  the  highest 
amount  that  they  had  ever  attained. 

To  appreciate  tho  statements  which  he  should 
make,  Mr.  B.  said  it  was  necessary  for  the  Senate 
to  recollect  that  the  list  of  dutiable  articles  waa 
now  greatly  reduced.  Many  articles  were  now 
free  of  duty,  which  formerly  paid  heavy  duties ; 
/nany  others  were  reduced  in  duty ;  and  the  fair 
effect  of  these  abolitions  an^i  reductions  w^ould 
bo  a  diminution  of  revenue  even  without  a  dimi- 
nution of  imports ;  yet  the  Secretary's  estimate, 
made  at  the  commencement  of  the  session,  was 
more  than  realized,  aud  showed  tho  gratifying 
spectacle  of  a  full  and  overflowing  treasury,  in- 
stead of  the  empty  one  which  hml  been  pre- 
dicted ;  and  left  to  Congress  the  grateful  occupa- 
tion of  further  reducing  taxes,  instead  of  tho 
odious  task  of  borrowing  money,  as  had  been 
so  loudly  anticipated  for  six  months  past.  Tho 
revenue  accruing  from  imports  in  the  first  quar- 
ter of  the  present  year,  wa.s  5,344,540  dollars ; 
the  payments  actuiilly  made  into  the  treasury 
from  the  custom-houses  for  the  same  quarter, 
were  4,435,380  dollars ;  and  the  payments  from 
lands  for  the  same  time,  were  1,398,200  dollars. 
Tho  two  first  months  of  the  second  quarter  were 
producing  in  a  full  ratio  to  the  first  quarter ; 
and  the  actual  amount  of  available  fund:.  ; .  tho 
treasury  on  the  9th  day  of  this  month,  t\-a.s 
eleven  millions,  two  hundred  aud  forty-nino 
thousand,  four  hundred  and  twelve  dollars.  Tho 
two  last  quarters  of  the  year  were  always  tho 
most  pi  oductive.  It  was  the  time  of  the  largest 
importations  of  foreign  goods  which  pay  most 
duty — the  woollens — and  the  season,  also,  for 
the  largest  sale  of  public  lauds.  It  is  well  be- 
lieved that  the  estimate  will  be  more  largely  ox- 


f% 


464 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


ceeded  in  those  two  quarters  than  in  the  two 
first ;  and  that  the  excess  for  the  whole  year 
over  the  estimate,  will  be  full  two  millions  of 
dollars.  This,  Mr.  B.  said,  was  one  of  the  evi- 
dences of  public  prosperity  which  the  report 
contained,  and  which  utterly  contradicted  the 
idea  of  distress  and  commercial  embarrassment 
which  had  been  propagated,  from  this  chamber, 
for  the  last  six  months. 

Mr.  B.  proceeded  to  the  next  evidence  of  com- 
meichi  prosperity ;  it  was  the  increased  importa- 
tions of  foreign  ^'oods.    These  imports,  judging 
from  the  five  first  months,  would  be  seven  mil- 
lions more  tlian  they  were  two  years  ago,  when 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States  had  seventy  mil- 
lions loaned  out ;  and  they  were  twenty  millions 
more  than  in  the  time  of  Mr.  Adams's  adminis- 
tration.   At  the  rate  they  had  commenced,  they 
would  amount  to  one  hundred  and  ten  millions 
for  the  year.    This  will  exceed  whatever  was 
known  in  our  country.     The  imports,  for  the 
time  that  President  Jackson  has  served,  have  re- 
gularly advanced   from  about  $74,000,000  to 
$108,000,000.    The  following  is  the  statement 
of  these  imports,  from  which  Mr.  B.  read: 


1829 
1830 
1831 
1832 
1833 


.    $74,492,527 

70,876,920 

.    103,191,124 

101,029,266 

.     108,118,311 

Mr.  B.  said  that  the  imports  of  the  last  year 
were  greater  in  propjrtion  than  in  any  previous 
year;  a  temporary  decline  might  reasonably  have 
been  expected;  such  declines  always  take  place  af- 
ter excessive  importations.  If  ithad occurred  now 
though  naturally  to  have  been  expected,  the  fact 
would  have  been  trumpeted  forth  as  the  infalli- 
ble sign— the  proof  positive— of  commercial  dis- 
tress, occasioned  by  the  fatal  removal  of  the  de- 
posits.   But,  as  there  was  no  decline,  but  on  the 
contrary,  an  actual  increase,  he  must  claim  the 
evidence  for  the  other  side  of  the  account,  and 
set  it  down  as  proof  positfve  that  commerce  is  not 
destroyed ;  and,  consequently,  that  the  removal 
of  the  deposits  did  not  destroy  commerce. 

The  next  evidence  of  commercial  prosperity 
which  Mr.  B.  would  exhibit  to  the  Senate,  was 
in  the  increased,  and  increasing  number  of  ship 
arrivals  from  foreign  ports.  The  number  of  ar- 
rivals for  the  month  of  May,  in  New- York, 
was  two  hundred  and  twenty-three,  exceeding 


by  thirty-six  those  of  the  month  of  April 
and  showing  not  only  a  great,  hut  an  increa*! 
mg  activity  in  the  commerce  of  that  great 
emporium— he  would  not  say  of  the  United 
States,  or  even  of  North  America— but  he 
would  call  it  that  great  emporium  of  the  two 
Americas,  and  of  the  New  Worid ;  for  the  goods 
imported  to  that  place,  were  thence  distributed 
to  every  part  of  the  two  Americas,  from  the 
Canadian  lake-  to  Cape  Horn. 

A  third  evidence  of  national  prosperity  was 
in  the  sales  of  the  public  lands.    Mr.  B.  had 
on  a  former  occasion,  adverted  to  these  sales' 
so  far  as  the  first  quarter  was  concerned ;  and 
had  shown,  that  instead  of  falling  off,  as'  had 
been  predicted  on  this  floor,  the  revenue  from 
the  sales  of  these  lands  had  actually  doubled 
and  more  than  doubled,  what  they  were  in 
the  firet  quarter  of  1833.     The  receipts  for 
lands  for  that  quarter,  were  $668,526 ;  for  the 
first  quarter  of  the  present  year  they  were 
$1,398,206;   being  two  to  one,  and  $60,000 
over!    The  receipts  for  the  t^ro  first  morths 
of  the  second  quarter,  were  also  known,  and 
would  carry  the  revenue  from  lands,  for  the 
first  five  months  of  this  year,  to  two  millions 
of  dollars ;   Indicating   five    millions  for  the 
whole  year;  an  enormous  amount,  from  which 
the  people  of  the  new  States  ought  to  be,  in 
some  degree,  relieved,  by  a  reduction  in  the 
price  of  lands.    Mr.  B.  begged  in  the  most  em- 
phatic terms,  to  remind  the  Senate,  that  at  the 
commencement  of  the  session,  the  sales  of  the 
public  lands  were  selected  as  one  of  the  crite- 
rions  by  which  the  ruin  and  desolation  of  the 
country  were  to  be  judged.    It  was  then  pre- 
dicted, and  the  prediction  put  forth  with  all 
the  boldness  of  infallible  prophecy,  that  the  re- 
moval of  the  deposits  would  stop  the  sales  of 
the  public  lands  ;  that  money  would  disappear, 
and  the  people  have  nothing  to  buy  with ;  that 
the  produce  of  the  earth  would  ret  upon  the 
hands  of  the  fanner.    These  were  the  predic- 
tions;  and  if  the  sales  had  really  declined, 
what  a  proof  would  immediately  be  found  in 
the  fact  to  prove  the  truth  of  the  prophecy,  and 
the  dire  eflects  of  changing  the  public  moneys 
from  one  set  of  banking-houses  to  another! 
But  there  ;s  no  decline  ;  but  a  doubling  of  the 
-ormer  product ;  and  a  fair  conclusion  thence  de- 
duced that  the  new  States,  in  the  interior,  are 
as  prosperous  as  the  old  ones,  on  the  sea-coast. 


ANNO  1834.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


465 


Haying  proved  the  general  prosperity  of  the 
country  from  these  infallible  data — flourishing 
revenue — flourishing  commerce — increased  arri- 
vals of  ships— and  increased  sales  of  public 
lands,  Mr.  B.  said  that  ho  was  far  from  denying 
that  actual  distress  had  existed.    He  had  ad- 
mitted the  fact  of  that  distress  heretofore,  not 
to  the  extent  to  whi-'h  it  was  charged,  but  to  a 
sufficient  extent  to  excite  sympathy  for  the 
sufferers;  and  he  had  distinctly  charged  the 
whole  distress  that  did  exist  to  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States,  and  the  Senate  of  the  Uni- 
ted States — to  the  screw-and-pressure  opera- 
tions of  the  bank,  and  the  alarm  speeches  in 
the  Senate.     He  had  made  this  charge ;  and 
made  it  under  a  full  sense  of  the  moral  respon- 
sibility which  he  owed  to  the  people,  in  afiSrm- 
ing  any  thing  so  disadvantageous  to  others, 
from  this  elevated  theatre.    He  had,  therefore, 
(riven  his  proofs  to  accompany  the  charge ;  and 
he  had  now  to  say  to  the  Senate,  and  through 
the  Senate  to  the  people,  that  h'    '^und  new 
proofs  for  that  charge  in  the  dcv   xcd  state- 
ments of  the  accruing  revenue,  which  had  been 
called  for  by  the  Senate,  and  furnished  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

Mr.  B.  said  he  must  be  pardoned  for  repeat- 
ing his  request  to  the  Senate,  to  recollect  how 
often  they  had  been  told  that  trade  was  para- 
lyzed ;  that  orders  for  foreign  goods  were  coun- 
termanded ;  that  the  importing  cities  were  the 
pictures  of  desolation ;  their  ships  idle ;  their 
wharves  deserted ;  their  mariners  wandering 
up  and  down.  Now,  said  M^  B.,  in  looking 
over  the  detailed  statement  of  the  accruing  re- 
venue, it  was  found  that  there  was  no  decline 
of  commerce,  except  at  places  where  the  policy 
and  power  of  the  United  States  Bank  was  pre- 
dominant! Where  that  power  or  policy  was 
predominant,  revenue  declined;  where  it  was 
not  predominant,  or  the  policy  of  the  bank  not 
exerted,  the  revenue  increased ;  and  mcreased 
fast  enough  to  make  up  the  deficiency  at  the 
other  places,  Mr.  B.  proceeded  to  verify  this 
statement  by  a  reference  to  specified  places. 
Thus,  at  Philadelphia,  where  the  bank  holds  its 
seat  of  empire,  the  revenue  fell  off  about  one 
third ;  it  was  ^797,316  for  the  first  quarter  of 

1833,  and  only  $542,498  for  the  first  quarter  of 

1834,  At  New- York,  where  the  bank  has  not 
been  able  to  get  the  upper  hand,  there  was  an 
increase  of  more  than  ^120,000;  the  reve- 

VOL.  I.— 30 


nue  there,  for  the  first  quarter  of  1833,  was 
$3,122,160;  for  the  first  of  1834,  it  was 
$3,249,786.  At  Boston,  where  the  bank  ig 
again  predominant,  the  revenue  fell  off  about 
one  third ;  at  Salem,  Mass.,  it  fell  off  four  fifths. 
At  Baltimore,  where  the  bank  has  been  defeat- 
ed, there  was  an  mcrease  in  the  revenue  of  more 
than  $70,000.  At  Richmond,  the  revenue  was 
doubled,  from  $12,034  to  $25,810.  At  Charies- 
tor,  it  was  increased  from  $69,503  to  $102,810. 
At  Petersburg,  it  was  slightly  increased ;  and 
throughout  all  the  region  south  of  the  Poto- 
mac, there  was  either  an  increase,  or  the  slight 
falling  off  which  might  result  from  diminif?hed 
duties  without  diminished  importations.  Mr. 
B.  said  he  knew  that  bank  power  was  pre- 
dominant in  some  of  the  cities  of  the  South ; 
but  he  knew,  also,  that  the  bank  policy  of  dis- 
tress and  oppression  had  not  been  practised 
there.  That  was  not  the  region  to  be  governed 
by  the  scourge.  The  high  mettle  of  that  re- 
gion required  a  different  policy:  gentleness, 
conciliation,  coaxing !  If  the  South  was  to  be 
gained  over  by  the  bank,  it  was  to  be  done  by 
favor,  not  by  fear.    The  scourge. 


though 


so 


much  the  most  congenial  to  the  haughty  spirit 
of  the  moneyed  power,  was  only  to  be  applied 
where  H  would  be  submitted  to ;  and,  therefore, 
the  whole  region  south  of  the  Potomac,  was  ex- 
empted from  the  lash. 

Mr.  B.  here  paused  to  fix  the  attention  of  the 
Senate  upon  these  facts.  Where  the  power  of 
the  bank  enabled  her  to  depress  commerce  and 
sink  the  revenue,  and  her  policy  permitted  Iut 
to  do  it,  commerce  was  depressed ;  and  the  reve- 
nue was  sunk,  and  the  prophecies  of  the  distress 
orators  were  fulfilled ;  but  where  her  power  did 
not  predominate,  or  where  her  policy  required 
a  different  course,  commerce  increased,  and  the 
revenue  increased ;  and  the  result  of  the  whole 
is,  that  New- York  and  some  other  anti-bank 
cities  have  gained  what  Philadelphia  and  other 
bank  cities  have  lost ;  and  the  federal  treasury 
ia  just  as  well  off,  as  if  it  had  got  its  accustomed 
supply  from  every  place. 

This  view  of  facts,  Mr.  B.  said,  must  fasten 
upon  the  bank  the  odium  of  having  produced  all 
the  real  commercial  distress  which  has  been  felt. 
But  at  one  point,  at  New  Orleans,  there  was 
further  evidence  to  convict  her  of  wanton  and 
wicked  oppression.  It  was  not  in  the  Secre- 
tary's reports,  but  it  was  in  the  weekly  retu>  js 


I  - 


if 


'I  i 


fl  i. 


466 


•raiRTY  TEARS'  VIEW. 


of  the  bank ;  and  showed  that,  in  the  beginning 
of  March,  that  institution  had  carried  off  from 
her  branch  in  New  Orleans,  the  sum  of  about 
$800,000  in  specie,  which  it  had  been  collecting 
all  the  winter,  by  a  wanton  curtailment,  under 
the  prel3xt  of  supplying  the  amount  of  the  de- 
posits taken  from  her  at  that  place.  These 
$800,000  dollars  were  collected  from  the  New 
Orleans  merchants  in  the  very  crisis  of  the  arri- 
val of  Western  produce.  The  merchants  were 
pressed  to  pay  debts,  when  they  ought  to  have 
been  accommodated  with  loans.  The  price  of 
produce  was  thereby  depressed ;  the  whole 
West  suffered  from  the  depression ;  and  now  it 
is  proved  that  the  money  was  not  wanted  to 
supply  the  place  of  the  deposits,  but  was  sent 
to  Philadelphia,  where  there  was  no  use  for  it, 
the  bank  having  more  than  she  can  use ;  and 
that  the  whole  operation  was  a  wanton  and 
wicked  measure  to  coerce  the  West  to  cry  out  for 
a  return  of  the  deposits,  and  a  renewal  of  the 
charter,  by  attacking  their  commerce  in  the 
market  of  New  Orleans.  This  fact,  said  Mr. 
B.,  would  have  been  proved  from  the  books  of 
the  bank,  if  they  had  been  inspected.  Failing 
in  that,  the  proof  was  intelligibly  found  in  the 
weekly  returns. 

Mr.  B.  took  up  another  table  to  prove  the 
prosperity  of  the  country :  it  was  in  the  increase 
of  specie  since  the  programme  for  the  distress 
had  been  published.  That  programme  dated 
from  the  first  day  of  October  last,  and  the  clear 
increase  since  that  time  is  the  one  half  of  the 
whole  quantity  then  in  the  United  States.  The 
imports  had  been  $11,128,291 ;  the  exports  oniy 
$998,761. 

Mr.  B.  remarked,  upon  this  statement,  that 
it  presented  a  clear  gain  of  more  than  ten  mil- 
lions of  dollars.  He  was  of  opinion  that  two 
millions  ought  to  be  added  for  sums  not  entered 
at  the  custom-house,  which  would  make  twelve 
millions ;  and  added  to  the  six  millions  of  1833, 
would  £  .e  eighteen  millions  of  specie  of  clear 
gain  to  the  country,  in  the  last  twenty  months. 
This,  he  said  was  prosperity.  It  was  wealth  it- 
self; and  besides,  it  showed  that  the  country 
was  not  in  debt  for  its  large  importations,  and 
that  a  larger  proportion  of  foreign  imports  now 
consisted  of  specie  than  was  ever  known  before. 
Mr.  B.  particularizod  tlie  imports  and  ex^Mjrts 
of  gold  ;  how  the  former  had  increased,  and  the 
jatter  diminished,  during  the  last  few  months ; 


and  said  that  a  great  amount  of  gold,  both  fo^ 
eign  and  domestic,  was  now  waiting  in  the  coun- 
try to  see  if  Congress  would  raise  gold  to  its 
fair  value.  If  so  raised,  this  gold  would  remain 
and  enter  into  ch-culation ;  if  not,  it  would  im- 
mediately go  off  to  foreign  countries ;  for  gold 
was  not  a  thing  to  stay  where  it  .vas  under- 
valued. He  also  spoke  of  silver,  and  said  that 
it  had  arrived  without  law,  but  could  not  re- 
main without  law.  Unless  Congress  passed  an 
act  to  make  it  current,  and  that  at  full  value  as 
money,  and  not  at  the  mint  value,  as  bullion  it 
would  go  off. 

Mr.  B.  had  a  further  view  to  give  of  the  pros- 
perity of  the  country,  and  further  evidence  to 
show  that  all  the  distress  really  suffered  was 
factitious  and  unnatural.  It  was  in  the  greaf; 
increase  of  money  in  the  United  States,  during 
the  last  year  and  a  half.  He  spoke  of  money ; 
not  paper  promises  to  pay  money,  but  the  thin" 
itself— real  gold  and  silver — and  afiirmedthat 
there  was  a  clear  gain  of  from  eighteen  to  twen- 
ty millions  of  specie,  within  the  time  that  he  had 
mentioned.  He  then  took  up  the  custom-house 
returns  to  verify  this  important  statement,  and 
to  let  the  people  see  that  the  country  was  never 
so  M'ell  off  for  money  as  at  the  very  time  that  it 
was  proclaimed  to  be  in  the  lowest  state  of  pov- 
erty and  misery.  He  first  showed  the  imports 
and  exports  of  specie  and  bullion  for  the  year 
ending  ^he  30th  of  September,  1833.  It  was  as 
follows : 

Year  ending  September  30. 18o3. 


Imports. 

Exports. 

Gold  bullion, 

$48,207 

$26,775 

Silver  do. 

297,840 

Gold  coin. 

503,585 

495,890 

Silver  do. 

6,160,070 

1,722,196 

$7,070,308     $2,244,861 

Mr.  B.  having  read  over  this  statement,  re- 
marked upon  it,  that  it  presented  a  clear  balance 
of  near  five  millions  of  specie  in  favor  of  the 
United  States  on  the  first  day  of  October  last, 
without  counting  at  least  another  million  which 
was  brought  by  passengers,  and  not  put  upon 
the  custom-house  books.  It  might  be  assumed, 
he  said,  that  there  was  a  clear  accession  of  Bi.\ 
million?,  of  ^norio  to  the  money  of  the  UnitP" 
States,  on  the  morning  of  that  very  day  which 
had  been  pitched  upon  by  all  the  distress  ora- 


gold,  both  fo^ 
ng  in  the  coun- 
ise  gold  to  its 
would  remain, 
t,  it  would  im- 
itries ;  for  gold 

it  was  under- 
I  and  said  that 

could  not  re- 
;ress  passed  an 
at  full  value  as 
e,  as  bullion,  it 

ive  of  the  pros- 
ier evidence  to 
y  suffered  was 
B  in  the  gre&' 
States,  during 
oke  of  money; 
',  but  the  thing 
i  affirmed  that 
;hteen  to  twen- 
me  that  he  had 
B  custom-house 
statement,  and 
ntry  was  never 
2ry  time  that  it 
st  state  of  pov- 
id  the  imports 
a  for  the  year 
133.    It  was  as 


0. 18o'3. 

Exports. 

$26,775 

495,890 
1,722,196 

$2,244,861  • 

statement,  re- 
a  clear  balance 
1  favor  of  the 
r  October  last, 
•  million  which 
not  put  upon 
ht  be  assumed, 
jcession  of  six 
of  the  Unitpfl 
ery  day  which 
J  distress  ora- 


ANNO  1834.    ANDREW  JACKSON.  PRESIDENT. 


tors  in  the  country,  to  date  the  ruin  and  desola- 
tion of  the  country. 

Mr.  B.  then  sh  ^ed  a  statement  of  the  im^ 
ports  and  es.  t  ^  vf  specie  and  bullion,  from 
the  first  of  Ocf(^  •/,  1833,  to  the  11th  of  June, 
instant. 

Mr.  B.  recapitulated  the  evidences  of  national 
prosperity— increased  imports— revenue   from 
customs  exceeding  the  estimate— increased  re- 
venue from  public  lands— increased  amount  of 
specie— above  eleven  millions  of  available  funds 
now  in   the  treasury— domestic  and  foreign 
commerce  active— the  price  of  produce  and  pro- 
perty fair  and  good— labor  every  where  finding 
employment  and  reward— more  money  in  the 
country  than  ever  was  in  it  at  any  one  time 
before— the  numerous  advertisements  for  the 
purchase  of  slaves,  in  the  papers  of  this  city,  for 
the  Southern  market,  which  indicated  the  high 
price  of  Southern  products— and  affirmed  his 
conscientious  belief,  that  the  country  was  more 
prosperous  at  this  time  than  at  any  period  of 
its  existence;  and  inveighed  in  terms  of  strong 
indignation  against  the  arts  and  artifices,  which 
for  the  last  six  months  had  disturbed  and  agi- 
tated the  country,  and  done  serious  mischief  to 
many  individuals.    He  regretted  the  miscarriage 
of  the  attempt  to  examine  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  which  he  believed  would  have 
oompleted  the  proof  against  that  institution  for 
its  share  in  getting  up  an  unnatural  and  facti- 
tious scene  of  distress,  in  the  midst  of  real 
prosperity.    But  he  did  not  limit  his  invective 
to  the  bank,  but  came  directly  to  the  Senate, 
and  charged  a  full  share  upon  the  theatrical 
distress  speeches,  delivered  upon  the  floor  of 
the  Senate,  in  imitation  of  Volney's  soliloquy 
over  the  ruins  of  Palmyra.     He  repeated  some 
passages  from  the  most  affecting  of  these  la- 
me>itations  over  the  desolation  of  the  country 
such  as  the  Senate  had  been  accustomed  to  hear 
about  the  time  of  the  New-York  and  Virginia 
elections.    "  The  canal  a  solitude !    The  lake  a 
teert  waste  of  waters!    That  populous  city 
lately  resounding  with  the  hum  of  busy  multi- 
tmies,  now  silent  and  sad  !    A  whole  nation,  in 
the  midst  of  unparalleled  prosperity,  and  Ar- 
cadian felicity,  suddenly  struck  into  poverty,  and 
plunged  mto  unutterable  woe !  and  all  this  by  the 
<l"tiui  act  of  one  wilful  man ! »   Such,  said  Itfr.  B. 
jere  the  lamentations  over  the  ruins,  not  of  the 
Tadmor  m  the  desert,  but  of  this  America,  whose 


467 


true  condition  you  have  just  seen  exhibited  in 
the  faithful  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Trea- 
sury.  Not  even  the  "  baseless  fabric  of  a  vision  " 
was  ever  more  destitute  of  foundation,  than 
those  lamentable  accounts  of  desolation.    The 
lamentation  has  ceased;  the  panic  has  gone  off; 
would  to  God  he  could  follow  out  the  noble  line 
of  the  poet,  and  say,  "leaving  not  a  wreck  be- 
hmd."    But  he  could  not  say  that.    There  wt-ro 
wrecks  !  wrecks  of  merchants  in  every  city  in 
which  the  bank  tried  its  cruel  policy,  and  wrecks 
of  banks  in  this  district,  where  the  panic  speeches 
fell  thickest  and  loudest  upon  the  ears  of  an 
astonished  and  terrified  community  ! 

But,  continued  Mr.  B.,  the  game  is  up;  the 
alarm  is  over;  the  people  are  tired  of  it;  the 
agitators  have  ceased  to  work  the  engine  of 
alarm.    A  month  ago  he  had  said  it  was  "the 
last  of  pea-time"  with  these  distress  memorials; 
he  would  now  use  a  bolder  figure,  and  say,  that 
the  Secretary's  report,  just  read,  had  expelled 
forever  the  ghost  of  alarm  from  the  chamber  of 
the  Senate.    All  ghosts,  said  Mr.  B.,  are  afraid 
of  the  light.  The  crowing  of  the  cock— the  break 
of  day— remits  them  all,  the  whole  shadowy 
tribe,  to  their  dark  and  dreary  abodes.    How 
then  can  this  poor  ghost  of  alarm,  which  has 
done  such  hard  service  for  six  months  past  how 
can  it  stand  the  full  light,  the  broad  glare,  the 
clear  sunshine  of  the  Secretary's  report  1  "Alas 
poor  ghost ! »    The  shade  of  the  "  noole  T)ane '' 
never  quit  the  stage  under  a  more  inexorable 
law  than  the  one  which  now  drives  thee  away! 
This  report,  replete  with  plain  facts,  and  lumin- 
ous truths,  puts  to  flight  the  apparition  of  dis- 
tress, breaks  down  the  whole  machinery  of 
alarm,  and  proves  that  the  American  people 
are,  at  this  day,  the  most  prosperous  people  on 
which  the  beneficent  sun  of  heaven  did  ever 
shine ! 

Mr.  B.  congratulated  himself  that  the  spectre 
of  distress  could  never  be  made  to  cross  the 
Mississippi.    It  made  but  slow  progress  any 
where  in  the  olreat  Valley,  but  was  balked  at 
the  King  of  Floods.    A  letter  from  St.  Louis  in- 
formed him  that  an  attempt  had  just  been  made 
to  get  up  a  distress  meeting  in  the  town  of  St 
Louis ;  but  without  effect.    The  officers  were 
obtained,  and  .".conrding  to  the  approved  rule  of 
such  meetings,  they  were  converts  from  Jack- 
sonism ;    but   there  the  distress    proceedings 
stopped,  and  took  another  turn.    The  farca 


468 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


could  not  be  played  in  that  town.  The  actors 
would  not  mount  the  stage, 

Mr.  B.  spoke  of  the  circulation  of  the  Bank 
of  till  United  States,  and  said  that  its  notes 
might  be  withdrawn  without  being  fdt  or  known 
by  the  community.  It  contributed  but  four 
millions  and  a  quarter  to  the  circulation  at  this 
time.  He  verified  this  statement  b  showing 
that  the  bank  hod  twelve  millions  anu  a,  quarter 
of  specie  in  its  vaults,  and  but  sixteen  millions 
and  a  half  of  notes  in  circulation.  The  differ- 
ence was  four  millions  and  a  quarter ;  and  that 
was  the  precise  amount  which  that  gigantic  in- 
stitution now  contributed  to  the  circulation  of 
the  country !  Only  four  millions  and  a  quarter. 
If  the  gold  bill  passed,  and  raised  gold  sixteen 
to  one,  there  would  be  more  than  that  amount 
of  gold  in  circulation  in  three  months.  The  fo- 
reign coin  bill,  and  the  gold  bill,  would  give  the 
country  many  dollars  in  specie,  without  interest, 
for  each  paper  dollar  which  the  bank  issues,  and 
for  which  the  country  pays  so  dearly.  The  dis- 
solution of  the  bank  would  turn  out  twelve 
millions  and  a  quarter  of  specie,  to  circulate 
among  the  people ;  and  the  sooner  that  is  done 
the  better  it  will  be  for  the  country. 

The  Bank  is  now  a  nuisance,  said  Mr.  B.  With 
upwards  of  twelve  millions  in  specie,  and  less 
than  seventeen  millions  in  circulation,  and  only 
fifty-two  millions  of  loans,  it  pretends  that  it 
cannot  lend  a  dollar,  not  even  to  business  men, 
to  be  returned  in  sixty  days ;  when,  two  years 
ago,  with  only  six  millions  of  specie  and  twenty- 
two  millions  of  circulation,  it  ran  up  its  loans 
to  seventy  millions.  The  president  of  the  bank 
then  swore,  that  all  above  six  millions  of  specie 
was  a  surplus !  How  is  it  now,  with  near  dou- 
ble as  much  specie,  and  five  millions  less  of  notes 
out,  and  twelve  millions  less  of  debt?  The 
bank  needs  less  specie  than  any  other  banking 
institution,  because  its  notes  are  receivable,  by 
law,  in  all  federal  payments ;  and  from  that  cir- 
cumstance alone  would  bo  current,  at  par,  al- 
though the  bank  itself  might  be  wholly  unable 
to  redeem  them.  Such  a  bank  is  a  nuisance. 
It  is  the  dog  in  the  manger.  It  might  lend 
money  to  business  men,  at  short  dates,  to  the 
last  day  of  its  existence ;  yet  the  signs  are  for  a 
new  pressure ;  a  new  game  of  distress  for  the  fall 
elections  in  Pennsylvania,  Now- York,  and  Ohio, 
If  that  game  should  be  attempted,  Mr.  B.  said, 
it  would  have  to  be  done  withou    excuse,  for 


the  bank  was  full  of  money ;  without  pretext 
for  the  deposit  farce  is  over;  without  the  aid 
of  panic  speeches,  for  the  Senate  will  not  bo  in 
session. 

Mr.  B  said,  that  among  the  strange  events 
which  took  place  in  this  world,  nothing  could 
be  more  strango  than  to  find,  in  our  own  coun- 
try, and  in  the  nineteenth  century,  any  practi- 
cal illustration  of  the  ancient  doctrine  of  tlio 
metempsychosis.  Stranger  still,  if  that  doctrine 
should  be  so  far  improved,  as  to  take  effect  in 
soulless  bodies ;  for,  according  to  the  founders 
of  the  doctrine,  the  soul  alone  could  transmi- 
grate. Now,  corporations  had  no  souls;  that 
was  law,  laid  down  by  all  the  books :  that  all 
corporations,  moneyed  ones  especially,  and  above 
all,  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  was  most 
soulless.  Yet  the  rumor  was,  that  this  bank 
intended  to  attempt  the  operation  of  effecting  a 
transfer  of  her  soul ;  and  after  submittin"  to 
death  in  her  present  form,  to  rise  up  in  a  new 
one.  Mr.  B.  said  he,  for  one,  should  be  ready 
for  the  old  sinner,  come  in  the  body  of  vhat 
beast  it  might.  No  form  should  deceive  him 
not  even  if  it  condescended,  in  its  new  shape,  to 
issue  from  Wall-street  instead  of  Chestnut ! 

A  word  more,  and  Mr.  B.  was  done.  It  was 
a  word  to  those  gentlemen  whose  declarations, 
many  ten  thousand  times  issued  from  this  floor. 
had  deluded  a  hundred  thousand  people  to  send 
memorials  here,  certifying  what  those  gentle- 
men so  incontinently  repeated,  that  the  removal 
of  the  deposits  had  made  the  distress,  and  no- 
thing but  the  restoration  of  the  deposits,  or  the 
renewal  of  the  charter,  could  remove  the  distress ! 
Well!  the  deposits  are  not  restored,  and  the 
charter  is  not  renewed  ;  and  yet  the  distress  is 
gone !  What  is  the  inference  ?  Why  that  gen- 
tlemen are  convicted,  and  condemned,  upon  their 
own  argument !  They  leave  this  chamber  to  go 
home,  self-convicted  upon  the  very  test  which 
they  themselves  have  established ;  and  after  hav 
ing  declared,  for  six  months,  upon  this  floor, 
that  the  removal  of  the  deposits  made  the  dis 
tress,  and  nothing  but  their  restoration,  or  the 
renewal  of  the  bank  charter,  could  relieve  it, 
and  that  they  would  sit  here  until  the  dog-days, 
and  the  winter  solstice,  to  effect  this  restoration 
or  renewal :  they  now  go  home  in  good  time  for 
harvest,  without  effectinsr  the  restoration  or  tho 
renewal ;  and  find  every  where,  as  they  go  tho 
evidences  of  the  highest  prosperity  which  ever 


ANNO  1884.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESmENT. 


469 


3,  was  most 


blessed  the  land.  Yes  !  repeated  and  exclaimed 
J!r.  B.  with  great  emphasis,  the  deposits  are 
not  restored — the  charter  is  not  renewed — the 
distress  is  gone— and  the  distress  speeches  have 
ceased !  No  more  lamentation  over  the  desola- 
tion of  the  land  now;  and  a  gentleman  who 
should  undertake  to  entertain  the  Senate  again 
in  that  vein,  in  the  face  of  the  present  national 
prosperity— in  the  face  of  the  present  report 
from  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury— would  be 
stared  at,  as  the  Trojans  were  accustomed  to 
stare  at  the  frantic  exhibitions  of  Priam's  dis- 
tracted daughter,  while  vaticinating  the  down- 
fall of  Troy  in  the  midst  of  the  heroic  exploits 
of  Hector. 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  speech  Mr.  Webster 
spoko  a  few  words,  signifying  that  foreigners 
might  have  made  the  importations  which  kept 
up  the  revenue ;  and  Mr.  Chambers,  of  Mary- 
land, spoke  more  fully,  to  show  that  there  was 
not  time  yet  for  the  distress  to  work  its  effect 
nationally.  Mr.  Webster  then  varied  his  motion, 
and,  instead  of  sending  the  Secretary's  report  to 
the  Finance  Committee,  moved  to  lay  it  upon  the 
tabic :  which  was  done :  and  being  printed,  and 
passed  into  the  newspapers,  with  the  speech  to 
emblazon  it,  had  a  great  effect  in  bringing  the 
panic  to  a  close. 


CHAPTER    CVIII. 

REVIVAL  OP  THE   GOLD  CUEEENCT. 

A  MEASURE  of  relief  was  now  at  hand,  before 
which  the  machinery  of  distress  was  to  balk, 
and  cease  its  long  and  cruel  labors  :  it  was  the 
pas.'^age  of  the  bill  for  equalizing  the  value  of 
gold  and  silver,  and  legalizing  the  tender  of 
foreign  coins  of  both  metals.  The  bills  were 
brought  forward  in  the  House  by  Mr.  Campbell 
P.  White  of  New- York,  and  passed  after  an  ani- 
mated contest,  in  which  the  chief  question  was 
as  to  the  true  relative  value  of  the  two  metals, 
varied  by  some  into  a  preference  for  national 
bank  paper.  Fifteen  and  five-eighths  to  one  was 
the  ratio  of  nearly  all  who  seemed  best  calcula- 
ted, from  their  pursuits,  to  understand  the  sub- 
ject. The  thick  ,irrvy  of  speakers  was  oa  that 
side;  and  the  eighteen  banks  of  the  city  of 
New-York,  with  Mr.  Gallatin  at  their  head,  fa- 


vored that  proportion.    The  difficulty  of  adjust 
ing  this  value,  so  that  neither  metal  should  ex- 
pel the  other,  had  been  the  stumbling  block  for 
a  great  many  years;  and  now  this  difficulty 
seemed  to  be  as  formidable  as  ever.    Refined 
calculations  were  gone  into :  scientific  light  was 
sought:   history  was  rummaged  back  to  the 
times  of  the  Roman  empire :  and  there  seemed 
to  be  no  way  of  getting  to  a  concord  of  opinion 
either  from  the  lights  of  science,  the  voice  of  his- 
tory, or  the  result  of  calculations.    The  author 
of  this  View  had  (in  his  speeches  on  the  sub- 
ject), taken  up  the  question  in  a  practical  point 
of  view,  regardless  of  history,  and  calculations, 
and  the  opinions  of  bank  officers ;  and  looking 
to  the  actual,  and  equal,  circulation  of  the  two 
metals  in  different  countries,  he  saw  that  this 
equality  and  actuality  of  circulation  had  existed 
for  above  three  hundred  years  in  the  Spanish 
dominions  of  Mexico  and  South  America,  where 
the  proportion  was  16  to  one.     Taking  his  stand 
upon  this  single  fact,  as  the  practical  test  which 
solved  the  question,  all  the  real  ft-iends  of  the 
gold  currency  soon  rallied  to  it.    Mr.  White 
gave  up  the  bill  which  he  had  first  introduced, 
and  adopted  the  Spanish  ratio.    Mr.  Clowney 
of  South  Carolina,  Jlr.  Gillet  and  Mr.  Cambre- 
leng  of  New-York,  Mr.  Ewing  of  Indiana,  Mr. 
McKim  of  Maryland,  and  other  speakers,  gave  it 
a  warm  support.     Mr.  John  Quincy  Adams 
would  vote  for  it,  though  he  thought  the  gold 
was  over-valued ;  but  if  found  to  bo  so,  the  dif- 
ference could  be  corrected  hereafter.    The  prin- 
cipal speakers  against  it  and  in  favor  of  a  lower 
rate,  were  Messrs.  Gorham  of  Massachusetts ; 
Selden  of  New- York ;  Binney  of  Pennsylvania; 
and  Wilde  of  Georgia.    And,  eventually  the  bill 
was  pa-ssed  by  a  large  majority — 145  to  36.    In 
the  Senate  it  had  an  easy  passage.     Mr.  Calhoun 
and  Webster  supported  it:  Mr.  Clay  opposed  it: 
and  on  the  final  vote  there  were  but  seven  neg- 
atives: Messrs.  Chambers  of  Maryland;  Clay; 
Knight  of  Rhode  Island;  Alexander  Pcrterof 
Louisiana;  S,ilsbee  of  Massachusetts;  Southard 
of  New  Jersey ;  Sprague  of  Maine. 

The  good  effects  of  the  bill  were  immediately 
seen.  Gold  began  to  flow  into  the  country 
through  all  the  channels  of  commerce :  old  chests 
gave  up  their  hordes :  the  mint  was  busy :  and 
in  a  few  months,  and  as  if  by  magic,  a  currency 
banished  from  the  country  for  thirty  years, 
overspread  the  land,  and  gave  joy  and  confidence 


•ft 


s-     t . 


'  n    ■ 


^0 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


to  all  the  pursuits  of  industry.    But  this  joy 
was  not  universal.    A  large  interest  connected 
with  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  its  sub- 
sidiary and  subaltern  institutions,  and  the  whole 
paper    system,  vehemently    opposed    it;    and 
spared  neither  pains  nor  expense  to  check  its 
circulation,  and  to  bring  odium  upon  its  sup- 
porters    People  were  alarmed  with  counterfeits. 
Gilt  counters  were  exhibited  in  the  markets,  to 
alarm  the  ignorant.    The  coin  itself  was  bur- 
lesqued, in  mock  imitations  of  brass  or  copper, 
with  grotesque  figures,  and  ludicrous  inscriptions 
—the  "whole  hog"  and  the  "better  currency," 
being  the  favorite  devices.    Many  newspapers 
expended  their  daily  wit  in  its  stale  depreciation. 
The  most  exalted  of  the  paper  money  party, 
would  recoil  a  step  when  it  was  ofFered  to  them, 
and  beg  for  paper.  The  name  of  "  Gold  humbug" 
was  fastened  upon  the  person  supposed  to  have 
been  chiefly  instrumental  in  brining  the  derided 
coin  into  existence;  and  he,  not  to  be  abashed, 
made  its  eulogy  a  standing  theme— vaunting  its 
excellence,  boasting  its  coming  abundance,  to 
spread  over  the  land,  flow  up  the  Mississippi,  shine 
through  the  interstices  of  the  long  silken  purse, 
and  to  be  locked  up  safely  in  the  farmer's  trusty 
oaken  chest.    For  a  year  there  was  a  real  war 
of  the  paper  against  gold.    But  there  was  some- 
thing that  was  an  overmatch  for  the  arts,  or 
power,  of  the  paper  system  in  this  particular, 
and  which  needed  no  persuasions  to  guide  it 
when  it  had  its  choice:  it  was  the  instinctive 
feeling  of  the  masses !  which  told  them  that 
money  which  would  jingle  in  the  pocket  was  the 
right  money  for  them — that  hard  money  was  the 
right  money  for  hard  hands— that  gold  was  the 
true  currency  for  every  man  that  had  any  thing 
true  to  give  for  it,  either  in  labor  or  property : 
and  upon  these  instinctive  feelings  gold  became 
the  avidious  demand  of  the  vast  operative  and 
producing  classes. 


CHAPTER    CIX. 

BEJECTION  OF  MR.  TANET,  NOMINATED  FOB 
8ECKETAEY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

A  PRESENTIMENT  of  what  was  to  happen  in- 
uuccu  the  President  to  delay,  uutil  nuiir  the  end 
of  the  session,  the  nomination  to  the  Senate  of 


Mr.  Taney  for  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  He 
had  offended  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  too 
much  to  expect  his  confirmation  in  the  present 
temper  of  the  Senate.  He  had  a  right  to  hold 
back  the  nomination  to  the  last  day  of  the  ses- 
sion, as  the  recess  appointment  was  valid  to  its 
end ;  and  he  retained  it  to  the  last  week  not 
being  willing  to  lose  the  able  and  faithful  ser- 
vices of  that  gentleman  during  the  actual  ses- 
sion of  Congress.  At  last,  on  the  23d  of  June 
the  nomination  was  sent  in,  and  immediately  re- 
jected by  the  usual  majority  in  all  cases  in 
which  the  bank  was  concerned.  Mr.  Taney 
the  same  day  resigned  his  place  ;  and  Mr. 
McClintock  Young,  first  clerk  of  the  treasury 
remained  by  law  acting  Secretary.  Mr.  Benja- 
min Franklin  Butler,  of  New- York,  nominated 
for  the  place  of  attorney-general,  was  confirmed 
— he  having  done  nothing  since  he  came  into 
the  cabinet  to  subject  him  to  the  fate  of  his 
predecessor,  though  fully  concurring  with  the 
President  in  all  his  measures  in  relation  to  the 
bank. 


CHAPTER    ex. 

SENATORIAL  INVESTIGATION  OF  THE  BANK  OP 
THE  UNITED  STATES. 

This  corporation  had  lost  so  much  ground  m 
the  public  estimation,  by  repulsing  the  investi- 
gation attempted  by  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, that  it  became  necessary  to  retrieve  the 
loss  by  some  report  in  its  favor.  The  friends 
of  the  institution  determined,  therefore,  to  have 
an  investigation  made  by  the  Senate— by  the  Fi- 
nance Committee  of  that  body.  In  conformity 
to  this  determination  Mr.  Southard,  on  the  last 
day  of  the  session  moved  that  that  committee 
should  have  leave  to  sit  during  the  recess  of  the 
Senate  to  inquire  whether  the  Bank  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  had  violate^!  its  charter — whether  it 
was  a  safe  depository  of  the  public  moneys— 
and  what  had  been  its  conduct  since  1832  in  re- 
gard to  extension  and  curtailment  of  loans,  and 
its  general  management  since  that  time.  The 
comraittee  to  whom  this  investigation  was  com- 
mitted, consisted  of  Messrs.  Webster,  Tyler, 
Ewing,  Mangum,  and  Wilkins.  Of  this  com- 
mittee all,  except  the  last  named,  were  the  op- 
ponents of  the  administration,  friends  of  the 


ANNO  1834.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


471 


bank,  its  zealous  advocates  in  all  the  questions 
botwcen  it  and  the  government,  speaking  ar- 
dently in  its  favor,  and  voting  with  it  on  all 
questiona   during  the  session.      Mr.   Wilkins 
very  properly  refused  to  serve  on  the  commit- 
tee ;  and  Mr.  King  of  Alabama,  being  proposed 
in  his  place,  also,  and  with  equal  propriety,  re- 
fused to  serve.    This  act  of  the  Senate  in  thus 
undertaking  to  examine  the  bank  after  a  re- 
pulse of  the  committee  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives and  still  standing  out  in  contempt  of 
that  House,  and  by  a  committee  so  composed, 
and  80  restricted,  completed  the  measure  of 
mortification  to  all  the  friends  of  the  American 
Senate.    It  was  deemed  a  cruel  wound  given  to 
itself  by  the  Senate.    It  was  a  wrong  thing, 
done  in  a  wrong  way,  and  could  have  no  result 
but  to  lessen  the  dignity  and  respectability  of 
tlie  Senate.     The  members  of  the  committee 
were  the  advocates  of  the  bank,  and  its  public 
defenders  on  all  the  points  to  bo  examined. 
This  was  a  violation  of  parliamentary  law,  as 
well  as  of  the  first  principles  of  decency  and 
propriety — the  whole  of  which  require  crimina- 
tory investigations  to  be  made,  by  those  who 
make  the  accusations.    It  was  to  be  done  in  va- 
cation ;  for  which  purpose  the  committee  was 
to  sit  in  the  recess— a  proceeding  without  pre- 
cedent, without  warrant  from  any  word  in  the 
constitution— and  susceptible  of  the  most  abuse- 
ful  and  factious  use.     The  only  semblance  of 
precedent  for  it  was  the  committee  of  the  House 
in  1824,  on  the  memorial  of  Mr.  Ninian  Ed- 
wards against  Mr.  Crawford  in  that  year ;  but 
that  was  no  warrant  for  this  proceeding.    It 
was  a  mere  authority  to  an  existing  commit- 
tee which  had  gone  through  its  examination, 
and  made  its  report  to  the  House,  to  continue 
its  session  after  the  House  adjourned  to  take 
the  deposition  of  the  principal  witness,  detained 
by  sickness,  but  on  his  way  to  the  examination. 
This  deposition  the  committee  were  to  take, 
publish,  and  be  dissolved ;  and  so  it  was  done 
accordingly.    And  even  this  slight  continuation 
of  a  committee  Was  obtained  from  the  House 
with  difficulty,  and  under  the  most  urgent  cir- 
cumstances.   Mr.  Crawford  was  a  candidate  for 
the  presidency ;  the  election  was  to  come  on 
before  Congress  met  again ;  Mr.  Edwards  had 
made  criminal  charges  against  him :  all  the  tes- 
timony had  been  taken,  except  that  of  Mr.  Ed- 
Wards  hunself }  and  he  had  notified  the  com- 


mittee that  ho  was  on  his  way  to  appear  befor* 
them  in  obedience  to  their  summons.  And  H 
was  under  these  circumstances  that  the  existing 
committee  was  authorized  to  remain  in  aes- 
sion  for  his  arrival— to  receive  his  testimony- 
publish  it— and  dissolve.  No  perambulation 
through  the  country— no  indefinite  session— no 
putting  members  upon  Congress  per  dierns  and 
mileage  from  one  session  to  another.  Wrong- 
ful and  abuscful  in  its  creation,  this  porip»- 
tetic  committee  of  the  Senate  was  equally  so 
in  its  composition  and  object.  It  was  composed 
of  the  advocates  of  the  bank,  and  its  object  evi- 
dently was  to  retrieve  for  that  institution  a 
part  of  the  ground  which  it  had  lost ;  and  was 
so  viewed  by  the  community.  The  clear-sight- 
ed masses  saw  nothing  in  it  but  a  contrivance 
to  varnish  the  bank,  and  the  odious  appella- 
tion of  "whitewashing  committee"  was  &sten- 
ed  upon  it. 


CHAPTER    CXI. 

JJOWKJb'ALL  OF  THE   BANK  OF  THE  UNITED 

STATES. 

When  the  author  of  the  iEneid  had  shovra  the 
opening  gradeur  of  Rome,  he  deemed  himself 
justified  in  departing  from  the  chronological 
order  of  events  to  look  ahead,   and  give  a 
glimpse  of  the  dead  JIarcellus,  hope  and  heir  of 
the  Augustan  empire ;  in  the  like  manner  the 
writer  of  this  View,  after  haying  shown  the 
greatness  of  the  United  States  Bank— exempli- 
fied in  her  capacity  to  have  Jackson  condemned 
— the  government  directors  and  a  secretary  of 
the  treasury  rejected— a  committee  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  repulsed — the  country  con- 
vulsed and  agonized — and  to  obtain  from  the  Se- 
nate of  the  United  States  a  committee  to  proceed 
to  the  city  of  Philadelphia  to  "wash  out  its  foul 
linen;"— after  seeing  all  this  and  beholdmg  the 
greatness  of  the  moneyed  power  at  the  culmina- 
ting point  of  its  domination,  I  feel  justified  in 
looking  ahead  a  few  years  to  see  it  in  its  altered 
phase— in  its  ruined  and  fallen  estate.    And 
this  shall  be  done  in  the  simplest  form  of  ex- 
hibition ;  namely  :  by  copying  some  announce- 
ments  from  the  Philadelphia  papers  of  the  day. 
Thus:  1.  "Resolved  (by  the  stockholders),  that 


ffM 


M 


: 


472 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


it  ifl  expedient  for  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
to  make  a  general  assignment  of  the  real  and 
personal  estate,  goods  and  chattels,  rights  and 
credits,  whatsoever,  and  wheresover,  of  the  said 
corporation,  to  five  persons,  for  the  j).^  ment  or 
securing  of  the  debts  of  the  same — agreeably  to 
the  provisions  of  the  acts  of  Assembly  of  this 
commonwealth   (Pennsylvania)."      2.    "It   is 
known  that  measures  have  been  taken  to  rescue 
the  property  of  this  shattered  institution  from 
impending  peril,  and  to  recover  as  much  as  pos- 
sible of  those  enormous  bounties  which  it  was 
conceded  had  been  paid  by  its  late  managers  to 
trading  politicians  and  mercenary  publishers  for 
corrupt  services,  rendered  to  it  during  its  char- 
ter-seeking and  electioneering  campaigns."    3. 
"  The  amount  of  the  suit  instituted  by  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States  against  Mr.  N.  Biddle  is 
$1,018,000,  paid  out  during  his  administration, 
for  which  no  vouchers  can  be  found."    4.  "  The 
United  States  Bank  is  a  perfect  wreck,  and  is 
■eemingly  the  prey  of  the  oflQcers  and  their 
friends,  which  are  making  away  with  its  choicest 
Msets  by  selling  them  to  each  other,  and  taking 
pay  in  the  depreciated  paper  of  the  South."    5. 
*  Besides  its  own  stock  of  35,000,000,  which  is 
sunk,  the  bank  carries  down  with  it  a  great  many 
other  institutions  and  companies,  involving  a 
loss  of  about  21,000,000  more— making  a  loss 
of  56,000,000 — ^besides  injuries  to  individuals." 
6.  "  There  is  no  price  for  the  United  States 
Bank  stock.    Some  shares  are  sold,  but  as  lot- 
tery tickets  would  be.    The  mass  of  the  stock- 
holders s.and,  and  look  on,  as  passengers  on  a 
ship  that  is  going  down,  and  from  which  there 
is  no  escape."    7.  "  By  virtue  of  a  writ  of  ven- 
ditioni exponas,  directed  to  the  sheriff  of  the 
city  and  county  of  Philadelphia,  will  be  exposed 
to  public  sale  to  the  highest  bidder,  on  Friday, 
the  4th  day  of  November  next,  the  marble  house 
and  the  grounds  known  as  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  &c."    8.  "  By  virtue  of  a  writ  of 
levari  facias,  to  me  directed,  will  be  exposed  to 
public  sale  the  estate  known  as  'Andalusia,' 
ninety-nine  and  a  half  acres,  one  of  the  most 
highly  improved  places  in  Philadelphia;   the 
mansion-house,  and  out-houses  and  oflBces,  all  on 
the  most  splendid  scale ;  the  green-houses,  hot- 
houses, and  conservatories,  extensive  and  useful ; 
taken  as  the  property  of  Nicholas  Biddle."    9. 
iO  the  honorable  Court  of  General  Sc-Saions. 
The  grand  jury  for  the  county  of  Philadelphia. 


respectfully  submit  to  the  court,  on  their  oaths 
and  affirmations,  that  certain  officers  connected 
with  the  United  States  Bank,  have  been  guilty 
of  a  gross  violation  of  the  law— colluding  to- 
gether  to  defraud  those  stockholders  who  had 
trusted  their  property  to  be  preserved  by  them. 
And  that  there  is  good  ground  to  warrant  a 
prosecution  of  such  persons  for  criminal  ofTences 
which  the  grand  jury  do  now  present  to  tho 
court,  and  ask  that  the  attorney-general  bo  di- 
rected to  send  up  for  the  action  of  the  grand 
jury,  bills  of  indictment  against  Nicholas  Biddle 
Samuel  Jaudon,  John  Andrews,  and  others,  to 
tho  grand  jury  unknown,  for  a  conspiracy  to 
defraud  the  stockholders  in  tho  Bank  of  the 
United  States  of  the  sums  of,  &c."    10.  Bills  of 
indictment  have  been  found  against  Nicholas 
Biddle,  Samuel  Jaudon  and  John  Andrews  ac- 
cording to  the  presentment  of  the  grand  jury ; 
and  bench  warrants  issued,  which  have  been 
executed  upon  them."     11.  "Examination  of 
Nicholas  Biddle,  and  others,  before  Recorder 
Vaux.     Yesterday  afternoon  the  crowd  and 
excitement  in  and  about  the  court-room  whore 
the  examination  was  to  take  place  was  even 
greater  than  the  day  before.    Tho  court-room 
doors  were  kept  closed  up  to  within  a  few  min- 
utes of  four  o'clock,  the  crowd  outside  blocking 
up  every  avenue  leading  to  the  room.    When 
the  doors  were  thrown  open  it  was  immediately 
filled  to  overflowing.    At  four  the  Recorder 
took  his  seat,  and  announcing  that  he  wiis  ready 
to  proceed,  the  defendants  were  called,  and  sev- 
erally answered  to  their  names,  Ac."    12.  "On 
Tuesday,  the  18th,  the  examination  of  Nicholas 
Biddle  and  others,  was  continued,  and  conclud- 
ed; and  the  Recorder  ordered,  that  Nicholas 
Biddle,  Thomas  Dunlap,  John  Andrews,  Samuel 
Jaudon,  and  Joseph  Cowperthwaite,  each  enter 
into  a  separate  recognizance,  with  two  or  more 
sufficient  sureties,  in  the  sum  of  $10,000,  for 
their  appearance  at  the  present  session  of  the 
court  of  general  sessions  for  the  city  and  county 
of  Philadelphia,  to  answer  the  crime  of  which 
they  thus  stand  charged."    13.  «  Nicholas  Bid- 
dle and  those  indicted  w'th  him  have  been  carried 
upon  writs  of  habeas  corpus  before  the  Judges 
Barton,  Conrad,  and  Doran,  and  discharged  from 
the  custody  of  the  sheriff."    14.  "The  criminal 
proceedings  against  these  former  officers  of  the 
Bi'uk  of  the  United  States  have  been  brought  to 
a  close.    To  get  rid  of  the  charges  against  them 


ANNO  1884.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


473 


.'thout  trial  of  the  facts  against  them,  before  a 
'  f,  they  hod  themselTcs  surrendered  by  their 
oail,  and  sticd  out  writs  of  habeas  corpus  for 
the  release  of  their  persons.  The  opmions  of 
the  judges,  the  proceedings  having  been  con- 
cluded, were  dehvered  yesterday.  The  opinions 
of  Judges  Barton  and  Oonrad  was  for  their  dis- 
charge ;  that  of  Judge  Doran  was  unfavorable. 
They  were  accordingly  discharged.  The  indig- 
nation of  the  community  is  intense  against  this 
escape  irom  the  indictments  without  jury  trials." 


CHAPTER    CXII. 

DEATH  OF  JOHN  EANDOLPD,  OF  EOANOAKK 

He  died  at  Philadelphia  in  the  summer  of  1833 
—the  scene  of  his  early  and  brilliant  apparition 
on  the  stage  of  public  life,  having  commenced 
his  parliamentary  career  in  that  city,  under  the 
first  Mr.  Adams,  when  Congress  sat  there,  and 
when  he  was  barely  of  an  age  to  be  admitted 
into  the  body.    For  more  than  thirty  years  he 
was  the  political  meteor  of  Congress,  blazing 
with  undiminished  splendor  during  the  whole 
time,  and  often  appearing  as  the  "planetary 
plague  "  which  shed,  not  war  and  pestilence  on 
nations,  but  agony  and  fear  on  members.    His 
sarcasm  was  keen,  refined,  withering— with  a 
great  tendency  to  indulge  in  it ;  but,  as  ho  be- 
lieved, as  a  lawful  parliamentary  weapon  to  effect 
some  desirable  purpose.    Pretension,  meanness, 
vice,  demagogism,were  the  frequent  subjects  of 
the  exercise  of  his  talent ;  and,  when  confined  to 
them,  he  was  the  benefactor  of  the  House.    Wit 
and  genius  all  allowed  him ;   sagacity  was  a 
quality  of  his  mind  visible  to  all  observers— and 
which  gave  him  an  intuitive  insight  into  the 
effect  of  measures.    During  the  first  six  years 
of  Mr.  Jefferson's  administration,  he  was  the 
"Murat"  of  his  party,  brilliant  in  the  charge, 
and  always  ready  for  itj  and  valued  in  the 
council,  as  well  as  in  the  field.    He  was  long 
the  chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Ways  and 
Means-a  place  always  of  labor  and  responsi- 
bility, and  of  more  then  than  now,  when  the 
elements  of  revenue  were  less  abundant ;  and 
uo  man  could  have  been  placed  in  that  situation 
during  Mr.  Jefferson's  time  whose  known  saga- 1 


city  was  not  a  pledge  for  the  safety  of  his  lead 
in  the  most  sudden  and  critical  circumstances. 
He  was  one  of  those  whom  that  eminent  states- 
man habitually  consulted  diiring  the  periotl  of 
their  friendship,  and  to  whom  ho  carefully  com- 
municated his  plans  before  they  were  given  to 
the  public.  On  his  arrival  at  Washington  at 
the  opening  of  each  session  of  Congress  during 
this  period,  he  regularly  found  waiting  for  him 
at  his  established  lodgings— then  Crawford's, 
Georgetown— the  card  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  with  an 
invitation  for  dinner  the  next  day ;  a  dinner  at 
which  the  leading  nieasures  of  the  ensuing  ses- 
sion were  the  principal  topic.  Mr.  Jefferson 
did  not  treat  in  that  way  a  member  in  whose 
sagacity  he  had  not  confidence. 

It  is  not  just  to  judge  such  a  man  by  ordinary 
rules,  nor  by  detached  and  separate  incidents  in 
his  life.   To  comprehend  him,  he  must  be  judged 
as  a  whole— physically  and  mentally— and  un- 
der  many  aspects,  and  for  his  entire  life.    He 
was  never  well— a  chronic  victim  of  ill  health 
from  the  cradle  to  the  grave.    A  letter  from  his 
most  intimate  and  valued  friend,  Mr.  Macon 
written  to  me  after  his  death,  expressed  the  be^ 
lief  that  he  had  never  enjoyed  during  his  life 
one  day  of  perfect  health— such  as  well  people 
enjoy.    Such  life-long  suffering  must  have  ita 
effect  on  the  temper  and  on  the  mind ;  and  it 
had  on  hLs— bringing  the  temper  often  to  the 
querulous  mood,  and  the  state  of  his  mind  some- 
times to  the  question  of  insanity ;  a  question 
which  became  judicial  after  his  death,  when  the 
validity  of  his  will  came  to  be  contested.   I  had 
my  opinion  on  the  point,  and  gave  it  responsibly 
in  a  deposition  duly  taken,  to  be  read  on  the 
trial  of  the  will ;  and  in  which  a  belief  in  his 
insanity,  at  several  specified  periods,  was  fully 
expressed— with  the  reasons  for  the  opinion.    I 
had  good  opportunities  of  forming  an  opinion, 
living  in  the  same  house  with  him  several  years 
having  his  confidence,  and  seeing  him  at  all 
hours  of  the  day  and  night.    It  also  on  several 
occasions  became  my  duty  to  study  the  ques- 
tion, with  a  view  to  govern  my  own  conduct  un- 
der critical  circumstances.    Twice  he  applied  to 
me  to  carry  challenges  for  him.    It  would  have 
been  inhuman  to  have  gone  out  with  a  man  not 
in  his  right  mind,  and  critical  to  one's  self,  as 
any  accident  on  the  ground  might  seriously  com- 
promise the  second.    My  opinion  was  fixed,  of 
occasional  temporary  aberrations  of  mind;  and 


474 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


during  such  porioilH  ho  would  do  and  say  gtrango 
things — but  always  in  liis  own  way — not  only 
method,  but  genius  in  hia  fantasies :  nothing  to 
bespeak  a  bad  heart,  but  only  exaltation  and  ex- 
citement. The  most  brilliant  talk  that  I  over 
heard  from  him  came  forth  on  such  occasions — 
a  flow  for  hours  (at  one  time  seven  hours),  of 
co|)ious  wit  and  classic  allusion — a  perfect  scat- 
tering of  the  diamonds  of  the  mind.  I  hoard  a 
friend  remark  on  one  of  those  occasions,  "  ho  has 
wost^^d  intellectual  jewelry  enough  here  this 
evening  to  equip  many  sj)eakcrs  for  great  ora- 
tions." 1  onco  Bounded  him  on  the  delicate 
point  of  his  own  opinion  of  himself: — of  course 
when  ho  was  in  a  perfectly  natural  state,  and 
when  ho  had  said  something  to  permit  an  ap- 
proach to  such  a  subject.  It  was  during  his  last 
visit  to  Washington,  two  winters  before  he  died. 
It  was  in  my  room,  in  the  gloom  of  the  evening 
light,  as  the  day  was  going  out  and  the  lamps 
not  lit — no  one  present  but  ourselves — he  re- 
clining on  a  sofa,  silent  and  thoughtful,  speak- 
ing but  seldom,  and  I  only  in  reply,  I  heard  him 
repeat,  as  if  to  himself,  those  lines  from  John- 
son, (which  in  fact  I  had  often  heard  from  him 
before),  on  "Senility  and  Imbecility,"  which 
show  us  life  under  its  most  melancholy  form. 

"  In  life's  last  scenes  what  prodigies  surprise, 
Fears  of  tlio  brave,  »nJ  follies  of  the  wise  I 
From  Marlborough's  eyes  the  streams  of  dotage  flow. 
And  Swift  expires,  a  driveller  and  a  sliow. " 

When  he  had  thus  repeated  these  lines,  which 
he  did  with  deep  feeling,  and  in  slow  and  mea- 
sured cadence,  I  deemed  it  excusable  to  make 
a  remark  of  a  kind  which  I  had  never  ventured 
on  before;  and  said:  Mr.  Randolph  I  have 
several  times  heard  you  repeat  these  lines,  as 
if  they  could  have  an  application  to  yourself, 
while  no  person  can  have  less  reason  to  fear  the 
fate  of  Swift.  I  said  this  to  sound  him,  and  to 
see  what  he  thought  of  himself.  His  answer 
was :  "  I  have  lived  in  dread  of  insanity."  That 
answer  was  the  opening  of  a  sealed  book — re- 
vealed to  me  the  source  of  much  mental  agony 
that  I  had  seen  him  undergo.  I  did  deem  him 
in  danger  of  the  fate  of  Swift,  and  from  the 
same,  cause  as  judged  by  his  latest  and  greatest 
biographer,  Sir  Walter  Scott. 

His  parliamentary  life  was  resplendent  in 
talent — elevated  in  moral  tone — always  moving 
on  the  lofty  line  of  honor  and  patriotism,  and 


scorning  every  thing  mean  and  selfish.  He  ww 
the  indignant  ci*my  of  personal  and  plundir 
legislation,  and  the  very  scourge  of  intrigue  mid 
corruption.  He  reverenced  an  honest  man  in 
the  humblest  garb,  and  scorned  the  dishonest 
though  plated  with  gold.  An  opinion  wiia  pro' 
pagatod  that  ho  was  llcklo  in  his  friendsliips. 
Certainly  there  were  some  capricious  changes- 
but  far  more  instances  of  steadfast  adherence. 
His  friendship  with  Mr.  Macon  was  hiitoric. 
Their  names  went  together  in  life  -live  togetiier 
in  death— and  are  honored  together,  moat  by 
those  who  knew  them  best.  With  Mr.  Taze- 
well, his  friendship  was  still  longer  than  that 
with  Mr.  Macon,  commencing  in  boyhood  and 
only  ending  with  life.  So  of  many  others;  and 
pre-eminently  so  of  his  neighbors  and  constitu- 
ents— the  people  of  his  congressional  district— 
affectionate  as  well  as  faithful  to  him  ;  elcctin" 
him  as  they  did,  from  boyhood  to  the  grave. 
No  one  felt  more  for  friends,  or  was  more  soli- 
citous and  anxious  at  the  side  of  the  sick  and 
dying  bed.  Love  of  wine  was  attributed  to 
him ;  and  what  was  mental  excitement,  was  re- 
ferred to  deep  potations.  It  was  a  great  error. 
I  never  saw  him  afTectcd  by  wine — not  even  to 
the  slightest  departure  from  the  habitual  and 
scrupulous  decorum  of  his  manner's.  His  tem- 
per was  naturally  gay  and  social,  and  so  in- 
dulged when  suffering  of  mind  and  body  per- 
mitted. He  was  the  charm  of  the  dinner-table, 
where  his  cheerful  and  sparkling  wit  delighted 
every  ear,  lit  up  every  countenance,  and  detained 
every  guest.  He  was  charitable;  but  chose 
to  conceal  the  hand  that  ministered  relief.  I 
have  often  seen  him  send  little  children  out  to 
give  to  the  poor. 

He  was  one  of  the  large  slaveholders  of  Vir- 
ginia, but  disliked  the  institution,  and,  when 
let  alone,  opposed  its  extension.  Thus,  in  1803, 
when  as  chairman  of  the  committee  which  re- 
ported upon  the  Indiana  memorial  for  a  tempo- 
rary dispensation  from  the  anti-slavery  part  of 
the  ordinance  of  1787,  he  puts  tho  question 
upon  a  statesman's  ground ;  and  reports  against 
it,  in  a  brief  and  comprehensive  argument : 

"That  the  rapid  population  of  tho  State  of 
Ohio  sufficiently  evinces,  in  the  opinion  of  your 
committee,  that  the  labor  of  the  slave  is  not 
necessary  to  promote  the  growth  and  settle- 
ment of  colonies  in  that  region.  That  this  la- 
bor, demonstrably  the  dearest  of  any,  can  only 
be  employed  to  advantage  in  the  cultivation  of 


ANNO  1884.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDKNT. 


products  more  valuablo  than  any  known  to  that 
quarter  of  tho  United  States :  and  the  commit- 
tee deem  it  higliiy  daiiKcrous  and  inexpedient 
to  impair  a  provision  wisely  calculated  to  pro- 
mole  tho  happiness  and  prosperity  of  the  north- 
western  country,  and  to  Rive  strength  and  secu- 
rity to  th(\t  extensive  frontier.  In  tho  salutary 
openition  of  this  sagacious  and  benevolent  rc- 
btraint,  it  is  believed  that  tho  inhabitants  of 
Indiana  will,  at  no  very  distant  day,  find  ample 
ifinnneration  for  a  temporary  privation  of  labor 
ind  emigration." 

He  was  against  slavery;  and  by  his  will,  both 
manumitted  and  provided  for  tho  hundreds 
which  he  held.    But  ho  was  against  foreign  in- 
terference with  his  rights,  his  feelings,  or  his 
duties ;  and  never  failed  to  resent  and  rebuke 
such  interference.     Thus,  ho  was  one  of  the 
most  zealous  of  tho  opposers  of  tho  proposed 
Missouri  restriction;  and  even  voted  against  the 
divisional  line  of  "  thirty-six  thirty."    In  the 
House,  when  the  term  "slaveholder"  would  bo 
reproachfully  used,  he  would  assume  it,  and  re- 
fer to  a  member,  not  in  tho  parliamentary  phrase 
of  colleague,  but  in  tho  complimentary  title  of 
"my  fellow-slaveholder."  And,  in  London,  when 
the  consignees  of  his  tobacco,  and  the  slave  fac- 
tors of  his  father,  urged  him  to  liberate  his 
slaves,  he  quieted  their  intrusive  philanthropy 
on  the  spoi,  by  saying,  «  Yes :  you  buy  and  set 
free  to  the  amount  of  the  money  you  have  receiv- 
ed from  my  father  and  his  estate  for  these  slaves, 
and  I  will  set  free  an  equal  number." 

In  his  youth  and  later  age,  he  fought  duels: 
in  his  middle  life,  he  was  against  them;  and, 
for  a  while,  would  neither  give  nor  receive  a 
challenge.    He  was  under  religious  convictions 
to  the  contrary,  but  finally  yielded  (as  he  be- 
lieved) to  an  argument  of  his  own,  that  a  duel 
was  private  war,  and  rested  upon  the  same 
basis  as  public  war ;  and  that  both  were  aUow- 
able,  when  there  was  no  other  redress  for  in- 
sults and  injuries.     That  was  his  argument; 
but  I  thought  his  relapse  came  more  from  feel- 
ing than  reason  i  and  especially  from  the  deatfi 
of  Decatur,  to  whom  he  was  greatly  attached, 
and  whose  duel  with  Barron  long  and  greatly 
escited  him.  He  had  religious  impressions,  and 
avem  of  piety  which  showed  itself  more  in  pri- 
vate than  in  external  observances.    He  was  ha- 
bitual m  his  reverential  regard  for  the  divinity 
ot  our  religion;  and  one  of  his  beautiful  exnres- 
»'"ns  was,  that,  "If  woman  had  lost  us  para- 
aise,  she  had  gained  us  heaven."    The  Bible 


475 


and  Shakespeare  were,  in  his  latter  years,  liiH 
constant  companions— travelling  with  liim  on 
tho  road— remaining  with  him  in  tho  chamber. 
Tho  last  time  I  saw  him  (in  that  last  visit  to 
Washington,  after  his  return  from  the  Rus-ian 
mission,  and  when  he  was  in  full  view  of  death), 
I  heard  him  read  the  chapter  in  the  Revelation^ 
(of  tho  opening  of  tho  seals),  with  such  pow- 
er and  beauty  of  voice  and  delivery,  and  such 
depth  of  pathos,  that  I  felt  as  if  I  had  never 
heard  the  chapter  read  before.    When  ho  had 
got  to  the  end  of  the  opening  of  the  sixth  seal, 
he  BtopiKjd  tho  reading,  laid  the  book  (.jpcn  at 
the  place)  on  his  breast,  as  ho  lay  on  his  bed, 
and  began  a  discourse  upon  the  beauty  and 
sublimity  of  the  Scriptural  writings,  compared 
to  which  he  considered  all  human  compositions 
vain  and  empty.    Going  over  the  images  pre- 
sented by  the  opening  of  the  seals,  ho  averred 
that  their  divinity  was  in  their  sublimity— that 
no  human  power  could  take  tho  same  images, 
and  inspire  the  same  awe  and  terror,  and  sink 
ourselves  into  such  nothingness  in  the  presence 
of  the  "wrath  of  tho  Lamb  "-that  he  wanted 
no  proof  of  their  divine  origin  but  the  sublime 
feelings  which  they  inspired. 


CHAPTER    CXIII. 

DEATH  OF  MR.  WIRT, 


He  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-two,  after  having 
reached  a  place  in  the  first  line  at  the  Virginia 
bar,  where  there  were  such  lawyers  as  Wick- 
ham,  Tazewell,  Watkins  Leigh;  and  a  place  in 
the  front  rank  of  the  bar  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
where  there  were  such  jurists  as  Webster  and 
Pinkney;  and  after  having  attained  the  high' 
honor  of  professional  preferment  in  the  appoint- 
ment of  Attorney  General  of  the  United  States 
under  the  administration  of  Mr.  Monroe.    His 
life  contains  instructive  lessons.    Bom  to  no 
advantages  of  wealth  or  position,  he  raised  him- 
self to  what  he  became  by  his  own  exertions. 
In  danger  of  falling  into  a  fatal  habit  in  early 
life,  he  retrieved  himself  (touched  by  the  noblo 
generosity  of  her  who  afterwards  became  his 

„  ,..,^.Q  „ucy,  iruiH  rne  orink  of 

the  abyss,  and  became  the  model  of  every  do- 
mestic virtue;  with  genius  to  shina  without 


4*76 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


labor,  lio  yot  conaiJoitnl  p;rniiiH  nothing  without 
U*>or,  wnd  gave  through  life  a  laborious  npplica- 
t»  a  to  f '  «  'tudy  of  the  law  an  a  Hcicncc,  and  to 
?%  ''  pat  ilar  01*0  in  which  ho  wim  i-vcr  em- 
P'W*  u.  f  h*  elegant  p-nrsuits  of  litomtun*  oc- 
eup*0d  u  ■'  momenta  t«K< '  from  profeHsional 
studies  and  .uiburi»,  ami  gave  to  tin'  r<  ...itoft  pul>- 
Uc  Bcvomi  admired  iifoductions,  of  "I  the 
long-desired  and  beautiful  '"Life  of  Tatiid* 
Ifenry,"  was  the  nui  ♦  considerable  :  a  grutcftil 
comniemoration  of  Vuginiu'H  grrsUst  orator, 
irf>'''h  has  been  justly  repaid  to  oiip  •<"  her  first 
iliW  iWtors,  by  Mr.  Kennedy  of  Miu  .land,  in 
his  dHMic  "  Life  of  William  Wirt."  How  grate- 
ful to  see  citizens,  thus  engaged  in  laborious 
profcHsions,  snatching  inomentH  from  their  daily 
labors  to  do  justice  to  the  illustrious  dead — to 
enlighten  posterity  by  their  history,  and  en- 
courage it  by  their  example.  Worthy  of  his 
political  and  literary  eminence,  and  its  most 
shining  and  crowning  ornament,  was  the  state 
of  his  domestic  relations — exemplary  in  every 
thing  that  gives  joy  and  decorum  to  the  private 
family,  and  rewarded  with  every  blessing  which 
could  result  from  such  relations.  But,  why  use 
this  feeble  pen,  when  the  voice  of  Webster  is  at 
hand  ?  Mr.  Wirt  died  during  the  term  of  the 
Supremo  Court,  his  revered  friend,  the  Chief 
Justice  Marshall,  still  living  to  preside,  and  to 
give,  in  touching  language,  the  order  to  sprend 
the  proceedings  of  the  bar  (in  relation  to  his 
death)  upon  the  records  of  the  court.  At  the 
bar  meeting,  which  adopted  these  proceedings 
Mr.  Webster  thus  paid  the  tribute  of  justice  and 
affection  to  one  with  whom  professional  rivalry 
had  been  the  source  and  cement  of  personal 
friendship : 


"  It  is  announced  to  us  that  one  of  the  oldest, 
one  of  the  ablest,  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
members  of  this  bar,  has  departed  this  mortal  life. 
William  Wirt  is  no  more !  He  has  this  day  closed 
a  professional  career,  among  the  longest  and  the 
most  brilliant,  which  the  distinguished  Members 
of  the  profession  in  the  United  States  have  at 
any  time  accomplished.  Unsullied  in  every 
tiling  which  regards  professional  honor  and  in- 
tegrity, patient  of  labor,  and  rich  in  those  stores 
o::'  learning,  which  are  the  reward  of  patient 
la' •  i  and  patient  labor  only;  and  if  equalled, 
yet  '•♦a',  ily  allowed  not  to  be  excelled,  in  fer- 
vent, .1  \  '?  .  ■']  am'  jiersuasive  eloquence,  he  has 
leflr.  »x>.  I  "  mj  /e  wi.  ,:h  those  who  seek  to  raise 
theiijfvlv:..  to  -yrv-t  heights  of  professional  emi- 
nen^^a, 'vU',  h?    after  em-u  .:$\j  study.    For- 


tunate, indeed,  will  be  tlie  few,  who  shall  imitau 
it  Huccessfullr  I 

"  Ah  a  publir  man,  it  is  not  our  peculiar  <Iiitv 
to  Bjieak  of  Mr.  Wirt  here,  llii  oharatliT  in 
that  respect  belongs  to  his  country,  and  to 
the  history  of  his  country.  And,  sir,  if  ^f, 
were  f"  speak  of  him  in  his  private  life  and 
in  his  Buoiol  relations,  all  wo  could  posHibly  ny 
of  his  urbanity,  his  kind.iess,  the  faithfulne/i 
of  his  friendships,  and  the  wnrnith  of  hig  aflto- 
tions,  would  hardly  seem  sufficiently  Btmnn 
nnd  glowing  to  dohun  jusli.  0,  in  thefiTlinganll 
judgment  of  those  who,  separated,  now  forever 
from  his  embraces  can  only  enshrine  his  memory 
in  their  bleeding  hearts.  Nor  may  we,  sir,  more 
than  allude  to  that  other  relation,  which  be- 
longed to  him,  and  belongs  to  us  all ;  timt  high 
and  paramount  relation,  which  eoiuiects  man 
with  his  Maker  I  It  may  be  permitted  uh,  how- 
ever, to  have  the  pleasure  of  recording  hisnu" 
tts  one  who  felt  a  deep  sense  of  religious  (in  ' 
and  who  placed  all  his  how's  of  the  fiitun-  mI 
the  (ruth  and  in  the  doctrines  of  Oluistiniiity. 

"  Hut  our  particular  ties  to  him  wcr*  ( !  i  tics  of 
our  profession.  Ho  was  our  broth  1.  ri>l  iiewas 
our  friend.  With  talents  powerful  enough  to  ex- 
cite the  strength  of  the  strongest,  with  a  kindness 
both  of  heart  and  of  manner  capable  of  warminp 
and  winning  the  coldest  of  his  brethren,  .le  hu 
now  completed  the  term  of  his  professional  life, 
and  of  his  earthly  existence,  in  the  enjoyment 
of  the  high  respect  nnd  cordial  allcctions' of  us 
uU.  Let  us,  then,  sir,  hasten  to  pay  to  his 
memory  the  well-deserved  tribute  of  our  regard. 
Let  us  lose  no  time  in  testifying  our  sense  of 
our  loss,  and  in  expressing  our  grief,  thot  one 
great  light  of  our  profession  is  extinguished  for- 
ever." 


CHAPTER    CXIV. 

DEATH  OF  TIIK  LAST  OF  THE  8IONER9  OF  THB 
DECLAKATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE. 

On  the  morning  of  July  4th,  1820— just  fifty 
yeors  after  the  event — but  three  of  the  fifty-six 
members  of  'Lo  continental  Congress  of  1776 
who  had  signed  the  Dcc'aration  of  !■  dc^nndencc, 
remained  uhWa;  ou  tho  evening  ol  that  day 
there  remained  but  one — Charles  Carroll,  of 
Carrollton,  Maryland ;  then  a  full  score  beyond 
the  Psalmist's  limit  of  manly  life,  and  destined 
to  a  further  lease  of  six  good  years.  It  has  been 
remarked  of  the  "  signers  of  the  Declaration  " 
that  a  felicitous  existence  seems  to  have  been 
reserred  for  them  5  blessed  vAtYi  long  life  and 
good  health,  honored  with  the  public  esteem, 


ANNO  18S4.    ANDIIKW  JACKSON.  PREtJIDENT. 


477 


nidt'd  to  tho  highest  dIgnlticB  of  the  States  and 
of  t!io  ft'tleral  K"vernmont,  happy  In  their  pos- 
terity, and  Imppy  in  tho  view  "'"  the  great  and 
proupcrous  eountry  which  then  labora  had 
brought  into  existence.  Anionn  thcmj,  so  foll- 
citouH  and  HO  illimtrioiw,  ho  was  um-  of  the  most 
happy,  and  among  tho  most  distingumhed.  Ho 
enjoyed  the  honors  of  his  pun  !»nd  patriot  life 
in  all  their  fonns;  ago,  and  iu  Jih,  and  mind, 
for  sixteen  yuara  beyond  that  fourscore  which 
brings  labor  and  sorrow  and  weakncNS  to  mn  ; 
ample  fortune ;  public  honors  in  filling  the  higlt- 
ostotBcea  of  his  State,  and  a  seat  in  tho  Senate 
of  the  United  States  ;  private  etyoynient  in  an 
hduorablo  and  brilliant  iM)Hterity.     Horn  to  for- 

Mi ,  .ind  -o  tho  care  of  wise  and  good  parents, 
ho  had  all  tho  advantages  of  education  which 
tho  colleges  of  Franco  and  the  "  Inns  of  Court  " 
of  Loudon  could  give.  With  every  thing  to  lose 
in  unHUccessful  rebellion,  ho  risked  all  from  tho 
first  opining  of  tliu  contest  with  tho  mother 
country :  and  when  ho  walked  up  to  the  secre- 
Ury's  table  to  sign  tho  paper,  which  might 
become  a  death-warrant  to  its  authors,  the  re- 
mark was  made,  "  there  go  some  millions."  And 
his  signing  was  a  privilege,  claimed  and  granted. 
IIewa.s  not  present  at  the  declaration.  He  was 
not  even  a  member  of  Congress  on  the  memora- 
ble Fourth  of  July.  Ho  was  in  Annapolis  on 
that  day,  a  member  of  the  Maryland  Assembly, 
and  zealously  engaged  in  urging  a  revocation  of 
the  instructions  which  limited  the  Maryland 
delegates  in  tho  continental  Congress  to  ob- 
taining a  redress  of  grievances  without  breaking 
the  connection  with  tlio  mother  country.  He 
succeeded— was  apiwintcd  a  delegate— flew  to 
his  post— and  added  his  name  to  the  patriot  list. 

All  history  tells  of  the  throwing  overboard  of 
the  tea  in  Boston  harbor:  it  has  not  been  equally 
attentive  to  the  burning  of  the  tea  in  Anna- 
polis harbor.  It  was  the  summer  of  1774  that 
tlio  brigantiae  "Peggy  Stewart"  approached 
Annapolis  with  a  cargo  of  the  forbidden  leaves  on 
board.  The  people  were  in  commotion  at  the 
news.  It  was  an  insult,  and  a  defiance.  Swift 
destruction  was  in  preparation  for  tho  vessel : 
instant  chastisement  was  in  search  of  the  owners. 
Terror  seized  them.  They  sent  to  Charles  Car- 
roll as  tho  only  man  that  could  moderate  tho 
fury  ot  the  people,  .".nd  .--avo  their  persons  and 
property  from  a  sudden  destruction.  He  told  them 
there  was  but  one  way  to  save  their  persons, 


and  that  was  to  burn  tlieir  reswl  and  cargo,  in- 
stantly and  in  tho  sight  of  tho  people.  It  wu 
done:  and  thus  tho  flames  ronsumed  at  Anna- 
|)oliM,  what  tho  waves  had  burie-'  at  Boston : 
and  in  Iwth  cases  tho  spirit  and  the  a.rifl('«  wm 
the  same— opposition  to  taxation  without  repre- 
sentation, and  destruction  to  i(s  h\  uiIk.'. 


CIIAI'TEll    CXV. 

COMMENCKMKNT  OK  TUK   8KSSION  1834— «: 
rKESIDKN'l  >   MEHH  VOE. 

TowAiiDs  the  close  of  tho  previous  sesBion,  Mr. 
Stevenson  had  resigned  the  place  of  speaker  of 
tho  Mouse  of  Kepresentatives  in  consequence  of 
his  nomination  to  be  minister  plenipotentinrv  und 
envoy  extraordinary  to  the  court  of  St.  J:  iies 
—a  nomination  then  rejected  by  tho  Senate,  but 
subsequently  confi  nied.  Mr.  John  Hell  of 
Tennessee,  was  eloc  "d  sjwaker  in  his  place,  hig 
principal  competitoi  being  Mr.  James  K.  Polk 
of  tho  .same  State:  i,id,  with  this  differenco  in 
its  organization,  the  ffouso  met  at  tho  usual 
time — the  first  Moii'  ly  of  Deccmlier.  The 
Cabinet  then  stood  :  J.  \n  Forsyth,  Secretary  of 
State,  in  place  of  Louis  IcLane,  resigned ;  Ltvi 
Woodbury,  Secretary  ol  the  Treasury ;  Lewis 
Cass,  Secretary  at  Wni  ;  Mahlon  Dickerson, 
Secretary  of  tho  Navy;  A^■^liu^l  T.  Barry,  Post 
Master  General;  Benjan  n  Franklin  Butler, 
Attorney  General.  Tho  c  ndition  of  our  afTuirfc 
with  France,  was  the  proi  inent  feature  of  the 
message,  and  presented  the  r  'ations  of  the  United 
States  with  that  power  um  jr  a  serious  aspect. 
The  indemnity  stipulated  ii  the  treaty  of  1831 
had  not  been  paid— no  one  <  '  the  instalments; 
—and  the  President  laid  the  ibject  before  Con- 
gress for  its  consideration,  am,  action,  if  deemed 
necessary. 

"  I  regret  to  say  that  the  pled  es  made  through 
the  minister  of  France  have  no:  been  redeemed. 
The  new  Chambers  met  on  th.  31st  July  last, 
and  although  the  subject  of  fulfii  ling  treaties  was 
alluded  to  in  the  speech  from  tlj  •  throne,  no  at- 
tempt was  made  by  the  King  or  b.is  Cabinet  to 
procure  an  appropriation  to  carr  it  into  execu- 
tion. The  rea.'^ons  given  for  tli  omission,  al- 
though they  mijfht  be  consi'leri  >  sufficient  in 
an  ordinary  case,  are  not  consist  nt  with  the 
expectations  founded  upon  the  assurances  given 
here,  for  there  is  no  constitutional  obstacle  to 


478 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


tli 


entering  into  loRislativo  business  at  the  first 
meeting  of  the  Chambers.  This  point,  however 
might  have  been  overlooked,  had  not  the  Cham- 
bers, instead  of  being  called  to  meet  at  ao  earlv 
a  day  that  the  result  of  their  deliberations  might 
be  communicated  to  me  before  the  meeting  of 
Congress,  been  prorogued  to  the  29th  of  the 
present  month— a  period  bo  late  that  their  de- 
cision can  scarcely  be  made  known  to  the  present 
Congress  prior  to  its  dissolution.  To  avoid  this 
delay,  our  minister  in  Paris,  in  virtue  of  the 
assurance  given  by  the  French  minister  in  the 

ru^'ln**''*'^'''  ''^t^n&'y  urged  the  convocation 
of  the  Chambers  at  an  earlier  day.  but  without 
success.  It  is  proper  to  remark,  however,  that 
this  refusal  has  been  accompanied  with  the  most 
positive  assurances,  on  the  part  of  the  Executive 
government  of  France,  of  their  intention  to  press 
the  appropriation  at  the  ensuing  session  of  the 
Chambers. 

"If  it  shall  be  the  pleasure  of  Congress  to 
await  the  further  action  of  the  French  Chambers 
no  further  consideration  of  the  subject  will  at 
this  session,  probably  be  required  at  your  hands. 
But  if,  from  the  original  delay  in  asking  for  an 
appropriation;  from  the  refusal  of  the  Chambers 
to  grant  it  when  asked ;  from  the  omission  to 
bring  the  subject  before  the  Chambers  at  their 
last  session  •  from  the  fact  that,  including  that 
session,  there  have  been  five  different  occasions 
when  the  appropriation  might  have  been  made ; 
and  from  the  delay  in  convoking  the  Chambers 
until  some  weeks  after  the  meeting  of  Congress 
when  it  was  well  known  that  a  communication 
of  the  whole  subject  to  Congress  at  the  last  ses- 
sion was  prevented  by  assurances  that  it  should 
be  disposed  of  before  its  present  meeting,  you 
should  feel  yourselves  constrained  to    doubt 
whether  it  be  the  intention  of  the  French  govern- 
ment in  all  its  branches  to  carry  the  treaty  into 
effect,  and  think  that  such  measures  as  the  occa- 
sion may  be  deemed  to  call  for  should  be  now 
adopted,  the  important  question  arises,  what 
those  measures  shall  be." 


The  question  then,  of  further  delay,  waiting 
on  the  action  of  France,  or  of  action  en  our  own 
part,  was  thus  referred  to  Congress ;  but  under 
the  constitutional  injunction,  to  recommend  to 
that  body  the  measures  he  should  deem  neces- 
sary, and  in  compliance  with  his  own  sense  of 
duty,  and  according  to  the  frankness  of  his  tem- 
per, he  fully  and  categorically  gave  his  own 
opinion  of  what  ought  to  be  done ;  thus : 

"  It  is  my  conviction  that  tiio  United  States 
ought  to  insist  on  a  prompt  execution  of  the 
treaty ;  and,  in  case  it  be  refused,  or  longer  de- 
layed, take  redress  into  their  own  hands.  Af- 
t<!r  the  delay,  on  the  part  nf  France,  of  a  quarter 
of  a  century,  in  acknowledging  these  claims  by 
treaty,  it  is  not  to  be  tolerated  that  another 
quarter  of  a  century  is  to  be  wasted  in  nego- 


tiating about  the  payment.  The  laws  of  nations 
provide  a  remedy  for  such  occasions.  It  is  » 
well-settled  principle  of  the  international  code 
that  where  one  nation  owes  another  a  liquidated 
debt,  which  it  refuses  or  neglects  to  pav  Z 
aggrieved  party  may  seize  on  the  property  hi 
loi^ing  to  the  other,  its  citizens  or  subLk 
sufficient  to  pay  the  debt,  without  givinir  insJ 
cause  of  war.  This  remedy  has  been  repeatedlv 
resorted  to,  and  recently  by  France  herself  tl 
wards  Portugal,  under. circumstances  less  un- 
questionable." 

''Since  France,  in  violation  of  the  pledtres 
given  through   her  minister  here,  has  delayed 
her  final  action  so  long  that  her  decision  will 
not  probably  be  known  in  time  to  be  communi- 
cated  to  this  Congress,  I  recommend  that  a  law 
be  passed  authorizing  reprisals  upon   French 
property,  in  case  provision  shall  not  be  made  for 
the  payment  of  the  debt  at  the  approaching 
session  of  the  French  Chambers.    Such  a  mea- 
sure ought  not  to  bo  considered  by  France  as  a 
menace.      Her  pride  and  power  are  too  well 
known  to  expect  any  thing  from  her  fears,  and 
preclude  the  necessity  of  the  declaration  that 
nothing  partaking  of  the  character  of  intimida- 
tion IS  intended  by  us.    She  ought  to  look  upon 
It  as  the  evidence  only  of  an  inflexible  leter- 
mination  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  to  in- 
sist on  their  rights.    That  Government,  by  do- 
ing only  what  it  has  itself  acknowledged  to  be 
just,  will  be  able  to  spare  the  United  States  the 
necessity  of  taking  redress  into  their  own  hands 
and  save  the  property  of  French  citizens  from 
that  seizure  and  sequestration  which  American 
citizens  so  long  endured  without  retaliation  or 
redress.    If  she  should  continue  to  refuse  that 
act  of  acknowledged  justice,  and,  in  violation  of 
the  law  of  nations,  make  reprisals  on  our  part 
the  occasion  of  hostilities  against  the  United 
States,  she  would  but  add  violence  to  injustice, 
and  could  not  fail  to  expose  herself  to  the  just 
censure  of  civilized  nations,  and  to  the  retribu- 
tivc  judgments  of  Heaven.'' 


In  making  this  recommendation,  and  in  look- 
ing to  its  possible  result  as  producing  war  be- 
tween the  two  countriP3,  the  President  showed 
himself  fully  sensible  to  all  the  considerations 
which  should  make  such  an  event  deplorable 
between  powers  of  ancient  friendship,  and  their 
harmony  and  friendship  desirable  for  the  sake 
of  the  progress  and  maintenance  of  liberal  po- 
litical systems  in  Europe.  And  on  this  point  he 
said: 

"Collision  with  France  is  the  more  to  be  re- 
gretted, on  account  of  the  position  she  occupies 
ill  Europe  in  relation  to  liberal  institutions. 
But  in  maintaining  our  national  rights  and  hon 
OP,  all  governments  are  alike  to  us.  If,  by  a 
collision  with  France,  in  a  case  where  she  is 


ANNO  1834.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


479 


t.  The  laws  of  nations 
ch  occasions.    It  ig  j 

he  international  code 
B8  another  a  liquidated 
■  neglects  to  pay,  the 
1  on  the  property  be- 
1  citizens  or  subjects, 
t,  without  giving  just 
ly  has  been  repeatedly 
by  France  herself  to- 
rcumstances  less  un- 

ation  of  the  pledges 
iter  here,  has  delayed 
hat  her  decision  will 
I  time  to  be  communi- 
ecommend  that  a  law 
prisals  upon   French 
shall  not  be  made  for 
t  at  the  approaching 
imbers.    Such  a  mea- 
idered  by  France  as  a 
power  are  too  well 
g  from  her  fears,  and 
the  declaration  that 
;haracter  of  intimida- 
le  ought  to  look  upon 
'  an  inflexible  letcr- 
5  United  States  to  in- 
Govemment,  by  do- 
acknowledged  to  be 
;ho  United  States  the 
into  their  own  hands, 
French  citizens  from 
tion  which  American 
ithout  retaliation  or 
ntinue  to  refuse  that 
e,  and,  in  violation  of 
eprisals  on  our  part 
against  the  United 
violence  to  injustice, 
e  herself  to  the  just 
1,  and  to  the  retribu- 


ndation,  and  in  look- 
3  producing  war  be- 
be  President  showed 
11  the  considerations 
m  event  deplorable 
friendship,  and  their 
sirable  for  the  sake 
jnance  of  liberal  po- 
^nd  on  this  point  he 


I  the  more  to  be  re- 
)osition  she  occupies 
liberal  iustitutiuiui. 
onal  rights  and  hon 
ke  to  us.  If,  by  a 
case  where  she  is 


clearly  in  the  wrong,  the  march  of  liberal  prin- 
ciples shall  be  impeded,  the  responsibility  for 
that  result,  as  well  as  every  other,  will  rest  on 
her  own  head." 

This  b  jite  of  our  relations  with  France  gave 
rise  to  some  animated  proceedings  in  our  Con- 
gress, '«'hich  will  be  noticed  in  their  proper  place. 
The  condition  of  the  finances  was  shown  to  bo 
good— not  only  adequate  for  all  the  purposes  of 
the  government  and  the  complete  extinguish- 
ment of  the  remainder  of  the  public  debt,  but 
still  leaving  a  balance  in  the  treasury  equal  to 
one  fourth  of  the  annual  income  at  the  end  of 
the  year.    Thus : 

"  According  to  the  estimate  of  the  Treasury 
Department,  the  revenue  accruing  from  all 
sources,  during  the  present  year,  will  amount  to 
twenty  millions  six  hundred  and  twenty-four 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventeen  dollars, 
which,  with  the  balance  remaining  in  the  Trea- 
sury on  the  first  of  January  last,  of  eleven  mil- 
lions seven  hundred  and  two  thousand  nine  hun- 
dred and  five  dollars,  produces  an  aggregate  of 
thirty-two  millions  three  hundred  and  twenty- 
seven  thousand  six  hundred  and  twenty-three 
dollars.  The  total  expenditure  during  the  year 
for  all  objects,  including  the  public  debt,  is  esti- 
mated at  twenty-five  millions  five  hundred  and 
ninety-one  thousand  three  hundred  and  ninety 
dollars,  which  will  leave  a  balance  in  the  Trea- 
sury on  the  first  of  January,  1835,  of  six  mil- 
lions seven  hundred  and  thirty-six  thousand 
two  hundred  and  thirty-two  dollars.  In  this 
balance,  however,  will  be  included  about  one 
million  one  hundred  and  fifty  tl.ousand  dollars 
of  what  was  heretofore  reported  by  the  depart- 
ment as  not  effective." 

This  unavailable  item  of  above  a  million  of 
dollars  consisted  of  local  bank  notes,  received 
in  payment  of  public  lands  during  the  years  of 
general  distress  and  bank  suspensions  from  1819 
to  1822 ;  and  the  banks  which  issued  them  hav- 
ing failed  they  became  worthless;  and  were 
finally  dropt  from  any  enumeration  of  the  con- 
tents of  the  treasury.  The  extinction  of  the 
public  debt,  constituting  a  marked  event  in  our 
financial  history,  and  an  era  in  the  state  of  the 
treasury,  was  looked  to  by  the  President  as  the 
epoch  most  proper  for  the  settlement  of  our 
doubtful  points  of  future  policy,  and  the  in- 
auguration of  a  system  of  rigorous  economy :  to 
which  effect  the  message  said : 

•Free  from  public  debt,  at  peace  with  all  the 
world,  and  with  no  complicated  interests  to  con- 
sult m  our  intercourse  with  foreign  powers,  the 
present  may  be  hailed  as  the  epoch  in  our  his- 


tory the  most  favorable  for  the  settlement  of 
those  principles  in  our  domestic  policy,  which 
shall  be  best  calculated  to  give  stability  to  our 
republic,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  freedom  to 
our  citizens.  While  we  are  felicitating  our- 
selves, therefore,  upon  the  extinguishment  of 
the  national  debt,  and  the  prosperous  state  of 
our  finances,  let  us  not  be  tempted  to  depart 
from  those  sounds  maxims  of  public  policy, 
vfhkh  enjoin  a  just  adaptation  of  the  revenue  to 
the  expenditures  that  are  consistent  with  a  rigid 
economy,  and  an  entire  abstinence  from  all  top- 
ics of  legislation  that  are  not  clearly  within  the 
constitutional  powers  of  the  Government,  and 
suggested  by  the  wants  of  the  country.  Properly 
regarded,  under  such  a  policy,  every  diminution 
of  the  public  burdens  arising  from  taxation, 
gives  to  individual  enterprise  increased  power, 
and  furnishes  to  all  the  members  of  our  happy 
confederacy,  new  motives  for  patriotic  affection 
and  support.  But,  above  all,  its  most  important 
effect  will  be  found  in  its  influence  upon  the 
character  of  the  Government,  by  confining  its  ac- 
tion to  those  objects  which  will  be  sure  to  secure 
to  it  the  attachment  and  support  of  our  fellow- 
citizens." 

The  President  had  a  new  cause  of  complaint 
to  communicate  against  the  Bank  of  the  Uniteci 
States,  which  was  the  seizure  of  the  dividends 
due  the  United  States  on  the  public  stock  in 
the  institution.  The  occasion  was,  the  claim 
for  damages  which  the  bank  set  up  on  a  pro- 
tested bill  of  exchange,  sold  to  it  on  the  faith  of 
the  French  treaty ;  and  which  was  protested  for 
non-payment.  The  case  is  thus  told  by  the 
President : 


"To  the  needless  distresses  brought  on  the 
country  during  the  last  session  of  Congress, 
has  since  been  added  the  open  seizure  of  the 
dividendb  on  the  public  stock,  to  the  amount  of 
^170,041,  under  pretence  of  paying  damages, 
cost,  and  interest,  upon  the  protested  French 
bill.  This  sum  constituted  a  portion  of  the  es- 
timated revenues  for  the  year  1834,  upon  which 
the  appropriations  made  by  Congress  were 
based.  It  would  as  soon  have  been  expected 
tliat  our  collectors  would  seize  on  the  customs, 
or  the  receivers  of  our  land  offices  on  the 
moneys  arising  from  the  sale  of  public  lands, 
under  pi-ctenccs  of  claims  against  the  United 
States,  as  that  the  bank  would  have  retained 
the  dividends.  Indeed,  if  the  principle  be  esta- 
blished that  any  one  who  chooses  to  set  up  a 
claim  against  the  United  States  may,  without 
authoi  ity  of  law,  seize  on  the  public  property 
or  money  wherever  he  can  find  it,  to  pay  such 
claim,  there  will  remain  no  assurance  that  our 
revenue  will  reach  the  treasury,  or  that  it  will 
be  applied  after  the  appropriation  to  the  pur- 
poses designated  in  the  law.  The  paymasters 
of  our  army,  and  the  pursers  of  our  navy,  may, 


H 


480 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIET*. 


under  like  pretences,  apply  to  their  own  use 
moneys  appropriated  to  set  in  motion  the  pub- 
lic force,  and  in  time  of  war  leave  the  country 
without  defence.  This  measure,  resorted  to  by 
the  Bank,  is  disorgsinizing  and  revolutionary, 
and,  if  generally  resorted  to  by  private  citizens 
in  like  cases,  would  fill  the  land  with  anarchy 
and  violence." 

The  money  thus  seized  by  the  bank  was  re- 
tained until  recovered  from  it  by  due  course  of 
law.  The  corporation  was  sued,  judgment  re- 
covered against  it,  and  the  money  made  upon 
a  writ  of  execution ;  so  that  the  illegality  of  its 
conduct  in  making  this  seizure  was  judicially 
established.  The  President  also  communicated 
new  proofs  of  the  wantonness  of  the  pressure 
and  distress  made  by  the  bank  during  the  pre- 
ceding session— the  fact  coming  to  light  that  it 
had  shipped  about  three  millions  and  a  half  of 
the  specie  to  Europe  which  it  had  squeezed  out 
of  the  hands  of  the  people  during  the  panic  ;— 
and  also  that,  immediately  after  the  adjourn- 
ment of  Congress,  the  action  of  the  bank  was 
reversed— the  curtailment  changed  into  exten- 
sion ;  and  a  discount  line  of  seventeen  millions 
rapidly  ran  out. 

"  Immediately  after  the  close  of  the  last  ses- 
sion, the  bank,  through  its  president,  announced 
its  ability  and  readiness  to  abandon  the  system 
of  unparalleled  curtailment,  and  the  interrup- 
tion of  domestic  exchanges,  which  it  had  prac- 
tised upon  from  the  1st  of  August,  1833,  to  the 
30th  of  June,  1834,  and  to  extend  its  accommo- 
dations to  the  community.     The  grounds  as- 
sumed in  this  annunciation  amounted  to  an  ac- 
knowledgment that  the  curtailment,  in  the  ex- 
tent to  which  it  had  been  carried,  was  not 
necessary  to  the  safety  of  the  bank,  and  had 
been  persisted  in  merely  to  induce  Congress  to 
grant  the  prayer  of  the  bank  in  its  memorial 
relative  to  the  removal  of  the  deposits,  and  to 
give  it  a  new  charter.    They  were  substantially 
a  confession  that  all  the  real  distresses  whicli 
individuals  and  the  country  had  endured  for  the 
preceding  six  or  eight  months,  had  been  need- 
lessly produced  by  it,  with  the  view  of  effecting, 
through  the  sufferings  of  the  people,  the  legisla- 
tive action  of  Congress.    It  is  a  subject  of  con- 
gratulation that  Congress  and  the  country  had 
the  virtue  and  firmness  to  bear  the  infliction ; 
that  the  energies  of  our  people  soon  found  relief 
from  this  wanton  tyanny,  in  vast  importations 
of  the  precious  metals  from  almost  every  part 
of  the  world  ;  and  that,  at  tlie  close  of  this  tre- 
mendous effort  to  control  our  government,  the 
bank  found  itself  powerless,  and  no  longer  able 
<*>  loan  out  its  surplua  means.     The  coiniuunity 
had  learned  to  manage  its  affairs  without  its 
assistance,  and  trade  had  already  found  now 


auxiliaries  ;  so  that,  on  the  Ist  of  October  last 
the  extraordinary  spectacle  was  presented  of  a 
national  bank,  more  than  one  half  of  whose 
capital  was  either  lying  unproductive  in  its 
vaults,  or  in  the  hands  of  foreign  bankers." 

Certainly  this  was  a  confession  of  the  whole 
criminality  of  the  bank  in  making  the  distress  • 
but  even  this  confession  did  not  prevent  the 
Senate's  Finance  Committee  from  making  an 
honorable  report  in  its  favor.     But  there  is 
something  in  the  laws  of  moral  right  above  the 
powers  of  man,  or  the  designs  and  plans  of 
banks  and  politicians.     The  greatest  calamity 
of  the  bank — the  loss  of  thirty-five  millions  of 
stock  to  its  subscribers— chiefly  dates  from  this 
period  and  this  conduct.    Up  to  this  time  its 
waste  and  losses,  though  great,  might  still  have 
been  remediable  ;  but  now  the  incurable  course 
was  taken.    Half  its  capital  lying  idle !    Good 
borrowers  were  scarce;  good  indorsers  still  more 
so ;  and  a  general  acceptance  of  stocks  in  lieu  of 
the  usual  security  was  the  fatal  resort.  First  its 
own  stock,  then  a  great  variety  of  stocks  were 
taken ;  and  when  the  bank  w^v.t  into  liquida- 
tion, its  own  stock  was  gone !  and  the  others  in 
every  imaginable  degree  of  depreciation,  from 
under  par  to  nothing.    The  government  had  di- 
rectors in  the  bank  at  that  time,  Messrs.  Charles 
McAllistex-,  Edward  D.  Ingraham,  and Ell- 
maker;  and  the  President  was  under  no  mistake 
in  any  thing  he  said.     The  message  recurs  to 
the  fixed  policy  of  the  President  in  sellmg  the 
public  stock  in  the  bank,  and  says : 

"  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  recommend  to  you  that 
a  law  be  passed  authorizing  the  sale  of  the  puh- 
lic  stock  ;  that  the  provision  of  the  charter  re- 
quiring the  receipt  of  notes  of  the  bank  in  pay- 
ment of  public  dues,  shall,  in  accordance  with 
the  power  reserved  to  Congress  in  the  I4th 
section  of  the  charter,  be  suspended  until  the 
bank  pays  to  the  treasury  the  dividends  with- 
held ;  and  that  all  laws  connecting  the  govern- 
ment or  its  officers  with  the  bank,  directly  or 
indirectly,  be  repealed ;  and  tfat  the  institu- 
tion be  left  hereafter  to  its  own  resources  and 
means." 


The  wisdom  of  this  persevering  recommenda- 
tion was,  fortunately,  appreciated  in  time  to 
save  the  United  States  from  the  fate  of  other 
stockholders.  The  attention  of  Congress  was 
again  called  to  the  regulation  of  the  deposits  in 
State  b.inks.  As  yet  there  was  no  law  upon 
the  subject.  The  bill  for  that  purpose  passed 
in  the  House  of  Representatives  at  the  previous 


ANNO  1834.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


481 


Bcssion,  had  been  laid  upon  the  taVjle  in  the 
Senate ;  and  thus  wa;;  kept  open  a  head  of  com- 
plaint a!?ainst  the  President  for  the  illegal  cus- 
tody of  the  public  moneys.  It  was  not  illegal. 
It  was  the  custody,  more  or  less  resorted  to, 
miller  every  administration  of  the  federal  gov- 
ernment and  never  called  illcCTl  except  under 
President  Jackson  ;  but  it  was  a  trust  of  a  kind 
to  require  regulation  by  law ;  and  he,  therefore, 
earnestly  recommended  it.    The  message  said : 

"  The  attention  of  Congress  is  earnestly  in- 
vited to  the  regulation  of  the  deposits  in  the 
State  banks,  by  law.  Although  the  power  now 
exercised  by  the  Executive  department  in  this 
behalf  is  only  euch  as  was  uniformly  exerted 
through  every  administration  from  the  origin  of 
the  government  up  to  the  establishment  of  the 
present  bank,  yet  it  is  one  which  is  susceptible 
of  regulation  by  law,  and,  therefore,  ought  so  to 
be  regulated.  The  power  of  Congress  to  direct 
in  what  places  the  Treasurer  sliiill  keep  the 
moneys  in  the  Treasuiy,  and  to  impose  restric- 
tions upon  the  Executive  authority,  in  relation 
to  their  custody  and  removal,  is  unlimited,  and 
its  exercise  will  rather  be  courted  than  discour- 
aged by  those  public  officers  and  agents  on  whom 
rests  the  responsibility  for  their  safety.  It  is 
desirable  that  as  little  power  as  possible  should 
be  left  to  the  President  or  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  ovpr  those  institutions,  which,  being 
thus  freed  from  Executive  influence,  and  without 
a  common  head  to  direct  their  operations,  would 
have  neither  the  temptation  nor  the  ability  to 
interfere  in  the  political  conflicts  of  the  country. 
Not  deriving  their  charters  from  the  national 
authorities,  they  would  never  have  those  induce- 
ments to  meddle  in  general  elections,  which 
have  led  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  to  agi- 
tate and  convulse  the  country  for  upwards  of 
two  years." 

The  increase  of  the  gold  currency  was  a  subject 
of  congratulation,  and  the  purification  of  paper 
by  the  suppression  of  small  notes  a  matter  of 
earnest  recommendation  with  the  President — the 
latter  addressed  to  the  people  of  the  States,  and 
every  way  worthy  of  their  adoption.     He  said  : 

"  The  progress  of  our  gold  coinage  is  credita- 
ble to  the  ofiicers  of  the  mint,  and  promises  in  a 
short  period  to  furnish  the  country  with  a 
sound  and  portable  currency,  which  will  much 
diminish  the  inconvenience  to  travellers  of  the 
want  of  a  general  paper  currency,  should  the 
■State  banks  be  incapable  of  furnishing  it.  Those 
institutions  have  already  shown  thsmselves  com- 
petent to  purchase  and  furnish  domestic  exchange 
for  the  convenience  of  trade,  at  reasonable  rates ; 
auii  not  a  doubt  is  eutertaiuud  that,  in  a  short 
period,  all  the  wants  of  the  country,  in  bank 
accommodations  and  exchange,  will  be  supplied 
as  promptly  and  as  cheaply  as  they  have  here- 

VoL.  I.— 31 


tofore  been  by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States. 
If  the  several  States  shall  be  induced  gradually 
to  reform  their  banking  systems,  and  prohibit 
the  issue  of  all  small  notes,  we  shall,  in  a  few 
years,  have  a  currency  as  sound,  and  as  little 
liable  to  fluctuations,  as  any  other  commercial 
country." 

The  message  contained  the  itand'ng  recom- 
mendation for  reform  in  the  presidential  election. 
The  direct  vote  of  the  people,  the  President  con- 
sidered the  only  safeguard  for  the  purity  of  that 
election,  on  which  depended  so  much  of  the 
safe  working  of  the  government.  The  message 
said : 

"  I  trust  that  I  may  be  also  pardoned  for  re- 
newing the  recommendation  I  have  so  often  sub- 
mitted to  your  attention  in  regard  to  the  mode 
of  electing  the  President  and  Vice-President  of 
the  United  States.  All  the  reflection  I  havo 
been  able  to  bestow  upon  the  subject,  increases 
my  conviction  that  the  best  interests  of  the 
country  will  be  promoted  by  the  adoption  of 
some  plan  which  will  secure,  in  all  contingencies, 
that  important  right  of  sovereignty  to  the  direct 
control  of  the  people.  Could  this  be  attained, 
and  the  terms  of  those  ofliccrs  be  limited  to  a 
single  period  of  either  four  or  six  years,  I  think 
our  liberties  would  possess  an  additional  safe- 
guard." 


CHAPTER    CXVI. 

EEPOllT  OF  THE  BANK  COMMITTEE. 

Early  in  tlie  .session  the  Finance  Committeo 
of  the  Senate,  which  had  been  directed  lo  make 
an  examination  into  the  afl'airs  of  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States,  made  their  report — an  ela- 
borate paper,  the  reading  of  which  occupied  two 
hours  and  a  half, — for  this  report  was  honored 
with  a  reading  at  the  Secretary's  table,  while  but 
few  of  the  reports  made  by  heads  of  departments, 
and  relating  to  the  afl'airs  of  the  whole  Union, 
received  that  honor.  It  was  not  only  read 
through,  but  by  its  author — Mr.  Tyler,  the  se- 
cond named  of  the  committee ;  the  first  named,  or 
ofiicial  chairman,  Mr.  Webster,  not  having  acted 
on  the  committee.  The  report  was  a  most  ela- 
borate vindication  of  the  conduct  of  the  bank  at 
all  points  ;  but  it  did  not  stop  at  the  defence  of 
the  institution,  but  went  forward  to  the  crimi- 
nation of  others.  It  dragged  in  the  names  of 
General  Jackson,  Mr.  Van  Burcn,  and  Mr.  Ben- 
ton, laying  hold  of  the  circumstance  of  their 
having  done  ordinary  acts  of  duty  to  their  friends 


§•    . 


482 


THmXT  YEARS'  VIEW. 


and  constituents  in  promoting  their  application 
for  branch  banks,  to  raise  false  implications 
against  them  as  having  been  in  favor  of  the  in- 
stitution. If  such  had  been  the  fact,  it  did  not 
come  within  the  scope  of  the  committee's  ap- 
pointment, nor  of  the  resolution  under  which 
they  acted,  to  have  reported  upon  such  a  cir- 
cumstance :  but  the  implications  were  untrue ; 
and  Mr.  Benton  being  the  only  one  present  that 
had  the  right  of  speech,  assailed  the  report  the 
instant  it  was  read— declaring  that  such  things 
were  not  to  pass  uncontradicted  for  an  instant 
—that  the  Senate  was  not  to  adjourn,  or  the 
galleries  to  disperse  without  hearing  the  contra- 
diction. And  being  thus  suddenly  called  up  by 
a  sense  of  duty  to  himself  and  his  friends,  he 
would  do  justice  upon  the  i-cport  at  once,  expos- 
ing its  numerous  fallacies  from  the  moment  they 
appeared  in  the  chamber.  lie  commenced  with 
the  imputations  upon  himself.  General  Jackson 
and  Sir.  Van  Burcn,  and  scornfully  repulsed  the 
base  and  gratuitous  assumptions  which  had  been 
made.    He  said : 

"  His  own  name  was  made  to  figure  in  that 
report — in  very  good  company  to  be  sure,  that 
of  President  Jackson,  Vice-President  V^an  B  ren 
and  Mr.  senator  Grundy.  It  seems  that  we 
liavc  all  been  detected  in  something  that  de- 
serves exposure — in  the  offence  of  aiding  our  re- 
spective constituents,  or  fellow-citizens  in  ob- 
taining branch  banks  to  be  located  in  our  respec- 
tive States ;  and  upon  this  detection,  the  assei  tion 
is  made  that  these  branches  were  not  extended 
to  these  States  for  political  effect,  when  the 
charter  was  nearly  run  out,  but  in  good  faith, 
and  upon  our  application,  to  aid  the  business  of 
the  country.  Mr.  B.  said,  it  was  true  that  he 
had  forwarded  a  petition  from  the  merchants  of 
St.  Louis,  about  1826  or  '27,  soliciting  a  branch 
at  that  place  :  and  he  had  accompanied  it  by  a 
letter,  as  he  had  been  requested  to  do,  sustaining 
and  supporting  their  request;  and  bearing  the 
testimony  to  their  characters  as  men  of  business 
and  property  which  the  occasion  and  the  truth 
required.  He  did  this  for  merchants  who  were 
his  political  enemies,  and  he  did  it  readily  and 
cordially,  as  a  representative  ought  to  act  for 
his  constituents,  whether  they  are  for  him,  or 
against  him,  in  the  elections.  So  far  so  good ; 
liut  the  allegation  of  the  report  is,  that  the 
branch  at  St.  Louis  was  established  upon  this 
petition  and  this  letter,  and  therefore  was  not 
established  with  political  views,  but  purely  and 
(-imply  for  business  purposes.  Now,  said  Mr. 
B.,  I  have  a  question  to  put  to  the  senator  from 
Virginia  (Mr.  Tyler),  who  has  made  the  report 
for  the  cou.niittee :  It  is  this :  whether  tlie  pre- 
sid.ut  or  directors  of  the  bank  had  informed  him 
that  General  Cadwallader  had  been  sent  as  an 


agent  to  St.  Louis,  to  examme  the  place,  and  to 
report  upon  its  ability  to  sustain  a  branch? 

"  Mr.  Tyler  rose,  ana  said,  that  he  had  heard 
nothing  at  the  bank  upon  the  subject  of  Gen 
Cadwallader  having  been  sent  to  St.  Louis  or 
any  report  upon  the  place  being  made."        ' 

"  Then,  said  Mr.  Benton,  resuming  his  speech 
the  committee  has  been  treated  unworthily  — 
scurvily,— basely,— by  the  bank  !  It  has  }",c( ;. 
made  the  instrument  to  raport  an  untiutli  to 
the  Senate,  and  to  the  American  people ;  and 
neither  the  Senate,  nor  that  part  of  the  Ameri- 
can people  who  chance  to  be  in  this  chamber 
shall  be  permitted  to  leave  their  places  until 
that  falsehood  is  exposed. 

"  Sir,  said  M  r  B.,  addressing  the  Vice-Presi- 
dent, the  president,  and  directors  of  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States,  upon  receiving  the  merchants' 
petition,  and  my  letter,  did  not  send  a  branch  to 
St.  Louis !  They  sent  an  agent  there,  in  the  per- 
son of   General  Cadwallader,  to  examine  the 
place,  and  to  report  upon  its  mercantile  capabil- 
ities and  wants ;  and  upon  that  repoit,  the  de- 
cision was  made,  and  made  against  the  request 
of  the  merchants,  and  that  upon  the  ground 
that  the  business  of  the  place  would  not  justif\' 
the  establishment  of  a  branch.     The  petition 
from  the  merchants  came  to  Mr.  B.  while  lie 
was  here,  in  his  seat ;  it  was  forwarded  from 
this  place  to  Philadelphia  ;  the  agent  made  his 
visit  to  St.  Louis  before  he  (Mr.  B.)  returned; 
and  when  he  got  home,  in  the  spring,  or  sum- 
mer, the  merchants  informed  him  of  what  liad 
occurred ;  and  that  they  had  received  a  letter 
from  the  directory  of  the  bank,  informing  them 
that  a  branch  could  not  be  granted;  and  there  the 
whole  affair,  so  fur  as  the  petition  and  the  letter 
were  concerned,  died  away.    But,  said  Mr.  B., 
it  happened  just  in  that  time,  that  I  made  my 
first  demonstration — struck  my  first  blow— 
against  the  bank ;  and  the  next  news  that  I  had 
ft-om  the  merchants  was,  that  another  letter  had 
been  received  from  the  bank,  without  any  new 
petition  having  been  sent,  and  without  any  new 
report  upon  the  business  of  the  place,  informing 
them  that  the  branch  was  to  come !    And  como 
it  did,  and  immediately  went  to  work  to  gain 
men  and  presses,  to  govern  the  politics  of  the 
State,  to  exclude  him  (Mr.  B.)  from  re-election 
to  the  Senate  ;  and  to  oppose  every  candidate, 
from  governor  to  constable,  who  was  not  for 
the  bank.     The  branch  had  even  furnished  a 
list  to  the  mother  bank,  througn  some  of  its 
officers,  of  the  names  and  residences  of  the  ac- 
tive citizens  in  every  part  of  the  State ;  and  to 
these,  and  to  their  great  astonishment  at  the 
familiarity  and  condescension  of  the  high  di- 
rectory in  Philadelphia,  myriads  of  bank  docu- 
ments were  sent,  with  a  minute  description  of 
name  and  place,  postage  free.     At  the  presi- 
dential election  of  18o2,  the  State  was  deluged 
with  these  favors.     At  his  own  re-elections  to 
tlie  Senate,  the  two  last,  the  branch  bank  was 
in  the  field  against  him  every  where,  and  in 
every  form  ;  its  directors  traversing  the  Stat^ 


ne  the  place,  and  to 
stain  a  branch  ? 
,  that  he  had  heard 
he  subject  of  Gen. 
ent  to  St.  Louis  or 
eing  made." 
•esumiiig  his  speech, 
atcd  unworthily.— 
bank  !  It  has  bc(  ;> 
lort  an  untnitli  to 
erican  people;  and 
part  of  the  Anieii- 
le  in  this  chamber, 
!  their  places  untii 

ing  the  Vice-Presi- 
tors  of  the  Bank  of 
iving  the  merchants' 
wlsenda  branch  to 
nt  there,  in  the  por- 
>r,  to  examine  the 
mercantile  capabil- 
hat  report,  the  de- 
against  the  request 
.  upon  the  ground 
ie  would  not  justify 
nch.     The  petition 

0  Jlr.  B.  while  lie 
as  forwarded  from 
he  agent  made  his 
Mr.  B.)  returned; 
le  spring,  or  sum- 

1  him  of  what  had 
1  received  a  letter 
Ilk,  informing  them 
mted;  and  there  the 
tition  and  the  letter 

But,  said  Mr.  B., 
le,  that  I  made  my 

my  first  blow— 
xt  news  that  I  had 
;  another  letter  had 
:,  without  any  new 
li  without  any  new 
he  place,  infiirming 

come !  And  coino 
i  to  work  to  gain 
the  politics  of  the 
.)  from  re-election 
ie  every  candidate, 

who  wa<s  not  for 

even  furnished  a 
rougii  some  of  its 
sidences  of  the  ac- 
the  State ;  and  to 
onishment  at  the 
n  of  the  high  di- 
iads  of  bank  docu- 
utc  description  of 
:e.  At  the  presi- 
State  was  deluged 
wn  re-elections  to 
branch  bank  was 
ry  where,  and  in 
iversing  the  Stat^ 


ANNO  1834.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


483 


poing  to  tho  houses  of  the  members  of  the 
General  Assembly  after  they  were  elected,  in 
almost  every  county,  over  a  State  of  sixty 
thou.sand  square  miles ;  and  then  attending  tho 
legislature  as  lobby  members,  to  oppose  him. 
Of  the^e  things  Mr.  B.  had  never  spoken  in 
public  before,  nor  should  he  have  done  it  now, 
had  it  not  been  for  the  falsehood  attempted  to 
be  palmed  upon  the  Senate  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  its  committee.  But  having  been 
driven  into  it,  ho  would  mention  another  cir- 
cumstance, which  also,  he  had  never  named  in 
public  before,  but  which  would  throw  light 
\ipon  the  establishment  of  the  branch  in  St. 
Louis,  and  the  kind  of  business  which  it  had  to 
perform.  An  immense  edition  of  a  review  of 
his  speech  on  the  veto  message,  was  circulated 
through  his  State  on  the  eve  of  his  last  election. 
It  bore  the  impress  of  tho  bank  foundry  in  Phi- 
ladelphia, and  was  intended  to  let  the  people 
of  Missouri  see  that  he  (Mr.  B.)  was  a  very  un- 
fit person  to  represent  them :  and  afterwards  it 
was  seen  from  the  report  of  the  government 
directors  to  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
that  seventy-five  thousand  copies  of  that  review 
were  paid  for  by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States ! " 

The  committee  had  gone  out  of  their  way — 
departed  from  the  business  with  which  they 
were  charged  by  the  Senate's  resolution— to 
bring  up  a  stale  imputation  upon  Gen.  Jackson, 
for  becommg  inimical  to  Mr.  Bieldle,  because  he 
could  not  make  him  subservient  to  his  purposes. 
The  imputation  was  unfounded  and  gratuitous, 
and  disproved  by  the  journals  of  the  Senate, 
which  bore  Gen.  Jackson's  nomination  of  Mr. 
Eiddle  for  government  director— and  at  the  head 
of  those  directors,  thereby  indicating  him  for 
president  of  the  bank— three  several  times,  in  as 
many  si;ccessive  years,  after  the  time  alleged  for 
this  hostility  and  vindictiveness.  This  unjus- 
tifiable imputation  became  the  immediate,  the 
next  point  of  Jlr.  Benton's  animadversion ;  and 
was  thus  disposed  of  : 

"  Mr.  B.  said  there  was  another  thing  which 
must  be  noticed  now,  because  the  proof  to  con- 
found it  was  written  in  our  own  journals,  lie 
alluded  to  the  '  hostility '  of  the  President  of 
the  United  States  to  the  bank,  which  made  so 
large  a  figure  in  that  report.  The  '  vindictive- 
m's.s'of  the  President,— the  '  hostility '  of  the 
PresidcKt.  was  often  pressed  into  the  service  of 
that  report— which  he  mu.st  be  permitted  to 
qualify  as  an  elaborate  defence  of  the  bank. 
Whether  used  originally,  or  by  quotation,  it 
was  the  same  thing.  The  quotation  from  Mr. 
Duaue  was  made  to  help  out  the  argument  of 
the  committee— to  sustain  their  position— and 
thfreby  became  their  own.  The  'vindictive- 
ness '  of  the  President  towards  the  bank,  is 


brought  forward  with  imposing  gravity  by  the 
committee ;  and  no  one  is  at  a  loss  to  under- 
stand what  is  meant !    The  charge  has  beed 
made  too  often  not  to  suggest  the  whole  story 
as  often  as  it  is  hinted.    The  President  became 
hostile  to  Mr.  Biddle,  according  to  *hi8   fine 
story,  because  ho  could  not  manage  him !  be- 
cause he  could  not  make  him  use  the  institution 
for  political  purposes !  and  hence  his  revenge, 
his  vindictiveness,  his  hatred  of  Mr.  Biddle,  and 
his  change  of  sentiment  towards  the  institution. 
This  is  the  charge  which  has  run  through  the 
bank  presses  for  three  years,  and  is  alleged  to 
take  date  from  1829,  when  an  application  was 
made  to  change  the  president  of  the  Portsmouth 
branch.     But  how  stands  the  truth,  recorded 
upon  our  own  journals  ?    It  stands  thus :  that 
for  three  consecutive  years  after  the  harboring 
of  this  deadly  malice  against  Mr.  Biddle,  fornot 
managing  the  institution  to  suit  the  President's 
political   wishes— for  three    years,   one    after 
another,  with  this  '  vindictive »  hate  in  his  bo- 
som, and  this  diabolical  determination  to  ruin 
the   institution,  he   nominates   this  same  Mr. 
Biddle  to  the  Senate,  as  one  of  the  government 
directors,  and  at  the  head  of  those  directors ! 
Mr.  Biddle  and  some  of  his  friends  with  him 
came  in,  upon  every  nomination  for  three  suc- 
cessive years,  after  vengeance  had  been  sworn 
against  him  !     For  three  years  afterwards  he  is 
not  only  named  a  director,  but  indicated  for  tho 
presidency  of  the  bank,  by  being  put  at  the 
head  of  those  who  came  recommended  by  the 
nomination  of  the  President,  and  the  sanction  of 
the  Senate !     Thus  was  he  nominated  for  the 
years  1830,  1831,  and  1832;  and  it  was  only 
after  the  report  of  Jlr.  Clayton's  committee  of 
1832  that  the  President  ceased  to  nominate  Mr. 
Biddle  for  government  director !     Such  was  the 
frank,   confiding  and  friendly  conduct  of  tho 
President ;  while  JMr.  Biddle,  conscious  that  he 
did  not  deserve  a  nomination  at  his  hands,  had 
himself  also  elected  during  each  of  these  years, 
at  the  head  of  the  stockholders'  ticket.     lie 
knew  what   he  was  meditating  and   hatching 
against  the  President,  though  the  President  did 
not !    What  then  becomes  of  the  charge  faintly 
shadowed  forth  by  the  committee,  and  publicly 
and  directly  made  by  the  bank  and  its  friends? 
False !    False  as  hell !  and  no  senator  can  say 
it  without  finding  the  proof  of  the  falsehood  re- 
corded in  our  own  journal !  " 


Jfr.  Benton  next  defended  Mr.  Taney  from 
an  unjustifiable  and  gratuitous  as.sault  made 
upon  him  by  the  committee — the  more  unwar- 
rantable because  that  gentleman  was  in  retire- 
ment— no  more  in  public  life — having  resigned 
his  place  of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  the  day 
he  wa,s  rejected  by  the  Senate.  Jlr.  Taney,  in 
Ills  report  upon  the  removal  of  the  deposits,  had 
repeated,  what  the  government  directors  and  a 
committee  of  the  House  of  Representatives  had 


i*  M 


'W 


'!"!' 

-*%! 

!,';! 


Itfiiii 


484 


THIRTY  TEAKS'  VIEW. 


first  reported,  of  the  illegal  conduct  of  the  bank 
oomniittee  of  exchange,  in  making  loans.  The 
fact  was  true,  and  as  since  shown,  to  a  far  higher 
degree  than  then  detected ;  and  the  Senate's 
committee  were  unjustifiable  in  <leren(ling  it. 
But  not  satisfied  with  this  defence  of  a  criminal 
institution  against  a  just  accusation,  they  took 
the  opportunity  of  c;isting  censure  upon  Mr. 
Taney,  and  gaining  a  victory  over  him  by  mak- 
ing a  false  issue.  Mr.  Benton  immediately 
corrected  this  injustice.    He  said  : 

"  That  he  was  not  now  going  into  a  general 
answer  to  the  report,  ))ut  he  mus-t  do  justice  to 
an  abse.  *  gentleman — one  of  t!ic  purest  men 
npon  earth,  both  in  public  and  private  life,  and 
who,  after  the  manner  he  had  been  treated  in 
this  chamber,  ought  to  be  secure,  in  his  retire- 
ment, from  senatorial  attack  and  injustice.  The 
committee  have  joined  a  consijieuous  issue  with 
Mr.  Taney ;  and   they  have  carried  a  glorious 
bank  victory  over  him,  by  turning  off  the  trial 
upon  a  flilse  point.     Mr.  Taney  arraigned  tiie 
legality  of  the  conduct  of  the  exchange  connnit- 
tee,  which,  overleaping  the  business  of  such  a 
committee,  which  is  to  buy  and  sell  real  bills 
of  exchange,   had  become    invested  w^ith  the 
power  of  Iho  whole  board;  transacting  that 
business  which,  by  the  charter,  could  only  be 
done  by  the  board  of  directors,  and  by  a  board 
of  not  less  than  seven,  and  which  tliey  could  not 
delegate.     Yet  this  conmiittce,  of  tln-ee,  selected 
by  the  President   himself,  was  shown  by  the 
report  of  the  government  directors  to  transact 
the  most  important  business  ;  such  as  making 
immense   loans,  upon   long  credits,  and  upon 
questionable  security;  sometimes  covering  its 
operations  under  the  simulated  garb,  and  falsi- 
fied pretext,  of  buying  a  bill  of  exchange; 
sometimes  using  no  disguise  at  all.     It  was 
shown,  by  the  same  report,  to  have  the  exclu- 
sive charge  of  conducting  the  curtailment  last 
winter ;  a  business  of  the  most  important  cha- 
racter to   the   countr}',  having  no  maimer  of 
afflnity  to  the  proper  functions  of  an  excliange 
committee ;  and  whicli  they  conducted  in  tlie 
most  partial  and  iniquitous  manner ;  and  with- 
out even  reporting  to  the  board.     All  tliis  the 
government  directors  counnunicated.     All  this 
was  commented  upon  on  this  lioor;   yet  Mr. 
Taney  is  selected  !     He  is  tiie  one  pitched  upon ; 
as  if  nobody  but  liim  had  an-aigned  the  illegal 
acts  of  this  committee  ;  and  then  ho  is  made  to 
arraign  the  existence  of  tiie  committee,  and  not 
its  misconduct !   Is  tins  right  ?   Is  it  fair  ?   Is  it 
just  thus  to  pursue  that  gentienian,  and  to  pur- 
sue him  unjustly?     Can  tlie  vengeance  of  the 
bank  never  be   ajiiwased  while   he   lives  and 
moves  on  earth  ?  " 

After  having  vindicated  the  President,  the 
Vice-President,  Mr.  Gruudj-,  Mr.  Taney,  and 


himself,  from  the  unfounded  imputations  of  the 
committee,  so  gratuitously  preaented,  so  un- 
warranted in  fact,  and  so  foreign  to  the  purpose 
for  whidi  they  were  appointed,  Mr.  Benton 
laid  hold  of  some  facts  which  had  come  to 
light  for  the  purpose  of  show^ing  the  misconduct 
of  the  bank,  and  to  invalidate  the  committee's 
report.  The  first  was  the  cransportation  of  specie 
to  London  while  pressing  it  out  of  the  com- 
munity here.    He  said : 

"  He  had  performed  a  duty,  which  ought  not 
to  be  delayed  an  hour,  in  defending  himself  the 
President,  and  Mr.  Taney,  from  the  sad  injustice 
of  that  report;  the  report  itself,  with  all  its 
elaborate  pleadings  for  the  bank,— its  errors  of 
omission  and  commission, — would  ct»me  up  for 
argument  after  it  was  printed ;  and  when,  Avith 
God's  blessing,  and  the  help  of  better  hands,  he 
would  hope  to  show  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the 
Senate  to  recommit  it,  with  instructions  to  ex- 
amine witnesses  upon  oath,  and  to  bring  out 
that  secret  history  of  the  institution,  which 
seems  to  have  been  a  sealed  book  to  the  com- 
mittee. For  the  present,  he  would  bring  to 
light  two  facts,  detected  in  the  intricate  mazes 
of  the  monthly  statements,  which  would  fi.;  at 
once,  both  the  character  of  the  bank  and  tlic 
cliaractcr  of  the  report ;  the  bank,  for  its  au- 
dacity, wickedness  and  falsehood;  the  report 
for  its  blindness,  fatuity,  and  partiality.  ' 

"  The  bank,  as  all  America  knows  (said  Jlr. 
B.),  filled  the  whole  country  with  the  endless 
cry  which  had  been  echoed  and  re-echoed  from 
this  chamber,  that  the  removal  of  the  deposits 
had  laid  her  under  the  necessity  of  curtiiilin,;,^ 
her  debts;  had  compelled  her  to  call  in  her  loans' 
to  fill  the  vacuum  in  her  cofi'crs  produced  by 
this  removal ;  and  thus  to  enable  herself  to 
stand  the  pressure  which  the  '  hostility '  of  tlie 
government  was  bringing  upon  her.  This  was 
the  assertion  for  six  long  months ;  and  now  lot 
facts  confront  this  assertion,  and  reveal  the 
truth  to  an  outraged  and  insulted  community. 

"  The  first  fact  (said  Mr.  B.),  is  the  transfer 
of  the  moneys  to  London,  to  lie  there  idle,  while 
scincezcd  out  of  the  people  here  during  the  panic 
and  pressure. 

'•  The  cry  of  distress  was  raised  in  December, 
at  the  meeting  of  Congress ;  and  during  that 
month  the  sum  of  ^129,7(34  was  transferred  by 
the  bank  to  its  agents,  the  Barings.  This  cry 
waxed  stranger  till  July,  and  undl  that  time 
the  monthly  transfers  were : 

December,      ....    ^<i;129,7rj4 

February, 355,253 

March, 2(ii;543 

aiay, 34;749 

June, 2,142,054 

July, 0(tI,U50 


$8,425,313 


ANNO  1834.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


scd  in  December, 


Makinp;  the  sum  of  near  three  millions  and  a 
half  tran.sfeiTed  to   London,  to  lie  idle  in  the 
haiitls  of  an  agent,  while  that  very  money  was 
squeezed  out  of  a  few  cities  here  ;  and  the  whole 
country,  and  the  lialls  of  Congres.s,  were  filled 
with  the  deafening  din  of  the  cry,  that  the  hank 
was  foreed  to  curtail,  to  supply  the  loss  in  her 
own  coffers  from  the  removal  of  the  deposits ! 
And,  worse  yet !     The  bank  had,  in  the  hands 
of  tlie  same  agents,  a  large  sum  when  the  trans- 
fers of  these  panic  collections  began;  making  in 
the  whole,  the  sum  of  ^•4,2(il  201,  on  the  first 
day  of  .July  last,  which  was  lying  idle  in  her 
aj;ents'  hands  in  London,  drawing  little  or  no 
interest  there,  while  squeezed  out  of  the  hands 
oftiiosc  who  were  paying  bank  interest  here, 
near  seven  per  cent. ;  and  had  afterwards  to  go 
into  brokers'  hands  to  borrow  at  one  or  two  per 
cent,  a  month.     Even  now,  at  the  last  returns 
on  the  first  day  of  this  month,  about  two  mil- 
lii  ns  and  a  half  of  this  money  (.'i5!2.()78,Ui)ri)  was 
still  lying  idle  in  the  hands  of  the  tarings! 
waiting  till  foreign  exchange  can  be  put  up  ac-ain 
to  eicht  or  ten  per  cent.     The  enormity  of  this 
conduct,  Mr.  B.  said,  was  aggr-avated  by  the 
notorious  fact,  that  the  transfers  of  this  money 
were  made  by  sinking  the  price  of  exchange  .as 
low  as  five  per  cent,  below  par,  when  shippers 
and  planters  had  bills  to  sell ;  and  raising  it 
eiglit  per  cent,  above  par  when  merchants  and 
inipoiters  had  to  buy ;  thus  double  taxing  the 
cuntnierce  of  the  country— double  taxing  the 
producer  and  consumer — and  making  a  fhictua- 
tion  of  thirteen  per  cent,  in  foreign  exchange 
in  the  brief  space  of  six  months.    And  all  this 
to  II  ake  money  .scarce  at  home  while  charging 
that  scarcity  upon  the  President !     Thus  com- 
bining calumny   and    stock-jobbing   with    the 
dialjolical  attempt  to  ruin   the  country,  or  to 
rule  it." 

The  next  glaring  fact  which  showed  the  enor- 
mous culpability  of  the  bank  in  making  the 
pressure  and  distress,  was  the  abduction  of 
about  a  million  and  a  quarter  of  hard  dollars 
from  New  Orleans,  while  distressing  the  busi- 
ness community  there  by  refusal  of  discounts 
and  the  curtailment  of  losms,  under  pretence  of 
making  up  what  she  lost  there  by  che  removal 
of  the  deposits.  The  fact  of  fJie  abduction  was 
detected  in  the  monthly  reports  still  made  to 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  was  full  proof 
of  the  wantonness  and  wickedness  of  the  pres- 
sure, as  tlie  amount  thus  squeezed  out  of  the 
community  was  immediately  transferred  to  Phi- 
ladelphia or  New-York ;  to  be  thence  shipped  to 
London.  Mr.  Benton  thus  exposed  this  iniquity : 

"The  next  fact,  Mr.  B.  said,  was  the  abduction 
of  an  immense  amount  of  specie  from  New  Or- 
gans, at  the  moment  the  Western  produce  was 


485 


arriving  there ;  and  thus  disabling  the  merchants 
from  buying  that  produce,  and  thereby  sinking 
Its  price  nearly  one  half;  and  all  under  the  false 
pretext  of  supplying  the  joss  in  its  coffers,  occa- 
sioned by  the  removal  of  the  deposits. 

'The  falsehood  and  wickedness  of  this  con- 
duct will  appear  from  the  fact,  that,  at  the  lime 
of  the  removal  of  the  deposits,  in  October,  the 
public  deposits,  in  the  New  Orleans  branch,  were 
far  less  than  the  amount  afterwards  curtailed, 
and  .sent  off;  and  that  these  deposits  were  not 
entirely  drawn  out,  for  many  months  after  the 
curtailment  and  abduction  of  the  money.  Thus 
the  public  deposits,  in  October,  were :  ' 

"Jn  the  name  of  the  Treasurer 
of  the  United  States,  $294,228  C2 

173,704  C4 


"  In  the  name  of  public  officers, 


S4G7,993  20 


"  In  all,  less  than  half  a  million  of  dollars. 
"  In  March,  there  was  still  on  hand : 

'•In  the  name  of  the  Trea.surer,     ^40,200  28 
"In  the  name  of  public  officers,      03,071  80 

$103,938  08 

"In  all,  upwards  of  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars;  and  making  the  actual  withdrawal  of 
deposits,  at  that  bianch,  but  $300,000,  and  that 
paid  out  gradually,  in  the  discharge  of  govern- 
ment demands. 

"  Now,  what  was  the  actual  curtailment,  dur- 
mg  the  same  period?  It  is  shown  from  the 
monthly  statements,  that  these  curtailments,  on 
local  loans,  were  $788,904 ;  being  upwards  of 
double  the  amount  of  deposits,  miscalled  re- 
mored;  for  they  were  not  removed;  but  only 
pai'l  out  in  the  regular  progress  of  government 
disbursement,  and  actually  remaining  in  the  mass 
of  circulation,  and  much  of  it  in  the  bank  itself. 
But  the  specie  removed  during  the  same  time ! 
that  was  the  fact,  Ijie  damning  fact,  upon  which 
he  relied.     This  abduction  was : 

"In  the  month  of  No- 


vember, 


.,.-.--,-.17) 
"  In  the  month  of  March,     808,084  \  " 


$334,047 


t  the  least 


$1,142,731 

"  ]\Iaking  near  a  million  and  a  quarter  of  dol- 
lars, at  the  least.  Mr.  B.  repeated,  at  the  least; 
for  a  monthly  statement  doc^s  not  show  the  ac- 
cumulation of  the  month  which  might  also  be 
sent  off;  and  the  statement  could  only  be  relied 
on  for  so  much  as  appeared  a  month  before  the 
abduction  was  made.  Probably  the  sum  was 
upwards  of  a  million  and  a  quarter  of  hard  dol- 
lars, thus  taken  away  from  New  Orleans  last 
winter,  by  stopping  accommodations,  calling  in 
loans,  breaking  up  domestic  exchange,  creating 
panic  and  pressure,  and  sinking  the  price  of  ail 
produce;  that  the  mother  bank  might  transfer 
funds  to  London,  gamble  m  foreign  exchange, 


i  'I  I  Vi 


486 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


spread  desolation  and  terror  throiich  the  land ; 
and  then  clmrpo  the  whole  upon  the  President 
of  the  United  States ;  and  end  with  tho  grand 
consummation  of  biinging  a  new  political  party 
into  power,  and  perpetuating  its  own  charter." 


Sir.  Benton  commented  on  the  barefaced ncss 
of  running  out  an  immense  line  of  discounts,  so 
soon  done  after  the  rise  of  the  last  session  of 
Congress,  and  so  suddenly,  that  the  friends  of 
the  bank,  in  remote  places,  not  having  had  time 
to  bo  informed  of  the  "reversal  of  the  bank 
screws,"  were  still  in  full  chorus,  justifying  the 
curtailment ;  and  concluded  with  denouncing 
the  report  as  ex  parte,  and  remarking  upon  the 
success  of  the  committee  in  finding  what  they 
were  not  sent  to  look  for,  and  not  finding  what 
they  ought  to  have  found.    He  said : 

"  These  are  some  of  the  astounding  iniquities 
which  have  escai^d  the  eyes  of  .the  committee, 
while  they  have  been  so  successful  in  their  anti- 
quarian researches  into  Andrew  Jackson's  and 
Felix  Grundy's  letters,  ten  or  twenty  years  ago 
and  into  Martin  Van  Buren's  and  Thomas  II.  Ben- 
ton's, six  or  eight  years  ago ;  letters  which  every 
public  man  is  called  upon  to  give  to  his  neighbors, 
or  constituents;  which  no  public  man  ought  to 
refuse,  or,  in  all  probability  ever  did  refuse ;  and 
which  are  so  ostentatiously  paraded  in  the  re- 
port, and  so  emphatically  read  in  this  chamber, 
with  pause  and  gesture ;  and  with  such  a  sym- 
pathetic look  for  the  expected  smile  from  the 
friends  of  the  b.ink  ;  letters  which,  so  far  as  he 
was  concerned,  had  been  used  to  make  the  com- 
mittee the  organ  of  a  fiilsehood.  And  now,  Mr. 
B.  would  be  glad  to  know,  who  put  the  commit- 
tee on  the  scent  of  those  old  musty  letters ;  for 
there  was  nothing  in  the  resolution,  under  which 
they  acted,  to  conduct  their  footsteps  to  the  silent 
covert  of  that  small  game." 

Mr.  Tyler  made  a  brief  reply,  in  defence  of 
the  report  of  the  committee,  in  which  he  said : 

"  The  senator  from  Missouri  had  denominated 
the  report '  an  elaborate  defence  of  the  bank.' 
He  had  said  tliat  it  justified  the  bank  in  its 
course  of  curtailment,  during  the  last  winter 
and  the  early  part  of  the  summer.  Sir,  if  the 
honorable  senator  bad  paid  more  attention  to 
the  reading,  or  had  waited  to  have  it  in  print,  he 
would  not  have  hazarded  such  a  declaration. 
He  would  have  perceived  that  that  whole  ques- 
tion was  submitted  to  the  decision  of  the  Senate. 
The  committee  had  presented  both  sides  of  the 
question  — the  view  most  favorable,  and  that 
most  unfavorable,  to  the  institution.  It  exhib- 
ited the  measures  of  the  Executive  and  those  of 
the  bank  consequent  upon  them,  on  the  one 
siilfi.  and  the  available  resources  of  tlie  bank  on 
the  other.  The  fact  that  its  circulation  of 
^19,000,000  was  protected   by  specie  to  the 


amount  of  $10,000,000,  and  claims  on  the  State 
banks  exceeding  jJ2,000,000,  which  were  equal  to 
specie— that  its  pui-chasc  of  domestic  excliance 
had  so  declined,  from  May  to  October  as  to 
place  at  its   disposal   moro   than   ^r),()til),(»()0; 
something   more    than   a  doubt   is   exprcHsed 
whether,    luider    ordinary  circumstances,    the 
bank  would  have  been  justified  in  ciirtailiiV'  its 
discounts.     So,  too,  in  regard  to  a  l)erseveiwico 
in  its  measures  of  precaution  as  long  as  it  did 
a  sunnnary  of  facts  is  given  to  enal.le  the  Sen- 
ate to  decide  upon  the  propriety  of  the  course 
pursued  by  th"  bank.     The  eflbrt  of  the  com- 
mittee has  been  to  present  these  subfects  fairly 
to  the  Senate  and   the  country.     They  have 
sought '  nothing  to  extenuate,'  nor  have  tiitv 
'set  down  ought  in  malice.'     The  stateiiicnla 
are  presented  to  the  senator,  for  his  calm  and 
deliberate  considenUion — to  each  senator,  to  be 
weighed  as  becomes  his  high  station.   Anil  what 
is  the  course  of  the  honorable  senator  ?    The 
moment  he  (Mr.  T.)  could  return  to  his  siat 
from  the  Clerk's  table,  the  gentleman  }iouncts 
upon  the  report,  and  makes  assertions  wliicii  a 
careful  perusal  of  it  would  cause  him  to  know 
it  does  not  contain.     On  one  subject,  the  con- 
troversy relative  to  the  bill  of  exchange,  and 
the  damages  consequent  on  its  protest,  the  com- 
mittee had  expressed  the  opinion,  that  the  gov- 
ernment was  in  error,  and  he,  as  a  member  of 
that  committee,  would  declare  his  own  convic- 
tion that  that  opinion  was  sound  and  maintain- 
able before  any  fair  and  impartial  tribunal  in 
the  world.     Certain  persons  started  back  with 
alarm,  at  the  mere  mention  of  a  court  of  justice. 
The  trial  by  jury  had  become  hateful  in  tiieir 
eyes.    The  great  principles  of  »,agna  chuita 
are  to  be  overlooked,  and  the  declarations  con- 
tained in  the  bill  of  rights  are  become  too  old- 
fashioned  to  be  valuable.     Popular  prejudices 
are  to  be  addressed,  and  instead  of  an  aijpeal  to 
the  calm  judgment  of  mankind,  every  lurking 
prejudice  is  to  be  awakened,  because  a  corpora" 
tion,  or  a  set  of  individuals,  have  believed  them- 
selves wronged  by  the  accounting  officers  of  the 
treasury,  and  have  had  the  temerity  and  impu- 
dence to  take  a  course  calculated  to  bring  their 
rights  before  the  forum  of  the  courts.  Let  those 
who  see  cause  to  pursue  this  course  rejoice  as 
they  may  please,  and  exult  in  the  success  which 
attends  it.     For  one,  I  renounce  it  as  unworthy 
American  statesmen.     The  committee  had  ad'- 
dres.sed  a  sober  and  temperate  but  firm  argu- 
ment, upon  this  subject,  to  the  Senate;  and, 
standing  in  the  presence  of  that  august  body, 
and  before  the  whole  American  people,  he  rest- 
ed upon  that  argument  for  the  truth  of  the  opin- 
ion advanced.     An  opinion,  for  the  honesty  of 
which,  on  his  own  part,  he  would  avouch,  after 
the  most  solemn  manner,  under  the  unutterable 
obligations  he  was  under  to  his  Creator. 

"  The  senator  had  also  spoken  in  strong  lan- 
guage as  to  that  part  of  the  report  which  related 
to  the  committee  of  exchange.  He  had  said 
that  a  false  issue  had  been  presented— that  the 


ANNO  1886.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


487 


late  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  ^Mr.  Taney')  had 
iievor  contended  that  the  bank  na<l  no  ri(,'ht  to 
appoint  a  committee  of  e.xchanpe — tliat  such  a 
committee  was  appointed  by  all  bankH.  In  this 
last  declaration  the  guntlemau  is  correct.  All 
banks  have  a  committee  to  purchase  exchange. 
Hut  Mr.  T.  would  admonish  the  gentleman  to 
licwarc.  lie  would  lind  himself  C(jniiemning 
him  whom  ho  wished  to  defend.  Mr.  Taney's 
very  language  is  quoted  in  the  report.  lie  places 
the  violation  of  the  charter  distinctly  ou  the 
(rround  that  tho  business  of  the  bank  is  intrust- 
ed to  three  members  on  tho  exchange  committee, 
when  the  charter  requires  that  not  less  than 
seven  shall  constitute  a  board  to  do  business. 
His  very  words  are  given  in  the  report,  so  that 
he  cannot  be  misunderstood ;  and  tho  commen- 
tary of  the  committee  consists  in  a  mere  narra- 
tive of  facts.  Little  more  is  done  than  to  give 
facts,  anil  the  honorable  senator  takes  the  alarm ; 
and,  in  his  effort  to  rescue  the  late  Secretary 
from  their  influence,  plunges  him  still  deeper 
into  difticulty. 

'•  The  senator  liad  loudly  talked  of  the  com- 
mittee having  been  made  an  instrument  of,  by 
the  bank.  For  himself,  he  renounced  tho  as- 
cription. He  would  tell  the  honorable  senator 
that  ho  could  not  be  made  an  instrument  of  by 
the  bank,  or  by  a  still  greater  and  more  formidable 
power,  the  administration.  He  stood  upon  that 
lloor  to  accomplish  the  purposes  for  which  he 
was  sent  there.  In  the  consciousness  of  his 
0  vn  honesty,  he  stood  firm  and  erect.  Ho  would 
worship  alone  at  the  shrine  of  truth  and  of  honor. 
U  was  a  precious  thing,  in  the  eyes  of  some 
men,  to  bask,  in  tho  sunshine  of  power.  lie 
rested  only  upon  the  support,  which  had  never 
failed  him,  of  the  high  and  lofty  feelings  of  his 
constituents.  He  would  not  be  an  instrument 
even  in  their  hands,  if  it  were  possible  for  them 
to  require  it  of  him,  to  gratify  an  unrighteous 
motive." 


CHAPTER    CXVII. 

FRENCH  SPOLIATIONS  BKFOnE  1800. 

These  claims  had  acquired  an  imposing  aspect 
by  this  time.  They  were  called  "  prior  "  to  the 
year  1800 ;  but  how  much  prior  was  not  shown, 
and  they  might  reach  back  to  the  establishment 
of  our  independence.  Their  payment  by  the 
L^uited  States  rested  upon  assumptions  which 
constituted  the  basis  of  the  demand,  and  on 
which  the  bill  was  framed.  It  assumed,  fr-st — 
That  illegal  seizures,  detention'^,  capture^!,  con- 
demnations, and  confiscations  were  made  of  the 
vessels  and  property  of  citizens  of  the  United 


States  before  tho  period  mentioned.  Secondly 
— That  these  acts  were  committed  by  such  or- 
ders and  under  such  circumstances,  ns  gave  the 
sufferers  a  right  to  indemnity  from  tho  French 
government.  Thirdhj — That  these  claims  had 
been  annulled  by  the  United  States  for  public 
considerations.  Fourihly—'Umi  this  annul- 
ment gave  these  sufferers  a  just  claim  upon  tho 
United  States  for  tho  amount  of  their  los-ses. 
Upon  these  four  assumptions  tho  bill  rested — 
someof  them  disputable  in  pomt  of  fact,  and  others 
in  point  of  law.  Of  these  latter  was  the  assump- 
tion of  the  liability  of  tho  United  States  to  be- 
come paymasters  themselves  in  cases  where 
failing,  by  war  or  negotiation,  to  obtain  redress 
they  make  a  treaty  settlement,  surrendering  or 
abandoning  claims.  This  is  an  assumption  con- 
trary to  reason  and  law.  Every  nation  is  bound 
to  give  protection  to  the  persons  and  property 
of  their  citizens ;  but  the  government  is  tho 
judge  of  the  measure  and  degree  of  that  pro- 
tection ;  and  is  not  bound  to  treat  for  ever,  or 
to  fight  for  ever,  to  obtain  such  redress.  After 
having  done  its  best  for  the  indemnity  of  somo 
individuals,  it  is  bound  to  consider  what  is  due 
to  the  whole  community — and  to  act  accordingly; 
and  the  unredressed  citizens  have  to  put  up 
with  their  losses  if  abandoned  at  the  general  set- 
tlement which,  sooner  or  later,  must  terminate 
all  national  controversies.  All  this  was  well 
stated  by  Mr.  Bibb,  of  Kentucky,  in  a  speech  on 
these  French  claims  upon  the  bill  of  tho  pre- 
sent year.    lie  said : 

"He  was  well  aware  that  the  interests  of 
individuals  ought  to  be  supported  by  their  gov- 
ernments to  a  certain  degree,  but  he  did  not 
think  that  governments  were  bound  to  push 
such  interest  to  the  extremity  of  war — he  did 
not  admit  that  the  rights  of  the  whole  were  to 
be  jeoparded  by  the  claims  of  individuals — the 
safety  of  the  community  was  paramount  to  the 
claims  of  private  citizens.  He  would  proceed 
to  see  if  the  interests  of  our  citizens  had  been 
neglected  by  this  government.  These  claims 
have  been  urged  from  year  to  year,  with  all  the 
earnestness  and  zeal  due  from  the  nation.  But 
thej'  went  on  from  bad  to  wor&<^,  ill  negotia- 
tions were  in  vain.  We  then  assumed  a  hostile 
position.  During  the  year  '98,  more  than 
twent}'  laws  were  pasj^ed  by  Congress  upon  this 
very  subject — some  for  raising  troops — some  for 
providing  arms  and  munitions  of  war — some  for 
fitting  out  a  naval  force,  aud  so  on.  Was  this 
neglecting  the  claims  of  our  citizens  ?  Wo 
went  as  far  as  the  interests  of  the  nation  would 
perniit.      Wo  prosecuted  these  claims  to  the 


M 


488 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


,i| 


a    * 


very  ver|i:o  of  plunging  into  that  drondfiil  war 
then  (U'solatinK  Kuropc.     The  governmetit  then 
isHued  its  proclamation  of  neutralitv  and  non- 
inteiroiirse.     Mr.  H.  next  proeceded  to  Bhovv 
that  France  had  no  just  claims  upon  us,  aris- 
ing from  the  Kuaninty.     Tliis  nimrnnty  iij^'iiinst 
France  was  not  coiKsidered  binding,   even    by 
France  herself,  any  further  than  was  consistent 
witli  our  lelations  with  other  nations  ;  tliat  it 
was  80  declared  by  her  minister ;  and,  moreover, 
that  she  acknowle(lf;;ed  the  justice  of  our  tu-u- 
trality.      Those  treaties  had   been  violated  l)y 
France,  nud  the  United  States  could  not  surely 
be  bound  by  treaties  which  she  hud  herself  vio- 
lated;  and  conseriuently,   wo  were  under  no 
oblij,'ation  on  acc«unt  of  the  {•iiaranty.    Mr.  IJ. 
went  on  to  show  that,  by  the  terms  of  the 
treaty  of  1800,  the  debts  duo  to  our  citizens 
liad  not  been  relinquished  :— that  a.sthefruaran- 
ty   did  not  exist,  and  as  the  claims  had  not 
been  a!)andoned,  Mr.  I},  concluded  that  these 
claims  oufiht  not  to  be  paid  by  tliis government. 
He  was  oi)posed  to  goin^r  Lack  tliirty-four  years 
to  sit  in  ju.l'jment  on  the  constituted  authori- 
ties of  tliat  time.     There  should  be  a  stability 
m  the  government,  and  he  was  not  disposed  to 
question  tlie  jud(j;ment  of  the  man  (Washing- 
ton) who  has  justly  been  called  the  first  in  war 
and  the  lir,-t  in  peace.     AVe  are  sitting  here  to 
rcjudge  the  decisions  of  the  government  thirty- 
four  years  since." 


wards  under  Washington's  administration,  thii 
claim  of  indemnity,  no  longer  resting  npon  a 
claim  of  the  sullurcrs,  but  upon  a  treaty  utipu- 
latioii— iijion  an  article  in  a  treaty  for  thtir 
benefit— was  abandoned  to  obtain  a  general  ad- 
vantage for  the  whole  community  in  the  rom- 
ucicial  treaty  with  fJi-eat  Britain.  As  these 
claims  for  French  sjKjIiations  are  still  continued 
(1850),  I  give  some  of  tlie  siweches  for  and 
against  them  fifteen  years  ogo,  believing  that 
they  present  the  strength  of  the  argument  on 
both  sides.  The  ojjcning  speech  of  llr.  Web- 
ster presented  the  case : 


This  is  well  stated,  and  the  conclusion  just 
and  logical,  that  we  ought  not  to  go  back  thir- 
ty-four years  to  call  in  question  the  judgment 
of  Washington's  administration,    lie  was  look- 
ing to  the  latest  date  of  the  claims  when  ho  said 
thirty-four  years,  Avhich   surely  was  enough ; 
but  Washington's  decision  in  his  proclamation 
of  neutrality  was  seven  years  before  tliat  time  ; 
and  the  claims  themselves  have  the  year  1800 
for  their  period  of  limitation— not  of  commence- 
ment, which  was  many  years  before.      This 
doctrine  of  governmental  liability  when  aban- 
doning the  claims  of  citizens  for  which  indem- 
nity could  not  be  obtained,  is  unknown  in  other 
countries,  and  was  unknown  in  ouis  in  the  ear- 
lier ages  of  the  government.     There  was  a  case 
of  this  abandonment  in  our  early  history  which 
rested  upon  no  "assumption"  of  fact,  but  on 
the  fact  itself;  and  in  which  no  attempt  was 
made  to  enforce  the  novel  doctrine.     It  was  the 
case  of  the  slaves  carried  off  by  the  British 
troops  at  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War, 
and  for  which  indemnity  was  stipulated  in  the 
treaty  of  peace.     Great  Britain  refused  that  in- 
demnity ;  and  after  vain  efforts  to  obtain  it  by 
the  Congress  of  the  confederation,  and  jifter- 


Ile  should  content  himself  with  stating  very 
briefly  an  outline  of  tho  grounds  on  which  tiic/o 
<  'aims  are  supposed  to  rest,  and  then  leave  the 
^  bjcct  to  the  consideratiojx  of  the  Senate.  He 
b  iwover,  should  be  Imppy,  in  tho  course  of  the 
debate,  to  make  such  explanations  as  might  bo 
called  for.  It  would  be  seen  that  the  bill  pro- 
posed to  make  satisfaction,  to  an  ainoimt  not 
exceeding  five  millions  of  dollars,  to  such  citi- 
zens of  the  [Jnited  Staits,  or  their  legal  repre- 
sentatives, as  liad  valid  c'nims  for  indemnify  on 
the  French  governmenl,  rising  out  of  ircgnl 
captures,  detentions,  a:)d  condemnations,  iiiado 
or  committed  on  their  property  prior  to  tlie 
30th  day  of  September,  1800.  'This  bill  siiiv 
posed  two  or  three  leading  propositions  to  be 
true. 

"  It  supposed,  in  the  first  place,  tliat  illegal 
seizures,  detentions,  captures,  condemnations, 
and  conMseations,  were  made,  of  the  vessels  and 
liroperty  ,  f  the  citizens  of  tlie  United  States, 
before  tb.o  30th  September,  1800. 

"  It  supposed,  in  the  second  place,  that  these 
acts  of  wrong  were  committed  by  such  orders 
and  under  such  circumstances,  as  that  the  suf- 
fxMcrs  had  a  just  right  and  claim  for  indemnity 
from  the  hands  of  the  government  of  France. 

"  Going  on  these  two  pronositions,  the  bill 
assumed  one  other,  and  that  was,  that  all  such 
claims  on  France  as  came  within  a  prescribed 
period,  or  down  to  a  prescribed  period,  had  been 
annulled  by  the  United  States,  and  that  this 
gave  them  a  right  to  claim  indemnity  from  this 
government.     Ic  supposed  a  liability  in  justice, 
in  fairness  and  equity,  on  the  part  of  tins  gov- 
ernment, to  make  the  indemnity.    These  were 
the  grounds  on  which   the  bill   was  framed. 
That  there  were  many  such  confiscations  no  one 
doubted,  and  many  such  acts  of  wrong  as  were 
mentioned  in  the  first  section  of  the  bill.    That 
I  they  were  comn.ittcd  by  Frenchmen,  and  under 
such  circumstances  as  gave  those  who  suflbred 
wrong  an  unquestionable  right  to  claim  indem- 
nity from  the  French  government,  nobody,  he 
supposed,  at  this  day,  would  question.    There 
were  two  qucstiono  which  might  be  made  the 
subject  of  discussion,  and  two  only  occura'd  to 


ANNO  1838.    ANDIliaV  JACKSON.  PUJ>>,Mi:NT. 


489 


place,  tliat  illcpil 
<,    condeiiin.itions, 


him  Ht  that  moment.  Tho  one  was,  '  On  what 
j;;(mti(l  waa  the  government  of  the  United  States 
answiTnl)le  to  any  extent  for  the  injury  done  to 
tlif.sc  (luimaiitrt  ? '  The  other,  '  To  what  extent 
was  the  >,'ovcrnmcnt  in  Ju.stifo  hound  ?'  And 
Jinl—o{  the  first.  '  Why  wbh  it  that  tlie  gov- 
iriiini'iit  of  tlie  United  State.^  liad  become  rc- 
siKmsihlc  in  hiw  or  etpiity  to  its  citizens,  for  the 
cl.iiiiis— for  any  indemnity  for  tho  wron^H  com- 
mitted on  their  commerce  by  tlio  subjects  of 
Frame  U'forc  1800?'  "" 

"To  this)  question  there  was  an  answer,  which 
wiiethcr  satisfactory  or  not,  had  at  least  the 
merit  of  being  a  very  short  one.  It  was,  that, 
liy  a  treaty  between  France  and  tho  United 
States,  Ijcaring  date  the  ^Oth  of  .September 
1800,  in  a  i)oIitical  capacity,  tho  government  of 
tht  United  States  discharged  and  released  the 
■lovcrnnient  of  France  from  this  indenniity.  It 
went  iiiM)n  tlie  ground,  which  was  sustained  by 
ail  tlie  corruspoudcnce  which  had  j)receded  the 
treaty  of  1800,  that  tho  disputes  arising  be- 
tween the  two  countries  should  be  settled" by  a 
nepo'.iation.  And  claims  and  pretensions  hav- 
ing been  asserted  on  either  aide,  commissioners 
on  the  part  of  tho  United  States  were  sent  out 
to  pert  and  maintain  tho  claims  of  indemnity 
wliich  they  demanded ;  while  commissioners  ap- 
jiointod  on  the  part  of  Franco  asserted  a  claim 


but  an  hist  or  il  ...num*nt,  gi  -  Imck  to  the 
llrst  tivnty  iv  mce  in  17     .  and  con     f 

down  through  our  legielatlon  and  dijijoi-  .\  n 
French  rpiestiona  to  the  time  of  its  deliv< ,  .\ 
separate  chapter  is  due  to  thi.s  gi-eat  spotch  ; 
and  it  will  be  given  entire  in  tho  next  one. 


CHAPTER  CXVITI. 

FnENCa  SPOLIATIONS  :   SPEECH  OF  MR.  WltlOIIT 
OF  NEW-YORK.  ' 


to  tlie  full  extent  of  tho  stipulations  made  in  78 
wiiieh  they  said  the  United  States  had  promised 
to  fullll,  nnd  in  order  to  carry  into  ellect  the 
treaty  ol  a]!iiin.-e  of  tho  same  date,  viz. :  Feb- 
ruary, 1778. 

"The  negotiation  ultimately  terminated,  and  a 
treaty  was  llually  ratified  upon  tho  terms  and 
conihtions  of  an  oflset  of  the  respective  claims 
npamst  each  other,  and  for  ever;  so  that  the 
United  States  government,  by  tho  surrender 
and  discharge  of  these  claims  of  its  citizens,  had 
made  this  surrender  to  the  French  government 
to  obtain  for  itself  a  discharge  From  the  onerous 
liibilitics  nnposed  upon  them  by  the  treaty  of 
lM»,and  m  order  to  escape  from  fulfilling  other 
.stipulations  proclaimed  in  the  treaty  of  com- 
merce of  that  year,  and  which,  if  not  fulfilled. 
might  have  brought  about  a  war  with  France; 
1  Ins  was  the  ground  en  which  these  claims 
rested. 

'•  Heretofore,  when  the  subject  had  been  before 
tongress,  gentlemen  had  taken  this  view  of  the 
case;  and  he  believed  there  was  a  report  pre- 
sen  ed  to  the  Senate  at  the  time,  which  set  forth 
that  the  c  aims  of  our  citizens,  being  left  open, 
t'le  Inited  States  had  done  these  claimants  no 
"iji'ry,  and  that  it  did  not  exempt  tho  govern- 
ment of  France  from  liability." 

Mr.  Wright,  of  New- York,  spoke  fully  against 
the  b,li^  and  upon  a  c.^se  view  of  all  the  facts 
ot  the  case,  and  all  the  law  of  the  case  as  srrow- 
mg  out  of  treaties  or  found  in  the  law  of  nations. 
"IS  speech  was  no*  only  a  masterly  argument, 


Jlr.  AV  right  understood  tho  friends  of  this 
bill  tojnit  Its  merits  upon  the  single  and  distinct 
ground  that  tlie  government  of  the  Ignited  States 
had  released  Franco  from  the  iKiyment  of  tho 
claims  for  a  consideration,  passing  directly  to 
the  benefit  of  our  government,  and  fully  eiiiial 
in  value  to  the  claims  themselves.  Mr.  W.  said 
ho  should  argue  tho  several  questions  presented 
upon  the  suiipositiou  that  this  was  the  extent 
to  which  the  friends  of  the  bill  had  gone  or 
were  disposed  to  go,  in  claiming  a  liability  on 
tho  part  of  the  United  States  to  pay  the  claim- 
ants ;  and,  thus  understood,  he  was  roadv  to 
proceed  to  an  examination  of  tho  strengtii  of"  tliis 
position. 

"His  first  duty,  then,  was  to  examine  the  re- 
lations existing  between  France  and  the  United 
States  prior  to  tho  commencement  of  the  dis- 
turbances out  of  which  these  claims  have  arisen ; 
and  the  discharge  of  this  duty  would  compel  a 
dry  jiiid  uninteresting  reference  to  tlie  several 
treaties  which,  at  that  period,  governed  those 
relations. 

"  The  seventeenth  article  of  the  treaty  o*"  am- 
ity and  commerce  of  tho  Cth  February  1778 
was  the  first  of  these  references,  and  that  article 
was  in  the  following  words : 

"  'Art.  17.  It  shall  be  lawful  for  tho  ships  of 
war  of  either  party,  and  privateers,  freely  *o 
carry  whithersoever  they  please  the  ships  and 
goods  taken  from  their  enemies,  without  bein<' 
obh-ed  to  pay  any  duty  to  tho  officers  of  tho 
admiralty  or  any  other  judges;  nor  shall  such 
prizes  bo  arrested  or  seized  when  they  conio  to 
or  enter  the  ports  of  either  party;  nor  shall  the 
searchers  or  other  officers  of  those  places  search 
the  same,  or  make  examination  concerning  tho 
lawfulness  of  such  prizes ;  but  they  may  hoist 
sail  at  any  time  and  depart  and   carry  their 
prizes  to  the  places  expressed  in  their  commis- 
sions, which  the  commanders  of  such  sliips  of 
war  shall  be  obliged  to  show ;  on  the  contrary, 
no  shelter  or  refuge  shall  be  given  in  their  ports 
to  such  us  shall  have  made  prize  of  the  subjects, 
people,  or  property  of  either  of  the  parties;  but 
if  such  shall  come  in,  being  forced  by  stress  of 


I 


490 


THIRTY  YEARS*  VIEW. 


wcaUier.  or  tho  dariRtT  of  tlio  soa,  all  propiT 
moanH  nIiiiII  he  vigoiouHly  usod,  tiiut  tlioy  k<» 
out  and  rctirn  from  Hieiico  m  Hoon  a.s  poswihlc' 
"  This  article,  Mr.  W.  said,  would  he  found  to 
bo  one  of  the  most  material  of  all  the  Htipulii- 
tions  l)etween  the  two  nations,  in  an  examina- 
tion of  the  diplomatic  correHiwndenee  duriiin 
the  whole  |Kriod  of  the  disturbances  fii)m  the 
hreakinp;  out  of  the  war  Ixjtween  France  and 
Knirland,  in  IT'J.'J,  until  the  treaty  of  the  ;U)th 
.September,  IHOO.  The  privilegeH  claimed  by 
France,  and  the  exchmiouH  she  insisted  on  us 
applicable  to  the  other  belligerent  Powers,  were 
fruitful  sources  of  complaint  on  both  sides,  and 
constituted  many  material  points  of  disn^ree- 
mcnt  between  the  two  nations  throii;;h  this  en- 
tire interval.  What  these  claims  were  on  the 
nart  of  France,  and  how  far  they  were  admitted 
by  the  United  States,  and  how  far  controverted, 
will,  Mr.  W.  said,  bo  more  jjroperly  confidered 
in  another  part  of  the  argument.  As  comiected, 
however,  with  this  branch  of  the  relations,  he 
thought  It  necessary  to  refer  to  the  twenty- 
second  article  of  the  .same  treaty,  which  was  in 
the  following  words : 

"•  /1/7.  22.  It  shall  not  bo  lawful  for  any  for- 
eign privateers,  not  belonging  to  subjects  of  the 
Most  Christian  King,  nor  citizens  of  the  said 
United  States,  who  have  commissions  fiom  any 
other  prince  or  State  in  enmity  with  either  na- 
tion, to  lit  their  ships  in  the  ports  of  either  the 
one  or  the  other  of  the  aforesaid  parties,  to  sell 
what  they  have  taken,  or  in  any  other  manner 
.whatsoever  to  exchange  their  ships,  merchan- 
dises, or  any  other  lading ;  neither  shall  they  be 
allowed  even  to  purchase  victuals,  except  such 
as  shall  be  necessary  for  their  going  to  the  next 
port  of  that  prince  or  State  from  which  they 
have  commissions.' 

'•  Mr.  W.  said  he  now  jiassed  to  a  different 
branch  of  the  relations  between  the  two  coun- 
tries, as  established  by  this  treaty  of  amity  and 
commerce,  which  was  the  reciprocal  right  of 
cither  to  carry  on  a  free  trade  with  the  enemies 
of  the  other,  restricted  only  by  the  stipulations 
of  the  same  treaty  in  relation  to  articles  to  be 
considered  contraband  of  war.  This  reciprocal 
right  is  defined  in  the  twenty-third  article  of  the 
tr-jat}^,  which  is  in  the  words  following : 

" '  Art.  23.  Itsliall  Le  lawful  for  all  and  singu- 
lar the  subjects  of  the  Most  Christian  King,  and 
the  citizens,  people,  and  inhabitants  of  the  said 
United  States,  to  sail  with  their  ships  with  all 
manner  of  liberty  and  .security,  no  distinction 
being  made  who  are  the  proprietors  of  the  mer- 
chaudiises  laden  thereon,  from  any  pt)rt  to  the 

E laces  of  those  who  now  are  or  hereafter  shall 
e  at  enmity  with  the  Most  Christian  King,  or 
the  United  States.  It  shall  likew  ise  be  lawful 
for  the  subjects  and  inhabitants  aforesaid  to  sail 
with  the  ships  and  merchandises  aforementioned, 
and  to  trade  with  the  same  liberty  and  security 
from  the  places,  ports,  and  havens  of  those  who 
are  enemies  of  both  or  either  party,  without  any 
opposition  or  disturbance  whatsoever,  not  only 


directly  from  the  places  of  the  enemy  !if„rcmen. 
tioni'd  to  neutral  places,  hut  also  from  one  pln^^ 
belonging  to  an  enemy  to  another  place  iMloni?- 
ing  to  an  enemy,  whether  they  be  undir  il,,, 
Jurisdiction  of  the  s.une  prince,  or  under  hcvitmI 
And  it  is  hereby  stipulal'd  that  free  ships  ^liali 
also  give  a  freedom  to  goods,  and  that  every 
thing  shall  bo  deemed  to  be  free  and  exnniit 
which  shall  be  found  on  board  the  ships  yUm- 
ing  to  the  subjectsof  either  of  the  confederate, n|. 
though  the  whole  lading,  or  any  part  tlicrcof, 
should  ap{)ertain  to  the  enemies  of  eitlur  con- 
traband goods  being  always  excejited.  It  \n also 
agi^'cd,  in  like  manner,  that  the  same  liliorty  Ik> 
extended  to  persons  who  arc  on  board  a'fivo 
ship,  with  this  effect,  that  although  they  heone 
niies  to  both  or  either  |)arty.  they  are  not  to  he 
taken  out  of  that  free  ship.mdess  they  are  soldiers 
and  in  actual  service  of  the  enemies.' 

"The  restrictions  as  to  articles  to  be  held  W- 
twcen  the  two  nations  as  contraband  o*"    p 
Mr.  W.  said,  wore  to  be  found  in  the  twenty- 
fourth  article  of  this  same  treaty  of  amity  and 
commerce,  and  were  as  follows: 

'''Art.  24.    This  liberty  of  navigation  and 
commerce  shall  cxteiid  to  all  kinds  of  merclum- 
dises,  excepting  those  only  which  are  distin^Miish- 
ed  by  the  name  of  contraband,  and  under  this 
name  of  contraband,  or  prohdiited  goo(h,  slinll 
be  comprehended  arms,  great  guns,  bombs,  with 
fuses  and  other  things  belonging  to  them,  can- 
non ball,  gunpov.-der,  match,  pikes,  swords,  lan- 
ces, spears,  halberds,  mortars,  petanls,  grenade."! 
saltpetre,  muskets,  uuisket  ball,  helmets,  brca."-!' 
plates,  coats  of  mail,  and  the  like  kin<ls  of  arms 
proper  for  arnung  soldiers,  nmsket  rest-s,  hclti. 
horses  with  their  furniture,  and  all  other  war- 
like instruments  whatever.     These  merclmndi- 
ses  which  follow  shall  not  bo  reckoned  anion;: 
contraband  or  prohibited  goods ;  that  is  to  say, 
all  .sorts  of  cloths,  and  all  other  mauufactnruf 
woven  of  any  wool,  Hax,  silk,  cotton,  or  any  other 
material  whatever;  all  kinds  of  wearing  apparel, 
together  with  the  species  whereof  they  are  used 
to  bo  made;  gold  and  silver,  as  well  coined  as 
uncoined:  tin,  iron,  latten,  copjier,  brass,  coals; 
as  also  wheat  and  barley^  and  any  other  kind  of 
corn  and  pulse :  tobacco,  'and  likewise  all  niun- 
ner  of  spices ;  .salted  and  smoked  ilesli,  salted 
fish,  cheese,  and  butter,  beer,  oils,  wines,  sugars, 
and  all  sorts  of  .salts  ;  and,  in  general,  all  provis- 
ions which  serve  for  the  nourishment  of  man- 
kind, and  the  sustenance  of  life ;  filrtliennore, 
all  kinds  of  cotton,  hem]),  ilax,  tar,  pitch,  ropesj 
cables,  sails,  sail  cloths,  anchors,  and  any  part 
of  anchors,  also  ships'  masts,  planks,  boards,  and 
beams,  of  what  trees  soever;  and  all  other  things 
proper  either  for  building  or  repairing  ships,  and 
all  other  goods  whatever  which  have  not  been 
worked  into  the  form  of  any  instrument  or  thin;,' 
prepared  for  war  by  land  or  by  sea,  shall  not  he 
reputed  contraband,  much  less  such  as  have  been 
already  wrought  and  made  up  for  any  other  use- 
all  which  shall  be  wholly  reckoned  among  free 
goods ;  as  likewise  all  other  mercliandises  and 


ANNO  1836.     ANDREW  JACKSON.  I'UIMDICN  f 


491 


thinifi  which  are  not  ooinprtihonded  and  j;articu- 
Isrly  mcniidiu'd  \n  the  forff^oing  cniimeratiim  of 
conirnlMiKl  iHxHl»,  m  thot  they  may  Iki  trnnH- 
portcd  ftiul  rarritMl  in  the  frocBt  ntamier  by  the 
mhjectK  of  Iwth  conredcTtttos,  even  to  tho  places 
iH'loniriiiK  l'>  »»  vnciny,  such  towr'  ^  'acus  Jw- 
iii)riMily  i')(('i{it(<i|  u  are  at  that  tiuu  beoiogcd, 
Mi)ike(i  lip,  or  invested.' 

•Mr.  W.  Niid  this  closed  IiIh  rt'lerene»«Htothi8 
liiaiy.  with  (lie  nniark,  which  he  wiHhcd  care- 
fiillv  lionit)  in  mind,  that  thi-  accepted  public  law 
waii  greatly  deputed  from  in  thiH  last  article. 
IVovi-tionH,  in  tlit,irbroa<lest  sense,  niaterialH  fur 
^hipn,  rifrifinK  for  ships,  and  indeed  almost  all  the 
ariii'lco  of  trade  mentioned  in  the  lonfi;  exception 
III  ihu  article  of  the  treaty,  were  articles  contrii- 
laml  of  war  by  the  law  of  nationn.  This  article, 
tluTi'fore,  [iliiced  onrconiincrce  with  France  upon 

af.)otiii(;\viili'lydi(li'rfnt,in<'ase  ofa  warbetween 
FruiK-e  anil  any  third  power,  from  the  rules  which 
nniild  ripciilate  that  cominerct!  with  the  other 
kliiKereiit,  with  whom  we  mifjht  not  have  a 
similar ''oiniiiercial  Ireaty.  Such  wmh  its  ellec  t  as 
coiiipari'd  with  our  relations  with  Kiigland  with 
which  jiower  we  had  no  commercial  treaty  what- 
ever, but  depended  upon  the  law  of  nations  as 
our  commercial  rule  and  standard  of  intei-course. 
•Mr.  W.  said  he  now  passed  to  tho  treaty  of 
iliiaiitc  between  Fianco  and  the  United  States 
of  the  game  date  with  the  treaty  of  amity  and 
commerc'J  before  referred  to,  and  his  first  re- 
llTOice  was  to  the  11th  article  of  this  latter 
tiviity.    It  was  in  the  followinp;  words: 

••'Art.  II.  The  two  parties  guarantee  mutual- 
y  from  the  present  time,  and  for  ever,  against 
ill  ot'icr  pmvers,  to  wit:  Tho  United  States  to 
Ilis  Most  Christian  ALiJesty  tho  present  posses- 
sions of  tiie  Crown  of  France  in  America,  as  well 
as  tliose  which  it  may  acquire  by  the  future  trea- 
ty- of  peace :  And  His  Most  Christian  Majesty 
parantees  on  his  part  to  the  United  States,  their 
hborty  .sovereignty,  and  independence,  absolute 
ami  unlimited,  as  well  in  matters  of  government 
■If  conmierce,  and  also  their  possessions,  and  the 
additions  ov  conquests  that  their  confederation 
may  obtain  duruig  the  war,  from  any  of  the  do- 
imnioii.s  now  or  heretofore  possessed  by  Great 
lintain  in  North  America,  conformable  to  the 
lilth  and  si.xth  articles  above  written,  the  whole 
as  thfir  possessions  shall  be  fixed  and  assured  to 
the  said  States  at  the  moment  of  tho  cessation 
M  their  present  war  with  England.' 

•This  arUcle,  Mr.  W.  said,  was  tho  most  im- 
portant reference  he  had  made,  or  could  make 
*o  far  as  the  claims  provided  for  by  this  bill 
were   concerned,   because    he  understood    the 
ineiids  of  the  bill  to  derive  the  principal  consid- 
|.'ation  to  the  United  States,  which  created  their 
lability  to  pay  the  claims,  from  the  guaranty 
',» the  part  of  the  United  States  contained  in  it 
le  Senate  would  see  that  the  article  was  a 
.iitual  and  reciprocal  guaranty,  Ut  On  tho  part 
L     Inited  States  to  France,  of  her  posses- 

rtlnM'-fTJ  ^^  ^^-  0°  *h«  P"^'-*  of  France 
to  the  United  States,  of  their  'liberty,  sove- 


reignty, and  ind.»|)cnd«nco,  »b«(olute  and  nnlimit- 
od,  aR  well  in  matters  of  gorernment  as  com- 
nierco,  and  also  their  iMiSMcssJons,'  &c. ;  and  tbat 
the  res|)ective  Ruaran tees  were 'for  ever.'  it 
would  by-and-by  oppcor  in  what  manner  this 
guaranty  on  the  mrt  of  our  gov.rnment  was 
claimeil  to  be  tho  foundation  for  this  iiecuniary 
responsibility  for  millions,  but  at  pres*.nt  ho 
must  complete  his  ivferences  to  the  treaties 
whicli  f(»rmed  the  law  between  the  two  nations 
and  the  rule  of  their  ndations  to  nnd  witluach 
other.  He  had  but  one  more  article  to  read,  aii.l 
that  was  important  only  ft,sit  went  to  define  the 
one  last  cited.  This  was  the  I'Jih  article  of  the 
treaty  of  alliance,  and  was  as  follows: 

*• '  All.  12.  In  order  to  fix  more  invcisely  tho 
sense  and  application  of  the  preceding  article 
the  contracting  jiarties  declare  that,  in  case  of  a 
rujiture  between  France  and  England,  the  re- 
ciprocal guaranty  declared  in  the  said  article 
shall  have  its  full  force  and  ellect  the  moment 
sueb  war  shall  break  out ;  and  if  such  rupture 
shall  not  take  place,  the  mutual  obligations  of  the 
said  guaranty  shall  not  commoneo  until  the  mo- 
ment of  tho  cessation  of  the  present  war  between 
tho  linited  States  and  England  shall  have  ascer- 
tained their  possessions.' 

'•  These,  said  Mr.  W.,  are  tho  treaty  stipula- 
tions between  France  and  the  United  States, ex- 
isting at  the  time  of  the  commencement  of  the 
di.^turbaiices  between  tho  two  countries,  which 
gave  rise  to  the  claims  now  the  subject  of  tvm- 
sideration,  and  which  seem  to  bear  most  mate- 
rially upon  the  points  in  issue.  There  were  other 
provisions  m  the  treaties  bet.veen  the  two  gov- 
ernments more  or  less  applicable  to  the  present 
discussion,  but,  in  the  course  ho  had  marked  out 
for  lumself,  a  reference  to  them  was  not  indis- 
pensable, and  he  was  not  disposed  to  occupy  the 
time  or  weary  the  patience  of  th"  Senate  with 
more  of  these  dry  documentary  quotations  than 
he  found  absolutely  essenti^il  to  a  iull  and  clear 
understanding  of  the  points  he  proposed  to  ex- 
amine. 

'■  Mr.  W.  said  lie  was  now  ready  to  present 
tlie  origin  of  tho  claims  which  formed  the  sub- 
ject of  the  bill.    The  war  between  France  and 
England  broke  out,  according  to  his  recollection 
late  m  the  year  1792,  or  early  in  the  year  17S};i' 
and  the  United  States  resolved  upon  preserving 
the  same  neutral  position  between  those  belli- 
gerents, which  they  had  ussumcd  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  war  between  France  and  cer- 
tain other  European  powers.     This  neutrality 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States  seemed  to  be 
acceptable  to  the  then  French  Kepublic.  and  her 
minister  in  the  United  States  and  her  diplomatic 
agents  at  homo  were  free  and  distinct  in  their 
expressions  to  this  efTect. 

'•  Still  that  Republic  made  broad  claims  under 
the  1«  th  article  of  the  treaty  of  amity  and  oom- 
menx-  before  quoted,  and  her  minister  here  as- 
sumed the  right  to  purchase  ships,  arm  them  as 
privateers  in  our  ports,  commission  olflaTs  for 
them,  enlist   our  own  citizens  to  man  them, 


■  i '  :•/, 


V,  :e! 

.'  1' 

•     li 

.  ,«» 

» 

S! 

492 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW, 


and,  thus  prepared,  to  send  them  from  our  ports 
to  cruise  against  English  vessels  upon  our  coast. 
Many  prizes  were  made,  which  were  Inonght 
into  our  ports,  submitted  to  the  admiralty  juris- 
diction conferred  by  the  P'rench  Ileptiblic  upon 
her  consuls  in  the  United  States,  condemned, 
and  the  captured  vessels  and  cargoes  exposed  for 
Bale  in  our  markets.  These  practices  were  im- 
mediately and  earnestly  conij.lriined  of  by  the 
British  government  as  violations  of  tlie  neutral- 
ity which  our  government  had  declared,  and 
which  we  assumed  to  maintain  in  re2;ard  to  all 
the  belligerents,  as  favors  granted  to  one  of  the 
belligerents,  not  demandable  of  right  under  our 
treaties  with  France.andns  wholly  inconsistent, 
according  to  the  rules  of  international  law,  with 
our  continuance  as  a  neutral  power.  Our  gov- 
ernment so  far  yielded  to  these  complaints  as  to 
prohibit  the  French  from  fitting  out,  arming, 
equipping,  or  commissioning  privatecr.i  in  our 
ports,  and  from  enlisting  our  citizens  to  bear 
arms  under  the  French  tlag. 

"  This  decision  of  the  rights  of  Franco,  under 
the  treaty  of  amity  and  commerce,  produced 
warm  remonstrances fromherministerinthe  Uni- 
ted States,  but  was  finally  ostensibly  acquiesced 
in  by  the  llepublic,  although  constant  complaints 
of  evasions  and  violations  of  the  rule  continued 
to  harass  our  government,  and  to  occupy  the  at- 
tention of  the  respective  diplomatists. 

"  The  exclusive  privilege  of  cur  ports  for 
her  armed  vessels,  privateers,  and  their  prizes, 
granted  to  France  by  the  treaty  of  amity  and 
commerce,  as  has  before  been  seen,  excited  the 
jealousy  of  England,  and  she  was  not  slow  in 
sending  a  portion  of  her  vast  navy  to  lino  our 
coast  and  block  up  our  ports  and  harbors.  The 
insolence  of  power  induced  some  of  her  armed 
vessels  to  enter  our  ports,  and  to  remain,  in 
violation  of  our  treaty  with  France,  though  not 
by  the  consent  of  our  government,  or  when  we 
had  the  power  to  enforce  the  treaty  by  their 
ejection.  These  incidents,  however,  did  not  fail 
to  form  the  subject  of  new  charges  from  the 
French  ministers,  of  bad  fiiith  on  our  part,  of 
partiality  to  England  to  the  prejudice  of  our 
old  and  faithful  ally,  of  permitted  violations  of 
the  treaties,  and  of  an  inefficiency  and  want  of 
zeal  in  the  performance  of  our  duties  as  neutrals. 
To  give  point  to  these  complaints,  some  few  in- 
stances occurred  in  which  British  vessels  brought 
their  prizes  into  our  ports,  whether  in  all  cases 
under  those  casualties  of  stress  of  weather,  or 
the  dangers  of  the  sea,  which  rendered  the  act 
in  conformity  with  the  treaties  and  the  law  of 
nations  or  not,  is  not  pcTrhaps  very  certain  or 
very  material,  inasmuch  as  the  spirit  of  complaint 
seems  to  have  taken  possession  of  the  French 
negotiators,  and  these  acts  gave  colorable  ground 
to  their  remonstrances. 

"  Contemporaneously  with  these  grounds  of 
misunderstanding  and  these  collisions  of  inter- 
est between  the  belligerents,  and  between  the 
iuterests  of  either  of  them  and  the  preservation 
of  our  neutrality,  the  French  began  to  discover 


the  disadvantages  to  them,  and  the  gre-vt  advan- 
tages to  the  British,  of  the  dift'erent  rules  wjijch 
governed  the  commerce  between  the  two  nations 
and  the  United  States.  The  rule  between  us 
and  France  was  the  commercial  treaty  of 
which  the  articles  above  quoted  form  a  part  and 
the  rule  between  us  and  Great  Britain,  was' that 
laid  down  by  the  law  Tf  nations.  Mr,  W.  .said 
he  would  detain  the  Senate  to  point  out  but  two 
of  the  differences  between  these  rules  of  com- 
merce and  intercourse,  because  upon  these  two 
principally  f'epended  the  difficulties  which  follow- 
ed. The  first  was,  that,  by  the  treaty  between 
us  and  France,  '  free  shijjs  shall  also  give  a  free- 
dom to  the  good.-, ;  and  every  thing  shall  be 
deemed  to  be  free  and  exempt  which  shall  be  found 
on  board  the  ships  belonging  to  the  subjects  of 
either  of  the  confederates,  although  the  whole 
lading,  or  any  part  thereof,  should  a])iiertain 
to  the  enemy  of  either,  contraband  goods  bcin" 
always  excepted ; '  while  the  law  of  nations,  which 
was  the  rule  between  us  and  England,  made  the 
goods  of  an  enemy  a  lawful  prize,  thou.sh  found  in 
the  vessel  of  a  friend.  Hence  it  foilowed  that 
P'rench  property  on  board  of  an  American  vessel 
was  subject  to  capture  by  British  cruisers  with- 
out indignity  to  our  flag,  or  a  violation  to  inter- 
national law,  while  British  property  on  board  of 
an  American  vessel  could  not  be  captured  by  a 
French  vessel  without  an  insult  to  the  flag  of 
the  United  States,  and  a  direct  violation  of  "the 
twenty-third  article  of  the  treaty  of  amity  and 
commerce  between  us  and  France,  before  refer- 
red to. 

"  Mr.  AY.  said  the  second  instance  of  disadvan- 
tage to  France  which  he  proposed  to  mention, 
was  the  great  difference  between  the  articles 
made  contraband  of  war  by  the  twenty-fourth 
article  of  the  treaty  of  amity  and  commerce,  be- 
fore road  to  the  Senate,  and  by  the  law  of  na- 
tions. By  the  treaty,  provisions  of  all  kinds, 
ship  timber,  ship  tackle  (guns  only  excepted)! 
and  a  large  list  of  other  articles  of  trade  and  com- 
merce, wei-o  declared  not  to  be  contraband  of 
war,  while  the  same  articles  are  expressly  made 
contraband  by  the  law  of  nations.  Hence  an 
American  vessel,  clearing  for  a  French  port  with 
a  cargo  of  provisions  or  ship  stores,  was  lawful 
prize  to  a  British  cruiser,  as,  by  the  law  of  na- 
tions, carrying  aiticlcs  contraband  of  war  to  an 
enemy,  while  the  same  ves.sel,  clearing  for  a 
British  port,  with  the  same  cargo,  could  not  be 
captured  by  a  French  vessel,  because  the  treaty 
declared  that  the  articles  composing  the  cargo 
should  not  be  contraband  as  between  the  United 
States  and  France.  Mr.  W.  said  the  Senate 
would  see,  at  a  single  glance,  how  eminently 
these  two  advantages  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain 
were  calculated  to  turn  our  commerce  to  her 
ports,  where,  if  the  treaty  between  us  and 
France  was  observed,  our  vessels  could  go  in 
perfect  safety,  while,  laden  with  provisions,  our 
only  considerable  export,  and  destined  for  & 
French  port,  they  were  liable  to  capture,  as 
carrying  to  an  enemy  contraband  articles.   Up- 


ANNO  1885.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


493 


on  their  return,  too,  they  were  equally  out  of 
daniier  from  French  cruisers,  as,  by  the  treaty, 
fee  sliips  made  free  the  goods  on  board ;  while, 
if  they  cleared  ironi  a  port  in  France  with  a 
French  cargo,  they  were  lawful  prize  to  the 
Bi'itish,  upon  the  principle  of  the  law  of  nations, 
that  the  goods  of  an  enemy  are  lawful  prize! 
eren  when  found  in  the  vessel  of  a  friend. 

'■Both  nations  were  in  constant  and  urgent 
want  of  provisions  from  the  L'nitcd  Stales ;  and 
this  double  advantage  to  England  of  having  her 
ports  open  and  free  to  our  vessels,  and  of  pos- 
sessing the  right  to  capture  those  bound  to 
French  ports,  exasperated  the  French  Kepublic 
heyond  endurance.    Her  ministers  remonstrated 
with  our  government,  controverted  our  construc- 
tion of  British  rights,  again  renewed  the  accu- 
sations of  partiality,  and  finally  threw  off  the 
obligations  of  the  treaty ;  and,  by  a  solemn  de- 
cree of  their  authorities  at  home,  established  the 
rule  which  governed  the  practice  of  the  British 
cruisers.    France,  assuming  to  believe  that  the 
United  States  permitted  the  neutrality  of  her 
Hag  to  be  violated  by  the  British,  without  re- 
sistance, declared  that  she  would  treat  the  flag 
of  all  neutral  vessels  as  that  flag  should  permit 
itself  to  be  treated  by  the  other  belligerents. 
This  opened  our  commerce  to  the  almost  indis- 
ciiminate  plunder  and  depredation  of  all  the 
powers  at  war,  and  but  for  the  want  of  the  pro- 
visions of  the  United   States,  which  was  too 
strongly  felt  both  in  England  and  France  not  to 
govern,  in  a  great  degree,  the  policy  of  the  two 
nations,  it  would  seem  probable,  from  the  docu- 
mentary history  of  the  period,  that  it  must  have 
been  swept  from  the  ocean.     Impelled  by  this 
ivaut,  however,  the  British  adopted  the  rule,  at 
at  early  day,  that  the  provisions  captured,  al- 
though ni  a  strict  legal  .sense  forfeited,  as  being 
by  the  law  of  nations  contraband,  should  not 
be  confiscated,  but  carried  into  English  ports 
and  i)aid  for,  at  the  market  price  of  the  same 
provisions,  at  the  port  of  their  destination.    The 
same  want  compelled  the  French,  when  they 
came  to  the  conclusion  to  lay  aside  the  obliga- 
lions|^oftho  treaty,  and  to  govern  themselves, 
no  by  solemn  compacts  with  friendly  powers, 
but  by  tiie  standards  of  wrong  adopted  by  their 
enemies,  to  adopt  also  the  same  rule,  and  instead 
01  confiscating  the  cargo  as  contraband  of  war,  if 
provisions,  to  decree  a  compensation    gradu- 
mi  by  the  maiket  value  at  the  port  of  destina- 

';Such,  said  Jlr.  W.,  is  a  succinct  view  of  the 
Jsiurbances  between  France  and  the  United 
.Uites  and  between  France  and  Great  Britain, 
out  of  w-hich  grew  what  are  now  called  the 
^rench  claims  for  spoliations  upon  our  com- 

erce,  prior  to  the  30th  of  September,  18U0. 
Oi>er  subjects  of  diflerence  might  have  had  a 
;cmote  luHuence;  but.  Mr.  W..  Zu,]  ho  belie-nl 
iiam'll     ''"  '"l?^"""'^  '^y  *'^"'  ^^^'»t  tliose  he  Imd 

K.?f-  '''•"^f.'V'"  ''"'  to  the  commercial 
"•regulaiities  m  which  the  claims  commenced. 


This  state  of  things,  without  material  chano-e 
continued  until  the  year  179«,  when  our  govern- 
ment adopted  a  course  of  measures  intended  to 
suspend  our  intercourse  with  France,  until  she 
should  be  brought  to  respect  our  rights.  Theso 
measures  were  persevered  in  by  the  United 
States,  up  to  September,  1800.  and  were  termi- 
nated by  the  treaty  between  the  two  nations  of 
the.  30th  of  that  month.  Here,  too.  terminated 
Claims  which  now  occupy  the  attention  of  the 
Senate, 

"As  it  was  the  object  of  the  claimants  to 
show  a  liability,  on  the  part  of  our  government 
to  pay  their  claims,  and  the  bill  under  discussion 
assumed  that  liability,  and  provided,  in  part  at 
east,  for  the  payment,  Mr.  W.  said  it  became 
his  duty  to  inquire  what  the  government  had 
done  to  obtain  indemnity  for  these  claimants 
from  France,  and  to  see  whether  negligence  on 
its  part  had  furnished  equitable  or  legal  ground 
for  the  institution  of  this  large  claim  upon  the 
national  treasury.  The  period  of  time  covered 
by  the  claims,  as  he  understood  the  subject,  was 
from  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  between 
France  and  England,  in  17U3.  to  the  signiuo-  of 
the  treaty  between  France  and  the  United  States, 
m  September,  1800;  and  he  n-onld  consider  the 
efforts  the  government  had  made  to  obtain  in- 
demnity : 

"  1st.  From  1793  to  1798, 

'-^d.  From  1798  to  the  treaty  of  the  30th 
September,  1800. 

"  During  the  first  period,  :\Ir.  W.  said,  these 
efforts  were  confined  to  negotiation,  and  he  felt 
safe  in  the  assertion  that,  during  no  equal  period 
m  the  history  of  our  government,  could  thero 
be  found  such  untiring  and  unremitted  exertions 
to  obtain  justice  for  citizens  who  had  been  in- 
jured in  their  properties  by  the  unlawful  acts 
of  a  foreign  power.  Any  one  who  would  read 
the  mass  of  diplomatic  correspondence  between 
this  government  and  France,  fi-om  1793  to  1798, 
and  wlio  would  mark  tlie  frequent  and  extraor- 
dinary missions,  bearing  constantly  in  mind  that 
the  recovery  of  these  claims  \\as  tlie  only  ground 
upon  our  part  for  the  whole  negotiation,  would 
Imd  it  difficult  to  say  where  negligence  towards 
the  rights  and  interests  of  its  citizens  is  imputa- 
ble to  the  government  of  the  United  States, 
during  this  period.  He  was  not  aware  that 
such  au  imputation  had  been  or  would  be  made; 
but  sure  he  was  that  it  could  not  be  made  with 
justice,  or  sustained  by  the  facts  upon  the  re- 
cord. No  liability,  therefore,  equitable  or  legal 
had  been  incurred,  up  to  the  year  1798, 

"And  if,  said  Mr.  W.,  negligence  is  not  im- 
putable, prior  to  1798,  and  no  liability  had  then 
been  incurred,  how  is  it  for  the  .second  periotl 
from  1798  to  1800  ?  The  ellbrts  of  the  former 
period  were  negotiation— constant,  earnest,  ex- 
traordinary negoti;itiuii.  'What  were  they  for 
the  latter  period  ;  His  answer  was,  war;  actual, 
open  war ;  and  he  believed  the  statute  book  of 
the  United  States  would  justify  him  in  the  posi- 
tion,   lie  was  wall  aware  that  this  point  would 


i^d'^ 


494 


THIRTY  TEARS'  VIEW. 


be  strenuously  controverted,  because  the  frienrts 
of  the  bill  would  admit  that,  if  a  state  of  war 
between  the  two  countries  did  exist,  it  put  an 
end  to  claims  existing  prior  to  the  war.  and  not 
provided  for  in  the  treaty  of  peace,  as  well  as  to 
all  pretence  for  claims  to  indemnity  for  injuries 
to  our  commerce,  committed  by  our  eneiny  in 
time  of  war.    Mr.  W.  said  he  had  found  the  evi- 
dences so  numerous,  to  establish  his  position  that 
a  state  of  actual  war  did  exist,  that  he  had  been 
quite  at  a  loss  from  what  portion  of  the  testi- 
mony of  record  to  make  his  selections,  so  as  to 
establish  the  fact  beyond  reasonable  dispute,  and 
at  the  same  time  not  to  weary  the  Senate  by  te- 
dious references  to  laws  and  documents.     He 
had  finally  concluded  to  confine  himself  exclu- 
sively to  the  statute  book,  as  the  highest  possi- 
ble evidence,  a-s  in  his  judgment  entirely  con- 
clusive, and  as  being  susceptible  of  an  arrange- 
ment and  condensation  which  would  convey  to 
the  Senate  the  whole  material  evidence,  in  a 
satisfactory  manner,  and  in  less  compass  than 
the  proofs  to  be  drawn  from  any  other  source. 
He  had,  therefore,  made  a  very  brief  abstract  of 
a  few  statutes,  which  he  would  read  in  his 
place : 

"By  an  act  of  the  28th  May,  1798,  Congress 
authorized  the  capture  of  all  armed  vessels  of 
France  which  had  committed  depredations  upon 
our  commerce,  or  wiiich  should  be  found  hover- 
ing upon  our  coast  for  the  purpose  of  commit- 
ting such  depredations. 

"By  an  act  of  the  13th  Juno,  1798,  only  six- 
teen days  after  the  passage  of  the  former  act 
Congress  prohibited  all  vessels  of  the  United 
btates  from  visiting  any  of  the  ports  of  France 
or  her  dependencies,  under  the  penalty  of  for- 
feiture of  vessel  and  cargo  ;  required  every  ves- 
sel clearing  for  a  foreign  port  to  give  bonds  (the 
owner,  or  factor  and  master)  in  the  amount  of 
the  vessel  and  c.irgo,  and  good  sureties  in  half 
that  amount,  conditioned  that  the  vessel  to  which 
the  clearance  was  to  be  granted,  would  not,  vol- 
untarily, visit  any  port  of  France  or  her  depen- 
dencies; and  prohibited  all  vessels  of  France 
armed  or  unarmed,  or  owned,  fitted,  hired,  or 
employed,  by  any  person  resident  within  the 
territory  of  the  French  Ilepublic.  or  its  depen- 
dencies, or  sailing  or  coming  therefrom,  from  en- 
tering or  remaining  in  any  port  of  the  United 
btates,  unless  permitted  by  the  President  by 
special  passport,  to  be  granted  by  him  in  each 
case. 

"By  an  act  of  tiie  25th  June,  1798,  only 
twelve  days  after  the  passage  of  the  last-inen- 
tionod  act,  Congress  authorized  the  merchant 
vessels  of  the  United  States  to  arm,  and  to  de- 
fend themselves  against  any  search,  restraint  or 
S(Mzure,  by  vessels  sailing  under  French  colirs 
to  repel  force  by  force,  to  capture  anv  French 
vessel  attempting  a  search,  restraint,  of  seizure, 
^'u-  ^j*^  J'*^-'T-f"'f<5  sn}-  Amerie.-;!!  merchant  vessel 
which  had  been  captured  by  the  French. 

"Here,  Mr.  W.  said,  he  felt  constrained  to 
make  a  remark  upon  the  character  of  these  seve- 


ral acts  of  Congress,  and  to  call  the  attention  nf 
the  Senate  to  their  peculi.ar  adaptation  to  thi 
measures  which  speedily  followed  in  future  acf 
of  the  national  legislature.    The  first,  autho 
izing  the  capture  of  French  armed  vessel,  „l 
jiecuharly  calculated  to  put  in  martial  pr;™? 
tion  all  the  navy  which  the  United  States  tE 
possessed,  and  to  spread  it  upon  our  coa«t    tI 
second,   establishing  a  perfect  non-intercour* 
with  France,  was  sure  to  call  home  our  nicr 
cliant  vessels  from  that  country  and  her  depcn- 
dencies,  to  confine  within  our  own  ports  tL 
vessels  intended  for  commerce  with  France,  and 
thus  to  withdraw  from  the  reach  of  the  French 
cruisers  a  large  portion  of  the  ships  and  proner- 
ty  of  our  citizens.    The  third,  authorizing  our 
merchaiitmen  to  arm,  was  the  greatest  induce- 
ment the  government  could  give  to  its  citizens 
to  arm  our  whole  commercial  marine,  and  was 
sure  to  put  in  warlike  preparation  as  great  a 
portion  of  our  merchant  vessels  as  a  desire  of 
sed-dcfence,  patriotism,  or  cupidity,  would  arm. 
Could  measures  more  eminently  calculated  to 
prepare  the  country  ibr  a  state  of  war  have  been 
devised  or  adopted  ?    Was  this  the  intention  of 
those  measures,  on  the  part  of  the  government 
and  was  that  intention  carried  out  into  action^ 
Mr.  n .  said  he  would  let  the  subsequent  acts  of 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States  answer;  and 
for  that  purpose,  he  would  proceed  to  read  from 
his  abstract  of  those  acts : 

"  By  an  act  of  the  28th  June,  1798,  three  dav^ 
after  the  passage  of  the  act  last  referred  to 
Congress  authorized  the  forfeiture  and  condcn;- 
nation  of  all  French  vessels  captured  in  pur.i:- 
ance  of  the  acts  before  mentioned,  and  provideJ 
for  the  distribution  of  the  prize  money,  and  fi-r 
the  confinement  and  support,  at  the  expense  of 
the  Lnited  States,  of  prisoners  taken  in  the  cap- 
tured vessels. 

"By  an  act  of  the  7th  July,  1798,  nine  days 
after  the  passage  of  the  last-recited  act,  Congress 
declared  'that  the  United  States  are  of  right 
fi-eed  and  exonerated  from  the  stipulations  of 
the  treaties  and  of  the  consular  convention 
heretofore  concluded  between  the  United  States 
and  France ;  and  that  the  same  shall  not  hence- 
forth be  regarded  as  legally  obligatory  on  th« 
government  or  citizens  of  the  United  States.' 

"  By  an  act  of  the  9th  July,  1798,  two  days 
after  the  passage  of  the  act  declaring  void  the 
treaties,  Congress  authorized  the  capture,  by 
the  public  armed  vessels  of  the  United  States, 
of  all  armed  French  vessels,  whether  within  tiie 
jurisdictional  limits  of  the  United  States  or  upon 
the  high  seas,  their  condemnation  as  prizes,  their 
sale,  and  the  distribution  of  the  prize  money; 
empowered  the  President  to  grant  commissions 
to  private  armed  vessels  to  make  the  same  cap- 
tures, and  with  the  same  rights  and  powers,  as 
public  armed  vessels ;  and  provided  for  the  sai:' 
keeping  and  support  of  the  prisoners  taken,  at 
the  expense  of  the  United  States. 

"  By  an  act  of  the  9th  February,  1799,  Con- 
gress continued  the  non-intercourse  between  the 


ANNO  1886.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


495 


t,  .it  the  expense 
ors  taken  in  the  cap- 


United  States  and  France  for  >ne  year  from  tho 
3(1  of  March,  1799.  J      i 

"By  an  act  of  the  28th  Feoruarv,  1799,  Con- 
gress proTided  for  an  exchange  of  prisoners  with 
France,  or  autliorized  the  President,  at  his  dis- 
cretion, to  send  to  the  dominions  of  France 
without  an  exchange,  such  prisioners  as  might 
remain  in  the  power  of  the  United  States. 

'•By  an  act  of  the  3d  March,  1799.  Congress 
directed  the  President,  in  case  any  citizens  of 
tlie  United  States,  taken  on  board  vessels  be- 
ionj;ing  to  any  of  the  powers  at  war  with  France 
by  French  vessels,  should  be  put  to  death  cor- 
porally punished,  or  unreasonably  imprisoned 
to  retaliate  pi'omptly  and  fully  upon  any  French 
prisoners  in  the  power  of  the  United  States. 

"By  an  act  of  the  27th  Febniary,  1800  Con- 
gress again  continued  the  non-intercourse  be- 
tn-ecn  us  and  France,  for  one  year,  from  the  3d 
of  March,  1800.  ' 

"  Mr.  W.  said  he  had  now  closed  the  refer- 
ences he  proposed  to  make  to  the  laws  of  Con- 
frrcss,  to  prove  that  war— actual  war— existed 
between  the  United   States  and  France,  from 
July,  1798,  until  that  war  was  tei-minated  by 
the  treaty  of  the  3()th  of  September,  1800.    He 
iiad.  he  hoped,  before  shown  that  the  measures 
of  Congress,  up  to  the  passage  of  the  act  of  Con- 
press  of  the  25th  of  June,  1798,  and  including 
:hat  act,  were  appropriate  measures  preparatory 
to  a  state  of  war ;  and  he  had  now  shown  a  to- 
tal suspension  of  the  peaceable  relations  between 
the  two  governments,  by  the  declaration  of  Con- 
gress that  the  treaties  should  no  longer  be  con- 
sidered binding  and  obligatory  upon  our  govern- 
ment or  Its  citizens.    What,  then,  but  war  could 
be  inferred  from  an  indiscriminate  direction  to 
our  public  armed  vessels,  put  in  a  state  of  pre- 
paration, by  preparatory  acts,  to  capture  all 
armed  French  vessels  upon  the  high  seas,  and 
trom  granting  commissions  to  our  whole  com- 
mercial marine,  also  armed  by  the  operation  of 
previous  acts  of  Congress,  authorizing  them  to 
make  the  same  captures,  with  regulations  appli- 
cable to  both,  for  the  condemnation  of  the  prizes 
he  distribution  of  the  prize  money,  and  the  de- 
ontion,  support,  and  exchange  of  the  prisoners 
taken  in  the  captured  vessels  ?    ^111  any  man, 
6aid  Mr.  W   call  this  a  state  of  peace  ?    ^         ' 
lllere  Mr.  Webster,  chairman  of  the  select 


Siir  '7'"''''  ^•'ported  the  bill,  answered, 

'Mr.  W.  proceede<l  He  said  he  was  not 
deeijy  read  in  the  treatises  upon  national  law,  and 
he  should  never  dispute  with  that  learned  gen- 
leman  upon  the  technical  definitions  of  peace 
taTn'Vr^T"  '"  *^'°  ^^"^^'^J  but  his  appeal 
IZ.J  ^'l**?  ''^"^'^  »f  '''"'''y  .'senator  and 
t  ? «t?'"  p"!/^'  '"""^'•^-  Would  either  call 
m\  ^  •  u  i  "V"f^'  "'^''^h  he  had  described, 
«  J  which  he  had  shown  to  exist  from  the 
don^Lf  f  ^^vidence,  the  laws  of  Congress 
a  one,  peace?    It  was  a  state  of  open  and  un- 

war  upon  the  ocean,  as  far  as  our  government 


were  m  command  of  the  means  to  carry  on  a 
maritime  war.  If  it  was  peace,  ho  should  like 
to  be  mforoied,  by  the  friends  of  the  bill,  what 
would  be  war.  This  was  violence  and  blood- 
shed, the  power  of  the  one  nation  against  the 
power  of  the  other,  reciprocally  exhibited  by 
physical  force.  ■' 

"Couple  with  this  the  withdrawal  by  Franco 
ot  her  minister  from  this  government,  and  her 
refusal  to  receive  the  American  commission,  con- 
sisting of  Messrs.  Marshall,  Pinckney,  and  Gerry 
and  the  consequent  suspension  of  negotiations 
between  the  two  governments,  during  the  period 
referred  to ;  and  Mr.  W.  said,  if  the  facts  and 
the  national  records  did  not  show  a  state  of  war 
he  \vas  at  a  loss  to  know  what  state  of  things 
between  nations  should  be  called  war. 

"If,  however,  the  Senate  should  think  him 
wrong  in  this  conclusion,  and  that  the  claims 
were  not  utterly  barred  by  war,  he  trusted  the 
taets  disclosed  in  this  part  of  his  argument  would 
be  considered  sufficient  at  least  to  protect  the 
taith  of  the  government  in  the  discharge  of  its 
whole  duty  to  its  citizens  ;  and  that  after  it  had 
carried  on  these  two  years  of  war,  or,  if  not  war, 
of  actual  force  and  actual  fighting,  in  which  the 
blood  of  Its  citizens  had  been  shed,  and  their  lives 
sacrificed  to  an  unknown  extent,  for  the  single  and 
sole  purpose  of  enforcing  these  claims  of  indi- 
vidual.s  the  imputation  of  negligence,  and  hence 
ot  liability  to  pay  the  claims,  would  not  be  urged 
as  growing  out  of  this  portion  of  the  conduct  of 
the  government. 

"  Mr.  W.  said  ho  now  came  to  consider  the 
treaty  of  the  30th  September,  1800,  and  the  rea- 
sons which  appeared  plainly  to  his  mind  to  have 
induced  the  American  negotiators  to  place  that 
negotiation  upon  the  basis,  not  of  an  existing 
war,  but  of  a  continued  peace.    That  such  was 
assumed  to  be  the  basis  of  the  negotiation,  he 
be  leved  to  be  true,  and  this  fact,  and  this  fact 
only  so  f^ir  as  he  had  heard  the  arguments  of 
the  friends  of  the  bill,  was  depended  upon  to 
prove  that  there  had  been  no  war.     He  had  at- 
tempted to  show  that  war  in  fact  had  existed, 
and  been  carried  on  for  two  years ;  and  if  ho 
could  now  show  that  the  inducement,  on  the 
part  of  the  American  ministers,  to  place  the  ne- 
gotiation which  was  to  put  an  end  to  the  existine 
ho,<;tilitios  upon  a  peace  basis,  arose  from  no 
considerations  of  a  national  or  political  charao- 
ter,  and  from  no  ideas  of  consistency  with  the 
existing  state  of  facts,  but  solely  from  a  desire 
still  to  .«ave,  as  far  as  might  be  in  their  power, 
thn  mterests  of  these  claimants,  he  should  sub- 
nut  with  great  confidence  that  it  did  not  lay  in 
the  mouths  of  the  same  claimants  to  turn  round 
and  claim  this  implied  admission  of  an  absence 
ot  war.  thus  made  by  the  agents  of  the  govern- 
ment out  of  kindness  to  them,  and  an  excess  of 
regard  for  their  interests,  as  the  basis  of  a  li- 
ability to   pay  the  damages   which   they  hud 
sustained   and  which  this  diplomatic  untruth, 
like  all  the  previous  steps  of  the  government, 
failed  to  recover  for  them.     What,  then,  Mr. 


496 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


Prfisidont,  said  Mr.  W.,  was  the  subject  on  our 
part,  of  the  constant  and  laborious  nep;otiations 
carried  on  between  the  two  povcrnnients  from 
1793  to  17!»,S  ?  The  claims.  What,  on  our  part, 
was  the  object  of  the  disturbances  from  1798  to 
1800 — of  the  non-intcrc()ur?e — of  the  sending 
into  service  our  navy,  and  .irniing  our  merchant 
Tcssels — of  our  raising  trooj)s  and  providing 
armies  on  the  land— <jf  the  expenditure  of  the 
millions  ta'icen  from  the  treasury  and  added  to 
our  public  debt,  to  equip  and  sustain  these  fleets 
and  armies  ?  The  claims.  AN'^hy  were  our  ci- 
tizens sent  to  capture  the  French,  to  spill  their 
blood,  and  lay  down  their  lives  upon  the  high 
seas  ?  To  recover  the  claims.  These  were  the 
whole  matter.  Yv^e  had  no  other  demand  upon 
France,  and,  upon  our  part,  no  other  cause  of 
difference  Avith  her. 

"  AVhat  public,  or  national,  or  political  object 
had  we  in  the  negotiation  of  1800,  which  led  to 
the  treaty  of  the  30th  .September  of  that  year  ? 
None,  but  to  put  an  en<l  to  the  existing  hostili- 
ties, and  to  restore  relations  of  peace  and  friend- 
ship. These  could  have  been  as  well  secured  by 
negotiating  upon  a  war  as  a  peace  basis.  Indeed, 
as  there  were  in  our  former  treaties  stipulations 
which  we  did  not  want  to  revive,  a  negotiation 
upon  the  basis  of  existing  war  was  preferable, 
so  far  as  the  interests  of  the  government  were 
concerned,  because  that  would  put  all  questions, 
growing  out  of  former  treaties  between  the  par- 
ties, for  ever  at  rest.  Still  our  negotiators  con- 
sented to  put  the  negotiation  upon  the  basis  of 
continued  peace,  and  why  ?  Because  the  adop- 
tion of  a  basis  of  existing  Avar  would  have  barred 
effoctually  and  for  ever  all  classes  of  the  claims. 
This,  Mr.  "VV.  said,  was  the  only  possible  as- 
signable reason  for  the  course  pursued  by  the 
American  negotiators ;  it  was  the  only  reason 
growing  out  of  the  existing  facts,  or  out  of  the 
interests,  public  or  private,  involved  in  the  diffi- 
culties between  the  two  nations.  He  therefore 
felt  himself  fully  warranted  in  the  conclusion,  that 
the  American  ministers  preferred  and  adopted  a 
peace  basis  for  the  negotiation  which  resulted  in 
the  treaty  of  the  oOth  of  September,  1800,  solely 
from  a  wish,  as  far  as  they  might  be  able,  to  save 
the  interests  of  our  citizens  holding  claims  against 
France. 

"  Did  they,  Mr.  President,  said  Mr.  W..  suc- 
ceed by  this  artilice  in  benefiting  the  citizens 
M'ho  had  sustained  injuries  1  He  would  let  the 
treaty  speak  for  itself.  T'he  following  are  ex- 
tracts from  the  4th  and  5th  articles : 

"  '  Art.  4.  Property  caittured,  and  not  yet  de- 
finitively condenuied,  or  which  maybe  captured 
before  the  exchange  of  ratifications'  (contraband 
goods  destined  to  an  enemy's  port  excepted), 
shall  be  mutually  restored  on  the  following 
proof  of  ownershij).' 

"[Here  follows  the  form  of  proof,  when  the 
article  proceeds  :j 

"  '  This  article  shall  take  effect  from  the  date 
of  the  signature  of  the  present  convention.  And 
if,  from  the  date  of  the  said  signature,  any  pro- 


perty shall  be  condemned  contrary  to  the  intent 
of  the  said  convention,  before  the  knowlod.re  of 
this  stipulntion  shall  be  obtained,  the  property 
so  condemned  shall,  without  delay,  be  restoro'd 
or  paid  for.' 

"  '  Art.  5.  The  debts  contracted  for  by  one  of 
the  two  nations  with  individuals  of  tho  other  or 
by  individuals  of  the  one  with  individuals  of  the 
other,  shall  be  paid,  or  the  payment  may  be 
prosecuted  m  the  same  manner  as  if  tlune  had 
been  no  misunderstanding  between  the  two 
States.  But  this  clause  shall  not  extend  to 
indemnities  claimed  on  account  of  captures  or 
confiscations.' 

'•  Hero.  Mr.  W.  said,  was  evidence  from  the 
treaty  itself,  that,  by  assuming  a  peace  basis  for 
the  negotiation,  the  property  of  our  mercliants 
captured  and  not  condemned  was  saved  to  them 
and  that  certain  classes  of  claimants  against  the 
French  government  were  provided  for,  and  their 
rights  expressly  reserved.  So  much,  therefore, 
Avas  gained  by  our  negotiators  by  a'  dep»rtm'e 
from  the  fticts,  and  negotiating  to  jnit  an  end  to 
existing  hostilities  upon  the  basis  of  a  continued 
peace.  Was  it,  then,  generous  or  just  to  permit 
these  merchants,  because  our  ministers  did  not 
succeed  in  saving  all  they  claimed,  to  set  up  this 
implied  admission  of  continued  peace  as  the 
foundation  of  a  liability  against  their  cwn  go- 
vernment to  pay  what  was  not  recovered  from 
France  ?  He  could  not  so  consider  it,  and  he 
felt  sure  the  country  never  would  consent  to  so 
responsible  an  implication  fiom  an  act  of  exces- 
sive kindness.  ]\Ir.  W.  said  he  must  not  be  un- 
derstood as  admitting  tliat  all  was  not,  by  thj 
efl'ect  of  this  treaty,  recovered  from  France. 
which  she  ever  recognized  to  be  due,  or  ever  in- 
tended to  pay.  On  the  contrar}',  his  best  im- 
pression was  iVom  Avhat  he  had  been  able  to 
learn  of  the  claims,  that  the  treaty  of  Louisiana 
provided  fortlfo  payment  of  all  the  claims  which 
Fr.anre  ever  admitted,  ever  intended  to  pay,  or 
which  there  was  tlv,^  most  remote  hope  of  re- 
covering in  any  \va\  whatever.  He  shonkl,  in 
a  subsecjuent  part  of  his  remai-ks,  have  occasion 
to  examine  that  treaty,  the  claims  wdiich  were 
paid  under  it,  and  to  compare  the  claims  paid 
with  those  urged  before  the  treaty  of  September. 
1800. 

"  iMr.  W.  said  he  now  came  to  the  considera- 
tion of  the  liability  of  the  United  States  to  these 
claimants,  in  case  it  shall  be  d.ftermined  by  the 
Senate  that  a  war  between  France  and  the  United 
States  had  not  existed  to  bar  all  ground  of  claim 
either  against  France  or  the  United  States.  He 
understood  the  claimants  to  put  this  liability 
v.pon  the  assertion  that  the  government  of  the 
United  States  Lad  released  tlieir  claims  a.iiainst 
France  by  the  treaty  of  the  30th  of  September, 
1800,  and  that  therelea.se  was  made  for  a  full 
and  valuable  consideration  passing  to  the  United 
States,  which  in  law  and  eqiiity  made  it  their 
duty  to  pay  the  claims.  The  consideration  pae- 
sing  to  the  United  States  is  alleged  to  be  their 
release  from  the  onerous  obligations  imposed 


ANNO  1836.    ANDUEW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


497 


upon  them  by  the  treaties  of  amity  and  commerce 
aud  alliance  of  1778,  and  the  consular  convention 
of  1778,  and  especiallv  and  principally  by  the 
seventeenth  article  of  the  treaty  of  amity  and 


commerce,  in  relation  to  armed  vessels,  pri- 
vateers, and  prizes,  and  by  the  eleventh  article 
of  the  treaty  of  alliance  containing  the  mutual 
guarantees. 

"The  release,  Mr,  W.  said,  was  claimed  to 
have  been  made  in  the  striking  out,  by  the  Se- 
nate of  the  United  States,  of  the  second  article 
of  the  treaty  of  30th  September,  1800,  as  that 
article  was  originally  inserted  and  agreed  upon 
by  the  respective  negotiators  of  the  two  powers 
as  it  stood  at  the  time  the  treaty  was  signed! 
To  cause  this  point  to  be  clearly  understood,  it 
would  be  necessary  for  him  to  trouble  the  Senate 
with  a  history  of  the  ratification  of  this  treaty. 
The  second  article,  as  inserted  by  the  negotia- 
tors, and  as  standing  at  the  time  of  the  signing 
of  the  treaty,  was  in  the  following  words : 

'"Jr/.  2.  The  ministers  plenipotentiary  of 
the  two  powers  not  being  able  to  agree,  at  pre- 
sent, respecting  the  treaty  of  alliance'  of  Cth 
February,  1778,  the  treaty  of  amity  and  com- 
merce of  the  same  date,  and  the  convention  of 
14th  of  November,  1788,  nor  upon  the  indem- 
nities mutually  due  or  claimed,  the  parties  will 
negotiate  further  upon  these  subjects  at  a 
convenient  time;  and,  until  they  mav  have 
agreed  upon  these  points,  the  said  treaties  and 
convention  shall  have  no  operation,  and  the  re- 
lations of  the  two  countries  shall  be  regulated 
as  follows : ' 

"The  residue  of  the  treaty,  Mr.  W.  said,  was 
a  substantial  copy  of  the  former  treaties  of  amity 
and  commerce,  and  alliance  between  the  two 
nations,  with  such  modifications  as  were  desir- 
able to  both,  and  as  experience  under  the  former 
treaties  had  shown  to  be  for  the  mutual  interests 
of  both. 

"This  second  article  was  submitted  to  the 
Senate  by  the  President  as  a  part  of  the  treaty 
as  by  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  the 
President  was  bound  to  do,  to  the  end  that  the 
treaty  might  be  properly  ratified  on  the  part  of 
the  Umted  States,  the  French  government  havinn- 
previously  adopted  and  ratified  it  as  it  was  signed 
by  the  respective  negotiators,  the  second  article 
being  then  in  the  form  given  above.  The  Senate 
refused  to  advise  and  consent  to  this  article,  and 
expunged  it  from  the  treaty,  inserting  in  its 
place  the  following: 

"'It  is  agreed  that  the  present  convention 
Shall  be  in  force  for  the  term  of  eight  years 
irora  the  time  of  the  exchange  of  the  ratifica- 
tions.' 

"In  this  shape,-  and  with  this  modification, 
the  treaty  was  duly  ratified  by  the  President  of' 
the  United  States,  and  returned  to  the  French 
government  for  its  dissent  or  concurrence.  Bon- 
apart^,  then  First  Consul,  concurred  in  the 
piodihcation  made  by  the  Senate,  in  the  follow- 
ing language,  and  upon  the  condition  therein 
expressed : 

Vol.  I.— 32 


The  government  of  the  United  States  hav- 
ing added  to  its  ratification  that  the  convention 
should  be  in  force  for  the  space  of  eight  years 
and  having  omitted  the  second  article,  the  go- 
vernment of  the  French  Republic  consents  to 
accept,  ratify,  and  confirm  the  above  convention, 
with  the  addition,  purporting  that  the  conven- 
tion shall  be  in  force  for  the  space  of  eight  years, 
and  with  the  retrenchment  of  the  second  article : 
Provided,  That,  by  this  retrenchment,  the  two 
States  renounce  the  respective  pretensions  which 
are  the  object  of  the  said  article.' 

"This  ratification  by  the  French  Republic, 
thus  qualified,  was  returned  to  the  United  States, 
and  the  treaty,  with  the  respective  conditional 
ratifications,  was  again  submitted  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  to  the  Senate,  That 
body  'resolved  that  they  considered  the  said 
convention  as  fully  ratified,  and  returned  the 
same  to  the  President  for  the  usual  pre  liga- 
tion;  '  whereupon  he  completed  the  ratification 
*"  u  !lf,  "^""^  ^°^™^  ^^^  ^y  t^e  usual  publication. 
This,  Mv.  W.  said,  was  the  documentary 
history  of  this  treaty  and  of  its  ratification,  and 
here  was  the  release  of  their  claims  relied  upon 
by  the  claimants  under  the  bill  before  the  Senate. 
Ihey  contend  that  this  second  article  of  the 
treaty,  as  originally  inserted  by  the  negotiators, 
reserved  their  claims  for  future  negotiation,  and 
also  reserved  tlio  subjects  of  disagreement  under 
the  treaties  of  amity  and  commerce,  and  of  alli- 

17QQ  °^  '^"'^^'  ^^^  ^^^  consular  convention  of 
1788 ;  that  the  seventeenth  article  of  the  treaty 
of  amity  and  commerce,  and  the  eleventh  article 
of  the  treaty  of  alliance,  were  particularly  oner- 
ous upon  the  United  States ;  that,  to  discharge 
the  government  from  the  onerous  obligations 
imposed  upon  it  in  these  two  articles  of  the  respec- 
tive treaties,  the  Senate  was  induced  to  expunge 
the  second  article  of  the  treaty  of  the  30th  Sep- 
tember above  referred  to,  and,  by  consequence 
to  expunge  the  reservation  of  their  claims  as 
subjects  of  future  negotiation  between  the  two 
nations  ;  that,  in  thus  obtaining  a  discharge  from 
the  onerous  obligations  of  these  treaties,  and 
especially  of  the  two  articles  above  designated 
the  United  States  was  benefited  to  an  amount 
beyond  the  whole  value  of  the  claims  discharged, 
and  that  this  benefit  was  the  inducement  to  the 
expunging  of  the  second  article  of  the  treaty 
w-ith  a  full  knowledge  that  the  act  did  discharge 
the  claims,  and  create  a  legal  and  equitable  ob- 
ligation on  the  part  of  the  government  to  pay 
them,  '' 

"  These,  Mr,  W,  said,  he  understood  to  be  the 
assumptions  of  the  claimants,  and  this  their 
course  of  reasoning  to  arrive  at  the  conclusion 
that  the  United  States  were  liable  to  them  for 
the  amount  of  their  claims.  He  must  here  raise 
a  preliminary  question,  which  he  had  satisfied 
himself  M'ould  show  these  assumptions  of  the 
claimants  to  be  wholly  without  foundation,  so 
far  as  the  idea  of  benefit  to  the  United  States 
was  supposed  to  be  derived  from  expunging  this 
second  article  of  the  treaty  of  1800,    What,  he 


i 


498 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


must  bo  permitted  to  ask,  would  have  been  the 
liability  of  the  United  States  under  the  '  onerous 
obligatinuH  '  referred  to,  in  case  the  Senate  had 
ratified  tlie  treaty,  retaining  this  second  article  ? 
The  binding  force  of  the  treaties  of  amity  and 
commerce,  and  of  alliance,  and  of  the  consular 
convention,  was  released,  and  the  treaties  and 
convention  were  themselves  suspended  by  the 
very  article  in  question ;  and  the  subjects  of 
disagreement  growinjj;  out  of  them  were  merely 
made  matters  of  future  negotiation  '  at  a  con- 
venient time.'  What  was  the  value  or  the 
burden  of  such  an  obligation  upon  the  United 
States  ?  for  this  was  the  only  obligation  from 
which  our  government  was  released  by  striking 
out  the  article.  The  value,  Mr.  W.  said,  was 
the  value  of  the  privilege,  being  at  perfect  liberty, 
in  the  premises,  of  assenting  to  or  di.ssenting 
from  a  bad  bargain,  in  a  matter  of  negotiation 
between  ourselves  and  a  foreign  power.  This 
was  the  considei'ation  passing  to  the  United 
States,  and,  so  far  as  he  was  able  to  view  the 
subject,  this  was  all  the  consideiation  the  go- 
vernment had  received,  if  it  be  granted  (which 
he  must  by  no  means  be  understood  to  admit), 
that  the  striking  out  of  the  article  was  a  release 
of  the  claims,  and  that  such  release  was  intended 
as  a  consideration  for  the  benefits  to  accrue  to 
the  government  from  the  act. 

"  Mr.  W.  said  he  felt  bound  to  dv.-"ll,  for  a  mo- 
ment, upon  this  point.  What  v.;i;,  the  value  of 
an  obligation  to  negotiate  '  at  a  convenient  time  ? ' 
Was  it  any  thing  to  be  valued  ?  The  '  conven- 
ient time '  might  never  arrive,  or  if  it  did  arrive, 
and  negotiations  were  opened,  were  not  the 
government  as  much  at  liberty  as  in  any  other 
case  of  negotiation,  to  refuse  propositions  which 
were  deemed  disadvantageous  to  itself?  The 
treaties  were  suspended,  and  could  not  be  re- 
vived without  the  consent  of  the  United  States  ; 
:  aod,  of  consequence,  the  '  onerous  obligations ' 
comprised  in  certain  articles  of  these  treaties 
were  also  suspended  until  the  same  consent 
should  revive  them.  Could  he,  then,  be  mistaken 
in  the  conclusion  that,  if  the  treaty  of  1800  had 
been  ratified  with  the  second  article  forming  a 
part  of  it,  a,s  originally  agreed  by  the  negotiators, 
the  United  States  would  have  been  as  effectually 
released  from  the  onerous  obligations  of  the 
former  treaties,  until  those  obligations  should 
again  be  put  in  force  by  their  consent,  as  they 
were  released  when  that  article  was  stricken 
out,  and  the  treaty  ratified  without  it?  In 
short,  could  he  be  mistaken  in  the  position  that 
all  the  inducement,  of  a  national  character,  to 
expunge  that  article  from  the  treaty,  was  to  get 
rid  of  an  obligation  to  negotiate  'at  a  conve- 
nient time  ? '  And  could  it  be  possible  that 
such  an  inducement  would  have  led  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States,  \inderstanding  this  conse- 
quence, to  impose  upon  the  government  a 
liability  to  the  amount  of  $5,0G0,n00  ?  He  could 
not  adopt  so  absui'd  a  supposition ;  and  he  felt 
himself  compelled  to  say  that  this  view  of  the 
.  action  of  the  government  in  the  ratification  of 


the  treaty  of  1800,  in  his  mind,  put  an  end  to 
the  pretence  that  the  striking  out  of  this  article 
relieved  the  United  States  from  obligations  so 
onerous  as  to  form  a  valuable  consideration  for 
the  payments  provided  for  in  this  bill.  He 
could  not  view  the  obligation  released — a  mere 
obligation  to  negotiate — as  onerous  at  all,  eras 
forming  any  consideration  whatever  for  a  pecuni- 
ary liability,  much  less  for  a  liability  for  millions. 

"Mr.  W.  said  he  now  proposed  to  consider 
whether  the  effect  of  expunging  the  second  ar- 
ticle of  the  treaty  of  1800  was  to  release  any 
claim  of  value — anj'  claim  which  France  had 
ever  acknowledged,  or  ever  intended  to  pay. 
lie  had  before  shown,  by  extracts  from  the 
fourth  and  fifth  articles  of  the  treaty  of  1800, 
that  certain  classes  of  claims  were  saved  by  that 
treaty,  as  it  was  ratified.  The  claims  so  re- 
served and  provided  for  were  paid  in  pursuance 
of  provisions  contained  in  the  treaty  between 
France  and  the  United  States,  of  the  30th  of 
April,  1803  ;  and  to  determine  what  claims  were 
thus  paid,  a  reference  to  some  of  the  articles  of 
that  treaty  was  necessary.  The  purchase  of 
Louisiana  was  made  by  the  United  States  for 
the  sum  of  80,000,000  of  francs,  00,000,000  of 
which  were  to  be  paid  into  the  French  treasury, 
and  the  remaining  20,000,000  were  to  be  ipplied 
to  the  payment  of  these  claims.  Three  separate 
treaties  were  made  between  the  parties,  bearing 
all  the  same  date,  the  first  providing  for  the 
cession  of  the  territory,  the  second  for  the  pay- 
ment of  the  00,000,000  of  francs  to  the  French 
treasury,  and  the  third  for  the  adjustment  and 
payment  of  the  claims. 

"  Mr,  W.  said  the  references  proposed  were  to 
the  last-named  treaty,  and  were  the  following : 

"  ^Art.  1.  The  debts  due  by  France  to  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  contracted  before  the  8th 
of  Vendemiaire,  ninth  year  of  the  French  Re- 
public (30th  September,  1800),  shall  be  paid 
according  to  the  following  regulations,  with  in- 
terest at  six  per  cent.,  to  commence  from  the 
period  when  the  accounts  and  vouchers  were 
presented  to  the  French  government.' 

"  'Art.  2.  The  debts  provided  for  by  the  pre- 
ceding article  are  those  whose  result  is  comprised 
in  the  conjectural  note  annexed  tc  the  present 
convention,  and  which,  with  the  interest,  cannot 
exceed  the  sum  of  twenty  millions  of  francs, 
The  claims  comprised  in  the  said  note,  which 
fall  within  the  exceptions  of  the  following  arti- 
cles, shall  not  be  admitted  to  the  benefit  of  this 
provision.' 

" '  Art.  4.  It  is  exprcK.sly  agreed  that  the  pre- 
ceding articles  shall  comprehend  no  debts  but 
such  as  are  due  to  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
who  have  been  and  are  yet  creditors  of  France, 
for  supplies,  for  embargoes,  and  prizes  made  at 
sea,  in  which  the  appeal  has' been  properly  lodged 
within  the  time  jnentioned  in  the  said  conven- 
tion of  the  8th  Vendemiaire,  ninth  year  (30th 
September,  1800).'  , 

" '  Art.  5.  The  preceding  articles  shall  apply 
only,  1st,  to  captures  of  which  the  council  of 


ANNO  1835.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


499 


jirizes  shall  have  onlcrod  restitution,  it  being 
well  understood  that  the  claimant  cannot  have 
recoiu'se  to  tlie  United  States  otherwise  than 
he  iniKl't  •"'■^'<^'  '""1  to  the  government  of  the 
French  Republic,  and  only  in  case  of  the  insuffl- 
cieney  of  the  captors  ;  2d,  the  debts  |nentioned 
in  the  said  fifth  article  of  the  convention,  con- 
tracted before  the  8th  Vendemaire,  and  9  (30tli 
Scpttmber,  1800),  the  payment  of  whicli  has 
been  heretofore  claimed  of  the  actual  govern- 
mcnt  of  France,  and  for  which  the  creditors 
have  a  right  to  the  i)rotection  of  the  United 
State:i  J  the  t^aid  fifth  article  does  not  compre- 
hend prizes  whose  condemnation  has  been  or 
shall  be  confirmed ;  it  is  the  express  intention 
of  the  contracting  parties  not  to  extend  the 
benefit  of  the  pi'osent  convention  to  reclama- 
tions of  American  citizens,  who  shall  have  es- 
tablished houses  of  commerce  in  France,  Eng- 
land, or  other  coimtries  than  the  United  States, 
in  partnership  with  foreigners,  and  who  by  that 
reason  and  the  nature  of  their  commerce,  ought 
to  be  regarded  as  domiciliated  in  the  places 
where  such  houses  exist.  All  agreements  and 
bargains  concerning  merchandise,  which  shall 
not  be  the  property  of  American  citizens,  are 
equally  excepted  from  the  benefit  of  the  said 
convention,  saving,  however,  to  such  persons 
their  claims  in  like  manner  as  if  this  treaty  had 
not  been  made. 

'•  From  these  provisions  of  the  treaty,  Mr.  W. 
said,  it  woidd  appear  that  the  claims  to  be  paid 
were  of  three  descriptions,  to  wit : 

''  1.  Claims  for  supplies. 

"  2.  Claims  for  embargoes. 

'•  3.  Claims  for  captures  made  at  sea,  of  a  de- 
scription defined  in  the  last  clause  of  the  4th 
and  the  first  clause  of  the  5th  article. 

"How  ftr  these  claims  embraced  all  which 
France  ever  acknowledged,  or  ever  intended  to 
pay,  Mr.  W.  said  he  was  unable  to  say,  as  the 
time  allowed  him  to  examine  the  case  had  not 
permitted  him  to  look  sufficiently  into  the  docu- 
ments to  make  up  his  mind  with  precision  upon 
this  point.  He  had  found,  in  a  report  made  to 
the  Senate  on  the  14th  of  January,  1831,  in  fa- 
vor of  this  bill,  by  the  honorable  Mr.  Livingston, 
then  a  Senator  from  the  State  of  Louisiana,  the 
following  classification  of  the  French  claims,  as 
insisted  on  at  a  period  before  the  making  of  the 
treaty  of  1800,  to  wit : 

"'1.  From  the  capture  and  detention  of  about 
fir  y  vessels. 

" '  2.  The  detention,  for  a  year,  of  eighty  other 
vessels,  under  the  Bordeaux  embargo. 

"'3.  The  non-payment  ofsupplies  to  the  West 
India  islands,  and  to  continental  France. 

" '  4.  For  depredations  committed  on  our  com- 
merce in  the  West  Indies.' 

"Mr.  W.  said  the  comparison  of  the  two 
'^'•'^''•■'''fi''f(tlons  of  claims  would  show,  at  a  single 
view,  that  Nos.  2  and  3  in  Mr.  Livingston's  list 
were  provided  for  by  the  treaty  of  1803,  from 
which  he  had  read.  Whether  any,  and  if  any, 
what  portions  of  Nos.  1  and  4  in  Mr.  Living- 


ston's list  were  embraced  in  No  3  of  the  pro- 
visions of  the  treaty,  as  he  had  numbered  them, 
he  was  unable  to  say  ;  but  this  much  ho  could 
say,  that  he  had  found  nothing  to  .satisfy  his 
mind  that  jiarts  of  both  those  classes  of  claims 
were  not  so  included,  and  therefore  provided  for 
and  paid  under  the  treaty ;  nor  had  he  been  able 
to  find  any  thing  to  show  that  this  treaty  of 
1803  did  not  provide  for  and  pay  all  the  claims 
which  France  ever  acknowledged  or  ever  in- 
tended to  pay.  He  was,  therefore,  unprepared 
to  admit,  and  did  not  admit,  that  any  thing  of 
value  to  any  class  of  individual  claimants  was 
released  by  expunging  the  .second  original  ar- 
ticle from  the  treaty  of  the  30th  September, 
1800.  On  the  contrary,  he  was  strongly  im- 
pressed \vtth  the  belief  that  the  adjustment  of 
claims  provided  for  in  the  treaty  of  1803  had 
gone  to  the  whole  extent  to  which  the  French 
government  had,  at  any  period  of  tlie  negotia- 
tions, intended  to  go. 

"IMr.  W.  .said  this  impression  was  greatly 
strengthened  by  the  circumstance  that  the  claims 
under  the  Bordeaux  embargo  were  expressly 
provided  for  in  this  treaty,  while  he  could  see 
nothing  in  the  treaty  of  1800  which  seemed  to 
him  to  authorize  the  supposition  that  this  class 
of  claims  was  more  clearly  embraced  within  the 
reservations  in  that  treaty  than  any  class  which 
had  been  admitted  b}^  the  French  goveinment. 

"Another  fact,  Mr.- WT. said,  was  material  to 
this  subject,  and  should  be  l)orne  carefully  in 
mind  by  every  senator.  It  was,  that  not  a  cent 
was  paid  by  France,  even  upon  the  claims  re- 
served and  admitted  by  the  treaty  of  1800,  un 
til  the  sale  of  Louisiana  to  the  United  States, 
for  a  sum  greater  by  thirty  millions  of  francs 
than  that  for  which  the  French  minister  was 
instructed  to  sell  it.  Yes,  Mr.  President,  said 
Mr.  W.,  the  only  payment  yet  made  upon  any 
portion  of  these  claims  has  been  virtually  made 
by  the  United  States  ;  for  it  has  been  made  out 
of  the  consideration  money  paid  for  Louisiana, 
after  paying  into  the  French  treasury  ten  mil- 
lions of  fl-ancs  beyond  the  price  France  herself 
placet',  upon  the  territory.  It  is  a  singular  fact 
that  the  French  negotiator  was  instructed  to 
make  the  sale  for  fifty  millions,  if  he  could  get 
no  more ;  and  when  he  found  that,  by  yielding 
twenty  millions  to  paj^  the  claims,  he  could  get 
eighty  millions  for  the  territory,  and  thus  put 
ten  millions  more  into  the  treasury  of  his  na- 
tion than  she  had  instructed  him  to  ask  for  the 
whole,  he  yielded  to  the  claims  and  closed  the 
treaty.  It  was  safe  to  say  that,  but  for  this  specu- 
lation in  the  sale  of  Louisiana,  not  one  dollar 
would  have  been  paid  upon  the  claims  to  this 
day.  All  our  subsequent  negotiations  with 
France  of  a  similar  character,  and  our  present 
relations  with  that  country,  growing  out  of  pri- 
vate claims,  justify  this  position.  Wlmt,  then, 
would  have  been  the  value  of  claims,  if  such 
fairly  existed,  which  were  not  acknowledged 
and  provided  for  by  the  treaty  of  1800,  but  were 
left  for  future   negotiation    'at  a  convenient 


',•  'W. 


'lb 


m 


.  -*-j^  r 


500 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VI KW. 


time  ? '  Would  tlioy  have  been  worth  the  five 
millions  of  doUurs  you  propose  to  appropriate 
by  thin  bill  7  Would  they  have  boon  worth 
further  negotiation?  IIo  thought  thev  would 
not. 

"  Mr.  W.  said  he  would  avail  himself  of  tliis 
occlusion,  when  speakinij;  of  the  treaty  of  Louisi- 
ana and  of  its  connection  with  these  claims,  to 
explain  a  mistake  into  which  he  had  fallen,  and 
which  he  found  from  conversation  with  .several 
gentlemen,  who  had  been  for  some  years  mem- 
bers of  Congress,  had  been  common  to  them 
and  to  himself.     The  mistake  to  which  ho  al- 
luded was,  the  supposition  that  the  claimants 
under  this  bill  put  their  case  upon  the  assump- 
tion that  their  claims  had  constituted  part  of 
the  consideration  for  which  Louisiana  Jiad  been 
ceded  to  the  United  States ;  and  that  the  con- 
sideiation  they  contended  the  government  had 
received,  and  upon  which  its  liability  rested, 
was  the  cession  of  that  territory  for  a  less  sum, 
in  money,  than  was  considered  to  be  its  value, 
on  account  of  the  release  of  the  French  govern- 
ment from  those  private  claims.     lie  had  rested 
under  this  misapprehension  until  the  opening 
of  the  present  debate,  and  until  he  commenced 
an  examination  of  the  case.    He  then  found  that 
it  was  an  entire  misapprehension;  that  the  Uni- 
ted States  had  paid,  in  money,  fo<-  Louisiana, 
thirty  millions  of  fninus  beyond  the  price  which 
France  had  set  upon  it ;  that  the  claimants  un- 
der this  bill  did  not  rest  their  claims  at  all  up- 
on this  basis,  and  that  the  friends  of  the  bill  in 
the  Senate  did  not  pretend  to  derive  the  liability 
of  the  government  from  this  source.     Mr.  W. 
said  he  was  induced  to  make  this  explanation 
in  justice  to  himself  and  because  there  might 
be  some  person  within  the  hearing  of  his  voice 
who  might  still  be  under  the  same  misappre- 
hension. 

"  He  had  now,  Blr.  W.  said,  attempted  to 
establish  the  following  propositions,  viz.  : 

"  1.  That  a  state  of  actual  war,  by  which  he 
meant  a  state  of  actual  hostilities  and  of  force, 
and  an  interruption  of  all  diplomatic  or  friendly 
intercourse  between  the  United  States  and 
France,  had  existed  from  the  time  of  the  pas- 
sage of  the  acts  of  the  7th  and  9th  of  July, 
1798,  before  referred  to,  until  the  sending  of  the 
negotiators,  Ellsworth,  Davie,  and  Murray,  in 
1800,  to  make  a  treaty  which  put  an  end  to  the 
hostilities  existing,  upon  the  best  terms  that 
could  be  obtained ;  and  that  the  treaty  of  the 
30th  of  September,  1800,  concluded  by  these 
negotiators,  was,  in  fact,  and  so  far  as  private 
claims  were  concerned,  to  be  considered  as  a 
treaty  of  peace,  and  to  conclude  all  such  claims, 
not  reserved  by  it,  as  finally  ratified  by  the  two 
powers. 

■'  2.  That  the  treaty  of  amity  and  commerce, 
and  the  treaty  of  alliance  of  1778,  as  well  as 
the  consular  convention  of  1788.  were  su.snended 
by  the  2d  article  of  the  treaty  of  1800,  and 
from  that  time  became  mere  matters  for  negotia- 
tion between  the  parties  at  a  convenient  time  j 


that,  therefore,  the  desire  to  get  rid  of  these 
treaties,  and  of  any  '  onerous  obligations '  con- 
tained in  them,  was  only  the  desire  to  gut  rid 
of  an  obligation  to  negotiate  "at  a  convenient 
time  ; '  and  that  such  a  consideration  could  not 
have  induced  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  to 
expunge  thiit  article  from  the  treaty,  if  thereby 
that  bo<ly  had  supposed  it  was  imposing  uiwn 
the  country  a  liability  to  pay  to  its  citizens  the 
sum  of  five  millions  of  dollars— a  sum  mudi 
larger  than  France  liad  asked,  in  money,  for  a 
full  discharge  from  the  'onerous  obligations' 
rehed  upon. 

"  3.  That  the  treaty  of  1800  reserved  and 
provided  for  certain  portions  of  the  claims ;  that 
payment,  according  to  such  reservations,  was 
made  under  the  treaty  of  1803;  and  that  it  is 
at  least  doubtful  whether  the  payment  thus 
made  did  not  cover  all  the  claims  ever  admitted 
or  ever  intended  to  bo  paid  by  France ;  for 
which  reason  the  expimging  of  the  second  arti- 
cle of  the  treaty  of  1800,  by  the  Senate  of  tlie 
United  States,  in  all  probability,  released  no- 
thing which  ever  had,  or  which  was  ever  likely 
to  have  value. 

"  Mr.  W.  said,  if  he  had  been  succes.sful  in 
establishing  either  of  these  positions,  there  was 
an  end  of  the  claims,  and,  by  consequenc!  a 
defeat  of  the  bill.  ' 

"The  advocates  of  the  bill  conceded  that  two 
positions  must  be  established,  on  their  part,  to 
sustain  it,  to  wit ; 

"  1.  That  the  claims  were  valid  claims  against 
France,  and  had  never  been  paid.    And 

"  2.  That  they  were  released  by  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  for  a  full  and  valua- 
ble consideration  passing  to  its  benefit  by  means 
of  the  release. 

"  If,  then,  a  state  of  war  had  existed,  it  would 
not  be  contended  that  any  claims  of  this  cha- 
racter, not  reserved  or  provided  for  in  the 
treaty  of  peace,  were  valid  claims  after  the  ra- 
tification of  such  a  treaty.  His  first  pi  jposi- 
tion,  therefore,  if  sustained,  w  ould  defeat  the 
bill,  by  establishing  the  fact  that  the  claims,  if 
not  reserved  in  the  treaty  of  1800,  were  not 
valid  claims. 

"  The  second  proposition,  if  sustained,  would 
establish  the  fact  that,  inasmuch  as  the  valu- 
able consideration  passing  to  the  United  States 
was  alleged  to  grow  out  of  the  '  onerous  obli- 
gations '  in  the  treaty  of  amity  anl  conunerce, 
the  treaty  of  alliance,  and  the  consular  conven- 
tion ;  and  inasmuch  as  these  treaties,  and  all 
obligations,  past,  present,  or  future,  'onerous' 
or  otherwise,  growing  out  of  them,  were  sus- 
pended and  made  inoperative  by  the  second 
article  of  the  treaty  of  the  30tli  of  September, 
1800,  until  further  negotiation,  by  the  curainon 
consent  of  both  powers,  should  revive  them,  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  could  not  have  ex- 
pected, when  they  expunged  tbi.s  .liticle  from 
the  treaty,  that,  by  thus  discharging  the  govern- 
ment from  an  obligation  to  negotiate  'at  a  con- 
venient time,'   they  were  incurring  against  it  a 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


>  Rct  rid  of  these 
i  oljligatioiiH '  con 


501 


'      ^j ) '"'  <* 

erous  obligatious' 


lat  tlie  claims,  if 


liability  of  iuillionn ;  in  other  words,  the  dis- 
cliarpc  of  the  governiiu'iit  from  an  obligation  to 
ncKOtiato  upon  any  subject  'at  a  convenient 
time,'  could  not  have  been  considered  by  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  as  a  good  and  valu- 
able consideratitm  for  the  payment  of  i)rivate 
claims  to  the  amount  of  five  millions  of  dollars. 
"The  third  proposition,  if  sustained,  would 
pro\e  tliatall  thoclaiinBeveracknovvledged.orcver 
intended  to  be  paid  by  France,  were  paid  under 
the  treaty  of  1803,  and  that,  therefore,  as  claims 
never  admitted  or  recognized  by  France  would 
scarcely  be  urged  as  valid  claims  against  her, 
no  valid  claims  remained ;  and,  consequently, 
the  expunging  of  the  second  ai'ticle  of  tlie  treaty 
of  the  SOth  of  September,  1800,  released  nothing 
which  was  valid,  and  nothing  remained  to  be 
paid  by  the  United  States  as  a  liability  incurred 
by  that  modification  of  that  treaty.  Here  Mr. 
W.  said  he  \yould  rest  his  reasoning  as  to  these 
three  propositions. 

"But  if  the  Senate  should  determine  that  he 
had  been  wrong  in  them  all,  and  had  failed  to 
sustain  either,  he  had  still  another  proposition 
which  he  considered  conclusive  and  unanswer- 
able, as  to  any  valuable  consideration  for  Mio  re- 
lease of  these  claims  having  passed  to  the  United 
States  in  consequence  of  their  discharge  from 
tiie   'onerous  obligations'  said  to  have   been 
contained  in  the  former  treaties.     These  '  one- 
rous obligations,'  and  the  only  ones  of  which 
he  hail  heard  any  thing  in  the  coui'sc  of  the  de- 
bate, or  of  which  he  had  found  any  thing  in  the 
documents,  arose  under  the  17th  article  of  the 
treaty  of  amity  and  commerce,  and  the  11th 
article  of  the  treaty  of  alliance ;  and,  in  relation 
to  both,  he  laid  down  this  broad  proposition, 
which  would  be  fully  sustained  by  the  treaties 
themselves,  and  by  every  act  and  every  expres- 
sion on  the  part  of  the  American  negotiators, 
and  the  government  of  the  United  States,  viz. : 
'"The  obligations,  liabilities,  and  responsi- 
bilities, imposed  upon  the  government  of   the 
United  States  and  upon  France  by  the  17th 
article  of  the  treaty  of  amity  and  commerce  of 
1778,  and  by  the  11th  article  of  the  treaty  of 
alliance  of  1778,  where  mutual,  reciprocal,  and 
equal :  each  formed  the  consideration,  and  the 
only  consideration,  for  the  other;  and,  therefore, 
any    release    which    discharged  both    powers 
from  those  liabilities,  responsibilities,  and  obli- 
gations, must  have  been  mutual,  reciprocal,  and 
equal ;  and  the  release   of  either  must   have 
loimed  a  full  and  valuable  consideration  for  the 
release  of  the  other.' 

"  Mr.  W.  said  he  would  not  trouble  the  Senate 
by  again  reading  the  articles  from  the  respective 
treaties.  They  would  be  recollected,  and  no  one 
would  c  introvei-t  the  fact  that,  when  the  trea- 
ties wire  made,  these  articles  were  intended  to 
contain  mutu.il,  reciprocal,  and  equal  obligations. 
i>y  the  first  we  gave  to  France  the  liberty  of 
our  ports  for  her  armed  vessels,  privateers,  and 
prizes,  and  prohibited  all  other  powers  from  the 
enjoyment  of  the  same  privilege ;  and  France 


[  gave  to  us  the  liberty  of  her  ports  for  our  armed 
vessels,  privateers,  and  prizes,  and  guarded  the 
privilege  by  the  same  prohibition  to  other 
powers  ;  and  by  the  second  we  guaranUed  to 
France,  for  ever,  iier  possessions  in  America, 
and  France  guaranteed  to  us,  for  ever,  '  our  lib- 
erty, sovereignty,  and  independence,  absolute 
and  unlimited,  as  well  in  matters  yf  government 
as  commerce.'  Such  wen-  the  obligations  in 
their  original  inception.  Will  it  bo  contended 
that  they  were  not  mutual,  reciprocal,  and  e<iual, 
and  thatj  in  each  instance,  the  one  did  not  form 
the  consideration  for  the  other  ?  Surely  no  one 
will  take  this  ground. 

"If,  then,  said  Mr.  W.,  the  obligations  im- 
posed upon  each  government  by  these  articles 
of  the  respective  treaties  were  mutual,  recipro- 
cal, and  equal,  when  und'^rtaken,  they  must 
have  remained  equal  until  abrogated  by  war,  or 
changed  by  treaty  stipulation.  No  treaty,  sub- 
sequent to  those  which  contain  the  obligations, 
had  affected  them  in  any  manner  whatever.  If 
as  he  had  attempted  to  show,  war  had  existed 
from  July,  1778,  to  1800,  that  would  not  have 
rendered  the  obligations  unequal,  but  \  ould 
have  abrogated  them  altogether.  If  as  the 
friends  of  the  bill  contend,  there  had  been  no 
war,  and  the  treaties  were  in  full  force  up  to 
the  signing  of  the  convention  of  the  30th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1800,  what  was  the  eflect  of  that  treaty, 
as  originally  signed  by  the  negotiators,  upon 
these  mutual,  reciprocal,  and  equal  obligations  ? 
The  second  original  article  of  that  treaty  will 
answer.  It  did  not  attempt  to  disturb  their 
mutuality,  reciprocity,  or  equality,  but  suspend- 
ed them  as  they  were,  past,  present,  or  future, 
and  made  all  the  subject  of  future  negotiation 
'  at  a  convenient  time.' 

"  But,  Mr.  W.  said,  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  expunged  this  article  of  the  treaty  of 
1800,  and  refused  to  advise  and  consent  to  rati- 
fy it  as  a  part  of  the  treaty  ;  and  hence  it  was 
contended  the    United   States  had  discharged 
themselves  from  the  'onerous   obligations'  of 
these  articles  in  the  respective  treaties,  and  had, 
by  that  act,  incurred,  to  the  claimants  under 
this  bill,  the  heavy  liability  which  it  recognizes. 
If  the  expunging  of  that  article  discharged  the 
United  States  from  obligations  thus  onerous, 
did  it  not  discharge  France  from  the  fellow  obli- 
gations ?    "Was  not  the  discharge,  made  in  that 
manner,  as  mutual,  reciprocal,  and  equal,  as  the 
obligations  in  their  inception,  and  in  all  their 
subsequent  stages  up  to  that  act  ?     How,  then, 
could  it  be  contended  that  the  discharge  of  the 
one  was  not  a  full  and  adequate  consideration 
for  the  discharge  of  the  other  ?    Nothing  upon 
the  face  of  the  treaties  authorized  the  introduc- 
tion of  this  inequality  at  this  step  in  the  ofHcial 
proceedings.     Nothing  in  the  record  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Senate,  when  acting  upon  the 
article,  indicates  that  they  intended  to  pay  five 
millions  of  dollars  to  render  this  mutual  release 
equal  between  the  two  powers.    The  obligations 
and  responsibilities  were  reserved  as  subjects  of 


■iiafeiiJA' 


502 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


filture  iicRotiation,  upon  terms  of  equality,  and 
the  strikinj;  out  of  that  reservation  was  but  a 
niutiml  and  ifciprocal  and  e^ual  release  from 
the  obligation  fiu'ther  to  negotiate.  This  inucli 
for  the  reciprocity  of  these  obligations  as  derived 
flora  the  action  of  the  sovereign  powers  tlieni- 
Belvcs. 

'•What  was  to  be  learned  from  the  action  of 
their  leipectJve  negotiators  ?  He  did  not  doubt 
but  that  attempts  had  been  made  on  the  part 
of  France  to  exhibit  an  ineriuaiity  in  the  obliga- 
tions under  the  treaty,  and  to  set  up  that  ine- 
quality against  tlio  claims  of  our  citizens ;  but 
had  our  negotiators  ever  admitted  the  inequality 
to  exist,  or  ever  attempted  to  compi-oniise  the 
rights  of  the  claimants  under  this  bill  for  such  a 
consideration?  He  could  not  find  that  tiiey 
had.  He  did  not  hear  it  contended  that  they 
ha(l :  and,  from  the  evidence  of  their  acts,  re- 
maining upon  record,  as  a  part  of  the  diplomatic 
correspondence  of  the  period,  he  could  not  sup- 
pose they  had  ever  entertained  the  idea,  lie 
had  said  that  the  American  negotiators  had  al- 
ways treated  these  obligations  as  mutual,  recip- 
rocal, and  ecjual ;  and  he  now  proposed  to  read 
to  the  Senate  a  part  of  a  letter  from  Messrs. 
Ellsworth,  Davie,  and  Murray,  addressed  to  the 
French  negotiators,  and  contahiing  the  project 
of  a  treaty,  to  justify  his  assertion.  The  letter 
was  dated  20th  August,  1800,  and  it  would  be 
recollected  that  its  authors  were  tlie  negotia- 
tors, on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  of  the 
treaty  of  the  30th  of  September,  1800.  The  ex- 
tract is  as  follows : 

'"1.  Let  it  bo  declared  that  the  former  trea- 
ties are  renewed  and  confirmed,  and  shall  have 
the  same  eflect  as  if  no  misunderstanding  be- 
tween the  two  powers  had  intervened,  except  so 
far  as  they  are  derogated  from  by  the  present 
treaty. 

"'2.  It  shall  be  optional  with  either  party 
to  pay  to  the  other,  within  seven  years,  three 
millions  of  francs,  in  money  or  securities  which 
may  be  issued  for  indenmities,  and  thereby  to 
reduce  the  rights  of  the  other  as  to  privateers 
and  prizes,  to  those  of  the  most  favored  nation. 
And  during  the  said  term  allowed  for  option, 
the  right  of  both  parties  shall  be  limited  by  the 
line  of  the  most  favored  nation. 

" '  3.  The  mutual  guaranty  in  the  treaty  of 
alliance  shall  be  so  specified  and  limited  that  its 
future  obligation  shall  be,  on  the  part  of  France, 
when  the  United  States  shall  be  attacked,  to 
furnish  and  deliver  at  her  own  ports  military 
stores  to  the  amount  of  one  million  of  francs  ; 
and,  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  when  the 
French  possessions  in  America,  in  any  future 
war,  shall  be  attacked,  to  furnish  and  deliver  at 
their  own  ports  a  like  amount  in  provisions. 
It  shall,  moreover,  be  optional  for  either  party 
to  exonerate  itself  wholly  of  its  obligation,  by 
paying  to  the  otlier,  within  ycvun  years,  a  gross 
sum  of  live  millions  of  francs,  in  money  or  such 
Becurities  as  may  be  issued  for  indemnities.' 
'  Mr.  W.  asked  if  he  needed  further  proofs 


that  not  only  the  American  government,  but  Iho 
American  negotiators,  treated  these  ol)li}.ationn 
under  the  treaty  uh,  in  all  res|)ects,  niutiial  re- 
ciprocal, and  e(jual ;  and  if  the  fallacy  of  the  ar- 
gument  that  the  United  States  had  obtained  to 
j  itself  a  valuable  consideration  for  the  reliuso  of 
i  these  private  claims  in  the  release  of  itself  horn 
these  obligations,  was  not  utterly  anil  entirtiy 
I  disproved  by  these  facts  ?  Was  not  the  release 
of  the  obligations  on  the  one  side  the  akaa' of 
them  on  the  other  ?  And  was  not  the  one  re- 
lease the  neces:<ary  consideration  for  the  otiicr  ? 
How,  then,  could  it  be  said,  with  any  j.istire 
that  we  sought  our  release  at  the  expense  of  the 
claimants?  There  was  no  reasonable  groimd 
for  such  an  allegation,  either  from  the  acts  of 
our  government  or  of  our  negotiators.  ^Viiun 
the  latter  fixed  a  value  upon  our  oblipitions  as 
to  the  privateers  and  prizes,  and  as  to  the  guar- 
anty, in  the  same  article  they  fixed  the  >anie 
price,  to  a  franc,  upon  the  reciprocal  obligations 
of  France  ;  and  when  the  former  ilischai-ged  our 
liability,  by  expunguig  the  second  article  of  the 
treaty  of  1800,  the  same  act  discharged  the  cur- 
responding  liability  of  the  French  government. 
'•  Here,  then,  Mr.  W.  said,  must  end  all  pre- 
tence of  a  valuable  consideration  for  these  claims 
passing  to  the  United  States  from  this  mm-ce. 
The  onerous  obligations  were  mutual,  reciprocal 
and  equal,  and  the  respective  releases  weie  mu- 
tual, reciprocal,  and  equal,  and  sinudtaueoiis, 
and  nothing  could  be  fuiily  drawn  from  the  act 
which  operated  these  mutual  releases  to  heuetit 
these  claimants. 

"Mr.  W.  said  he  was,  then,  necessarily  brought 
back  to  the  proposition  with  ^vhich  he  stinted 
in  the  commencement  of  his  argument,  that,  if 
the   United    States  were    liable   to  pay  these 
claimants,   that    liability   must  rest  upon  the 
broad  ground  of  a  failure  by  the  government, 
after  ordinary,  and,  in  this  instiuice,  extraordi- 
nary efforts  to  collect  the  money.    The  idea  of 
a  release  of  the  claims  for  a  valuable  considera- 
tion passing  to  tire  government  had  been  ex- 
ploded, and,  if  a  liability  was  to  be  claimed  on 
account  of  a  failure  to  collect  the  money,  upon 
what  ground  did  it  rest  ?     What  had  the  gov- 
ernment done  to  protect  the  rights  of  these 
claimants  ?     It  had  negotiated  from  1793  to 
1798,  with  a  vigilance  and  zeal  and  talent  al- 
most unprecedented  in  the  history  of  dijilomacy. 
It  had  sent  to  France  minister  alter  mini,-ter, 
and,  upon  several  occasions,  extraordinary  mis- 
sions composed  of  several    individuals.     Be- 
tween 1798  and  1800,  it  had  equipped  fleets 
and  armies,  expended  millions  in  warlike  pre- 
paration, and  finally  sent  forth  its  ciiizens  to 
battle  and  death,  to  force  the  payment  of  tiie 
claims.      Were  we  now  to   be  told,  that  cur 
failure  in  these  efforts  had  created  a  liability 
against  us  to  pay  the  money  ?     That  tiie  wmie 
citizens  vviio  had  beeu  taxed  to  pay  tiie  ex- 
penses of  these  long  negotiations,  ami  of  this 
war  for  the  claims,  were  to  be  further  taxed  to 
pay  such  of  the  claims  as  we  had  lailcd  to  col 


ANNO  1838.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


503 


'ect  1    Ho  "otild  nev«T  consent  to  such  a  deduc- 
tion froin  «"<;'»  prt'niiHi'H. 

"But,  Mr.  Pri'Hidi'iit,  said  Mr.  \V.,  there  is 
snother  view  of  this  subject,  plivced  upon  this 
hof.'^,  which  rt^iiders  this  bill  of  trifling  iinpor- 
tanco  in  the  compiirison.  If  the  failuro  to 
collect  these  claims  has  created  the  liability  to 
pay  them,  that  lial)ility  goes  to  the  extent  of 
the  claims  proved,  and  the  interest  upon  them, 
not  to  a  partial,  and  perhajjs  trifling,  dividend. 
Who,  then,  would  undertake  to  say  what 
amount  of  claiins  might  not  be  proved  during 
the  stiito  of  things  he  had  described,  from  the 
breaking  out  of  the  war  between  Franco  and 
Enifland,  in  17!)3,  to  the  execution  of  the  treaty, 
in  1800  ?  For  a  groat  portion  of  the  period, 
the  mimicipal  regulation-i  of  France  rcmiired 
the  captured  cargoes  to  be  not  confiscate({,  but 
paid  for  at  the  market  value  at  the  |)ort  to 
which  the  vessel  was  destined.  Still  the  caji- 
ture  would  be  proved,  the  value  of  the  cargo 
ascertained,  before  the  commission  which  the 
bill  proposes  to  establish ;  and  who  would 
adduce  the  proof  that  the  same  cargo  was  paid 
for  by  the  French  government  ? 

"  This  ])rinciple,  however,  Mr.  W.  said,  went 
much  further  than  the  whole  subject  of  the  old 
French  claims.  It  extended  to  all  claims  for 
spoliations  upon  our  connuerce,  since  the  exist- 
ence of  the  government,  which  we  had  failed  to 
collect.  Who  could  say  where  the  liability 
would  end  ?  In  how  many  cases  had  claims  of 
this  character  been  settled  by  treaty,  what  had 
been  collected  in  encli  case,  and  what  amount 
remained  impaid,  after  the  release  of  the  foreign 
government?  He  had  made  an  unsuccessful 
effort  to  answer  these  inquiries,  so  far  as  the 
files  of  the  state  department  would  furnish  the 
information,  as  he  had  found  that  it  could  only 
be  collected  by  an  examination  of  each  indivi- 
dual claim  ;  and  this  would  impose  a  labor  upon 
the  department  of  an  luireasonable  character, 
and  would  occupy  more  time  than  remained  to 
furnish  the  information  for  his  use  upon  the  pre- 
sent occasion.  lie  had,  however,  been  favored 
by  the  Secretary  of  State  with  the  amounts  al- 
lowed by  the  commissioners,  the  amounts  paid, 
and  the  rate  of  pay  upon  the  principal,  in  two 
recent  cases,  the  Florida  treaty,  and  the  treaty 
with  Denmark.  In  the  former  instance,  the 
payment  was  ninety-one  and  two  thirds  per 
centum  upon  the  principal,  while  in  the  latter  it 
was  but  thirty-one  and  one  eighth  per  centum. 
Assume  that  these  two  cases  are  the  maximum 
and  minimum  of  all  the  cases  where  releases 
have  been  given  for  partial  payments ;  and 
he  begged  the  Siniate  to  reflect  upon  the 
amounts  unpaid  which  might  be  called  from  the 
national  treasury,  if  the  principle  were  once  ad- 
mitted that  a  failure  to  collect  creates  a  liability 
to  pay. 

'■  That  in  his  assumption  that  a  liability  of 
this  sort  must  go  to  the  whole  amount  of  the 
claims,  he  only  took  the  ground  contended  for 
by  the  friends  of  this  bill,  he  would  trouble  the 


Senate  with  another  extract  from  the  report  of 
Mr.  LivingHt(m,  from  which  he  had  before  read 
In  speaking  of  the  amount  which  should  be  ap- 
propriated, Mr.  Livin;:ston  says : 

"  '  Th(!  only  remaining  inquiiy  is  tlio amount ; 
and  on  this  point  Iho  committee  liave  had  some 
difflculty.  Two  modes  of  measuring  the  com- 
pensation suggested  themselves : 

"  '  1.  The  actual  loss  sustained  by  tho  peti- 
tioners. 

"  '  2.  Tho  value  of  the  advantages  received,  as 
tho  consideration,  by  tho  United  States. 

"'The  first  is  tho  one  demanded  by  strict 
justice ;  and  is  the  only  one  that  satisfies  tho 
vyord  used  by  tho  constitution,  which  rtMinires 
just  compensation,  which  cannot  be  said  to  have 
been  made  when  any  thing  less  than  the  full 
value  is  given.  But  there  were  diffleidties  which 
appeared  insurmountable,  to  the  adoption  of 
this  rule  at  the  present  day,  arising  from  the 
nndtiplicity  of  the  claims,  the  nature  of  the  de- 
predations which  occasioned  them,  the  loss  of 
documents,  either  by  the  lapse  of  time,  or  the 
wilful  destruction  of  them  by  the  depredators 
The  committee,  therefore,  could  not  undertake 
to  provide  a  specific  relief  for  each  of  the  peti- 
tioners. But  they  have  recommended  the  insti- 
tution of  a  board,  to  enter  into  the  investigation, 
and  apportion  a  sum  which  the  committee  have 
reconmiended  to  be  aijpropriated,  pro  rata, 
among  the  several  claimants.' 

"  '  The  committee  could  not  believe  that  the 
amount  of  compensation  to  the  suflercrs  should 
be  calculated  by  the  advantages  secured  to  tho 
United  States,  because  it  was  not,  according  to 
their  ideas,  tho  true  measure.  If  tho  property 
of  an  individual  be  taken  for  public  use,  and  tho 
government  miscalculate,  and  find  that  the  ob- 
ject to  which  they  have  applied  it  has  been 
injuiious  rather  than  beneficial,  the  value  of  the 
property  is  still  duo  to  the  owner,  who  ought 
not  to  suffer  for  the  false  speculations  which 
have  been  made.  A  turnpike  or  canal  may  be 
very  unproductive ;  but  the  owner  of  tho  land 
which  has  been  taken  for  its  construction  is  not 
the  less  entitled  to  its  value.  On  the  other 
hand,  ho  can  have  no  immncr  of  right  to  more 
than  the  value  of  his  property,  be  the  object  to 
which  it  has  been  applied  ever  so  beneficial.' 

"Here,  Mr.  W.  said,  were  two  proposed 
grounds  of  estimating  the  extent  of  the  liability 
of  the  government  to  the  claimants ;  and  that 
which  graduated  it  by  the  value  received  by  the 
government  was  distinctly  rejected,  while  that 
making  the  amount  of  the  claims  the  measure 
of  liability,  was  as  distinctly  asserted  to  bo  the 
true  and  just  standard.  lie  hoped  he  had  shown, 
to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Senate,  that  the  former 
rule  of  value  received  by  the  government  would 
allow  the  claimants  nothing  at  all,  while  he  was 
compelled  to  say  that,  upon  tho  broad  principle 
that  a  failure  to  collect  creates  a  liability  to  pay, 
he  could  not  controvert  the  correctness  of  tlic 
conclusion  that  the  liability  must  be  conmien- 
surato  with  the  claim,    lie  could  coutrovertj  he 


3 


■•    ,?f 


■-LL 


504 


TIIIKTY  YKAKS-  VIKW. 


thouLrht,  Kum'H«fiilIy  the  principle,  but  ht«  coiiUl 
not  the  nii'iiMiiiii  of  (lanmm),)  when  i\w  priiicipio 
WOH  conwdcd.     Ho  would  hiTtt  concludo  IiIh  n 


mftrka  upon  llu«  pointn  he  liad  noticed,  liy  tlio 
earnest  dtelaration  that  lie  holioved  lh<  iiiiHsni'o 
of  this  hill  would  opon  more  widely  iiodoo'is 
of  the  puMie  treasury  timn  any  K'nislitioi,  of 
which  he  had  any  knowknlf^e,  or  to  wliieh  Con- 
gress had  ever  yielded  itH  iissont. 

r  1  I4  .."  *^'""  ^^  •  **'"''  '"'  '""I  1  fpw  oliscrvnfions  lo 

I!  '  !^'  oi.er  relative  to  tlie  mode  of  legislation  jirojosed, 

und  to  the  details  of  the  hill,  and  he  would  trou- 
ble tlie  Si'uate  ru)  further. 

"His  firsi  nbjeetioii,  under  t'ds  head,  was  to 
the  mode  of  legislation.     If  the  governmenl   he 
hable   to   I'ay  these  claims,  the  claimants  are 
citizeim  III  the  country,  and  Congress  is  as  ac- 
cessible to  them  as  to  other  claimants  who  have 
demands  af^-jiin  ;t  the  treasury.     Why  were  they 
not  permit  ted,  individually,  to  apiily  "to  (,'on-ress 
to  ostahhsli   their   respectivi^   claims,  as   otlur 
claunants  were  hound  to  do,  ami  to  receive  such 
relief,  m  each  case,  as  Congress,  in  its  wisdom, 
should  see  (it  to  grant  ?   Why  were  these  claims, 
more   than   othe.s,  grouped  together,  nn<l   at- 
U«mi)ted  to  he  made  a  matter  of  national  impor- 
tonce  ?   Why  was  a  commission  to  be  established 
to  uscertain  their  validity,  a  duty  in  ordiuaiy 
cases  di.schnrged  by  Congress  itself?     Were  the 
Senate  si-iv  tiiat  much  of  the  importance  given 
to  tlie.se  claims  had  not  proceeded  from  this  as- 
sociation, and  from  the  formidable  amount  thus 
presented  at  one  view?     Would  any  gentleman 
be  able  to  coivince  him.self  that,  acting  upon  a 
smgle  claim  in   this  immense  mass,  he  sliould 
have  given  it  his  favorable  consideration?     Kor 
his  part,  lie  considen-d  the  mode  of  legislation 
unusual   and  objectionable.     His   principal  ob- 
jections to  the   details  were,  that  the  second 
section  of  the  bill  prescribed  the  rules  which 
should  govern  the  commission  in  deciding  upon 
the  claims,  among  which  'the  former  treaties 
between  the  United  States  and  Frame'  were 
enumerated  ;  and  that  the  bill  contained  no  de- 
claration that  the  payments  made  umier  it  were 
m  full  of  the  claims  or  that  the  respeei  ive  claim- 
ants should  execute  a  releade,  as  a  condition  of 
receiving  t'leir  dividends. 

"  The  first  ohjection  was  predicated  upon  the 
fact  that  the  bill  covered  the  whole  period  from 
the  making  of  the  treaties  of  1778;  to  that  of 
the  30th  September,  1800,  and  made  the  former 
treaties  the  rule  of  adjudication,  when  Congres.' 
on  the  7th  July,  1798,  by  a  deliberate  legislative 
act,  declared  those  treaties  void,  and  no  longer 
binding  upon  the  United  States  or  their  citizens. 
It  IS  a  fact  abundantly  proved  by  the  documents, 
that  a  large  portion  of  the  claims  now  to  lie  jiaid 
arose  within  the  period  last  alluded  to;  and  that 
treaties  declared  to  bo  void  shoidd  be  made  the 


law  in  determimnK  what  were  and  what  werB 
not  Illegal  ciipturcN,  during  the  time  that  l\J 
w.'ie  hel.  to  have  no  fore,.,  and  when  our  eiii/.,.,,H 
were  authori/.ed  by  law  to  go  „p„n  the  hi^l,  ,;.„^ 
regardlessot  their  provisions,  Mr.  W.Hui.l  would' 
m'lu  to  him  to  be  an  absurdity  wliieh  Ihe'Stmai,. 
would  not  legali/.e.     II.,  was  fnllv  uwaiv  th. 
the  first  seel  ion  of  the  bill  piirportul  t,.  i,mvi,l,, 
for    valid  claims  to  indemnity  upon  the  |.'ivi„l, 
govrninent,  arising  ,Mit  of  illegal  eaptiiivs  ,li, 
teiitioim  foiciide  seizures,  illegal  condeiniial'idiiH 
aiK    confiscations;'  brt  it   could  not  he  ..vit-' 
looked  that  illegal  captures,  coiidemiialioiiN  „,„! 
eonllscatioim,  must   relate  entirely   to  the  \m 
which  was  to  Kovi'i-n  the  adjudication  ;  ai„l  if 
that  law  was  a  void  treaty  which  the  ciaiimmtH 
were  not  bouiul  to  observe,  and  did  not  ohsenu 
was  it  not  more  than  possible  that  a  eapture' 
condemnation,  or  conllHcation,  might,  by  coni- 
IMilsicii   b(-  adjudged  illegal  under  the  rule  IW,,1 
)y  tlie  bill,  while  that  same  captllI^^,  coiideiuim- 
tion,  or  confiscation,  was  strictly  legal  iiiidiTlhe 
laws  which  governed  thecoinnifrce  of  the  claim- 
ant when  the  capture  was  made  ?     He  11111st  way 
that  It  appeared  clear  to  his  mind  that  the  rule 
of  adjuduuilion  upon  the  validity  ofdainisof  tiiis 
•lescription,  should,  in  all  cases,  be  the  same  riilo 
which  governed  the  commerce  out  of  whleli  the 
claims  have  ari.sen. 

"  His  second  (dyection,  Mr.  W.  said,  was  made 
niore  as  a  wish  that  a  record  of  ihe  intentions 
of   the  present  Congress  should  I.e  proervwl 
upon  the  face  of  the  bill,  than  from  any  idea  tlmt 
tlie  provision  suggested  would  allord  the  leiist 
j)rot,ection  lo  the  public  treasury.     Kvery  day's 
legislation  showed  the  futility  of  the  insertion 
in  an  act  of  Congress  of  a  declaration  that  the 
appropriation  made  should  be  in  full  of  a  claim; 
and  m  this,  as  in  other  like  cases,  should  this 
bill  pass,  he  did  not  expect  that  it  would  be, 
m  practice  any  thing  more  than  an  histaliiieiit 
upon  the  claims  which  would  be  sustained  before 
tin-  commission.     The  files  of  the  state  depart- 
ment would  contain   the  record  evidence  of  the 
balance,  w  ith  the  admission  of  the  govenuiieut 
m  the  passage  of  this  bill,  that  an  e(iual  liability 
remained  to  pay  that  balance,  whatever  it  might 
be    Kvcn  a  release  from  the  respective  clainiuiits 
ht  should  consider  as  likely  to  have  no  other 
e'tect  than  to  change  their  futtn-e  applications 
troni  a  demand  of  kgal  right,  which  they  now 
assume  to  have,  to  one  of  equity  and  favor;  and 
ho  was  yet  to  see  that  the  latter  would  not  be 
as  successful  as  the  former.     He  must  give  his 
vote  against  the  bill,  whether  modified  in  that 
particular  or  not,  and  he  should  do  so  under  the 
most  full  and  clear  conviction,  that  it  was  a  piu- 
position  fraught  with  greater  dangers   to  (he 
public  treasury,  than  any  law  which  had  ever 
yet  received  the  assent  of  Congress." 


ANNO  1838.     ANDIIRW  JACKHON,  I'ltRMIDKNT. 


005 


CF[APTKll    CXIX. 

FRKNCir  SI'()MATI(>NH-M|{.  WKBHTETB  BI'EKCir. 

''TifK  qiioKtion,  Hir,  involved  in  tliiH  ciiho,  Ih  ih- 
wnlially  a Judiciiil  (|ucHtioii.  It  is  ndl  a  (pii'Mtion 
of|inliIic  policy,  Iiiit  a  (|iicHlioM  of  prisato  light ; 
nqiu'Mlion  iK'tvvwn  (ho  govi'i-niiicnt  and  tiio  po- 
tKioiKTH;  ami,  as  tho  K'>vi'rnnn'Mt  Ih  to  he  jiid;r(. 
in  its  own  ca-o,  it  would  Hconi  to  liu  tlio  fluty 
of  ifa  iiicnilHMs  to  I'xaniino  this  Hulijoct  with  tiio 
niostsrnipuloiiH  >!;<>•»<' f'»ith,  und  the  most  Holi- 
cit'iiiH  dcsiri!  to  do  juctice. 

"There  is  a  propriety  in  coniiiieneinj?  the  ox- 
aiiiinatiiiu  of  these  olainiH  in  f  he  Senate,  heeaiise 
it  MiiH  the  Senate  which,  by  itH  aniendincnt  of 
till'  treaty  of  1800,  and  its  KiihHe(|iient  ratiflca 
tioii  of  that  treaty,  and  its  reco^^nition  of  the 
(U'diiration  of  the  Krench  noveninient,  eU'ectnally 
released  the  claims  aH  against  France,  and  for 
ever  cut  olflhe  petiticniers  from  till  hopes  of  re- 
(livHS  from  that  (piarter.  The  claims,  as  elainm 
apiiiist  our  own  pivernment,  have  their  foiind'i- 
tioii  ill  these  act.s  of  the  Senate  ilnelf;  and  it 
may  roitainly  lie  expected  that  the  SenaU;  will 
consider  the  elferts  of  its  own  proceedings,  on 
private  ri^rhta  and  jirivale  interests,  with  tliiil 
candor  and  justice  wliich  belong  to  its  hij^h  char- 
acter. 

"  It  ouRht  not  to  bo  objected  to  these  peti- 
tinners,  that  their  claim  is  old.  or  that  they  are 
now  reviving,'  any  thiii^i;  which  has  heretofore 
been  abandoned.  There  has  lieen  no  delay  which 
is  not  reasonably  accounted  for.  The  treaty  by 
which  the  claimants  say  their  clainiH  on  Fr  rice 
for  these  captures  and  confi  ciii  ions  were  rrlea.>ed 
wft.'i  concluded  in   I  TIkv  immediaiely  ap- 

plied to  Congress  i„r  indemnity,  im  will  be  Keen 
by  the  report  made  in  1802,  in  the  House  of 
RenreM'iitutives,  \,y  a  committee  of  which  a  dis- 
tin^'ui.-^hed  member  from  Virginia,  notnov  living 
[Mr.  (iileBj,  was  chairman. 

"  I"  I  -"'7,  on  the  petition  of  sundry  merchants 
and  oihi  I  i,  citizens  of  Charleston,  in  South  Ca- 
rolina, u  committee  of  the  House  of  Kepresenta- 
tivefi,  of  which  Mr.  Marion,  of  tiiat  State,  was 
'Airman,  made  a  report,  declaring  that  the 
committee  was  of  opinion  that  the  government 
of  the  United  States  was  bound  to  indemnify 
the  claimants.  But  at  this  time  our  affairs  with 
the  European  powers  at  war  had  become  exeeed- 
mdy  embarrassed  ;  our  government  had  felt 
!t>elf  compelled  to  withdraw  our  commerce  from 
the  ocean;  and  it  was  not  until  after  the  con- 
clusion of  the  war  of  1812,  and  after  the  -eneral 
pacification  of  Europe,  that  a  suitable  opportunity 
occurred  of  presenting  the  subject  again  to  the 
serious  cQnsi(ler.atif>a  of  Congress.  Fium  that 
ume  the  iietitioners  have  been  constantly  before 
us,  aiHl  the  period  has  at  length  arrived  proper 
lor  a  fanal  decision  of  their  case. 


Another  o>)|ection,iiir.  ban  horn  urp'd  afralnnt 
thPHeclttiiuH,  well  calculated  to  diminish  the  favor 
with  which  they  might  otherwise  b<'  i-eceiveil, 
and  which  is  without  any  suiPMtantial  foundation 
in  fact.  It  is,  tliat  a  gn-al  portion  of  them  hiM 
been  bought  lip,  as  a  matter  of  sp.rulation,  am! 
it  is  now  holdeii  by  the.se  piirehaserH.  It  hoH 
even  bet  n  said,  I  tliink,  .m  the  floor  of  the  Se- 
nate, that  nine  tentbn,  or  ninety  hiindi-edths,  of 
all  the  claims  are  owned  by  speeiilatorM. 

"Such  luifoiinded  Mtatemenis  are  not  only 
wholly  unjust  towards  these  |ietilioiiers  them*- 
selves,  but  they  do  great  mischief  to  other  inter- 
ests.  I  iuive  ob.served  that  a  French  gentlemim 
of  distinction,  formerly  a  resident  in  thiscoiinlry, 
I  is  represented  ill  the  public  newspapers  as  having 
diclined  the  oiler  of  a  seat  in  the  French  ad- 
miniMtration,  on  the  ground  that  he  could  not 
support  the  American  treaty  ;  and  he  could  not 
support  the  treaty  because  hi!  ha<l  learned,  or 
heard,  while  in  America,  that  the  claims  were  no 
longer  the  properly  of  (he  original  sull'erers,))ut 
had  pas.sed  into  iinworlhy  bauds.  If  any  such 
thing  has  bei'n  learned  in  tlu^  T'liited  States,  it 
has  been  learned  from  sources  eiltindy  incorrect. 
Till!  general  fact  is  not  so;  and  this  piejiidiiie, 
thus  o|)tirating  on  a  great  national  inlnv'st— an 
inlerest  in  regard  to  wliicli  we  an^  in  duni^er  of 
being  seriously  embroiled  willi  a  foreign  state — 
was  created,  doubtless,  by  the  .same  iiKMiirect 
and  unfounded  assertions  which  have  been  made 
relative  to  this  other  class  of  claims. 

"  111  regard  to  both  classi's,  and  to  all  classes 
of  claims  of  American  citizens  on  f'  neigii  govern- 
ments, the  statement  is  at  vari;uice  with  the 
facts.  Those  who  make  it  have  no  jn-oof  of  it. 
On  the  contrary,  incontrovertible  evidence  ex- 
ists of  the  truth  of  the  very  reverse  of  this  state- 
ment. The  claims  lainst  France,  since  1800, 
ire  now  in  the  cour.s.'of  adjiidicatiim.  They  are 
I,  or  very  nearly  all,  presented  to  Mio  proper 
I  buiial.  Proofs  accomi)an_\  them,  and  the 
rii.es  of  the  tribunal  require  that,  in  each  case, 
the  true  owiu  rsliip  should  be  fully  and  exactly 
set  out,  on  oath;  and  be  jiroved  by  the  papers 
vouchers,  and  other  evidence.  Now,  sir,  if  any 
man  is  acquainted,  or  will  make  himself  ac- 
i|iiMiiiled,  with  iliu  proceedings  of  this  tribunal, 
o  far  as  to  see  who  are  the  parties  claiming 
I  he  indemnity,  he  will  .see  the  absiduto  and 
eni)rmous  error  of  those  who  represiuit  these 
claim  :  to  be  owned,  in  great  part,  by  specu- 
lati  a>. 

•  The  truth  i.s,  sir,  that  these  claims,  as  well 
llio-e  since  IHOOas  before,  are  owned  and  pos- 
sessed by  the  original  suli'erers,  with  such 
changes  only  as  happen  in  regard  to  all  other 
properly .  The  original  owner  of  shi[»  and  cargo; 
his  representative,  where  such  o\riier  is  dead; 
underwriters  who  have  paid  In.'^-es  on  account 
of  captures  and  confiscations;  uikI  creditors  of 
msoiveiUo  aad  bankrupts  wiio  wi:  ■  interested 
in  the  claims — these  are  the  dcs(r':i)tiona  of 
persons  who,  in  all  th(  e  cases,  o  vn  vastly  the 
larger  portion  of  the  claims.    This  is  true  of 


■Hi 


'Bl 


— j.. 


JB 


506 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


the  claims  on  Spain,  m  is  most  manifest  from 
the   proceedings  of  th«   commissioners  under 
the  Spanish  treaty.     It  is   true  of  the  claims 
on   Franco  arising  since   1800,   as   is  equally 
manifest  by   the  proceedings  of  the  commis- 
sioners now  sitting ;  and  it  is  equally  true  of 
the  claims   which  are  the  subject  of  this  dis- 
cussion, and  provided  for  in  this  bill.    In  some 
instances  claims  have  been  assigned  from  one 
to  another,  in  the  settlement  of  family  alfairs. 
They  have  been  transferred,  in  other  instances, 
to  secure  or  to  pay  debts;  they  have   been 
transferred,  sometimes,  in  the  settlement  of  in- 
surance accounts ;  and  it  is  probable  there  are 
a  few  cases  in  which  the  necessities  of  the  hold- 
ers have  compelled  them  to  sell  them.     But 
nothing  can  be  further  from  the  truth  than  that 
they  have  been  the  general  subjects  of  purchase 
and  sale,  and  thut  they  are  now  holden  mainly 
by  purchasers  from  the  original  owners.     They 
have  been  compared  to  the  unfunded  debt.    But 
that  consisted  in  scrip,  of  fixed  amount,  and 
which  passed  from  hand  to  hand  by  delivery. 
These  claims  cannot  so  pass  from  hand  to  hand. 
In  each  case,  not  only  the  value  but  the  amount 
is  uncertain.     Whether  there  be  any  claim,  is 
in  each  case  a  matter  for  investigation  and 
proof;  and  so  is  the  amount,  when  the  justice  of 
the  claim  itself  is  established.     These  circum- 
stances are  of  themselves  quite  sufficient  to  pre- 
vent the  easy  and  frequent  transfer  of  the  claims 
from  hand  to  hand.     They  would  lead  us  to 
expect  that  to  happen  which  actually  has  hap- 
pened ;  and  that  is,  that  the  claims  remain  with 
their  original  owners,  and  their  legal  heirs  and 
representatives,  with  such  exceptions  as  I  have 
already  mentioned.    As  to  the  portion  of  the 
claims  now  owned  by  underwriters,  it  can  hardly 
be  necessary  to  say  that  they  stand  on  the  same 
equity  and  justice  as  if  possessed  and  presented 
by  the  owners  of  ships  and  goods.     There  i 
no  more  universal  maxim  of  law  and  justir  , 
throughout  the  civilized  and  commercial  wor.d, 
than  that  an  underwriter,  who  has  paid  a  loss 
on  ships  or  merchandise  to  the  owner,  is  entitled 
to  whatever  may  be  received  from  the  property. 
His  right  accrues  by  the  very  act  of  payment ; 
and  if  the  property,  or  its  proceeds,  be  after- 
wards recovered,  in  whole  or  in  part,  whether 
the  recovery  be  from  the  sea,  from  captors,  or 
from  the  justice  of  foreign  states,  such  recovery 
is  for  the  benefit  of  the  underwriter.     Any  at- 
tempt, therefore,  to  prejudice  these  claims,  on 
the  ground  that  many  of  them  belong  to  insur- 
ance companies,  or  other  underwriters,  is  at  war 
with  the  first  principles  of  justice. 

"A  short,  but  accurate,  general  view  of  the 
history  and  character  of  these  claims  is  pre- 
sented in  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  State 
on  the  20th  of  May,  1826,  in  compliance  with  a 
resolution  of  the  Senate.  Allow  me,  sir,  to  read 
the  paragraphs : 

'"The  Secretary  can  hardly  suppose  it  to 
have  laeen  the  intention  of  the  resolution  to  re- 
quire the  expression  of  an  argumentative  opinion 


as  to  the  degree  of  responsibility  to  the  Ameri. 
can  sufterers  from  French  spoliations,  which  t^ 
convention  of  1800  extinguished,  on  the  pan  o 
France,  or  devolved  on  the  United  States  Z 
,  Senate  itself  being  most  competent  to  decide 
that  question.  Under  this  impression,  he  howl 
that  he  will  have  sufficiently  conformed  to  thl 
purposes  of  the  Senate,  by  a  brief  statement 
prepared  in  a  hurried  moment,  of  what  he  ua! 
derstands  to  be  the  question. 

IROnT^  ?^<^"'^/,';t'^'?  of  the  convention  of 
1800  was  in  the  following  words  :  "The  minis!, 
ters  plenipotentiary  of  the  two  parties  not  be- 
ing able  to  agree  at  present,  respecting  the 
treaty  of  alliance  of  the  6th  of  Pebruarv  1778 
the  treaty  of  amity  and  commerce  of  the  same 
date,  and  the  convention  of  the  14th  of  Novem. 
ber,  1788,  no'  upon  the  indemnities  nmtuallv 
due  or  claimed,  the  parties  will  negotiate  further 
on  these  subjects,  at  a  convenient  time ;  and 
until  they  may  have  agreed  upon  these  points' 
the  said  treaties  and  convention  shall  have  no 
operation,  and  the  relations  of  the  two  couiv 
tries  shall  be  regulated  as  follows." 

When  that  convention  was  laid  before  the 
^^"^*J^'*  ^'^^'''  '*'''  consent  and  advice  that  it 
should  be  ratified,  provided  that  the  second  arti- 
cle be  expunged,  and  that  the  followin"'  article 
be  added  or  inserted:  "It  is  agreed  that  the 
present  convention  shall  be  in  force  for  the  term 
of  eight  years  from  the  time  of  the  exchange  of 
the  ratifications;''  and  it  was  accordingly  so 
ratified  by  the  President  of  the  United  States 
on  the  18th  day  of  February,  1801.    On  the 
61st  of  July  of  the  same  year,  it  was  ratified 
by  Bonaparte,  First  Consul  of  the  French  Re- 
public, who  incorporated  in  the  instrument  of 
his  ratification  the  following  clause  as  nart  of 
it :  "The  government  of  the  United  States,  hav- 
ing added  to  its  ratification  that  the  convention 
should  be  in  force  for  the  space  of  eight  years 
and  having  omitted  the  second  article,  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  French  Republic  consents  to 
accept,  ratify,  and  coufirm  the  above  convention, 
with  the  addition,  importing  that  the  conven- 
tion shall  be  in  force  for  the  space  of  eight  years, 
and  with  the  retrenchment  of  the  second  arti- 
cle :  Provided,  That,  by  this  retrenchment,  the 
two  states  renounce  the  respective  pretensions 
which  are  the  object  of  the  said  article." 

" '  The  French  ratification  be=ng  thus  condi- 
tional, was,  nevertheless,  exchanged  against  that 
of  the  United  States,  at  Paris,  on  the  same  31st 
of  July.  The  President  of  the  United  States 
considering  it  necessary  again  to  nibmit  the 
convention,  in  this  state,  to  the  Senate,  on  the 
19th  day  of  December,  1801,  it  was  resolved  by 
the  Senate  that  they  considered  the  said  convei>- 
tion  as  fully  ratified,  and  returned  it  to  the  Pre- 
sident for  the  usual  promulgation.  It  was  ac- 
cordingly promulgated,  and  thereafter  regarded 
us  a  valid  and  binding  compact.  The  two  coft- 
tracting  parties  thus  agreed,  by  the  retrench- 
ment of  the  second  article,  mutually  to  renounce 
the  respective  pretensions  which  were  the  oh- 


ANNO  1835.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESmENT. 


507 


iibihty  to  the  Araeri. 

spoliations,  which  the 
iiished,  on  the  part  of 
M  United  States,  the 
competent  to  decide 
impression,  he  hopes 
ily  conformed  to  tiie 
)y  a  brief  statement 
tient,  of  what  he  uiw 
)n. 

r  the  convention  of 
words  :  "  The  minis- 
two  parties,  not  be- 
;sent,  respecting  the 
h  of  February,  1778 
inmerco  of  the  same 
■  the  14th  of  Novera. 
ndemnities  mutually 
ivill  negotiate  further 
invenicnt  time;  and 
i  upon  these  points,' 
mention  shall  have  no 
IS  of  the  two  couiv 
611o^vs." 

was  laid  before  the 
;  and  advice  that  it 
that  the  second  arti- 
the  following  article 
;_is  agreed  that  the 
in  force  for  the  term 
ic  of  the  exchange  of 
was  accordingly  so 
f  the  United  States, 
lary,  1801.    On  the 
year,  it  was  ratified 
of  the  French  Re- 
I  the  instrument  of 
ig  clause  as  iiartof 
i  United  State's,  hav- 
that  the  convention 
pace  of  eight  years, 
ond  article,  the  gov- 
epublic  consents  to 
le  above  convention, 
ig  that  the  conveiv- 
space  of  eight  years, 
of  the  second  aiti- 
8  retrenchment,  the 
spective  pretensions 
said  article." 
I  be'ng  thus  condi- 
hanged  against  that 
is,  on  the  same  31st 
'  the  United  States 
^ain  to  fubniit  the 
the  Senate,  on  the 
,  it  was  resolved  by 
'ed  the  said  conveur 
urned  it  to  the  Pro- 
gation.     It  was  ao- 
thercafter  regarded 
act.     'the  two  coft- 
I,  by  the  retrench- 
utuall3'  to  renounce 
'hich  weie  the  ob- 


ject of  that  article.  The  pretensions  of  the 
United  States,  to  which  allusion  is  thus  made, 
arose  out  of  the  spoliations  under  color  of  French 
authority,  in  contravention  of  law  and  existing 
treaties.  Those  of  France  sprung  from  the  treaty 
of  alliance  of  the  Cth  of  February,  1778,  the 
treaty  of  amity  and  commerce  of  the  same  date, 
and  the  convention  of  the  14th  of  November, 
1788.  Whatever  obligations  or  indemnities,  from 
these  sources,  either  party  had  a  right  to  de- 
mand, were  respectively  waived  and  abandoned ; 
and  the  consideration  which  induced  one  party 
to  renounce  his  pretensions,  was  that  of  renun- 
ciation by  the  other  party  of  his  pretensions. 
What  was  the  value  of  the  obligations  and  in- 
demnities, so  reciprocally  renounced,  can  only 
be  matter  of  speculation.  The  amount  of  the 
indemnities  due  to  the  citizens  of  the  United 
Stales  was  very  large ;  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  obligation  was  great  (to  specify  no  other 
French  pretensions),  under  which  the  United 
States  were  placed,  in  the  eleventh  article  of  the 
treaty  of  alliance  of  the  Gth  of  February,  1778, 
by  which  they  were  bound  for  ever  to  guarantee 
from  that  time  the  ilien  possessions  of  the 
Crown  of  France  in  America,  as  well  as  those 
which  it  might  acquire  by  the  future  treaty  of 
l)eace  with  Great  Britain ;  all  these  possessions 
having  been,  it  is  believed,  conquered  at,  or  not 
ions:  after,  the  exchange  of  the  ratifications  of 
the  convention  of  September,  1800,  by  the  arms 
tf  Gruat  Britain,  from  France. 

■■'The  fifth  article  of  the  amendments  to  the 
constitution  provides :  "  Nor  shall  private  pro- 
perty Ikj  taken  for  public  use,  without  just  com- 
pensation." If  the  indemnities  t^  which  citi- 
zens of  the  United  States  were  entitled  for 
French  sjioliations  prior  to  the  30th  of  Septem- 
ber, 180(1,  have  been  aiipropriated  to  absolve  the 
United  States  from  the  fulfilment  of  an  obliga- 
tion which  they  had  contracted,  or  from  the 
payment  of  indemnities  which  they  were  bound 
to  make  to  France,  the  Senate  is  most  compe- 
tent to  ('i  tirmiiie  how  far  such  an  appropriation 
is  a  public  use  of  private  property  within  the 
spirit  of  the  constitution,  and  whether  equitable 
considerations  do  not  require  some  compensa- 
tion to  be  made  to  the  claimants.  The  Senate 
is  also  best  able  to  estimate  the  probability 
which  existed  of  an  ultimate  recovery  from 
France  of  the  amount  due  for  those  indemnities, 
if  they  had  not  been  renounced ;  in  making 
which  estimate,  it  will,  no  doubt,  give  just  weight 
to  the  painful  consideration  that  repeated  and 
urgent  a]ipeals  have  been,  in  vain,  made  to  the 
justice  of  France  for  satisfaction  of  flagrant 
wrongs  coumiitted  upon  property  of  other  citi- 
zens of  the  United  States,  subsequent  to  the 
Friod  of  the  30th  of  September,  1800.' 

"Before  the  interference  of  our  government 
with,  those  claims,  they  constituted  just  demands 
against  the  government  of  France.  They  were 
not  vague  expectations  of  possible  future  in- 
demnity for  injuries  received,  too  uncertain  to 
be  regarded  as  valuable,  or  be  esteemed  pro- 


perty. They  were  just  demands,  and,  as  such, 
they  were  property.  The  courts  of  law  took 
notice  of  them  as  property.  They  were  capable 
of  being  devised,  of  being  distributed  among 
heirs  and  next  of  kin,  and  of  being  transferred 
and  assigned,  like  other  legal  and  ju.st  debts.  A 
claim  or  demand  for  a  ship  unjustly  seized  and 
confiscated  is  property,  as  clearly  as  the  ship 
itself.  It  may  not  be  so  valuable,  or  so  certain ; 
but  it  is  as  clear  a  right,  and  has  been  uniformly 
so  regarded  by  the  courts  of  law.  The  papers 
show  that  American  citizens  had  claims  against 
the  French  government  for  six  hundred  and  fif- 
teen vessels  unlawfully  seized  and  confiscated. 
If  this  were  so,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  tlie  gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  can  release  these 
claims  for  its  own  benefit,  with  any  more  pro- 
priety than  it  could  have  applied  the  money  to 
its  own  use,  if  the  French  government  had  been 
ready  to  make  compensation,  in  money,  for  the 
property  thus  illegally  seized  and  confiscated; 
or  how  the  government  could  appropriate  to  it- 
self the  just  claims  which  the  owners  of  these 
six  hundred  and  fifteen  vessels  held  a^.unst  the 
wrong-doers,  without  making  compensation,  any 
more  than  it  could  appropriate  to  itself,  without 
making  compensation,  six  hundred  and  fifteen 
ships  which  had  not  been  seized.  I  do  not  mean 
to  say  that  the  rate  of  compensation  should  be 
the  same  in  both  cases;  I  do  not  mean  to  say 
that  a  claim  for  a  ship  is  of  as  much  value  as  a 
ship ;  but  I  mean  to  say  that  both  the  one  and 
the  other  are  propert}',  and  that  government 
cannot,  with  justice,  deprive  a  man  of  either,  for 
its  own  benefit,  without  making  a  fair  compen- 
sation. 

"  It  will  be  perceived  at  once,  sir,  that  these 
claims  do  not  rest  on  the  ground  of  any  neglect 
or  omission,  on  the  part  of  the  government  of 
the  United  States,  in  demanding  satisfaction  from 
France.  That  is  not  the  ground.  The  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  in  that  rcs{)ect.  per- 
formed its  full  duty.  It  remonstrated  against 
these  illegal  seizures  ;  it  insisted  on  redress ;  it 
sent  two  special  missions  to  France,  charged  ex- 
pressly, among  other  duties,  with  the  duty  of 
demanding  indemnity.  But  France  had  her  sub- 
jects of  complaint,  also,  against  the  government 
of  the  United  States,  which  she  pressed  with 
equal  earnestness  and  confidence,  and  which  she 
would  neither  postpone  nor  relinquish,  except 
on  the  condition  that  the  United  States  would 
postpone  or  relinquish  these  claims.  And  to 
meet  this  condition,  and  to  restore  harmou}-  be- 
tween the  two  nations,  the  United  States  did 
agree,  first  to  postpone,  and  afterwards  to  relin- 
quish, these  claims  of  its  own  citizens.  In  other 
words,  the  government  of  the  United  States 
bought  off'  the  claims  of  France  against  itself, 
by  discharging  claims  of  our  own  citizens  against 
Franc!'. 

"  This,  sir,  is  the  ground  on  which  these  citi- 
zens think  they  have  a  claim  for  reasonable  in- 
demnity against  their  own  government.  And 
proceeding  to   the   disputed 


s 
i 


now, 


sir,  before 


508 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


part  of  the  case,  permit  me  to  state  what  is  ad- 
mitted. 

"  In  the  first  place,  then,  it  is  universally  ad- 
mitted that  these  petitioners  once  had  just 
claims  against  the  government  of  France,  on  ac- 
count of  these  illegal  captures  and  condemna- 
tions. 

"  In  the  next  place,  it  is  admitted  that  these 
claims  no  longer  exist  against  France;  that  they 
have,  in  some  way,  been  extinguished  or  re- 
leased, as  to  her ;  and  that  she  is  for  ever  dis- 
charged from  all  duty  of  paying  or  satisfying 
them,  in  whole  or  in  part. 

"  These  two  points  being  admitted,  it  is  then 
necessary,  in  order  to  support  the  present  bill, 
to  maintain  four  propositions  : 

"  1.  That  these  claims  subsisted  against  France 
up  to  the  time  of  the  treaty  of  September,  1800, 
between  France  and  the  United  States. 

"  2.  That  they  were  released,  surrendered,  or 
extmguished  by  that  treaty,  its  amendment  in 
the  Senate,  and  the  manner  of  its  final  ratifica- 
tion. 

'•  3.  That  they  were  thus  released,  surrender- 
ed, or  extinguished,  for  political  and  national 
considerations,  for  objects  and  purposes  deemed 
important  to  the  United  States,  but  in  which 
these  claimants  had  no  more  interest  than  any 
other  citizens. 

"  4.  That  the  amount  or  measure  of  indem- 
nity proposed  by  this  bill  is  no  more  than  a  fair 
and  reasonable  compensation,  so  far  as  we  can 
judge  by  what  has  been  done  in  similar  cases. 

"  1.  Were  these  subsisting  claims  against 
France  up  to  the  time  of  the  treaty  ?  It  is  a 
conclusive  answer  to  this  question,  to  say  that 
the  government  of  the  United  States  insisted 
that  they  did  exist,  up  to  the  time  of  the  treaty 
and  demanded  indemnity  for  them,  and  that  the 
French  government  fully  admitted  their  exist- 
ence, and  acknowledged  its  obligation  to  make 
such  indemnity. 

"The  negotiation,  which  terminated  in  the 
treaty,  was  opened  by  a  direct  proposition  for 
mdemnity,  made  by  our  ministers,  the  justice 
and  propriety  of  which  was  immediately  acceded 
to  by  the  ministers  of  France. 

"  On  the  7th  of  April,  1800,  in  their  first  let- 
ter to  the  ministers  of  France,  Messrs.  Ells- 
worth, Davie,  and  Murray,  say : 

'■'Citizen  ministers :— The  undersigned,  ap- 
preciating the  value  of  time,  and  wishing  by 
frankness  to  evince  their  sincerity,  enter  directly 
upon  the  great  object  of  their  mission— an  ob- 
ject which  they  believe  may  be  best  obtained 
by  avoiding  to  retrace  minutely  the  too  well- 
known  and  too  painful  incidents  which  have 
rendered  a  negotiation  necessary. 

" '  To  satisfy  the  demands  of  justice,  and  ren- 
der a  reconciliation  cordial  and  permanent,  they 
propose  an  arrangement,  such  as  shall  be  com- 
patible with  national  honor  and  existing  circnm- 
sUnces,  to  ascertain  and  discharge  the  equitable 
claims  of  the  citizen.'  of  either  nation  upon  the 
other,  whether  founded  on  contract,  treaty,  or 


the  law  of  nations.  The  way  bein,r  thii«  «^ 
pared  the  undersigned  will  be  at  liberty  tosC 
late  for  that  reciprocity  and  freedom  of  2" 
mercial  intercourse  between  the  twoccunS 
which  must  essentially  contribute  to  their  m,? 
tual  advantage.  "'"" 

"  'ShouJd  this  general  view  of  the  subject  h 
approved  by  the  rainisters  plenipotentiS  S 
whonri  it  IS  addressed,  the  details,  it  is  presumed 
may  be  easily  adjusted,  and  that  confidencre 
stored  which  ought  never  to  have  been  shaken  ' 
"  To  this  letter  the  French  ministers  irn^t 
diately  returned  the  following  answer  • 

" '  The  ministers  plenipotentiary  of  the  French 
Republic  have  read  attentively  the  proposition 
for  a  plan  of  negotiation  which  v^s/ JmmZ 
cated  to  them  by  the  envoys  extraordinary  and 
mmisters  plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States 
of  America.  ^ 

"'They  think  that  the  first  object  of  the  ne- 
gotiation ought  to  be  the  determination  of  the 
regulations,  and  the  steps  to  be  followed  for 
the  estimation  and  indemnification  of  injuries 
for  which  either  nation  may  make  claim  for  it 
self,  or  for  any  of  its  citizens.  And  that  the 
second  object  is  to  assure  the  execution  of  trea- 
ties of  friendship  and  commerce  made  between 
the  two  nations,  and  the  accomplishmei  t  of  the 
views  of  reciprocal  advantages  which  suggested 


"It  is  certain,  therefore,  that  the  negotiation 
commenced  in  the  recognition,  by  both  parties, 
of  the  existence  of  individual  claims,  and  of  the 
justice  of  making  satisfaction  for  them  ;  and  It 
IS  equally  clear  that,  throughout  the  whole  ne- 
gotiation, neither  party  suggested  that  these 
claims  had  already  been  either  satisfied  or  ex- 
tinguished ;  and  it  is  indisputable  that  the  treaty 
itself,  in  the  second  article,  expressly  admitted 
their  existence,  and  solemly  recognized  the  duty 
of  providing  for  them  at  some  fuLure  perio.I. 

•'It  will  be  observed,  sir,  that  the  French  ne- 
gotiators, in  their  first  letter,  while  they  admit 
the  justice  of  providing  indemnity  for  individual 
clainis,  bring  forward,  also,  claims  arising  under 
treaties ;  taking  care,  thus  early,  to  advance  the 
pretensions  of  France  on  account  of  alleged  vio- 
latbns  by  the  United  States  of  the  treaties  of 
1778.  On  that  part  of  the  case.  I  shall  say 
something  hereafter ;  but  I  use  this  first  letter 
of  the  French  ministers  at  present  only  to  show 
that,  from  the  first,  the  French  government  ad- 
mitted its  obligation  to  Indemnify  individuals 
who  had  suffered  wrongs  and  injuries. 

"The  honorable  member  from  Now- York  [Mr. 
^Yright]  contends,  sir,  that,  at  Uie  time  of  con- 
cluding the  treaty,  these  claims  had  ceased  to 
exist.  He  says  that  a  war  had  taken  place  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  France,  and  by  the 
war  the  claims  had  become  extinguished.  I  dif- 
fer from  the  honorable  member,  both  as  to  the 
f:!f,t  of  war,  and  as  to  the  eoiiscquincea  to  bo  de- 
duced from  it,  In  this  case,  even  if  public  war 
had  existed.  If  we  admit,  for  argument  sake, 
that  war  had  existed,  yet  we  find  that,  on  the 


ANNO  1885.    ANDREW  JAC.IPON,  PRESIDENT. 


509 


restoration  of  amity,  both  parties  admit  the  jus- 
tice of  these  claims  and  their  continued  exist- 
ence and  the  party  against  which  they  are  pre- 
ferred acknowledges  her  obligation,  and  express- 
es her  willingness  to  pay  them.  The  mere  fact 
of  war  can  never  extinguish  any  claim.  If,  in- 
deed claims  for  indemnity  be  the  professed 
ground  of  a  war,  and  peace  be  afterwards  con- 
cluded without  obtaining  any  acknowledgment 
of  the  riglic,  such  a  peace  may  be  construed 
to  be  a  relinquishment  of  the  right,  on  the  ground 
that  the  question  has  been  put  to  the  arbitration 
of  the  sword,  and  decided.  But,  if  a  war  be 
waged  to  enforce  a  disputed  claim,  and  it  be  car- 
ried on  till  the  adverse  party  admit  the  claim, 
and  agree  to  provide  for  its  payment,  it  would 
be  strange,  indeed,  to  hold  that  the  claim  itself 
was  extinguished  by  the  very  war  which  had 
compelled  its  express  recognition.  Now,  what- 
ever we  call  that  state  of  things  which  existed 
between  the  United  States  and  France  from  1798 
to  1800,  it  is  evident  that  neither  party  contend- 
ed or  supposed  that  it  had  been  such  a  state  of 
things  as  had  extinguished  individual  claims  for 
indemnity  for  illegal  seizures  and  confiscations. 
"The  honorable  member,  sir,  to  sustain  his 
point,  must  prove  that  the  United  States  went 
to  war  to  vindicate  these  claims ;  that  they  waged 
that  war  unsuccessfully ;  and  that  they  were 
therefore  glad  to  make  peace,  without  obtaining 
nnment  of  the  claims,  or  any  admission  of  their 
■  ine.  I  am  happy,  sir,  to  say  that,  in  my 
fiiiiion,  facts  do  not  authorize  any  such  record 
.  ije  made  up  against  the  United  States.  I  think 
it  is  clear,  sir,  that  whatever  misunderstanding 
existed  between  the  United  States  and  France, 
it  did  not  amount,  at  any  time,  to  open  and  pub- 
lic war.  It  is  certain  that  the  amicable  rclatio-  " 
of  the  two  countries  were  much  disturbed ;  ■  ? 
certain  that  the  United  States  authorized  armcv.. 
resistance  to  French  captures,  and  the  captures 
of  French  vessels  of  war  found  hovering  on  our 
coast ;  but  it  is  certain,  also,  not  only  that  there 
was  no  declaration  of  war,  on  either  side,  but 
that  the  United  States,  under  all  their  provoca- 
tions, did  never  authorize  general  reprisals  on 
French  commerce.  At  the  very  moment  when 
the  gentleman  says  war  raged  between  the  Uni- 
ted States  and  France,  French  citizens  came  into 
our  courts,  in  their  own  names,  claimed  restitu- 
tion for  property  seized  by  American  cruisers, 
and  obtained  decrees  of  restitution.  They  claimed 
as  citizens  of  France,  and  obtained  restoration, 
in  our  courts,  as  citizens  of  France.  It  must 
have  been  a  singular  war,  sir,  in  which  such  pro- 
ceedings could  take  place.  Upon  a  fair  view  of 
the  whole  matter,  Mr.  President,  it  will  be  found, 
I  think,  that  every  thing  done  by  the  United 
States  was  defensive.  No  part  of  it  was  ever 
retaliatory.  The  United  States  do  not  take  jus- 
tice into  their  own  hands. 

"The  strongest,  measure,  perhaps,  adopted  by 
^ongress,  was  the  act  of  May  28,  1798.  The 
honorable  member  from  New- York  has  referred 
to  this  act,  and  chiefly  relies  upon  it,  to  prove 


the  existence,  or  the  commencement,  of  actual 
war.  But  does  it  prove  either  the  one  or  the 
other  ? 

"  It  is  not  an  act  declaring  war ;  it  is  not  an 
act  authorizing  reprisals;  it  is  not  an  act 
which,  in  any  way,  acknowledges  the  actual  ex- 
istence of  war.  Its  whole  implication  and  im- 
port is  the  other  way.  Its  title  is,  'An  act  more 
effectually  to  protect  the  commerce  and  coasts 
of  the  United  States.' 

"  This  is  its  preamble : 

"'Whereas  armed  vessels,  sailing  under  au- 
thority, or  pretence  of  authority,  from  the  Re- 
public of  France,  have  committed  depredations 
on  the  commerce  of  the  United  States,  and  have 
recently  captured  the  vessels  and  property  of 
citizens  thereof,  on  and  near  the  coasts,  in  viola- 
tion of  the  law  of  nations,  and  treaties  between 
the  United  States  and  the  French  nation :  there- 
fore ' — 

"  And  then  follows  its  only  section,  in  these 
words : 

"'Sec.  1.  Be  it  enacted,  fc.  That  it  shall 
be  lawful  for  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
and  he  is  hereby  authorized,  to  instruct  and  di- 
rect the  commanders  of  the  armed  vessels  bolong- 
ipg  to  the  United  States,  to  seize,  take,  and  bring 
into  any  port  of  the  United  States,  to  be  pro- 
ceeded against  according  to  the  laws  of  nations, 
any  such  armed  vessel  which  shall  have  com- 
mitted, or  which  shall  be  found  hovering  on  the 
coasts  of  the  United  States  for  the  purpose  of 
committing,  depredations  on  the  vessels  belong- 
ing to  citizens  thereof;  and  also  retake  any  ship 
or  vessel,  of  any  citizen  or  citizens  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  which  may  have  been  captured  by  any 
such  armed  vessel.' 

"  This  act,  it  is  true,  authorized  the  use  of 
t'  -ce,  under  certain  circumstances,  and  for  cer- 
tain objects,  against  French  vessels.  But  there 
may  be  acts  of  authorized  force,  there  may  be 
assults,  there  may  be  battles,  there  may  be  cap- 
tures of  ships  and  imprisonment  of  persons,  and 
yet  no  general  war.  Ca.ses  of  this  kind  may 
occur  under  that  practice  of  retcrtion  wliich  is 
justified,  when  adopted  for  just  cause,  by  the 
laws  and  usages  of  nations,  and  which  all  the 
writers  distinguish  from  general  war. 

"  The  first  provision  in  this  law  is  purely  pre- 
ventive and  defensive;  and  the  other  hardly 
goes  beyond  it.  Armed  vessels  hovering  on  our 
coast,  and  capturing  our  vessels,  under  authority, 
or  pretence  of  authority,  from  a  foreign  state, 
might  be  captured  and  brought  in,  and  vessels 
already  seized  by  them  retaken.  The  act  is 
limited  to  armed  vessels;  but  why  was  this,  if 
general  war  existed  ?  Why  wa-s  not  the  naval 
power  of  the  country  let  loose  at  once,  if  there 
were  war,  against  the  commerce  of  the  enemy  ? 
The  cruisers  of  France  were  preying  on  our  com- 
merce ;  if  there  was  war,  why  were  we  restrain- 
ed ffoin  geiicral  repiisals  on  hcv  coiruneree ? 
This  restaining  of  the  operation  of  our  naval 
marine  to  armed  vessels  of  France,  and  to  such 
of  them  only  as  should  be  found  hovering  on  our 


'  ■  i.,i 


I^'lf     'I' 
.  i     J      i 


610 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


coast,  for  the  purpose  of  committing  depredations 
on  our  commerce,  instead  of  proving  a  state  of 
war,  proves,  I  think,  irresistibly,  that  a  state  of 
general  war  did  not  exist.  But  even  if  this  act 
of  Congress  left  the  matter  doubtful,  other  acts 
passed  at  and  near  the  same  time  demonstrate 
tlie  understanding  of  Congress  to  have  been,  that 
although  the  relations  between  the  two  countries 
wore  greatly  disturbed,  yet  that  war  did  not 
exist.  On  the  same  day  (May  28,  1798)  in 
which  this  act  passed,  on  which  the  member 
from  New- York  lays  so  much  stress,  as  proving 
the  actual  existence  of  war  with  France,  Con- 
gret  passed  another  act,  entitled  'An  act  author- 
izing^ the  President  of  the  United  States  to 
raise  a  provisional  army;'  and  the  first  section 
declared  that  the  President  should  be  autho- 
rized, 'in  the  event  of  a  declaration  of  war 
against  the  United  States,  or  of  actual  invasion 
of  their  territory  by  a  foreign  power,  or  of 
imminent  danger  of  such  invasion,  to  cause  to  be 
enlisted,'  &c.,  ten  thousand  men. 

"On  the   IGth  of  July  following.  Congress 
passed  the  law  for  augmenting  the  army,  the 
second  section  of  which  authorized  the  President 
to  raise  twelve  additional  regiments  of  infantry, 
and  six  troops  of  light  dragoons,  '  to  be  enlisted 
for  and  during  the  continuance  of  the  existing 
diflforences  between  the  United  States  and  the 
French  Republic,  unless  sooner  discharged,'  &c. 
"The  following  spring,  by  the  act  of  the  2d 
of  March,  1799,  entitled  'An  act  giving  eventual 
authority  to  the  President  of  the  United  States 
to  augment  the  army,'  Congress  provided  that 
It  should  be  lawful  for  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  incase  war  should  break  out  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  a  foreign  European 
power,  &c.,  to  raise  twenty-four  regiments  of  in- 
fantry, &c.    And  in  the  act  for  better  organizing 
the  army,  passed  the  next  day.  Congress  repeats 
the  declaration,  contained  in  a  former  act,  that 
certam  provisions  shall  not  take  effect  unless 
war  shall  break  out  between  the  United  States 
and  some  European  prince,  potentate,  or  state. 

On  the  20th  of  February.  1800,  an  act  was 
passed  to  suspend  the  act  for  augmenting  the 
army ;  and  this  last  act  declared  that  further 
enlistments  should  be  suspended  until  the  fur- 
ther order  of  Congress,  unless  in  the  recess  of 
Congress,  and  during  the  continuance  of  the 
existuig  differences  between  the  United  States 
and  the  French  Republic,  war  should  break  out 
between  the  United  States  and  the  French  Re- 
public, or  imminent  danger  of  an  invasion  of 
their  territory  by  the  said  Republic  should  be 
discovered. 

"  On  tlie  14th  of  May,  1800,  four  months  before 
the  conclusion  of  the  treaty.  Congress  passed  an 
act  authoriziug  the  suspension  of  military  ap- 
pointments, and  the  discharge  of  troops  under 
the  provisions  of  the  previous  laws.  No  com- 
mentary is  necessary,  sir,  on  the  texts  of  these 
iiiLaLuies,  to  show  that  Congress  never  recognized 
the  existence  of  war  between  the  United  States 
and  France.      They  apprehended  war  might 


break  out;  and  they  made  suitable  provision 
for  that  exigency,  should  it  occur;  but  it  i^ 
quite  impossible  to  reconcile  the  express  and  m 
often  repeated  declarations  of  these  ptatuto, 
commencing  in  1798,  running  through  1790  »nJ 
ending  in  1800,  with  the  actual  existence  of  war 
between  the  two  countries  at  any  period  within 
those  years. 

"The  honorable  member's  second  prineinal 
source  of  argument,  to  make  out  the  foot  of  a 
state  of  war,  is  the  several  non-intercourse  acts 
And  here  again  it  seems  to  me  an  exactly  opDo' 
site  mferencc  is  the  true  one.     In  1798  1799 
and  1800,  acts  of  Congress  were  passed  suspend- 
ing the  commercial    intercourse  between  the 
United  States,  each  for  one  year.     Did  any  cov  ' 
ernment  ever  pass  a  law  of  tcmporaiy  non-in- 
tercourse with  a  public  enemy  ?    Such  a  law 
would  be  little  less  than  an  absurdity.    War  it- 
self effectually  creates  non-intercourse.    It  ren- 
ders all  trade  with  the  enemy  illegal  and  of 
course,  subjects  all  vessels  found  so  engaged  with 
their  cargoes,  to  capture  and  condemnation  as 
enemy's    property.      The    first  of  these  laws 
was  passed  June  13,  1798,  the  last,  February  27 
18UU.     Will  the  honorable  member  from  New- 
York  tell  us  when  the  war  commenced  ?    When 
did  it  break  out?    When  did  those  'diflirenccs ' 
of  which  the  acts  of  Congress  speak  assume  a 
character  of  general  hostility  ?    Was  there  a 
state  of  war  on  the  13th  of  June,  1798  when 
Congress  passed  the  first  non-intercourse  acf 
and  did  Congress,  in  a  state  of  public  war.  limit 
non-intercourse  with   the  enemy  to  one  year'? 
Or  was  there  a  state  of  peace  in  June,  1798? 
and,  if  so,  I  ask  again,  at  what  time  after  that 
period,  and  before  September,  1800,  did  the  war 
break  out?    Difficulties  of  no  small  magnitude 
surround  the  gentleman,  I  think,  whatever  course 
he  takes  through  these  statutes,  while  he  at- 
tempts to  prove  from  them  a  state  of  war.   The 
truth  is,  they  prove,  incontestably,  a  state  of 
peace ;  a  state  of  endandgered,  disturlwd,  agitated 
peace;  but  still  a  state  of  peace.     Finding  them- 
selves in  a  state  of  great  misunderstanding  and 
contention  with  France,  and  seeing  our  commerce 
a  daily  prey  to  the  rapacity  of  her  cruisers,  the 
United  States  preferred  non-intercourse  to  war. 
This  is  the  ground  of  the  non-intercourse  acts. 
Apprehending,  nevertheless,   that    war   might 
break  out.  Congress  made  prudent  provision  for 
it  by  augmenting  the  military  force  of  the  coun- 
try.    This  is  the  ground  of  the  laws  for  raising 
a  provisional  army.    The  entire  provisions  of  all 
these  laws  necessarily  suppose  an  existing  state 
of  peace ;  but  they  imply  also  an  apprehension 
that  war  might  commence.    For  a  state  of  actual 
war  they  were  all  unsuited ;  and  some  of  them 
would  have  been,  in  such  a  state,  preposterous 
and    absurd.      To   a  state  of    present  peace, 
but  disturbed,  internipted,  and  likely  to  termi- 
nate in  open  hoRtiUtie.'?^  they  wore  all  perfc'-tly 
well  adapted.    And  a.s  many  of  these  acts,  in 
express  terms,  speak  of  war  as  not  actually  ex- 
isting, but  as  Ukely  or  liable  to  break  out,  it  is 


A  iM. 


ANNO  1835.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


511 


clear,  beyond  all  reasonable  question,  that  Con- 
giess  never,  at  any  time,  regarded  the  state  of 
things  existing  between  the  United  States  and 
France  as  being  a  state  of  war. 

"As  little  did  the  executive  government  so 
regard  it,  as  must  be  apparent  from  the  instruc- 
tions given  to  our  ministers,  when  the  mission 
was  sent  to  France.  Those  instructions,  having 
recurred  to  the  numerous  acts  of  wrong  commit- 
ted on  the  commerce  oi  the  United  States,  and 
the  refusal  of  indemnity  by  the  government  of 
France,  proceed  to  say :  '  This  conduct  of  the 
French  Republic  vyould  well  have  justified  an 
immediate  declaration  of  war  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States ;  but, '  desirous  of  maintaining 
peace,  and  still  willing  to  leave  open  the  door 
of  reconciliation  with  France,  the  United  States 
contented  themselves  with  preparations  for  de- 
fence, and  measures  calctilated  to  protect  their 
commerce.' 

"It  is  equally  clear,  on  the  other,  hand,  that 
neither  the  French  government  nor  the  French 
ministers  acted  on  the  supposition  that  war  had 
existed  between  the  two  nations.  And  it  was 
for  this  reason  that  they  held  the  treaties  of  1778 
still  binding.  Within  a  month  or  two  of  the 
signature  of  the  treaty,  the  ministers  plenipo- 
tentiary of  the  French  Republic  write  thus  to 
Messrs.  Ellsworth,  Davie,  and  Murray  :  '  In  the 
first  placej  they  will  insist  upon  the  principle 
already  laid  down  in  their  former  note,  viz. : 
that  the  treaties  which  united  France  and  the 
United  States  are  not  broken;  that  even  war 
could  not  have  broken  them  ;  but  that  the  state 
of  misunderstanding  which  existed  for  some  time 
betweeir  France  and  the  United  States,  by  the 
f.ct  of  some  agents  rather  than  by  the  will  of 
the  respective  governments,  has  not  been  a  state 
of  war,  at  least  on  the  side  cf  France.' 

"Finally,  sir,  the  treaty  itself,  what  is  it? 
It  is  not  called  a  treaty  of  peace ;  it  does  not 
provide  for  putting  an  end  to  hostilities.  It  says 
not  one  word  of  any  preceding  war ;  but  it  does 
say  that '  differences '  have  arisen  between  the 
two  states,  and  that  they  have,  therefore,  re- 
spectively, appointed  their  plenipotentiaries,  and 
given  them  full  powers  to  treat  upon  those  'dif- 
ferences,' and  to  terminate  the  same. 

"  But  the  second  article  of  the  treaty,  as  nego- 
tiated and  agreed  on  by  the  ministers  of  both 
governments,  is,  of  itself,  a  complete  refutation 
of  the  whole  argument  which  is  urijed  against 
this  bill,  on  the  ground  that  the  claims  had  been 
extinguished  by  war,  since  that  article  distinctly 
and  expressly  acknowledges  the  existence  of  the 
claims,  and  contains  a  solemn  pledge  that  the 
two  governments,  not  being  able  to  agree  on 
them  at  present,  will  negotiate  further  on  them, 
at  convenient  time  thereafter.  Whether  we 
look,  then,  to  the  decisions  of  the  American 
courts,  to  the  acts  of  Congress,  to  the  instruc- 
tions of  the  American  executive  government, 
to  the  language  of  our  ministers,  to  the  declara- 
tions of  the  French  government  and  the  French 
inuiisters,  or  to  the  unequivocal  language  of  the 


treaty  itself,  as  originally  agreed  to,  we  meet 
irresistible  proof  of  the  truth  of  the  declara- 
tion, that  the  state  of  misunderstanding  which 
had  existed  between  the  two  counr-ries  was 
not  war. 

"  If  the  treaty  had  remained  as  the  ministers 
on  both  sides  agreed  upon  it,  the  claimants 
though  their  indemnity  was  postponed,  would 
have  had  no  j)ist  claim  on  their  own  gove-nmont. 
But  the  treaty  did  not  remain  in  this  state.  This 
second  article  was  stricken  out  by  tlie  Senate ; 
and,  in  order  to  see  the  obvious  motive  of  the 
Senate  in  thus  striking  out  the  second  article, 
allow  me  to  nad  the  whole  article.  It  is  in 
these  words : 

'"The  ministers  plenipotentiary  of  the  two 
parties  not  being  able  to  agree,  at  present,  re- 
specting the  treaty  of  alliance  of  the  Gth  of 
Februarj-,  1778,  the  treaty  of  amity  and  com- 
merce of  the  same  date,  and  the  convention  of 
the  14th  of  November,  1788,  nor  upon  the  in- 
demnities mutually  due  or  claimed,  the  parties 
will  negotiate  further  on  these  subjects  at  a 
convenient  time;  and  until  they  may  have 
agreed  upon  these  points,  the  said  treaties  and 
convention  shall  have  no  operation,  and  the  re- 
lations of  the  two  countries  shall  be  regulated 
as  follows.' 

"  The  article  thus  stipulating  to  make  the 
claims  of  France,  under  the  old  treaties,  matter 
of  further  negotiation,  in  order  to  get  rid  of 
such  negotiation,  and  the  whole  siibject.  the 
Senate  struck  out  the  entire  article,  and  ratified 
the  treaty  in  this  corrected  form.  France  ratified 
the  treaty,  as  thus  amended,  with  the  further 
declaration  that,  by  thus  retrenching  the  second 
article,  the  two  nations  renounce  the  respective 
pretensions  which  were  the  object  of  the  article. 
In  this  declaration  of  the  French  government, 
the  Senate  afterwards  acquiesced ;  so  that  the 
government  of  France,  by  this  retrenchment, 
agreed  to  renounce  her  claims  under  the  treaties 
of  1778,  and  the  United  States,  in  like  manner, 
renounced  the  claims  of  their  citizens  for  in- 
demnities due  to  them. 

"  And  this  proves,  sir,  the  second  proposition 
which  I  stated  at  the  commencement  of  my  re- 
marks, viz. :  that  these  claims  were  released,  re- 
linquished, or  extinguished,  by  the  amendment 
of  the  treaty,  and  its  ratification  as  amended. 
It  is  only  necessary  to  adu,  on  this  point,  that 
these  claims  for  captures  before  1800  would  have 
been  good  claims  under  the  late  treaty  with 
France,  and  would  have  come  in  for  a  dividend 
in  the  fund  provided  by  that  treaty,  if  they  had 
not  been  released  by  the  treaty  of  1800.  And 
they  are  now  excluded  from  all  participation 
in  the  benefit  of  the  late  treaty,  because  of  such 
release  or  extinguishment  by  that  of  1800. 

"  In  the  third  place,  sir,  it  is  to  be  proved,  if  it 
be  not  proved  already,  that  these  claims  were 
suti'cudered,  or  released  by  the  government  of 
the  United  States,  on  national  considerations, 
and  for  objects  in  which  these  claimants  had  no 
more  interest  than  any  other  citizens. 


m 


...,! 


'A  »   ■  tftl" 


512 


THIRTY  TEARS'  VIEW. 


il;« 


''  Now,  sir,  I  do  not  fcol  called  on  to  make  out 
that  the  claims  and  coninlaiiita  of  Franco  ii^iiinst 
the  froverninent  of  tlio  trnitod  States  were  well 
founded.     It  is  certain  that  slie  jmt  forth  such 
ciainiH  and  complaints,  and  insisted  on  them  to 
tiic  end.     It  is  certain  that,  hy  the  treaty  of  al- 
iianco  of  1778,  the  United  States  did  guaranty 
to  France  her  West  India  iwssessions.    It  is 
cei-tam  that,  by  the  treaty  of  conunerce  of  the 
same  date,  the  United  States  stipulated   that 
1"  ivneh  vessels  of  war  might  bring  their  prizes 
mto  the  ports  of  the  United  States,  and  tliat  the 
enemies  of  Franco  should  not  enjoy  that  privi- 
lege ;  and  it  is  certain  that  Franco  contended 
that  the  United  States  had  plainly  violated  this 
article,  as  well  by  their  subsequent  treaty  with 
England  as  by  other  acts  of  the  government. 
For  tho  violation  of  these  treaties  sho  claimed 
indemnity  from  the  government  of  tho  United 
States.    Without  admitting  the  justice  of  these 
pretensions,  the  government  of  the  United  States 
found  them  extremely  embarra.ssing,  and  they 
authorized  our  ministers  in  France  to  buy  them 
oft'  by  money, 

"For  tho  purpose  of  showing  the  justice  of 
the  present  bill,  it  is  not  necessary  to  insist  that 
trance  was  right  in  these  pretensions.  Eight 
or  wrong,  tho  United  States  wore  anxious  to 
get  nd  of  tile  embarrassments  which  they  occa- 
sioned. They  were  willing  to  comprom'ise  the 
matter.  The  existing  state  of  things,  then,  was 
exactly  this : 

"  France  admitted  that  citizens  of  the  United 
States  had  just  claims  against  her ;  but  she  in- 
sisted that  she,  on  tho  other  hand,  had  just 
claims  against  tho  government  of  the  United 
State.'*. 

"  Slie  would  not  sati-sfy  our  citizens,  till  our 
government  agreed  to  satisfy  her.  Finally  a 
treaty  is  ratified,  by  which  the  claims  on  both 
sides  arc  I'enounced. 

"  The  only  question  is,  whether  the  relinquish- 
ment of  these  individual  claims  was  the  price 
which  the  United  States  paid  for  the  relinquish- 
ment, by  France,  of  her  claims  against  our  gov- 
ernment ?    And  who  can  doubt  it  ?    Look  to 
the  negotiation  ;  the  claims  on  both  sides  were 
discussed  together.     Look  to  the  second  article 
of  the  treaty,  as  originally  agreed  lo  ;  the  claims 
on  both  sides  are  there  reserved  toij^ether.     And 
look  to  the  Senate's  amendment,  ami  to  the  sub- 
sequent declaration  of  the  Freiicli  government 
acquiesced  in  by  tho  Senate;    and   there   the 
claims  on  both  sides  are  renounced  together. 
What  stronger  proof  could  there  be  of  mutuali- 
ty of  consitleration?    Sir,  allow  me  to  put  this 
direct  question  to  the  honorable  member  from 
New-York.    If  the  United  States  did  not  agree 
to  iviiouiic'  these  claims,  in  consideration  that 
b  raw  would  renounce  hers,  what  was  the  rea- 
son v,hy  they  surrendered  thus  the  claims  of 
Uieir  own  citizens  ?    Did  they  do  it  without 
any  Consideration  at  all  ?    Was  the  surrender 
wholly  gratuitous  ?     Did  they  thus  solemnly 
renounce  claims  for  indemnity,  so  just,  so  long 


insisted  on  by  themselves,  the  object  of  twn 
special  missions,  tho  subjects  of  so'  much  nZ 
vious  controversy,  and  at  one  time  so  near  beim, 
the  cause  of  ojK-n  war-did  the  goverimient  sur- 
render and  renounce  them  gratuitously  or  fni. 
nothing?  Had  it  no  reasonable  m-.tiveiu  thl 
leliiKiuishment  ?  Sir,  it  is  impossible  to  main- 
tain  any  such  ground. 

"  Andj  on  the  other  hand,  let  me  a.sk,  wn.s  it 
for  nothing  that  France  relinquished,  what  she 
had  so  long  insisted  on,  the  obligation  of  tiie 
United  States  to  fulfil  tho  treaties  of  1778? 
For  tho  extinguishment  of  this  obligation  we 
liad  already  oHbred  her  a  large  sum  of  nionev 
which  she  had  declined.  Was  she  now  willing 
to  give  it  up  without  any  equivalent  ? 

"Sir,  the  whole  history  of  the  negotiation  is 
full  of  proof  that  tho  individual  claims  of  our 
Citizens,  and  the  government  claims  of  France 
against  tho  United  States,  constituted  the  re- 
spective demands  of  tho  two  parties.  Th"v 
were  brought  forward  together,  discussed  to- 
gether, insisted  on  together.  The  French  miu- 
isters  would  never  consent  to  disconnect  tliein 
While  they  admitted.  In  tho  fullest  manner  the 
claims  on  our  side,  they  maintained,  with  pcrsc- 
severmg  resolution,  the  claims  on  the  side  of 
France.  It  would  fatigue  the  Senate  Weie  I  to 
go  through  the  whole  correspondence,  and  siiow 
as  I  could  easily  do,  that,  in  every  stage  of  the 
negotiation,  these  two  subjects  were  kept  to- 
gether. I  will  only  j-efer  to  some  of  the  more 
prominent  and  decisive  parts. 

"In  the  first  place,  the  general  instriictiuns 
which  our  ministers  received  from  our  own  gov- 
ernment, v-hen  they  undertook  the  mis.'flon,  di- 
rected them  to  insist  on  the  claims  of  American 
citizens  against  France,  to  propose  a  joint  board 
of  commissioners  to  state  those  claims,  and  to 
agree  to  refer  the  claims  of  France  for  infringe- 
ments of  the  treaty  of  commerce  to  the  sauic 
board.  I  will  read,  sir,  so  much  of  the  instruc- 
tions as  comprehend  these  points : 

"'I.  At  the  opening  of  the  negotiation  you 
will  inform  the  French  ministers  that  the  Uni- 
ted States  expect  from  France,  as  an  indispen- 
sable condition  of  the  treaty  a  stipulation  to 
make  to  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  full 
compensation  for  all  losses  and  damages  which 
they  shall  have  sustained  by  reason  of  irregular 
or  illegal  captures  or  condemnations  of  their 
vessels  and  other  property,  under  color  of  au- 
thority or  commissions  from  the  French  Hcpub- 
hc  or  its  agents.  And  all  captures  and  con- 
demnations are  deemed  irregular  or  illi.gal  when 
contrary  to  the  law  of  nations,  generally  re- 
ceived and  acknowledged  in  Europe,  and  to  the 
stipulations  in  the  treaty  of  amity  and  com- 
mei'ce  of  the  6th  of  February,  1778,  fairly  and 
ingenuously  interpreted,  while  that  treaty  re- 
mained in  force.' 

'  2,  If  these  Dreliminjiries  p.lKinld  be  satis- 
factorily arranged,  then,  for  the  purpose  of  ex- 
amining and  adjusting  all  the  claims  of  our  citi- 
zens, it  will  be  necessary  to  provide  for  the  ap- 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


513 


poifltmont  of  a  board  of  commissioners,  similar 
to  that  described  in  the  sixth  and  seventh  arti- 
cles of  the  treaty  of  amity  and  commerce  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  Great  Britain.' 

'"As  the  French  gf)vernment  have  hereto- 
fore complained  of  infringements  of  the  treaty 
of  amity  and  commerce,  by  the  United  States 
or  their  citizens,  all  claims  for  injuries,  thereby 
occasioned  to  Franco  or  its  citizens,  are  to  lie 
submitted  to  the  same  board ;  and  whatever 
damages  they  award  will  be  allowed  by  the 
United  States,  and  deducted  from  the  sums 
awarded  to  be  paid  by  France.' 

"Now,  sir,  suppose  this  board  had  been  con- 
stituted, and  suppose  that  it  had  made  awards 
against  France,  in  behalf  of  citizens  of  tiio  Uni- 
ted States,  and  hiid  made  awards  also  in  favor 
of  the  government  of  Franco  against  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  ;  and  then  these 
last  awards  had  been  deducted  from  the  amount 
of  the  former,  and  the  property  of  citizens  thus 
applied  to  discharge  the  public  obligations  of 
the  country,  would  any  body  doubt  that  such 
citizens  would  be  entitled  to  indemnity  ?  And 
are  they  less  entitled,  because,  instead  of  being 
first  liquidated  and  ascertained,  and  then  set 
off,  one  against  the  other,  they  are  finally 
agreed  to  be  set  off  against  each  other,  and  mu- 
tually relinquished  in  the  lump  ? 

"Acting  upon  their  instructions,  it  M-ill  be 
seen  tJiat  the  American  ministers  made  an  ac- 
tual offer  to  suspend  the  claim  for  indemnities 
till  Irance  should  be  satisfied  as  to  her  politi- 
cal rights  under  the  treaties.  On  the  15th  of 
July  they  made  this  proposition  to  the  French 
negotiators : 

'■'Indemnities  to  bo  ascertained  and  secured 
in  the  manner  proposed  in  our  project  of  a  trea- 
ty, but  not  to  be  paid  until  the  United  States 
shall  have  offered  to  France  an  article  stipulat- 
ing tree  admission,  in  the  ports  of  each,  for  the 
pnvateers  and  prizes  of  the  other,  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  their  enemies.' 

'■This,  it  will  be  at  once  seen,  was  a  direct 
offer  to  suspend  the  claims  of  our  own  citizens 
tUl  our  government  should  be  willing  to  renew 
to  France  the  obligation  of  the  treatv  of  1778. 

nmllf  "  'S-'*^^'"  *°  '"^'^^  usc'of  private 
property  for  public  purposes  ? 

nntnn?  *^^  H^^^  ^^  August,  the  French  pleni- 
ESes:"""*°*^*^^"™^*--'the 

tov^I!^  propositions  which  the  French  minis- 

kZrnf  ^'  ^"'?'"  *°  communicate  to  the  min- 

id  t„"'ii°^°*''T  ^^  "'^  ^^"'^'-"d  States  are 
reted  to  this  simple  alternative : 

f1cinrnli,^?°™-P."''"*^'^°'i  "  stipulation 
ii ,  n^        indemnities ; 

iiideranity?"^  *'''''*^'  "««"""g  equality  without 

kn2l  °}^^^'  ^''''"^^'  tli's  otter  Js, '  if  you  will  ac- 
tt£thiohr'^  ^  obligktion^of  the  old 
pSswhlv.  '^™'^*<'  "«  privileges  in  your 
ports  which  ourenc^ies  are  not  to  enjoy,  then 


wo  will  make  indemnities  for  the  losses  of  your 
citizens;  or,  ^f  you  will  give  up  all  claim  for 
such  indemnities,  then  we  will  relinquish  our 
esijecial  privileges  under  the  former  treaties 
and  agree  to  a  new  treaty  which  shall  only  put 
us  on  a  footing  of  equality  with  Great  Britain, 
our  enemy.'  ' 

"  ^.1  ^^°t  ^^}^  °^  August  our  ministers  pro- 
pose that  the  former  treaties,  so  far  as  thev  re- 
spect the  rights  of  privateers,  shall  be  renewed  ; 
but  that  It  shall  be  optional  with  the  United 
States,  by  the  payment,  within  seven  years,  of 
three  millions  of  francs,  either  in  money  or  in 
securities  issued  by  the  French  government  for 
indemnities  to  our  citizens,  to  buy  off  this  ob- 
ligation or  to  buy  off  all  its  political  obligations, 
under  both  the  old  treaties,  by  payment  in  like 
manner  of  five  millions  of  francs. 

"On  the  4  of  September  the  French  minis- 
ters submit  these  proijositions. 

"' A  commission  shall  regulate  the  indemnities 
\vhich  either  of  the  two  nations  may  owe  to  the 
citizens  of  the  other. 

" '  The  indemnities  which  shall  be  due  by 
France  to  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  shall 
be  paid  for  by  the  United  States,  and  in  return 
lor  which  J  ranee  yields  the  exclusive  privileee 
resulting  from  the  17th  and  22d  articles  of 
the  treaty  of  commerce,  and  from  the  rights  of 
guaranty  of  the  11th  article  of  the  treaty  of  al- 
liance.' '' 

"The  American  ministers  considered  these 
propositions  as  inadmissible.  They,  however 
on  their  part,  made  an  approach  to  them  by 
proposing,  in  substance,  that  it  should  bo  left 
optional  with  the  United  States,  on  the  exchange 
ot  the  ratifacation,to  relinquish  the  indemnities, 
and  m  that  case,  the  old  treaties  not  to  bo  ob^ 
Iigatory  on  the  United  States,  so  far  as  they 
conferred  exclusive  privileges  on  France.  This 
will  be  seen  in  the  letter  of  the  American  min- 
isters of  the  5th  of  September. 

"On  the  18th  of  September  the  Americaii 
ministers  say  to  those  of  France; 

" '  It  remains  only  to  consider  the  expediency 
ot  a  temporary  arrangement.    Should  such  ai 
arrangement  comport  with  the  views  of  Fra^ice 
the  following  principles  are  offered  as  the  basis' 
01  it: 

" '  1st.  The  ministers  plenipotentiary  of  tho 
respectivo  parties  not  being  able  at  present  to 
agree  respecting  the  former  treaties  and  indem- 
nities the  parties  will,  in  due  and  convenient 
time,  further  treat  on  those  subjects ;  and  until 
tney  shall  have  agreed  respecting  the  same,  the 
said  treaties  shall  have  no  operation.' 

'•This,  the  Senate  will  see,  i<5  substantially  the 
proposition  which  was  ultimately  accepted,  and 
which  formed  the  second  article  of  the  treaty. 
By  that  article,  these  claims,  on  both  sides,  were  .. 
postponed  for  the  present,  and  afteiwarde,  by  ' 
other  acts  of  the  two  governments,  they  were 
mutually  and  for  ever  renounced  and  relin- 
quished. 
"  And  now,  sir,  if  any  gentlemai  ^aa  look  to 


m 


^ua.: 


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614 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


the  treaty,  look  to  the  instructions  under  which 
it  waa  concluded,  look  to  the  correspondence 
which  preceded  it,  and  look  to  the  subsequent 
agreement  of  the  two  governments  to  renounce 
claims,  on  both  sides,  and  not  admit  that  the 
property  of  these  private  citizens  has  been 
taken  to  buy  off  ombarrassinf;  claims  of  France 
on  the  government  of  the  United  States,  I  know 
not  what  other  or  further  evidence  could  ever 
force  that  conviction  on  his  mind. 

"  I  will  conclude  this  part  of  the  case  by 
showing  you  how  this  matter  was  understood 
by  the  American  administration  which  finally 
accepted  the  treaty,  with  this  renouncement  of 
indemnities.  The  treaty  was  negotiated  in  the 
administration  of  Mr.  Adams.  It  was  amended 
in  the  Senate,  as  already  stated,  and  ratified  on 
the  third  day  of  February,  1801,  Mr.  Adams 
being  still  in  oflice.  Being  thus  ratified,  with 
the  amendment,  it  was  sent  back  to  France,  and 
on  the  thirty-first  day  of  July,  the  first  Consul 
ratified  the  treaty,  as  amended  by  striking  out 
the  second  article,  but  accompanied  the  ratifica- 
tion with  this  declaration,  '  provided  that,  by 
this  retrenchment,  the  two  states  renounce 
their  respective  pretensions,  which  are  the  ob- 
ject of  the  said  article.' 

"  With  this  declaration  appended,  the  treaty 
came  back  to  the  United  States.  Mr.  Jell'erson 
had  now  become  President,  and  Mr.  Madison 
was  Secretary  of  State.  In  consequence  of  the 
declaration  of  the  French  government,  accom- 
panying its  ratification  of  the  treaty  and  now 
attaiched  to  it,  Mr.  Jefferson  again  referred  the 
treaty  to  the  Senate,  and  on  the  19th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1801,  the  Senate  resolved  that  they  consi- 
dered the  treaty  as  duly  ratified.  Now,  sir,  in 
order  to  show  what  Mr.  Jefferson  and  his  ad- 
ministration thought  of  this  treaty,  and  the 
effect  of  its  ratification,  in  its  then  exist- 
ing form,  I  beg  leave  to  read  an  extract  of  an 
official  letter  from  Mr.  Madison  to  Mr.  Pinck- 
oey,  then  our  minister  in  Spain.  Mr.  Pinckney 
was  at  that  time  negotiating  for  the  adjustment 
of  our  claims  on  Spain;  and,  among  others,  for 
captures  committed  within  the  territories  of 
Spain,  by  French  subjects.  Spain  objected  to  these 
claime,  on  the  ground  that  the  United  States  had 
claimed  redress  of  such  injuries  from  France. 
Jn  writing  to  Mr.  Pinckney  (under  date  of  Feb- 
ruary Cth,  1804),  and  commenting  on  this  plea 
of  Spain,  Mr.  Madison  says  : 

" '  The  plea  on  which  it  seems  the  Spanish  gov- 
ernment now  principally  relies,  is  the  erasure  of 
the  second  article  from  our  late  convention  with 
France,  by  which  France  was  released  from  the 
.indemnities  due  for  spoliations  committed  under 
,her  immediate  responsibility  to  the  United 
States.  This  plea  did  not  appear  in  the  early 
objections  of  Spain  to  our  claims.  It  was  an 
afterthought,  resulting  from  the  insufficiency 
of  every  other  piea^  and  is  certainly  as  iittic 
valid  as  any  other.' 

'"The  injuries  for  which  indemnities  are 
'Claimed   from   Spain,    though   committed  by 


Frenchmen,  took  place  under  Spanish  authority  • 
Spain,  therefore,  is  answerable  for  them.  To 
her  wo  have  looked,  and  continue  to  look  for 
redress.  If  the  injuries  done  to  us  by  her  re- 
suited  in  any  manner  from  injuries  done  to 
her  by  France,  she  may,  if  she  pleases,  resort 
to  France  as  wo  resort  to  her.  But  whether 
her  resort  to  France  would  be  just  or  unjust  is 
a  question  between  her  and  France,  not  between 
either  her  and  us,  or  us  and  France.  We  claim 
against  her,  not  against  France.  In  releasing 
France,  therefore,  we  have  not  released  her. 
The  clain\s,  again,  from  which  France  was  re- 
leased, were  admitted  by  France,  and  the  release 
was  for  a  valuable  consideration^  in  a  correspon- 
dent release  of  the  United  States  from  certain 
claims  on  them.  The  claims  wc  make  on  Spain 
were  never  admitted  by  France,  nor  made  on 
France  by  the  United  States ;  they  made,  there- 
fore, no  part  of  the  bargain  with  her,  and  could 
not  be  included  in  the  release.' 

"  Certainly,  sir,  words  could  not  have  been 
used  which  should  more  clearly  affirm  that 
these  individual  claims,  these  private  rights  of 
property,  had  been  applied  to  public  uses.  Mr, 
Madison  here  declares,  unequivocally,  that  these 
claims  had  been  admitted  by  France ;  that  they 
were  relinquished  by  the  government  of  the 
United  States ;  that  they  were  relinquished  for 
a  valuable  consideration ;  that  that  considera- 
tion was  a  correspondent  release  of  the  United 
States  from  certain  claims  on  them ;  and  that 
the  whole  transaction  was  a  bargain  between 
the  two  governments.  This,  sir,  be  it  remem- 
bered, was  little  more  than  two  years  after  the 
final  promulgation  of  the  treaty ;  it  was  by  the 
Secretary  of  State  under  that  administration 
which  gave  effect  to  the  treaty  in  its  amended 
form,  and  it  proves,  beyond  mistake  and  beyond 
doubt,  the  clear  judgment  which  that  adminis- 
tration had  formed  upon  the  true  nature  and 
character  of  the  whole  transaction. 


CHAPTER    CXX. 

FRENCH  SP0LIATI0N8-MB.  BENTON'S  SPEECH, 

"The  whole  stress  of  the  question  lies  in  a  few 
simple  facts,  which,  if  disembarrassed  from  the 
confusion  of  terms  and  conditions,  and  viewed 
in  their  plain  and  true  character,  render  it  diffi- 
cult not  to  arrive  at  a  just  and  correct  view  of 
the  case.  The  advocates  of  this  measure  have 
no  other  grounds  to  rest  their  case  upon  than 
an  assumption  of  facts ;  they  assume  that  the 
United  States  lay  under  binding  and  onerous 
stipulations  to  France;  that  the  claims  of  this 
bill  were  recognized  by  France ;  and  that  th« 


ANNO  1835.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  rUESIDENT. 


510 


)R    CXX. 


MK.  BENTON'S  SPEECH. 


conditions,  and  viewed 


United  States  made  herself  responsible  for  these 
claims,  insteiid  of  France ;  took  them  upon  her- 
self, and  became  bound  to  pay  them,  in  con- 
sideration of  getting  rid  of  the  burdens  wliich 
weighed  upon  her.  It  is  assumed  that  the 
claims  were  good  when  the  United  States  aban- 
doned them ;  and  that  the  consideration  which 
it  is  pretended  tho  United  Statea  received,  was 
of  a  nature  to  make  her  fully  responsible  to  tho 
claimants,  and  to  render  it  obligatory  upon  iicr 
to  satisfy  the  claims. 

"The  measure  rests  entirely  upon  these  as- 
sumptions; but  I  shall  show  that  they  are 
nothing  more  than  assumptions;  that  these 
claims  were  not  recognized  by  France,  and  could 
not  be,  by  the  law  of  nations ;  they  were  good 
for  nothing  when  they  were  made  ;  they  were 
good  for  nothing  when  we  abandoned  them. 
The  United  States  owed  nothing  to  France  and 
received  no  consideration  whatever  from  her  to 
make  us  responsible  for  payment.  What  I  here 
maintain,  I  shall  proceed  to  prove,  not  by  any 
artful  chain  of  argument,  but  by  plain  and  his- 
torical facts. 

'Let  me  ask,  sir,  on  what  grounds  is  it  main- 
tained that  the  United  States  received  a  valuable 
consideration  for  these  claims?    Under  what 
onerous  stipulations  did  she  lie  ?    In  what  did 
her  debt  consist,  which  it  is  alleged  France  gave 
up  in  payment  for  these  claims  ?    By  the  treaty 
of '78,  the  United  States  was  bound  to  guarantee 
the  French  American  possessions  to  France; 
and  France,  on  her  part,  guaranteed  to  the 
United  States  her  sovereignty  and  territory. 
In  '93,  the  war  between   Great  Britain  and 
France  broke  out;  and  this  rupture  between 
those  nations  immediately  gave  rise  to  the 
question  how  far  this  guaranty  was  obligatory 
upon  the  United  States?    Whether  we  were 
bomid  by  it  to  protect  Fr^ince  on  the  side  of  her 
American  possessions  against  any  hostile  at- 
tack of  Great  Britain ;  and  thus  become  involved 
as  subalterns  in  a  war  in  which  we  had  no  con- 
cern or  interest  whatever?    Here  we  come  to 
the  point  at  once  ;  for  if  it  should  appear  that 
we  were  not  bound  by  this  guaranty  to  become 
parties  to  a  distant  European  war,  then,  sir,  it  will 
be  an  evident,  a  decided  result  and  conclusion, 
that  we  were  under  no  obligation  to  France— that 
we  n;ved  her  no  debt  on  accouu  I  of  this  guaranty ; 
and,  plainly  enough,  it  will  follow,  we  received 
no  valuable  consideration  for  the  claims  of  this 


bill,  when  France  released  us  Orom  an  obligation 
which  it  will  appear  we  never  owed.  Let  UB 
briefly  sec  how  the  ca.so  stands. 

"  France,  to  get  rid  of  claims  made  by  ub,  puta 
forward  coimter  claims  under  this  guaranty} 
proposing  by  such  a  diplomatic  manoeuvre  to 
get  rid  of  our  demand,  tho  injustice  of  which 
she  protested  against.    She  succeeded,  and  both 
parties  abandoned  their  claims.    And  is  it  now 
to  be  urged  upon  us  that,  on  tho  grounds  of  this 
astute  diplomacy,  we  actually  received  a  valuable 
consideration  for  claims  which  were  considered 
good  for  nothing  ?     France  met  our  claims, 
which  were  good  for  nothing,  by  a  counter  claim, 
which  was  good  for  nothing;   and  when  we 
found  ourselves  thus  encountered,  we  abandoned 
our  previous  claim,  in  order  to  be  released  from 
the  counter  one  opposed  to  it.    After  this,  is  it, 
I  would  ask,  a  suitable  return  for  our  over^ 
wrought  anxiety  to  obtain  satisfaction  for  our 
citizens,  that  any  one  of  them  should,  some 
thirty  years  after  this,  turn  round  upon  us  and 
say:  <'now  you  have  received  a  valuable  con- 
sideration for  our  claims ;  now,  then,  you  are 
bound  to  pay  us ! "    But  this  is  in  fact,  sir,  the 
language  of  this  bill.    I  unhesitatingly  say  that 
the  guaranty  (a  release  from  which  is  the  pre- 
tended consideration  by  which  the  whole  people 
of  the  United  States  are  brought  in  debtors  to 
a  few  insurance  offices  to  the  amount  of  mil- 
lion.';), this  guaranty,  sir,  I  affirm,  was  good  for 
nothing.    I  speak  on  no  less  authority,  and  in 
no  less  a  name  than  that  of  the  great  father  of 
his  country,  Washington  himself,  when  I  affirm 
that  this  guaranty  imposed  upon  us  no  obliga- 
tions towards  France.    How,  then,  shall  we  be 
persuaded  that,  in  virtue  of  this  guarantj-,  we 
are  bound  to  pay  the  debts  and  make  good  the 
spoliations  of  France  ? 

"When  the  war  broke  out  between  Great  Bri- 
tain and  France  in  1793,  Washington  addressed 
to  his  cabinet  a  series  of  questions,  inquirmg 
their  opinions  on  this  very  question— how  far 
tho  treaty  of  guaranty  of  1778  was  obligatory 
upon  the  United  States— intending  to  take  their 
opinions  as  a  guidance  for  his  conduct  in  such  a 
difficult  situation.  [Here  the  honorable  Senator 
read  extracts  from  VTashington's  queries  to  his 
cabinet,  with  some  of  the  opinions  themselves.] 
"In  consequence  of  the  opinions  of  his  cabinet 
concurring  with  his  own  sentiments,  President 
Washington  issued  a  proclamation  of  neutrality, 


f 

p 

. 

1 

L- 

H 

i-Jj  , 

i 

L-llfirt. 

616 


THIRTY  YEARS*  VIEW. 


If     il 


disregarding  tho  guaranty,  and  proclaiming  t)mt 
we  wore  not  bound  by  any  preceding  treaties  to 
defend  American  France  against  Orcot  Britain. 
The  wisdom  of  this  measure  is  apparent.  lie 
wisely  tiiought  it  was  not  prudent  our  infimt 
Republic  whould  become  absorbed  in  the  vorte.x 
of  European  politics;  and  therefore,  fir,  rot 
without  long  and  mature  deliberation  hoiv  far 
this  treaty  of  guaranty  was  oblicjatory  upon 
UN,  ho  pronounced  against  it ;  and  in  bo  doing 
he  pronounced  against  tho  very  bill  before  us ; 
for  the  bill  has  nothing  to  stand  upon  but  tliis 
guaranty ;  it  pretends  that  the  United  States 
is  bound  to  pay  for  injuries  inflicted  by  France, 
because  of  a  release  from  n  guaranty  by  which 
tho  great  Washington  himself  solemnly  pro- 
nounced wo  were  not  bound !  \Vhat  do  we 
now  behold,  sir?  Wo  behold  an  array  in  this 
House,  and  on  this  floor,  agninst  tho  policy  of 
Washington !  They  seek  to  undo  his  deed  ;  they 
condemn  his  principles ;  they  call  in  question 
tho  wisdom  and  justice  of  his  wise  and  paternal 
counsels  ;  they  urge  against  him  that  the  guar- 
anty bound  us,  and  what  for  ?  What  is  the 
motive  of  this  opposition  against  his  measures  ? 
Why,  sir,  that  this  bill  may  pass  ;  and  the 
people,  tho  burden-bearing  people,  be  made  to 
pay  away  a  few  millions,  in  consideration  of 
obligations  which,  after  mature  deliberation, 
Washington  pronounced  not  to  lie  upon  us ! 

"  I  think,  sir,  enough  has  been  said  to  put  to 
rest  for  ever  the  question  of  our  obligations 
under  this  guaranty.  'Whatever  the  claims 
may  be,  it  must  be  evident  to  the  common  sense 
of  every  individual,  that  we  are  not,  and  cannot 
be,  bound  to  pay  them  in  the  stead  of  France, 
because  of  a  pretended  release  from  a  guaranty 
which  did  not  bind  us ;  I  say  did  not  bind  us, 
because,  to  have  observed  it,  would  have  led  to 
our  ruin  and  destruction ;  and  it  is  a  clear  prin- 
ciple of  the  law  of  nations,  that  a  treaty  is  not 
obligatory  when  it  is  impossible  to  observe  it. 
But,  sir,  leaving  the  question  whether  we  were 
made  responsible  for  the  debts  of  France^ 
whether  we  were  placed  under  an  obligation  to 
atone  to  our  own  citizens  for  injuries  which  a 
foreign  power  had  committed ;  leaving  this  ques- 
tion as  settled  (and  I  tnist  settled  for  ever),  I 
come  to  consider  the  claims  themselves,  their 
justice,  and  their  validity.  Aiid  here  the  prin- 
ciple of  this  bill  will  prove,  on  this  head,  as 
weak  and  untenable — nay,  more — as  outrageous 


to  every  idea  of  common  sense,  as  it  was  on  thf 
former  head.    With  what  reason,  I  would  oik 
can  gentlemen  i)ress  the  American  jieopie  to 
pay  these  claims,  when  it  would  be  unrcnson- 
abio  to  press  Franco  herself  to  pay  them  ?    If 
Franco,  who  committed  tho  wrong,  could  not 
justly  bo  called  upon  to  atone  for  it,  how  can 
the  Lnited  States  now  bo  called  upon  for  this 
money  ?     In  1798,  the  treaty  of  peace  with 
France  was  virtually  aljolished  by  various  acts 
of  Congress  authorizing  hostilities,  and  by  pro- 
clamation of  tho  Pfesident  to  tho  same  effect- 
it  was  abolished  on  account  of  its  violation  by 
France ;  on  account  of  those  depredations  which 
this  bill  rails  upon  us  to  make  good.    By  those 
acts   of  Congress  we   sought  satisfaction  for 
these  claims ;  and,  having  done  so,  it  was  too 
late  afterwards  to  seek  fresh  satisfaction  by 
demanding  indemnity.    There  was  wa*-,  sir,  as 
the  gentleman  from  Georgia  has  clearly  shown 
— wai"  on  account  of  these  spoliations— and 
when  we  sought  redress,  by  acts  of  wa"fare,  we 
precluded  ourselves  from  the  right  of  demand- 
ing redress  by  indenmity.   We  could  not,  ther^ 
fore,  justly  urge  these  claims  against  France; 
and  I  therefore  demand,  how  can  they  be  urged 
against  us?     What  arc  the  invincible  argu- 
ments by  which  gentlemen  establish  the  justice 
and  validity  of  these  claims  ?    For,  surely,  be- 
fore we  consent  to  sweep  away  millions  from 
the  public  treasury,  we  ought  to  hear  at  least 
some  good  reasons.    Let  me  examine  their  good 
reasons.    The  argument  to  prove  the  validity 
of  these  claims,  and  that  wo  are  bound  to  pay 
them,  is  this :  Franco  acknowledged  them,  and 
the  United  States  took  them  upon  herself;  that 
is,  they  were  paid  by  way  of  oifset,  and  the 
valuable  consideration  the  United  States  re- 
ceived was  a  release  from  her  pretended  obliga- 
tions !    Now,  sir,  let  uc  see  how  France  acknow- 
ledged them.    These  very  claims  were  denied, 
resisted,  and  rejected,  by  every  successive  gov- 
ernment of  France !    The  law  of  nations  was 
urged  against  them;  because,  having  engaged 
in  a  state  of  war,  on  the  account  of  them,  we 
had  no  right  to  a  double  redress — iirst  by  re- 
prisals, and  afterwards  by  indemnity !  Besides, 
France  justified  her  epoliations,  on  the  ground 
that  we  violated  our  neutrality ;  that  the  ships 
seized  wore  laden  with  go-ods  bclougiijg  to  tue 
English,  the  enemies  of  France ;  and  it  is  well 
known,  that,  in  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  a  bun- 


ANNO  1888.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PtlESIDENT. 


517 


lore  waa  wa^  Hir, 


,lrcd,  tliis  was  the  fact— that  American  citizens 
lent  their  naincH  to  the  English,  and  wore  ready 
to  risk  all  the  dangers  of  French  spoliation,  for 
saiie  of  the  ^''eat  profits,  Hrhich   inoro   tlian 
covered  the  rislv.     And,  in  Iho  face  of  all  these 
fiictH,  we  are  told  ihat  the  French  »cknowk'd.,'ed 
the  claims,  paid  them  by  a  release,  iuid  wo  are 
now  bound  to  satisfy  them  !    And  how  is  this 
proved?    Where  are  the  invincildc  arKunicnts 
hy  which  the  public  treasury  is  to  bo  emptied  ? 
Hear  them,  if  it  is  possiblo  evoa  to  hear  them 
witli  patience  1     When  wo  urged  these  claims, 
the  French  negotiators  set  up  a  counter  claim ; 
iind,  ti»  obtain  a  release  from  this,  we  abandoned 
them !  Thus  it  is  that  the  French  acknowledged 
these  claims ;  and,  on  this  pretence,  because  of 
this  diplomatic  cunning  and  in;  <^nuity,  wo  arc 
now  told  that  the  national  honor  calls  on  us  to 
pay  them !    Was  ever  such  a  thing  heard  of 
before?    Why,  sir,  if  wo  pass  this  1)ill,  wo 
shall  deserve  eternal  obloquy  and  disgrace  from 
the  whole  Aineiican  people.     Prance,  after  re- 
peatedly and  perH'Voringly  denying  and  resist- 
ing these  claims,  at  last  gets  rid  of  them  for  ever 
by  an  ingenious  trick,  and  by  pretending  to  ac- 
knowledge them ;  and  now  her  debt  (if  it  was 
a  debt)  is  thrown  upon  us ;  and,  in  consequence 
of  this  little  trick,  the  public  treasury  is  to  be 
tricked  out  of  several  millions !  Sir,  this  is  mon- 
strous !    I  say  it  is  outrageous !    T  intend  no 
personal  disrespect  to  any  gentlem^;  •»  by  these 
observations ;  but  I  must  do  my  duty  to  my 
country,  and  I  repeat  it,  sir,  this  is  outrage- 
ous! 

"It  is  strenuously  insisted  upon,  and  appears 
to  be  firmly  relied  upon  by  gentlemen  who  have 
advocated  this  measure,  that  the  United  States 
has  actually  received  from  France  full  consider- 
ation for  thes?  claims;  in  a  word,  that  Franf 
has  paid  them !  T  have  already  shown,  by  his- 
torical facts,  by  the  law  of  nations,  and,  further, 
by  the  authority  and  actions  of  Washington 
himself,  the  father  of  his  country,  that  we 
were  placed  under  no  obligations  to  Franc(>  by 
the  treaty  of  guaranty;  and  that,  therefore,  a 
release  from  obligations  which  did  not  exist,  is 
no  valuable  consideration  at  all  I  But,  sir,  how 
cau  it  be  urged  upon  us  that  France  actually 
paid  us  for  claims  which  were  denied  and  re- 
s!sM,  when  we  all  know  very  vveil  that,  ibr 
undisputed  claims,  for  claims  acknowledged  by 
treaty,  for  claims  solemnly  engaged  to  be  paid, 


we  could  never  succeed  in  getting  ono  farthing  I 
I  thank  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire  (Mr. 
Ilill),  for  the  enlij.'htened  view  he  has  given  on 
this  case.    What,  sir,  was  the  conduct  of  Napo- 
leon, with  respect  to  money  7    lie  had  bound 
himself  to  pay  us  twenty  millions  of  fiuncfi, 
and  he  would  not  pay  one  farthing !     And  yet, 
sir,  wo  are  c<ndidently  assured  by  the  advocates 
of  this  bill  that  those  claims  were  paid  to  us  by 
Napoleon!     When  Louisiana  was  sold,  he  or- 
dered Marbois  to  get  fifty  millions,  and  did  not 
oven  then,  intend  I  j  pay  us  out  of  that  sum  the 
twenty  millions  ho  had  bound  himself  by  trea- 
ty to  pay.    Marbi.is  succeeded  in  getting  thirty 
millions  of  francs  more  from  us,  and  from  tliiii 
the  twenty  millions  due  was  deducted;  thus, 
sir,  wo  were  made  to  pay  ourselves  our  own 
due,  and  Napoleon  escaped  the  payment  of  a 
farthing.    I  mean  to  make  no  rellection  upon 
our  negotiators  at  that  treaty ;  wc  may  be  glad 
that  wc  got  Louisiana  at  any  amount ;  for,  if 
we  had  not  obtained  it  by  money,  we  should 
soon  have  possessed  it  by  blood:  the  young 
West,  like  a  lion,  would  have  sprung  upon  the 
delta  of  the  Mississippi,  and  we  should  have 
had  an  earlier  edition  of  the  battle  of  New  Or- 
leans.   It  is  not  to  be  regretted,  therefore,  that 
we  gained  Louisiana  by  negotiation,  although 
we  paid  our  debts  ourselves  in  that  bargain. 
But  Napoleon  absolutely  scolded  Marbois  for 
allowing  the  deduction  of  twenty  millions  out 
of  the  sum  we  paid  for  Louisiana,  forgetting 
that  his  minister  had  got  thirty  millions  more 
than  he  ordered  liim  to  ask,  and  that  we  had 
paid  ourselves  the  twenty  millions  due  to  us 
under  treaty.    Having  such  a  man  to  deal  with, 
how  <uin  it  be  maintained  on  this  floor  that 
the  United  States  has  been  paid  by  him  the 
claims  in  this  bill,  and  that,  therefore,  the  trea- 
sury is  bound  t'>  satisfy  them  ?    Let  senators, 
I  entreat  them,  but  ask  themselves  the  ques- 
tion, what  these  claims  were  worth  in  the  view 
of  Napoleon,  that  they  may  not  form  such  an 
unwarranted  conclusion  as  to  think  he  ever  paid 
them.    Every  government  of  France  which  pre- 
ceded him  had  treated  them  as  English  claims, 
and  is  it  likely  that  he  who  refused  to  pay  claims 
subsequent  to  tliese,  under  treaty  signed  by 
himself,  would  pay  old  claims  anterior  to  18U0? 
The  claims  were  not  worth  a  straw ;  they  were 
considered  as  lawful  spoliations  ;  that  by  our 
proclamation  we  had  broken  the  neutrality ; 


-  I, 


li  t- 


M 


518 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


and,  after  all,  that  thej  wrre  Incurred  by 
English  enterpriser,  covered  by  the  American 
flag.  It  in  protended  ho  acknowledged  them! 
Would  ho  havo  inserted  two  lines  in  the  trea- 
ty to  roocind  them,  to  get  rid  of  Buelj  claims, 
when  ho  would  not  jwy  those  he  had  acknow- 
ledged 7 

To  recur  once  more,  sir,  to  the  valuable  con- 
Bidcrution  which  it  is  pretended  we  received  for 
these  claims.  It  is  maintained  that  wo  were 
paid  by  receiving  a  release  from  onerous  ob- 
ligations imposed  upon  us  by  the  treaty  of 
guaranty,  which  oMigations  I  havo  already 
shown  that  the  great  Washington  himself  pro- 
nounced to  Iw  nothing;  and  therefore,  sir,  it 
plainly  follows  that  this  valuable  consideration 
was — nothing ! 

What,  Kir  I    Is  it  said  we  were  released  from 
obligations  1    From  what  obligations,  I  would 
ask,  were  wo  relieved?    From  tiie  obligation 
of  guaranteeing  to  France  her  American  posses- 
sions ;  from  the  obligation  of  conquering  St. 
Domingo  for  France  I    From  an  impossibility, 
sir!  for  do  wo  not  know  that  this  was  im- 
possible  to  tiie  fleets  and  armies  of  France, 
under  Lo  Clerc,  the  brother-in-law  of  Napoleon 
himself  ?     Did  t  hey  not  perish  miserably  by  the 
knives  of  infuriated  negroes  and  the  desolating 
ravages  of  pestilence  ?    Again,  we  were  released 
from  the  obligation  of  restoring  Guadaloupe  to 
the  French  ;  which  also  was  not  possible,  unless 
we  had  entered  into  a  war  with  Great  Britain  ! 
And  thus,  sir,  the  valuable  consideration,  the 
release  by  which  these  claims  are  said  to  be 
fully  paid  to  the  United  States,  turns  out  to  be 
a  release  from  nothing  !  a  release  from  absolute 
impossibilities;  for  it  was  not  possible  to  guar- 
antee to  Franco  her  colonies ;  she  lost  them,  and 
there  was  nothing  to  guarantee  ;  it  was  a  one- 
sided guaranty!      She  surrendered   them  by 
treaty,  and  there  is  nothing  for  the  guaranty 
to  operate  on. 

The  gentleman  from  Georgia  [Mr.  King],  has 
given  a  vivid  and  able  picture  of  the  exertions 
of  the  United  States  government  in  behalf  of 
these  claims.  He  has  shown  that  they  have 
been  paid,  and  more  than  paid,  on  our  part,  by 
the  invaluable  blood  of  our  citizens!  Such 
indeed,  is  the  fact.  What  has  not  been  done 
by  the  United  States  on  behalf  of  these  claims  ? 
For  these  very  claims,  for  the  protection  of 
those  very  claimants,  we  underwent  an  in- 


credible expt'UHo  both  in  military  and  naral 
armaments. 

[Here  the  honorable  senator  read  a  long  lint 
of  military  and  naval  preparations  made  by  Con- 
grens  for  the  protection  of  these  claims,  g{H;cify. 
ing  the  dates  and  the  numbers.] 

Nor  did  the  United  States  conflne  herself 
solely  to  these  strenous  exertions  and  expensive 
armaments;  besides  raising  fleets  and  armies  she 
sent  across  the  Atlantic  omhassies  and  agents  • 
sho  gave  letters  of  marque,  by  which  eveiy 
injured  individual  might  toko  his  own  remedy 
and  repay  himself  his  losses.  For  these  very 
claims  the  people  were  laden  at  that  period  with 
heavy  taxes,  besides  the  blood  of  our  people 
which  was  spilt  for  them.  F  oons  were  raised 
at  eight  per  cent,  to  obtain  redress  for  these 
claims;  and  what  was  the  'unsequcnce?  It 
overturned  the  men  in  power  at  that  period; 
this  it  was  which  produced  that  result,  more 
than  political  differences. 

The  f .  )plo  wore  taxed  and  suffered  for  these 
same  ciaims  in  that  day;  and  now  .hey  are 
brought  forward  again  to  exhaust  the  public 
treasury  and  to  sweep  away  more  millions  yet 
from  the  people,  to  impose  taxes  again  upon  tliem, 
fur  the  very  same  claims  for  which  the  people 
have  uh-eady  once  been  taxed  ;  reviving  the  sys- 
tem of  '98,  to  render  loans  and  debts  and  en- 
cumbrances again  to  be  required ;  to  embarrass 
the  government,  entangle  the  State,  to  impover- 
ish the  people ;  to  dig,  in  a  word,  by  gradual 
measures  of  this  description,  a  pit  to  plunge  the 
nation  headlong  into  inextricable  diflBculty  and 
ruin! 

The  government,  in  those  days,  performed  its 
duty  to  the  citizens  in  the  protection  of  their 
commerce ;  and  by  vindicating,  asserting,  and 
satisfying  these  claims,  it  left  nothing  undone 
which  now  is  to  be  done ;  the  pretensions  of  this 
bill  are  therefore  utterly  unfounded  !     Duties 
are  reciprocal ;  the  duty  of  gofernmcut  is  pro- 
tection, and  that  of  citizens  allegiance.    This 
bill  attempts  to  throw  upon  the  present  gov- 
ernment the  duties  and  expenses  of  a  former 
government,  which  have  been  already  once  ac- 
quitted.   On  its  part,  government  has  fulfilled, 
with  energy  and  zeal,  its  duty  to  the  citizens; 
it  has  protected  and  now  is  protecting  their 
rights,  and  asserting  their  just  claims.  Witness 
our  navy,  kept  up  in  time  of  peace,  for  the  pro- 
tection of  commerce  and  for  the  profit  of  our 


ANNO  1888.    ANDUKW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


519 


in  military  and  natal 


ntiwns;  witness  our  cniiflcrK  oti  every  point 
of  the  globe,  for  I  ho  security  of  citizens  purHU- 
ing  every  kind  of  lawful  businoHs.  But,  there 
are  limits  to  the  protection  of  the  intercstfl  of 
individual  citizens ;  pence  must,  at  one  time  or 
other  be  oiitained,  and  sacriHces  are  to  Ikj  made 
for  a  valuable  consideration.  Now,  sir,  fjcaco  is 
It  valiittbic  consideration,  and  claims  are  offer' 
neccanardy  abandoned  t<»  obtain  it.  In  1814, 
m  gave  up  claims  for  the  sake  of  peace ;  wo 
gave  up  claims  for  Spanish  spoliations,  at  the 
treaty  of  Florida ;  wo  gave  up  claims  to  ^  'en- 
mark.  These  claims  also  were  given  up,  long 
anterior  to  others  I  have  mentioned.  AVhon 
peace  is  made,  the  claims  take  their  chance ; 
lomo  are  given  up  for  a  gross  sum,  and  some, 
such  as  these,  when  they  are  worth  nothing, 
will  fetch  nothing.  How  monstrous,  therefore, 
that  measure  is,  which  would  transfer  abandon- 
ed and  disputed  claims  Aom  1'"'^  country,  by 
which  they  were  said  o  lie  duj,  to  our  own 
country,  to  our  own  go^  .Ti.ioeut,  u,.  n  our  own 
citizens,  requiring  us  to  ;>a_/  what  o'hers  owed 
(nay,  what  it  is  doubtful  ii'  'hcv  ''d  owe);  re- 
quiring us  to  pay  what  wc  i...vo  never  received 
ono  farthing  for,  and  for  which,  if  we  had  i\ 
ceived  millions,  wc  have  paid  away  uiorc  than 
those  millions  in  arduous  exertions  on  their  be- 
half! 

I  should  not  discharge  the  duty  I  owe  to  my 
country,  if  I  did  not  probe  still  deeper  into 
these  transactions.  What  were  the  losses  which 
led  to  these  claims  ?  Gentlemen  have  indulged 
themselves  in  all  the  flights  and  raptures  of 
poetry  on  this  pathetic  topic ;  wo  have  heard 
of  "ships  swept  from  the  ocean,  families  plunged 
in  want  and  ruin ; "  and  such  like  !  What  is  the 
fact,  sir  ?  It  is  as  the  gentleman  from  New 
Hampshire  has  said :  never,  nir,  was  there  known, 
before  or  since,  such  a  flourishing  state  of  com- 
merce as  the  very  time  and  period  of  these 
spoliations.  At  that  time,  men  made  fortunes  if 
they  saved  ono  ship  only,  out  of  every  four  or  five, 
from  the  French  cruisers  1  Let  us  examine  the 
stubborn  facts  of  sol  er  arithmetic,  in  this  case, 
and  not  sit  still  aud  sco  the  people's  mono}' 
charmed  out  of  the  treasury  by  the  persuasive 
notes  of  poetry.  [Mr.  B  here  referred  to  pub- 
lic documents  showing  that,  in  the  years  1793, 
'94,  '95,  '96,  '97,  '98,  '99,  up  to  1800,  the  ex- 
ports, annually  increased  at  a  rapid  rate,  till,  in 
1800,  they  amounted  to  more  than  $91,000,000]. 


It  must  bo  taken  into  consideration  that,  at 
tti  |)«riod,  our  population  wvm  leu  than  it  is 
now,  our  territory  was  much  more  limited,  we 
had  not  Louisiana  and  the  port  of  New  Orleans, 
and  yet  our'commerco  was  far  more  flourishing 
than  it  ever  has  been  since  ;  and  it  a  time,  too, 
when  wo  had  no  mamniuth  banking  coiporatioa 
to  boast  of  its  indispensable,  its  vital  necessity 
to  commerce  !  These  are  the  facts  of  h  '■  ^bcrs, 
of  arithmetic,  which  blow  away  the  edifice  of 
the  gentlemen's  poetry,  as  the  wi.id  scatters 
straws. 

With  respect  to  the  parties  in  whose  hands 
these  claims  are.  They  are  in  the  hands  of  insur- 
ance otflccH,  assignees,  and  jobbers,  they  aro  in 
the  hands  of  the  knowing  ones  who  have  bought 
them  up  for  two,  three,  five,  ten  ctufs  in  the 
dollar!  What  has  become  of  the  s f^nming 
babes  that  have  been  held  up  after  ;r  v  u.oient 
Roman  method,  to  excite  pity  and  move  our 
sympathies?  What  has  become  of  the  widows 
and  original  claimants  ?  They  ha>  e  been  bought 
out  long  ago  by  the  knowing  ones.  If  wc 
countenance  this  bill,  sir,  wc  shall  renew  thn 
disgraceful  scenes  of  1793,  and  witness  a  repeti- 
tion of  the  iiifamoii  fraud  and  gambling,  and  all 
the  old  artifices  which  the  certificate  funding  act 
gave  rise  to.  (Mr.  B.  here  read  several  interest- 
ing extracts,  describing  the  scenes  which  then 
took  place.) 

One  of  the  most  revolting  features  of  this  bill 
is  its  relation  to  the  insurers.    The  most  in- 
famous and  odious  act  ever  passed  by  Congress 
was  the  certificate  funding  act  of  1793,  an  act 
passed  in  favor  of  a  crowd  of  speculators ;  but 
the  principle  of  this  bill  is  more  odious  than 
even  it;  I  meantiiat  of  paying  insurers  for  their 
losses.    The  United  States,  sir,  insure !     Can 
any  thing  be  conceived  more  revolting  and  atro- 
cious than  to  direct  the  funds  of  the  treasury, 
the  pi'operty  of  the  people,  to  such  iniquitous 
uses  1    On  what  principle  is  this  grounded  ? 
Their  occupation  is  a  sale  one ;  they  make  cal- 
culations against  all  probabilities;  they  make 
fortunes  at  all  times ;  and  especially  at  this  very 
time  when  we  are  called  upon  to  refund  their 
losses,  they  made  immense  fortunes.    It  would 
be  far  more  just  and  equitable  if  Congress  were 
to  insure  the  farmers  and  planters,  and  pay  them 
their  losses  on  the  failure  of  the  cotton  crop ; 
they,  sir,  are  more  entitled  to  put  forth  such 
claims  than  speculators  and  gamblers,  whose 


Id 


*r  'K 


!:    I: 


520 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


trade  and  business  it  is  to  make  money  by 
losses.  This  bill,  if  passed,  would  bo  the 
most  odious  and  unprincipled  ever  passed  by 
Congress. 

Another  question,  sir,  occurs  to  me:  what 
sum  of  money  will  this  bill  abstract  from  the 
treasury  ?    It  says  five  millions,  it  is  true ;  but 
it  does  not  say  "  and  no  more ; "  it  does  not  say 
that  they  will  \  i  in  full.    If  the  project  of  pass- 
ing this  bill  should  succeed,  not  only  will  claims 
be  made,  but  next  will  come  interest  upon  them ! 
Reflect,  sir,  one  moment :  interest  from  1798  and 
1800  to  this  day !    Nor  is  there  any  limitation 
of  the  amount  of  claims ;  no,  sir,  it  would  not 
be  possible  for  the  imagination  of  man,  to  invent 
more  cunning  words  than  the  wording  of  this 
bill.    It  is  made  to  cover  all  sorts  of  claims ; 
there  is  no  kind  of  specification  adequate  to  ex- 
clude them ;  the  most  illegal  claims  will  be  ad- 
mitted by  its  loose  phraseology ! 

Again  suffer  me  to  call  your  attention  to  an- 
other feature  of  this  atrocious  measure  j  let  me 
warn  my  country  of  the  abyss  which  it  is  at- 
temped  to  open  before  it,  by  this  and  other 
similar  measures  of  draining  and  exhausting  the 
public  treasury! 

These  claims  rejected  and  spurned  by  France; 
these  claims  for  which  we  have  never  received 
one  cent,  all  the  payment  ever  made  for  them 
urged  upon  us  by  their  advocates  being  a  meta- 
physical and  imaginary  payment;  these  claims 
which,  under  such  deceptive  circumstances  as 
these,  we,  sir,  are  called  upon  to  pay,  and  to  pay 
to  insurers,  usurers,  gamblers,  and  speculators; 
these  monstrous  claims  which  are  foisted  upon 
the  American  people,  let  me  ask,  how  are  they 
to  be  adjudged  by  this  bill  ?    Is  it  credible,  sir? 
They  are  to  be  tried  by  an  cr  parte  tribunal ! 
Commissioners  are  to  be  appointed,  and  then, 
once  seated  in  this  berth,  they  are  to  give  away 
and  dispose  of  the  public  -nouey  according  to 
the  cases  proved!    No  doubt,  sir,  they  will  be 
all  honorable  men.    I  dr,  not  dispu'o  that  I    No 
doubt  it  will  be  utterly  impossible  to  prove 
corruption,  or  bribery,  or  interested  motives,  or 
partialities  against  them;  nay,  sir,  no  doubt  it 
will  be   dangerous  to  suspect  such  honorable 
men ;  we  shall  be  replied  to  at  once  by  the  in- 
dignant question,  "are  they  not  all  honorable 
men  ?  »    But  to  all  intents  and  purposes  this 
tribunal  will  be  an  ea:  parte,  a  one-sided  tribu- 
nal, and  passive  :..  the  action  of  the  claimants. 


Again,  look  at  the  species  of  evidence  which 
will  be  invited  to  appear  before  these  commis- 
sioners ;  of  what  description  will  it  be  ?    Here 
is  not  a  thing  recent  and  fresh  upon  which  evi- 
dence,  may  be  gained.    Here  are  transactions  of 
thirty  or  forty  years  ago.    The  evidence  is  gone 
witnesses  dead,  memories  failing,  no  testimony 
to  be  procured,  and  no  lack  of  claimants,  notwith- 
standing.     Then,  sir,  the  next  best  evidence 
that  suspicious  and  worthless  sort  of  evidence' 
wiU  have  to  be  restored  to ;  and  this  will  be 
ready  at  hand  to  suit  every  convenience  in  any 
quantity.    There  could  not  be  a  more  effective 
and  deeper  plan  than  this  devised  to  empty  the 
treasury !    Here  will  be  sixty  millions  exhibit- 
ed as  a  lure  for  false  evidence,  and  false  claims; 
an  awful,  a  tremendous  temptation  for  men  to 
send  their  souls  to  hell  for  the  sake  of  money. 
On  the  behalf  of  the  moral  interests  of  my  coun- 
try, while  it  may  yet  not  be  too  late,  I  denounce 
this  bill,  and  warn  Congress  not  to  lend  itself  to 
a  measure  by  which  it  will  debauch  the  public 
morals,  and  open  a  wide  gulf  of  wrotg-doing 
and  not-to-be-imagined  evil ! 

The  bill  proposes  the  amount  of  only  five 
millions,  while,  by  the  looseness  of  its  wording, 
it  will  admit  old  claims  of  all  sorts  and  different 
natures ;  claims  long  since  abandoned  for  gross 
sums ;  all  will  come  in  by  this  bill !    One  hun- 
dred millions  of  dollars  will  not  pay  all  that 
will  be  patched  up  under  the  cover  of  this  bill! 
In  bills  of  this  description  we  may  see  a  covert 
attempt  to  renew  the  public  debt,  to  make  loaiis 
and  taxes  necessary,  and  the  engine  of  loans 
necessary  with  them!    There  are  those  who 
would  gladly  overwhelm  the  country  in  debt; 
that  corporations  might  be  maintained  which 
thrive  by  debt,  and  make  their  profits  out  of  the 
misery  and  encumbrances  of  the  people.    Shall 
the  people  be  denied  the  least  repose  from  tax- 
ation 1    Shall  all  the  labor  and  exertions  of  gov- 
ernment to  extinguish  the  public  debt  be  in 
vain?     Shall  its  great  exertions  to  establish 
economy  in  the  State,  and  do  away  with  a  sys- 
tem of  loans  and  extravagance,  be  thwarted 
and  resisted  by  bills  of  this  insidious  aim  and 
character  ?    Shall  the  people  be  prevented  from 
feeling  in  reality  that  we  have  no  debt:  shall 
they  only  know  it  by  dinners  and  public  rejoic- 
ings ?    Shall  such  a  happy  and  beneficial  result 
of  wise  and  wholesome  measures  be  rendered  all 
in  vain  by  envious  efforts  to  destroy  the  whole, 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


521 


and  render  it  impossible  for  the  country  to  go 
on  without  borrowing  and  being  in  debt  7  " 

The  bill  passed  the  Senate  by  a  vote  of  25  to 
20 ;  but  failed  in  the  House  of  Representatives. 
It  still  continues  to  importune  the  two  Houses  ; 
and  though  baffled  for  fifty  years,  is  as  perti- 
nacious as  ever.  Surely  there  ought  to  bo  some 
limit  to  these  presentations  of  the  same  claim. 
It  is  a  game  in  which  the  government  has  no 
chance.  No  number  of  rejections  decides  any 
thing  in  favor  of  the  government ;  a  single  de- 
cision in  their  favor  decides  all  against  them. 
Renewed  applications  become  incessant,  and 
endless ;  and  eventually  must  succeed.  Claims 
become  stronger  upon  age — gain  double  strength 
upon  time— often  directly,  by  newly  discovered 
evidence — always  indirectly,  by  the  loss  of  ad- 
versary evidence,  and  by  the  death  of  contem- 
poraries. Two  remedies  are  in  the  hands  of 
Congress — one,  to  break  up  claim  agencies,  by 
allowing  no  claim  to  be  paid  to  an  agent ;  the 
other,  to  break  up  speculating  assignment  by 
allowing  no  more  to  be  received  by  an  assignee 
than  he  has  actually  paid  for  the  claim.  As- 
dgnees  and  agents  are  now  the  great  prosecutors 
of  claims  against  the  government.  They  con- 
stitute a  profession — a  new  one — resident  at 
Washington  city.  Their  calling  has  become  a 
new  industrial  pursuit — and  a  most  industrious 
jne— skilful  and  persevermg,  acting  on  system 
and  in  phalanx ;  and  entirely  an  overmatch  for 
the  succession  of  new  members  who  come  ig- 
norantly  to  the  consideration  of  the  cases  which 
iLey  have  so  well  dressed  up.  It  would  be  to 
the  honor  of  Congress,  and  the  protection  of 
the  treasury,  to  institute  a  searching  examina- 
tion into  the  practices  of  these  agents,  to  see 
whether  any  undue  means  are  used  to  procure 
the  legislation  they  desire. 


CHAPTER    CXXI. 

ATTEMPTED  ASSASSINATION  OP  PRESIDENT  JACK- 
SON. 

On  Friday,  the  30th  of  January,  the  President 
with  Some  members  of  his  Cabinet,  attended  the 
funeral  ceremonies  of  Warren  R.  Davis,  Esq.,  in 
the  hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives— of 


which  body  Mr.  Davis  had  been  a  member  from 
the  State  of  South  Carolina.    The  procession 
had  moved  out  with  the  body,  and  its  front  had 
reached  the  foot  of  the  broad  steps  of  the  eastern 
portico,  when  the  President,  with  Mr.  Wood- 
bury, Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  Mr.  Mahlon 
Dickerson.  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  were  issuing 
from  the  door  of  the  great  rotunda— which 
opens  upon  the  portico.    At  that  instant  a  per- 
son stepped  from  the  crowd  into  the  little  open 
space  in  front  of  the  President,  levelled  a  pistol 
at  him.  at  the  distance  of  about  eight  feet,  and 
attempted  to  fire.    It  was  a  percussion  lock, 
and  the  cap  exploded,  without  firing  the  powder 
in  the  barrel.    The  explosion  of  the  cap  was  so 
loud  that  many  persons  thought  the  pistol  had 
fired  :  I  heard  it  at  the  foot  of  the  steps,  far 
from  the  place,  and  a  great  crowd  between.    In- 
stantly the   person  dropped  the  pistol  which 
had  missed  fire^  took  another  which  he  held 
ready  cocked  in  the  left  hand,  concealed  by  a 
cloak — levelled  it — and  pulled  the  trigger.    It 
was  also  a  percussion  lock,  and  the  cap  exploded 
without  firing  the  powder  in  the  barrel.    The 
President  instantly  rushed  upon  him  with  his 
uplifted  cane:  the  man  shrunk  back ;  Mr.  Wood- 
bury aimed  a  blow  at  him  ;  Lieutenant  Gedney 
of  the  Navy  knocked  him  down ;  he  was  secured 
by  the  bystanders,  who  delivered  him  to  the 
oflScers  of  justice  for  j  udicial  examination.    The 
examination  took  place  before  the  chief  justice 
of  the  district,  Mr.  Cranchj  'ywhom  he  was 
committed  in  default  of  bail.    His  name  was 
ascertained  to  be  Richard  Lawrence,  an  English- 
man by  birth,  and  house-painter  by  trade,  at 
present  out  of  employment,   melancholy  and 
irascible.   The  pistols  were  examined,  and  found 
to  be  well  loaded ;  and  fired  afterwards  without 
foil,  carrying  their  bullets  true,  and  driving  them 
through  inch  boards  at  thirty  feet  distance; 
nor  could  any  reason  be  found  for  the  two  fail- 
ures at  the  door  of  the  rotunda.     On  his  ex- 
amination the  prisoner  seemed  to  be  at  his  ease, 
as  if  unconscious  of  having  done  any  thing 
wrong— refusing  to  cross-examine  the  witnesses 
who  testified  against  him,  or  to  give  any  ex- 
planation of  his  conduct.    The  idea  of  an  un- 
sound mind  strongly  impressing  itself  upon  the 
public  opinion,  the  marshal  of  the  district  in- 
vited two  of  the  most  respectable  physicians  of 
the  city  (Dr.  Caussin  and  Dr.  Thomas  Sewell), 
to  visit  him  and  examine  into  his  mental  con- 


hi 


i't%F 


1         ' 


522 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


dition.    They  did  so :  and  the  following  is  the 
report  which  they  made  upon  the  case  : 

"  The  undersigned,  having  been  requested  by 
the  marshal  of  the  District  of  Columbia  to  visit 
Richard  Lawrence,  now  confined  in  the  jail  of 
the  county  of  Washington,  for  an  attempt  to 
assassinate  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
with  a  view  to  ascertain,  as  far  as  practicable, 
the  present  condition  of  his  bodily  health  and 
state  of  mind,  and  believing  that  a  detail  of  the 
examination  will  be  more  satisfactory  than  an 
abstract  opinion  on  the  subject,  we  therefore 
give  the  following  statement.  On  entering  his 
room,  we  engaged  in  a  free  conversation  with 
him,  in  which  he  participated,  apparently,  in  the 
most  artless  and  unreserved  manner.  The  tlrst 
interrogatory  propounded  was.  as  to  his  age — 
which  question  alone  he  sportively  declined  an- 
swering. We  then  inquired  into  the  condition 
of  his  health,  for  several  years  past — to  which 
he  replied  that  it  had  been  uniformly  good,  and 
that  he  had  never  labored  under  any  mental 
derangement;  nor  did  he  admit  the  existence 
of  any  of  those  symptoms  of  physical  derange- 
ment which  usually  attend  mental  alienation. 
He  said  he  was  born  in  England,  and  came  to 
this  country  when  twelve  or  thirteen  years  of 
age,  and  that  his  father  died  in  this  District, 
about  six  or  eight  ycnirs  since ;  that  his  father 
was  a  Protestant  and  his  mother  a  Methodist, 
and  that  he  was  not  a  professor  of  any  religion, 
but  sometimes  read  the  Bible,  and  occasional- 
ly attended  church.  lie  stated  that  he  was  a 
painter  by  trade,  and  had  followed  that  occupa- 
tion to  the  present  time  ;  but,  of  late,  could  not 
find  steady  employment — which  had  caused 
much  pecuniary  embarrassment  with  him  ;  that 
he  had  been  generally  temperate  in  his  habits, 
using  ardent  spirits  moderately  when  at  work ; 
but,  for  thu  last  three  or  four  weeks,  had  not 
taken  any ;  that  he  had  never  gambled,  and,  in 
other  respects,  had  led  a  regular,  sober  life. 

'*  Upon  being  interrogated  as  to  the  circum- 
stances connected  with  the  attempted  assassina- 
tion, he  said  that  he  had  been  deliberating  on 
it  for  some  time  past,  and  that  he  had  called  at 
the  President's  house  about  a  week  previous 
to  the  attempt,  and  being  conducted  to  the 
President's  apartment  by  the  porter,  found  him 
in  conversation  with  a  member  of  Congress, 
whom  he  believed  to  have  been  Mr.  Sutherland, 
of  Pennsylvania ;  that  he  stated  to  the  Presi- 
dent that  he  wanted  money  to  take  him  to  Eng- 
land, and  that  he  must  give  him  a  check  on  the 
bank,  and  the  President  remarked,  that  he  was 
too  much  engaged  to  attend  to  him — he  must 
call  another  time,  for  Mr.  Dibble  was  in  waiting 
for  an  interview.  When  asked  about  the  pis- 
tols which  he  had  used,  he  stated  that  his  father 
left  him  a  pair,  but  not  being  alike,  about  four 
years  since  he  exchanged  one  for  another,  which 
exactly  matched  the  best  of  the  pair;  these 
were  both  flint  locks,  which  he  recently  had 
altered  to  percussion  locks,  by  a  Mr.  Boteler ; 


that  he  had  been  frequently  in  the  habit  of 
loading  and  firing  those  pistols  at  marks,  and 
that  he  had  never  known  them  to  fail  going  off 
on  any  other  occasion,  and  that,  at  the  distance 
of  ten  yards,  the  ball  always  passed  through  an 
inch  plank.    He  also  stated  that  he  had  loaded 
those  pistols  three  or  four  days  previous,  with 
ordinary  care,  for  the  purpose  attempted ;  but 
that  he  used  a  pencil  instead  of  a  ramrod  and 
that  during  that  period,  they  were  at  all  times 
carried  in  his  pocket;  and  when  asked  why 
they  failed  to  explode,  he  replied  he  knew  no 
cause.    When  asked  why  he  went  to  the  capitol 
on  that  day,  he  replied  that  he  expected  that 
the  President  would  be  there.     He  also  stated, 
that  he  was  in  the  rotunda  when  the  President 
arrived;  and  on  being  asked  why  ho  did  not 
then  attempt  to  shoot  him,  he  replied  that  he 
did  not  wish  to  interfere  with  the  funeral  cere- 
mony, and  therefore  waited  till  it  was  over.   He 
also  observed  that  he  did  not  enter  the  hall, 
but  looked  through  a  window  from  a  lobby,  and 
saw  the  President  seated  with  members  of  Con- 
gress, and  he  then  returned  to  the  rotunda,  and 
waited  till  the  President  again  entered  it,  and 
then  passed  through  and  took  his  position  in 
the  east  portico,  about  two  yards  from  the  door, 
drew  his  pistols  from  his  inside  coat  picket, 
cocked  them  and  held  one  in  each  hand,  con- 
cealed by  his  coat,  lest  he  should  alarm  the 
spectators — and  states,  that  as  soon  as  the  one 
in  the  right  hand  missed  fire,  he  immediately 
dropped  or  exchanged  it,  and  attempted  to  fire 
the  second,  before  he  was  seized;  he  further 
stated  that  he  aimed  each  pistol  at  the  Presi- 
dent's heart,  and  intended,  if  the  first  pistol  had 
gone  off,  and  the  president  had  fallen,  to  have 
defended  himself  with  the  second,  if  defence  had 
been  necessary.    On  being  asked  if  he  did  not 
expect  to  have  been  killed  on  the  spot,  if  he  had 
killed  the  President,  he  replied  he  did  not ;  and 
that  he  had  no  doubt  but  that  he  would  have 
been  protected  by  the  spectators.    He  was  fre- 
quently questioned  whether  he  had  any  friends 
present,  frim  whom  he  expected  protection.  To 
this  he  replied,  that  he  never  had  mentioned  bis 
intention  to  any  one,  and  that  no  one  in  particu- 
lar knew  his  design ;  but  that  he  presumed  it 
was  generally  known  that  he  intended  to  put 
the  President  out  of  the  way.  He  further  stated, 
that  when  the  President  arrived  at  the  door, 
near  which  he  stood,  finding  bin.  supported  on 
the  left  by  Mr.  Woodbury,  and  observing  many 
persons  in  his  rear,  and  being  hims'df  rather  to 
the  right  of  the  President,  in  order  to  avoid 
wounding  Mr.  Woodbury,  and  those  in  the  rear, 
he  stepped  a  little  to  his  own  right,  so  that 
should  the  ball  pass  through  the  body  of  the 
President,  it  would  be  received  by  the  door- 
frame, or  stone  wall.    On  being  asked  if  he  felt 
no  trepidation  during  the  attempt :  He  replied, 
not  the  slightest,  until  he  found  that  the  second 
pistol  had  missed  tiro.   Then  observmg  that  the 
President  was  advancing  upon  him,  with  an  up- 
lifted cane,  he  feared  that  it  contained  a  sword, 


ANNO  1835.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


523 


which  might  have  been  thrust,  through  him  be- 
fore lie  could  have  been  protected  by  the  crowd. 
And  when  interrogated  as  to  the  motive  which 
induced  him  to  attempt  tiie  assassination  of  the 
President,  he  replied,  that  he  had  been  told  that 
the  President  had  caused  his  loss  of  occupation, 
and  the  consequent  want  of  money,  and  he  be- 
lieved that  to  put  hira  out  of  the  way,  was  the 
only  remedy  for  this  evil ;  but  to  the  interroga- 
tory, who  told  you  this  ?  he  could  not  identify 
any  one,  but  remarked  that  his  brother-in-law, 
Mr.  Redfern,  told  him  that  he  would  have  no 
more  business,  because  he  was  opposed  to  tiie 
President — ^and  he  believed  Redfern  to  be  in 
league  with  the  President  against  him.  Again 
being  questioned,  whether  he  had  often  attended 
the  debates  in  Congress,  during  the  present 
session,  and  whether  they  had  influenced  him 
in  making  this  attack  on  the  person  of  the  Pre- 
sident, he  replied  that  he  had  frequently  attend- 
ed the  discussions  in  both  branches  of  Con- 
gress, but  that  they  had,  in  no  degree,  influenced 
his  action. 

"  Upon  being  asked  if  he  expected  to  become 
the  president  of  the  United  States,  if  Gen.  Jack- 
son had  fallen,  he  replied  no, 

"  When  asked  whom  he  wished  to  be  the  Pre- 
sident, his  answer  was,  there  were  many  persons 
in  the  House  of  Representatives.  On  being  asked 
if  there  were  no  persons  in  the  Senate,  yes,  se- 
veral ;  and  1.  was  the  Senate  to  which  I  alluded. 
Who,  in  your  opinion,  of  the  Senate,  would 
make  a  good  President?  He  answered,  Mr. 
Clay,  Mr.  Webster,  Mr.  Calhoun.  What  do 
you  think  of  Col.  Benton,  Mr.  Van  Buren,  or 
Judge  White,  for  President  ?  He  thought  they 
would  do  well.  On  being  asked  if  he  knew 
any  member  of  either  house  of  Congress,  he  re- 
plied that  he  did  not — and  never  spoke  to  one 
in  his  life,  or  they  to  him.  On  being  asked  what 
benefit  he  expected  himself  from  the  death  of 
the  President,  he  answered  he  could  not  rise 
unless  the  President  fell,  and  that  he  expected 
thereby  to  recover  his  liberty,  and  that  the 
mechanics  would  all  be  benefited ;  that  the  me- 
chanics would  have  plenty  of  work ;  and  that 
monejr  would  be  more  plenty.  On  being  asked 
why  it  would  be  more  plenty,  he  replied,  it 
would  be  more  easily  obtained  from  the  bank. 
On  being  asked  what  bank,  he  replied,  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States.  On  being  asked  if  he 
knew  the  president,  directors,  or  any  of  the  offi- 
cers of  the  bank,  or  had  ever  held  any  inter- 
course with  them,  or  knew  how  he  could  get 
money  out  of  the  bank,  he  replied  no— that  he 
slightly  knew  Mr.  Smith  only. 

'On  being  asked  with  respect  to  the  speeches 
which  he  had  heard  in  Congress,  and  wiiether 
he  was  particularly  pleased  with  those  of  Messrs. 
Calhoun,  Clay,  and  Webster,  he  replied  that  he 
was,  because  they  were  on  his  side.  He  was 
tlicu  asked  if  he  was  well  pleased  Hitli  the 
speeches  of  Col.  Benton  and  Judge  White?  He 
said  he  was,  and  thought  Col.  Benton  highly 
talented.     '  «=  ^   ^ 


"When  asked  if  he  was  friendly  to  Gen. 
Jackson,  he  replied,  no.  Why  not?  He  an- 
swered, because  he  was  a  tyrant.  Who  told 
you  he  was  a  tyrant?  He  answered,  it  was  a 
comnion  talk  with  the  people,  and  tliat  he  had 
read  it  in  all  the  papers.  Ho  was  asked  if  ho 
could  name  any  one  who  had  told  him  so  ?  Ho 
replied,  no.  He  was  asked  if  he  ever  threatened 
to  shoot  Mr,  Clay,  Mr.  Webster,  or  Mr.  Calhoun, 
or  whether  he  would  .shoot  them  if  he  had  an 
opportunity?  He  replied,  no.  When  asked  if 
he  would  shoot  Mr.  Van  Buren  ?  He  replied, 
no,  that  he  once  met  with  Mr.  Van  Buren  in 
the  rotunda,  and  told  him  he  was  in  want  of 
money  and  must  have  it,  and  if  he  did  not  get 
it  he  (Mr.  Van  Buren),  or  Gen,  Jackson  must 
fall,  lie  was  asked  if  any  person  were  present 
during  the  conversation?  He  replied,  that 
there  were  several  present,  and  when  asked  if  he 
recollected  one  of  them,  he  replied  that  he  did 
not.  When  asked  if  any  one  advjsed  hira  to 
shoot  Gen.  Jackson,  or  say  that  it  ought  to  be 
done  ?  He  replied,  I  do  not  like  to  say.  On 
being  pressed  on  this  point,  he  said  no  one  in 
particular  had  advised  him. 

"  He  further  stated,  that  believing  the  Presi- 
dent to  be  the  source  of  all  his  diificulties,  he 
was  still  fixed  in  his  purpose  to  kill  him,  and  if 
his  succcessor  pursued  the  same  course,  to  put 
him  out  of  the  way  also — and  declared  that  no 
power  in  this  country  could  punish  him  for 
having  done  so,  because  it  would  be  resisted  by 
the  powers  of  Europe,  as  well  as  of  this  country. 
'^^e  also  stated,  that  he  had  been  long  in  corre- 
s' ■  ndence  with  the  powers  of  Europe,  and  that 
«r .  i'amily  had  been  wrongfully  deprived  of  the 
crown  of  England,  and  that  he  should  yeo  live 
to  regain  it — and  that  he  considered  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  nothing  more  than 
his  clerk. 

'•  We  now  think  proper  to  add,  that  the  young 
man  appears  perfectly  tranquil  and  unconcerned, 
as  to  the  final  result,  and  seems  to  anticipate  no 
punishment  for  what  he  has  done.  The  nl  ove 
contains  the  leading,  and  literally  expressed 
facts  of  the  whole  conversation  we  had  with 
him,  which  continued  at  least  two  hours.  The 
questions  were  frequently  repeated  at  different 
stages  of  the  examination;  and  presented  in 
various  forms." 


It  is  clearly  to  be  seen  from  this  medical  ex- 
amination of  the  man,  that  this  attempted 
assassination  of  the  President,  was  one  of  those 
cases  of  which  history  presents  many  instances 
— a  diseased  mind  acted  upon  by  a  general  outcry 
against  a  public  man.  Lawrence  was  in  the 
particular  condition  to  be  acted  upon  by  what 
he  heard  against  General  Jackson: — a  work- 
man out  of  employment — needy — idle — men- 
tally morbid ;  and  with  reason  enough  to  argue 
regularly  from  false  premises.    He  beard  the 


'  ■'Mm 

Hi 


'4i 


524 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


Presidont  accused  of  breaking  up  the  labor  of  the 
country !   and  believed  it— of  making  money 
scarce !   and  he  believed  it— of  producing  the 
distress!  and  believed  it— of  being  a  tyrant! 
and  believed  it— of  being  an  obstacle  to  all  re- 
lief !  and  believed  it.    And  coming  to  a  regular 
conclusion  from  all  these  beliefs,  he  attempted 
to  do  what  he  believed  the  state  of  things  re- 
quired him  to  do— take  the  life  of  the  man 
whom  he  considered  the  sole  cause  of  his  own 
and  the  general  calamity— and  the  sole  obstacle 
to  his  own  and  the  general  happiness.    Halluci- 
nation of  mind  was  evident;  and  the  wretched 
victim  of  a  dreadful  delusion  was  afterwards 
treated  as  insane,  and  never  brought  to  trial. 
But  the  circumstance  made  a  deep  impression 
upon  the  public  feeling,  and  irresistibly  carried 
many  minds  to  the  belief  in  a  superintending 
Providence,  manifested  in  the  extraordinary  case 
of  two  pistols  in  succession— so  well  loaded,  so 
coolly  handled,  and  which  afterwards  fired  with 
such  readiness,  force,  and  precision— missing 
fire,  each  in  its  turn,  when  levelled  eight  feet  at 
the  Prebldent's  heart. 


CHAPTER  CXXII. 

AI.ABAMA  EXPUNGING   RESOLUTIONS. 

Mr.  King,  of  Alabama,  presented  the  preamble 
and  joint  resolution  of  the  general  assembly  of 
his  State,  entreating  their  senators  in  Congress 
to  use  their  "untiring  efforts"  to  cause  to  be 
expunged  from  the  journal  of  the  Senate,  the 
resolve  condemnatory  of  President  Jackson,  for 
the  removal  of  the  deposits.    Mr.  Clay  desired 
to  know,  before  any  order  was  taken  on  these 
resolutions,    whether    the   senator    presenting 
them,  proposed  to  make  any  motion  in  relation 
to  expunging  the  journal  ?    This  inquiry  was 
made  in  a  way  to  show  that  Mr.  King  was  to 
meet  resistance  to  his  motion  if  he  attempted  it. 
The  expunging  process  was  extremely  distaste- 
ful to  the  senators  whose  act  was  proposed  to 
be  stigmatized ;— and  they  now  began  to  be 
sensitive  at  its  mention.~Whcn  Mr.  Benton 
first  gave  notice  of  his  intention  to  move  it,  his 
notice  was  looked  upon  as  an  idle  menace,  which 
would  end  in  nothing.    Novr  it  was  becoming  a 


■serious  proceeding.     The  States  were  taking  it 
up.    Several  of  them,  through  their  legislatures 
—Alabama,  Mississippi,  New  Jersey,  New- York, 
North  Carolina— had  already  given  the  fatal  in^ 
structions  ;  and  it  was  certain  that  more  would 
follow.    Those  of  Alabama  were  the  first  pre- 
sented; and  it  was  felt  necessary  to  make  head 
against  them  from  the  beginning.  Hence,  the  inter  ■ 
rogatory  put  by  Mr.  Clay  to  Mr.  King— the  inqui- 
ry  whether  he  intended  to  move  an  expunging 
resolution  ?— and  the  subsequent  motion  to  lay 
the  resolutions  of  the  State  upon  the  table  if  ho 
answered  negatively.    Now  it  wa.s  not  the  in- 
tention of  Mr.  King  to  move  the  expunging  re- 
solution.   It  was  not  his  desire  to  take  that  bu- 
siness out  of  the  hands  of  Mr.  Benton,  who  had 
conceived  it— made  a  speech  for  it— given  notice 
of  it  at  the  last  session  as  a  measure  for  the  pre- 
sent one— and  had  actually  given  notice  at  the 
present  session  of  his  intention  to  offer  the  re- 
solution.   Mr.  King's  answer  would  necessarily 
therefore,  be  in  the  negative,  and  Mr.  Clay's 
motion  then  became  regular  to  lay  it  upon  the 
table.   Jlr.  Benton,  therefore,  felt  himself  called 
upon  to  answer  Mr.  Clay,  and  to  recall  to  the 
recollection  of  the  Senate  what  took  place  at 
the   time  the  sentence  of  condemnation  had 
passed ;  and  rose  and  said : 

"  He  had  then  (at  the  time  of  passing  the 
condemnatory  resolution),  in  his  place,  given  im- 
mediate notice  that  he  should  commence  a  series 
of  motions  for  the  purpose  of  expunging  the 
resolutions  from  the  journals.     He  had  then 
made  use  of  the  word  expunge,  in  contradistinc- 
tion to  the  word  repeal,  or  the  word  reverse, 
because  it  was  his  opinion  then,  and  that  opinion 
had  been  confiimed  by  all  his  subsequent  reflec- 
tion, that  repeal  or  reversal  of  the  resolution 
would  not  do  adequate  justice.     To  do  that 
would   require  a  complete  expurgation  of  the 
journal.    It  would  require  that  process  which 
is  denominated  expunging,  by  which,  to  the  pre- 
sent, and  to  all  future  times,  it  would  be  indi- 
cated that  that  had  been  placed  upon  the  jour- 
nals which  should  never  have  gone  there.    He 
had  given  that  notice,  after  serious  reflection, 
that  it  might  be  seen  that  the  Senate  was 
trampling  the  constitution  of  the  United  States 
under  foot ;  and  not  only  that,  but  also  the  very 
forms,  to  say  nothing  of  the  substance,  of  all 
criminal  justice. 

"He  had  given  this  notice  in  obedience  to 
the  dictates  of  his  bosom,  which  were  after- 
wards sustained  by  the  descision  of  his  head, 
wjw.jou..  consultation  v/ith  any  other  person,  but 
after  conference  only  with  himself  and  his  God. 
To  a  single  human  being  he  had  said  that  he 


ANNO  1835.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


525 


should  do  it,  but  ho  had  not  consulted  with  any 
one.  In  the  ordinary  routine  of  business,  no 
one  was  more  ready  to  consult  with  his  friends, 
and  to  defer  to  their  opinions,  than  he  was ;  but 
there  were  some  occasions  on  which  he  lield 
council  with  no  man,  but  took  his  own  course, 
without  regard  to  consequences.  It  would  have 
been  a  matter  of  entire  indifference  with  him,  had 
the  whole  Senate  risen  as  one  man,  and  declared 
a  determination  to  give  a  unanimous  vote  against 
him.  It  would  have  mattered  nothing.  He 
would  not  have  deferred  to  any  human  boinj. 
Actuated  bj'  these  feelings  he  had  given  notice 
of  his  intention  in  the  month  of  May ;  and  in 
obedience  to  that  determination  he  had,  on  the 
last  day  of  the  session,  laid  his  resolution  on 
the  table,  in  order  to  keep  the  matter  alive. 

"  This  brought  him  to  the  answer  to  the  ques- 
tion proposed.  The  presentation  of  the  resolu- 
tions of  the  legislature  of  Alabama  afforded  a 
fit  and  proper  occasion  to  give  that  public  notice 
which  he  had  already  informally  and  privately 
given  to  many  members  of  the  Senate.  He  had 
said  that  he  should  bring  forward  his  resolution 
at  the  earliest  convenient  time.  And  yesterday 
evening,  when  he  saw  the  attempt  which  was 
made  to  give  to  a  proceeding  emanating  from 
the  Post  Office  Committee,  and  to  which,  by 
the  unanimous  consent  of  that  committee,  a 
legislative  direction  had  been  assigned,  a  new 
form,  by  one  of  the  senators  from  South  Caro- 
lina, so  as  to  make  it  a  proceeding  against  per- 
sons, in  contradistinction  to  the  public  matters 
embodied  in  the  report ;  when  he  heard  these 
persons  assailed  by  one  of  the  senators  from 
South  Carolina,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  prevent 
any  possibility  of  doubt  concerning  them ;  and 
when  he  discovered  that  the  object  of  these  gentle 
men  was  impeachment  in  substance,  if  not  in  form, 
he  did  at  once  form  the  determination  to  give 
notice  this  morning  of  his  intention  to  move  his 
resolution  at  the  earliest  convenient  period. 

"  This  was  his  answer  to  the  question  which 
had  been  proposed. 

"Mr.  King,  of  Alabama,  said  he  was  surprised 
to  hear  the  question  of  the  honorable  senator 
from  Kentucky,  as  he  did  not  expect  such  an 
inquiry :  for  he  had  supposed  it  was  well  under- 
stood by  every  member  of  the  Senate  what  his 
sentiments  were  in  regard  to  the  right  of  in- 
struction. The  legislature  of  Alabama  had  in- 
structed him  to  pursue  a  particular  course,  and 
he  should  obey  their  instructions.  With  regard 
to  the  resolution  to  which  the  legislature  alluded, 
he  could  merely  say  that  he  voted  against  it  at 
the  time  it  was  adopted  by  the  Senate.  His 
opinion  as  to  it  was  then,  as  well  as  now,  per- 
fectly understood.  If  the  gentleman  from 
Missouri  [Mr.  Benton]  declmed  bringing  the 
subject  forward  relative  to  the  propriety  of  ex- 
punging the  resolution  in  question  from  the 
journa,  o,  t^e  Senate,  he,  himself  should,  at 
some  proper  time,  do  so,  and  also  say  something 
on  the  great  and  important  question  as  to  the 
nght  of  instruction.    Now,  that  might  be  ad- 


mitted in  its  fullest  extent.  He  held  his  place 
there,  subject  to  the  control  of  the  legislaLuro 
of  Alabama,  and  whenaver  their  instructions 
reached  him,  he  should  bo  governed  by  them. 
He  made  this  statement  without  entering  into 
the  consideration  of  the  propriety  or  impropriety 
of  senators  exercising  their  own  judgment  as  to 
the  course  they  deemed  most  proper  to  pursue. 
For  himself,  never  having  doubted  the  right  of 
a  legislature  to  instruct  their  senators  in  Con- 
gress, he  should  consider  himself  culpable  if  ho 
did  not  carry  their  wishes  into  effect,  when  pro- 
perly expressed.  And  he  had  hoped  there  would 
have  been  no  expression  of  the  Senate  at  this 
time,  as  ho  was  not  disposed  to  enter  into  a  dis- 
cussion then,  for  particular  reasons,  which  it 
was  not  necessary  he  should  state. 

"  As  to  the  propriety  of  acting  on  the  sub- 
ject then,  that  would  depend  upon  the  opinions 
of  gentlemen  as  to  the  importance,  the  great  im- 
portance, of  having  the  journal  of  the  Senate 
freed  from  what  many  supposed  to  be  an  uncon- 
stitutional act  of  the  Senate,  although  the 
majority  of  it  thought  otherwise.  He  would 
now  say  that,  if  no. one  should  bring  forward  a 
proposition  to  get  the  resolution  expunged,  ho, 
feeling  himself  bound  to  obey  the  opinions  of 
the  legislature,  should  do  so,  and  would  vote  for 
it.  If  no  precedent  was  to  be  found  for  such 
an  act  of  the  Senate,  he  should  most  unhesita- 
tingly vote  for  expunging  the  resolution  from  the 
journal  of  the  Senate,  in  such  manner  as  should 
be  justified  by  precedent. 

'•  Mr.  Clay  said  the  honorable  member  from 
Alabama  had  risen  in  his  place,  and  presented 
to  the  Senate  two  resolutions,  adopted  by  the 
legislature  of  his  State,  instructing  him  and  his 
colleague  to  use  their  untiring  exertions  to  cause 
to  be  expunged  from  the  journals  of  the  Senate 
certain  resolutions  passed  during  the  last  ses- 
sion of  Congress,  on  the  subject  of  the  removal 
of  the  deposits  from  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States.  The  resolutions  of  Alabama  had  been 
presented ;  they  were  accompanied  by  no  mo- 
tion to  carry  the  intentions  of  that  State  into 
effect ;  nor  were  they  accompanied  by  any  inti- 
mation from  the  honorable  senator,  who  pre- 
sented them,  of  his  intention  to  make  any  pro- 
position, in  relation  to  them,  to  the  Senate, 
Under  these  circumstances,  the  inquiry  was 
made  by  him  (Mr.  C.)  of  the  senator  from  Ala- 
bama, which  he  thought  the  occasion  called  for. 
The  inquiry  was  a  very  natural  one,  and  he  had 
learned  with  unfeigned  surprise  that  the  senator 
did  not  expect  it.  He  would  now  say  to  the 
senator  from  Alabama,  that  of  him,  and  of  him 
alone,  were  these  inquire  ■  made;  and  with  re- 
gard to  the  reply  mad(^  1:7  another  senntor  (Mr. 
Benton),  he  would  furth,'.  say,  that  hi;i  relations 
to  him  were  not  such  as  to  enable  him  to  know 
what  were  that  senator's  intent!  (Ui,  at  any  time, 
and  on  any  subject,  nor  was  it  necessary  he 
should  know  them. 

"  He  had  nothing  further  to  say,  than  to  ex- 
press the  hope  that  the  senator  from  Alabama 


1'  5       iti 


526 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


Iff      ■ 

liiii 


%youli.V  for  the  present,  withdraw  the  resolu- 
tions he  had  presentc(( ;  and  if,  after  ho  had 
consulted  precedents  and  a  careful  examination 
of  th  1  constitution  of  the  United  States,  he  finds 
that  he  can,  consistently,  with  them,  make  any 
propositions  for  the  action  of  the  Senate,  he 
(  .ri-,  C)  would  l)e  willing  to  receive  the  resolu- 
tiui; ;,  and  pay  to  them  all  that  attention  and  re- 
spect which  the  proccedinp;s  of  one  of  the  States 
of  this  Union  merited.    If  tht  gentleman  did 
not  pursue  that  course,  he  should  feel  himself 
bound,  by  every  con.sid  >r  .,tion,  by  all  the  obli- 
gations which  bound  a  public  man  to  discharge 
his  duty  to  his  God,  his  country,  and  his  own 
honor,  to  resist  •  uch  an  unconstitutional  proce- 
dure as  the  reception  of  tlu;se  resolutions,  with- 
out the  expressed  wish  of  \he  legislature  of  Ala- 
bama, and   without  any  intimation  from   her 
senators,  of  any  proposition  to  be  made  on  them, 
at  the  very  threshold.     He  .li-J  hope  that,  ior 
the  present,  the  gentleman  w-'uid  withdraw  those 
resolutions,  and  at  a  proper  time  present  them 
with  some  substantive  proposition  for  the  c-k;- 
sideration  of  the  Senate.    If  he  did  not,  the  de- 
bate muaL  go  on,  to  the  exolusion  of  the  impor- 
tant 0!!0  ('(.iinraenced  yesterday,  and  which  every 
gentltv^'ui  expcr^ted  to  be  continued  to-day,  a.s 
ho  shoui  '■:  ii  6:i!',:i  ( iisc  feel  it  necessary  to  sub- 
mit a  moticiM  fur  llio  Sonn.to  lo  decide  whether 
under   pres-it   circumslnnces.  the   resolutions' 
could  be  recM"  od 


'"iMr.  Cii!,  Jtclarod  that  when  such  a  resolu- 
tion fclioii!  1  1,0  offered  he  should  discharge  the 
duty  which  he  owed  to  his  God,  his  country  and 
his  honor. 

"Mr.  King  of  Alabama,  had  felt  an  unwilling- 
noss  from  the  first  to  enter  into  this  discussion, 
for  reasons  which  would  be  understood  by  every 
gentleman.  It  was  his  wish,  and  was  so  under- 
stood by  one  or  two  friends  whom  he  had  con- 
sulted, that  the  resolutions  should  lie  on  the 
table  for  the  present,  until  the  debate  on  another 
subject  was  disposed  of.  In  reply  to  the  sena- 
tor from  Kentucky,  he  must  say  that  he  could 
not,  situated  as  he  was,  accede  to  his  proposition. 
His  object  certainly  was  to  carry  into  effect  the 
wishes  of  the  legislature  of  his  State  ;  and  he,  as 
well  as  his  colleague,  felt  bound  to  obey  the  will 
of  the  sovereign  State  of  Alabama,  whenever  made 
known  to  them.  He  certainly  sliould,  at  a  pro- 
per time,  present  a  distinct  proposition  in  rela- 
tion to  these  resolutions  for  the  consideration  of 
ihi  Sonate;  and  the  senator  from  Kentucky 
could  thjn  have  nn  opportunity  of  discharging 
hii  duty  to  his  God,  to  his  country,  and  his 
own  honor,'  in  a  manner  most  consistent  with 
his  own  sense  of  propriety. 

"Mr.  Clay  would  not  renew  the  intimation  iS 
any  intention  on  his  part,  to  submit  a  motion  to 
the  Senate,  if  there  was  any  probability  that  the 
senator  from  Alabama  would  withdraw  the  reso- 
lutions he  had  suhn-itted.  He  now  gave  notice 
that,  if  the  senato"  ,-  \]  not  think  tit  to  withdraw 
them,  ho  should  li  M  ;  his  duty  to  submit  a  pro- 
position which  would  most  probably  load  to  a 


debate,  and  prevent  the  one  commenced  yeste^ 
day  from  being  resumed  to-day. 

''  Mr.  Calhoun  moved  that  the  resolution  be 
laid  upon  the  table,  to  give  the  senator  from 
Alabama  [Mr.  King],  an  opportunity  to  prepare 
a  resolution  to  accomplish  the  meditated  purpose 
of  rescinding  the  former  resolutions  of  the  Senate 
I  confess,  sir  (observed  Mr.  C),  I  feel  some  cu- 
riosity to  see  how  the  senator  from  Alabama 
will  reconcile  sne'.i  u.  vroceeding  with  the  free 
and  indepeiidi  nt  existence  of  a  Senate.    I  fed 
sir,  a  greav,  curiofity  to  h.'ar  how  tiiat  gentleman 
proposes  tiiat  (he  journalsi  are  told  kept,  if  such 
a  procedure  ia  ai!owed  to  take  ftHdc  t.    I  should 
like  to  know  h-nv  he  proitoses  *.>  repeal  a jour- 
TyJ.    By  ivisat  stiangf!  process  lu-  >vould  destroy 
fa<ts,  and  annihilate  events  and  thusgs  which  are 
no^r  the  depositories  of  history.     When  he  shall 
have  sntisHed  my  curiosity  on  this  particular 
then  there  is  another  thing  I  am  anxious  to  be  in- 
formed upon,  anci  that  is,  what  I'onn,  w hat  strange 
aP'?  new  plr  n  of  proceed;  ng,  wi  il  he  suggest  for  the 
adoptio  1  of  the  Senate  ?    I  \vn\  toll  him ;  I  will 
show  hi  IP  the  only  rc^jurce  that  is  left,  the  point 
to  whifh  he  nec'^s.sarily  comes,  and  that  is  this: 
he  will  ha  oblig'«  to  declare,  in  his  resolution 
that  the  principle  upon  which  the  Senate  acted 
was  not  correct;  that  it  was  a  false  and  cTone- 
ous  principle.    And  let  me  ask,  what  was  that 
principle,  which  now,  it  seems,  is  to  be  destroy- 
ed ?     (he  principle  on  which  the  Senate  acted 
the  principle  which  that  gentleman  engages  to 
overthrow,  is  this  :  'we  have  a  right  to  express 
our  opinion.'    He  will  be  compelled  to  deny 
that ;  or,  perhaps,  he  may  take  refuge  from  such 
a  predicament  by  qualifying  his  subversion  of 
this  first  principle  of  legislative  freedom.    And 
how  will  he  qualify  the  denial  of  this  principle? 
that  is,  how  will  he  deny  it,  and  yet  apparently 
maintain  it  ?    He  has  only  one  resource  left 
and  that  is,  to  pretend  that  we  have  a  right  to 
express  our  opinions,  but  not  of  the  President. 
This  is  the  end  and  aim ;  yes,  this  is  the  inevitable 
consequence  and  result  of  such  an  extraordinaiy, 
such  a  monstrous  procedure. 

"  So  then,  it  is  come  to  this,  that  the  Senate 
has  no  right  to  express  its  opinion  in  relation  to 
the  Executive  ?  A  distinction  is  now  set  up  be- 
tween the  President  and  all  other  officers,  and 
the  gentleman  is  prepared  with  a  resolution  to 
give  effect  and  energy  to  the  distinction ;  and 
now,  for  the  first  time  that  such  a  doctrine  has 
ever  been  heard  on  the  American  soil,  he  is  pre- 
paredto  piofess  and  publish,  in  the  face  of  the 
American  people,  that  old  and  woni-out  dogma 
of  old  and  worn-out  nations, '  the  King  can  do  no 
wrong!'  that  his  officer-  !:i-:  ministers,  are  alone 
responsible ;  that  wo  shall  be  permitted  perhaps 
to  utter  fsj'  opinions  of  them;  but  a  unanimous 
opinion  .,  .f-  f-.scd  by  the  Senate,  in  relation  to 
the  Preruuii  himself,  is  no  longer  suffered  to 
f'vist,  IP  •  >  longer  pormittedto  bciven:  it  must 
be  e:.,,!.v>ri:edfrom  the  journals. 

t  <:  r;;,eas  I  am  agitated  with  an  intense  curi- 
03iv.y    T  wish  to  see  with  what  ingenuity  of  art- 


!       , 


ANNO  1838.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


527 


<'l^tft  t.    I  should 


ful  disguise  the  Senate  is  to  be  reduced  to  the 
dumb  legislation  of  Bonaparte's  Senate.  This 
very  question  brings  on  the  issue.  This  very 
proposition  of  expunging  our  resolutions  is  the 
question  in  which  the  expunging  of  our  legisla- 
tive freedom  and  independence  is  to  be  agitated. 
I  confess  I  long  to  see  the  strange  extremities 
to  which  the  gentleman  will  come.  It  is  a  ques- 
tion of  the  utmost  magnitude ;  I  an  anxious  to 
see  it  brought  on;  two  senators  [Messrs.  Ben- 
ton, and  King  of  Alabama]  have  pledgeil  them- 
selves to  bring  it  forward.  They  cannot  do  it 
too  soon— they  cannot  too  soon  expose  the  hor- 
rible reality  of  the  condition  to  which  our  coun- 
try is  reduced.  I  hope  they  will  make  no  de- 
lay ;  let  them  hasten  in  their  course ;  let  them 
lose  no  time  in  their  effort  to  expunge  the  Se- 
nate, and  dissolve  the  system  of  government  and 
constitution.  Yes,  I  entreat  them  to  push  their 
deliberate  purpose  to  a  resolve.  They  have  now 
given  origin  to  a  question  than  which  none 
perhaps  is,  in  its  effects  and  tendencies,  of  deep- 
er and  more  radical  importance ;  it  is  a  question 
more  important  than  that  of  the  bank,  or  than 
that  of  the  Post  Office,  and  i  am  exceedingly 
anxious  to  sec  how  far  they  will  carry  out  the 
doctrine  they  have  advanced ;  a  doctrine  as  en- 
6la>'ing  and  as  despotic  as  any  that  is  maintained 
by  th(!  Autocrat  of  all  the  Russias.  To  give  them 
an  opportunity,  I  move  to  lay  the  resolutions 
on  the  table,  and  I  promise  them  that,  when  they 
move  their  resolution,  I  will  be  ready  to  take  it 
up. 

"  Mr  Clay  said  that  the  proposition  to  receive 
the  resolutions  was  a  preliminary  one,  and  was 
the  question  to  which  he  had  at  first  invited  the 
attention  of  the  Senate.  The  debate,  certainly, 
had  been  very  irregular,  and  not  strictly  in  or- 
der. He  had  contended,  from  the  first,  for  the 
purpose  of  avoiding  an  interference  -ith  a  de- 
bate on  another  subject,  that  the  subject  of  the 
Alabama  resolutions  should  not  be  agitated  at 
that  time.  The  senator  from  Alabama  having 
refused  to  withdraw  these  resolutions,  he  was 
compelled  to  a  course  which  would,  in  all  pro- 
bability, lead  to  a  protracted  debate. 

'•Mr.  Clay  then  submitted  the  following : 

^'Resolved,  That  the  resolutions  of  the  legis- 
lature of  Alabama,  presented  by  the  senator 
from  that  State,  ought  not  to  be  acted  upon  by 
the  Senate,  inasmuch  as  they  are  not  addressed 
to  the  Senate,  nor  contain  any  request  that  they 
be  laid  before  the  Senate ;  and  inasmuch,  also, 
as  that  which  those  resolutions  direct  should  be 
done,  cannot  be  do.ie  without  violating  the  con- 
stitution of  the  United  States." 

"Mr.  Calhoun  here  moved  to  lay  the  resolu- 
tions on  the  table,  which  motion  took  prece- 
dence of  Mr.  Clay's,  and  was  not  debatable. 
«e  withdrew  it,  however,  at  the  request  of  Mr. 
Clayton. 

"Mr.  Benton  ssid  an  objection  had  been  raised 
to  the  resolutions  of  Alabama,  by  the  senator 
Irom  South  Carolina  and  the  senator  from  Dela- 
ware, to  which  he  would  briefly  reply.     Need 


he  refer  tho,;e  gentlemen  to  the  course  of  their 
own  reading  ?  ho  would  refer  them  to  the  case 
in  a  State  contiguous  to  South  Carolina,  where 
certain  proceedings  of  its  legislature  were  pub- 
licly burnt,  rrhe  journal  of  the  Yazoo  fraud, 
in  Georgia.)  Need  he  refer  them  to  the  case  of 
Wilkes  ?  where  the  British  House  of  Commons 
expunged  certain  proceedings  from  their  journal 
^xpunged !  not  by  the  childisli  process  of  send- 
ing out  for  every  copy  and  cutting  a  leaf  from 
each,  but  by  a  more  effectu"!  process.  lie  would 
describe  the  modus  as  he  read  it  in  the  parlia- 
mentajy  history.  It  was  this:  There  was  a 
total  suspension  of  business  in  the  House,  and 
the  clerk,  taking  the  otllcial  journal,  the  original 
record  of  its  proceedings,  and  reading  the  clause 
to  be  expunged,  obliterated  it,  word  after  word, 
not  by  making  a  Saint  Andrew's  cross  over  the 
clause,  as  is  sometimes  done  in  old  accounts, 
but  by  completely  erasing  out  every  letter. 
This  is  the  way  expunging  is  done,  and  this  is 
what  I  propose  to  get  done  in  the  Senate,  through 
the  power  of  the  people,  upon  this  lawless  con- 
demnation of  President  Jackson :  and  no  sys- 
tem of  tactics  or  manoeuvres  shall  prevent  me 
from  following  up  the  design  according  to  the 
notice  given  yesterday. 

"  Mr.  King  of  Alabama,  in  reply,  said  that 
when  the  proper  time  arrived — and  he  should 
use  his  own  time,  on  his  own  responsibility — he 
would  bring  forward  the  resolution,  of  which  the 
senator  from  Missouri  had  given  notice,  if  not 
prevented  by  the  previous  action  of  that  gentle- 
man. He  had  no  doubt  of  the  power  of  the 
Senate  to  repeal  any  resolution  it  had  adopted. 
What!  repeal  facts?  asked  the  senator  from 
South  Carolina.  He  would  ask  that  gentleman 
if  they  had  it  not  in  their  power  to  retrace  their 
steps  when  they  have  done  wrong?  If  they 
had  it  not  in  their  power  to  correct  their  own 
journal  when  asserting  what  was  not  true  ?  The 
democratic  party  of  the  country  had  spoken,  pro- 
nounced judgment  upon  the  facts  stated  in  that 
journal.  They  had  declared  that  these  facts 
were  not  true;  that  the  condemnation  pro- 
nounced against  the  Chief  Magistrate,  for  having 
violated  the  constitution  of  the  United  States, 
was  not  true ;  and  it  was  high  time  that  it  was 
stricken  from  the  journal  it  disgraced. 

"  Mr.  Calhoun  observed  that  the  senator  from 
Alabama  having  made  some  personal  allusions 
to  him,  he  felt  bound  to  notice  them,  although 
not  at  all  disposed  to  intnide  upon  the  patience 
of  the  Senate.  The  senator  had  said  that  he 
(Mr.  C.)  was  truly  connected  with  party.  Now, 
if  by  'party'  the  gentleman  meant  that  he  was 
enlisted  in  any  political  scheme,  that  he  desired 
to  promote  the  success  of  any  party,  or  was  anx- 
ious to  see  any  particular  man  elevated  to  the 
Chief  Magistracy,  he  did  him  great  injustice.  It 
was  a  long  time  since  he  (Mr.  C.)  had  taken  any 
active  part  in  the  political  affairs  of  the  country. 
The  senator  need  only  to  have  looked  back  to 
his  vote,  for  the  last  eight  years,  to  have  been 
satisfied  that  he  (Mr.  C.)  had  voluntarily  put 


Vnh    'I     1 


m 


'4 


628 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


lumeclf  in  the  very  small  minority  to  which  he 
belonged,  and  that  ho  had  done  this  to  serve  the 
gallant  and  patriotic  State  of  South  Carolina. 
Would  the  gentleman  say  that  ho  did  not  step 
forward  in  defence  of  South  Carolina,  in  the 
^rent  and  magnanimous  stand  which  she  took 
m  defence  of  her  rights  ?  Now,  he  wished  the 
senator  to  understand  him,  that  he  had  put  him- 
self in  a  nunority  of  at  least  one  to  a  hundred ; 
that  he  had  abandoned  party  voluntarily,  freely; 
and  he  would  tell  every  senator— for  he  was  coii- 
Btranied  to  sjieak  of  himself,  and  therefore  he 
should  speak  boldly— he  would  not  turn  upon 
his  heel  for  the  administration  of  the  afl'airs  of 
this  government.  He  believed  that  such  was 
the  hold  which  corruption  had  obtained  in  this 
government,  that  any  man  who  should  under- 
take to  reform  it  would  not  be  sustained." 

Mr.  King  of  Alabama  moved  that  the  resolu- 
tions be  printed,  which  motion  was  superseded 
by  a  motion  to  lay  it  on  the  table,  which  pre- 
vailed—yeas twenty-seven,  nays  twenty— as  fol- 
lows : 

"^'''f-—^^<^ssTs.  Bell,  Bibb,  Black,  Calhoun, 
Clay,  Clayton,  Ewing,  Frelinghuysen,  Golds- 
borough,  Hendricks^  Kent,  Knight,  Leigh,  Man- 
gum  Naudain,  Poindexter,  Porter,  Prentiss, 
Koobins,  Silsbee,  Smith,  Southard,  Swift,  Tom- 
hnson,  Tyler.  Waggaman,  Webster. 

"Nays.— Messrs.  Benton,  Brown,  Buchanan, 
Cuthbert,  Grundy,  Hill,  Kane,  King  of  Alaba- 
ma, King  of  Georgia,  Linn,  McKean,  Moore, 
Morns,  Preston,  Robinson,  Shepley,  Tallmadee 
Tipton,  White,  Wright."  ' 


And  thus  the  resolutions  of  a  sovereign  State, 
in  favor  of  expunging  what  it  deemed  to  bo  a 
lawless  sentence  passed  upon  the  President,  were 
refused  even  a  reception  and  a  printing— a  cir- 
cumstance which  seemed  to  augur  badly  for  the 
final  success  of  the  series  of  expunging  motions 
which  I  had  pledged  myself  to  make.  But,  in 
fact,  it  was  not  discouraging— but  the  contrary. 
It  strengthened  the  conviction  that  such  conduct 
would  sooner  induce  the  change  of  senators  in 
the  democratic  States,  and  permit  the  act  to  be 
done. 


CHAPTER    CXXIII. 

THE  EXPUNGING  EE80LUTI0N. 

From  the  moment  of  the  Senate's  condemnation 
of  General  Jackson,  Mr,  Benton  gave  notice  of 
his  intention  to  move  the  expunction  of  the 


sentence  from  the  journal,  periodically  and  con- 
tinually  until  the  object  should  be  effected  or 
his  political  life  come  to  its  end.  In  conformity 
to  this  notice,  he  made  his  formal  motion  at  the 
session  '34-'35 ;  and  in  these  words : 

"Jicsolved,  That  the  resolution  adopted  hv 
the  Senate,  on  the  28th  day  of  March  in  Z 
?,?''>•  1834  in  the  following  words :  'jiZml 
4"hat  the>resident,  in  the  late  executive  pj 
ceedmgs  in  relation  to  the  public  revenue  hag 
assumed  upon  himself  authority  and  power  not 
conferred  by  the  constitution  and  laws,  but  in 
derogation  of  both,'  be,  and  the  same  hereby  S 
ordered  to  be  expunged  from  the  journals  o/ 
the  Senate ;  because  the  said  resolution  is  ilje- 
gal  and  unjust,  of  evil  example,  indefinite  and 
vague,  expressing  a  criminal    charge  without 

8pecification;andwasirregularlyanduncon,stitu- 
tionally  adopted  by  the  Senate,  in  subversion  of 
the  rights  of  defence  which  belong  to  an  accused 
and  impeachable  officer;  and  at  a  time  and 
tinder  circumstances  to  endanger  the  political 
rights,  and  to  in.iurethe  pecuniary  interests  of 
the  people  of  the  United  States." 

This  proposition  was  ej  tremely  distasteful  to 
the  Senate-to  the  m:j-nty  which  passed  the 
sentence  on  General  Jackson ;  and  Mr.  Southard 
senator  from  New  Jersey,  spoke  their  senti- 
ments, and  his  own,  when  he  thus  bitterly  cha- 
racterized it  as  an  indictment  which  the  Senate 
itself  was  required  to  try,  and  to  degrade  itself 
in  its  own  condemnation,— he  said : 

"  The  object  of  this  resolution  (said  Mr.  S ) 
is  not  to  obtain  an  expression  frcn  the  Senate 
that  their  former  opinions  were  erroneous,  nor 
that  the  Executive  acted  correctly  in  relation  to 
the  public  treasury.    It  goes  further,  and  de- 
nounces the  act  of  the  Senate  as  so  unconstitu- 
tional, unjustifii.hle,  and  offensive,  that  the  evi- 
dence of  It  ougLt  not  to  be  permitted  to  remain 
upon  the  records  of  the  government.    It  is  an 
mdictment  against  the  Senate.     The  senator 
trom  Missouri  calls  upon  us  to  sit  in  judgment 
upon  our  own  act,  and  warns  us  that  we  can 
save  ourselves  from  future  and  lasting  denun- 
ciation and  reproach  only  by  pronouncing  our 
own  condemnation  by  our  votes.    He  assures 
us  that  he  has  no  desire  or  intention  to  degrade 
the  Senate,  but  the  position  in  which  he  would 
place  us  is  one  of  deep  degradation— degrada- 
tion of  the  most  humiliating  character— which 
not  only  acknowledges  error,  and  admits  inex- 
cusable misconduct  in  this  legislative  branch  of 
the  government,  but  bows  it  down  before  the 
majesty  of  the  Executive,  and  makes  us  offer 
incense  to  his  infallibility." 

The  bitterness  of  this  self  trial  was  aggravat- 
ed by  seeing  the  course  which  the  public  mind 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACF^ON,  PRESIDENT. 


was  taking.  A  current,  strong  and  steady,  and 
conotantly  swelling,  was  setting  in  for  the 
President  and  against  the  Senate ;  and  resolu- 
tions from  the  Ieginlatures  of  several  States- 
Alabama,  Mississippi,  New  JerHoy,  North  Caro- 
lina—had already  arrived  instructing  their  sena- 
tors to  vote  for  the  expurgation  which  Mr, 
Benton  proposed.  In  the  mean  time  he  had 
not  yet  made  his  leading  speech  in  favor  of  his 
motion ;  and  ho  judgetl  this  to  be  the  proper 
time  to  do  so,  in  order  to  produce  its  effects  on 
the  elections  of  the  ensuing  summer ;  and  ac- 
cordingly now  spoke  as  follows : 

"Mr.  Benton  then  rose  and  addressed  the 
Senate  in  support  of  his  motion.  He  said  that 
the  resolution  which  he  had  offered,  though  re- 
solved upon,  as  he  had  heretofore  stated,  with- 
out consultation  with  any  person,  was  not  re- 
solved upon  without  great  deliberation  in  his 
own  mind.  The  criminating  resolution,  which 
it  was  his  object  to  expunge,  was  presented  to 


529 


the  Senate,  December  26th,  1833,    The  senator 
from  Kentucky  who  introduced  it  [Mr.  Clay] 
commenced  a  discussion  of  it  on  that  day,  which 
was  continued  through  the  months  of  January 
and  February,  and  to  the  end,  nearly,  of  the 
month  of  March.     The  vote  was  taken  upon  it 
the  28th  of  March ;  and  about  a  fortnight  there- 
after he  announced  to  the  Senate  his  intention 
to  commence  a  series  of  mqtions  for  expunging 
the  resolution  from  the  journal.     Here,  then 
were  nearly  four  months  for  consideration ;  for 
the  decision  was  expected;  and  he  had  very 
anxiously  considered,  during  that  period,  all  the 
difficulties,  and  all  the  proprieties,  of  the  step 
which  he  meditated.    Was  the  intended  motion 
to  clear  the  journal  of  the  resolution  right  in 
Itself?    The  convictions  of  his  judgment  told 
hm  that  it  was.    Was  expurgation  the  proper 
mode?    Yes;  he  was  thoroughly  satisfied  that 
that  was  the  proper  mode  of  proceeding  in  this 
case.    For  the  criminating  resolution  which  he 
wished  to  get  rid  of  combined  all  the  charac- 
teristics of  a  case  which  required  erasure  and 
obhteration:  for  it  was  a  case,  a«  he  believed, 
of  the  exercise  of  power  without   authority 
without  even  ju--sdiction;  illegal,  irregular,  and 
unjust.    Other  modes  of  annulling  the  resolu- 
tion, as  rescinding,  reversing,  repealing,  could 
not  be  proper  in  such  a  case ;  for  thev  wonlH 
"npiy  rightful  jurisdiction,  a  lawful  authority 
»  legal  action,  though  an  erroneous  judgment. 

Vol.  I.— 34 


All  that  he  denied.  Ho  denied  the  authority 
of  the  Senate  to  pass  such  a  resolution  at  all ; 
and  he  affirmed  that  it  was  unjust,  and  contra- 
ry to  the  truth,  as  well  as  contrary  to  law. 
This  being  his  view  of  the  resolution,  he  held 
that  the  true  and  proper  course,  the  pariia- 
mentary  course  of  proceeding  in  such  a  case 
was  to  expunge  it,  ' 

But,  said  Mr,  B,,  it  is  objected  that  the  Senate 
has  no  right  to  expunge  any  thing  from  its 
journal ;   that  it  is  required  by  the  constitu- 
tion to  keep  a  journal ;  and,  being  so  required, 
could  not  destroy  any  part  of  it.    This,  said 
Mr,  B.,  is  sticking  in  the  bark ;  and  in  the  thin- 
nest bark  in  which  a  shot,  even  the  smallest, 
was  ever  lodged.    Various  are  the  meanings  of 
the  word  keep,  used  as  a  verb.    To  keep  a  jour- 
nal is  to  write  down,  daily,  the  history  of  what 
you  do.    For  the  Senate  to  keep  a  journal  is  to 
cause  to  be  written  down,  every  day,  the  ac- 
count of  its  proceedings  ;  and,  having  done  that, 
the  constitutional  injunction  is  satisfied.    The 
constitution  was  satisfied  by  entering  this  crim- 
inating resolution  on  the  journal ;  it  will  be 
equally  satisfied  by  entering  the  expunging  res- 
olution on  the  same  journal.    In  each  case  the 
Senate  keeps  a  journal  of  its  own  proceedings. 

It  is  objected,  also,  that  we  have  no  right  to 
destroy  a  part  of  the  journal ;  and  that  to  ex- 
punge is  to  destroy  and  to  prevent  the  expung- 
ed part  from  being  known  in  future.  Not  so 
the  fact,  said  Mr.  B.  The  matter  expunged  is 
not  destroyed.  It  is  incorporated  in  the  ex- 
punging resolution,  and  lives  as  long  as  that 
lives  ;  the  only  effect  of  the  expurgation  being 
to  express,  in  the  most  emphatic  manner,  the 
opinion  that  such  matter  ought  never  to  have 
been  put  in  the  journal. 

Mr.  B.  said  he  would  support  these  positions 
by  authority,  the  authority  of  eminent  exam- 
ples; and  would  cite  two  cases,  out  of  a  multi- 
tude that  might  be  adduced,  to  show  that  ex- 
punging was  the  proper  course,  the  pariiamen- 
mentary  course,  in  such  a  case  as  the  one  now 
before  the  Senate,  and  that  the  eSpunged  mat- 
ter was  incorporated  and  preserved  in  the  ex- 
punging resolution. 

Mr,  B,  then  read,  from  a  volume  of  Britisfr 
Pariiamentary  History,  the  celebrated  case  of 
*hc  Middlesex  election,  in  which  the  resolutioa 
to  expel  the  famous  John  Wilkes  was  expunged 
from  the  journal,  but  preserved  in  the  expnijar^ 


I' 


1  -fu 


530 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


tory  roBolution,  so  u  to  be  just  aa  well  read 
now  aH  if  it  had  never  been  blotted  out  from 
the  journals  of  tlie  British  House  of  •  oinnions. 
The  resolution  ran  in  tlu'so  words:  "That  the 
resolution  of  the  House  of  the  17th  Fcln-viary, 
17G9,  'that  John  Wilkes,  Esq.,  having  Ix.  in 
this  session  of  Parliament,  expelled  this  House, 
was  aud  is  incapii'  le  of  being  electeti  a  member 
to  serve  in  the  present  P  vrliamcnt,'  be  expung- 
ed fijm  tho  jot  w.  "i  11,  fiouso,  as  ht'U^f, 
subversive  of  the  rlght^i  of  the  whole  body  of 
electors  of  ilw.  ku.guom."  Such,  said  Mr.  B., 
were  the  i  "  ns  of  the  expunging  resolution  in 
the  case  of  the  Middlesex  election,  a&  it  was 
annually  i  Produced  from  17G9  to  1782 ;  when  it 
waK  finally  piussed  by  a  vote  of  near  thre<»  to 
one,  and  the  clause  ordered  to  }>•■  ;pa..^cu  vva. 
Wotted  out  of  the  journal,  and  obliterated,  by 
the  clerk  at  the  table,  in  the  presence  of  the 
whole  House,  which  remained  silent,  and  all 
business  suspended  until  the  obliteration  was 
<;omplcte.  Yet  the  history  of  the  case  is  not 
lost.  Though  blotted  out  ot  one  part  of  the 
journal,  it  is  saved  in  another ;  and  here,  at  the 
distance  of  half  a  century,  and  some  thousand 
miles  from  London,  the  whole  case  is  read  as 
fully  as  if  no  such  operation  had  ever  been  per- 
formed upon  it. 

Having  given  a  precedent  f  om  British  par- 
liamentary history,  Mr.  B.  would  give  another 
from  American  history ;  not,  indeed,  from  the 
Congresb  of  the  assembled  States,  but  from  one 
of  the  oldest  luid  most  respectable  States  of  the 
Union :  he  spoke  of  Massachusetts,  and  of  the 
resolution  adopted  in  the  Senate  of  that  State 
during  the  late  war,  adverse  t<-.  the  celebration 
of  our  national  victories ;  and  whic?'  some  ten 
years  afterward?,  was  expunged  fro  the  jour- 
.nals  by  a  solem      ite  ol  che  Sona( 

A  year  ago,  said  Mr.  B.,  .  lo  Senate  tried 
President  Jackson ;  now  the  Senate  itself  is  on 
trial  nominally  b  /^ic  icself ;  but  in  reality  be- 
fore America,  Europu,  and  posterity.  We  shall 
,^ive  our  voices  in  our  own  case ;  we  shaU  vote 
for  or  against  this  motion ;  and  the  ■  ..ry  uj^iu 
ihe. record  will  be  according  he  uj.ii  rity  of 
voices.  But  that  is  not  the  ,  b'  the  be- 
gWming  of  our  trial.  We  si  br  -od  by 
.others,  by  the  public,  by  the  jn..  ..at  at,  and 
by  all  posterity !  The  proceedings  of  this  ca«e, 
land  of  this  day,  will  not  be  limited  to  tin  present 
ag/dj  .they  will  go  down  to  poeturity,  aud  to  the 


latest  ages.  President  Jackson  is  not  a  character 
tu  bo  forgotten  in  history.  His  nnmo  is  not  to 
be  confined  to  the  dry  catalogue  nnd  official 
nomenclature  of  mere  Amcricun  l"  'sidents. 
Like  the  great  Romans  who  attained  the  con- 
sulship, not  by  the  paltry  arts  of  electioneering 
but  through  a  series  of  illustrious  deeds  his 
name  will  live,  not  for  tho  offices  li-  tilled  but 
for  the  deeds  which  he  performed.  t\'  jg  tho 
first  President  that  has  ever  received  i  he  con- 
demnation of  the  Senate  for  the  violation  of  the 
laws  and  the  constitution,  the  first  whose  name 
is  borne  upon  the  journals  of  tl.,  American  Se- 
nate for  the  violation  of  that  constitution  which 
he  is  sworn  to  observe,  and  of  those  laws  which 
he  is  bound  to  see  faithriiUy  executed.  Such 
a  condemnation  cannot  escape  tho  observation 
of  history.  It  will  be  read,  considered,  indged ! 
when  tho  men  o^"  this  day,  and  tlio  passions  of 
this  hour,  shall  have  passed  to  eternal  repose. 

Before  he  proceeded  to  the  exjiosition  of  the 
case  which  he  intended  to  make,  he  winind  to 
avail  himself  of  an  argument  wliich  .lad  been 
conclusive  elsewlnre,  and  which  he  trusted 
could  not  be  without  effect  in  tliis  Senate.  It 
was  the  argument  of  public  opinion.  In  ik 
case  of  the  Middlesex  election,  it  had  been  de- 
cisive with  the  British  House  of  (omnions;  in 
the  Massachusetts  case,  it  had  b^i  <  decisive 
with  the  Sei  IW5  of  that  State.  In  bith  the?c 
cases  many  gentlemen  vidded  their  private 
opinions  (<  public  sentin  •  ;  and  public  enti- 
ment  bin  mg  been  well  lao.ounced  in  the  i 
now  before  tho  Senate,  he  had  a  right  t 
f»  .  hosamedefei  itial  respect  for  it  her  hich 
had  been  shown  elsewhere." 

Mr.  B.  then  took  up  a  volume  of  British  pa^ 
liamentary  h's  tory  for  the  year  1782,  tho  22d 
volume,  and  read  variof-  passages  from  p^^fes 
1407, 1408, 1410, 1411,  t  ,how  thestrcss  which 
had  been  laid  on  the  argximentof  public  opinion 
i;.  livor  of  expunging  the  Middlesex  resoi.t ions; 
and  the  deference  whi  '•>  was  paid  to  it  by  the 
House,  aud  by  membr  who  had,  until  then, 
opposed  the  motion  to  t  vpiinge.  lie  !id  first 
from  Mr.  Wilk  i'  openii  speech,  on  renewing 
his  anil  A  motion  for  tue  fourteenth  time,  as 
follows 

"If  111  people  of  England,  ■,  have  at  any 
time  explu . ;  ly  and  fully  'leclared  au  op;  •« 
respecting  a  mo.aentous  constitutional  question, 
it  has  been  in  regard  to  the  Middiebi  -  elecuuu 


ANNO  1888.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


ickson  is  not  a  character 
f.  HiH  name  is  not  to 
catalogue  and  ofHcial 
Ainericttn  T  "sidcnts. 
who  attained  the  con- 
f  arts  of  electioneering, 
f  iiluBtrioiis  deeds,  his 
ho  offices  h"  tilled,  but 
performed,  f' .;  ig  the 
ever  received  i!ie  con- 
for  the  violation  of  the 
n,  the  first  whose  name 
lis  of  tL>  American  Sc- 
that  constitution  which 
ind  of  those  laws  which 
hfully  executed.  Such 
BBcapo  the  observatiun 
iad,  considered,  judged! 
ay,  and  tlio  passions  of 
sed  to  eternal  repose. 
3  the  exposition  of  the 
to  make,  he  wi.  ,id  to 
lirnent  which  .lad  been 
nd  which  ho  trusted 
feet  in  this  Senate.  It 
Dublic  opinion.  lu  thi 
lection,  it  Iiad  been  de- 
louse  of  t''>inmons;  in 
,  it  had  bv.  i  decisive 
State.  In  b(.th  these 
yielded  their  private 
i<  t ;  and  public  .enti- 
)roiiounced  in  the  i 
lie  had  a  right  t 
•espect  for  it  her  nich 
re." 

I  volume  of  British  pa^ 

-he  year  1782,  the  22d 

-  passages  ff^m  p.i^tis 

how  the  St;  uss  which 

iment  of  public  opinion 

Middlesex  resol.tions; 

was  paid  to  it  by  the 

who  had,  until  theii; 

jtpunge.    Hi'     !»d  first 

;  speech,  on  renewing 

tie  fourteenth  time,  as 

gland,  '.  have  at  any 
Y  'leclared  an  oy  on 
constitutional  question, 
the  Miduii       eie'i:  a 


in  17(18."  ♦  ♦  •  ♦  "Their  voice  wan  never 
heard  in  a  more  clear  and  di'^^*'  ict  manner  than 
on  tluH  point  of  the  first  ma  ude  for  all  the 
electors  of  the  kingtiom,  an  ust  will  now 

be  heard  favorably." 

He  then  read  from  Mr.  Fox's  Bpeech.  Mr. 
F'lX  had  heretofore  opposed  the  expimging  reso- 
lution but  now  yielded  to  it  in  obedience  to  the 
voice  of  the  people. 

"lie  (Mr.  Fox)  had  turned  the  question  often 
in  his  mind,  ho  was  still  of  opinion  that  the  re- 
solution which  gentlemen  wanted  to  expunge 
was  founded  on  proper  principles."  *  ♦  ♦  « 
« Though  he  opposed  the  motion,  ho  felt  very 
little  anxiety  for  the  event  of  the  question  ;  for 
when  he  found  the  voice  of  the  people  was 
:igainst  the  privilege,  as  he  believed  was  the  case 
at  present,  ho  would  not  preserve  the  privilege." 
♦  ♦  ♦  *  "  The  people  had  associated,  they 
had  declared  their  sentiments  to  Parliament 
and  had  taught  r.irlianient  to  listen  to  the  voice 
of  their  constituents." 

Having  read  these  pa     ,ges,  Mr.  B.  said  they 
were  the  sentiments  of  an  English  whig  of  the 
1(1  school.    Mr.  Fox  was  a  whig  of  the  old 
school.    He  acknowledged  the  right  of  the  peo- 
ple to  instruct  ih^'w  representatives.    He  yielded 
to  the  general  v.     ^^  himself,  though  not  specially 
instructed;  and  be  uses  tb'^  remarkable  expres- 
sion which  acknowledges  tlu  duty  of  Parliament 
to  obey  the  will  of  the  people.     «  They  had  de- 
lared  their  sentiments  to  Parliament,  and  had 
(a  iirht  Parliament  to  I^ten  to  the  voice  of  their 
constituents."    This,  said  Mr.  B.,  was  fifty  years 
ago ;      was  spoken  by  a  member  of  Parliament 
lio    ,esi.'     being  the  first  debater  of  his  ape| 
!         that  time  Secretary  at  War.    Ho  ac- 
knowleuged  the  duty  of  Parliament  to  obey  the 
voice  of  the  people.    The  son  of  r  peer  of  the 
realm,  and  only  not  a  peer  himself  because  he 
was  not  the  eldest  he  still  acknowledged 

the  great  democratic  pririciple  which  lies  at  the 
bottom  of  all  represent  It  e  government.  After 
this,  after  such  an  exHir  ie,will  American  Se- 
nators be  unwilling  to  obey  the  people  ?  Will 
they  require  peop.c  to  teach      --rrss  the  lesso  i 

which  Mr.  Fox  says  ih.  I ..^h  people  ;     i 

taught  their  Par]-..i..  ,m   ..%  years  ago ?    Th 
voice       the  people  of  the  United  ha 

be<'  heard  on  thie  =uhject.  The  eii  ions 
declared  it.  The  vot.  ,  u,any  '  rislatur  1«- 
aeclarea  it.    rrom  th     onfines  oi  the  Kept  lie  I 


031 


the  voice  (»f  the  people  came  rolling  in— a  swell- 
ing tide,  rising  as  it  flowud— and  covering  the 
capitol  with  its  mountain  waves.  Can  that 
voice  bo  disregai-ded  ?  Will  members  of  a  re- 
publican Congress  bo  less  obedient  to  the  voice 
of  the  people  than  were  the  representatives  of 
a  monarchical  House  of  Commons  7 

Mr.  B.  then  proceeded  to  the  argument  of  his 
motion.  He  moved  to  expn  -o  the  resolution 
of  March  28,  1834,  from  ti,  ■  journals  of  the 
Senate,  because  it  was  illegal  and  unjust ;  vague 
and  indefinite ;  acri>  inal  f'.argo  without  spe- 
cification ;  unwarraiied  by  fhe  '  ■>n8titntionand 
laws;  subversive  of  the  rights  (.,  .iefence  which 
belong  to  an  accused  and  impeachable  officer; 
of  evil  example  ;  and  adopted  at  a  time  and  under 
circumstances  to  involve  the  political  rights 
and  the  pecuniary  interests  of  the  peonle  of  the 
United  States  in  peculiar  danger  and  serious  in- 
jury. 

These  reasons  for  expunging  the  criminating 
resolution  from  the  journals,  Mr.  B.  said,  were 
not  phrases  collected  and  paraded  for  effect,  or 
strung  together  for  harmony  of  sound.    They 
were  each,  separately  and  Individ  illy,  substan- 
tive reasons;  every  word  an  allegation  of  fact, 
or  of  law.    Without  going  fully  into  the  argu- 
ment now,  he  would  make  an  exposition  which 
would  lay  open  his  meaning,  and  enable  each 
allegation,  whether  of  law  or  of  fact,  to  be  fully 
understood,  and  replied  to  in  the  sense  intended. 
1.  Illegal  and  unjust.— These  were  the  first 
heads  under  which  Mr.  B.  would  develope  his 
objections,  he  would  say  the  outline  of  his  ob- 
jections, to  the  resolution  proposed  to  be  ex- 
punged.   He  held  it  to  be  illegal,  because  it 
contained  a  criminal  charge,  on  which  the  Pres- 
ident might   he  impeached,  and  for  which  he 
might  be  tried  by  the  Senate.    The  resolution 
adopted  by  the  Senate  is  precisely  the  first  step 
t;  ie;        il,    House  of  Representatives  to  bring 
on  an  imp-  ent.    It  was  a  resolution  offered 

by  a  men..,  ■.  ,a  his  place,  containing  a  criminal 
charge  against  an  impeachable  officer,  debated 
for  a  hundred  days;  and  then  voted  upon  by  the 
Senate,  and  the  officer  voted  to  be  guilty.  This 
is  the  precise  mode  of  bringing  <i  an  impeach- 
ment in  the  House  of  Representatives ;  and,  to 
prove  it,  Mr.  B.  would  read  from  a  work  of  ap- 
proved authority  on  parliamentary  pra'  Mce;  it 

—  "^ '•  -"-■tvi-rjun  --aauai.    jVir.  n.  men 

read  from  the  Manual,  under  the  section  entitled 


532 


TIITRTY  YEARS*  VIEW. 


Impeachment,  and  ft'orn  timl  head  of  tho  aection 
ontitlod  accusation.  Tho  writer  was  giving  tho 
Britinh  Parliiimontary  priictico,  to  which  our 
own  constitution  is  coulbnnable.  "  Tho  Com- 
mons, as  the  grand  iiuiuest  of  the  nation,  btcamo 
suitors  for  jH-'nal  justi  e.  The  general  course  iH 
to  pass  a  resolution  containing  a  criminal  cliargo 
against  tho  supposed  delinquent ;  and  then  to 
direct  some  member  to  impeach  him  by  oral 
accusation  at  tho  bar  of  the  Ilouse  of  Lords,  in 
the  name  of  the  Commons." 

Repeating  a  clause  of  what  ho  had  rend,  Mr. 
B.  said  tho  general       irso  is  to  pass  a  criminal 
charge  against  the  supposed  delinquent.    This  is 
exactly  what  tho  Senate  did ;  and  what  did  it 
do  next  ?    Nothing.    And  why  nothing  /    Be- 
cause there  was  nothing  to  be  done  by  them  but 
to  expcuio  the  sentence  they  had  passed ;  and 
that  I     y  could  not  do.     Penal  justice  was  the 
consequence  of  tho  resolution  ;  and  a  judgment 
of  penalties  could  not  be  attempted  on  such  an 
irregular  proceeding.     The  only  kind  of  penal 
justice  which  tho  Senate  could  inflict  was  that 
of  public  opinion ;  it  was  to  ostracize  the  Presi- 
dent, and  to  expose  him  to  public  odium,  as 
a  violator  of  the  laws  and  constitution  of  his 
country.    Havinp,  shown  the  resolution  to  be 
illegal,  Mr.  B.  would  pronounce  it  to  be  unjust  j 
for  he  affirmed  tlie  resolution  to  be  unlru.  ;  he 
maintained  that  tiie  President  had  violated  no 
law,  no  part  of  tho  constitution,  in  lii  missing 
Mr.  Duaue  from  the  Treasury,  appointing  Mr. 
Taney,  or  causing  the  deposits  to  bo  removed ; 
for  these  were  the  specifications  contained  in  the 
original  resolution,  also  in  the  second  modifica- 
tion of  the  resolution,  and  intended  in  the  third 
modification,  when  stripped  of  specifications,  and 
reduced  to  a  vague  and  general  charge.    It  was 
in  this  ehni)e  of  a  general  charge  that  the  reso- 
lution passed.    No  new  specifications  were  even 
suggested  in  debate.    The  alterations  were  made 
voluntarily,  by  the  friends  of  the  resolution,  at 
the  last  moment  of  tho  debate,  and  just  when 
the  vote  was  to  be  taken.    And  why  wore  the 
specifications  then  dropped?    Because  no  ma- 
jority could  be  found  to  agree  in  them  ?  or  be- 
cause it  was  thought  prudent  to  drop  the  name 
of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States?  or  for  both 
these  reasons  together  7    Be  that  as  it  may,  said 
Mr.  B.,  the  condemnation  of  the  President  and 
the  support  of  the  bank,  were  connected  in  the 
resolution,  and  will  be  indissolubly  connected 


in  tho  public  mind  ;  and  tho  President  was  un- 
justly condemned  in  the  same  resolution  that 
befriended  and  Mustaiued  tho  cause  of  the  bank. 
He  held  the  condemnation  to  Ikj  imtrue  in  point 
of  fact,  and  therefoi-o  ui^ust ;  for  he  niaiiitainod 
til  fit  there  was  no  breach  of  the  laws  and  con- 
stitution in  any  thing  that  President  Juckxon 
did,  in  removing  Mr.  Duane,  or  in  appointing  Mr. 
Taney,  or  in  causing  the  deposits  to  be  removed. 
There  was  no  violation  of  law,  or  constitution 
in  any  part  of  these  proceedings;  i  i  the  con- 
trary, tho  whole  country,  and  the  i^ovtmnient 
itself,  was  redeemed  from  the  doininion  of  a 
great  and  daring  moneyed  corporation,  by  the 
wisdom  and  energy  of  these  very  proceedings. 

2,    Vague  and  imhjinite ;  a  criiiiuml  charge 
'  ithout  specification.    Such  was  the  resolution, 
Mr.  B.  said,  when  it  passed  tho  Senate;  but 
such  it  was  not  when  first  introduced,  nor  even 
when  first  altered;  in  its  first  and  second  forms 
it  contained  specifications,  and  these  speoifica- 
tions  identified  tho  condemnalum  of  tlw  Presi- 
dent with  tho  defence  of  the  bank  ;  in  its  third 
form,  these  specifications  were  omitted,  and  no 
others  were  substituted ;  tho  bank  and  the  re- 
solution stood  disconnected  on  the  record,  but 
as  much  connected,  in  fact,  as  ever.    Tlie  reso- 
lution was  reduced  to  a  vague  and  indefinite 
form,  on  purpof^o,  and  in  that  circumstance,  ac- 
quired a  new  character  of  injustice  to  President 
Jackson.    His  accusers  should  have  specified 
tho   law,  and  the  clause  in  the  constitution, 
which  was  violated  ,  they  should  have  specifird 
the  acts  which  constituted  tho  violation.    This 
was  due  to  the  accused,  that  he  might  know  on 
what  points  to  defend  himself;  it  w  im  duo  to 
the  public,  that  they  might  know  on  v  .atitoii.ts 
to  hold  the  accusers  to  their  responsibility,  and 
to  make  them  accountable  for  an  unjust  accusa- 
tion.   To  sustain  this  position,  Mr.  B.  had  re- 
course to  history  and  example,  and  produced 
the  case  of  Mr.  Giles's  accusation  of  General 
Hamilton,  then  Sfretary  of  the  Treasury,  in 
the  year  1793.    Mr.  Giles,  he  said,  proceeded 
in  a  manly,  responsible  manner.    He  specified 
the  law  and  the  alleged  violations  of  the  law, 
so  that  the  friends  of  General  Hamilton  could 
see  what  to  defend,  and  so  as  to  make  himself 
accountable  for  the  accusation.    He  specified  the 
law.  which  he  believed  to  be  violftted.  by  its  date 
and  its  title ;  and  he  specified  the  two  instances 
in  which  he  held  that  law  to  have  been  infringed. 


ANNO  18S6.    ANDREW  JACKHON,  PRESIDENT. 


533 


Mr.  n.  said  he  had  a  double  object  In  quoting 
this  rcRolution  of  Hv.  Oitea,  which  wa.s  intended 
to  lay  the  foiiiulation  for  an  iiniMjaehnient  against 
General  Hamilton;  it  was  to  whow,  first,  the 
8i>t'ciality  with  whieh  those  criminating  resolu- 
tions nhoiild  be  drawn ;  next,  to  show  the  ab- 
sence of  any  alli  j^atious  of  corrupt  or  wicked 
intention.  The  mere  violation  of  law  was 
charged  as  the  offence,  as  it  was  in  three  of  the 
articles  of  impeachment  against  Judge  Chase ; 
and  thus,  the  aliHcnco  of  an  allegation  of  cor- 
rupt intention  in  the  resolution  adopted  against 
President  Jackson,  was  no  argument  against  its 
impeachment  character,  especially  aa  exhibited 
in  its  first  and  second  fonn,  with  the  criminal 
averment,  "dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the 
people." 

For  the  puq)O80  of  exposing  the  studied 
vagueness  of  the  resolution  as  passed,  detect- 
ing its  connection  with  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  demonstrating  its  criminal  character  in 
twice  retaining  the  criminal  averment,  "danger- 
ous to  the  liberties  of  the  people,"  and  showing 
the  progressive  changes  it  had  to  undergo  be- 
fore it  could  conciliate  a  majority  of  the  votes 
Mr.  B.  would  exhibit  all  three  of  the  re- 
solutions, and  read  them  side  by  side  of  each 
other,  as  they  appeared  before  the  Senate,  in 
the  first,  second,  and  third  forms  which  they 
were  made  to  wear.  They  appeared  first  in  the 
embryo,  or  primordial  form ;  then  they  a.«8umed 
their  aurelia,  or  chrysalis  state ;  in  the  third 
stage,  they  reached, the  ultimate  perfection  of 
their  imperfect  nature. 


public  money  fi-on,  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  t»u)  President  of  the  United  .States  haa 
assumed  the  exercise  of  a  power  over  the  trc;- 
sury  of  the  United  States  not  granted  to  Km 
by  the  constitution  and  laws,  and  dangerou-»  'n 
the  liberties  of  the  iHjoplo." 


PinsT  Form.— December  26, 1833. 

"Resolved,  That  by  dismissing  the  late  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury,  because  he  would  not, 
contrary  to  his  sense  of  his  own  duty,  remove 
the  money  of  the  United  States,  in  deposit  with 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States  and  its  branches, 
in  conformity  with  the  President's  opinion,  and 
by  appointing  his  successor  to  make  such  re- 
moval, which  has  been  done,  the  President  has 
assumed  the  exercise  (fa  power  over  the  trea- 
sury of  the  United  States  not  granted  to  him 
by  the  constitution  and  lav  ;,  and  dangerous  to 
the  liberties  of  the  people. 

Second  Form.— TWarcA  28, 1834. 
"lienohed,  That,  in  taking  upon  himself  the 
responsibUity  of  removing  the  deposit  of  the 


Third  Form.— MtrcA  28,  1834. 

"  liemU'ed,  That  the  President,  in  the  lato 
executive  proceedings,  in  relation  to  the  public 
revenue,  has  assumed  upon  himself  authority 
and  power  not  conferred  by  the  constitution 
and  law.s,  but  in  derogation  of  both." 

Having  exhibited  the  original  resolution,  with 
its  variations,  Mr.  B.  would  leave  it  to  others 
to  explain  the  reasons  of  such  extraordinary 
metamorphoses.     Whether  to  get  rid  of  the 
bank  association,  or  to  get  rid  of  the  impeach- 
ment clause,  or  to  coneiliato  the  votes  of  all  who 
were  willing  to  condemn  the  President,  but 
could  not  tell  for  what,  it  was  not  for  him  to 
say ;  but  one  thing  he  would  venture  to  say, 
that  the  majority  who  agreed  in  passing  a  gene- 
ral  resolution,  containing   a   criminal    charge 
against  President  Jackson,  for  violating  the  laws 
and   the   constitution,  cannot   now   agree    in 
naming  the  law  or  the  clause  in  the  constitu- 
tion violated,  or  in  specifying  any  act  constitu- 
ting such  violation.    And  here  Mr.  B.  paused, 
and  offered  to  give  way  to  the  gentlemen  of 
the  opposition,  if  they  would  now  undertake  to 
specify  any  act  which  President  Jackson  had 
done  in  violation  of  law  or  constitution. 

3.  Unwarranted  by  the  constitution  and 
laws.— Mr.  B.  buid  this  head  explained  itself. 
It  needed  no  development  to  be  understood  by 
the  Senate  or  the  country.  The  President  was 
condemned  without  the  form  of  a  trial ;  and, 
therefore,  his  condemnation  was  unwarranted 
by  the  constitution  and  laws. 

4.  Subversive  of  the  rights  of  defence,  which 
belong  to  an  accused  and  impeachable  officer.— 
This  head,  also  (Mr.  B.  said),  explained  itself. 
An  accused  person  had  a  right  to  be  heard  be- 
fore he  was  condemned ;  an  impeachable  officer 
could  not  be  condemned  unheard  by  the  Senate, 
without  subverting  all  the  rights  of  defence 
which  belong  to  him,  and  disqualifying  the  Sen- 
ate to  act  as  impartial  judges  in  the  event  of  his 
being  regularly  impeached  for  the  same  offence. 
In  this  case,  the  House  of  Representatives,  if 
they  confided  in  the  Senate's  condemnation, 


t  '  • 


%i 


1        ii, 


534 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


Ik  ■•'-.'    ' 

.If    ■ 


would  send  up  an  impeachment;  that  they  had 
not  done  so,  was  proof  that  they  had  no  confi- 
dence in  the  correctness  of  our  decision. 

5.  Of  evil  example.— iiothing^  said  Mr.  B., 
could  be  more  unjust  and  illegal  in  itself  and 
therefore  more  evil  in  example,  than  to  try  peo- 
ple without  a  hearing,  and  condemn  them  with- 
out defence.    In  this  case,  such  a  trial  and  such 
a  condemnation  was  aggravated  by  the  refusal 
of  the  Senate,  after  their  sentence  was  pro- 
nounced, to  receive  the  defence  of  the  President, 
and  let  it  be  printed  for  the  inspection  of  pos- 
terity !    So  that,  if  this  criminating  resolution 
is  not  expunged,  the  singular  spectacle  will  go 
down  to  posterity,  of  a  condemnation,  and  a 
refusal  to  permit  an  answer  from  the  condemned 
person  standing  recorded  on  the  pages  of  the 
same  journal !    Mr.  B.  said  the  Senate  must 
look  forward  to  the  time— far  ahead,  perhaps, 
but  a  time  which  may  come— when  this  body 
may  be  filled  with   disappointed  competitors, 
or  personal  enemies  of  the    President,  or  of 
aspirants  to  the  very  office  whieh   ho  holds, 
and  who  may  not  scruple  to  undertake  to  crip- 
ple him  by  senatorial  condemnations;  to  at- 
taint him  by  convictions ;  to  ostracise  him  by 
vote  ;  and  lest  this  should  happen,  and  the  pre- 
sent condemnation  of  President  Jackson  should 
become  the  precedent  for  such  an  odious  pro- 
ceeding, the  evil  example  should  be  arrested 
should  be  removed,  by  expunginp'    ue  present 
sentence  from  the  journals  of  the  Senate.    And 
here  Mr.  B.  would  avail   himself  of  a  voice 
which  had  often  been  heard  in  the  two  Houses 
of  Congress,  and  always  with  respect  and  ven- 
eration.   It  was  the  voice  of  a  wise  man   an 
honest  man,  a  good  man,  a  patriot ;  one  who 
knew  no  cause  but  the  ceuse  of  his  counti    • 
and  who,  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  foresaw 
and  described  the  scenes  of  this  day,  and  fore- 
told the  consequences  which  must  have  happen- 
ed to  any  other  President,  under  the  circum- 
stances in  which  President  Jackson  has  been 
placed.    He  spoke  of  Nathaniel  Macon  of  North 
Carolina,  and  of  the  sentiments  which  he  ex- 
pressed, in  the  year  1810,  when  called  upon  to 
give  a  vote  in  approbation  of  Mr.  Madison's 
conduct  in  dismissing  Mr.  Jackson,  the  then 
British  minister  to  the  United  States.     He  op- 
posed the  resolution   of  anprobatior.    })or"r 

the  Hoiuso  liad  nothing  to  do  with  tlie  Presi- 
dent, in  their  legislative  character,  except  the 


passing  of  laws,  calling  for  information,  or  im- 
peaching;  and,  looking  into  the  evil  conge- 
quences  of  undertaking  to  judge  of  the  P^  i\. 
dent's  conduct,  he  foretold  the  exact  predica- 
ment in  which  the  Senate  is  now  involved  with 
respect  to  President  Jackson.  Mr.  B.  then 
read  extracts  from  the  speech  of  Mr.  Macon  on 
the  occasion  referred  to : 

"I  am  opposed  to  the  resolution,  not  for  the 
reasons  which  have  been  offered  against  it,  nor 
for  any  which  can  be  drawn  from  the  documents 
before  us,  but  because  I  am  opposed  to  address- 
ing the  President  of  the  United  States  upou  any 
subject  whatever.  "We  have  nothing  to  do  with 
him,  in  our  legislative  character,  except  the 
passing  of  laws,  calling  on  him  for  information 
or  to  impeach.  On  the  day  of  the  presidential 
e  action,  we,  in  common  with  our  fellow-citi- 
zens, are  to  pass  on  his  conduct,  and  resolutions 
of  this  sort  will  have  no  weight  on  that  day.  It 
is  on  this  ground  solely  that  I  am  opposed  to 
adopting  any  resolution  whatever  in  relation  to 
the  Executive  conduct.  If  the  national  legisla- 
ture can  pass  resolutions  to  approve  the  con- 
duct of  the  President,  may  they  not  also  pass 
resolutions  to  censure  ?  And  what  would  be 
the  situation  of  the  country,  if  we  were  now 
discussing  a  motion  to  request  the  President  to 
recall  Mr.  Jackson,  and  again  to  endeavor  to 
negotiate  with  him  ?  " 

6.  At  a  time,  and  under  circumstances,to  in- 
volve the  political  rights  and  pecuniary  ink- 
rests  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  in  serious 
injury  and  peculiar  danger.— This  head  of  his 
argument,  Mr.  B.  said,  would  require  a  develop- 
ment and   detail  which   he   had  not  deemed 
necessary  at  this  time,  considering  what  had 
been  said  by  him  at  the  last  session,  and  what 
would  now  be   said  by  others,  to  give  the 
reasons  which  he  had  so  briefly  touched.    But 
at  this  point  he  approached  new  ground;  he 
entered   a  new  field;    he  saw  an   extended 
horizon  of  argument  and  fact  expand  before 
him,  and  it  became  necessary  for  him  to  expand 
with  his  subject.     The  condemnation  of  the 
President  is  indissolubly  connected  with  the 
cause  of  the  bank  !    The  first  form  of  the  re- 
solution exhibited  tho  connection ;  the  second 
form  (lid  also ;  every  ,  neech  did  the  same ;  'or 
every  speech  in  condc.  jution  of  the  rrcsiacnt 
was  in  justification  of  the  bank ;  every  speech 
in  justification  of  the  President  was  in  con- 


ANNO  1835.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


085 


demnation  of  the  bank ;  and  thus  the  two  ob- 
jects were  identical  and  reciprocal.  The  at- 
tiw-k  of  one  was  a  defence  of  the  other ;  the 
defence  of  one  was  the  attack  of  the  other. 
And  thus  it  continued  for  the  long  protracted 
period  of  nearly  one  hundred  days — from  De- 
cember 26th,  1833,  to  March  28th,  1834— when, 
for  reasons  not  explained  to  the  Senate,  upon  a 
private  consultation  amonj;  the  friends  of  the 
resolution,  the  mover  of  it  came  forward  to  the 
Secretary's  table,  and  voluntarily  made  the  alter- 
ations which  cut  the  connection  between  the 
banii  and  the  resolution  !  but  it  stood  upon  the 
record,  by  striking  out  every  thing  relative  to 
the  dismissal  of  Mr.  Duane,  the  appointment  of 
Mr.  Taney,  and  the  removal  of  the  deposits. 
But  the  alteration  was  made  in  the  record  only. 
The  connection  still  subsisted  in  fact,  now  lives 
in  memory,  and  shall  live  in  history.  Yes,  sir, 
said  Mr.  B.,  addressing  himself  to  the  President 
of  the  Senate  ;  yes,  sir,  the  condemnation  of  the 
President  was  indissolubly  connected  with  the 
cause  of  the  bank,  with  the  removal  of  the  de- 
posits, the  renewal  of  the  charter,  the  restora- 
tion of  the  deposits,  the  vindication  of  Mr. 
Duane,  the  rejection  of  Mr.  Taney,  the  fate  of 
elections,  the  overthrow  of  Jackson's  adminis- 
tration, the  fall  of  prices,  the  distress  meetings, 
tlio  distress  memorials,  the  distress  committees, 
the  distress  speeches  ;  and  all  the  long  list  of 
hapless  measures  which  astonished,  terrified, 
afflicted,  and  deeply  injured  the  country  during 
the  long  and  agonized  protraction  of  the  famous 
panic  sp«nion.  All  these  things  are  connected, 
said  Mr.  JJ. ;  and  it  became  his  duty  to  place  a 
part  of  the  proof  which  established  the  connec- 
tion before  the  Senate  and  the  people. 

Mr.  B.  then  took  up  the  appendix  to  the  re- 
port made  by  the  Senate's  Committee  Oi  Finance 
on  the  bank,  commonly  called  Mr.  Tyler's  re- 
port, and  read  extracts  from  instructions  sent  to 
two-and-twenty  branches  of  the  bank,  contem- 
poraneoi'sly  with  the  progress  of  the  debate  on 
the  criminating  resolutions ;  the  object  and  ef- 
fect of  which,  and  their  connection  with  the 
debate  in  the  Senate,  would  be  quickly  seen. 
Premising  that  the  bank  had  dispatched  orders 
to  the  same  branches,  in  the  month  of  August, 
and  had  curtailed  $4,006,000,  and  again,  in  the 
month  of  October,  to  curluii  $5,825,000,  and  lo 
increase  the  rates  of  their  exchange,  and  had 
expressly  stated  in  a  circular,  on  the  17th  of 


that  month,  that  this  reduction  would  place  the 
branches  in  a  position  of  entire  security,  Mr.  B. 
invoked  attention  to  the  shower  of  orders,  and 
their  dates,  which  he  was  about  to  read.  He 
read  passages  from  page  77  to  82,  inclusive. 
They  were  all  extracts  of  letters  from  the  pre- 
sident of  the  bank  in  per.son,  to  the  presidents 
of  the  branches  ;  for  Mr.  B.  said  it  must  be  re- 
membered, as  one  of  the  peculiar  features  of  the 
bank  attack  upon  the  country  kst  winter,  that 
the  whole  business  of  conducting  this  curtail- 
ment, and  raising  exchanges,  and  doing  whatever 
it  pleased  with  the  commerce,  currency,  and 
business  of  the  country,  was  withdrawn  from 
the  board  of  directors,  and  confided  to  one  of 
those  convenient  committees  of  which  the  pres- 
id<jni  is  ex  officio  member  and  creator;  and 
which,  in  this  case,  was  expressly  absolved  from 
reporting  to  the  board  of  directors !  The  letters, 
then,  a-e  all  from  Nicholas  Biddle,  president, 
and  not  from  Samuel  Jaudon,  cashier,  and  are 
address  ed  direct  to  the  presidents  of  the  branch 
banks. 

When  Mr.  B.  had  finished  reading  these  ex- 
tracts, he  turned  to  the  report  made  by  thi  sen- 
ator from  Virginia,  who  sat  on  his  'ght  [Mr. 
Tyler],  where  all  that  was  said  about  these  new 
measures  of  hostility,  and  the  propriety  of  the 
baviK's  conduct  in  this  third  curtailment,  md  in 
its  increase  upon  rates  of  exchaii^  e,  was  com- 
pressed into  twenty  lines,  and  the  wisdom  or  ne- 
cessity of  them  were  left  to  be  pronounced  upon 
by  the  judgment  of  the  '^-?nate.  Mr.  B.  would 
read  those  twenty  lines  of  that  report ; 

"  The  whole  amount  of  reduction  ordered  by 
the  above  proceedings  (curtailment  ordered  on 
8th  and  17th  of  October)  was  $5,825,900.  The 
same  table,  N  i.  4,  exhibits  the  fact,  that  on  the 
23d  of  January  a  further  reduction  was  ordered 
to  the  amount  of  $3,320,000.  This  was  com- 
municated to  the  offices  in  letters  from  the  pre- 
sident, stating  '  that  the  present  situation  of  the 
bank,  and  the  new  measures  of  hostility  which 
",re  understood  to  be  :n  contemplation,  make  it 
expedient  to  place  the  institution  beyond  the 
reach  of  all  danger ;  for  this  purpose,  I  am  di- 
rected to  instruct  your  office  to  conduct  its  busi- 
ness on  the  following  footing'  (appendix.  No. 
9,  copies  of  letters).  The  offices  of  Cincinnati, 
Louisville,  Lexington,  St.  Louia,  Niishvilie,  aud 
Natchez,  were  further  directed  '  o  confine  them- 
selves to  ninety  days'  bills  on  Baltimore,  and  tho 


M 


536 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


cities  north  of  it,  of  which  they  were  allowed 
to  purchase  any  amount  their  means  would  jus- 
tify :  and  to  bills  on  New  Orleans,  which  they 
were  to  take  only  in  payment  ofpre-existing  debts 
to  the  bank  and  its  offices ;  while  the  office  at 
New  Orleans  was  directed  to  abstain  from  drawing 
on  the  Western  offices,  and  to  make  its  pur- 
chases mainly  on  the  North  Atlantic  cities.  The 
committee  has  thus  given  a  full,  and  somewhat 
elaborate  detail  of  the  various  measures  resorted 
to  by  the  bank,  from  the  13th  of  August,  1833 ; 
of  their  wisdom  and  necessity  the  Seni.tr  will 
bept  be  able  to  pronounce  a  correct  judgment." 

This,  Mr.  B.  said,  was  the  meagre  and  stinted 
manner  in  which  the  report  treated  a  transac- 
tion which  he  would  show  to  be  the  most  cold- 
blooded, calculating,  and  diabolical,  which  the 
annals  of  any  country  on  this  side  of  Asia  could 
exhibit. 

[Mr.  Tyler  here  said  there  were  two  pages  on 
this  subject  to  be  found  at  another  part  of  the 
report,  and  opened  the  report  at  the  place  for 
Mr.  B.] 

Mr.  B.  said  the  two  pages  contained  but  few 
allusions  to  this  subject,  and  nothing  to  add  to 
or  vary  what  was  contained  in  the  twenty  lines 
he  had  read.    He  looked  upon  it  as  a  great 
omission  in  the  report ;  the  more  so  as  the  com- 
mittee had  been  expressly  commanded  to  re- 
port upon  the  curtailments  and  the  conduct  of 
the  bank  in  the  business  of  internal  exchange. 
He  had  hoped  to  have  had  searching  inquiries 
and  detailed  statements  of  facts  on  these  vital 
points.    He  looked  to  the  senator  from  Virginia 
[Mr.  TylerJ  for  these  inquiries  and  statements. 
He  wished  him  to  show,  by  the  manner  in  which 
he  would  drag  to  light,  and  expose  to  view,  the 
vast  crimes  of  the  bank,  that  the  Old  Dominion 
was  still  the  mother  of  the  Gracchi ;  that  the 
old  lady  was  not  yet  forty-five;  that  she  could 
breed  sons !     Sons  to  emulate  the  fame  of  the 
Scipios.    But  he  was  disappointed.    The  report 
was  dumb,  silent,  speechless,  upon  the  opera- 
tions of  the  bank  during  its  terrible  campaign 
of  panic  and  pressure  upon  the  American  people. 
And  now  ha  would  pay  one  instalment  of  the 
speech  which  hpd  been  promised  some  time  ago 
on  the  subject  of  this  report ;  for  there  was  part 
of  that  speech  which  was  strictly  applicable  and 
appropriate  to  the  head  he  was  i  ow  discussing. 
Mr.  ti.  then  addressed  himself  to  the  senator 
from  Virginia,  who  sat  on  his  right  [Mr.  Tyler] 


and  requested  him  to  supply  an  omission  in  hig 
report,  and  to  inform  what  were  those  n-w 
measures  of  hostility  alluded  to  in  the  two-and- 
twenty  letters  of  instruction  of  the  bank  and 
repeated  in  the  report,  and  which  were  made 
the  pretext  for  this  third  curtailment,  and  these 
new  and  extraordinary  restrictions  and  impo- 
sitions  upon  the  purchase  of  bills  of  exchange 

[Mr,  Tyler  answered  that  it  was  the  ^ex- 
pected prohibition  upon  the  receivability  of  the 
branch  bank  drafts  in  payment  of  the  federal 
revenue.] 

Mr.  B.  resumed :  The  senator  is  right.    These 
drafts  are  mentioned  in  one  of  the  circular  let- 
ters, and  but  one  of  them,  as  the  new  measure 
understood  to  be  in  contemplation,  and  which 
understanding  had  been  made  the  pretext  for 
scourging  the  country.    He  (Mr.  B.)  was  in- 
capable of  a  theatrical  artifice— a  stage  trick- 
in  a  grave  debate.    He  had  no  question  but  that 
the  senator  could  answer  his  question,  and  he 
knew  that  he  had  answered  it  truly ;  but  he 
wanted  his  testimony,  his  evidence,  against  the 
bank ;  he  wanted  proof  to  tie  the  bank  down  to 
this  answer,  to  this  pretext,  to  this  thin  disguise 
for  her  condnct  in  scourging  the  country.    The 
answer  is  now  given ;  the  proof  is  adduced ;  and 
the  apprehended  prohibition  of  the  receivability 
of  the  branch  drafts  stands  both  as  the  pretext 
and  the  sole  pretext  for  the  pressure  commenced 
in  January,  the  doubling  the  rates  of  exchange, 
breaking  up  exchanges  between  the  five  Western 
branch  banks,  and  concentrating  the  collection 
of  bills  of  exchange  upon  four  great  commercial 
cities. 

Mr.  B.  then  took  six  positions,  which  he  enu- 
merated, and  undertook  to  demonstrate  to  be 
true.    They  were : 

1.  That  it  was  untrue,  in  point  of  fact,  that 
there  were  any  new  measures  in  contemplation, 
or  action,  to  destroy  the  bank. 

2.  That  it  was  untrue,  in  point  of  fact,  that  the 
President  harbored  hostile  and  revengeful  de- 
signs against  the  existence  of  the  bank, 

3.  That  it  wa.s  untrue,  in  point  of  fact,  that 
there  was  any  necessity  for  this  third  curuail- 
ment,  which  was  ordered  the  last  of  January. 

4.  That  there  was  no  excuse,  justification,  or 
apology  for  the  conduct  of  the  bank  in  relatio.i 
to  domesticexchange.  in  doubling  its  rate's,  fiWAk- 
ing  it  up  between  the  five  Western  branches,    ' 
turning  the  collection  of  bills  upon  the  principal 


ANNO  1835.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


537 


commercial  cities,  and  forbidding  the  branch  at 
New  Orleans  to  purchase  bills  on  any  part  of  the 
West. 

5.  That  th|s  curtailment  and  these  exchange 
regulations  in  January  were  political  and  re- 
volutionary, and  connected  themselves  with  the 
resolution  in  the  Senate  for  the  condemnation 
of  President  Jackson. 

C.  That  the  distress  of  the  country  was  oc- 
casioned by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  and 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  and  not  by  the 
removal  of  the  deposits. 

Having  stated  his  positions,  Mr.  B.  proceeded 
to  demonstrate  them. 

1.  As  to  the  new  measures  to  destroy  the 
bank.    Mr.  B.  said  there  were  no  such  measures. 
The  one  indicated,  that  of   stopping  the  re- 
ceipt of  the  branch  bank  drafts  in  payments 
to  the  United  States,  existed  nowhere  but  in 
the  two-aud-twenty  letters  of  instruction  of  the 
president  of  the  bank.    There  is  not  even  an 
allegation  that  the  measure  existed ;  the  language 
is  ''in  contemplation"— "understood  to  be  in 
contemplation , "  and  upon  this  flimsy  pretext 
of  an  understanding  of  something  in  contempla- 
tion, and  which  something  never  took  place,  a 
set  of  ruthless  orders  are  sent  out  to  every  quar- 
ter of  the  Union  to  make  a  pressure  for  money, 
and  to  embarrass  the  domestic  exchanges  of  the 
Union.     Three  days  would  have  brought  an 
answer  from  Washington  to  Philadelphia— from 
the  Treasury  to  the  bank ;  and  let  it  be  known 
that  there  was  no  intention  to  stop  the  receipt 
of  these  drafts  at  that  time.    But  it  would  seem 
that  the  bank  did  not  recognize  the  legitimacy 
of  Mr.  Taney's   appointment!    and    therefore 
would  not  condescend  to  correspond  with  him 
as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury!    But  time  gave 
the  answer,  even  if  the  Uuli  would  not  inquire 
at  the  Treasury.    Day  after  day,  week  after 
week,  month  after  month  passed  off,  and  these 
redoubtable  new  measures  never  made  their  ap- 
pearance.   Why  not  then  stop  the  curtailment 
and  restore  the  exchanges  to  their  former  foot- 
'Dg?    February,  March,  April,  May,  June,  five 
months,  one  hundred  and  fifty  days,  all  passed 
fway;  the  new  measures  never  came  j  and  yet 
he  pressure  upon  the  country  was  kept  up;  the 

two-and-twenty  orders  were  contin.jedin  force, 
"hatcnnlw  +Vi/m,„i,*  „i> -^  ;-    i-.     •  -■  - 

,  .         "  ~ &'"■  "'  aQ  luKtiiuT-on  winch, 

beuig  armed  by  law    with    powei    over  the 
moneyed  system  of  the  whole  country,  should , 


proceed  to  exercise  that  power  to  distress  that 
country  for  money,  upon  an  understanding  that- 
something  was  in  contemplation  j  and  never  in- 
quire if  its  understanding  was  correct,  nor  cease 
its  operations,  when  each  successive  day,  for 
one  hundred  and  fifty  days,  proved  to  it  that 
no  such  thing  was  in  contemplation  ?  At  last, 
on  the  27th  of  June,  when  the  pressure  is  to  be 
relaxed,  it  is  done  upon  another  ground;  not 
upon  the  ground  that  the  new  measures  had 
never  taken  effect,  but  because  Congress  was 
about  to  rise  without  having  done  any  thing  for 
the  bank.  Here  is  a  clear  confession  that  the 
allegation  of  new  measures  was  a  mere  pretext ; 
and  that  the  motive  was  to  operate  upon  Con- 
gress, and  force  a  restoration  of  the  deposits,  and 
a  renewal  of  the  charter. 

Mr.  B.  said  he  knew  all  about  these  drafts. 
The  President  always  condemned  their  legality, 
and  was  for  stopping  the  receipt  of  them.     Mr. 
Taney,  when  Attorney  General,  condemned  them 
in  1831.    Mr.  B.  had  applied  to  Mr.  McLane,  in 
1832,  to  stop  them ;  but  he  came  to  no  decision. 
He  applied  to  Mr.  Duane,  by  letter,  as  soon  as 
he  came  into  the  Treasury;  but  got  no  answer. 
He  applied  to  Mr.  Taney  as  soon  as  he  arrived 
at  Washington  in  the  fall  of  1833 ;  and  Mr.  Taney 
decided  that  he  would  not  stop  them  until  the 
moneyed  concerns  of  the  country  had  recovered 
their  tranquillity  and  prosperity,  lest  the  bank 
should  make  it  the  pretext  of  new  attempts  to 
distress  the  country ;  and  thus  the  very  thing 
which  Mr.  Taney  refused  to  do,  lest  it  should 
be  made  a  pretext  for  oppression,  was  falsely 
converted  into  a  pretext  to  do  what  he  was  de- 
termined they  should  have  no  pretext  for  doing. 
But  Mr.  B.  took  higher  ground  still ;  it  was 
this :  that,  even  if  the  receipt  for  the  drafts  had 
been  stopped  in  January  or  February,  there 
would  have  been  no  necessity  on  that  account 
for  curtailing  debts  and  embarrassing  exchanges. 
This  ground  ho  sustained  by  ohowing— 1st. 
That  the  bank  had  at  that  time  two  millions  of 
dollars  in  Europe,  lying  idle,  as  a  fund  to  draw 
bills  of  exchange  upon ;  and  the  mere  sale  of 
bills  on  this  sum  would  have  met  every  demand 
which  the  rejection  of  the  drafts  could  have 
thrown  upon  it.    2.  That  it  sent  the  money  ic 
raised  by  this  curtailment  to  Europe,  to  the 
uuiount  of  three  and  a  half  millions;  and  thereby 
showed  that  it  was  not  collected  to  meet  any 
demand  at  home.    3d.  That  the  bank  had  at 


k 


■ 


stSL  '. 


538 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


that  time  (January,  1834)  the  sum  of  $4,230,509 
of  public  money  in  hand,  and  therefore  had  Uni- 
ted States  money  enough  in  possession  to  bal- 
ance any  injury  from  rejection  of  drafts.  4th, 
That  the  bank  had  notes  enough  on  hand  to  sup- 
ply the  place  of  all  the  drafts,  even  if  they  were 
all  driven  in,  5  th.  That  it  had  stopped  the  re- 
ceipt of  these  branch  draft?  itself  at  the  branches, 
except  each  for  its  own  in  November,  1833,  and 
was  compelled  to  resume  their  receipt  by  the 
energetic  and  just  conduct  of  Mr.  Taney,  in  giv- 
ing transfer  drafts  to  be  used  against  the  branch- 
es which  would  not  honour  the  notes  and  drafts 
of  the  other  branches.  Here  Mr,  B.  turned  up- 
on Mr,  Tyler's  report,  and  severely  arraigned  it 
for  alleging  that  the  bank  always  honored  its 
paper  at  every  point,  and  furnishing  a  supply  of 
negative  testimony  to  prove  that  assertion, 
when  there  was  a  large  mass  of  positive  testi- 
mony, the  disinterested  evidence  of  numerous 
respectable  persons,  to  prove  the  contrary,  and 
which  the  committee  had  not  noticed. 

Finally,  M,  B.  had  recourse  to  Mr.  Biddle's 
own  testimony  to  aimihilate  his  (Mr.  Biddle's) 
aflFected  alarm  for  the  destruction  of  the  bank, 
and  the  injury  to  the  country  from  the  repulse 
of  these  famous  branch  drafts  from  revenue  pay- 
ments. It  was  in  a  letter  of  Mr,  Biddle  to  Mr. 
Woodbury  in  the  fall  of  1834,  when  the  receipt 
of  these  drafts  was  actually  stopped,  and  in  the 
order  which  was  issued  to  the  branches  to  con- 
tinue to  issue  them  as  usual.  Mr.  B.  read  a 
passage  from  this  letter  to  show  that  the  receipt 
of  these  drafts  was  always  a  mere  Treasury  ar- 
rangement, in  which  the  bank  felt  no  interest ; 
that  the  refusal  to  receive  them  was  an  object 
at  all  times  of  perfect  indifference  to  the  bank, 
and  would  not  ha^  been  even  noticed  by  it,  if  Mr. 
Woodbury  had  not  sent  him  a  copy  of  his  circular. 

Mr.  B.  invoked  the  attention  of  the  Senate 
upon  the  fatal  contradictions  which  this  letter 
of  November,  an^  these  instructions  of  January, 
1834,  exhibi  in  Jrnnary,  tho  mere  under- 
standing of  a  de  ?ign  in  contemplation  to  exclude 
these  drafts  from  revenue  payments,  is  a  danger 
of  such  alarming  magnitude,  an  invasion  of  the 
rights  of  the  bank  in  such  a  flagrant  manner,  a 
proof  of  such  vindictive  determination  to  pros- 
trate, sacrifice,  and  ruin  the  institution,  that  the 
entire  continent  must  be  laid  under  contribution 
to  raise  money  to  enable  the  institution  to  stand 
the  shock !    November  of  the  same  year  when 


the  order  for  the  rejection  actually  comes  then 
the  same  measure  is  declared  to  be  one  of  the 
utmost  indiflerence  to  the  bank ;  in  which  it 
never  fell  any  interest;  which  the  Treasury 
adopted  for  its  own  convenience ;  which  was  al- 
ways under  the  exclusive  control  of  the  Trea 
sury ;  about  which  the  bank  had  never  express- 
ed a  wish ;  of  which  it  would  have  taken  no 
notice  if  the  Secretary  had  not  sent  them  a  cir- 
cular ;  and  the  expediency  of  which  it  was  not 
intended  to  question  in  the  remotest  degree! 
Having  pointed  out  these  fatal  contradictions 
Mr,  B,  said  it  was  a  case  in  which  the  emphatic 
ejaculation  might  well  be  repeated :  Oh !  that 
mine  enemy  would  write  a  book ! 

To  put  the  seal  of  the  bank's  contempt  on  the 
order  prohibiting  the  receipt  of  these  drafts  to 
show  its  disregard  of  law,  and  its  ability  to  sus- 
tain its  drafts  upon  its  own  resources,  and  with- 
out the  advantage  of  government  reaMvabllity, 
Mr.  B.  read  the  order  which  the  president  of  the 
bank  addressed  to  all  the  branches  on  the  receipt 
of  the  circular  which  gave  him  information  of 
the  rejection  of  these  drafts.  It  was  in  these 
words :  "  This  will  make  no  alteration  whatever 
in  your  practice,  with  regard  to  issuing  or  pay- 
ing these  drafts,  which  you  will  continue  as  here- 
tofore." What  a  pity,  said  Mr.  B.,  that  the  pre- 
sident of  the  bank  could  not  have  thought  of 
issuing  such  an  order  as  this  in  January,  instead 
of  sendinpr  forth  the  mandate  for  curtailing  debts, 
embarrassing  exchange,  levying  three  millions 
and  a  half,  alarming  the  country  with  the  cry 
of  danger,  and  exhibiting  President  Jackson  as 
a  vindictive  tyrant,  intent  upon  the  ruin  of  the 
bank! 

2.  The  hostility  of  the  President  to  the  banlf. 
This  assertion,  said  Mr.  B.,  so  incontinently  re- 
iterated by  the  president  of  the  bank,  is  taken 
up  and  repeated  by  our  Finance  Conunittee,  to 
whose  repoi't  he  was  notv  paying  an  instalment 
of  those  respects  which  he  had  promised  then. 
This  assertion,  so  far  as  the  bank  and  the  c 
mittee  are  concerned  in  making  it,  is  an  as,--.- 
tion  without  evidence,  and,  so  far  as  the  facts  are 
concerned,  is  an  assertion  against  evidence.  If 
thero  is  any  evidence  of  the  bank  or  the  committee 
to  support  this  assertion,  in  the  forty  pages  of  the 
report,  or  the  three  hundred  pages  of  the  appendix, 
the  four  members  of  the  Finance  Committee  ca" 
produce  it  when  they  come  to  reply.  That  thero 
was  evidence  to  contradict  it,  he  was  now  ready 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESmENT. 


539 


to  show.    This  evidence  consisted  in  four  or  five 
public  and  prominent  fects,  which  he  would  now 
mention,  and  in  other  circumstances,  which  he 
would  show  hereafter.    The  first  was  the  fact 
which  he  mentioned  when  this  report  was  first  read 
on  the  18th  of  December  last,  namely,  that  Presi- 
dent Jackson  had  nominated  Mr.  Biddle  at  the 
head  of  the  government  directors,  and  thereby 
indicated  him  for  the  presi^^ency  of  the  bank,  for 
three  successive  years  after  this  hostility  was 
supposed  to  have  commenced.    The  second  was, 
that  the  President  had  never  ordered  a  scire 
facias  to  issue  against  the  bank  to  vacate  its' 
cliartcr,  which    he  has   the   right,  under  the 
twenty-third   section    of   the  charter,  to  do, 
whenever  he  believed  the  charter  to  be  violated. 
The  third,  that  during  many  years,  he  has  never 
required  his  Secretar-es  of  the  Treasury  to  stop  the 
governmental  receipt  of  the  branch  bank  drafts, 
althoun;h  his  own  mind  upon  their  illegality  had 
been  made  up  for  several  years  past.    The  fourth, 
that  after  all  the  clamo-— all  the  invocations 
upon  heaven  and  earth  against  the  tyranny  of 
removing  the    deposits— those   deposits  have 


never  happened  to  be  quite  entirely  removed  I 
An  average  of  near  four  millions  of  dollars  of 
public  money  has  remained  in  the  hands  of  the 
bank  for  each  month,  from  the  1st  of  October, 
1833,  to  the  1st  of  January,  1835,  inclusively ! 
embracing  the  entire  period  from  the  time  the 
order  was  to  take  effect  against  depositing  in  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States  down  to  the  com- 
mencement of  the  present  year  !    So  far  are  the 
deposits  from  being  quite  entirely  removed,  as 
the  public  are  led  to  believe,  that,  at  the  distance 
of  fifteen  months  from  the  time  the  order  for  the 
removal  began  to  take  effect,  there  remained  in 
the  hands  of  the  bank  the  large  sum  of  three 
millions  eigUt  hundred  and  seventy-eight  thou- 
sand nine  hundred  and   fifty-one  dollars  and 
ninety-seven  cents,  according  to  her  own  show- 
ing in  her  monthly  statements.    That  President 
Jackson  is,  and  always  has  been,  opposed  to  the 
existence  of  the  bank,  is  a  fact  as  true  as  it  is 
honorable  to  him ;  that  he  is  hostile  to  it,  in  the 
vindictive  aid  n'-vongeful  sense  of  the  phrase,  is 
anassert,,o,«^Mi-.B.  would  take  the  liberty  to 
repeat,  ^iihouL  evidence,  so  far  as  he  could  see 
mtc  the  f  oofg  of  the  committee,  and  against  cvi- 

dencn  tn  the  Ail'  '^^irr-^   -i-  -v   -t      .     ,. 

-.  inc  .11!.  .^u-nt,  VI  ah  inc  testimony 

within  hib  view.    Far  from  indulging  in  revcnge- 

tul  resentment  against  the  bank,  he  has  been 


patient,  ind'ilf,'ent,  and  forebcaring  towards  it,  to 
a  degree  hardly  compatible  with  his  duty  to  his 
country,  and  with  his  constitutional  supervision 
over  the  faithful  execution  of  the  laws;  to  a  de- 
gree which  has  drawn  upon  him,  as  a  deduction 
from  his  own  conduct,  an  argument  in  favor  of 
the  legality  of  this  very  branch  bank  currency, 
on  the  part  of  this  very  committee,  as  may  be 
seen  in  their  report.    Again,  the  very  circum- 
stance on  which  this  charge  of  hostility  rests  in 
the  tivo-and-twenty  letters  of  Mr.  Biddle,  proves 
it  to  be  untrue  :  for  the  stoppage  of  the  drafts, 
understood  to  be  in  contemplation,  was  not  in 
contemplation,  and  did  not  take  place  until  the 
pecuniary  concerns  of  the  country  were  tranquil 
and  prosperous;    and  when  it  did  thus  take 
place,  the  president  of  the  bank  declared  it  to 
have  been  always  the  exclusive  right  of  the  gov- 
ernment to  do  it,  in  which  the  bank  had  no  in- 
terest, and  for  which  it  cared  nothing.    No,  said 
Mr.  B.,  the  President  has  opposed  the  rech'arter 
of  the  bank;  he  has  not  attacked  its  present 
charter ;  he  has  opposed  its  future,  not  its  pre- 
sent existence ;  and  those  who  characterize  this 
opposition  to  a  future  charter  as  attacking  the 
bank,  and  destroying  the  bank,  must  admit  that 
they  advocate  the  hereditary  right  of  the  bank 
to  a  new  charter  after  the  old  one  is  out ;  and 
that  they  deny  to  a  public  man  the  right  of  op- 
posing that  hereditary  claim. 

3.  That  there  was  no  necessity  for  this  third 
curtailment  ordered  in  January.    Mr.  B.  said 
to  have  a  full  conception  of  the  truth  of  this  po- 
sition, it  was  proper  to  recollect  that  the  bank 
made  its  first  curtailment  in  Aiig-ast,  when  the 
appointment  of  an  agent  to  arrange  with  the  de- 
posit banks  announced  the  fact  that  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States  was  soon  to  cease  to  be  the 
depository  of  public  moneys.     The  reduction 
under  that  first  cuitailment  was  ^4,006,000. 
The  second  was  in  October,  and  under  that  or- 
der for  curtailment  the  reduction  was  $5,825,000. 
The  whole  reduction,  then,  consequent  upon  the 
expected  and  actual  removal  of  deposits,  was 
$9,891,000.    At  the  same  time  the  whole  amount 
of  deposits  on  the  first  day  of  October,  the  day 
for  the  removal,  or  rather  for  the  cessation  to  de- 
posit in  the  United  States  Bank  to  take  effect,  was 
$9  868,435 ;  and  on  the  first  day  of  February, 
1834,  when  (he  third  curtailment  was  ordered 
there  were  still  $3,066,561  of  these  deposits  on 
hand,  and  have  remained  on  hand  to  near  that 


ilfi 

/■[Vi.'S 

•  _ !   '-A  m 

,  ^1 " 
"I  i 


9 


040 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


amount  ever  since ,  so  that  the  bank  in  the  two 
first  curtailments,  accomplished  between  August 
and  January,  had  actually  curtailed  to  the  whole 
amount,  and  to  the  exact  amount,  upon  precise 
calculation,  of  the  amount  of  deposits  on  hand 
on  the  first  of  October ;  and  still  had,  on  the 
first  of  January,  a  fraction  over  three  millions 
of  the  deposits  in  its  possession.  This  simple 
statement  of  sums  and  dates  sliows  that  there 
was  no  necessity  for  ordering  a  further  reduction 
of  $3,320,000  in  January,  as  the  bank  had  al- 
ready curtailed  to  the  whole  amount  of  the  de- 
posits, and  $22,500  over.  Nor  did  the  bank  put 
the  third  curtailment  upon  tliat  ground,  but  up- 
on the  new  measures  in  contemplation ;  thus 
leaving  her  advocates  every  where  still  to  attri- 
bute the  pressure  created  by  the  third  curtail- 
ment to  the  old  cause  of  the  removal  of  the  de- 
posits. This  simple  statement  of  facts  is  suifi- 
cient  to  show  that  this  third  curtailment  was 
unnecessary.  What  confirms  that  view,  is  that 
the  bank  remitted  to  Europe,  as  fast  as  it  was 
collected,  the  whole  amount  of  the  curtailment, 
and  $105,000  over;  there  to  lie  idle  until  she 
could  raise  the  foreign  exchange  to  eight  per  cent, 
above  par;  which  she  had  sunk  to  five  per  cent, 
below  par,  and  thus  make  two  sets  of  profits  out 
of  one  operation  in  distressing  and  pressing  the 
country. 

4.  No  excuse  for  doubling  the  rates  of  ex- 
change, breaking  up  the  exchange  business  in 
the  "West,  forbidding  the  branch  at  New  Orleans 
to  purchase  a  single  bill  on  the  West,  and  con- 
centrating the  collection  of  exchange  on  the  four 
great  commercial  cities.  For  this,  Mr.  B.  said, 
no  apology,  no  excuse,  no  justification,  was  of- 
fered by  the  bank.  The  act  stood  unjustified 
an-^  unjustifiable.  The  bank  itself  has  shrunk 
froi  he  attempt  to  justify  it;  our  committee, 
in  that  report  of  which  the  bank  proclaims 
itself  to  be  so  pmid,  gives  no  opinion  in  its 
brief  notice  of  a  few  lines  upon  this  transaction; 
but  leaves  it  to  the  Senate  to  pronounce  upon 
its  wisdom  and  necessity !  The  committee,  Mr. 
B.  said,  had  failed  in  their  duty  to  their  country 
by  the  manner  in  which  they  had  veiled  this 
aflFair  of  the  exchanges  in  a  few  lines ;  and  then 
blinked  the  question  of  its  enormity,  by  refer- 
ring it  to  the  judgment  of  the  Senate.  lie  made 
the  same  remark  upon  the  contcmnoraneous 
measure  of  the  third  curtailment ;  and  called  on 
the  author  of  the  report  [Mr.  Tyler]  to  defend 


his  report,  and  to  defend  the  conduct  of  the  bank 
now,  if  he  could;  and  requested  him  to  receive 
all  this  part  of  his  speech  as  a  further  instal- 
ment paid  of  what  was  due  to  that  report  on  the 
bank. 

5.  That  the  curtailment  and  exchange  re- 
gulations of  January  were  political  and  revo- 
lutionary, and   connect  themselves  with  the 
contemporaneous  proceedings  of  the  Senate  for 
the  condemnation  of  the  President.     That  .'  is 
curtailment,  and  these  regulations  were  wanton 
and  wicked,  was  a  proposition,  Mr.  B.  said, 
which  resulted  as  a  logical  conclusion  from  what 
had  been  already  shown,  namely,  that  they  were 
causeless  and  unnecessary,  and  done  upon  pre- 
texts which  have  been  demonstrated  to  be  false. 
That  they  were  political  and  revolutionary,  and 
connected  with  the  proceedings  in  the  Senate 
for  the  condemnation  of  the  President,  he  would 
now  prove.    In  the  exhibition  of  this  proof,  the 
first  thing  to  be  looked  to  is  the  chronology  of 
the  events — the  time  at  which  the  bank  made 
this  third  curtailment,  and  sent  forth  these  ex- 
change regulations — and  the  time  at  which  the 
Senate  carried  on  the  proceeding  against  the 
President.    Viewed  under  this  aspect,  the  two 
movements  are  not  only  connected,  but  identical 
and  inseparable.    The  time  for  the  condemnation 
of  the  President  covers  the  period  from  the  25th 
of  December,  1833,  to  the  28th  of  March,  1834; 
the  bank  mov'nent  is  included  in  the  same 
period ;  the  orders  for  the  pressure  were  issued 
from  the  21  st  of  January  to  the  1st  of  Februarj, 
and  were  to  accomplish  their  efiect  in  the  month 
of  March,  and  by  the  first  of  April ;  except  in  one 
place,  where,  for  a  reason  which  will  be  fhown 
at  a  proper  time,  the  accomplishment  of  the 
effect  was  protracted  till  the  10th  day  of  April. 
These,  Mr.  B.  said,  were  the  dates  of  issuing  the 
orders  and  accomplishing  their  effect ;  the  date 
of  the  adoption  of  the  resolution  in  the  bank  for 
this  movement  is  not  given  in  the  report,  but 
must  have  been,  in  the  natureoi  things,  anterior 
to  the  issue  of  the  orders ;  it  must  have  been 
some  days  before  the  issue  of  the  orders ;  and 
was,  in  jdl  probability,  a  few  days  after  the  com- 
mencement of  the  movement  in  the  Senate 
against  the  President.    The  next  point  of  con- 
nection, Mr.  B.  said,  was  in  the  subject  matter; 
aud  here  it  was  nccos>^ary  to  recur  to  the  oriffinal 
form,  and  to  the  second  form,  of  the  resolution 
for  the  condemnation  of  the  President.    In  the 


ANNO  1836.    ANDUiilW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT, 


541 


first,  or  primordial  form,  the  resolution  was  ex- 
pressly connected  with  tlv  cause  of  the  bank. 
It  was,  for  dismissing  Ar.  Duane  because  he 
would  not  remove  the  deposits,  and  appointing 
Mr.  Taney  because  he  would  remove  them.    In 
the  second  form  of  the  resolution— that  form 
which   naturalists  would  call  its  aurelia,   or 
chrysalis  state— the  phraseology  of  the  connec- 
tion was  varied,  but  still  the  connection  was 
retained  and  expressed.     The  names  of  Mr. 
Duane  and  Mr.  Taney  were  dropped ;  and  the 
removal  of  the  deposits  upon  his  own  responsi- 
bility, was  the  alleged  offence  of  the  President. 
In  its  third  and  ultimate  transformation,  all  al- 
lusion to  the  bank  was  dropped,  and  the  vague 
term  "revenue  »  was  substituted;  but  it  was  a 
substitution  of  phrase  only,  without  any  altera- 
tion of  sense  or  meaning.     The  resolution  is  the 
same  under  all  its  phases.     It  is  still  the  bank, 
tmd  Mr.  Taney,  and  Mr.  Duane,  and  the  removal 
of  the  deposits,  which  are  the  things  to  be  un- 
derstood, though  no  longer  prudent  to  express. 
All  these  substantial  objects  are  veiled   and 
substituted  by  the  empty  phrase  "  revenue ; " 
which  might  signify  the  force  bill  in  South 
Carolina,  and  the  bank  question  in  Philadelphia ! 
The  vagueness  of  the  expression  left  every  gen- 
tleman to  fight  upon  his  own  hook,  and  to  hang 
his  vote  upon  any  mental  reservation  which 
could  be  found  in  his  own  mind  !  and  Mr.  B. 
would  jt,  >for/  the  Intelligence  of  any  rational 
man  with  .h^    declaration  that  the  connection 
between  the  condemnation  of  the  President  and 
the  cause  of  the  bank  was  doubly  proved ;  first 
by  the  words  of  the  resolution,  and  next  by  the 
omission  of  thftse  words.     ''!,,   noxt  point  of 
connection,  Mr,  B.  said,  Wi.:  nru "ted  in  tho 
times,  varied  to  suit  each  Statr .    >^  which  the 


pressure  under  the  curtailment  was  to  reach  its 
maximum;  and  the  manner  in  which  the  re- 
strictions upon  the  sale  and  purchase  of  bills 
of  exchange  was  made  to  faU  exclusively  and 
heavily  upon  the  principal  commercial  cities,  at 
the  moment  when  most  deeply  engaged  in  the 
purchase  and  shipment  of  produce.  Thus,  in 
^fcw-Yo^k,  where  the  great  charter  elections 
were  to  take  place  during  tho  first  week  in 
April,  the  curtailment  was  to  reach  its  maximum 
pressure  on  the  fi.st  dny  of  that  month.  In 
Virginia,  where  the  elections  are  fontinyed 
throughout  the  whole  month  of  April,  the  pres- 
sure was  not  to  reach  its  climax  until  the  tenth 


day  of  that  month.    In  Connecticut,  where  the 
elections  occurretl  about  the  first  of  April,  the 
pressure  was  to  have  its  last  turn  of  the  screw 
in  the  month  of  March.    And  in  these  three  in- 
stances, the  only  ones  in  which  the  elections 
were  depending,   the  political  bearing  of  the 
pressure  was  clear  and  undeniable,    the  sym- 
pathy in  the  Senate  in  the  results  of  those  poli- 
tical calculations,  was  displayed  in  the  exultation 
which  broke  out  on  receiving  the  news  of  the 
elections  in  Virginia,  New- York,  and  Connecticut 
—an  exultation  which  broke  out  into  the  most 
extravagant  rejoicings  over  the  supposed  down- 
fall of  the  administration.    The  careful  calcula- 
tion to  make  the  pressure  and  the  exchange 
regulations  fall  upon  the  commercial  cities  at 
the  moment  to  injure  commerce  most,  was  also 
visible  in  the  times  fixed  for  each.    Thus,  in  all 
the  western  cities,  Cincinnati,  Louisville,  Lex- 
ington, Nashville,  Pittsburg,  Saint  Louis,  the 
pressure  was  to  reach  its  maximum  by  tnc  first 
day  of  March ;  the  shipments  of  western  pro- 
duce to  New  Orleans  being  mostly  over  by  that 
time ;  but  in  New  Orleans  the  pressure  was  to 
be  continued  till  the  first  of  April,  because  the 
shipping  season  is  protracted  there  till  that 
month,  and  thus  the  produce  which  left  tho 
upper  States  under  the  depression  of  the  pres- 
sure, was  to  meet  the  same  pressure  upon  its 
arrival  in  New  Orleans;  and  thus  enable  the 
friends  of  the  bank  to  read  their  ruined  prices 
of  western  produce  on  the  floor  of  this  Senate. 
In  Baltimore,  the  first  of  March  was  fixed,  which 
would  cover  th.>  active  business  season  there. 
So  much,  said  Mr.  B.,  for  the  pressure  by  cur- 
tailment ;  now  for  the  pressure  by  bills  of  ex- 
change, and  he  would  take  the  case  of  New 
Orleans  first.    All  the  branches  in  the  West 
and  every  where  else  in  the  Union,  were  author- 
ized to  purchase  bills  of  exchange  at  short  dates, 
not  exceeding  ninety  days,  on  that  emporium 
of  the  West;  so  as  to  increase  the  demand  for 
money  there;  at  the  same  time  the  branch  in 
New  Orleans  was  forbid  to  purchase  a  single 
bill  in  any  part  of  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi. 
This  prohibition  was  for  two  purposes  :  first,  to 
break  up  exchange ;  and  next,  to  make  money 
scarce  in  New  Orleans;  a.s,  in  default  of  bills  of 
exchange,  silver  would  be  .shipped,  aud  the  ship- 

ftLig  VI    s::v-,;r    ..OUia  inaK6   a  fiiCoMiic  li|X)U   aii 

the  local  banks.    To  help  out  this  operation, 
Mr.  B.  said,  it  must  be  well  and  continually 


JJi 


542 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


1 


remembered  that  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
itself  abducted  about  one  million  and  a  quarter 
of  hard  dollars  from  New  Orleans  during  the 
period  of  the  pressure  there ;  thus  proving  that 
all  her  affected  necessity  for  curtailment  was  a 
false  and  wicked  pretext  for  the  cover  of  her  own 
political.and  revolutionary  views. 

The  case  of  the  western  branches  was  next 
adverted  to  by  Mr.  B.    Among  these,  he  said, 
the  business  of  exchange  was  broken  up  in  toto. 
The  five  western  branches  were  forbid  to  pur- 
chase exchange  at  all ;  and  this  tyrannical  order 
was  not  even  veiled  with  the  pretext  of  an  ex- 
cuse.   Upon  the  North  Atlantic  cities,  Mr.  B. 
said,  unlimited  authority  to  all  the  branches  was 
given  to  purchase  bills,  all  at  short  dates,  under 
ninety  days ;  and  all  intended  to  become  due 
during  the  shipping  season,  and  to  increase  the 
demand  for  money  while  the  curtailment  was 
going  on,  and  the  screw  turning  from  day  to  day 
to  lessen  the  capacity  of  getting  money,  and 
make  it  more  scarce  as  the  demand  fir  it  be- 
came urgent.     Thus  were  the  great  commercial 
cities,  New  Orleans,  New- York,  Baltimore,  and 
Philadelphia,  subject  to  a  double  process  of  op- 
pression ;  and  that  at  the  precise  season  of  pur- 
chasing and  shipping  crops,  so  as  to  make  their 
distress  recoil  upon  the  planters  and  farmers ; 
and  all  this  upon  the  pretext  of  new  measures 
understood  to  be  in  contemplation.    Time  again 
becomes  material,  said  Mr.  B.     The  bank  pres- 
sure was  arranged  in  January,  to  reach  its  climax 
in  March  and  the  first  of  April ;  the  debate  in 
the  Senate  for  the  condemnation  of  President 
Jackson,  which  commenced  in  the  last  days  of 
December,  was  protracted  over  the  whole  period 
of  the  bank  pressure,  and  reached  its  consum- 
mation at  the  same  time ;  namely,  the  28th  day 
of  March.    The  two  movements  covered  the 
same  period  of  time,  reached  their  conclusions 
together,  and  co-operated  in  the  effect  to  be 
produced ;  and  during  the  three  months  of  this 
double  movement,  the  Senate  chamber  resound- 
ed daily  with  the  cry  that  the  tyranny  and 
vengeance  of  the  President,  and  his  violation  of 
laws  and  constitution,  had  created  the  whole 
distress,  and  stnick  the  nation  from  a  state  of 
Arcadian  felicity — from  a  condition  of  unparal- 
leled prosperity— to  the  lowest  depth  of  misery 
and  ruin.     And  here  Mr.  B.  obtested  and  be- 
sought the  Senate  to  coasidur  the  indifference 
with  which  the  bank  treated  its  friends  in  the 


Senate,  and  the  sorrowful  contradiction  in  which 
they  were  left  to  be  caught.    In  the  Senate,  and 
all  over  the  country,  the  friends  of  the  bank 
were  allowed  to  go  on  with  the  old  tune  and 
run  upon  the  wrong  scent,  of  removal  of  the 
deposits  creating  all  the  distress ;  while,  in  the 
two-and-twenty  circular  letters  dispatched  to 
create  this  distress,  it  was  not  the  old  measure 
alone,  but  the  new  measures  contemplated,  which 
constituted  the  pretext  for  this  very  same  dis- 
tress.   Thus,  the  bank  stood  upon  one  pretext 
and  its  friends  stood  upon  another;  and  fortius 
mortifying  contradiction,  in  which  all  its  friends 
have  become  exposed  to  see  their  mournful 
speeches  exploded  by  the  bank  itself,  a  just  in- 
dignation ought  now  to  be  felt  by  all  the  friends 
of  the  bank,  who  were  laying  the  distress  to  the 
removal  of  the  deposits,  and  daily  cryin»  out 
that  nothing  could  relieve  the  country  but  the 
restoration  of  the  deposits,  or  the  recharter  of 
the  bank ;  while  the  bank  itself  was  writing  to 
its  branches  that  it  was  the  new  measures  un- 
derstood to  be  in  contemplation  that  was  occa 
sioning  all  the  mischief.    Mr.  B.  would  close 
this  head  with  a  remark  which  ought  to  excite 
reflections  which  should  never  die  away ;  which 
should  be  remembered  as  long  as  national  banks 
existed,  or  asked  for  existence.    It  was  this; 
That  here  was  a  proved  case  of  a  national  bank 
availing  itself  of  its  organization,  and  of  its 
power,  to  send  secret  orders,  upon  a  false  pre- 
text, to  every  part  of  the  Union,  to  create  dis- 
tress and  panic  for  the  purpose  of  accomplishing 
an  object  of  its  own ;  and  then  publicly  and 
calumniously  charging  all  this  mischief  on  the 
act  of  the  President  for  the  reftioval  of  the  de- 
posits.   This  recollection  should  warn  the  coun- 
try against  ever  permitting  another  national 
bank  to  repeat  a  crime  of  such  frightful  immo- 
rality, and  such  enormous  injury  to  the  business 
and  property  of  the  people.    Mr.  B.  expressed 
his  profound  regret  that  the  report  of  the  bank 
committee  was  silent  upon  these  dreadful  enor- 
mities, while  so  elaborate  upon  trifles  in  favor 
of  the  bank.    He  was  indignant  at  the  mischief 
done  to  private  property  ;  the  fall  in  the  price 
of  staples,  of  stocks,  and  of  all  real  and  personal 
estate ;  at  the  ruin  of  many  merchants,  and  the 
injury  of  many  citizens,  which  took  place  during 
this  hideous  season  of  panic  and  pressure.    He 
was  indignant  at  the  bank  for  creatiug  it,  and 
still  more  for  its  criminal  audacity  in  charging 


m^' 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


)wful  contradiction  in  which 
caught.    In  the  Senate,  and 
5^,  the  friends  of  the  bank 
on  with  the  old  tunc,  and 
g  scent,  of  removal  of  the 
the  distress ;  while,  in  the 
!ular  letters  dispatched  to 
it  was  not  the  old  measure 
ea.sures  contemplated,  which 
jxt  for  this  very  same  dis- 
ak  stood  upon  one  pretext 
upon  another;  and  fortius 
tion,  in  which  all  its  friends 
ed  to  see  their  mournful 
ly  the  bank  itself,  a  just  in- 
to be  felt  by  all  the  friends 
re  laying  the  distress  to  the 
jsits,  and  daily  crying  out 
relieve  the  country  but  the 
jposits,  or  the  rechartcr  of 
bank  itself  was  writing  to 
was  the  new  measures  un- 
atemplation  that  nas  occa 
ihief.    Mr.  B.  would  close 
lark  which  ought  to  excite 
luld  never  die  away ;  which 
id  as  long  as  national  banks 
r  existence.    It  was  this: 
'ed  case  of  a  national  bank 
3  organization,  and  of  its 
Jt  orders,  upon  a  false  pre- 
f  the  Union,  to  create  dis- 
16  purpose  of  accomplishing 
1 ;  and  then  publicly  and 
ig  all  this  mi,schief  on  the 
for  the  refcoval  of  the  d^ 
ition  should  warn  the  coun- 
rmitting  another  national 
le  of  such  frightful  immo- 
mous  injury  to  the  business 
people.    Mr.  B.  expressed 
hat  the  report  of  the  bank 
upon  these  dreadful  enor- 
orate  upon  trifles  in  favor 
3  indignant  at  the  mischief 
icrty  ;  the  fall  in  the  price 
ind  of  all  real  and  personal 
'  many  merchants,  and  the 
as,  which  took  place  during 
f  panic  and  pressure.    He 
i  bank  fur  crealiug  it,  and 
linal  audacity  in  charging 


543 


its  own  conduct  upon  the  President;  and  ho 
was  mortified,  profoundly  mortified,  that  all 
this  should  have  escaped  the  attention  of  the 
Finance  Committee,  and  enabled  them  to  make 
a  report  of  which  the  bank,  in  its  official  organ, 
declares  itself  to  be  justly  proud ;  which  it  now 
has  undergoing  the  usual  process  of  diffusion 
through  the  publication  of  supplemental  gazettes ; 
which  it  openly  avers  would  have  insured  the 
rechurter  if  it  h-  ;  jme  out  in  time ;  and  to  which 
it  now  looks  for  '...oh  recharter  as  soon  as  Pres- 
ident Jackson  retires,  and  the  country  can  be 
thrown  into  confusion  by  the  distractions  of  a 
presidential  election. 

Mr.  B.  now  took  up  another  head  of  evidence 
to  prove  the  fact  that  the  curtailment  and  ex- 
change regulations  of  January  were  political  and 
revolutionary,  and  connected  with  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  Senate  for  the  condemnation  of  the 
President;  and  here   he  would  proceed  upon 
evidence  drawn  from  the  bank  itself.    Mr.  B. 
then  read  extracts  from  Mr.  Biddle's  letters  of 
instractions  (January  80, 1834)  to  Jo.seph  John- 
son, Esquire,  president  of  the  branch  bank  at 
Charieston,  South  Carolina.    They  were  as  fol- 
lows :  "  With  a  view  to  meet  the  coming  crisis 
in  the  banking  concerns  of  the  country,  and 
especially  to  provide  against  new  measures  of 
hostility  understood  to  be  in  contemplation  by 
the  executive  officers  at  Washington,  a  gen'  ral 
reduction  has  been  ordered  at  the  several  offices, 
and  I  have  now  to  ask  your  particular  attention 
to  accomplish  it."    *    *    *    *    "Jt  is  as  dis- 
agreeable to  us  as  it  can  be  to  yourselves  to 
impose  any  restrictions  upon  the  business  of  the 
oflSce.    But  you  are  perfectly  aware  of  the  effort 
which  has  been  making  for  some  time  to  prostrate 
the  bank,  to  which  this  new  measure  to  which 
I  have  alluded  will  soon  be  added,  unless  the 
projectors  become  alarmed  at  it.    On  the  defeat 
of  these  attempts  to  destroy  the  bank  depends, 
in  our  deliberate  judgment,  not  merely  the  pe- 
cuniary interests,  but  the  whole  free  institutions 
of  our  country;  and  our  determination  is,  by 
even  a  temporary  sacrifice  of  profit,  to  place  the 
bank  entirely  beyond  the  reach  of  those  who 
meditate  its  destruction." 

Mr.  B.  would  invoke  the  deepest  attention  to 
this  letter.  The  passages  which  he  had  read 
were  not  in  the  circulars  addressed  at  the  same 
timG  to  the  other  branches.  It  was  confined  to 
this  letter,  with  something  similar  in  one  more 


which  he  would  presently  read.    The  coming 
crisis  in  the  banking  concerns  of  the  country  is 
here  shadowed  forth,  and  secretly  foretold,  three 
months  before  it  happened ;  and  with  good  rea- 
son, for  the  prophet  of  the  evil  was  to  assist  in 
fulfilling  his  prophecy.    With  this  secret  pre- 
diction, made  in  January,  is  to  be  connected  the 
public  predictions  contemporaneously  made  on 
this  floor,  and  continued  till  April,  when  the 
explosion  of  some  banks  in  this  district  was 
proclaimed  as  the  commencement  of  the  general 
ruin  which  was  to  involve  all  local  banks,  and 
especially  the  whole  safety-fund  list  of  banks, 
in  one  universal  catastrophe.     The  Senate  would 
remember  all  this,  and  spare  him  repetitions 
which  must  now  bo  heard  with  pain,  though 
uttered  with  satisfaction  a  few  months  ago.    The 
whole  free  institutions  of  our  country  was  the 
next  phrase  in  the  letter  to  which  Mr.  B.  called 
attention.    He  said  that  in  this  phrase  the  poli- 
tical designs  of  the  bank  stood  revealed;  and  he 
averred  that  this  language  was  identical  with  that 
used  upon  this  floor.    Here,  then,  is  the  secret 
order  of  the  bank,  avowing  that  the  whole  free  in- 
stitutions of  the  country  are  taken  into  its  holy 
keeping ;  and  that  it  was  dcteri  >ined  to  sub- 
mit to  a  temporary  sacrifice  of  profit  in  sus- 
taining the   bank,  which   itself  sustains   the 
whole  free  institutions  of  the  country !    "What 
insolence  !    What  audacity !    But,  said  Mr.  B. 
what  is  hero  meant  by  free  institutions,  was 
the  elections!  and  the  true  meaning  of  Mr. 
Biddle's  letter  is,  that  the  bank  meant  to  submit 
to  temporary  sacrifices  of  money  to  carry  the 
elections,  and  put  down  the  Jackson  adminis- 
tration.   No  other  meaning  can  be  put  upon 
the  words ;  and  if  there  could,  there  is  further 
proof  in  reserve  to  nail  the  infamous  and  wicked 
design  upon  the  bank.    Another  passage  in  this 
letter,  hr.  B.  would  point  out,  and  then  pro- 
ceed to  u  new  piece  of  evidence.    It  was  the 
passage  ,vhich  said  this  new  measure  will  soon 
be  added,  unless  the  projectors  become  alarmed 
at  it.  Now,  said  Mr.  B.,  take  this  as  you  please ; 
either  that  the  projectors  did,  or  did  not,  be- 
come alarmed  at  their  new  measure ;  the  fact 
is  clear  that  no  new  measure  was  put  in  force 
and  that  the  bank,  in  proceeding  to  act  upon 
that  assumption,  was  inventing  and  fabricating 
a  pretext  to  justify  the  scourge  which  it  was 
meditating  against  the  country.    Dates  are  here 
material,  said  Mr.  B.    The  first  letters,  founded 


''••••4'(' 


r 


:.l 


544 


THIRTY  YFARS'  VIEW. 


on  these  new  mcasiirea,  were     ited  the  21  Bt    f 
January;  and  spike  of  t!>em  as  being  under- 
stood to  he  in  contemplation.    This  letter  (  ■ 
Mr,  Johnson,  which  speaks  hypothetical ly,  is 
dated   the  30th  of  January,  hoing  eight  days 
later;  in  which  time  the.  bank  had  doubtless 
hoard  that  its  inulerstanding  about  what  vvas 
in  contemplati'  d  wus  all  false  ;  and  to  cover  its 
retreat  liom  having  sent  a  falsiliood  to  tw o- 
and-twonty  branches,  it  gives  notice  that  the 
new  measures  which  were  the  alleged  jiretext 
of  panic  and  pressure  upon  the  country  were 
not  to  take  plact ,  because  the  projectors  had 
got  alarmed.    The  beautiful  idea  of  the  projec- 
tors—that is  to  say,  General  Jackson,  for  he 
is  the  person  intended— becoming,'  alarmed  at 
interdicting  the  reception  of  illegal  .liafta  at  the 
treasury,  is  conjure  .  up  as  a  salvo  for  the  honor 
of  the  bank,  in  makinfj;  two-and-twenty  instances 
of  false  assertion,    l{ut  the  panic  and  pressure 
orders  are  not  countermanded.    They  are  to  go 
on,  although  the  projectors  do  become  alarmed, 
and  although  tho  new  measure  be  dropped. 

Mr.  B.  had  an  extract  from  a  second  letter  to 
read  upon  this  subject.    It  was  to  the  president 
of  the  New  Orleans  branch,  Mr.  W.  W.  Mont- 
gomery, and  dated  Bank  of  the  United  States 
the  24th  of  January.     He  read  the  extract : 
"  The  state  of  things  here  is  very  gloomy ;  and, 
unless  C  .;:  i>:-s8  takes  some  decided  step  to 
prevent  fl; ;  ^f ''gress  of  the  troubles,  they  may 
soon  ^"'ji-:r^  ,.ur  control.    Thus  circumstanced, 
our  f;nr.  ;i»!ty  is,  to  the  institution,  to  preserve 
it  from  d!  danger;  and  we  are  therefore  anx- 
ious, for  a  short  time  at  least,  to  keep  our  busi- 
ness within  manageable  limits,  and  to  make 
some  sacrifice  of  property  to  entire  security. 
It  is  a  moment  of  great  interest,  and  exposed 
to  sudden  changes  in  public  affairs,  which  may 
induce  the  bank  to  conform  its  policy  to  them ; 
of  these  dangers,  should  any  occur,  you  will 
have  early  advice."    When  he  had  read  this 
extract,  Mr.  B,  proceeded  to  comment  upon  it; 
almost  every  wor.'  of  it  being  pregnant  with 
political  anrt  revolutionary  meaning  of  the  plain- 
est import.    The  whole  extract,  he  said,  was 
the  language  of  a  politician,  not  of  a  banker, 
and  looked  to  political  events  to  which  the  bank 
intended  to  conform  its  policy.    In  this  way  he 
commented  successively  upon  the  gloomy  state 
of  things  at  the  bauk  (for  the  letter  is  dated  in 
the  bank),  and  the  troubles  which  were  to  out- 


grow their  control,  unless  nongrc!     took  soma 
decided  step.    These  t,  jubles,  Mr.  h.  snid.  couia 
not  be  the  (ian^r  ^s  to  the  bank;  for  i,     l,ank 
I     '  taken  entire  care  <.f  itself  in  Iho  two  aiuj- 
twenty  orders  which  it  had  sent  out  to  nirtail 
loans  and  break  up  exchanges.    Every  tmo  of 
these  or.l.-rs  announced  the  power  of  the  hank 
and  the      terminati  m  of  the  l)aiik,  to  take  care 
of  itself.    Tn  .   lies  outgrow  our  control !  What 
insolence  !    ^  ,     i  the  bank  itself,  and  itf> 
federates,  were  'he  creater-s  and  foments s  „( 
all  these  troubles,  the  pm  i-ess  of  which  it  af- 
fected f    deplore.    The  next  words  -niomcnt 
of  great  interest  ex;'"scd  to  guddi  i  changes  iu 
public  alTairs,  indue    the  bank  to  conform  its 
policy  to  them— Mr,  B.  sai  1,  were  too  flnmnt 
and  too  ban  f  iced  for  comment.     Tlx         re 
equivalent  to  an  opnt  ueclaration  that  a  revolu- 
tion was  momeatly  expected    in  which  Jaek- 
im's  administration  would  be  overthrown  iuid 
the  friends  of  the  bank  brought  into  power- 
and,  as  soon  a.  that     ippened,  tin-  Iwmk  would 
infoi-m  its  branches  of  it ;  and  w      '  then  con- 
form its  policy  to  this  n      ItK      .  ,ind  relieve 
the  country  from  the  disti  uich  it  was  tlien 

inflicting  upon  it.     Sir,  said      r.  B.,  add'-essing 
the  Vice-President,  tliir-      y(    rs  ago,  th,>  pro- 
phetic vision  of  Mr.  Jefferson  l^resaw  this  crisis; 
thirty  years  ago,  he  said  that  this  bank  was  an 
enemy  to  our  form  of  government ;  that,  by  its 
ramification  and  power,  and  by  seizing  on  a 
critical  moment  in  our  affairs,  it  could  upset 
the  government !    And  this  is  what  it  would 
have  done  last  winter,  had  it  not  been  for  one 
man  !  one  man  !  one  single  man  !  with  whom 
God  had  vouchsafed  to  favor  our  Ameiin  in 
that  hour  of  her  greatest  trial.    That  one  man 
stood  a  sole  obstacle  to  the  dread  career  of  the 
bank;  stood  for  six  months  as  the  rampart 
which  defended  the  country,  the  citadel  upon 
which  the  bank  artillery  incessantly  thundered ! 
And  what  was  the  conduct  of  the  Senate  all  this 
time  ?   It  was  trying  and  condemning  that  man ; 
killing  him  off  with  a  senatorial  condemnation; 
removing  the  obstacle  which  stood  between  the 
bank  and  its  prey ;  and,  in  so  doing,  estf.blish- 
ing  the  indissoluble  connection  between  the 
movement  of  the  bank  in  distressing  the  coun- 
try, and  the  movement  of  the  Senate  in  con- 
demning the  President, 

Mr.  B.  said  that  certainly  no  more  proof  was 
necessary,  on  this  head,  to  show  that  the  designs 


AKNO  1886.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  1' RESIDENT. 


545 


of  the  h.ik  w  .*'  I  )liticai  anil  revolutionary, 
if'ondwl  t..  put  doHTi  General  Jackson's  admin- 
istration, iintl  to  ciiunect  itself  with  the  Senate  ; 
but  he  had  more  pniul,  that  of  a  publiciition 
end  editon  !  head  of  the  National  Gazi , 

and  u      h  piifili      "on  he  a«Hnmcd  to  say,  wii 
v,ritl«'u  by  tiie  ]>\\       ut  of  the  bank.    It  was  a 
Img     'iclo  of  four  c  Inninw ;  but  ho  would  only 
read  a  jjaragraph      He  read:  "The  great  con- 
test now  vvaf^inp;  in  this  country  is  between  its 
■  inslit     ion     and  the  violence  of  a  vulgar 
despotism      The  government  is  turned  into  a 
baneful  faction,  and  the  spirit  of  liberty  con- 
tends ajpiinst  it  (linnighout  the  comtry.    On 
the  one  hand  is  this  miserable  cat  al,  with    M 
the  patronage  of  the  Executive;  on  tho  of' 
hand,  the  yet  imbroken  mind  and  li  ar* 
country,  with  the  Senate  and  the  bu 
readin  "  tlicso  words,  in  which  tho  banl 
a;cd  itiielf  with  the  Senate,  Mr.  B.  rep  iie 

famous  expression  of  Cardinal  Wolse;,  as- 

sociating liimself  with  the  king:  ^Ego  et  rex 
metM;']— the  House  of  Representatives,  hither- 
the  intuitive  champion  of  freedom,  shaken  by 
itrigties  of  the  kitchen,  hesitates  for  a  time, 
I!    annot  fail  before  long  to  break  its  o\\  n  fet- 
ti'i'^  lirst.  and  then  those  of  the  country.     In 
that  quarrel,  we  predict,  they  who  administer 
the  bank  will  shrink  from  no  proper  share  which 
the  country  may  assign  to  them.     Personally, 
they  must  be  as  indifPerent  as  any  of  their  fellow- 
citizens  to  the  rechartcr  of  the  bank.    But  they 


the  President  and  the  House  of  Representatives, 
and  to  overturn  them  both  at  the  ensuing  elec- 
tions.    To  do  this,  now  stands  revealed  as  its 
wed  object.    The  Senate  and  the  bank  were 
>nd  together  against  the  President  and  the 
•;  aiul  each  to  act  its  part  for  the  same 
imon  object :  tho  bank  to  scourge  the  people 
r  ni mey,  and  charge  its  own  scourging  upon 
the  President ;  tho  Senate  to  com leuiu  him  for 
a  violation  of  the  laws  and  constitution,  and 
to  brand  him  as  the  Ca3sar,  Cromwell,  Bona- 
parte—the tyrant,  despot,  usurptT,  whose  head 
would  be  cut  off  in  any  kingdom  of  Europe 
for  such  acts  as  ho  practised   hero.     Mr.  B. 
said,  tho  >  mtemplation  of  the  coiuluct  of  the 
'  ■"  k,  during  the  panic  session,  was  revolting 
incredible.     It  combined  every  thing  to 
n  volt  and  shock  the  moral  sense.     Oppression 


vrill  not  suffer  themselves,  nor  the  institution 
intrusted  to  them,  to  be  the  instniments  of 
private  wrong  and  public  outrage ;  nor  will  they 
omit  any  effort  to  rescue  the  institutions  of  the 
country  from  being  trodden  under  foot  by  a  fac- 
tion of  interlopers.  To  these  profligate  adven- 
turers, whether  their  power  is  displayed  in  the 
executive  or  legislative  departmei  ,  the  directors 
of  tlie  bank  will,  we  are  sati-'ied,  never  yield 
the  thousandth  part  of  ai  ach  of  their  own 
personal  rights,  or  their  own  ofBcial  duties; 
and  will  continue  this  resistance  until  the  coun- 
try, roused  to  a  jiroper  sense  of  its  dangers  and 
its  wrongs,  shall  diive  the  usurpers  out  of  the 
liigh  places  they  dishonor."  This  letter,  said 
Mr.  B.,  discloses,  in  terms  which  admit  of  no 
explanation  or  denial,  the  design  of  the  bank  in 
creatinp;  the  pressure  which  was  got  up  and  con- 
tinued during  the  panic  session.  It  was  to 
rouse  the  people,  by  dint  of  suffering,  against 

Vol.  I.— 35 


falsehood,  calumny,  revolution,  the  ruin  of  in- 
dividuals, the  fabrication  of  false  pretences,  the 
machinations  for  overturning  tho  government 
the  imputation  of  its  own  crimes  upon  the  head 
of  the  President;  the  enriching  its  favorites  with 
the  spoils  of  the  country,  insolence  to  the  House 
of  Representatives,  and  its  affected  guardianship 
of  t  lie  liberties  of  the  people  and  the  free  insti- 
tutions of  the  country;  such  were  t,,e  promi- 
nent features  of  its  comluct.    The  parallel  of  its 
enormity  was  not  to  be  found  on  this  side  of 
Asia;  an  example  of  such  remorseless  atrocity 
was  only  to  be  seen  in  the  conduct  of  the  Paul 
Bcnfields  and  the  Debi  Sings  who  ravaged  India 
under  the  name  of  the  Marquis  of  Hastings. 
Even  what  had  been  casually  and  imperfectly 
brought  to  light,  disclosed  a  system  of  calcu- 
lated enormity  which  required  the  genius  of 
Burke  to  paint.    What  was  behind  would  re- 
quire labors  of  a  committee,  constituted  upon 
parliamentary  principles,  not  to  plaster,  but  to 
probe  the  wounds  and  ulcers  of  the  bank ;  and 
such  a  committee  he  should  hope  to  see,  not 
now,  but  hereafter,  not  in  the  vacation  but  in 
the  session  of  Congress.    For  he  had  no  idea  of 
these  peripatetic  and  recess  committees,  of  which 
the  panic  session  had  been  so  prolific,   lie  want- 
ed a  committee,  unquestionable  ni  the  legality 
of  its  own  appointment,  duly  qualified  in  a  par- 
liamentary sense  for  discovering  the  misconduct 
they  are  set  to  investigate;  and  sitting  under 
the  ■wing  of  the  authority  wliieh  can  puiiitih  the 
insolent,  compel  the  refractory,  and  enforce  the 
obedience  which  is  due  to  its  mandates. 


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546 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


6.  The  distress  of  the  country,  occasioned  by 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States  and  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States.— This,  Mr.  B.  said,  might 
be  an  unpleasant  topic  to  discuss  in  the  Senate ; 
but  this  Senate,  for  four  months  of  the  last  ses- 
sion, and  during  the  whole  debate  on  the  reso- 
lution to  condemn  the  President,  had  resounded 
with  the  cry  that  the  President  had  created  all 
the  distress;  and  the  huge  and  motley  mass, 
throughout  the  Union,  which  marched  under 
the  orijiamme  of  the  bank,  had  every  where  re- 
peated and  reiterated  the  same  cry.    If  there 
was  any  thing  unpleasant,  then,  in  the  discus- 
sion of  this  topic  in  this  place,  the  blame  must 
be  laid  on  those  who,  by  using  that  argument  in 
support  of  their  resolution  agamst  the  Presi- 
dent, devolved  upon  the  defenders  of  the  Presi- 
dent the  necessity  of  refuting  it.    Mr.  B.  would 
have  recourse  to  facts  to  establish  his  position. 
The  first  fact  he  would  recur  to  was  the  history 
of  a  reduction  of  deposits,  made  once  before  in 
this  same  bank,  so  nearly  identical  in  every  par- 
ticular with  the  reduction  which  took  place 
under  the  order  for  the  late  removal  of  deposits 
that  it  would  require  exact  references  to  docu- 
mentary evidence  to  put  its  credibility  beyond  the 
incredulity  of  the  senses.    Not  only  the  amount 
from  which  the  reduction  was  made,  its  progress) 
and  ultimate  depression,  corresponded  so  closely 
as  each  to  seem  to  be  the  history  of  the  same 
transaction,  but  they  began  in  the  same  month 
descended  in  the  same  ratio,  except  in  the  in- 
stances which  operate  to  the  disadvantage  of  the 
late  reduction,  and,  at  the  end  of  fifteen  months, 
had  reached  the  same  point.    Mr.  B.  spoke  of 
the  reduction  of  deposits  which  took  place  in 
the  years  1818  and  1819;  and  would  exhibit  a 
table  to  compare  it  with  the  reductions  under 
the  late  order  for  the  removal  of  the  deposits. 

Here,  said  Mr.  B.,  is  a  similar  and  parallel  re- 
duction of  deposits  in  this  same  bank,  and  that 
at  a  period  of  real  pecuniary  distress  to  itself; 
a  period  when  great  frauds  were  discovered  in 
its  management ;  when  a  committee  examined 
it,  and  reported  it  guilty  of  violating  its  char- 
ter ;  when  its  stock  fell  in  a  few  weeks  from 
one  hundred  and  eighty  to  ninety ;  when  pro- 
positions to  repeal  its  charter,  without  the  for- 
mality of  a  scire  facias,  were  discussed  in  Con- 
gress ;  when  nearly  all  presses,  and  nearly  all 
voices,  condemned  it;  and  when  a  real  necessity 
compelled  it  to  reduce  its  discounts  and  loans 


with  more  rapidity,  and  to  a  far  greater  compa- 
rative  extent,  than  that  which  has  attended  the 
late  reduction.    Yet,  what  was  the  state  of  the 
country  ?    Distressed,  to  be  sure,  but  no  panic- 
no  convulsion  in  the  community ;  no  cry  of  re- 
volution.   And  why  this  difleronce  ?    If  mere 
reduction  of  deposits  was  to  be  attendod  with 
these  effects  at  one  time,  why  not  at  the  other  ? 
Sir,  said  Mr.  B.,  addressing  the  Vice-President 
the  reason  is  plain  and  obvious.    The  bank  was 
unconnected  with  politics,  in  1819 ;  it  had  no 
desire,  at  that  time,  to  govern  the  elections  and 
to  overturn  an  administration  ;  it  had  no  politi- 
cal  confederates ;  it  had  no  president  of  the  bank 
then  to  make  war  upon  <^he  President  of  the 
United  States,  and  to  stimulate  and  aid  a  great 
political  party  in  crushing  the  President,  who 
would  not  sign  a  new  charter,  and  in  crushing 
the  House  of  Representatives  which  stood  by 
him.    There  was  no  resolution  then  to  con- 
demn the  President  for  a  violation  of  the  laws 
and  the  constitution.     And  it  was  this  fatal 
resolution,  which  we  now  propose  to  sxpunge 
which  did  the  principal  part  of  the  mischief. 
That    resolution  was    the  root   of   the  evil; 
the   signal  for  panic  meetings,  panic  memo- 
rials, panic   deputations,   panic  speeches,  and 
panic  jubilees.     That  resolution,  exhibited  in 
the  Senate  chamber,  was  the  scarlet  mantle  of 
the  consul,  hung  out  from  his  tout ;  it  was  the 
signal  for  battle.    That  resolution,  and  the  alarm 
speeches  which  attended  it,  was  the  tocsin  which 
started  a  continent  Irom  its  repose.    And  the 
condemnation  which  followed  it,  and  which  left 
this  chamber  just  in  time  to  reach  the  New- 
York,  Virginia,  and  Connecticut  elections,  com- 
pleted the  effect  upon  the  public  mind,  and  upon 
the  politics  and  commerce  of  the  country,  whioh 
the  measures  of  the  bank  had  been  co-oper- 
ating for  three  months  to  produce.    And  here 
he  must  express  his  especial  and  eternal  wonder 
how  all  these  movements  of  bank  and  Senate 
co-operating  together,  if  not  by  arrangement,  at 
least  by  a  most  miraculous  system  of  accidents, 
to  endanger  the  political  rights,  and  to  injure  the 
pecuniary  interests  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  could  bo  far  escape  the  observation  of 
the  investigating  committee  o<"  tiie  Senate,  as 
not  to  draw  from  them  the  expression  of  one 
solitary  opinion,  the  suggestion  of  one  single 
idea,  the  application  of  one  single  remark,  to 
the  prejudice  of  the  bank.    Surely  they  ought   , 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


547 


•n  +he  Tresident  of  the 


to  have  touched  these  scenes  with  something 
more  than  a  few  meagre,  stinted,  and  starved 
lines  of  faint  allusion  to  the  "  new  measures  un- 
derstood to  be  in  contemplation;"  those  new 
measures  which  were  so  falsely,  so  wickedly 
fabricated  to  cover  the  preconcerted  and  pre- 
meditated plot  to  upset  the  government  by  stim- 
ulating the  people  to  revolution,  through  the 
combined  operations  of  the  pecuniary  pressuro 
and  political  alarms. 

The  table  itself  was  entitled  to  the  gravest 
recollection,  not  only  for  the  comparison  which 
it  suggested,  but  the  fact  of  showing  the  actual 
progress  and  history  of  the  removal  of  the  de- 
posits, and  blasting  the  whole  story  of  the  Pre- 
sident's hostility  to  the  bank.    From  this  table 
it  is  seen  that  the  deposits,  in  point  of  fact,  have 
never  been  all  taken  from  the  bank;  that  the 
removal,  so  far  as  it  went,  was  gradual  and  gen- 
tle; that  an  average  of  three  millions  has  always 
been  there ;  that  nearly  four  millions  was  there 
on  the  1st  day  of  January  last ;  and  before  these 
facts,  the  fabricated  story  of  the  President's 
hostility  to  the  bank,  his  vindictiveness.  and 
violent  determination  to  prostrate,  destroy,  and 
rain  the  institution,  must  fall  back  upon  its  au- 
thors, and  recoil  upon  the  heads  of  the  inven- 
tors and  propagators  of  such  a  groundless  im- 
putation. 

Mr.  B.  could  give  another  fact  to  prove  that 
it  was  the  Senate  and  the  bank,  and  the  Senate 
more  than  the  bank,  which  produced  the  dis- 
tress during  the  last  winter.    It  was  this  :  that 
although  the  curtailments  of  the  bank  were 
much  larger  both  before  and  after  the  session 
of  Congress,  yet  there  was  no  distress  in  the 
country,  except  during  the  session,  and  while 
the  alarm  speeches  were  in  a  course  of  delivery 
on  this  floor.    Thus,  the  curtailment  from  the 
1st  of  August  to  the  1st  of  October,  was  ,f  4,- 
006,000 ;  from  the  1st  of  Octob*er  to  the  meet- 
ing of  Congress  in  December,  the  curtailment 
was  $5,G41,000-making   $9,707,000  in  four 
months,  and  no  distress  in  the  co ontry.   During 
the  session  of  Congresj  (seven  months)  there 
ms  a  ourtailment  of  $3,428,138;  and  during 
this  time  the  distress  raged.    From  the  rise  of 
Congress  (last  of  June)  to  the  1st  of  November, 
!fS'^-,5  ''*'"''  months,  the  curtailment  was 
pJ,2(  0,771,  and  the  word  distress  was  not  heard 
•n  the  country.    Why  ?  Because  there  were  no 
panic  speeches.    Congress  had  adjourned;  and 


the  bank,  being  left  to  its  own  resources,  could 
only  injure  individuals,  but  could  not  alarm 
and  convulse  the  community. 

Mr.  B.  would  finish  this  view  of  the  conduct 
of  the  bank  in  creating  a  wanton  pressure,  by 
giving  two  instances ;  one  was  the  case  of  the 
deposit  bank  in  this  city ;  the  other  was  the 
case  of  a  senator  opposed  to  the  bank.   He  said 
that  the  branch  bank  at  this  place  hud  made  a 
steady  run  upon  the  Metropolis  Bank  from  the 
beginning  to  the  ending  of  the  panic  session. 
The  amount  of  specie  which  it  had  taken  was 
$005,000 :  evidently  for  the  purpose  of  blowing 
up  the  pet  bank  in  this  district;  and  d;iiiiig 
all  that  time  the  branch  refused  to  receivi'  tlio 
notes,  or  branch  drafts,  of  any  other  branch, 
or  the  notee  of  the   mother  bank;  or  checks 
upon  any  city  north  of  Baltimore.    On  the  pet 
bank  in  Baltimore  it  would  take  checks,  be- 
cause the  design  was  to  blow  up  that  also.  Here 
said  Mr.  B..  was  a  clear  and  flagrant  case  of 
pressure  for  specie  for  the  mere  purpose  of  mis- 
chief, and  of  adding  the  Metropolis  Bank  to  the 
list  of  those  who  stopped  payment  at  that  time. 
And  here  Mr.  B.  felt  himself  bound  to  pay  his 
respects  to  the  Committee  on  Finance,  that  went 
to  examine  the  bank  last  summer.    That  com- 
mittee, at  pages   16  and  22,  of  their  report 
brought  forward  an  unfounded  charge  against 
the  administration  for  making  runs  upon  the 
branches  of  the  United  States  Bank,  to  break 
them ;  while  it  had  been  silent  with  respect  to 
a  well-founded  instance  of  the  same  nature  from 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States  towards  the  de- 
posit bank  in  this  district.     Their  language  is  : 
"  The  administrative  department  of  the  govern- 
ment had  manifested  a  spirit  of  decided  hostility 
to  the  bank.    It  had  no  reason  to  expect  any 
indulgence  or  clemency  at  its  hands ;  and  in 
this  opinion,  if  entertained    by  the  directors 
about  which  there  can  be  but  little  question 
subsequent  events  very  soon  proved  they  were 
not  mistaken.    The  President's  address  to  his 
cabinet;  the  tone  assumed  by  the  Secretary 
(Mr.  Taney)  in  his  official  communication  to 
Congress,  and  the  developments  subsequently 
made  by  Mr.  Duane  in  his  address  to  the  pub- 
lic, all  confirm  the  correctness  of  this  anticipa- 
tion.    The  measure  which  the  bank  had  cau-se 
to  fear  was  the  accumulation  by  government 
of  large  masses  of  notes,  and  the  existence  there- 
by of  heavy  demands  against  its  oflSoes  (p.  16). 


548 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


"  In  persevering  in  its  policy  of  redeeming  its 
notes  whenever  presented,  and  therety  con- 
tinuing them  as  a  universal  medium  of  exchange, 
in  opposition  to  complaints  on  that  head  from 
some  of  the  branches  (see  copies  of  correspond- 
ence), the  security  of  the  institution  and  the 
good  of  the  country  were  alike  promoted.    The 
accumulation  of  the  notes  of  any  one  branch  for 
the  purpose  of  a  run  upon  it  by  any  agent  of 
the  government,  when  specie  might  be  obtained 
at  the  very  places  of  collection,  in  exchange  for 
the  notes  of  the  most  distant  branches,  would 
have  been  odious  in  the  eyes  of  the  public,  and 
ascribed  to  no  other  feeling  than  a  feeling  of 
vindictiveness  "  (p.  22).    Upon  these  extracts, 
Mr.  B.  said,  it  was  clear  that  the  committee  had 
been  so  unfortunate  as  to  commit  a  series  of 
mistakes,  and  every  mistake  to  the  advantage 
of  the  bank,  and  to  the  prejudice  of  the  govern- 
ment and  the  country.    First,  the  government 
is  charged,  for  the  charge  is  clear,  though  slightly 
veiled,  that  the  President  of  the  United  States 
in  his  vindictiveness  against  the  bank,  would 
cause  the  notes  of  the  branches  to  be  accumu- 
lated, and  pressed  upon  them  to  break  them. 
Next,  the  committee  omit  to  notice  the  very 
thing  actually  done,  in  our  very  presence  here, 
by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  against  a  de- 
posit bank,  which   it   charges  without    foun- 
dation upon  the  President.    Then  it  credits  the 
bank  with  the  honor  of  paying  its  notes  every 
where,  and  exchanging  the  notes  of  the  most  dis- 
tant branches  for  specie,  when  the  case  of  the 
Metropolis  Bank,  here  in  our  presence,  for  the 
whole  period  of  the  panic  session,  proves  the 
contrary;  and  when  we  have  a  printed  docu- 
ment, positive  testimony  from  many  banks,  and 
brokers,  testifying  that  the  branches  in  Balti- 
more and  New- York,  during  the  fall  of  1833, 
positively  refused  to  redeem  the  notes  of  other 
branches,  or  to  accept  them  in  exchange  for  the 
notes  of  the  local  banks,  though  taken  in  pay- 
ment of  revenue ;  and  that,  in  consequence,  the 
notes  of  distant  branches  fell  below  par,  and 
were  sold  at  a  discount,  or  lent  for  short  periods 
without  interest,  on  condition  of  getting  specie 
for  them ;  and  that  this  continued  till  Mr.  Taney 
coerced  the  bank,  by  means  of  transfer  drafts 
to  cause  the  notes  of  her  branches  to  be  re- 
cc!vi^»«  fVTi't  ftonorvu  St-  Otner  brancues  as  tisuul. 
In  all  this,  Mr.  B,  said,  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee was  most  unfortunate ;  and  showed  the 


necessity  for  a  new  committee  to  examine  that 
institution ;  a  committee  constituted  upon  par- 
liamentary principles — a  majority  in  favor  of  in- 
quiry— like  that  of  the  Post  Office.  The  crea- 
tion of  such  a  committee,  Mr.  B.  said,  was  the 
more  necessary,  as  one  of  the  main  guards  in. 
tended  by  the  charter  to  be  placed  over  ths 
bank  was  not  there  during  the  period  of  th& 
pressure  and  panic  operations  j  he  alhided  to  th& 
government  directors  ;  the  history  of  whose  re- 
jection, after  such  long  delays  in  the  Senate  to 
act  on  their  nomination,  is  known  to  the  whole 
country. 

The  next  instance  of  wanton  pressure  which 
Mr.  B.  would  mention,  was  the  case  of  an  in- 
dividual, then  a  member  of  the  Senate  from 
Pennsylvania,  now  minister  to  St.  Petersburg 
(Mr.  Wilkins).  That  gentleman  had  informed 
him  (Mr,  B.),  towards  the  close  of  the  last 
session,  that  the  bank  had  caused  a  scire  facias 
to  be  served  in  his  house,  to  the  alarm  and  dis- 
tress of  his  wife,  to  revive  a  judgment  against 
him,  whilst  he  was  here  opposing  the  bank. 

[Mr.  Ewing,  of  Ohio,  here  rose,  and  wished  to 
know  of  Mr.  B.  whether  it  was  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States  that  had  issued  this  scire  facias 
against  Mr,  Wilkins,] 

Mr.  B,  was  very  certain  that  it  was.  He  re- 
collected not  only  the  information,  but  the  time 
and  the  place  when  and  where  it  was  given ; 
it  was  the  last  days  of  the  last  session,  and  at 
the  window  beyond  that  door  (pointing  to  'he 
door  in  the  comer  behind  him) ;  and  he  adde,!, 
if  there  is  any  question  to  be  raised,  it  can  be 
settled  without  sending  to  Russia;  the  scire 
facias,  if  issued,  will  be  on  record  ia  Pittsburg. 
Mr,  B.  then  said,  the  cause  of  this  conduct  to 
Mr.  Wilkins  can  be  understood  when  it  is  re- 
collected that  he  had  denied  on  this  floor  the 
existence  of  the  great  distress  which  had  been 
depicted  at  Pittsburg ;  and  the  necessity  that 
the  bank  was  under  to  push  him  at  that  time 
can  be  appreciated  by  seeing  that  two  and  fifty 
members  of  Congress,  as  reported  by  the  Fi- 
nance Committee,  had  received  "accommoda- 
tions" from  the  bank  and  its  branches  in  the 
same  year  that  a  senator,  and  a  citizen  of  Penn- 
sylvania, opposed  to  the  bank,  was  thus  pro- 
ceeded against,* 

♦  At  pages  8T  »nd  88  ot  the  report,  the  Flnsnce  Commltte* 
fully  acqutts  the  bank  of  all  ii^urious  dlscrlmlnatiOM  between 
borrowers  and  applicants,  of  diflereut  politico 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACESON,  PRESIDENT. 


549 


lere  rose,  and  wished  to 


Mr.  B.  returned  ,to  the  resolution  which  it 
was  proposed  to  expunge.    He  said  it  ought  to 
go.    It  was  the  root  of  the  evil,  the  father  of 
the  mischief,  the  source  of  the  injury,  the  box 
of  Pandora,  which  had  filled  thj  land  with  car- 
lamity  and  consternation  for  six  long  months. 
It  was  that  resolution,  far  more  than  the  con- 
duct of  the  bank,  which  raised  the  panic,  sunk 
the  price  of  property,  crushed  many  merchants, 
impressed  the  country  with  the  terror  of  an 
impending  revolution,  and  frightened  so  many 
good  people  out  of  the  rational  exercise  of  their 
elective  franchise  at  the  spring  elections.    All 
these  evils  have  now  passed  away.     The  panic 
has  subsided ;  the  price  of  produce  and  property 
has  recovered  from  its  depression,  and  risen  be- 
yond its  former  bounds.    The  country  is  tran- 
quil, prosperous,  and  happy.    The  States  which 
had  been  frightened  from  their   propriety  at 
the  spring  elections,  have  regained  their  self- 
command.    Now,  with  the  total  vanishing  of  its 
effects,  let  the  cause  vanish  also.     Let  this  re- 
solution for  the  condemnation  of  President  Jack- 
son be  expunged  from  the  journals  of  the  Sen- 
ate!   Let  it  be  effaced,  erased,  blotted  out,  ob- 
literated from  the  face  of  that  page  on  which  it 
should  never  have  been  written  !  Would  to  God 
it  could  be  expunged  from  the  page  of  all  his- 
toiy,  and  from  the  memory  of  all  mankind. 
Would  that,  so  far  as  it  is  concerned,  the  minds 
of  the  whole  existing  generation   should  be 
dipped  in  the  fabulous  and  oblivious  waters  of 
the  river  Lethe.     But  these  wishes  are  vain. 
The  resolution  must  survive  and  live.    History 
wUl  record  it ;  memory  will  retain  it ;  tradition 
will  hand  it  down.    In  the  very  act  of  expurga- 
tion it  lives;  for  what  is  taken  from  one  page 
IS  placed  on  another.   All  atonement  for  the  un- 
fortunate calamitous  act  of  the  Senate  is  imper- 
fect and  inadequate.     Expunge,  if  we  can,  still 
the  only  effect  wiU  be  to  express  our  solemn 
convictions,  by  that  obliteration,  that  such  a  re- 
solution ought  never  to  have  soiled  the  pages  of 
our  journal.    This  is  all  that  we  can  do;  and 
this  much  we  are  bound  to  do,  by  every  obliga- 
tm  of  justice  to  the  President,  whose  name  has 
beenattamted;  by  every  consideration  of  duty 
0  the  country,  whose  voice  demands  this  repara- 
tion; bj  mr  regard  to  the  constitution,  which 
has  been   rampled  under  foot ;  by  respect  to  the 
House  ot  Representatives,  whose  function  has 
l«en  usurped;  by  self-respect,  which  requires 


the  Senate  to  vindicate  its  justice,  to  correct  its 
errors,  and  re-establish  its  high  name  for  equity, 
dignity,  and  moderation.  To  err  is  human;  not 
to  err  is  divine ;  to  correct  error  is  the  work  of 
supereminent  and  also  superhuman  moral  ex- 
cellence, and  this  exalted  work  now  remains  for 
tbe  Senate  to  perform. 


CHAPTER    CXXIV. 

EXPUNGING  EESOLUTION:  EEJEOTED,  AND 
EENEWED. 

The  speech  which  had  been  delivered  by  Mr. 
Benton,    was    intended    for   effect    upon    the 


country— to  influence  the  forthcoming  elections 
—and  not  with  any  view  to  act  upon  the  Senate, 
still  consisting  of  the  same  members  who  had 
passed  the  condemnatory  resolution,  and  not 
expected  to  condemn  their  own  act.    The  ex- 
punging resolution  was   laid  upon    the  table 
without  any  intention  to  mo^v  it  again  during 
the  present  session ;  but,  on  .Ue  last  day  of  the 
session,    when  the  Senate  was  crowded  with 
business,  and  when  there  was  hardly  time  to 
finish  up  the  mdispensable  legislation,  the  motion 
was  call  1  up,  and  by  one  of  its  opponents- 
Mr.  Clayton,  of  Delaware— the  author  of  the 
motion  being  under  the  necessity  tc  v  >     fo-  the 
taking  up,  though  expecting  no  gc        ;rou»    t. 
The  moment  it  was  taken  up,  Mr,  "WTiite    of" 
Tennessee-moved  to  strike  out  the  word  "ex- 
punge," and  insert  «  rescind,  reverse,  and  make 
null  and  void."    This  motion  astonished  Mr. 
Benton.    Mr.  White,  besides  opposing  all  the 
proceedings  against  President  Jackson,  had  been 
his   personal    and  political  friend  from  early 
youth— for  the  more  than  forty  years  which 
each  of  them  had  resided  in  Tennessee.    He 
expected  his  aid,  and  felt  the  danger  of  such  a 
defection.     Mr.  Benton  defended  his  word  as 
being  strictly  parliamentary,  and  the  only  one 
which  was  proper  to  be  used  when  an  unautho- 
rized act  is  to  be  condemned-all  other  phrases 
admitting  the  legality  of  the  act  which  is  to  be 
mvahdated.    Mr.  White  justified  his  motion  on 
the  ground  that  an  expurgation  of  the  journal 
would  be  its  obliteration,  which  he  deemed  in- 
consistent with  the  constitutional  injunction  to 
"keep"  a  journal— the  word  "keep"    being 


i  .:*'i 


550 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


taken  in  its  primary  sense  of  "  holding,"  "  pre- 
serving," instead  of  "  writing,"  a  journal :  but 
the  mover  of  the  resolution  soon  saw  that  Mr. 
\.  Ue  was  not  the  only  one  of  his  friends  who 
had  yielded  at  that  point — that  others  had  given 
way — and,  came  about  him  importuning  him  to 
give  up  the  obnoxious  word.  Seeing  himself 
almost  deserted,  he  yielded  a  mortifying  and  re- 
luctant assent ;  and  voted  with  others  of  his 
friends  to  emasculate  his  own  motion — to  re- 
duce it  from  its  high  tone  of  reprobation,  to  the 
legal  formula  which  applied  to  the  reversal  of  a 
mere  error  in  a  legal  proceeding.  The  moment 
the  vote  was  taken,  Mr,  Webster  rose  and  ex- 
ulted in  the  victory  over  the  hated  phrase.  He 
proclaimed  the  accomplishment  of  every  thing 
that  he  desired  in  relation  to  the  expunging  re- 
solution :  the  word  wns  itself  expunged ;  and  he 
went  on  to  triumph  in  the  victory  which  had 
been  achieved,  saying : 

"  That  which  made  this  resolution,  which  we 
have  now  amended,  particularly  offensive,  was 
this  :  it  proposed  to  expunge  our  journal.  It 
called  on  us  to  violate,  to  obliterate,  to  erase, 
v.ur  own  records.  It  was  calculated  to  fix  a 
particular  stigma,  a  peculiar  mark  of  reproach 
or  disgrace,  on  the  resolution  of  March  last.  It 
was  designed  to  distinguisli  it,  and  reprobate  it, 
in  some  especial  manner.  Now,  sir,  all  this  most 
happily,  is  completely  defeated  by  the  almost 
unanimous  vote  of  the  Senate  which  has  just 
now  been  taken.  The  Senate  has  declared,  in 
the  most  emphatic  manner,  that  its  journal 
shall  not  be  tampered  with.  I  rejoice  most 
heartily,  sir,  in  this  descisive  result.  It  is  now 
settled,  by  authority  not  likely  to  be  shaken, 
that  our  records  are  sacred.  Men  may  change, 
opinions  may  change,  power  may  change,  but, 
thanks  to  the  firmness  of  the  Senate,  the  re- 
cords of  this  body  do  not  change.  No  instruc- 
tions from  without,  no  dictates  from  principali- 
ties or  powers,  nothing — nothing  can  be  allowed 
to  induce  the  Senate  to  falsify  its  own  records, 
to  disgrace  its  own  proceedings,  or  violate  the 
rights  of  its  members.  For  one,  sir,  I  feel  that 
we  have  fully  and  completely  accomplished  all 
that  could  be  desired  in  relation  to  this  matter. 
The  attempt  to  induce  the  Senate  to  expunge 
its  journal  has  failed,  signally  and  effectually 
failed.  The  record  remains,  neither  blurred, 
blotted,  nor  disgraced." 

And  then,  to  secure  the  victory  which  he  had 
gained,  Mr.  Webster  unmediately  moved  to  lay 
the  amended  resolution  on  the  table,  with  the 
peremptory  declaration  that  he  would  not  with- 
draw his  motion  for  friend  or  fot.  The  resolve 
wa8  laid  upon  the  table  by  a  vote  of  27  to  20. 


The  exulting  speech  of  Mr.  Webster  restored  me 
to  my  courage — made  a  man  of  me  again  •  and 
the  moment  the  vote  was  over,  I  rose  and  sub- 
mitted the  original  resolution  over  again  with 
the  detested  word  in  it— to  stand  for  the  second 
week  of  the  next  session— with  the  peremptory 
declaration  that  I  would  never  yield  it  again  to 
the  solicitations  of  friend  or  foe. 


CHAPTER    CXXV. 

BR  iNCII  MINTS  AT  NEW  ORLEANS,  AND  IN  THE 
GOLD  REGIONS  OF  GEORGIA  AND  NORTH  CAR. 
OLINA. 

The  bill  had  been  reported  upon  the  proposi- 
tion of  Mr.  Waggaman,  senator  from  Louisiana 
and  was  earnestly  and  perseveringly  opposed 
by  Mr.  Clay.     He  moved  its  indefinite  post- 
ponement, and  contended  that  the  mint  at  Phil- 
adelphia was  fully  competent  to  do  all  the  coin- 
age which  the  country  required.     He  denied 
the  correctness  of  the  argument,  that  the  mint 
at  New  Orleans  was  necessary  to  prevent  the 
transportation  of  the  bullion  to  Philadelphia. 
It  would  find  its  way  Ut  the  great  commercial 
marts  of  the  country  whether  coined  or  not. 
He  considered  it  unwise  and  injudicious  to  es- 
tablish these  branches.    He  supposed  it  would 
gratify  the  pride  of  the  States  of  North  Caroli- 
na and  Georgia  to  have  them  there ;  but  when 
the  objections  to  the  measure  were  so  strong, 
he  could  not  consent  to  yield  his  opposition  to 
it.     ^e  moved  the  indefinite  postpciementof 
the  bill,  and  asked  the  yeas  and  nays  on  Iiis 
motion  ;   which  were  ordered. — Mr.  Mangum 
regretted  the  opposition  of  the  senator  from 
Kentucky  (Mr.  Clay),  and  thought  it  necessary 
to  multiply  the  number  of  American  coins,  and 
bring  the  mints  to  the  places  of  production. 
There  was  an  actual  loss  of  near  four  per  cent. 
in  transporting  the  gold  bullion  from  the  Geor- 
gia and  North  Carolina  mines  to  Philadelphia 
for  coinage.     With  respect  to  gratifying  the 
pride  of  the  Southern  States,  it  was  a  miscon- 
ception ;  for  those  States  had  no  priic  to  grati- 
fy.    He  saw  no  evil  in  the  multi    ication  of 
these  mints.    It  was  well  shown  I.    the  sena- 
tor from  Missouri,  when  the  bill  wan  up  befor", 
that,  in  the  commentaries  on  the  constitution  it 


ANNO  1836.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


551 


ffag  understood  that  branches  might  be  multi- 
plied.—Mr.  Frelinghuysen  thought  that  the  ob- 
ject of  having  a  mint  was  mistaken.    The  mint 
was  established  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
government,  and  he  thought  the  present  one 
sufficient.      Why  put    an    additional    burden 
upon  the  government  because  the  people  in  the 
South  have  been  so  fortunate  as  to  find  gold  ? 
—Mr.  Bedford  Brown  of  North  Carolina,  said 
the  senator  from  New  Jersey,  asked  why  we 
apply  to  Congress  to  relieve  us  from  the  bur- 
den of  transporting  our  bullion  to  be  coined, 
when  the  manufacturers  of  the  North  did  not 
iisk  to  be  paid  for  transporting  their  material. 
He  said  it  was  true  the  manufacturers  had  not 
asked  for  this  transportation   assistance,  but 
they  asked  for  what  was  much  more  valuable, 
and  got  it— protection.      The  people  of  the 
South  ask  no  protection ;  they  rely  on  their 
own  exertions ;  they  ask  but  a  simple  act  of 
justice— for    their    rights,  under   the    power 
granted  by  the  States  to  Congress  to  regulate 
the  value  of  coin,  and  to  make  the  coin  itself. 
It  has  the  exclusive  privilege  of  Congress,  and 
he  wished  to  see  it  exercised  in  the  spirit  in  which 
it  was  granted;  and  which  was  to  make  the  coin- 
age generel  for  the  benefit  of  all  the  sections  of 
the  Union,  and  not  local  to  one  section.     The  re- 
mark of  the  gentlemen  is  founded  in  mistake. 
What  are  the  facts  ?    Can  the  gold  bullion  of 
North   Carolina   be   circulated  as  currency  ? 
We  all  know  it  cannot ;  it  is  only  used  as  bu'- 
iion,  and  carried  to  Philadelphia  at  a  great  loss. 
Another  reason  for  the  passage  of  the  bill,  and 
one  which  Mr.  Brown  hoped  would  not  be  less 
regarded  by  senators  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Ilonse,  was  that  the  measure  would  be  auxiliary 
to  the  restoration  of  the  metallic  currency,  and 
bring  the  government  back  to  that  currency 
which  was  the  only  one  contemplated  by  the 
constitution. 

Mr.  Benton  took  the  high  ground  of  consti- 
tutional right  to  the  establishment  of  these 
branches,  and  as  many  more  as  the  interests  of 
th.  States  required.  He  referred  to  the  Fede- 
ralist, No.  44,  written  by  Mr.  Madison,  that  in 
surrendering  the  coining  power  to  the  federal 
government,  the  States  did  not  surrender  their 
right  to  have  local  mints.  He  read  the  passage 
from  the  number  which  he  mentioned,  and  which 
was  the  exposition  of  the  clause  in  the  constitu- 
tion relative  to  the  coining  power.    It  was  ex- 


press, aud  clear  in  the  assertion,  that  the  States 
were  not  to  be  put  to  the  expense  and  trouble 
of  sending  their  bullion  and  foreign  coins  to  a 
central  mint  to  be  recoined ;  but  that,  as  many 
local  mints  would  be  established  under  the  au- 
thority of  the  general  government  as  should  be 
necessary.  Upon  this  exposition  of  the  meaning 
of  the  constitution,  Mr.  B.  said,  the  States  ac- 
cepted the  constitution ;  and  it  would  be  a  fraud 
on  them  now  to  deny  branches  where  they  were 
needed.  He  referred  to  the  gold  mines  in  North 
Carolina,  and  the  delay  with  which  that  State 
accepted  the  constitution,  and  inquired  whether 
she  would  have  accepted  it  at  all,  without  an 
amendment  to  secure  her  rights,  if  she  could 
have  foreseen  the  great  discoveries  of  gold  within 
her  limits,  and  the  present  opposition  to  grant- 
ing her  a  local  mint.  That  State,  through  her 
legislature,  had  applied  for  a  branch  of  the  mint 
years  ago,  and  all  that  was  said  in  her  favor  was 
equally  applicable  to  Georgia.  Mr.  B.  said,  the 
reasons  in  the  Federalist  for  branch  mints  were 
infinitely  stronger  now  than  when  Mr.  Madison 
wrote  in  1/88.  Then,  the  Southern  gold  region 
was  unknown,  and  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana 
not  dreamed  of.  New  Orleans,  and  the  South, 
now  require  branch  mints,  and  claim  the  execu- 
tion of  the  constitution  as  expounded  by  Mr. 
Madison, 

Mr.  B,  claimed  the  right  to  the  establishment 
of  these  branches  as  an  act  of  justice  to  the 
people  of  the  South  and  the  West,  Philadelphia 
could  coin,  but  not  diffuse  the.  coin  among  them. 
Monej-  was  attracted  to  Philadelphia  from  the 
South  and  West,  but  not  returned  back  again 
to  those  regions.  Local  mints  alone  could  sup- 
ply them,  France  had  ten  branch  mints ;  Mexico 
had  eight ;  the  United  States  not  one.  The  es- 
tablishment of  branches  was  indispensable  to 
the  diffusion  of  a  hard-money  currency,  espe- 
cially gold ;  and  every  friend  to  that  currency 
should  promote  the  establishment  of  branches, 

Mr,  B,  said,  there  were  six  hundred  machines 
at  work  coining  paper  money — he  alluded  to  the 
six  hundred  banks  in  the  United  States ;  and 
only  one  machine  at  work  coining  gold  and  silver. 
He  believed  there  ought  to  be  five  or  six  branch 
mints  in  the  United  States ;  that  is,  two  or  three 
more  than  provided  for  in  this  bill;  one  at 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  ono  at  NorJblk  of 
Richmond,  Virginia,  and  one  at  New- York  or 
Boston,    The  United  States  Bank  had  twenty- 


ti'ffi 


552 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


four  branches ;  give  the  United  States  Mint  five 
or  six  branches ;  and  the   name  of  that  bank 
would  cease  to  be   m;.vd   upon  us.      Nobody 
would  want  her  pajier  \v\wa  they  could  get  gold. 
Mr.  B.  scouted  the  id;a  of  expense  on  such  an 
object  as  this.    The  expense  was  but  inconsider- 
able in  itself,  and  was  nothing  compared  to  its 
object.    For  the  object  was  to  supply  the  country 
with  a  safe  currency,— with  a  constitutional 
currency  ;  and  currency  was  a  thing  which  con- 
cerned every  citizen.    It  was  a  point  at  which 
the  action  of  government  reached  every  human 
being,  and  bore  directly  upon  his  property,  upon 
his  labor,  and  upon  his  daily  bread.    The  States 
had  a  good  currency  when  this  federal  govern- 
ment was  formed ;  it  was  gold  and  silver  for 
common  use,  and   large  bank  notes  for  large 
operations.    Now  the  whole  land  is  infested 
with  a  vile  currency  of  small  paper :  and  every 
citizen  was  more  or  lees  cheated.     He  himself 
had  but  two  bank  notes  in  the  world,  and  they 
were  both  counterfeits,  on  the  United  States 
Bank,  with  St.  Andrew's  cross  drawn  through 
their  faces.     Ho  used  nothing  but  gold  and 
silver  since  the  gold  bill  passed. 

In  reply  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  who  asked 
where  was  the  gold  currency  ?  He  would  an- 
swer, far  the  greatest  part  of  it  was  in  the  vaults 
of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  its 
branches,  to  be  sold  or  shipped  to  Europe ;  or  at 
all  events,  to  be  kept  out  of  circulation,  to  enable 
the  friends  of  the  bank  to  ask,  where  is  the  gold 
currency  ?  and  then  call  the  gold  bill  a  humbug. 
But  he  would  tell  the  gentleman  where  a  part 
of  the  gold  wfts  •  •  it  was  in  the  Metropolis  Bank 
in  this  city,  and  subject  to  his  check  to  the  full 
amount  of  his  pay  and  mileage.  Yes,  said  Mr. 
B.,  now,  for  the  first  time,  Congress  is  paid  in 
gold,  and  it  is  every  member's  own  fault  if  he 
does  not  draw  it  and  use  it. 

Mr.  B.  said  this  question  concerned  the  South 
and  West,  and  he  would  hope  to  see  tho  repre- 
sentatives from  these  two  sections  united  in  sup- 
port of  the  bill.  He  saw  with  pleasure,  that 
several  gentlemen  from  the  north  of  the  Poto- 
mac, and  fi-om  New  England  were  disposed  to 
support  it.  Their  help  was  most  acceptable  on 
&  subject  so  near  and  so  dear  to  the  South  and 
West.  Every  inhabitant  of  the  South  and  West 
was  personally  interested  in  the  success  of  the 
bill.  From  New  Orlpjing.  the  newcoin  unuldas- 
cend  the  Mississippi  River,  scatter  itself  all  along 


Its  banks,  fill  all  its  towns,  cities,  and  villagea- 
branch  off  into  the  interior  of  the  country,  ascend 
all  the  tributary  streams,  and  replonish  and 
refresh  the  whole  face  of  the  land.  From 
the  Southern  mints,  the  new  gold  would  come 
mto  the  West,  and  especially  into  Kentucky 
Ohio,  and  Tennessee,  by  the  stock  drivers 
being  to  them  a  safe  and  easy  remittance,  and  to 
the  country  a  noble  accession  to  their  currency- 
enabling  them  quickly  to  dispense  with  their 
small  notes. 

It  was  asked,  Mr.  B.  said,  what  loss  has  the 
Western  People  now  sustained  for  wantofgold^ 
He  would  answer  that  the  whole  West  was  full 
of   counterfeit  paper;   that  counterfeit  paper 
formed  a  large  part  of  the  actual  circulation 
especially  of  the  United  States  branch  drafts^ 
that  sooner  or  later  all  these  counterfeits  must 
stop  in  somebody's  hands;  and  they  Mould  be 
dure  to  stop  in  the  hands  of  those  who  were  least 
able  to  bear  the  loss.    Every  trader  down  the 
Mississippi,  Mr.  B.  said,  was  more  or  lessimpos- 
ed  upon  with  counterfeit  paper ;  some  lost  near- 
ly their  whole  cargoes.  Now  if  there  was  a  branch 
mint  in  New  Orleans  every  one  would  get  new- 
gold.    He  could  get  it  direct  from  the  mint ;  or 
have  his  gold  examined  there  before  he  received 
it.    Mr.  B.  said  that  one  great  object  of  estab- 
lishing branch  mints  was  to  prevent  and  detect 
counterfeiting.    Such  establishments  would  de- 
tect every  counterfeit  piece,  and  enable  every 
body  to  have  recourse  to  a  prompt  and  safe  stand- 
ard for  ascertaining  what  was  genuine  and  what 
not.    This  was  a  great  reason  for  the  ten  branch- 
es in  France. 

Mr.  B.  was  against  the  paper  system.    He  was 
against  all  small  notes.    He  was  against  all  pa- 
per currency  for  common  use ;  and  being  against 
it  he  was  in  favor  of  the  measures  that  would 
put  down  small  paper  and  put  up  gold  and  silver. 
The  branching  of  the  mint  was  one  of  the  indis- 
pensable measures  for  accomplishing  that  object, 
and  therefore  he  was  for  it.    He  was  in  favor 
of  practical  measures.     Speeches  alone  would 
not  do.    A  gentleman  might  make  a  fine  speech 
in  favor  of  hard  money ;  but  unless  he  gave  votes 
in  favor  of  measures  to  accomplish  it,  the  speech 
would  be  inoperative.    Mr.  B.  held  the  French 
currency  to  be  the  best  in  the  world,  where  there 
was   no  bank    note  under   600  francs   (near 
^100),  and  where,  in  consequence,  there  was  a 
gold  and  silver  circulation  of  upwards  of  five 


ANNO  1836.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


553 


hundred  millions  of  dolhirs;  a  currency  which 
had  lately  .stood  two  revolutions  and  one  con- 
quest, without  the  least  fluctuation  in  its  quan- 
tity or  value. 

New  Orleans,  he  said,  occupied  the  most  feli- 
citous point  in  America  for  a  mint.  It  was  at 
the  point  of  reception  and  diffusion.  The  specie 
of  Mexico  camo  there;  and  when  there,  it  as- 
cended the  river  into  the  whole  West.  It  was 
the  market  city — the  emporium  of  the  Great 
Valley ;  and  from  that  point  every  exporter  of 
produce  could  receive  his  supply  and  bring  it 
home.  Mr.  B.  reiterated  that  this  was  a  question 
of  currency ;  of  hard  money  again.st  paper ;  of 
gold  against  United  States  Bank  notes.  It  was 
a  stnigprle  with  the  paper  system.  He  said  the 
gold  bill  was  one  step ;  the  branching  the  mint 
would  be  the  second  step;  the  suppression  of  all 
notes  under  twenty  dollars  would  be  the  third 
step  towards  getting  a  gold  and  silver  currency. 
The  States  could  do  much  towards  putting  down 
small  notes  ;  the  federal  government  could  put 
them  down,  by  putting  the  banks  which  issued 
them  under  the  ban  ;  or,  what  was  better,  and 
best  of  all,  returning  to  the  act  of  1789,  which 
enacted  that  the  revenues  of  the  federal  govern- 
ment should  be  received  in  gold  and  silver  coin 
only. 

The  question  was  then  put  on  Mr.  Clay's 
motion  for  indefinite  postponement — and  failed 
—10  yeas  to  27  nays.  Further  strenuous  exer- 
tion was  made  to  defeat  the  bill.  Mr.  Clay 
moved  to  postpone  it  to  the  ensuing  week — 
which,  being  near  the  end  of  the  session,  would 
be  a  delay  which  might  be  fatal  to  it;  but  it 
came  near  passing— 20  yeas  to  22  nays.  A 
motion  was  made  by  Mr.  Clay  to  recommit  the 
bill  to  the  Committee  of  Finance — a  motion  equi- 
valent to  its  abandonment  for  the  session,  which 
failed.  Mr.  Calhoun  gave  the  bill  an  earnest 
support.  lie  said  it  was  a  question  of  magnitude, 
and  of  vital  importance  to  the  South,  and  de- 
served the  most  serious  consideration.  Yet,  he 
was  sorry  to  say,  he  had  seen  more  persever- 
ing opposition  made  to  it  than  to  any  other 
measure  for  the  last  two  years.  It  was  a 
sectional  question,  but  one  intended  to  extend 
equal  benefits  to  all  the  States— Mr.  Clay  said, 
if  there  had  been  resistance  on  one  side,  there  had 
also  been  a  most  unparalleled,  and  he  must  say, 
unbounded  perseverance  on  the  other.  He  would 


repeat  that  in  whatever  light  he  had  received  the 
proposed  measure,  ho  had  been  unable  to  come 
to  any  other  conclusion  than  this,  that  it  wa.s,  in 
his   humble  judgment,  delusive,   uncalled  for, 
calculated  to  deceive  the  people— to  hold  out 
ideas  which  would  never  be  realized ;— and  as 
utterly  unworthy  of  the  consideration  of  the 
Senate.- Mr.  Calhoun  was  astonished  at  the 
warmth  of  Mr.  Clay  on  this  question— a  ques- 
as  much  sectional  in  one  point  of  view,  as  a 
measure  could  be,  but   national    in  another. 
Let  senators  say  what  they  would,  this  govern- 
ment was  bound,  in  his  opinion,  to  establish  the 
mints  which  had  been  asked  for.     Finally,  the 
question  was  taken,  and  carried — 24  to  19— the 
yeas  being :  Messrs.  Benton,  Bibb,  Brown,  Cal- 
houn, Cuthbert,  Hendricks,  Kane,  King  of  Ala- 
bama, King  of  Georgia,  Leigh,  Linn,  Mangum, 
Morris,   Porter,    Preston,    Robinson,   Buggies, 
Shepley,  Tallmadge,  Tyler,  Waggaman,  Webster, 
White,  Wright.    The  nays  were :  Messrs.  Bell 
of  New  Hampshire,  Black  of  Mississippi,  Bu- 
chanan, Clay,  Clayton,  Ewing,   Frelinghuysen, 
Goldsborough,   Isaac    Hill,  Knight,    McKean, 
Naudain,    Bobbins,   Silsbee,  Smith,   Southard, 
Swift,  Tipton,  Tomlinson.     The  bill  was  imme- 
diately carried  to  the  House  of  Representatives ; 
and  there  being  a  large  majority  there  in  favor 
of  the  hard  money  policy  of  the  administration, 
it  was  taken  up  and  acted  upon,  although  so 
near  the  end  of  the  session ;  and  easily  passed. 


CHAPTER    CXXVI. 

REGITLATlOi:   DEPOSIT   BILL. 

The  President  had  recommended  to  Congress 
the  passage  of  an  act  to  regulate  the  custody  of 
the  public  moneys  in  the  local  banks,  intrusted 
with  their  keeping.  It  was  a  renewal  of  the 
same  recommendation  made  at  the  time  of  their 
removal,  and  in  conformity  to  which  the  House 
of  Representatives  had  passed  the  bill  which 
had  been  defeated  in  the  Senate.  The  same  bill 
was  sent  up  to  the  Senate  again,  and  passed  by 
a  large  majority  :  twenty-eight  to  twelve.  The 
yeas  were:  Messrs.  Benton,  Black  of  Missis- 
sippi, Calhoun,  Clayton  of  Delaware,  Cuthbert  of 
Georgia,  Ewing  of  Ohio,  Frelinghuysen,  Golds- 


t  %\ 


m  .  ' 

""''H 

P  ?"' 

'-  lii 

p 

IhI 

P 

•1i 

K 

p 

\ 

il*!li 

H-JV*' 


^iSsSj 


554 


THIRTY  YKAR8'  VIKW. 


borocgli,  Kent,  Knight,  Leigh,  Linn,  McKoiiii, 
Miuipini,  Mooiv,  Aloxiuulcr  Porter,  PreiitisH, 
Pn>«t()ii,  Kdbhins,  Uohinson  Smith,  .SDuthiiid 
Swim,  Toniliiisoii,  Tyler,  ^VaKKlUllllll,  Wehsler, 
Wrif^lit.  Thennys  were:  Messrs.  IJiJ)h,  Hmwn, 
Buehimiin,  riendiicivs,  Hill,  Kiuic,  Kin),'  of  Alii- 
bnina,  Morris  of  Oliio,  Poiiidexter,  Uiifr^'les, 
Shoploy,  'l'alhnn(if,'e.  And  thtis,  tlio  complaint 
ceased  wliich  Jiad  so  long  prevailed  against  tlio 
President,  on  the  alleged  illegality  of  the  State 
bank  custody  of  tlio  public  moneys.  These 
banks  were  taken  as  a  necessity,  and  as  a  half- 
way house  iK'tween  the  Hank  of  tho  United 
States  and  an  Imlependent  treasury.  After  a 
brief  sojourn  in  tho  intennodiato  abode,  they 
passed  on  to  tho  Tndeiwndent  tn'asury— there, 
it  is  hoiH-'d,  to  ivinain  for  ever. 


C  II  APT  Ell    CXXVII. 

DEFEAT   OF     T;ik    nKFENCK    AI'I'UOl'UIATION, 
AND  L088  OF  THE  FOKTIFICATION  lULU 

The  President  in  his  annual  messngo  at  tlie 
coinmencement  had  connnunicatcd  to  Congirss 
the  state  of  our  relations  with  Franco,  and 
especially  the  continued  failure  to  pay  tho  in- 
demnities stipulated  by  tlie  treaty  of  IS.*?  1 ;  and 
had  rt'commended  to  Congress  measures  of  re- 
prisal against  the  commerce  of  France.     The  re- 
commendation, in  tho  House  of  IJepiTsentatives, 
was  referred  to  the  committee  of  foreiL'n  relations, 
which  through  their  chairman,  Mr.  Cambreling, 
made  a  report  adverse  to  immediate  resort  to  re- 
prisals, and  recommending  contingent  prepara- 
tion to  meet  any  emergency  which  sliould  grow 
out  of  a  continued  refusal  on  tho  part  of  France 
to  comply  with  her  treaty,  and  make  the  stipu- 
lated payment.     In  conformity  with  this  last 
recommendation,  and  at  the  suggestion  of  Mr. 
John  Quincy  Adams,  it  wa.s  resolved  unanimous- 
ly upon  yeas  and  nays,  or  rather  upon  yeas, 
their  being  no  nays,  and  212  members  voting— 
"  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  House,  the  treaty 
of  the  4th  of  July  1831  with  France  be  main- 
tained, and  its  execution  insisted  upon : "  and, 
with  the  like  unanimity  it  was  resolved — "That 
preparations  ought  to  be  made  to   meet  any 
emergency  growing  out  of  our  relatioiis  with 
France."     These  two  resolutions  showed  the 


temper  of  tho  House,  anr!  tliat  it  intcndi.,!  to 
vindicate  the  rights  of  our  citiy.i'us,  if  ucceNHury 
at  the  expense  of  war.  A<'cordiiigIy  an  „,,|„.,J 
priation  of  three  millions  of  dollars  wiis  iiisntnl 
l>y  the  House  in  the  general  fortilicati<in  i,;il  to 
enable  tho  I'residei.l  to  mako  sucli  uiililury  ai„l 
uaval  pre|)arations  during  the  leccss  of  Coi,. 
gresH  as  the  sUite  of  our  lelalions  with  Franco 
might  recpiire.  This  appropriation  was  zealously 
voted  by  tho  House:  in  tiie  Scimti'  it  niet  witli 
no  favor;  and  was  rijected.  'I'he  Hoiist.  insistud 
on  its  appropriation :  tho  Senate  "  udhered  "  to 
its  vote:  and  that  brought  tho  disagreeincnt  to 
a  conunittco  of  conference,  proposed  hy  tho 
House.  In  tlio  moan  time  Congress  was  in  the 
expiring  moments  of  its  session  ;  and  evcntuiilly 
tho  whole  appr-  priation  for  contingent  iircpara- 
tion,  and  t!.o  whole  fortification  bill,  was  lost  by 
the  termination  of  tho  Congress.  1 1  was  a  most 
serious  loss;  and  it  became  a  question  which 
House  was  responsible  for  such  a  niislbrtune— 
regrettable  at  all  times,  but  particularly  so  in 
tho  face  of  our  relations  with  Franc.  Tho 
starting  point  in  the  road  which  led  to  this  loss 
was  tho  motion  made  by  Mr.  Webster  to'- ad- 
here "—a  harsh  motion,  and  more  calcidatcd  to 
estrange  than  to  unite  the  two  Houses.  Mr. 
King,  of  Alabama,  immediately  took  up  the  mo- 
tion in  that  sense ;  and  said : 


"He  very  much  regretted  that  the  senator  from 
Massachusetts  should  have  made  sncli  amotion; 
it  had  seldom  or  never  been  resorted  to  until  other 
and  more  gentlo  moans  had  failed  to  pi'odnco  a 
unity  of  action  between  the  two  iioiises.    At 
this  stage  of  tho  proceetling  it  would  he  consid- 
ered (and  justly)  liarshin  its  character;  and,  he 
had  no  doubt,  if  .sanctioned  by  the  Seimto,  would 
greatly  exa.spcrate  the  other  House,  and  proliahly 
endanger  the  pa.ssago  of  tho  bill  altogether.    Are 
gentlemen,  said  Mr.  Mr.  K..  jireparod  Ibrth^s? 
Will  they,  at  this  particubir  juncture,  in  the 
present  condition  of  things,  take  upon  them- 
selves such  a  fearful  rc.s|)onsibiIity  as  ilie  rejec- 
tion of  this  bill  might  involvo  "?     For  liini?el'f,  if 
your  forts  are  to  be  left  unarmed,  your  ships 
unrepaired  and  out  of  commission,  and  vour 
whole  sea-coast  exposed  without  del'ences  of  any 
kind,  tho  responsibility  should  not  rest  upon  Ins 
shoulders.     It  is  as  well,  said  Mr.  K.,  to  speak 
plainly  on  this  subject.     Our  position  witli  re- 
gard to  France  was  known  to  all  who  heard  liim 
to  be  of  such  a  character  as  would  not,  in  his 
opinion,  justify  prudent  men,  men  who  look  to 
the  preservation  of  tho  rights  and  the  honor  of 
,  the  nation,  in  withholding  the  means,  the  mo.st 
j  ample  means,  to  maintain  those  rights  and  pre- 
I  serve  unimpaired  that  honor. 


ANNO  1886.     ANDUKW  JA(^KHON,  PIIKSIDENT. 


555 


"Mr.  K.  Hiiiil.whili)  Im  wiiHfrwitocoiifcHH  that 
the  proiMiscd  apinopriatioii  waH  not  in  its  tcrniH 
BJtoK'i'llifr  aH  «|K!cill(;  an  ho  coiilil  havo  wisher! 
it,  hiM'diihi  not  vi('w  it  in  tlic  huht  whicli  had, 
orwruKMl  ;<>  have,  HO  much  alanncd  tlie  scnutor 
from  .\hih-.mhnMftti4,  and  othoiK  wJio  had  H|iol<cn 
on  tiic  siilijcct.  VVf  all!  tol  I,  said  Mr.  K.,  tiiat 
the  udopliou  of  the  aniuiidrnent  inado  \>y  tho 
lIiiMHc  will  j)iostrat(>  the  fortivsH  of  tho  ronnti- 
tiitiun  and  hnry  nndtr  its  ruins  tho  lihcrticH  of 
tho  |»D|)io.  Ilo  had  too  lonK  heon  iu;cii,Uoniod 
to  thc'coiirsoof  dohatiMioro,  jiarticuhirly  in  tiincH 
ofhinh  |iarty  cxcitoniint,  to  pay  nniclialtontion 
to  hold  iiisurtion  or  violent  donnnciation.  In 
wiiat,  iio  asked,  does  it  viohito  flio  constitution  ? 
Docs  it,  give  to  tlic  I'rusident  tiio  power  of  de- 
clmiiiK  war  ?  You  liavc  heeii  tohl,  and  told  tru- 
ly, by  uiy  friend  from  Pennsylvania  [Mr.  Hu- 
clmiian],  that  this  power  alone  1k'1oii>,'h  to  Con- 
pus;  nor(h)eH  this  bill  in  the  slifrhteHt  decree 
inipiiir  it.  Does  it  authori/.c!  tho  raising;  of 
aniiiis  ?  No.  not  one  man  can  he  enlisted  be- 
yond tiie  numlior  required  to  fill  up  tlx^  ranks 
of  your  little  army;  and  whether  you  pass  this 
anicndiiient  or  not,  that  power  is  ulreaily  j)oh- 
fiusR'd  under  o.xistinf";  lawH.  Is  it,  said  Mr.  K., 
even  unprecedented  and  unmuil  ?  A  little  at- 
tcnti<iu  to  tho  history  of  our  government  must 
satisfy  all  who  heard  him,  that  it  is  neither  the 
one  noi'  the  other, 

"  DuriufT  the  whole  period  of  tho  administra- 
tions of  (Jenei'ul    Washington  and   the  older 
Adams,  nl!  apjiropriations  were  general,  apply- 
in;?  a  L'ross  sum  for  the  expenditure  of  thediller- 
ent  dejiaitments  of  tho  government,  under  tho 
direction  of  the  rresidont;  and  it  was  not  till 
Mr.  .letlerson  came  into  office,  that,  at  his  ro- 
commendation,    specific    appropriations    wore 
adopted.     Was  tho  constitution  violated,  broken 
down,  and  destroyed,  under  the  administration 
of  the  father  of  his  country?    Or  did  tho  for- 
tress to  which  tho  srinator  from  Massachusetts, 
on  this  occasion,  clings  so  fondly,  tumble  into 
rum,  when  millions  were  placed  in  the  hands  of 
Mr.  Jefferson  himself,  to  be  disposed  of  for  a 
designated  object,  but,  in  every  thing  else,  subject 
to  his  unlimited  discretion?    No,  said  Mr,  K. 
our  liberties  remained  unimpaired;  and,  ho  trust- 
ed in  God,  would  so  remain  for  centuries  yet  to 
come.    He  would  not  urge  his  confidence  in  the 
distuiguishcd  individual  at  tho  head  of  the  gov- 
ernment as  a  reason  why  this  amendment  should 
pa.s.s;  he  was  in  favor  of  limiting  executive 
discretion  as  far  as  practicable ;  but  circumstan- 
ces may  present  themselves,  causes  may  exist, 
which  would  place  it  out  of  the  power  of  Con- 
gress promptly  to  meet  the  emergency.      To 
whom,  then,  should  they  look  ?    Surely  to  the 
head  of  the  government— to  the  man  selected  by 
the  people  to  guard  their  rights  and  protect  their 
interests.    He  put  it  to  senators  to  say  whether, 
in  a  possible  contingency,  which  all  would  under- 
stand, our  forts  should "  not  bo  armed,  or  ships 
put  m  commission  ?    None  will  venture  to  gain- 
say it.    Yet  the  extent  to  wliich  such  armament 


should  be  carried  imiHt,  from  tlio  very  neccMiiity 
of  the  case,  be  left  to  thesounddist  letioii  of  tlio 
I'resident.  From  tho  position  he  occupies,  no 
one  can  be  ho  competent  to  form  a  correct  judg- 
ment, and  h(!  could  not,  if  he  would,  apply  the 
money  to  other  objects  than  the  defences  of  tho 
country.  Mr.  K.  Hiiid  lio  wouhl  not,  at  this  last 
momentof  tho  soMsion,  when  time  was  m  very  pre- 
cious, further  detain  tho  .Senate  than  (o  express 
his  deep  a|)prehension,  his  alarm,  lest  this  most 
imjiortaiit  bill  should  be  lout  by  this  conflict  be- 
tween the  two  HouHCH,  He  would  Ing  of  sena- 
tors to  reflect  on  tho  diHaHtrouH  coiise(|uence8 
which  might  ensue.  Ho  would  again  entreat 
the  senator  from  Massaclnistitts  to  withdraw  iiis 
motion,  and  ask  a  conforiince,  and  thus  leave 
Hoini)  reasonable  ground  for  hope  of  ultimate 
agreement  on  this  most  important  subject." 

The  motion  was  persisted  in,  and  tho  "adher- 
ence "carried  by  a  vote  of  twenty-nino  to  seven- 
teen,    Tho  yeas  and  nays  were : 

^  Ykah,— Messrs.  Boll,  Bibb,  Calhoun,  Clay, 
Clayton  Ewing,  Frelinghuysen,  (Joldsljorough, 
Hendricks,  Kent,  Knight,  Leigh,  Maiigum,  Mooro, 
Nauduin,  Poindextor,  Porter,  Prentiss,  I'reston, 
Jloljbins,Silsbee,Smith,  Southard,  Swift,  Tomlin- 
Kon,  Tyler,  Waggiunan,  Webster,  White.— 2!>. 

Na vs.— Messrs.  Benton,  Brown,  Bu<lianan, 
Cuthbert,  Grundy,  Hill,  Kane,  King  of  Alabama, 
King  of  Georgia,  Linn.  McKean,  Buggies,  Bob- 
inson,   Sheploy,  Tallmadgo,  Tipton,  Wright,— 

Upon  being  notified  of  this  vote,  tho  House 
took  the  conciliatory  step  of  "insisting;"  and 
asked  a  "conference."     The  Senate  agreed  to 
tho  refjuost- appointed  a  committee  on  its  part, 
which  was  met  by  another  on  tljp  part  of  the 
House,  which  could  not  agree  about  the  three 
millions ;  and  while  engaged  in  these  attempts 
at  concord,  H'o  existence  of  the  Congress  termi- 
nated.    It  ■..    after  midnight ;  tho  morning  of 
the  fourth  of  March  had  commenced;   many 
members  said  their  power  was  at  an  end — others 
that  it  w^ould  continue  till  twelve  o'clock,  noon ; 
for  it  was  that  hour,  on  the  3d  of  March,  1789 
that  the  first  Congress  commenced  its  existence, 
and  that  day  should  only  be  counted  half,  and 
the  half  of  the  next  day  taken  to  make  out  two 
complete  years  for  each  Congress,     To  this  it 
vras  answered  that,  in  law,  there  are  no  fractions 
of  a  day  ;  that  the  whole  day  counted  in  a  legal 
transac  tion :  in  the  birth  of  a  measure  or  of  a  man. 
The  first  day  that  the  first  Congress  sat  was  the 
day  of  its  birth,  without  looking  to  the  hour  at 
which  it  formed  a  quorum ;  the  day  a  man  was 
born  was  the  day  of  bis  birth,  and  he  counted 


J 


556 


THIRTY  YEAIW  VIKW. 


from  tlio  hcffiiininij;  of  tho  day,  and  tho  whole 
(lay,  and  not  from  tho  hour  and  minuto  at  whieli 
hf  iMitt-rt'd  the  world — a  ndo  which  would  roh  nil 
the  iifti'rno()n-i)orn  cliiMrcn  of  more  or  Iusm  of  the 
day  on  which  they  wore  horn,  and  postpone  their 
majority  until  tho  day  after  (heir  hiithday. 
While  these  diHquiHitions  were  poin};;  on,  mnny 
memhers  were  going  olF;  and  tho  Senate  hear- 
ing nothing  from  tho  House,  dispatched  a  nies- 
Hage  to  it,  on  the  motion  of  Mr.  VVehster,  "  rc- 
spoctftdly  to  remind  it"  of  the  disagreement  on 
the  fortification  hill ;  on  receiving  which  mcH- 
flago,  Mr.  Camhrelong,  chairman  of  conference, 
on  tho  iMirt  of  tho  Houso,  stood  up  and  said  : 

"  That  tho  committee  of  conference  of  tho  two 
Houses  had  mot,  and  had  concurred  in  an  amend- 
ment which  was  very  unsatisfactory  to  him.    It 
nropoaed  iin  unconditional  aiiproi)riati<)n  of  three 
hundrt'd  thousand  dollars  for  arming  the  fortirt- 
cations,  and  tivo  hundred  thousand  dolliirs  for 
repairs  of  ami  e(|uippiiig  our  vessels  of  wai- — an 
amount  totally  inade(iuate,  if  it  should  iw  re- 
quired, and  more  than  was  netxvssary,  if  it  should 
not  1)0,     When  he  camo  into  tho  House  from 
the  conference,  they  wore  calling  tho  ayes  and 
noes  on  the  resolution  to  pay  tho  compensation 
due  the  gentleman  from  Kentucky  (Mr.  Letcher) 
He  voted  on  that  resolution,  but  there  was  no 
quonan  voting.     On  a  subsequent  proposition 
to  adjourn,  the  ayes  and  noes  were  called,  and 
again  there  was  no  quorum  voting.    Under  such 
circumst^mces,  and  at  two  o'ctock  in  tho  morn- 
ing, he  did  not  foe!  authorized  to  present  to  the 
House  an  appropriation  of  eight  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars.     He  regi-etted  the  loss,  not  only 
of  the  appropriation  for  the  defence  of  the  coun- 
try, btit  of  the  whole  fortification  bill ;  but  let 
the  responsibility  fall  where  it  ought— on  tho 
Senate  of  the  United  States.     Tho  House  had 
discharged  its  duty  to  the  country.    It  had  sent 
tho  fortification  bill  to  the  Senate,  with  an  addi- 
tional appropriation,  entirely  for  tho  defor.ce  of 
tho  country.    Tho  Senate  had  rejected  tliat  ap- 
propriation, without  even  deigning  to  propose 
any  amendment  whatever,  either  in  form   or 
amount.    Tho  IIouso  sent  it  a  second  time ;  and 
a  second  time  no  amendment  was  proposed,  but 
the  reverse ;  tho  Senate  adhered,  without  con- 
descending to  ask  oven  a  conference.    Had  that 
body  asked  a  conference,  in  the  first  instance, 
some  provision  would  have  boon  made  for  de- 
fence, and  the  fortification  bill  would  have  been 
saved  before  the  hour  arrived  which  terminated 
the  existence  of  tho  present  House  of  Represen- 
tatives.   As  it  was,  the  committees  did  not  con- 
cur till  this  House  had  ceased  to  exist—  the  ayes 
and  noes  had  been  twice  taken  without  a  quo- 
rum—the bill  was  evidently  lost,  and  the  Sentite 
must  tike  tho  n-spnnaibility  of  leaving  the  eoun 
try  defena'less.     He  could  not  feel  authorized 
to  report  the  bill  to  the  House,  situated  as  it 


was,  and  at  this  hour  in  tho  morning ;  hut  if 
any  otli'r  member  of  the  conunittee  of  .onii.r. 
once  proposed  to  do  it,  he  should  make  no  i.l). 
joetion,  though  he  U'lieved  such  a  pni|i(miti(,n 
utterly  inetl'eetual  at  this  hour;  for  no  nuinher 
could,  at  this  hour  in  the  morning.  In;  cuiiiiH;llt.(l 
to  vote." 

Many  mcnd)er8  said  tho  time  was  out.  nnd 
that  there  had  been  no  quorum  for  two  Iioium, 
A  count  was  had,  and  a  (luorum  not  found.  The 
iiiend)ers  were  rcciuested  to  pass  through  toller^ 
and  did  so:  only  eight-two  present.  Air.  John 
Y.  Mason  informed  the  House  that  the  Sonate 
had  adjourned  ;  tlien  the  House  did  tho  .same— 
making  the  adjournment  in  due  form,  after  a  vote 
of  thanks  to  the  speaker,  and  lioaring  his  part 
ing  address  in  return. 


CHAPTER    CXXVIII. 

DISTRIBITTION  OP   REVKNUR 

Propositions  for  distributing  the  pnlilio  land 
revenue  among  the  States,  had  become  connnon, 
to  be  succeeded  by  others  to  distribute  the  lands 
themselves,  and  finally  the  Custom  House  reve- 
nue, as  well  as  that  of  tho  lands.    The  jn-ogress 
of  distribution  was  natural  and  inevitable  in  that 
direction,  when  onco  begur.    Mr.  Oalhoun  and 
his  friends  had  opposed  these  proposed  distribu- 
tions as  unconstitutional,  as  well  as  demoraliz- 
ing; but  after  his  junction  with  Mr.  Clay,  he 
began  to  favor  them ;  but  still  with  the  salvo  of 
an  amendment  to  tho  constitution.    With  this 
view,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  session  of  1835, 
he  moved  a  resolution  of  inquiry  into  the  extent 
of  executive  patronage,  the  increase  of  public 
exi)enditure,  and  the  increa.se  of  tho  number  of 
persons  employed  or  fed  by  the  federal  govern- 
ment; and  ho  asked  for  a  select  committee  of 
six  to  report  upon  his  resolution.    Both  motions 
were  granted  by  the  Senate ;  and,  according  to 
parliamentary  law,  and  the  principles  of  fair 
legislation  (which  always  accord  a  conunittee 
favorable  to  the  object  proposed),  the  members 
of  the  committee  were  appointed  upon  the  selec- 
tion of  tho  six  which  he  wislied.    They  were : 
Messrs.  Webster,  Southard,  Bibb,  King  of  Geor- 
gia, and  Benton — which,  with  himself,  would 
make  six.    Mr.  Webster  declined,  and  Mr.  Poiu- 
dexter  was  appointed  in  his  place ;  Mr.  South- 


ANNO  1834.    ANDRKW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


557 


P  UKVKNUH. 


e ;  and,  according;  to 


s  place ;  Mr.  South- 


ard did  not  net  j  and  the  rommittpc,  ronsisting 
of  flvo,  HtOdd,  iMtliticttlly,  tlin-o  aj^nin.st  i]w  ad- 
niinistnitiiin— two  for  it ;  ami  was  tliiiH  a  frimtra- 
tionof  Mr.  (Jiiihoiin'H  plan  of  havin;;;  an  iinparlial 
committee,  taken  e(iiially  from  the  thiee  politi- 
cal partie.s      Ilo  had  proposed  the  coiiimittoe 
upon  the  t  afiiw  of  tha-o  political  parties  in  tho 
Senate,  deiiirinn  to  have  two  ineniher.s  from  cm-h 
party ;  pivinp;  aH  a  reiwou  for  that  desire,  that 
ho  wished  t ,  go  into  the  examination  of  tho  im- 
portnTit  iiHiuiry  propowed,  with  a  committee  frc^e 
from  nil  prejudice,  and  calculated  to  give  it  an 
imimrlial  consideration.    This  division  into  three 
parties  waH  not  to  the  taste  of  all  tho  members- 
and  hence  tho  refusal  of  sonio  to  servo  upon 
it.    It  was  the  first  time  that  tho  existence  of 
three  parties  was  proposed  to  bo  mado  tho  basis 
of  senatorial  acticm,  and  did  not  suwjced.     The 
actual  committco   classed  democratically,  but 
with  the  majority  opiwsed  to  tho  administration. 
At  the  lirst  meeting  a  sub-committeo  of  three 
was  formed— Mr.  Calhoun  of  course  at  its  head 
—to  draw  up  a  report  for  the  consideration  of 
the  full  committee :  and  of  this  sub-committee 
a  majority  was  against  tho  administration.   Very 
soon  tho  committee  was  assembled  to  hear  the 
report  read.    I  was  surprised  at  it— both  at  tho 
quickness  of  the  preparation  and  tho  character 
of  the  paper.     It  was  an  elaborate,  ingenious 
and  plausible  attack  upon  the  administration, 
accusing  it  of  having  doubled  tho  expenses  of 
the  government— of  having  doubled  tho  number 
of  persons  employed  or  supported  by  it— of  hold- 
ing the  public  moneys  in  illegal  custody— of  ex- 
ercising a  patronage  tending  to  corruption— 
the  whole  the  result  of  an  over  full  treasury 
which  there  was  no  wav  to  deplete  but  by  a 
distribution  of  the  surplus  revenue  among  the 
States ;  for  which  purpose  an  amendment  of  tho 
constitution  would  be  necessary  ;  and  was  pro- 
posed.  Jlr.  Benton  heard  the  reading  in  silence ; 
and  when  finished  declared  bis  dissent  to  it  : 
said  ho  should  make  no  minority  report— a  kind 
of  reports  which  he  always  disliked ;  but  when 
read  in  the  Senate  he  should  rise  in  his  place  and 
oppose  it.    Mr.  King,  of  Georgia,  sided  with 
Mr.  Benton ;  and  thus  the  report  went  in.    Mr. 
Calhoun  read  it  himself  at  tho  secretary's  table, 
and  moved  its  printing.    Mr.  Poindcxter  moved 
an  extra  number  of  30,000  copies ;  and  spoke  at 
length  in  support  of  his  motion,  and  in  favor  of 
the  report.    Mr.  King,  of  Georgia,  followed  him 


against  tho  rc'|iort:  and  Mr.  Benton  followed 
Mr.  King  on  the  same  side.     On  the  Hubjert  of 
the  increase  of  expenditures  doubled  within  tho 
time  mentioned,  he  sliowcd  that  it  came  from 
extraonlinary  objects,  not  Ixdonging  to  the  ex- 
|)enses  of  the  government,  hut   temporary  in 
thtir  nature  and  transient  in  their  existence; 
namely,  tho  exiK'nses  of  removing  the   [mliaiiH, 
the  Indian  war  upon   the  Mississippi,  and  the 
pension  act  of  1H;{2  ;  which  carried  up  the  revo- 
lutionary pensions  from  «iiHr»,'),()()()  per  aiuuun  to 
.tJ.'{,r)()(),()00— just  tenf(dd— and  by  an  act  which 
the  friends  of  the  administration  opf)os('d.     Ho 
showed  also  that  the  increase  in  the  i   ind»cr  of 
persons  emi'loyed,  or  supported  by  the  govern- 
ment, came  in  a  great  degree  from  tho  same 
measure  which  carried  up  tho  numlxsr  of  pen- 
sioners from  17,000  to  40,000.     On  the  subject 
of  the  illegal  custody  of  the  public  moneys,  it 
was  shown,  in  tho  first  place,  that  tho  custody 
was  not  illegal ;  and,  in  tlie  second,  tiiat  the  de- 
posit regulation  bill  had  been  defeaUsd  in  tho 
Senate  by  the  opponents  of  the  administration. 
Having  vindicated  the  adniinistrati(m  from  tho 
charge  of  extravagance,  and  the  illegal  custody 
of  the  public  moneys.  Mr.  Benton  came  to  tho 
main  jjart  of  the  report — the  surplus  in  tlie  trea- 
sury, its  distribution  for  eight  years  among  tho 
States  (just  the  period  to  ouver  two  presidential 
elections) ;  and  the  proposed  amendment  to  tho 
constitution  to  permit  that  distribution  to  bo 
made :  and  here  it  is  right  that  tlie  h|)ort  should 
be  allowed  to  speak  for  itself.     Having  assumed 
tho  annual  surplus  to  be  nine  millions  for  eight 
years— until  the  ctMnpromise  of  1833  worked 
out  its  problem ; — that  this  surplus  was  inevita- 
ble, and  that  there  was  no  legitimate  object  of 
federal  care  on  which  it  could  be  expended,  the 
report  brought  out  distribution  as  the  only  prac- 
tical depletion  of  the  treasury,  and  the  only 
rcnicdy  for  the  corruptions  which  an  exuberant 
treasury  engendered.    It  proceeded  thus  : 

"  But  if  nosubject  of  expenditure  can  bo  select- 
ed on  which  the  surplus  can  be  safely  expended 
and  if  neither  the  revenue  nor  expenditure  can, 
under  existing  circumstances,  be  redtici'd,  the 
next  inquiry  is,  what  is  to  be  done  with  the 
surplus,  which,  as  has  been  shown,  will  probiibly 
equal,  on  an  average,  for  the  next  eight  years, 
the  sura  of  ^9,000,000  beyond  the  just  wants  of 
the  government  ?  A  sunilus  of  which,  unless 
some  safe  disposition  can  be  made,  all  other 
means  of  reducing  the  patronage  of  the  Execu- 
tive must  prove  ineffectual. 


-S-i 


\M 


ti. 


558 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


"  Your  committee  are  deeply  sensible  of  the 
great  difficulty  of  finding  any  satisfactory  solu- 
tion of  tliis  question ;  but  believinpj  that  the  very 
existence  of  our  institutions,  and  with  them  the 
liberty  of  the  country,  may  depend  on  the  suc- 
cess of  tlicir  invostij:;ation,  they  have  carefully 
explored  the  whole  ground,  and  the  result  of 
their  inquiry  is,  that  but  one  means  has  occurred 
to  them  holding  out  any  reasonable  prospect  of 
success.  A  few  preliminary  remarks  will  be 
necessary  to  explain  their  views. 

"Amidst  all  Ihe  difficulties  of  cur  •situation, 
there  is  one  consolation  :  that  the  danger  Iron. 
Executive  patronage,  as  far  as  it  depends  on  ex- 
cess (>f  revenue,  must  be  temporary.  Assuming 
that  the  act  of  2d  of  March,  1833,  will  be  left 
undisturbed,  by  its  provisions  the  income,  after 
the  year  1842,  is  to  be  reduced  to  the  economi- 
cal wants  of  the  government.  The  government, 
then,  is  in  a  state  of  passage  from  one  where  the 
revenue  is  excessive,  to  another  in  which,  at  a 
fixed  and  no  distant  period,  it  will  be  reduced 
to  its  projKjr  limits.  The  difficulty  in  the  in- 
termediate time  is,  that  the  revenue  cannot  bo 
brought  down  to  the  expenditure,  nor  the  ex- 
penditure, without  great  danger,  raised  to  the 
revenue,  for  reasons  already  explained.  How  is 
this  difficulty  to  be  overco'me  ?  It  might  seem 
that  the  simple  and  natural  means  would  be,  to 
vest  the  surplus  in  some  safe  and  i)rofitable  stock, 
to  accumulate  for  future  use ;  but  the  difficulty 
in  such  a  course  will,  on  examination,  be  found 
insuperable. 

"  At  ihe  very  commencement,  in  selecting  the 
stock,  there  would  be  great,  if  not  insurmounta- 
ble, difficulties.  No  one  would  think  of  invest- 
ing the  surplus  in  bank  stock,  against  which 
there  arc  so  many  and  such  decisive  i-easons  that 
it  is  not  deemed  necessary  to  state  them ;  nor 
would  the  objections  be  less  decisive  against 
vesting  in  the  stock  of  the  States,  which  would 
create  the  dangerous  relation  of  debtor  and  credi- 
tor between  the  government  and  the  members 
of  the  Union.  But  suppo.se  this  difficulty  sur- 
mounted, and  that  some  stock  perfectly  safe  w.is 
selected,  there  would  still  remain  another  that 
oould  not  be  surmounted.  There  cannot  be 
found  a  stock,  with  an  interest  in  its  favor  suffi- 
ciently strong  to  compete  with  the  interests 
which,  with  a  large  surplus  revenue,  will  he  ever 
found  in  favor  of  expenditures.  It  must  be  per- 
fectly obvious  to  all  who  have  the  least  experi- 
ence, or  who  will  duly  reflect  on  the  subject. 
that  were  a  fund  selected  in  which  to  vest'  the 
surplus  reveiuie  for  future  use,  there  would  bo 
found  in  practice  a  constant  conflict  between  the 
interest  in  favor  of  some  local  orfiivorite  scheme 
of  expenditure,  and  that  in  favor  of  the  stock. 
Nor  can  it  be  less  obvious  that,  in  point  of  fact, 
the  former  would  prove  far  stronger  tlian  the 
latter.  The  result  is  obvious.  'I  he  surplus,  be 
it  cvor  so  greu(,  would  lie  ubsoibed  by  appro- 
priations, instead  of  being  vesttd  in  the  stock ; 
and  the  scheme,  of  cour.se,  would,  in  practice, 
prove  an  abortion;  which  brings  us  back  to  the 


original  inquiry,  how  is  the  surplus  to  be  dis- 
posed of  until  the  excess  shall  be  reduced  to  the 
just  and  economical  wants  of  the  government  ? 
"  Aftci-  bestowing  on  this  question,  on  the  suc- 
cessful solution  of  which  so  much  depends  the 
most  deliberate  attention,  your  committee  as 
they  have  already  stated,  can  advise  but  one 
means  by  which  it  can  be  effected ;  and  that  is 
an  amendment  of  the  constitution,  tiuthorizing 
the  temporary  distribution  of  the  surplus  reve- 
nue among  the  States  till  the  j'ear  1843  ;  when 
as  has  been  shown,  the  income  and  expenditure 
will  be  equalized. 

"  Your  committee  are  fully  aware  of  the  many 
i^nd  fatal  objections  to  the  distribution  of  the 
6ur{)lus  revenue  among  the  States,  considered 
as  a  part  of  the  ordinary  and  regular  .system  of 
this  government.     They  admit  them  to  he  as 
great  as  can  well  be  imagined.     The  jn-opcsition 
itself  that  the  government  should  collect  money 
for  the  purpose  of  such  distribution,  or  sliould 
distribute  a  surplus  for  the  purpose  of  jierpetua- 
tiug  taxes,  is  too  ab.surd  to  require  refutation ; 
and  yet  what  would  be  when  applied,  as  sn[> 
posed,  so  ab.surd  and  pernicious,  is,  in  the  opin- 
ion of  your  committee,  in  the  present  extraor- 
dinary and  deeply  disordered  state  of  our  allair.?, 
not  only  u.seful  and  salutary,  but  indispensable 
to  the  restoration  of  the  body  politic  to  a  sound 
conditi(m ;  just  as  some  potent  medicine,  which 
it  would  be  dangerous  and  absurd  to  prescribe 
to  the  healthy,  may,  to  the  diseased,  be  the  only 
means  of  arresting  the  hand  of  death.    Distri- 
bution, as  proposed,  is  not  for  the  preposterous 
and  dangerous  purpose  of  raising  a  revenue  for 
distribution,  or  of  distributing  the  surplus  as  a 
means  of  nerpetuating  a  systcia  of  duties  or 
taxes ;  but  a  temporary  measure  to  dispo.se  of 
an  unavoidable  surplus  while  the  revenue  is  in 
the  coin-se  of  reduction,  and  which  cannot  be 
otherwise  disposed  of,  Avithout  greatly  Mjigravat- 
ing  a  (Iisea.se  that  threatens  the  most  diuij;erous 
conse(|uences;  and  which  holds  out  hope,  not 
only  of  arresting  its  furtlier  progress,  but  also 
of  restoring  the  body  politic  to  a  state  of  health 
and  vigor.   The  truth  of  this  assertion  a  few  ob- 
servations will  suffice  to  illustrate. 

•'It  must  be  obvious,  on  a  little  reflection,  that 
the  effects  of  distribution  of  the  surplus  would 
be  to  place  the  intei-ests  of  the  States,  on  all 
questions  of  expenditure,  in  opposition  to  ex- 
penditure, as  every  reduction  of  exiieiise  would 
neee.-;.^arily  increase  the  sum  to  be  distributed 
among  the  States.  The  effect  of  tiiis  woubl  be 
to  convert  them,  through  their  iuterest.s.  into 
faithful  and  vigilant  .sentinels  on  tlie  side  of 
eeononiy  and  accountability  in  the  exi)enilitures 
of  this  governmentj  and  would  thus  powerfully 
tend  tf)  restore  the  government,  in  its  fiscal 
action,  to  the  plain  and  honest  simplicity  of  for- 
mer days. 

'•  It  may,  perhaps,  be  thought  by  some  that 
the  iwwer  which  tlie  distribution"  among  the 
States  would  bring  to  bear  against  the  expendi- 
ture and  its  consequent  tendency  to  retrench 


ANNO  1835.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


559 


the  disbursements  of  the  government,  would  be 
80  strong,  as  not  only  to  curtail  useless  or  im- 
proper expenditure,  but  also  the  useful  and  ne- 
cessary.   Such,  undoubtedly,  would  be  the  con- 
Bcquence,  if  the  process  were  too  long  continued ; 
but  m  the  i>resent  irregular  and  excessive  action 
of  the  system,  when  its  centripetal  force  threat- 
ens to  concentrate  all  its  powers  in  a  single  de- 
partment, the  fear  that  the  action  of  this  govern- 
ment will  be  too  much  reduced  by  the  measure 
under  consideration,  in  the  short  period  to  which 
it  is  proposed  to  limit  its  operation,  is  without 
just  foundation.     On  the  contrary,  if  the  pro- 
posed measure  should  be  applied  in  the  present 
diseased  state  of  the  government,  its  effect  would 
be  hive  tiiat  of  some  powerful  alterative  medi- 
cine operatmg  just  long  enough  to  change  the 
present  morbid  action,  but  not  sufficiently  Ion- 
to  supermduce  another  of  an  opposite  charac- 
ter. 

"But  it  maybe  objected  that, though  the  dis- 
tribution might  reduce  all  useless  expenditure 
It  would  at  the  same  time  give  additional  power 
to  the  interest  m  favor  of  taxation.  It  is  not 
denied  that  such  would  be  its  tendency;  and 
if  the  danger  from  increased  duties  or  taxes  was 
at  this  time  as  great  as  that  from  a  surplus  re- 
venue, the  objection  would  be  fatal ;  but  it  is 
confidently  believed  that  such  is  not  the  case. 
On  the  contrary,  in  proposing  the  measure,  it  is 
assumed  that  the  act  of  March  2,  1833,  will  re- 
main undisturbed.  It  is  on  the  strength  of  this 
assumption  that  the  measure  is  proposed,  and 
s  It  IS  believed,  safely  nroposed.  ' 

"It  may,  however,  be  said  that  the  distribu- 
tion may  create,  on  the  part  uf  the  States,  an 
appetite  m  its  iavor  which  may  ultimately  lead 
to  Its  adoption  as  a  permanent  mea,sure.  It  may 
indeed  terid  to  excite  such  an  appetite,  short  as  is 
the  period  proposed  for  its  operation ;  but  it  is 
obvious  that  this  danger  is  far  more  than  coun- 
tervailed by  the  fact  that  the  proposed  amend- 
ment to  the  constitution  to  authorize  the  distri- 
bution would  place  the  power  beyond  the  reach 
ot  legislative  construction;  and  thus  effectually 
prevent  the  possibility  of  its  adoption  as  a  per^ 
mancnt  measure ;  as  it  cannot  be  conceived  that 
hree-fourths  of  the  States  will  ever  assent  to 
an  amendment  of  the  constitution  to  authorize 
a  distribution  except  as  an  extraordinary  mea- 
sure applicable  to  some  extraordinary  condition 
of  the  country  like  the  present. 

Criving,  however,  to  these  and  other  objections 

dSiT^  .\'  "'f^*-'^^' ''"  ^^^  ^"'•^^  that  can  be 
tod  for  them  It  must  be  remembered  the 
question  IS  not  whether  the  measure  proposed 

whetirer""*  ^'"'''f  '"  f'''^  ''  '^'''  oljecLn^,  but 
levi  e,l  ^^  Ik''"'  1"'^  objectionable  caA  be 
devised;  or  rather,  whether  there  is  any  other 

Tan  be'r"r'7  "r'^'  ^^"""^  prospect  of  relief,  that 
tkt  tLT^'"^-  l"-'^  "«t  the  delusion  pi'evail 
al com  "Ti"'^'"''  '■"""'".«  th'-^^Kh  itsnatu- 
cle7,!n' '""  r™'"'*"  «''  't^^^f-  ^^'tliout  fatal 
SEn'-  ,^^I'^^™T  i«  opposed  to  such 
anticipationN    Many  and  striking  are  the  ex- 


amples of  free  States  perishing  under  that  excess 
of  patronage  which  now  afllicts  ours.  It  may 
in  fact,  be  said  with  truth,  that  all  or  nearly 
all  diseases  which  afliict  free  governments  may 
be  traced  directly  or  indirectly  t .  excess  of  r(>- 
venue  and  expenditure ;  the  ellect  of  which  is  to 
rally  around  the  government  a  powerful,  cor- 
rupt, and  subservient  corps— a  corps  ever  obe- 
dient to  Its  will,  and  ready  to  sustain  it  in  every 
measure,  whether  right  or  wrong;  and  which, 
It  the  cause  of  the  disease  be  r.at  eradicated 
must  ultimately  render  the  government  stronger 
than  the  people.  ° 

"  What  progress  this  dangerous  disease  has 
already  made  in  our  country  it  is  not  for  your 
committee  to  say;  but  when  they  reflect  on  the 
present  symptoms ;   on  the  almost  unbounded 
extent  of  executive  patronage,  wielded  by  a  sin- 
gle will ;  the  surplus  revenue,  which  car.-iot  bo 
reduced  within  proper  limits  in  less  than  seven 
years— a  period  which  covers  two  presidential 
elections,  on  both  of  which  all  this  mighty  power 
and  influence  will  be  brought  to  bear ;  and  when 
they  consider  that,  with  the  vast  patronage  and 
influence  of  thia  government,  that  of  all  the 
States  acting  i       oncert  with  it  will  be  com- 
bined, there  ai.  ^ast  grounds  to  fear  that  the 
tate  which  has  befallen  so  many  other  free  gov- 
ernments must  also  befall  ours,  unless  indeed 
some  effectual  remedy  be  forthwith   applied.' 
It  is  under  this  impression  that  your  committee 
have  suggested  the  one  proposal ;  not  as  free 
trom  all  objections,  but  as  the  only  one  of  suffi- 
cient power  to  arrest  the  disease  and  to  restore 
the  body  politic  to  a  sound  condition ;  and  they 
have  accordingly  reported  a   resolution  so  to 
amend  the  constitution  that  the  money  remain- 
ing in  the  treasury  at  the  end  of  each  year  till 
the  1st  of  January,  1843,  deducting  therefrom 
the  sum  of  $2,000,000  to  meet  current  and  con- 
tingent expenses,  shall  annually  be  distributed 
among  the  States  and  Territories,  including  the 
District  of  Columbia;   and,  for  that  puroose 
the  sum  to  be  distributed  to  be  divided  into  as 
many  shares  as  there  are  senators  and  repre- 
sentatives in  Congress,  adding  two  for  each  ter- 
ritory and  two  for  the  District  of  Columbia;  ard 
that  there  shall  be  allotted  to  each  State  a  num- 
ber of  shares  equal  to  its  representation  in  both 
Houses,  and  to  the  territories,  includin-'  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  two  shares  each.    Supposing 

Suino'flllf  ^"^  \  distributed  should  averagi 
,^y,000,000  annually,  as  estimated,  it  would  cive 
to  each  shiire  S'KUOS;  which  multiplied  by  the 
number  of  teiiators  and  representatives  from  a 
State  will  show  the  amount  to  which  any  State 
will  be  entitled."  ^ 


HI 


The  report  being  here  introduced  to  speak  for 
itself,  the  reply  also  is  introduced  as  delivered 
upon  the  instant,  and  found  in  the  Congress 
register  of  debates,  thus : 

"  Mr.  Benton  next  came  to  the  proposition  in 


I 


I 


I 


H      I 


560 


THIR'ry"  YEARS'  VIEW. 


the  report  to  amend  the  constitution  for  eipjht 
years,  to  enable  Congress  to  make  distribution 
among  the  States,  Territories,  and  District  of 
Columbia,  of  the  annual  surplus  of  public 
money.  The  surplus  is  carefully  calculated  at 
$9,000,000  per  annum  for  eight  years ;  and  the 
rule  of  distribution  assumed  goes  to  divide  that 
sum  into  aa  many  shares  as  there  arc  senators 
and  representatives  in  Congress ;  each  State  to 
take  shares  according  to  her  representation ; 
which  the  report  shows  would  give  for  each 
share  precisely  $30,405 ;  and  then  leaves  it  to 
the  State  itself,  by  a  little  ciphering,  in  multi- 
plying the  aforesaid  sum  of  $30,405  by  the 
whole  number  of  senators  and  representatives 
which  it  may  have  in  Congress,  to  calculate  the 
annual  amount  of  the  stipend  it  would  receive. 
This  process  the  report  extends  through  a  pe- 
riod of  eight  years ;  so  that  the  whole  sum  to 
be  divided  to  the  States,  Territories,  and  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  will  amount  to  seventy-two 
millions  of  dollars. 

"  Of  all  the  propositions  which  he  ever  wit- 
nessed, brought  forward  to  astonish  the  senses, 
to    confound    recollection,   and  to   make   him 
doubt  the  reality  of  a  past  or  a  present  scene, 
this  proposition,  said  Mr.  B.,  eclipses  and  dis- 
tances  tile   whole  !     What !  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States— not  only  the  same  Senate,  but 
the  same  members,  sitting  in  the  same  chairs, 
looking  in  each  others'  faces,  remembering  what 
each  had  said  only  a  few    short  montlis  ago 
—now  to  be  called  upon  to  make  an  altera- 
tion in  the  constitution  of  the  United  States, 
for  the  pujiose  of  dividing  seventy-two  millions 
of  surplus  money  in  the  treasury ;  when  that 
same  treasury  was  proclaimed,  affirmed,  vatici- 
nated, and  proved,  upon  calculations,  for  the 
whole  period  of  the  last  session,  to  be  sinking 
into  bankruiitcy!  that  it  would  be  destitute  of 
revenue  by  the  end  of  the  year,  and  could  never 
be  replenished  until  the  deposits  were  restored ! 
the  bank  rechartered  !  and  the  usurper  and  des- 
pot driven  from  the  high  place  which  he  dis- 
honored and  abused  !     This  was  the  cry  then ; 
the  cry  which  resounded  through  this  chamber 
for  six  long  months,  and  was  wafted  upon  every 
breeze  to  every  quarter  of   the   Kepul.lic.  to 
alarm,  agitate,  disquiet  and  enriige  the  people. 
The  author  of  this  reiwrt,  and  tlie  whole  party 
with   which  he  marched  under  the  nn'/lamme 
of  the  IJank  of  the  United  States,  fil'  d  the 
Union  witii  this  cry  of  a  bankrupt  treasury,  and 
predicted  the  certain  and  speedy  downfallOf  the 
administration,  from  the  want  of  money  to  carry 
on  the  operations  of  the  government. 

"  Ml'.  Calhoun  here  rose  nnd  wished  to  know 
of  Mr.  iJeiiton  whether  ho  inianf  to  include  him 
in  the  number  of  those  who  had  predicted  a 
deficiency  in  the  revenue.] 

"  Mr.  li.  said  he  would  answer  the  gentleman 
by  telling  him  an  anecdote.  It  whs  the  story 
of  a  drununer  taken  prisoner  in  the  low  coun- 
tries by  the  videttes  of  Marshal  Saxe,  under 
circumstances  which  deprived  him  of  the  pro- 


tection of  the  laws  of  war.     About  to  be  shot 
the  poor  drummer  plead  in  his  defence  that  he 
was  a  non-combatant ;  he  did  not  tight  and  kill 
people ;  he  did  nothing,  he  said,  but  beat  his 
drum  in  the  rear  of  the  line.     ISut  he  was  an- 
swered, so  much  the  worse ;  that  he  maile  otlier 
people  fight,  and  kill  one  another,  by  driving 
them  on  with  that  drum  of  his  in  the  rear  of 
the  lino ;  and  so  he  should  suffer  for  it.    Mr. 
B.  hoped  that  the  story  would  be  understood 
and  that  it  would  be  received  by  the  gentleman 
as  an  answer  to  his  question  ;  as  neither  in  law 
politics,  nor  war,  was  there  any  diflertnce  be- 
tween what  a  man  did  by  himself,  and  did  by 
another.     Be  that  as  it  may,  said  Jlr.  13.  the 
strangeness  of  the  scene  in  which  we  are  no\f 
engaged  remains  the  same.     Last  year  it  was  a 
bankrupt  treasury,  and  a  beggared  government ; 
now  it  is  a  treasury  gorged  to  bursting  with 
surplus  millions,  and  a  government  trainplini? 
down  liberty,  contaminating  morals,  bribing  and 
wielding  vast  masses  of  people,  from  the  unem- 
ployable funds  of  countless  treasures.  Such  are 
the  scenes  which  the  two  sessions  present ;  and 
it  is  in  vain  to  deny  it,  for  the  fatal  speeches  of 
that  fatal  session  have  gone  forth  to  all  the  bor- 
ders of  the  republic.     'J'hey  were  printed  here 
by  the  myriad,  franked  by  members  .)y  the  ton 
weight,  freighted  to  all  parts  by  a  decried  and 
overwhelmed  Post  Office,  and  paid  for!  paid 
for !  by  whom  ?  Thanks  for  one  tiling,  at  least! 
The  report  of  the  Finance  Committee  on  the 
bank  (Mr.  Tyler's  report)  eflected  the  exhuma- 
tion   of  one    mas.s — one  mass  of  hidden  and 
buried  putridity  ;  it  was  the  printing  account 
of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  for  that  ses- 
sion of  Congress  which  will  long  live  in  the 
history  of  our  country  under  the  odious  appel- 
lation of  the  panic  session.     That  printing  ac- 
count has  been  dug  up ;  is  the  black  vomit  of 
the  bank  I   and  he  knew  the  medicine  which 
could  bring  forty  such  vomits  from  the  foul 
stomach  of  the  old  red  harlot.    It  was  the  me- 
dicine of  a  committee  of  investigation,  consti- 
tuted upon  parliamentary  [imiciples  ;  ii  ronimif.- 
tee,  composed,  in  its  majority,  of  those  who 
charged  misconduct,  and  evinced  a  dispo.sition 
to  probe  every  charge  to  the  bottom ;  such  a 
committee  as  the  Senate  had  apiminted,  at  the 
same  session,  not  for  the  bank,  but  for  the  post 
office. 

"  Yes,  exclaimed  Mr.  B.,  not  only  the  trea- 
sury was  to  be  bankrupt,  but  the  currency  was 
to  be  ruined.  There  was  to  be  no  money.  The 
trash  in  the  treasury,  what  little  there  was, 
was  to  be  nothing  but  depreciated  ])apei',  the 
vile  issues  of  insovlent  pet  banks,  silver,  and 
United  States  bank  notes,  and  even  pond  bills 
of  exchange,  were  all  to  go  off,  all  to  take  leave, 
and  make  their  mournful  exit  together;  and 
gold !  that  was  a  trick  unworthy  of  counte- 
nance 5  a  gidl  to  bamboozle  tfie  simple,  and  to 
insult  the  intelligent,  until  the  fall  elections 
were  over.  Ruin,  ruin,  ruin  to  the  ourrencj', 
was  the  lugubrious  cry  of  the  day,  and  the  sor- 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


561 


4  '  . 


rowful  burden  of  the  speech  for  six  long  months 
Now,  on  the  contrary,  it  seems  to  be  admitted 
that  there  is  to  be  money,  real  good  money   in 
the  treasury,  such  as  the  fiercest  haters  of  ''h 
pet  banks  would  wish  to  have  ;  and  that  not  • 
little,  since  seventy-two  millions  of  siirplus(  =, 
are  proposed    to  be  drawn  from  that  same 
empty  treasury  in  the  brief  space  of  eight  years. 
Not  a  word  about  ruined  currency  now.    Not  a 
word  about  the  currency  itself!    The  very  word 
seems  to  be  dropped  from  the  vocabulary  of  gen- 
tleinen.  All  lips  closed  tight,  all  tongues  hushed 
still,  all  a  lusion  avoided,  to  that  once  dear 
phrase.     The  silver  currency  doubled  in  a  year; 
four  millions  of  gold  coins  in  half  a  year  •  ex- 
changes reduced  to  the  lowest  and  most  uniform 
rates ;  the  whole  expenses  of  Congress  paid  in 
pold ;  working  people  receiving  gold  and  silver 
for  their  ordinary  wages.    Such  are  the  results 
which  liave  confounded  the  prophets  of  wo 
silenced  the  tongues  of  lamentation,  expelled 
the  word   currency   from   our  debates;  and 
brought  the  people  to  question,   if  it  cannot 
brmg  themselves,  to  doubt,  the  future  infalli- 
bility of  those  undaunted  alarmists  who  still 
go  forward  with  new  and  confident  predictions 
notwithstanding  they  have  been  so  recently  and 
so  conspicuously  deceived  in  their  vaticinations 
of  a  ruined  currency,  a  bankrupt  treasury,  and 
a  beggard  government. 

"But  here  we  are,  said  Mr.  B.,  actually  en- 
gaged m  a  serious  proposition  to  alter  the  con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  for  the  period  of 
eght  years,  in  order  to  get  rid  of  surplus  reve- 
nue; and  a  most  dazzling,  seductive,  and  fasci- 
nating scheme  is  presented;  no  less  than  nine 
millions  a  year  for  eight  consecutive  years.    It 
took  like  wildfire,  Mr.  B.  said,  and  he  had  seen 
a  member— no,  that  might  seem  too  particular 
-he  had  seen  a  gentleman  who  looked  upon  it 
as  establishing  a  new  era  in  the  affairs  of  our 
America,  establishing  a  new  test  for  the  forma- 
tion of  parties,  bringing  a  new  question  into  all 
our  elections,  State  and  federal;  and  operating 
the  political  salvation  and  elevation  of  all  who 
supported  it   and  the  immediate,  utter,  and  irre- 
trievable political  damnation  of  all  who  opposed 
It.    But  Mr.  B.  dissented  from  the  novelty  of 
the  scheme.    It  was  an  old  acquaintance  of' his 
only  new  vamped  and  new  burnished,  for  the 
present  occasion.    It  is  the  same  proposition 
only  to  be  accomplished  in  a  different  way 
which  was  brought  forward,  some  years  ago  by 
a  seniitor  from  New  Jersey  (Mr.  Dlckerso'n); 
and  which  then  received  unmeasured  condem- 
nation, not  merely  for  unconstitutionality,  but 
lor  all  its^  effects  and  consequences:  the  degra- 
dation of  mendicant  States,  receiving  their  an- 
nual allowance  from  the  bounty  of  the  federal 
government;   the  debauchment  of  the  public 
morals,  when  every  citizen  was  to  look  to  the 
ft^v  Iffi  '^'■*^''^"''>  '"»•  "loney,  and  every  candidate 
or  office  was  to  outbid  his  competitor  in  offer- 
ing it;  the  consolidation  of  the  States,  thus  re- 
sulting from  a  central  supply  of  revenue;  the 
VOL.   I.— 36 


folly  of  collectmg  with  one  hand  to  payback 
with  the  other;  and  both  hands  to  be  greased  at 
he  expense  of  the  citizen,  who  pays  one  man  to 
llect  the  money  from  him,  and  another  to 
'ing  It  back  to  him,  minus  the  interest  and  the 
cost  of  a  double  operation  in  fetching  and  carry- 
irig;  and  the  eventual  and  inevitable  progress 
of  the  scheme  to  the  plunder  of  the  weaker  half 
of  the  Union  by  the  stronger;  when  the  stronger 
half  would  undoubtedly  throw  the  whole  bur- 
den of  raising  the  money  upon  the  weaker  half, 
and  then  take  the  main  portion  to  themselves, 
buch  were  the  main  objections  uttered  against 
this  plan,  seven  years  ago,  when  a  gallant  son 
of  South  Carolina  (General  Hayne)  stood  by 
his  (Mr.  B.'s)  side— no,  stood  before  him— and 
led  him  m  the  fight  against  that  fatal  and  delu- 
sive scheme,  now  brought  forward  under  a  more 
sedusive  dangerous,  alarming,  inexcusable,  un- 
justifiable, and  demoralizing  form. 

"Yes,  said  Mr.  B.,  it  is  not  only  the  revival 
of  the  same  plan  for  dividing  surplus  revenue 
which  received  its  condemnation  on  this  floor 
seven  or  eight  years  ago ;  but  it  is  the  modifica- 
tion, and  that  in  a  form  infinitely  worse  for  the 
new  States,  of  the  famous  land  bill  which  now 
lies  upon  our  table.  It  takes  up  the  object  iif 
that  bill,  and  runs  away  with  it,  giving  nine  mil- 
lions where  that  gave  three,  and  leaves  the  au- 
thor of  that  bill  out  of  sight  behind;  and  can 
the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina  (Mr.  Cal- 
houn) be  so  short-sighted  as  not  to  see  that 
somebody  will  play  him  the  same  prank,  and 
come  forward  with  propositions  to  raise  and  di- 
vide twenty,  thirty,  forty  milUons ;  and  thus  out- 
leap,  outjump,  and  outrun  him  in  the  race  of 
popularity,  just  as  far  as  he  himself  has  now 
outjumped,  outleaped,  and  outran,  the  author  of 
the  land  distribution  bill? 

"  Yes,  said  Mr.  B.,  this  scheme  for  dividing 
surplus  revenue  is  an  old  acquaintance  on  this 
floor;  but  never  did  it  come  upon  this  floor  at  a 
time  so  inauspicious,  under  a  form  so  question- 
able, and  upon  assumpti(^s  so  unfounded  in  fact 
so  delusive  in  argumentt.  He  would  speak  of 
the  inauspiciousness  of  the  time  hereafter;  at 
present,  he  would  take  positions  in  direct  con- 
tradiction to  all  the  arguments  of  fact  and  rea- 
son upon  which  this  monstrous  scheme  of  dis- 
tribution is  erected  and  defended.  Condensed 
into  their  essence,  these  arguments  are : 

"1.  That  there  will  be  a  surplus  of  nine  mil- 
lions annually,  for  eight  years. 

"  2.  That  there  is  no  way  to  reduce  the  reve- 
nue. 

"  3.  That  there  is  no  object  of  general  utility 
to  which  these  surpluses  can  be  applied. 

"  4.  That  distribution  is  the  only  way  to  car- 
ry them  off"  without  poisoning  and  corrupting 
the  whole  body  politic. 

"  Mr,  B.  disputed  the  whole  of  those  proposi- 
tions, and  would  undertake  to  show  each  to  be 
unfounded  and  erroneous. 

"  1.  The  report  says  that  the  surplus  will  pro- 
bably equ-"',  on  the  average,  for  the  next  eight 


i  ;•' 


mi 


i''  'i 


562 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


years,  the  sum  of  ,'ji;9,000,000  beyond  the  just 
wants  of  the  government ;  and  in  a  subsequent 
part  it  says,  supposing  the  surphis  to  be  distri- 
buted should  average  ^9,000,000,  ar  ually.  as 
estimated,  it  would  give  to  each  share  ^30,405, 
which,  multiplied  by  the  senators  and  represen- 
tatives of  any  State,  would  show  the  sum  to 
which  it  would  be  entitled.  The  amendment 
which  has  been  reported  to  carry  this  distribu- 
tion into  effect  is  to  take  effect  for  the  year  1835 
— the  present  year — and  to  continue  till  the  1st 
day  of  January,  1813 ;  of  course  it  is  inclusive 
of  1842,  and  makes  a  period  of  eight  years  for 
the  distribution  to  goon.  The  amendment  con- 
tains a  blank,  which  is  to  be  filled  up  with  the 
sum  which  is  to  be  left  in  the  treasury  every 
year,  to  meet  contingent  and  unexpected  de- 
mands ;  and  the  report  shows  that  this  blank  is 
to  be  filled  with  the  sum  of  $2,000,000.  Here, 
then,  is  the  totality  of  these  surpluses,  eleven 
millions  a  year,  for  eight  consecutive  years ;  but 
of  which  nine  millions  are  to  be  taken  annually 
for  distribution.  Now,  nine  times  eight  are 
seventy-two,  so  that  here  is  a  report  setting 
forth  the  enormous  sum  of  $72,000,000  of  mere 
surplus,  after  satisfying  all  the  just  wants  of  the 
government,  and  leaving  two  millions  in  the  trea- 
sury, to  be  held  up  for  distribution,  and  to  ex- 
cite the  people  to  clamor  for  their  shares  of  such 
a  great  and  dazzling  prize.  At  the  same  time, 
Mr.  B.  said,  there  would  be  no  such  surplus.  It 
WHS  a  delusive  bait  held  out  to  whet  the  appe- 
tite of  the  people  for  the  spoils  of  their  country ; 
and  could  never  be  realized,  even  if  the  amend- 
ment for  authorizing  the  distribution  should  now 
pass.  The  seventy-two  millions  could  never  be 
found ;  they  would  exist  now  here  but  in  this 
report,  in  the  author's  imagination,  and  in  the 
deluded  hoj)cs  of  an  excited  community.  The 
sevent^'-two  millions  could  never  be  found ;  they 
would  turn  out  to  be  the  '  fellows  in  Kendal 
green  and  buckram  suits,'  which  figured  so 
lai^ely  in  the  imagination  of  Sir  John  i'alstaff 
— the  two-and-fift)'  men  in  buckram  which  the 
valiant  old  knight  nxuived  upon  his  point,  thus! 
Fextending  a  pencil  in  the  attitude  of  defence]. 
The  calculations  of  the  author  of  the  report 
were  wild,  delusive,  astonishing,  incredible.  He 
(Mr.  B.)  could  not  limit  himself  to  the  epithet 
wild,  for  it  was  a  clear  case  of  hallucination. 

"  Mr.  B.  then  took  up  the  treasury  report  of 
Mr.  Secretary  Woodbury,  communicated  at  the 
commencement  of  the  present  session  of  Con- 
gress, and  containing  the  estimates  required  by 
law  of  the  expected  income  and  expenditure  for 
the  present  j'ear,  and  also  for  the  year  1836.  At 
pages  4  and  5  are  the  estimates  for  the  present 
year ;  the  income  estimated  at  $20,000,000,  the 
•expenditures  at  $19,C83,540;  being  a  difference 
of  only  some  three;  hundred  thousand  dollars 
between  the  income  and  the  outlay ;  and  such 
is  tiio  chance  for  nine  millions  taken,  and  two 
left  in  the  first  year  of  the  distribution.  At 
pages  10,  14,  15,  the  revenue  for  1836  is  com- 
jputed;  and,  after  going  over  all  the  heads  of 


expense,  on  which  diminutions  will  probably  be 
made,  he  computes  the  income  and  outlay  of  the 
year  at  about  equal ;  or  probably  a  little  surplus 
to  the  amount  of  one  million.'  Those  arc  tliu 
estimates,  said  Mr.  B.,  formed  ujion  dr.ta  and 
coming  from  an  officer  making  reports  upon  his 
responsibility,  and  for  the  legislative  guidance 
of  Congross ;  and  to  which  we  are  bound  to  pive 
creden'  j  until  they  ;■  "e  shown  to  bo  incorroct. 
Here,  then,  are  the  urst  two  years  of  tho  oight 
disposed  of,  and  nothing  found  in  them  to  divide. 
The  last  two  years  of  the  term  could  bo  dis- 
patched even  more  qtiickly,  said  Mr.  ]{. ;  for 
every  body  that  understands  the  compromise 
act  of  March.  1833,  must  know  that,  in  llio  last 
two  years  of  tho  operation  of  that  act.  there 
would  be  an  actual  deiicit  in  the  treasury.  Look 
at  tho  terms  of  the  act !  It  proceeds  by  slow 
and  insensible  degrees,  making  slight  deductioas 
once  in  two  years,  until  the  years  1841  and 
1842,  when  it  ceases  crawling,  and  conmiences 
jumping ;  and  leaps  down,  at  two  jumps,  to 
twenty  per  centum  on  the  value  of  tho  articie.s 
which  pay  duty,  which  articles  are  loss  than  one 
half  of  our  importations.  Twenty  per  cent. 
upon  the  amount  of  goo<ls  which  will  then  pay 
duty  will  produce  but  little,  say  twelve  or  thir- 
teen millions,  upon  the  basis  of  sixty  or  seventy 
millions  of  dutiable  articles  imported  then,  which 
only  amount  to  forty-seven  millions  now.  Then 
there  will  be  no  surplus  at  all  for  one  half  the 
period  of  eight  years :  the  first  two  and  the  last 
two.  In  the  middle  period  of  four  yoais  there 
will  probably  be  a  sui-plus  of  two  or  three  mil- 
lions ;  but  Mr.  B.  took  issucupon  all  the  allega- 
tions with  respect  to  it ;  as  that  there  was  no 
way  to  reduce  the  revenue  without  disturbing 
the  compromise  act  of  March,  1833 ;  that  there 
was  no  object  of  general  utility  to  which  it  could 
be  ajiplieil ;  and  that  distribution  was  the  only 
way  to  get  rid  of  it. 

"Equally  delusive,  and  profoundly  errone- 
ous, was  the  gentleman's  idea  of  the  surplus 
\vhich  could  be  taken  out  of  the  appropria- 
tions. True,  that  operation  could  be  perform- 
ed once,  and  but  once.  The  run  of  our  trea- 
sury payments  show  that  about  one  quarter 
of  the  year's  expenditure  is  not  paid  within 
the  year,  but  the  first  quarter  of  the  next 
year,  and  thus  could  be  jiaid  out  of  tho  reve- 
nue received  in  the  first  quarter  of  tho  next 
year,  even  if  the  revenue  of  the  last  quarter  of 
the  preceding  year  was  thrown  away.  But  this 
was  a  thing  which  could  only  be  done  once. 
You  might  rely  upon  the  first  quarter,  but  you 
could  not  upon  the  second,  third,  and  fourth. 
There  would  not  be  a  dollar  in  the  treasury  at 
the  end  of  four  years,  if  you  deducted  a  quarter's 
amount  four  times  successively.  It  was  a  case, 
if  a  homely  adage  might  be  allowed,  which  would 
well  apply — you  could  not  eat  the  cake  and  have 
it  too.  Mr.  B.  i'ubuiilted  it,  then,  to  the  Senate, 
that,  on  the  first  i)oint  of  objection  to  the  report, 
his  issue  was  maintained.  There  was  no  such 
surplus  of  nine  millions  a  year  for  eight  years, 


ANNO  1835.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


563 


as  had  been  assumed,  nor  any  thing  near  it ;  and 
tills  iissiimption  being  the  corner-stone  of  the 
whole  edifice  of  tiio  sclieme  of  distribution  it 
w.is  siiHicient  to  show  the  fiillacy  of  that  data 
to  l)lo\v  tlie  wliole  scheme  into  tlie  empty  air. 

Mr.  B.  iidmonishtd  the  Senate  to  beware  of 
lidii'iile.     To  pass  a  solemn  vote  for  amcndin"' 
the  roiistitution,  for  the   purpose  of  enabling 
Coii^'rcss  to  make  distribution  of  surpluses  of 
nvfiiue.  and  then  find  no  surplus  to  distribute 
ini^'ht  lessen  tiio  dignity  and  diminish  the  weight 
of  so  grave  a  body.     It  might  expose  it  to  ri<li- 
ciile ;  and  that  was  a  hard  tiling  for  public  bodies 
and  public  men,  to  stand.     The  Senate  had  stood 
iniicli  m  Its  time  ;  much  in  the  latter  part  of  Mr 
Monroe's  a(hninistration,  when  the  Washington 
Reiiiiblican  habitually  denounced  it  as  a  faction 
and  displayed  many  brilliant  essays,  written  by 
no  nietm  hand,  to  prove  that  the  epithet  was  well 
applied,  though  applied  to  a  majority.     It  had 
stood  iniicli,  also,  during  tlie  four  years  of  the 
second  iMr.  Adams's  administration  ;  as  the  sur- 
viving pages  of  the  defunct  National  Journal 
could  still  attest :  but  in  all  that  time  it  stood 
clear  of  ridicule ;   it  did  nothing  upon  which 
saucy  wit  could  lay  its  lash.     Let  it  beware  now ! 
for  the  passage  of  this  amendment  may  expose 
It  to  untried  peril ;  the  peril  of  song  and  carica- 
ture.   And  wo  to  the  Senate,  farewell  to  its  di"'- 
nity,  if  It  once  gets  into  tlie  windows  of  the  print- 
Khop  and  becomes  the  burden  of  the  ballads 
winch  the  milkmaids  sing  to  their  cows. 

"2.  Mr.  B.  took  up  his  second  head  of  objec- 
tion.    Ihe  report  aflirmed  that  there  was  no 
«-ay  to  reduce  the  revenue  before  the  end  of  the 
year  1842,  without  violating  the  terms  of  the 
compromise  act  of  March.  183.3.    Mr.  B.  said 
he  had  opposed  that  act  when  it  wiis  on  its  pas- 
sage, and  had  then  stated  his  objections  to  it 
It  was  certainly  an  extraordinary  act,  a  sort  of 
new  constitution  for  nine  years,  as  he  had  heard 
It  lehcitously  called.    It  was  made  in  an  unusual 
manner,  not  precisely  by  three  men  on  an  island 
on  the  coast  of  Italy,  but  by  two  in  some  room 
of  a  boarding-house  in  this  city ;  and  then  pushed 
through  Congress  under  a  press  of  saii;  and  a 
duresse  of  feeling;  under  the  factitious  cry  of 
dissolution  of  the  Union,  raised  by  those  Who 
had  been  declarmg,  on  one  hand,  that  the  tariff 
could  not  be  reduced  without  dissolving   the 
Inion;  and  on  the  other    that  it  could  not 
be  kep   up  without  dissolving  the  same  Union. 
Ihe  value  of  all  such  cries,  Mr.  B.  said,  would 
be  appreciated  in  future,  when  it  was  seen  with 
how  much  facility  certain  persons  who  had  stood 
undei  the  opposite  poles  of  the  earth.  a.s  it  were, 
on  the  subject  of  the  tarilf,  had  come  together 

Sv2?  '"  '^'''  ^"7  "'."'^  y'^''  ■  '-^  Period  which 
coveied  two  presidential  elections!  That  act 
was  no  favorite  of  his,  but  he  would  let  it  alone; 
and  thus  leaving  it  to  work  out  its  design  for 
nne  years,  he  would  say  there  were  ways  to  re- 

'og  the  terms  or  the  spirit  of  that  act.    And 


hero  ho  would  speak  upon  data.    He  had  the 
authority  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  (Mr. 
Woodbury)  to  declare  that  he  believed  lie  could 
reduce  the  revenue  in  this  way  and  upon  imports 
to  the  amount  of  five  hundre('  thousand  dollars ; 
and  he,  Mr.  B.,  should  submit  a  resolution  call- 
ing upon  the  Secretary  to  furnish  the  details  of 
this  reduction  to  the  Senate  at  the  commence- 
ment of  their  next  stated  session,  that  Congress 
might  act  upon  it.    Further,  Mr.  B.  would  sav, 
that  it  appeared  to  him  that  the  whole  list  of' 
articles  in  the  fifth  section  of  the  act,  amounting 
to  thirty  or  forty  in  number,  and  which  by  that 
section  are  to  be  free  of  duty  in  1842,  and  which  in 
his  opinion  might  be  made  free  this  day,  and  that 
not  only  without  injuiry  to  the  manufacturers, 
but  with  such  manifest  advantage  to  them,  that, 
as  an  equivalent  for  it,  and  for  the  sake  of  ob- 
taining it,  they  ought  to  come  forward  of  them- 
selves, and  make  a  voluntary  concession  of  re- 
ductions on  some  other  points,  especially  on 
some  classes  of  woollen  goods, 

"  Having  given  Mr.  Woodbury's  authority  for 
a  reduction  of  $500,000  on  imports,  Mr.  B. 
would  show  another  source  from  which  a  much 
larger  reduction  could  be  made,  and  that  with- 
out aflecting  this  famous  act  of  March,  1833,  in 
another  and  a  different  quarter ;  it  was  in  the 
Western  quarter,  the  new  States,  the  public 
lands  !    The  act  of  1833  did  not  embrace  thi. 


source  of  revenue,  and  Congress  was  free  to  act 
upon  it,  and  to  give  the  people  of  the  new  States 
the  same  relief  on  the  purchase  of  the  article  on 
which  they  chiefly  paid  revenue  as  it  had  done 
to  the  old  States  in  the  reduction  of  the  tariff. 
Mr.  B.  did  not  go  into  the  worn-out  and  explod- 
ed objections  to  the  reduction  of  the  price  of  the 
lands  which  t!ie  report  had  gathered  up  from 
their  old  sleeping  places,  and  i)resented  again  to 
the  Senate.    Speculators,  monopolies,  the  full  in 
the  price  of  real  estate  all  over  the  Union  ;  these 
were  exploded  fallacies  which  he  was  sorry  to 
see  paraded  here  again,  and  which  he  should  not 
detain  tlie  Senate  to  answer.     Suffice  it  to  say, 
that  there  is  no  application  made  now,  made 
heretofore,  or  intended  to  be  made,  so  far  as  he 
knew,  to  reduce  the  price  of  new  land !    One 
dollar  and  a  quarter  was  low  enough  for  the  first 
choice  of  new  lands;  but  it  wasnot  low  enough 
for  the  second,  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  choices  ! 
It  was  not  low  enough  for  the  refuse  lands  which 
had  been  five,  ten,  twenty,  forty  years  m  market; 
and  which  could  find  no  purcliaser  at  $1  25,  for 
the  solid  reason  that  they  were  worth  but  the 
half,  the  quarter,  the  tenth  part,  of  that  sum. 
It  was  for  such  lands  that  reduction  of  prices 
was  sought,  and  had  been  sought  for  many  years, 
and  would  continue  to  be  sought  until  it  was 
obtained ;  for  it  was  impossible  to  believe  that 
Congress  would  persevere  in  the  flagrant  injus- 
tice of  for  ever  refusing  to  reduce  the  price  of  re- 
fuse and  unsalable  lands  to  their  actual  value. 
The  policy  of  President  Jackson,  communicated 
in  his  messages,  Mr.  B.  said,  was  the  policy  of 
wisdom  and  justice.    He  was  for  disposing  of  the 


i  h  r ,'; 


mi 


1",  '{  f\-<h  ,t 


if    \^ 

I  f  it.T 


t  ( 


564 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


lands  more  for  the  purpose  oi'  promoting  settle- 
ments, and  creating  freeholders,  than  for  the 
purpose  of  exacting  revenue  from  thr  meritori- 
ous class  of  citizens  who  cultivate  the  soil.  He 
would  soil  the  lands  at  prices  which  would  pay 
expenses — the  expense  of  acquiring  them  from 
the  Indians,  and  surveying  and  selling  them ; 
and  this  system  of  moderate  prices  with  dona- 
tions, or  nominal  sales  to  actual  settlers,  would 
do  justice  to  the  new  States,  and  effect  a  sensible 
reduction  in  the  revenue ;  enough  to  prevent  the 
necessity  of  amending  the  constitution  to  get  rid 
of  nine  million  surpluses !  But  whether  thr 
price  of  lands  was  reduced  or  not,  Mr.  B.  said, 
the  revenue  from  that  source  would  soon  be  di- 
minished. The  revenue  had  been  exorbitant 
from  the  sale  of  lands  for  three  or  fonr  years 
past.  And  why  ?  Precisely  because  immense 
bodies  of  new  lands,  and  much  of  it  in  the  States 
adapted  to  the  production  of  the  great  staples 
which  now  bear  so  high  a  price,  have  within  that 
period,  come  into  market ;  but  these  fresh  lands 
must  soon  be  exhausted ;  the  old  and  refuse  only 
remain  for  sale;  and  the  revenue  from  that 
source  will  sink  down  to  its  former  usual  amount, 
instead  of  remaining  at  three  millions  a  year  for 
nine  years,  as  the  report  assumes. 

"  3.  AVhen  he  had  thus  shown  that  a  diminu- 
tion of  revenue  could  be  effected,  both  on  imports 
and  on  refuse  and  unsalable  lands,  Mr.  B.  took 
up  the  third  issue  which  he  had  joined  with  the 
report;  namely,  the  possibility  of  finding  an 
object  of  general  utility  on  which  the  surpluses 
could  be  expended.  The  report  affirmed  there 
was  no  such  object ;  he,  on  the  contrary,  affirm- 
ed that  there  were  such ;  not  one,  but  several, 
not  only  useful^  but  necessary,  not  merely  ne- 
cessary, but  exigent ;  not  exigent  only,  but  in 
the  highest  possible  degree  indispensable  and 
essential.  He  alluded  to  the  whole  class  of 
measures  connected  with  the  general  and  per- 
manent defence  of  the  Union !  In  peace,  prepare 
for  war !  is  the  admonition  of  wisdom  in  all  ages 
and  in  all  nations ;  and  sorely  and  grievously 
has  our  America  heretofore  paid  for  the  neglect 
of  that  admonition.  She  has  paid  for  it  in  blood, 
in  money,  and  in  shame.  Are  we  prepared  now? 
And  is  there  any  reason  why  we  should  not  pre- 
pare now  ?  Look  at  your  maritime  coast,  from 
Passamaquoddy  Bay  to  Florida  point ;  your  gidf 
coast,  from  Florida  point  to  the  Sabine ;  your 
lake  frontier,  in  its  whole  extent.  What  is  the 
picture  ?  Almost  destitute  efforts ;  and,  it  might 
be  said,  quite  destitute  of  armament.  Look  at 
your  armories  and  arsenals — too  few  and  too 
empty ;  and  the  West  almost  destitute !  Look 
at  your  militia,  many  of  them  mustering  with 
corn  stalks ;  the  States  deficient  in  arms,  especial- 
ly in  field  artillery,  and  in  swords  and  pistols 
fjr  their  cavalry !  Look  at  your  navy ;  slowly 
increasing  under  an  annual  appropriation  of  half 
a  juilJiun  a  year,  instead  of  a  whole  million,  at 
which  it  was  fixed  soon  ai'ter  the  late  war,  and 
from  which  it  was  reduced  some  years  ago,  when 
money  ran  low  in  the  treasury  !    Look  at  your 


dock-yards  and  navy-yards  ;  thinly  dotted  nlnng 
the  maritime  coast,  and  hardly  seen  at  all  on  the 
gulf  coast,  where  the  whole  South,  and  the  great 
West,  so  imperiously  demand  naval  protection ! 
Such  is  the  picture;  such  the  state  of  our  coun- 
try ;  such  its  state  at  this  time,  when  even  tlie 
most  unobservant  should  see  something  to  nialiu 
us  think  of  defence !  Such  is  the  state  of  our 
defences  now,  with  which,  oh !  strange  and  won- 
derful contradiction !  the  administration  is  now 
reproached,  reviled,  flouted,  and  taunted,  by  those 
who  go  for  distribution,  and  ttun  their  backs  rjn 
defence  !  and  who  complain  of  the  President  for 
leaving  us  in  this  condition,  when  five  years  aj.'o, 
in  the  year  1820,  he  recommended  the  annual 
sum  of  S25(),()()0  for  arming  the  fortifications 
(which  Congress  refused  to  give),  and  who  now 
are  for  taking  the  money  out  of  the  treasury  to 
be  divided  among  the  people ;  instead  of  turning 
it  all  to  the  great  object  of  the  general  and  pui" 
manent  defence  of  the  Union,  for  which  thev 
were  so  solicitous,  so  clamorous,  so  fuelinglV 
alive,  and  patriotically  sensitive,  even  one  short 
month  ago. 

"  Does  not  the  present  state  of  the  country 
(said  Mr.  B.)  call  for  defence  ?  and  is  not  this 
the  propitious  time  for  putting  it  in  defence  ? 
and  will  not  that  object  absorb  everj  dollar  of 
real  surplus  that  can  be  found  in  the  treasury 
for  these  eight  years  of  plenty,  during  which  we 
are  to  be  afflicted  with  seventy-two  millions  of 
surplus?  Lotus  see.  Let  us  take  one  single  branch 
of  the  general  system  of  defence,  and  see  how  it 
stands,  and  what  it  would  cost  to  put  it  in  the 
condition  which  the  safety  and  the  honor  of  the 
country  demanded.  lie  spoke  of  the  fortifications. 
and  selected  that  branch,  because  he  had  data  to 
go  upon ;  data  to  which  the  senator  from  South 
Carolina,  the  author  of  this  report,  could  not 
object. 

"  The  design  (said  Mr.  B.)  of  fortifying  the 
coasts  of  the  United  States  is  as  old  as  the  Union 
itself.  Our  documents  are  full  of  executive  re- 
commendations, departmental  reports,  and  re- 
ports of  committees  upon  this  subject,  all  urging 
this  great  object  upon  the  attention  of  Congress. 
From  1789,  through  every  succeeding  adminis- 
tration, the  subject  was  presented  to  Congress; 
but  it  was  only  after  the  late  war,  and  when  the 
evils  of  a  defenceless  coast  were  fresh  before  the 
eyes  of  the  people,  that  the  subject  was  present- 
ed in  the  most  impi-essive,  persevering,  and  sys- 
tematic form.  An  engineer  of  the  first  rank 
(General  Bernard)  was  taken  into  our  service 
from  the  school  of  the  great  Napoleon.  A  reso- 
lution of  the  House  of  Representatives  jailed  on 
the  War  Department  for  a  plan  of  deience.  ami 
a  designation  of  forts  adequate  to  the  projection 
of  the  country ;  and  upon  this  call  examinations 
were  made,  estimates  framed,  and  forts  projected 
for  the  whole  maritime  coast  from  Savannah  to 
Boston.  The  result  was  the  presentation,  iu 
1821,  of  a  plan  for  ninety  forts  upon  that  part 
of  the  coast ;  namely,  twenty -four  of  the  tirst 
class ;  twenty-three  of  the  second ;  and  forty- 


ANNO  188fi.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


565 


three  of  the  thirrl.    Under  the  administration 
of  Mr.  Monroe,  and  the  urgent  recommendationH 
of  the  then  head  of  the  War  Department  (Mr. 
Calhoun),  the  construction  of  these  forts  was 
comintnced,  and  pushed  with  spirit  and  activity  ; 
hut,  owinp:  to  circumstances  not  necessary  now 
to  be  detailed,  the  object  dechned  in  the  public 
fiivor,  loct  a  part  of  its  popularity,  perhaps  just- 
ly, and  has  Eince  proceeded  so  slowly  that,  at  the 
Jnd  of  twenty  years  from  the  late  war,  no  more 
than  thirteen  of  these  forts  have  been  construct- 
ed ;  namely,  eight  of  the  first  class,  three  of  the 
second,  and  two  ofthe  third  ;  and  of  these  thir- 
teen constructed,  none  are  armed;  almost  all  of 
them  are  without  guns  or  carriages,  and  more 
ready  for  the  occupation  of  an  enemy  than  for 
the  defence  of  ourselves.    This  is  the  state  of 
fortifications  on  the  maritime  coast,  exclusive  of 
the  New  England  coast  to  the  north  of  Boston, 
exclusive  of  Cape  Cod,  south  of  Boston,  and  ex- 
clusive of  the  Atlantic  coast  of  Florida.     The 
lake  frontier  is  untouched.     The  gidf  frontier, 
almost  two  thousand  miles  in  length,  barely  is 
dotted  with  a  few  forts  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Pensacola,  New  Orleans,  and  Mobile;  all  the 
rest  of  the  coast  may  be  set  down  as  naked  and 
defcnceless.    This  was  our  condition.     Now,  Mr. 
B.  did  not  venture  to  give  an  opinion  that  the 
whole  plan  of  fortifications  dc,  eloped  in  the  re- 
ports of  1821  should  be  carried  into  effect ;  but 
he  would  say,  and  tliat  most  confidently,  that 
much  of  it  ought  to  be ;  and  it  would  be  the 
business  of  Congress  to  decide  on  each  fort  in 
making  a  specific  appropriation  for  it.     He  would 
also  say  that  many  forts  would  be  found  to  bt 
necessary  which  were  not  embraced  in  that  plan ; 
for  it  did  not  touch  the  lake  coast,  and  the  gulf 
coa&t,  nor  the  New  England  coast,  north  of  Bos- 
ton, nor  any  point  of  the  land  frontier.    With- 
out going  into  the  question  at  all,  of  how  many 
were  njcessary,  or  where  they  should  be  placed, 
it  was  sufficient  to  show  that  there  were  enough 
wanting,  beyond  dispute,  to  constitute  an  object 
of  utility,  worthy  of  the  national  expenditure; 
and  sufficient  to  absorb,  not  nine  millions  of  an- 
nual surplus,  to  be  sure,  but  about  as  many  mil- 
lions of  surplus  as  would  ever  be  found,  and  the 
bank  stock  into  the  bargain.   The  thirteen  forts 
constructed  had  cost  twelve  millions  one  hun- 
dred and  thirteen  thousand  dollars ;  near  one 
million  of  dollars  each.    But  this  was  for  con- 
struction only ;  the  armament  was  still  to  fol- 
low; and  for  this  object  two  millions  were  es- 
timated iu  1821  for  the  ninety  forts  then  recom- 
mended ;  and  of  that  two  millions  it  may  be 
assumed  that  but  little  has  been  granted  by 
tongress.    So  much  for  fortifications ;  in  itself 
a  single  branch  of  defence,  and  sufficient  to 
absorb  many  millions.    But  there  were  many 
other  branches  of  defence  which,  Mr.  B.  said, 
ne  would  barely  eniimen-vtc.   Them  was  the  navy, 
including  its  gradual   increase,  its  dock-yards, 
its  navy-yards ;  then  the  armories  and  arsenals, 
Which  were  so  much  wanted  in  the  South  and 
West,  and  especially  in  the  South,  for  a  reason 


(besidcH  those  which  ajjply  to  foreign  enemies) 
which  need  not  be  named  ;  then  the  Bui)|)ly  of 
arms   to    the  States,  especially  field  artillery, 
swords,  and  pistols,  for  which  an  annual  but  in- 
adequate appropriation  had  been  made  for  so 
long  a  time  that  he  believed  the  States  had  al- 
most forgot  the  subject.  Here  are  f)bjects  enough, 
Mr.  President,  exclaimed  Mr.  B.,  to  absorb  eveiy 
dollar  of  our  surplus,  and  the  bank  stock  besides. 
The  surphises,  he  was  certain,  would  be  wholly 
insufncient,  and  the  bank  stock,  by  a  solemn 
resohition  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress,  should 
be  devoted  to  the  object.     As  a  fund  was  set 
apart,  and  held  sacred  and  inviolable,  for  the 
payment  of  the  public  debt  so ;  should  a  fund  bo 
now  created  for  national  defence,  and  this  bank 
stock  should  be  the  first  and  most  sacred  item 
put  into  it.   It  is  the  only  way  to  save  that  stock 
from  becoming  the  prey  of  incessant  contriv- 
ances to  draw  monej^  from  the  treasury.     Mr, 
B.  said  that  he  intended  to  submit  resolutions, 
requesting  the  President  to  cause  to  bo  com- 
municated to  the  next  Congress  full  information 
upon  all  the  points  that  he  had  touched ;  the 
probable  revenue  and  expenditure  for  the  next 
eight  years ;  the  plan  and  expense  of  fortifying 
the  coiist ;  the  navy,  and  every  other  point  con- 
nected with  the  general  and  permanent  defence 
of  the  Union,  with  a  view  to  let  Congress  tatve  it 
up,  upon  system,  and  with  a  design  to  complete 
it  without  further  delay.     And  he  demanded, 
why  hurry  on  this  amendment  before  that  infor- 
mation can  come  in  ? 

"Now  is  the  auspicious  moment,  said  Mr.  B., 
for  the  republic  to  rouse  from  the  apathy  into 
which  it  has  lately  sunk  on  the  subject  of  na- 
tional defence.  The  public  debt  is  paid ;  a  sum 
of  six  or  seven  millions  will  come  from  the  bank ; 
some  surpluses  may  occur ;  let  the  national  de- 
fence become  the  next  great  object  after  the 
payment  of  the  debt,  and  all  spare  money  go  to 
that  purpose.  If  further  stimulus  were  wanted, 
it  might  be  found  in  the  present  aspect  of  our 
foreign  affairs,  and  in  the  reproaches,  the  taunts, 
and  in  the  offensive  insinuations  which  certain 
gentlemen  have  been  indulging  in  for  two 
months  with  respect  to  the  defenceless  state  of 
the  coast ;  and  which  they  attribute  to  the  neg- 
ligence of  the  administration.  Certainly  such 
gentlemen  will  not  take  that  money  for  distri- 
bution, for  the  immediate  applicjition  of  which 
their  defenceless  country  is  now  crying  aloud, 
and  stretching  forth  her  imploring  hands. 

"  Mr.  B.  would  here  avail  himself  of  a  voice 
more  potential  than  his  own  to  enforce  attention 
to  the  great  object  of  national  defence,  the  re- 
vival of  which  he  was  now  attempting.  It  was 
a  voice  which  the  senator  from  South  Carolina, 
the  author  of  this  proposition  to  squander  in  dis- 
tributions the  funds  which  should  be  sacred  to 
defence,  would  instantly  recognize.  It  was  an 
extract  from  a  message  communicated  to  Con- 
gress, December  3,  1822,  by  President  Monroe. 
Whether  considered  under  the  relation  of  simi- 
larity which  it  bears  to  the  language  and  senti- 


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566 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


ments  of  cotoinfxjranoons  reports  from  the  then 
liuml  of  tlie  VViir  Di'ijartnicnt;  the  position 
wliicii  the  writer  of  those  reports  then  held  in 
ri'Iiition  to  Presiflent  Monroe;  the  ii},'lit  whicli 
ho  possessed,  as  Secretary  of  War,  to  know,  at 
least,  what  was  put  into  the  message  in  relation 
to  measures  connected  with  his  department; 
considered  under  any  and  all  of  these  aspects, 
tlie  extracts  which  he  was  about  to  i-ead  might 
be  considered  as  expressing  the  sentiments,  if 
not  speaking  the  words,  of  the  gentleman  who 
now  sees  no  object  of  utility  in  providing  for 
the  defence  of  his  country ;  and  who  then  i)lead 
the  cause  of  that  defence  with  so  much  truth 
and  energy,  and  with  such  commendable  excess 
of  i)atriotic  zeal. 

"  Mr.  U.  then  read  as  follows  : 
" '  Should  war  break  out  in  any  of  those  coun- 
tries (the  Kuropean),  who  can  foretell  the  ex- 
tent to  which  it  nuiy  bo  carried,  or  the  desola- 
tion which  may  spre.-ul?  Exempt  as  we  are  from 
these  causes  i  of  European  civil  wars),  our  in- 
ternal tran(iuillity  ig  secure  ;  and  distant  as  we 
are  from  the  troubled  scene,  and  faithful  to  just 
principles  in  regard  to  other  powers,  wo  might 
reasonably  presume  that  we  should  not  be  mo- 
lested by  them.     This,  however,  ought  not  to 
be  calculated  on  as  certain.     Unprovoked  inju- 
ries arc  often  inflicted,  and  even  the  peculiar 
felicity  of  our  situation  might,  with  some,  be  a 
cause  of  excitement  and  aggression.    The  his- 
tory of  the  late  wars  in  Europe  furnishes  a  com- 
plete demonstration  that  no  system  of  conduct, 
however  correct  in  principle,  can  protect  neutral 
powers  from  injury  from  any  i)arty;  that  a  de- 
fenceless position  and  distinguished  love  of  peace 
are  the  surest  invitations  to  war;  and  that  there 
is  no  way  to  avoid  it,  other  than  by  being  al- 
ways prepared,  and  willing,  for  just  cause,  to 
meet  it.    If  there  be  a  people  on  earth,  whose 
more  especial  duty  it  is  to  be  at  all  times  pre- 
pared to  defend  the  rights  with  which  they  are 
blessed,  and  to  surpass  all  others  in  sustaining 
the  necessary  burdens,  and  in  submitting  to  sac- 
rifices to  make  such  preparations,  it  is  undoubt- 
edly the  people  of  these  States.' 

'•Mr.  B.  having  read  thus  far,  stopped  to  make 
a  remark,  and  but  a  remark,  upon  a  single  sen- 
timent in  it.  He  would  not  weaken  the  force 
and  energy  of  the  whole  passage  by  going  over 
it  in  detail ;  but  he  invoked  attention  upon  the 
last  sentiment — our  peculiar  duty,  so  strongly 
painted,  to  sustain  burdens,  and  submit  to  sac- 
rifices, to  accomplish  the  noble  object  of  putting 
our  country  into  an  attitude  of  defence  !  The 
ease  with  which  we  can  prepare  for  the  same  de- 
fence now,  by  the  facile  operation  of  applying  to 
that  purpose  surpluses  of  revenue  and  bank 
stock,  for  which  we  have  no  other  use,  was  the 
point  on  which  he  would  invoke  and  arrest  the 
Senate's  attention. 

"  Mr.  B.  resumed  his  reading,  and  read  the 
next  paragraph,  which  enumerated  all  the  causes 
which  might  lead  to  general  war  in  Europe,  and 


our  involvement  in  it,  and  concluded  with'  the 


declaration  'That  the  reasons  for  pushing' for- 
ward  all  our  measures  of  defence,  with  tin.'  ut- 
most vigor,  ai)pear  U  me  to  aciiuiiv  new  force" 
And  then  added,  these  causes  for  Eiiroptan  war 
are  now  in  as  great  force  as  then  ;  the  (liii|.r,.r 
of  our  involvement  is  more  apparent  now  tlian 
then;  the  reasons  for  sensibility  to  our  niitioiml 
honor  are  nearer  now  than  then  ;  and  upon  ;ill 
tlie  princiulesof  the  passage  from  which  he  was 
reading,  the  reasons  for  pushing  forward  all  oiir 
measures  of  defence  with  the  utmost  vigor,  oo-;- 
.sessed  far  more  force  in  this  i)reseiit  yt^ir  i»;!5 
than  they  did  in  the  year  1822.  ' 

"  Mr.  B.  continued  to  read  : 
"'The  United  States  owe  to  the  world  a 
great  example,  and  by  means  thereof,  to  tliu 
cause  of  liberty  and  humanity  a  generous  Rip. 
port.  They  have  so  far  succeeded  to  the  satis- 
faction of  the  virtuous  and  eiiliglitencd  of  every 
country.  There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  their 
whole  movement  will  be  regulated  by  a  sacred 
regard  to  principle,  all  our  institutions  liein- 
founded  on  that  basis.  Tlie  aliility  to  snpiioit 
our  own  cause,  under  any  trial  to  which  it  may 
be  exposed,  is  the  great  point  on  which  tlo 
public  solicitude  rests.  It  has  often  been  charged 
against  free  governments,  that  they  h  ive  nei- 
ther the  foresight  nor  the  virtue  to  provide  at 
the  proper  season  for  great  emergencies;  that 
their  cour.sc  is  improvident  and  exjiensive  ;  tliat 
war  will  always  find  them  unprepared;  and, 
whatever  may  be  its  calamities,  that  its  terrihlo 
warnings  will  be  disregarded  and  forgotten  as 
soon  as  peace  returns,  I  have  full  confidence 
that  this  charge,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  United 
States,  will  be  shown  to  be  utterly  destitute  of 
truth.' 

"  Mr.  B.,  as  he  closed  the  book,  said,  he  would 
make  a  few  remarks  upon  some  of  the  jiointti  in 
this  passage,  which  he  had  last  read— the  re- 
proach so  often  charged  upon  free  govemincnts 
for  want  of  foresight  and  virtue,  their  improvi- 
dence and  expensiveness,  their  proneness  to 
disregard  and  forget  in  peace  the  warning  lessons 
of  the  most  terrible  calamities  of  war.  And  he 
would  take  the  liberty  to  suggest  that,  of  all 
the  mortal  beings  now  alive  upon  this  earth, 
the  author  of  the  report  under  discussion  ought 
to  be  the  last  to  disregard  and  to  forget  the 
solemn  and  impressive  admonition  which  tlie 
passage  conveyed  !  the  last  to  ^o  act  as  to  sub- 
ject his  government  to  the  mortifying  cliaipe 
which  has  been  so  often  cast  upon  tlieni !  the 
last  to  subject  the  virtue  of  the  people  to  the 
humiliating  trial  of  deciding  between  the  de- 
fence and  the  plumder  of  their  country ! 

"Mr.  B.  dwelt  a  mouieut  on  another  point  in 
the  passage  which  he  had  read — the  great  tx- 
amplc  which  this  republic  owed  to  the  world, 
and  to  the  cause  of  free  governments,  to  prove 
!  itself  capable  of  supporting  its  cau.se  under 
every  trial ;  and  that  b}'  providing  in  peace  fur 
the  dangers  of  war.  It  was  a  striking  point  in 
the  passage,  and  presented  a  grand  and  philoso- 
phic conception  to  the  reflecting  mind.    The 


ANNO  1885.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  I'UBSIDHNT. 


567 


resent  year  Ls;!5, 


oxam|t!o  to  bo  shown  to  the  v.v'.d,  and  the 
duty  ol"  tl''«  republic  to  exhibit  it,  vvoh  an  ole- 
vateil  and  patriotic  conception,  and  worthy  of 
tlio  m'liiiis  whieli  then  preHi<lod  over  the  War 
Department.  Hut  wiuit  is  the  example  which 
ffc  are  now  re(iuired  to  exhibit  ?  It  is  that  of 
a  [MJople  preferring  the  spoils  of  their  country 
to  its  tiel'iMico!  It  is  that  of  the  electioneerer, 
goiii;;  from  city  to  city,  from  house  to  house, 
even  to  the  uninformed  tenant  of  the  distant 
liamlet,  wlio  has  no  means  of  detecting  the  fal- 
lacies which  are  brought  from  afar  to  deceive 
his  uniUrstanding:  it  is  the  example  of  this 
electioneerer,  with  slate  and  pencil  in  his  liand 
(and  here  Mr.  B.  took  up  an  old  book  cover, 
and  a  pencil,  and  stooped  over  it  to  make  lii^ures, 
as  if  workiiiff  out  a  littlo  sum  in  arithmetic), 
it  is  the  example  of  this  electioneerer,  oirering 
for  distribution  that  money  which  should  be 
sacred  to  the  defence  of  his  country ;  and  point- 
ing out  for  overthrow,  at  the  next  election, 
every  candidate  for  ollice  who  should  bo  found 
in  opposition  to  this  wretched  and  deceptive 
scheme  of  distribution.  This  is  the  example 
which  it  is  proposed  that  wo  should  now  exhi- 
bit. And  little  did  it  enter  into  liis  (Mr.  B.'s) 
imagination,  about  the  time  that  message  was 
written,  that  it  should  fall  to  his  lot  to  plead 
for  the  (leronce  of  his  country  r.gainst  the  au- 
thor of  this  rejjort.  lie  admired  the  grandeur 
of  conception  which  the  reports  of  the  war 
oflice  then  displayed.  He  said  he  differed  from 
tlio  party  with  whom  he  then  acted,  in  giving  a 
general,  though  not  a  universal,  support  to  the 
ISeci'etary  of  War.  lie  looked  to  him  as  one 
who,  when  mellowed  by  age  and  chastened  by 
experience,  might  be  among  the  most  admired 
Presidents  that  ever  filled  the  presidential  chair. 
[Mr.  B..  by  a  lapsus  ling-uce,  said  throne,  but 
corrected  the  expression  on  its  echo  from  the 
galleries.] 

"  Mr.  B.  said  there  was  an  example  which  it 
was  worthy  to  imitate :  that  of  France ;  her 
coast  defended  by  forts  and  batteries,  behind 
which  the  rich  city  reposed  in  safety — the  tran- 
quil peasant  cultivated  his  vine  in  security — 
while  the  proud  navy  of  England  sailed  in- 
noxious bcft)re.  them,  a  spectacle  of  amusement, 
not  an  object  of  terror.  And  there  was  an  ex- 
ample to  be  avoided:  the  case  of  our  own 
America  during  the  late  war;  when  the  approach 
of  a  British  squadron,  upon  any  point  of  our 
extended  coast,  was  the  signal  for  flight,  for 
terror,  for  consternation;  when  the  liearts  of 
the  brave  and  the  almost  naked  hands  of  heroes 
were  the  sole  reliance  for  defence  ;  and  where 
those  hearts  and  those  hands  could  not  come, 
t!\e  sacrod  soil  of  our  country  was  invaded ; 
the  ruffian  soldier  and  the  rude  sailor  became 
the  insolent  masters  of  our  citizens'  houses; 
their  footsteps  marked  by  the  desolation  of 
fields  the  conflagration  of  cities,  the  flight  of 


virgins,  the  violation  of  matrons !  the  blot)d  of 
fathers,  huH))ands,  sons  I  This  is  the  example 
which  we  should  avoid  ! 

"  But  the  amendment  is  to  be  temporary :  it 
is  only  to  last  until  1842.  What  an  idea ! — a 
temporary  alteration  in  a  constitution  made  for 
endless  ages  !  But  let  no  one  think  it  will  bo 
temporary,  if  once  lulopted.  No !  if  the  j)eoplo 
once  come  to  taste  that  blood ;  if  they  once 
bring  themselves  to  the  acceptance  of  money 
from  the  treasury  they  are  gone  for  ever.  They 
will  take  that  money  in  all  time  to  como ;  and 
ho  that  promises  most,  receives  most  votes. 
The  corruption  of  the  ilomans,  the  debauchment 
of  tho  voters,  the  venality  of  elections,  com- 
menced with  the  Tribunitial  distribution  of  corn 
out  of  the  public  granaries ;  it  advanced  to  the 
distribution  of  tho  spoils  of  foreign  nations, 
brought  home  to  Rome  by  victorious  generals 
and  divided  out  among  the  people  ;  it  ended  in 
bringing  the  spoi's  of  the  country  into  tho  can- 
vass for  the  consulship,  and  in  putting  up  tho 
diadem  of  empire  itself  to  be  knocked  down  to 
the  hamtner  of  the  auctioneer.  In  our  America 
there  can  bo  no  spoils  of  conquered  nations  to 
distribute.  Ilcr  own  treasury — her  own  lands 
— can  alone  furnish  tho  fund.  Begin  at  once, 
no  matter  how,  or  upon  what — surplus  revenue, 
the  proceeds  of  the  Lands,  or  the  lands  them- 
selves— no  matter;  the  progress  and  the  issue 
of  the  whole  game  is  as  inevitable  as  it  is  obvi- 
ous. Candidates  bid,  tho  voters  listen ;  and  a 
plundered  and  jjillaged  country  —the  empty  skin 
of  an  immolated  victim — is  the  prize  and  tho 
spoil  of  the  last  and  the  highest  bidder." 

The  proposition  to  amend  the  constitution  to 
admit  of  this  distribution  was  never  brought  to 
a  vote.  In  fact  it  was  never  mentioned  again 
after  the  day  of  the  above  discussion.  It  seemed 
to  have  support  from  no  source  but  that  of  its 
origin  ;  and  very  soon  events  camo  to  scatter  the 
basis  on  which  the  whole  stress  and  conclusion 
of  the  report  lay.  Instead  of  a  surplus  of  nine 
millions  to  cover  the  period  of  two  presidential 
elections,  there  was  a  deficit  in  the  treasury  in 
the  period  of  the  first  one ;  and  the  government 
reduced  to  the  humiliating  resorts  to  obtain 
money  to  keep  itself  in  motion — mendicant  ex- 
peditions to  Europe  to  borrow  money,  returning 
without  it — and  paper  money  struck  under  the 
name  of  treasury  notes.  But  this  attempt  to 
amend  the  constitution  to  permit  a  distribution, 
becomes  a  material  point  in  the  history  of  the 
working  of  our  government,  seeing  that  a  dis- 
tribution afterwards  took  place  without  the 
amendment  to  permit  it. 


h» 


IS' 


Li 
''  1". 


568 


TIIIHTY  TEARS'  VIEW. 


CHAPTER    CXXIX. 

tX)MMKNCKMENT  OF  TWKNTV-KOUKTII  C0NQKKB8 
-I'llKSIDKNT'S  MKSSAUK 

The  following  was  the  list  of  the  members  : 
8  K  N  A  T  0  K  8 : 
MAiNK-Kther  Sheploy,  John  Eugglcs. 
New  IIami'shiue— Isaac  IlilJ,  Heniy  iluhbartl 
MASsAc/iusETTS-Daniol  Webster,  John  Davis. 
Khode  Island— Nehemiah  11.  Knight,  Asher 

Connecticut— Gideon    Tomlinson,    Nathan 
omitn.  ' 

Vekmont— Samuel  Prentiss,  Benjamin  Swift. 

D  ^f  ^'',|'^'^«'^*=^'-Saniuel  L.  Southard,   Garret 

Pennsylvania- James    Buchanan,  Samuel 
McKean.  ' 

j^^^'-A^^AHK-Jolm  M.  Clayton,  Arnold  Nau- 

KenV"'^'**''""'^"^'"*  ^'"  ^'o'*^s^o''0"gh,  Jos. 
Virgin lA— Benjamin  Watkins  Leigli,   John 

North  Carolina— Bedford    Brown,  Willie 
F.  Mangum. 

fe-ouTH   Carolina-J.  0.  Calhoun,  William 
L.  J^rcston. 

Georgia— Alfred  Cuthbert,  John  P.  Kin". 

KENTi'CKV-Iienry  Clay,  John  J.  Crittenden. 

lENNEssEE-Pehx  Grundy,  Hugh  L.  White. 

Uiuo— Ihomas  Ewing,  Thomas  Morris 

Louisiana— Alexander  Porter,  Kobert  C.  Ni- 
cholas. ' 

Indiana— Wm.  Hendricks,  John  Tipton. 
Mississippi— John  Black,  Robert  J.  Walker 
iLLiNo.s-Elias  K.  Kane,  John  M.  Robinson. 
Alabama— Wm.  R.  King,  (Jabriel  P.  Jloore. 
MissouRi-Lewis  F.  Linn,  Thomas  II.  Benton. 

EEPRESENTATIVES: 

Fairfield  Joseph  Hall,  Leonard  Jarvis,  Moses 

Mikson,  Gorham  Parks,  FrancisdO,  J.  Sniith— 8 

New  Hampshire— BenningM.  Bean,  Robert 

wS- ™"     ^"«^'™an,  Franklin  Pierce,  Jos. 

MAssACHusETTs-John  Quincy  Adams,  Na- 
thaniel B.  Borden,  George  N.  Briggs,  William 
B.  Calhoun,  Caleb  Gushing,   George  Grennell 
jr.,  Samuel  Hoar,  William  Jackson.  Abbot  Law- 

Reed-fo '        '''''°'  ^**'P''''"  ^'  i'h'"iP«.  J"hn 
^Rhode  Island— Dutee  J.  Pearce,  W.  Sprague 

CoNNECTicuT-Elisha  Haley,  Samuel  Ingham, 
Andrew  T.  Judson,  Lancelot  Phelps,  lsaa«  Tou- 
cey,  Zalmon  Wildman— G.  j 


yEHMoNT-ireman    Allen,    Horace   Kven.ft 
Inland  Hall,  Henry  P.  Janes,  William  S 

NEW-YoRK--Samucl  Barton,  Sand.  Beardnlov 

Abraham  Bockeo,  Mattbi,us  J.'Rovee,  .uCW 

Brown,  C  C  Cambreleng,  Gnibam   H.  Chu^n' 

1  mothy  C  Hi.  8,J„hn  Cramer,  ([lyssos  K  C' 

bleday,  Valentino  Efner,  I)udl(>v  Furii,,    |. 

aFuHer.WilliamK.F„'lIer,RuL:;,'     ,i    ;• 

Francis  (Jranger    Gideon  Hard,  Abrior  I       J 

t^no  H.ram  P.  H.Hit,  Abel  Huntington,  (  !?  L 

Y.  Lansing,  George  W.  Lay  Gideon  Le,.,  J,    ,  ,' 

Lee,  Stephen  B.  Uonard,  'I'homas  C.  I.dvo  S 

.lah  Mann,  jr    William  Mason,  John  McKh  ' 

Ely  Moore,  Sherman  Pago,  Josei.h  Hcv  ,,  ,  ' 

Dav^Russell,  WdUa^  Sef  liiour,  llichl!  i     t 

les,W.niam  Taylor,  Joel  Turrill,'Anron  Va£. 

poe  ,  Aaron  Ward,  Daniel  WardweII-4o 

r,^r  Jf  SEY-Philemon  Dickerson,  Samuel 
Fowler,  Thomas  Lee,  James  Parker,  Ferdinim 
S.  Schenck,  William  N.  Shinn-(i     '  "'^ 

Pennsvlvania.- Joseph  B.   Anthony.  Mj. 
chael  W.  Ash,  John  Banks,  An.lrew  Beau  uoj 
Andrew  Buchanan,  Georgo  Chambers.  W  iHi^' 
P.  Lark,  Edward  Darlington,  Ilarmar  l)..„i' 
Jacob  try  jr.,  John  Galbraith,  James  \huS 
I  u'^T^  '\;  I'Tnson,  Joseph  Henderson.  Will  a,n 
Iliester  Edward  B  Hubley,  Joseph  H.  Inrer  J 
i  John  Kingensmith,  jr.,  John  llapoite,  lien  y 
Logan   Job  Afann,  Thomas  M.  T.  McKennan^ 
Jesse  Miller,  Matthias  Morris,  Henry  A  \    1, 
onber^  David  Potts,  jr.,  Joei  B.  SuttS 
David  D.  Wagoner.— 28. 
Delaware.— John  J.  Milligan.— 1 
Maryland. --Benjamin  C.  Howard.  Daniel 
Jenifer,  Isaac  McKim,  James  A.  Pearce,  John  N 
Stede,  Jrancis  'Ihomas,  James  Turned,  Georoe 
O.  Washington. — 8.  ' 

ViRGiNiA.--Jamcs  M.  H.  Beale,  James  W. 
Boildm,  Nathaniel  H.  Claiborne,  Walter  Coles, 
Robert  Craig,  George  C.  Dromgoole,  James 
Garland,  G  W.  Hopkins,  Joseph  j'ohns^n,  JS m 
W.  Jones,  George  Loyall,  Edward  Lucas  John 
w?r'  ^^'i'''^'"  McComas,  Charles  F.  Me" 
cer,  William  S.  Morgan,  John  M.  Patton.  John 
Roane,  John  Robertson,  John  Taliaferro,  Henry 
A.  Wise. — 21,  ^ 

North  Carolina.— Jesse  A.  Bynum.  Henry 
M-  <^"""°''i  Edmund  Deberry,  James  Graham, 
Micajah  T.  Hawkins,  James  J.  McKay,  Wiiiiam 
Montgomery  Ebenezer  Pottigrew,  Abraham 
Rencher  William  B.  Shepard,  Augustine  11. 
bhepperd,  Jesse  Speight,  Lewis  Williams.-13. 
w-n""^"  Carolina.— Robert  B.  Campbell, 
William  J.  Grayson,  John  K.  Griffin,  .lames 
il.  Hammond,  Richard  J.  Manning,  Francis  W. 

w  ,^"^'rri^''°''y  ^-  I'inckney,  James  Rogers, 
Waddy  Thomi)son,jr.— 9. 

Georgia.— Jesse  F.  Cleveland,  John  Coffoe 
Ihomas  Glasscock,  Seaton  Grantland.  Charles  E. 
llaynes,  HopkinslIol,sey,Jabez  Jackson,  George 
W.  Owens,  George  W.  B.  Towns.— 1>. 

Alabama.  — Reuben  Chapman,  Jo.ib  Law- 
ler  Dixon  II  Lewis,  Francis  S.  Lyon,  Joshua 
L.  Martin. — 5. 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRKSIDENT. 


569 


Mississippi.— David  Dickson,  J.  P.  H.  Clai- 
borne.—2. 

Louisiana. — Rico  Garland,  Henry  Johnson, 
Eleazcr  \V.  Riploy.— 3. 

TtNNKssKK.— John  Ucll,  Samuel  Bunch,  Wil- 
liam H.  Carter,  William  0.  Dunlap,  John  U. 
Forester,  Adam  Huntsman,  Cavo  Johnson,  Luko 
Lea,  Ahram  P.  Maury,  IJalif-  Peyton,  James  K. 
Polk,  E.  J.  ShieldK,  .James  Standefer.— -l.'J. 

Kemtuck  v.  — Chilton  Allan,  Lynn  Uoyd, 
John  Ciiihoun,  John  Chambers,  Richard  French, 
Wm,  J.  Graves,  Uenjamin  Hardin,  James  Har- 
lan, Albert  O.  Hawes,  Richard  M.  Johnson, 
Jdscph  K.  Underwood,  John  White,  Slierrod 
Williams.— 13. 

Missouri.- Wm.  H.  Ashley,  Albert  G.  Har- 
rison.—2. 

Illinois.— Zadok  Casey,  William  L.  May, 
John  Reynolds. — 3. 

Indiana. —  Ratliff  Boon,  John  Carr,  John 
W.  Davis,  Edward  A.  Hannep;an,  GeorRO  L.  Kiii- 
nanl,  Amos  Lane,  Jonathan  McCurty. — 7. 

Ohio.  — William  K.  Bond,  John  Chancy, 
Tliomas  Corwin,  Joseph  H.  Crane,  Thomas  L. 
Hamcr,  Elias  Howell,  Benjamin  Jones,  William 
Kennon,  Daniel  Kilpjore,  Sampson  Mason,  Jere- 
miah McLene,  William  Patterson,  Jonathan 
Slnane,  David  Spanp;ler  Bellamy  Storer,  John 
Thompson,  Samuel  F.  Vinton,  Taylor  Webster 
Elisha  Whittlesey.— 19. 

DELE0ATE9. 

Arkansas  Territory.— Ambrose  H.  Sevier. 
Florida  Tkrritory.— Joseph  M.  White. 
Michigan  Territory. — George  W.  Jones. 

Mr.  James  K.  Polk  of  Tennessee,  was  elected 
speaker  of  the  House,  and  by  a  large  majority 
over  the  late  speaker,  Mr.  John  Bell  of  the  same 
State.  The  vote  stood  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
two  to  eighty-four,  and  was  considered  a  test 
of  the  administration  strength,  Mr.  Polk  being 
supported  by  that  party,  and  Mr.  Bell  having 
become  identified  with  those  who,  in  siding  with 
Mr.  Hugh  L.  White  as  a  candidate  for  the  pre- 
sidency, were  considered  as  having  divided  from 
the  democratic  party.  Among  the  eminent 
names  miss^ed  from  the  list  of  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, were:  Mr.  Wayne  of  Georgia,  ap- 
pointed to  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States ;  and  Mr.  Edward  Everett  of 
Massachvsetts,  who  declined  a  re-election. 

The  state  of  our  relations  with  France,  in  the 
continued  non-payment  of  the  stipulated  indem- 
nity, was  the  prominent  feature  in  the  Presi- 
dent's message;  and  the  subject  itself  becoming 
more  serious  in  the  apparent  indisposition  in 
Congress  to  sustain  his  views,  manifested  in  the 
loss  of  the  fortification  bill,  through  the  dis- 


agreement of  the  two  Houses.    The  obligation 
to  pay  was  admitted,  and  the  money  even  voted 
for  that  purpose  ;  but  olltnce  was  taken  at  the 
President's  message,  and  payment  refused  until 
an  apology  should  be  made.    The  Presiclent  had 
already  shown,  on  its  first  intimation,  that  no 
offence  was  intended,  nor  any  disrespect  justly 
deducible  from  the  language  that  he  had  jised ; 
and  he  was  now  peremptory  in  i-efusing  to  mako 
the  required  apology;  and  had  instructed  the 
United  States'  charge  d'affuirea  to  demand  the 
money ;  and,  if  not  paid,  to  leave  France  inuno- 
diately.     The  ministers  of  both  countries  had 
previously  withdrawn,  and  the  last  link  in  tho 
chain  of  diplomatic  communication  wils  upon 
the  point  of  being  broken.    Tho  question  having 
narrowed  down  to  this  small  point,  the  Presi- 
dent deemed  it  proper  to  give  a  retrospective 
view  of  it,  to  justify  his  determination,  neither 
to  apologize  nor  to  negotiate  further.     He  said : 

"  On  entering  upon  the  duties  of  my  station, 
I  found  the  United  States  an  unsuccessful  appli- 
cant to  the  justice  of  France,  for  the  satisfaction 
of  claims,  the  validity  of  which  was  never  ques- 
tionable, and  has  now  been  most  solemnly  ad- 
mitted  by  France   herself.     The  antiquity  of 
these  claims,  their  high  justice,  and  the  aggra- 
vating circumstances  out  of  which  they  arose 
are  too  familiar  to  the  American  people  to  re- 
quire description.    It  is  suHicient  to  say,  that, 
for  a  period  of  ten  years  and  upwards,  our  com- 
merce was,  with  but  little  interruption,  the  sub- 
ject of  constant  aggressions,  on  the  part  of 
France— aggressions,  the  ordinary  features  of 
which  were  condemnations  of  vessels  and  car- 
goes, under  arbitrary  decrees,  adopted  in  con- 
travention, as  well  of  the  laws  of  nations  as  of 
treaty  stipulations,  burnings  on  the  high  seas 
and  .seizures  and  confiscations,  under  special  im- 
perial rescripts,  in  the  ports  of  other  nations 
occupied  by  the  armies,  or  under  the  control  of 
France.    Such,  it  is  now  conceded,  is  the  cha- 
racter of  the  wrongs  we  suffered ;  wrongs,  in 
many  cases,  so  flagrant  that  even  their  authors 
never  denied  our  right  to  reparation.     Of  tho 
extent  of  these  injuries,  some  conception  may 
be  formed  from  the  fact  that,  afler  the  burning 
of  a  large  amount  at  sea,  and  the  necessary  de- 
t^erioration  in  other  cases,  by  long  detention,  the 
American  property  so  seized  and  sacrificed  at 
forced  sales,  excluding  what  was  adjudged  to 
privateers,  before    or    without    condemnation, 
brought  into  the  French  treasury  upwards  of 
twenty-four  millions  of  francs,  besides  large  cus- 
tom-house duties. 

"  The  subject  had  already  been  an  affair  of 
twenty  years'  uninterrupted  negotiation,  except 
for  a  short  time,  when  France  was  overwhelmed 
by  the  military  power  of  united  Europe.  During 


^:im' 


II 


\\^h\ 


V    \ 


570 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


this  period,  whilst  other  natiotiH  v  m  »xtortin|r 
from  iu  r  ;)iiyiiunt  of  tin  ir  claim'  t  tlh  pint 
of  tlic  liityoni't,  the  United  Hlir  ,^^,^ 

their  (leniimd  fr  )'"''''•«>.  out  of         ,  .  jdic 

oppressed  conilition  .,t  »  *?»nttnt  ^,      ''  ,  ^,    ,v  h(i«n 
tlii'v  felt  under  ohiiguti*!..!*  ^  ,i  IVuunitU  u  ^ist- 
ftnce  in  thi  ir  own  thiy»  of  «„ffiVfjnK  and  of  jk    il. 
The  bad  ettectf*  <>f  these  p»rvxtnicted  and  unavv.il- 
iriK  discussions,  as  weH  \r(;m  our  relutions  with 
Franco  as  niion(w>rnati<^^         uter,  wero  ol.- 
vious;  and  the  \\m  if    ;     .  u.,  .  to  niy  mind, 
ooually  so.     This  wiw, ,  |,i»ef  to  insist  iijion  the 
adjustment  of  our  claims,  wUlJt}  .1  reasonable 
period,  or  to  abandon  theui  uitu(t«  ( ^  „  ,      1  couM 
not  doubt  that,  by  this  course,  the  uu,  trst  and 
honor  of  both  countries  would   lie  best  con- 
Bultcd.     Instructions  were,  therefoie,  given  in 
this  spirit  to  tlie  minister,  wlm  was  sent  out 
onco   more  to  demand  reparation.     Tpon  the 
raectinfj  of  Congress,  in  December,  18J!»,  I  felt 
it  my  duty  to  speuk  of  these  claims,  and  the 
delays  of  France,  in  terms  calculated  to  call  the 
serious  attention  of  Ixjth  countries  to  the  sub- 
ject.    The  tlien  French  Ministry  took  excei>tion 
to  the  message,  on  the  pround  of  its  coutaininj,' 
ft  menace,  under  which  it  was  not  ai^ivcalile  to 
the  French  government  to  negotiate.    Tlie  Ame- 
rican miiuster,  of  his  own  accord,  refuted  the 
construction  which  was  attempte<l  to  be   put 
upon  tlie  message,  and,  at  the  same  time,  called 
to  the  recollection  of  tlie  French  ministry,  that 
the  !''■    "lent's  -Jicssage  was  a  conununication 
addrob.        not  1      foreign  governments,  but  to 
Ihe  Coug.ess  oi     ic  United  States,  in  wiiich  it 
w«    enjoined  u!-.,,  him,  l)y  the  constitution,  to 
lay  before  that    v.dy  information  of  the  state  of 
the  Union,  comprehending  its  foreign  as  well  as 
its  domestic  relations;  and  that  if,  in  the  dis- 
charge of  this  duty,  he  felt  it  incumbent  upon 
him  to  summon  the  attention  of  Congress  in  due 
time  to  what  might  be  the  possible  consciuenccs 
of  existing  difflcidties  with  any  foreign  govern- 
ment, he  might  fairly  be  supposed  to  do  so,  un- 
der a  sense  of  what  was  due  from  liim  in  a  frank 
communication  with  another  branch  of  his  own 
government,  and  not  from  any  intention  of  hold- 
ing a  menace  over  a  foreign  po'V".    The  views 
taken  by  him  received  my  ai-probation,  the 
French  government  was  satisfied,  and  the  nego- 
tiation was  continued.     It  terminated  in  the 
treaty  of  July  4,  1831,  recognizing  the  justice 
of  our  claims,  in  part,  and  promising  payment 
to  the  amount  of  twenty-five  millions  of  francs, 
in  six  annual  instalments. 

"The  ratifications  of  this   treaty  were  ex- 
changed at  Washington,  on  the  2d  of  February, 
I8'i2  5  and,  in  five  days  thereafter^  ;♦  was  laid 
before  Congress,  who  immediately     ^ssed  the 
acts  necessary,  on  our  part,  to  sec.ire  , 
the  commercial  advantages  concede^'  * 
the  compact.     The  treaty  had  previa  u 
solemnly  ratified  by  tlie  King  of  the  i', 
terms  which  are  certainly  not  mer.' 
of  form,  and  of  which  the  translation  it  as  toi- 1 
lows:  'We,  approving  the  above  convention,  in  I 


r  r'irc(» 

h     '■ex. 
T.-;    in 

as  fo! 


all  and  each  of  the  deitositions  which  are  con 
tamed  in  it,  d<.  declare  by  omselvcM,  as  well  ,,1 
iiy  our  heirs  and  successors,  that  it  is  tmvuird 
opproi  od,  mlilied,  and  confirmed  ;  and  bv  llKsn 
pri'senes.  ^iped  by  our  hand,  we  do  iurei.t  „„ 

Erove,  ratify,  «nd  c^-Kirm  it ;  proniisin..  ,1,'  n  " 
litband  wonl  <>f  1  ,1,/,  to  observe  it  aini  to 
cauw  it  to  be  ob.ser*  d  ii  iolal)ly,  witliinit  evor 
contravening  it, or  suUlr-ng  it  to  becoiitraveiud 
dircotly  or  indirectly,  for  any  cause,  oruiidiraiiv 
preii    '"c  whatsoever.'  '' 

"  (Hlu  iai  Informaition  of  the  exchange  of  riitj. 
fications   in  the  I      u-d  States  reached  I'aii^ 
whilst  the  Chamber;    vcre  in  session.    Tin.  o^' 
traordinary,  and,  to  us,  injurious  delays  (,f  the 
French  government,  in  their  action  'iiixm  ih^. 
sul/jeet  of  its  fulfilment,  have  been  li.'ix'tofiiru 
stated  to  Congress,  and  I  have  no  disposition  to 
enlarge  upon  them  here.     It  is  suflii'icnt  to  ob- 
serve that  the  then  fjcnding  session  was  allo\\i'(l 
to  expire,  witliout  even  an  ell'ort  to  uhUm  the 
necessary  appropriations— that  the  two  siicciid- 
ing  ones  were  also  suHered  to  pass  away  witli- 
out any  thing  like  a  serious  attempt  to  o'btaina 
decision  upon  the  subject;  and  that  it  was  not 
until   the  fourth  session— almost  three  yeais 
alter  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty,  nrid  more 
than  two  years  after  the  exchange  of  rntiticii- 
tion.s— that  the  bill  for  the  execution  of  tlie 
treaty  was  pressed  to  a  vote,  and  njecled.    in 
the  metm  time,  the  government  of  the  Inilid 
States,  having  full  confidence  that  a  tivaty  en- 
tered   into   and   so  solemnly   ratilied   by  thu 
French  king,  would  bo  executed  in  good  faitii. 
and  not  doubting  that  provision  would  bo  niiidt' 
for  the  payment  of  the  first  instalment,  wliith 
was  to  become  due  on  the  second  day  of  Febru- 
ary,  1833,  negotiated  a  draft  for  tlie  nuKiiint 
through  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.    Wlicn 
this  draft  was  presented  by  the  holder,  witli  ti:o 
credentials  required  by  the  treaty  to  authorize 
him  to  receive  the  money,  the  government  of 
France  allowed  it  to  be  protested.    In  addition 
to  the  injury  in  the  non-payment  of  the  money 
by  France,  conformably  to  her  engiigement,  tlie 
United  States  were  exposed  to  a  heavy  claim  on 
the  part  of  the  bank,  under  pretence  of  damii;;is. 
in  satisfaction  of  which,  that  institution  .-eizcd 
upon,  and  still  retains,  an  equal  amount  of  the 
public  moneys.     Congress  was  in  session  v,  lier 
the  decision  of  the  Clunnbers  reached  AVa^^liiii^- 
ton;  and  an  immediate  con:niunicatioii  of  tii- 
app.arently  final  decision  of  France  not  to  fiii 
the  stipulations  of  the  treaty,  was  (be  coin>e 
naturally  to  be  expected  from  the  President. 
The  deep  tone  of  dissatisfaction  wliicli  i)erviided 
the  public  mind,  and  the  correspondent  excite- 
ment produced  in  Congress  by  only  a.  f;eiier:d 
icnowlodge  of  the  result,  rendered  it  more  tban 
pr-»  .ible,  thpi  a  resort  to  immediate  measures  ot 
-  -dress  would  be  the  consequence  of  callini?  the 
.ttention  cf  Iiat  body  to  the  subject.    Sincerely 
desirous  01  1  i'eserving  the  pacific  relations  wliich 
had  so  long  existed  between  the  two  countries, 
I  was  anxious  to  avoid  this  course  if  I  could  be 


*i'. 


ANNO  1888.    ANDREW  JACKSON.  PRESIDENT. 


671 


Mtisficd  that,  by  doinj?  no,  neither  the  Inten'nts 
niir  tttf  honor  of  my  country  vvoiilil  In-  (-onipro- 
initti'il.  Without  till- fullest  nHsiiriinci'M  upon  thiit 
pimit,  I  ooiiUl  not  ho|)o  to  iic(|uit  mywlf  of  the 
rcHporiHihility  to  be  incurri'il  in  Hull'i-riuf;  Con- 
irivsH  to  ttiljouni  without  layinn  tho  Hubjcct  be- 
fore tlieni.  Those  received  by  me  were  believed 
to  1h)  oI'  that  chanicter. 

'•'i'iw  expectiitions  Jiidtly  founded  uinin  the 
promi-  *  thus  Mileninly  miule  to  tiiis  j^overn- 
nieiit  l>y  'hat  of  France,  were  not  realized.  Tlus 
Fieiidi  Chanihors  met  im  tlio  .Tint  of  July,  18.'54, 
iioiM)  after  the  election,  ami  although  our  minin- 
tor  in  i'aris  urjjed  the  French  ministry  to  jiress 
the  siihject  bt>(bre  them,  they  declinwf  doing  ho. 
He  next  insisted  that  the  Ch!nnlH)rSj  if  pro- 
ropied  without  mrtinj;  on  the  anbject,  should  be 
reassembled  at  a  period  ro  early  thai  (hei.  no- 
tion on  the  treaty  might  Ik)  Ixnowii  in  Washing- 
ton prior  to  the  meeting  of  C'r)ngres8.  This 
reasonalile  request  wai  nol,  o.ily  declined,  but 
tile  Chambers  ^\  ere  prorogued  on  the  2!)th  of 
December;  a  >'ri\  ..  lato,  that  their  decision, 
however  urgently  pressed,  could  not  in  all  pro- 
bability, be  obtained  in  time  to  reach  Washing- 
ton before  the  necessary  adjournment  of  Con- 
press  by  the  constitution.  The  reasons  given  by 
tlie  ministry  for  refusing  to  convoke  the  Cham- 
bers, at  an  earlier  period,  were  afterwards  shown 
not  to  be  insuperable,  by  their  actual  convoca- 
tion, on  the  first  of  December,  under  a  special 
call  for  domestic  purposes,  which  fact,  however, 
(lid  not  become  known  to  this  government  until 
iiftir  the  commencement  of  the  last  session  of 
L'oiijires-i. 

"TImsdi.sappointod  in  our  just  expectation.s, 
it  became  my  imperative  duty  to  consult  with 
Consrcss  in  regard  t  >  the  expediency  of  a  resort 
to  retaliatory  measures,  in  case  the  stipulations 
of  the  treaty  should  not  bo  speedily  complied 
with;  and  to  rec<mimend  such  as,  in  my  judg- 
ment, the  occasion  called  for.    To  this  end,  an 
unreserved  communication  of  the  case,  in  all  its 
aspects,  became  indisiiensablc.    To  have  shrunk, 
in  making  it,  from  saying  all  that  was  necessary 
to  Its  correct  understanding,  and  that  the  truth 
would  justify,  for  fear  of  giving  otfonce  to  others, 
would  have  been  unworthy  of  us.     To  have 
pone,  on  the  other  hand,  a  single  step  further, 
for  the  purpose  of  wounding  the  pride  of  a  gov- 
'■'.  ment  and  pci  ph  with  whom  we  had  so  many 
ves  of  cula^aiing  relations  of  amity  and 
uc.procal  advantage,  would  have  been  unwise 
and  UTiproper.    Admonished  by  the  past  of  the 
(iiUiculty  of  making  even  the  simplest  statement 
of  our  wrongs,  witliout  disturbing  the  sensibili- 
ties of  those  who  had,  by  their  position,  become 
responsible  for  their  redress,  and  earnestly  de- 
sirous of  preventing  further  obstacles  from' that 
source,  I  went  out  of  my  way  to  preclude  a  con- 
eti-uction  of  the  message,  by  which  the  recom- 
mend,it!on  that  w.oh  mndo  to  Congress  might  be 
regarded  as  a  menace  to  Franco,  in  not  only  dis- 
avownig  such  a  design,  but  in  declaring  that  her 
pndo  and  her  power  were  too  well  known  to 


exncct  any  thing  ft-om  her  foam.  The  mosnago 
did  not  n;a(li  P  iris  until  more  than  a  month 
after  theChaml,.is  had  been  in  seHsion  ;  and 
such  was  the  insensibility  of  the  ministry  to 
our  rightful  claims  and  Jo^t  exjiectationn,  that 
our  minister  had  f»oen  Informed  that  the  mat- 
ter, when  introduced,  would  not  be  jiressed  an  a 
cabinet  mcnHnre. 

"Althougli  'le  mcsaogo  was  not  officially 
communicated  to  the  French  guvernKicnt,  and 
notwithstanding  the  declaration  to  the  contrary 
which  it  contained,  the  Fn  ich  ministry  (lecided 
to  consider  the  conditioiml  recommendation  of 
reprisals  a  menace  and  an  insult,  wliitdi  the 
honor  of  the  nation  made  it  incumbent  on  them 
to  resent.  The  measures  resorted  to  liv  them 
to  evince  their  sense  of  the  supposed  indignity 
were,  the  immediate  recall  of  their  minister  at 
Washington,  the  ofler  of  |)assi)orta  to  the  Ameri- 
can minister  at  Paris,  and  a  pufdic  notice  to  tlie 
legislative  chambers  that  all  diplomatic  inter- 
course with  the  United  States  had  been  sus- 
pended. 

"  Having,  in  this  manner,  vindicated  the  dig- 
nity of  France,  they  next  proceeded  to  illustrate 
her  justice.     To  this  end  a  bill  was  immediately 
introduced  into  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  pro- 
posing to  make  the  appropriations  necessary  to 
carry  into  effect  the  treaty.     As  this  bill  sub- 
se(iiiently  passed  into  a  law,  the  provisions  of 
which  now  constitute  the  main  subject  of  difU- 
culty  between  the  two  nations,  it  becomes  my 
duty,  in  order  to  place  the  subject  before  you  in 
a  clear  light,  to  trace  the  history  of  its  passage, 
and  to  refer,  with  some  particularity,  to  the  pro- 
ceedings and  rliscussions  in  re^-ard  to  it.     The 
Minister  of  Finance,  in  his  opening  speech,  al- 
luded to  the  measures  which  had  been  adopted 
to  resent  the  supposed  indignity,  and  recom- 
mended the  execution  of  the  treaty  Jis  a  measure 
required  by  the  honor  and  justice  of  France, 
lie,  as  the  organ  of  the  ministry,  declared  the 
message,  so  long  as  it  had  not  received  the  sanc- 
tion of  Congress,  a  mere  expression  of  the  per- 
sonal o])inion  of  the  President,  for  which  neither 
the  government  nor  people  of  the  United  States 
were  responsible ;  and  that  an  engagement  had 
Iwcn  entered  into,  for  the  fulfilment  of  which  the 
honor  of  Franco  wa.s  pledged.     Entertaining 
these  views,  the    single  condition  which  the 
French  ministry  proposed  to  annex  to  the  pay- 
ment of  the  money  was,  that  it  should  not  be 
made  until  it  was  ascertained  that  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  had  done  nothing  to 
injure  the   interests  of  France;  or,  in   other 
words,  that  no  steps  had  been  authorized  by 
Congress  of  a  hostile  character  towards  France. 
"  What  the  disposition  or  action  of  Congress 
might  be,  was  then   unknown   to  the   French 
Cabinet.     But,  on  the  14th  of  Januaiy,  the  Se- 
nate resolved  that  'f,  was^  at  that  time  inexpedi- 
ent to  ad;-.pt  any  legislative  measures  in  regard 
to  the  state  of  affairs  between  the  United  States 
and  France,  ami  no  action  on  the  subject  had 
occurred  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  These 


[!''^j 


572 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


facts  ivere  known  in  Paris  prior  to  the  28th  of 
March,  1835,  when  the  committee,  to  whom  the 
bill  of  indemnification  had  been  referred,  report- 
ed it  to  the  Chamber  of  Deputies.  That  com- 
mittee sul'Stantiaily  re-echoed  the  sentiments 
of  the  ministry,  declared  that  Congress  had  set 
aside  the  proposition  of  the  President,  and  re- 
commended the  passage  of  the  bill,  without  any 
other  restriction  than  that  originally  proposed. 
Thus  was  it  known  to  the  French  ministry  and 
chambers  that  if  the  position  assumed  b}'^  them, 
and  which  had  been  so  fiequcntl}'  and  solemnly 
announced  as  the  only  one  compatible  with  the 
honor  of  France,  was  maintained,  and  the  bill 
passed  as  originally  proposed,  the  money  would 
be  paid,  and  there  would  Ije  an  end  of  this  un- 
fortunate controversy. 

"  But  this  cheering  prospect  was  soon  destroy- 
ed by  an  amendment  introduced  into  the  bill 
at  the  moment  of  its  passage,  providing  that  the 
money  should  not  be  paid  imtil  the  French  go- 
vernment had  received  satisfoctory  explanations 
of  the  President's  message  of  the  2d  December, 
1834;  and,  what  is  still  more  extraordinary,  the 
president  of  the  council  of  ministers  adopted 
this  amendment,  and  consented  to  its  incorpora- 
tion in  the  bill.  In  regard  to  a  supposed  insult 
which  had  been  formally  resented  by  the  recall 
of  their  minister,  and  the  offer  of  passports  to 
ours,  they  now,  for  the  first  time,  proposed  to 
ask  explanations.  Sentiments  and  propositions, 
which  they  had  declared  could  not  justly  be 
imputed  to  the  government  or  people  of  the 
United  States,  are  set  up  as  obstacles  to  the 
performance  of  an  act  of  conceded  justice  to 
that  government  and  people.  They  had  de- 
clared that  the  honor  of  France  required  the 
fulfilment  of  the  engagement  into  which  the 
King  had  entered,  unless  Congress  adopted  the 
recommendations  of  the  message.  They  ascer- 
tained that  Congress  did  not  adopt  them,  and 
yet  that  fulfilment  is  refused,  unless  thej'^  first 
obtain  from  the  President  explanations  of  an 
opinion  characterized  by  themselves  as  personal 
and  inoperative." 

Having  thus  traced  the  controversy  down  to 
the  point  on  which  it  hung — no  payment  with- 
out an  apology  first  made — the  President  took 
up  this  condition  as  a  new  feature  in  the  case — 
presenting  national  degradation  on  one  side,  and 
twenty-five  millions  of  francs  on  the  other — and 
declared  his  determination  to  submit  to  no  dis- 
honor, and  repulsed  the  apology  as  a  stain  upon 
the  national  character ;  and  concluded  this  head 
of  his  message  with  saying : 

"  In  any  event,  however,  the  principle  involved 
in  the  new  aspect  which  has  been  given  to  the 
contrnvcray  is  so  vitally  important  to  the  inde- 
pendent 'Ministration  of  the  government,  that 
it  can  neither  be  surrendered  nor  compromitted 
without  national  degradatio.i.    I  hope  it  is  un- 


necessary for  me  to  say  that  such  a  sacrifice 
will  not  be  made  through  any  agency  of  mine 
The  honor  of  my  country  shall  never  be  stained 
by  an  apology  from  me  for  the  statement  of 
truth  and  the  performance  of  duty  ;  nor  can  I 
give  any  explanation  of  my  ofiicial  acts,  except 
such  as  is  due  to  integrity  and  justice,  and  con- 
sistent with  the  principles  on  which  our  insti- 
tutions have  been  framed.  This  deterrainaUon 
will,  I  am  confident,  be  approved  by  niy  con- 
stituents. I  have  indeed  studied  their  charactur 
to  but  little  purpose,  if  the  sum  of  twenty-live 
millions  of  francs  will  have  the  weight  of  a 
feather  in  the  estimation  of  what  appertains  to 
their  national  independence :  and  if,  unhapi)ily 
a  different  impression  should  at  any  time  ob- 
tain, in  any  quarter,  they  will,  I  am  sure,  rally 
round  the  government  of  their  choice  with  alac- 
rity and  unanimity,  and  silence  for  ever  the  de- 
grading imputation." 

The  loss  of  the  fortification  bill  at  the  previous 
session,  had  been  a  serious  interruption  to  our 
system  of  defences,  and  an  injury  to  the  country 
in  that  point  of  view,  independently  of  its  effect 
upon  our  relations  with  France.  A  system  of 
general  and  permanent  fortification  of  the  coasts 
and  harbors  had  been  adopted  at  the  close  of 
the  war  of  1812 ;  and  throughout  our  extended 
frontier  were  many  works  in  different  degrees 
of  completion,  the  stoppage  of  which  invohcd 
loss  and  destruction,  as  well  as  delay,  in  this 
indispensable  work.  Looking  at  the  loss  of  tiie 
bill  in  this  point  of  view,  the  President  said : 

"  Much  loss  and  inconvenience  have  been  ex- 
perienced, in  consequence  of  the  failure  of  the 
bill  containing  the  ordinary  appropriations  for 
fortifications  which  passed  one  branch  of  the 
national  legislature  at  the  last  session,  but  was 
lost  in  the  other.  This  failure  was  the  more 
regretted,  not  only  because  it  necessarily  inter- 
rupted and  delayed  the  progress  of  a  system  of 
national  defence,  projected  immediately  after  the 
last  war,  and  since  steadily  pursued,  but  also 
because  it  contained  a  contingent  appropriation, 
inserted  in  accordance  with  the  views  of  the 
Executive,  in  aid  of  this  important  object,  and 
other  branches  of  the  national  defence,  some 
portions  of  which  might  have  been  most  usefully 
applied  during  the  past  season.  I  invite  your 
early  attention  to  that  part  of  the  report  of  the 
Secretary  of  War  which  relates  to  this  subject, 
and  recommend  an  appropriation  sufficiently 
liberal  to  accelerate  the  armament  of  the  forti- 
fications agreeably  to  the  proposition  sul)mitted 
by  him,  and  to  place  our  whole  Atlantic  sea- 
board in  a  complete  state  of  defence.  A  just 
regard  to  the  perttinr-nt  interests  of  the  country 
evidently  requires  this  measure.  But  there  are 
also  other  reasons  which  at  the  present  junc- 
ture give  it  peculiar  force,  and  make  it  my 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


573 


say  that  such  a  sacrifice 
rough  any  agency  of  mine, 
ntry  shall  never  be  stained 

me  for  the  statement,  of 
nance  of  duty ;  nor  can  I 
of  my  official  acts,  except 
2frrity  and  justice,  and  con- 
ciples  on  which  our  insti- 
imed.     This  determination 

be  approved  by  niy  con- 
leed  studied  their  character 

if  the  sum  of  twenty-tive 
rill  have  the  weight  of  a 
;ion  of  what  appertains  to 
ndence  :  and  if,  unhapjjily, 
1  should  at  any  time  ob- 
they  will,  I  am  sure,  rally 
t  of  their  choice  with  alac- 
.nd  silence  for  ever  the  de- 


ification bill  at  the  previous 
erious  interruption  to  our 
id  an  injury  to  the  country 
,  independently  of  its  effect 
ith  France,  A  system  of 
it  fortification  of  the  coasts 
n  adopted  at  the  close  of 
throughout  our  extended 
rorks  in  diflercnt  degrees 
oppage  of  which  invoh-cd 
as  well  as  delay,  in  this 
Looking  at  the  loss  of  tlie 
ew,  the  President  said : 

;onvenience  have  been  ex- 
ence  of  the  failure  of  the 
rdinary  appropriations  for 
passed  one  branch  of  the 
t  the  last  session,  but  was 
his  failure  was  the  more 
cause  it  necessarily  inter- 
ic  progress  of  a  system  of 
;cted  immediately  after  the 
;teadily  pursued,  but  also 
I  contingent  appropriation, 
3e  with  the  views  of  the 
;his  important  object,  and 
le  national  defence,  some 
lit  have  been  most  usefully 
,8t  season.  I  invite  your 
t  part  of  the  report  of  the 
ch  relates  to  this  subjoot, 
appropriation  sufficiently 
le  armament  of  the  forti- 
the  proposition  submitted 

our  whole  Atlantic  soa- 
state  of  defence.  A  just 
nt  intorosts  of  the  country 
i  measure.  But  tlicre  are 
lich  at  the  present  junc- 

force,  and  make  it  my 


duty  to  call  the  subject  to  your  special  con- 
eideration." 

The  plan  for  the  removal  of  the  Indirnr,  to  the 
west  of  the  Mississippi  being  now  in  successful 
nrogress  and  hav  ing  well  nigh  reached  its  con- 
summation, the  President  took  the  occasion, 
while  communicating  that  gratifying  fact,  to 
make  an  authentic  exposition  of  the  humane 
policy  which  had  governed  the  United  States  in 
adopting  this  policy.  He  showed  that  it  was 
still  more  for  the  benefit  of  the  Indians  than 
that  of  the  white  population  who  were  relieved 
of  their  presence — that  besides  being  fully  paid 
for  all  the  lands  they  abandoned,  and  receiving 
annuities  often  amounting  to  thirty  dollars 
a  head,  and  being  inducted  into  the  arts  of  civil- 
ized life,  they  also  received  in  every  instance 
more  land  than  they  abandoned,  of  better  quality, 
better  situated  for  them  from  its  frontier  situa- 
tion, and  in  the  same  parallels  of  latitude.  This 
portion  of  his  message  will  be  read  with  particu- 
lar gratification  by  all  persons  of  humane  dis- 
positions, and  especially  so  by  all  candid  per- 
sons who  had  been  deluded  into  the  belief  of 
injustice  and  oppression  practised  upon  these 
people.    He  said : 

"  The  plan  of  removing  the  aboriginal  people 
who  yet  remain  within  the  settled  portions  of 
the  United  States,  to  the  country  west  of  the 
Mipsissippi  River,  approaches  its  consummation. 
It  was  adopted  on  the  most  mature  consideration 
of  the  condition  of  this  race,  and  ought  to  be 
persisted  in  till  the  object  is  accomplished,  and 
prosecuted  with  as  much  vigor  as  a  just  regard 
to  their  circumstances  will  permit,  and  as  fast 
as  their  consent  can  be  obtained.  All  preceding 
experiments  for  the  improvement  of  the  Indians 
have  failed.  It  seems  now  to  be  an  established 
foot,  that  they  cannot  live  in  contact  with  a  civ- 
ilized comnnmity  and  prosper.  Ages  of  fruitless 
endeavors  have,  at  length,  brought  us  to  a  know- 
It'dse  of  this  principle  of  intercommunication 
with  them.  The  past  we  cannot  recall,  but  the 
future  we  can  provide  for.  Independently  of  the 
treaty  stipulations  into  which  we  have  entered 
with  the  various  tribes,  for  the  usufructuary 
rights  they  have  ceded  to  us,  no  one  can  doubt 
the  moral  duty  of  the  government  of  the  United 
States  to  protect,  and,  if  possible,  to  preserve 
and  perpetuate,  the  scattered  remnants  of  this 
race,  which  are  left  within  our  borders.  In  the 
discharge  of  this  duty,  an  extensive  region  in 
the  West  has  been  assigned  for  their  permanent 
residence.  It  has  been  divided  into  districts, 
and  allotted  among  them.  Many  have  already 
removed,  and  others  are  preparing  to  go ;  and 
with  the  exception  of  two  small  bands,  living  in 
Ohio  and  Indiana,  not  exceeding  1,500  persons, 


and  of  the  Cherokees,  all  the  tribes  on  the  east 
side  of  the  Mhssissippi,  and  extending  from  Lake 
Michigan  to  Florida,  have  entered  into  engage- 
ments which  will  lead  to  their  transplantation. 
"  The  plan  for  their  removal  and  re-cstablish- 
ment  is  founded  upon  the  knowledge  we  hum 
gained  of  their  character  and  habits,  and  has 
been  dictated  by  a  spirit  of  enlarged  liberalit3^ 
A  territory  exceeding  in  extent  that  relinquished, 
has  been  granted  to  each  tribe.     Of  its  climate, 
fertility,  and  cai)acity  to  support  an  Indian  popu- 
lation, the  representations  are  highly  favorable. 
To  these  districts  the  Indians  are  removed  at 
the  expense  of  the  United  State*^-,  and  with  cer- 
tain supplies  of  clothing,  arms,  ammunition,  and 
other  indispensable  articles,  they  are  also  fur- 
nished gratuitously  with  provisions  for  the  pe- 
riod of  a  year  after  their  arrival  at  their  new 
homes.     In  that  time,  from  the  nature  of  the 
country,  and  of  the  products  raised  by  them, 
they  can  subsist  themselves  by  agricultural  la- 
bor, if  they  choose  to  resort  to  that  mode  of  life. 
If  they  do  not,  they  are  upon  the  skirts  of  the 
great  prairies,  where  countless  herds  of  buffalo 
roam,  and  a  short  time  suflSces  to  adapt  their 
own  habits  to  the  changes  which  a  change  of 
the  animals  destined  for  their  food  may  require. 
Ample  arrangements  have  also  been  made  for 
the  support  of  schools.      In  some  instances, 
council-houses  and  churches  are  to  be  erected, 
dwellings  constructed  for  the  chiefs,  and  mills 
for  common  use.      Funds  have  been  set  apart 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  poor.    The  most 
necessary  mechanical  arts  have  been  introduced, 
and  blacksmiths,  gimsmiths,  wheelwrights,  mill- 
wrights, &c.  are  supported  among  them.    Steel 
and  iron,  and  Fometimes  salt,  are  purchased  for 
them,  and  ploughs  and  other  farming   utensils, 
doniestic  animals,  looms,  spinning-wheels,  cars, 
&c.,  are  presented  to  them.    And  besides  these 
beneficial  arrangements,  annuities  are  in  all  cases 
paid,  amounting  in  some  instances  to  more  than 
thirty  dollars  for  each  individual  of  the  tribe ; 
and  in  all  cases  sufliciently  great,  if  justly  di- 
vided, and  prudently  expended,  to  enable  them, 
in  addition  to  their  own  exertions,  to  live  com- 
fortably.    And  as  a  stimulus  for  exertion,  it  is 
now  provided  by  law,  that,  "  in  all  cases  of  the 
appointment  ^f  interpreters,  or  other  persons 
employed  for  the  benefit  of  the  Indian,  a  pre- 
ference shall  be  given  to  persons  of  Indian  de- 
scent, if  such  can  bo  found  who  are  properly 
qualified  for  the  discharge  of  the  duties." 

The  efiect  of  the  revival  of  the  gold  currency 
was  a  subject  of  great  congratulation  with  the 
President,  and  its  influence  was  felt  in  every  de- 
partment of  industry.  Near  twenty  millions  of 
dollars  had  entered  the  country — a  sum  far 
above  the  .iver.n.n'o  rirfulatinn  nf  ihc.  Bank  of  the 
United  States  in  its  best  days,  and  a  currency 
of  a  kind  to  diffuse  itself  over  the  country,  and 
remain  where  there  was  a  demand  for  it,  and  for 


i 


1     I 


574 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


which,  different  from  a  bank  paper  currency,  no 
interest  was  paid  for  its  use,  and  no  danger  in- 
curred of  its  becoming  useless.  lie  thus  referred 
to  this  gratifying  circumstance : 

"  Connected  with  the  condition  of  the  finan- 
ces, and  the  flourishing  state  of  the  country  in 
all  its  branches  of  industry,  it  is  pleasing  to  wit- 
ness the  advantages  which  have  been  already 
derived  from  the  recent  laws  regulating  the  value 
of  the  gold  coinage.     These  advantages  will  be 
more  apparent  in  the  course  of  the  next  year, 
when  the  branch  mints  authorized  to  be  establish- 
ed in  North  Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Louisiana, 
shall  have  gone  into  operation.     Aided,  as  it  is 
hoped  they  will  be,  by  further  reforms  in  the 
banking  systems  of  the  States,  and  by  judicious 
regulations  on  the  part  of  Congress  in  relation 
to  the  custody  of  the  public  moneys,  it  may  be 
confidently  anticipated  that  the  use  of  gold  and 
silver  as  a  circulating  medium  will  become  gene- 
ral in  the  ordinary  transactions  connected  with 
the  labor  of  the  country.    The  great  desideratum, 
in  modern  times,  is  an  efficient  check  upon  the 
power  of  banks,  preventing  that  excessive  issue 
of  paper  whence  arise  those  fluctuations  in  the 
standard  of  value  which  render  uncertain  the 
rewards  of  labor.     It  was  supposed  by  those 
who  established  the  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
that,  from,  the  credit  given  to  it  by  the  custody 
of  the  public  moneys,  and  other  privileges,  and 
the  precautions  taken  to  guard  against  the  evils 
which  the  country  had  suffered  in  the  bankrupt- 
cy of  many  of  the  State  institutions  of  that 
period,  we  should  derive  from  that  institution 
all  the  security  and  benefits  of  a  sound  currencv, 
and  every  good  end  that  was  attainable  under 
that  provision  of  the  constitution  which  author- 
izes Congress  alone  to  coin  money  and  regulate 
the  value  thereof     But  it  is  scarcely  necessary 
now  to  say  that  these  anticipations  have  not 
been  realized.     After  the  extensive  embarrass- 
ment and  distress  recently  produced  by  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States,  from  which  the  country  is 
now  recovering,  aggravated  as  they  were  by  pre- 
tensions to  power  which  defied  the  public  au- 
thority, and  which,  if  acquiesced  in  by  the  peo- 
ple, would  have  changed  the  whole  character  of 
our  government,  every  candid  and   intelligent 
individual  must  admit  that,  for  the  attainment 
of  the  great  advantages  of  a  sound  curicncy,  \re 
must  look  to  a  course  of  legislation  radically 
dillerent  from  that  which  created  such  an  insti- 
tution." 

Railroads  were  at  this  time  still  in  their  in- 
fancy in  the  United  States  ;  they  were  but  few 
in  number  and  comparatively  feeble ;  but  the 
nature  of  a  monopoly  is  the  same  under  all  cir- 
cumstances; and  the  IJnited  States,  in  their  post- 
offico  dipartment.  had  begun  to  fee!  the  effects 
of  the  extortion  and  overbearing  of  monopolizing 
companies,  clothed  with  chartered  privileges  in- 


tended to  be  for  the  public  as  well  as  private 
advantage,  but  usually  perverted  to  purposes  of 
self  enrichment,  and  of  oppression.  The  evil  had 
already  become  so  serious  as  to  require  the  at- 
tention of  Congress ;  and  the  President  thus  re- 
commended the  subject  to  its  consideration : 

"  Particular  attention  is  solicited  to  that  por- 
tion of  the   report  of  the  postmaster-general 
which  relates  to  the  carriage  of  the  mails'^of  the 
United  States  upon  railroads  constrnctcfl  by 
private  corporations  under  the  authority  of  tlie 
several  States.     The  reliance  which  the  general 
government  can  place  on  those  roads  as  a  ineiin? 
of  carrying  on  its  operations,  and  the  principles 
on  which  the  use  of  them  is  to  be  obtained,  can- 
not too  soon  be  considered  and  settled.    Already 
does  the  spirit  of  monopoly  begin  to  exhibit  its 
natural  propensities  in  attempts  to  exact  from 
the  public,  for  services  which  it  supposes  cannot 
be  obtained  on  other  terms,  the  most  extravagant 
compensation.    If  these  claims  be  persisted  in 
the  question  may  arise  whether  a  conibinatio;,' 
of  citizens,  acting  under  charters  of  incorporation 
from  the  States,  can,  by  a  direct  refusal  or  the 
demand  of  an  exorbitant  price,  exclude  the  Uni- 
ted States  from  the  use  of  the  established  chan- 
nels of   communication  between  the  different 
sections  of  the  country ;  and  whether  the  United 
States  cannot,  without  transcending  their  con- 
stitutional powers,  secure  to  the  post-office  de- 
partment the  use  of  those  roads,  by  an  act  of 
Congress  which  shall  provide  within  itself  some 
equitable  mode  of  adjusting  the  amount  of  com- 
pensation.    To  obviate,  if  possible,  the  necessitj' 
of  considering  this   question,   it  is  suggested 
whether  it  be  not  expedient  to  fix,  by  law,  tho 
amounts  which  shall  be  offered  to  railroad  com- 
panies for  the  conveyance  of  the  mails,  gradnat- 
ed  according  to  their  average  weight,  to  be  as- 
certained and  declared  by  the  postmaster-gene- 
ral.    It  is  probable  that  a  liberal  proposition  of 
that  sort  would  be  accepted." 

The  subject  of  slavery  took  a  new  turn  of  dis- 
turbance between  the  North  and  South  about 
this  time.  The  particular  form  of  annoyance 
which  it  now  wore  was  that  of  the  traiisniission 
into  the  slave  States,  through  the  United  States 
mail,  of  incendiary  puhlicaticms,  tending  to  ex- 
cite servile  insurrections.  Societies,  individuals 
and  foreigners  were  engaged  in  this  diabolical 
wor'' — as  injurious  to  the  slaves  by  the  further 
restrictions  which  it  brought  upon  them,  as  to 
the  owners  whose  lives  and  projierty  were  en- 
dangered. The  President  brought  this  practice 
to  the  notice  of  Congress,  with  a  view  to  its 
remedy.     He  said : 

"  In  connection  with  these  provisions  in  re- 
lation to  the  post-oUice  department,  1  must  also 


ANNO  1835.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


575 


public  as  well  as  private 
y  perverted  to  purposes  of 
>f  oppression.  The  evil  had 
rious  as  to  require  the  at- 
and  the  President  thus  re- 
ct  to  its  consideration : 

on  is  solicited  to  that  por- 
)f  the   postmaster-general 
;arriage  of  the  mails  of  the 
railroads  constructed  by 
under  the  authority  (jf  the 
reliance  M'hich  the  gonenil 
on  those  roads  as  a  niean? 
irations,  and  the  principles 
leni  is  to  be  obtained,  can- 
ered  and  settled.    Alieady 
iopoly  begin  to  exhibit  its 
in  attempts  to  exact  from 
s  which  it  supposes  cannot 
irms,  the  most  extnivagant 
jse  ckims  be  persisted  in, 
e  whether  a  conibinatio;,' 
ir  charters  of  incorporation 
by  a  direct  refusal  or  the 
mt  price,  exclude  the  Uni- 
ie  of  the  established  chan- 
Dn  between  the  ditlerent 
r ;  and  whether  the  United 
t  transcending  their  eon- 
cure  to  the  post-office  de- 
those  roads,  by  an  act  of 
provide  within  itself  some 
isting  the  amount  of  com- 
2,  if  possible,  the  necessity 
juestion,   it  is  suggested 
edient  to  fix,  by  law,  tho 
)e  ottered  to  raihoad  com- 
nce  of  the  mails,  graduat- 
iverage  weight,  to  be  as- 
hy the  postmaster-gene- 
it  a  liberal  proposition  of 
epted." 


invite  your  attention  to  the  painful  excitement 
produced  in  the  South  by  attempts  to  circulate 
througli  the  mails  in  flammatory  appeals  addressed 
to  the  passions  of  tho  slaves,  in  prints,  and  in 
various  sorts  of  publications,  calculated  to  stimu- 
late them  to  insurrection,  and  to  produce  all  the 
ijorrors  of  a  servile  war.  There  is  doubtless  no 
respectable  portion  of  our  countr3'men  who  can 
be  so  far  misled,  as  to  feel  any  other  sentiment 
than  that  of  indignant  regret  at  conduct  so  de- 
structive of  the  harmony  and  peace  of  the  coun- 
try, and  so  repugnant  to  the  principles  of  our 
national  compact  and  to  the  dictates  of  humanity 
and  religion.  Our  happiness  and  prosperity 
essentially  depend  upon  peace  within  our  bor- 
ders :  and  peace  depends  upon  the  maintenance, 
in  good  faith,  of  those  compromises  of  the  con- 
stitution upon  which  the  Union  is  founded.  It 
is  fortunate  for  the  country  that  the  good  sense, 
the  generous  feeling,  and  the  deep-rooted  attach- 
ment of  the  people  of  the  non-slaveholding  States, 
to  the  Union,  and  to  their  fellow-citizens  of  the 
same  blood  in  the  South,  have  given  so  strong 
and  impressive  a  tone  to  the  sentiments  enter- 
tained against  the  proceedings  of  the  misguided 
persons  who  have  engaged  in  these  unconstitu- 
tional and  '.icked  attempts,  and  especially 
against  tho  emissaries  from  foreign  parts,  who 
have  ('arcd  to  interfere  in  this  matter,  as  to  au- 
thorize the  hope  that  those  attempts  will  no 
longer  be  persisted  in.  But  if  these  expressions 
of  the  public  will,  shall  not  be  suflBcient  to  effect 
so  desirable  a  result,  not  a  doubt  can  be  enter- 
tained that  the  non-slaveholding  States,  so  far 
fiom  countenancing  the  slightest  hiterference 
with  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  South,  will 
be  prompt  to  exercise  their  authority  in  sup- 
pressing, so  far  as  in  them  lies,  whatever  is  cal- 
culated to  produce  this  evil.  In  leaving  the 
care  of  other  branches  of  this  interesting  sub- 
ject to  the  State  authorities,  to  whom  they  pro- 
perly belong,  it  is  nevertheless  proper  for  Con- 
gress to  take  such  measures  as  will  prevent  the 
post-office  department,  which  was  designed  to 
foster  an  amicable  intercourse  and  correspond- 
ence between  all  the  members  of  the  confeder- 
acy, from  being  used  as  an  instrument  of  an  op- 
posite character.  The  general  government,  to 
whioh  the  great  trust  is  confided  of  preserving 
inviolate  the  relations  created  among  the  States, 
by  the  constitution,  is  especially  bound  to  avoid 
in  its  own  action  any  thing  that  may  disturb 
them.  I  would,  therefore,  call  the  special  atten- 
tion of  Congress  to  the  subject,  and  respectfully 
suggest  the  propriety  of  passing  such  a  law  as 
will  prohibit,  under  severe  penalties,  the  circu- 
lation in  the  Southern  States,  through  the  mail, 
of  incendiary  publications  intended  to  instigate 
the  slaves  to  insurrection." 

The  President  in  this  impressive  paragraph 
makes  a  just  distinction  between  the  conduct 
of  misguided  men,  and  of  wicked  emissaries,  en- 
gaged in  disturbing  tho  harmony  of  the  Union, 


and  the  patriotic  peopie  of  the  non-slaveholding 
States  who  discounten.ance  their  work  and  re- 
press their  labors.  The  former  receive  the 
brand  of  reprobation,  and  are  pointed  out  for 
criminal  legislation :  the  latter  receive  the  ap- 
plause due  to  good  citizens. 

The  President  concludes  this  message,  as  he 
had  done  many  others,  with  a  recurrence  to  the 
necessity  of  reform  in  the  mode  of  electing  the 
two  first  officers  of  the  Republic.  Ilis  con- 
victions must  havt  'icen  deep  and  strong  thus 
to  bring  him  back  so  many  times  to  the  funda- 
mental point  of  direct  elections  by  the  peojjle, 
and  total  suppression  of  all  intermediate  agen- 
cies.   He  says : 

"  I  felt  it  to  be  my  duty  in  the  first  message 
which  I  communicated  to  Congress,  to  urge  upon 
its  attention  the  propriety  of  amending  that  part 
of  the  constitution  which  provides  for  the  elec- 
tion of  the  President  and  the  Vice-President  of 
the  United  States.  The  leading  object  which  I 
had  in  view  was  the  adoption  of  some  new  pro- 
vision, which  would  secure  to  the  people  the 
performance  of  this  high  duty,  without  any  in- 
termediate agency.  In  my  annual  communica- 
tions since,  I  have  enforced  the  same  views, 
from  a  sincere  conviction  that  the  best  interests 
of  the  countrj'-  would  be  promoted  by  their 
adoption.  If  the  subject  were  an  ordinary  one, 
I  should  have  regarded  the  failure  of  Congress 
to  act  upon  it,  as  an  indication  of  their  judg- 
ment, that  the  disadvantages  which  belong  to  the 
present  system  were  not  so  great  as  those  which 
would  result  from  any  attainable  substitute  that 
had  been  submitted  to  their  consideration.  Re- 
collecting, however,  that  propositions  to  intro- 
duce a  new  feature  in  our  fundamental  laws 
cannot  be  too  patiently  examined,  and  ought 
not  to  be  received  with  favor,  until  the  great 
body  of  the  people  are  thoroughly  impressed 
with  their  necessity  and  value,  as  a  remedy  for 
real  evils,  I  feel  that  in  renewing  the  recom- 
mendation I  have  heretofore  made  on  this  sub- 
ject, I  am  not  transcending  the  bounds  of  a  just 
deference  to  the  sense  of  Congress,  or  to  the 
disposition  of  the  people.  However  much  we 
may  differ  in  the  choice  of  the  measures  which 
should  guide  the  administration  of  the  govern- 
ment, there  can  be  but  little  doubt  in  the  minds 
of  those  who  arc  really  friendly  to  the  repul)- 
lican  features  of  our  system,  that  one  of  its  most 
important  securities  consists  in  the  separation 
of  the  legislative  and  executive  powers,  at  the 
same  time  that  each  is  held  responsible  to  the 
great  source  of  authority,  which  is  acknowledged 
to  be  supreme,  in  the  will  of  the  people  consti- 
tutionally expressed.  My  reflection  and  experi- 
ence satisfy  me,  that  the  framers  of  the  consti- 
tution, although  they  were  anxious  to  mark 
this  feature  as  a  settled  and  fixed  principle  in 
the  structure  of  the  government,  did  not  adopt 


[iff 


i 


576 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


all  tho  precautions  that  were  necessary  to  se- 
cure its  practical  observance,  and  that  we  cannot 
be  said  to  have  carried  into  complete  effect  their 
intentions  until  the  evils  which  arise  from  this 
organic  defect  are  remedied.  All  history  tells 
us  that  a  free  people  should  be  watchfid  of  dele- 
gated power,  and  shotild  never  acquiesce  in  a 
practice  which  will  diminish  their  control  over 
it.  This  obligation,  so  universal  in  its  applica- 
tion to  all  the  principles  of  a  Republic,  is  pecu- 
liarly so  in  ourSj  where  the  formation  of  parties, 
founded  on  sectional  interests,  is  so  much  fos- 
tered by  the  extent  of  our  territory.  These 
interests,  represented  by  candidates  for  the 
Presidency,  are  constantly  prone,  in  the  zeal  of 
party  and  selfish  objects,  to  generate  influences, 
unmindful  of  the  general  gowd,  and  foigetful  of 
the  restraints  which  the  great  body  of  the  peo- 
ple would  enforce,  if  they  were,  in  no  contingen- 
cy, to  lose  the  right  of  expressing  their  will. 
The  experience  of  our  country  from  the  forma- 
tion of  the  government  to  the  present  day,  de- 
monstrates that  the  peoyle  cannot  too  soon 
adopt  some  stronger  safeguard  for  their  right  to 
eject  the  highest  officers  known  to  the  constitu- 
tion, than  is  contained  in  that  sacred  instrument 
as  it  now  stands." 


CHAPTER    CXXX. 

ABOLITION  OF  8LAVEKY  IN  THE  DISTRICT  OF 
COLUMBIA. 

Mr.  Buchanan  presented  the  memorial  of  the 
religious  society  of  "  Friends,"  in  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania,  adopted  at  their  Cain  quarterly 
meeting,  requesting  Congress  to  abolish  slavery 
and  the  slave  trade,  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 
He  said  the  memorial  did  not  emanate  from  fana- 
tics, endeavoring  to  disturb  the  peace  and  secu- 
rity of  society  in  the  Southern  States,  by  the  dis- 
tribution of  incendiary  publications,  but  from  a 
society  of  Christians,  whose  object  had  always 
been  to  promote  good-will  and  peace  among 
men.  It  was  entitled  to  respect  from  the  cha- 
racter of  the  memorialists;  but  he  dissented 
from  the  opinion  which  they  expressed  and  the 
request  which  they  made.  The  constitution 
recognized  slavery ;  it  existed  here ;  was  found 
here  when  the  District  was  ceded  to  the  United 
States ;  the  slaves  here  were  the  projierty  of  the 
iuhai  litants ;  and  he  was  opposed  to  the  disturb- 
ance of  their  rights.  Congress  had  no  right  to 
interfere  with  slavery  in  the  States.  That  was 
determined  in  the  first  Congress  that  ever  sat — 


in  the  Congress  which  commenced  in  1789  and 
ended  in  1791— and  in  the  first  session  of  tiiat 
Congress.     The  Religious  Society  of  Friinds 
then  petitioned  Congress  against  slavery  and  it 
was  resolved,  in  answer  to  that  petition,  tluit 
Congress  had  no  authority  to  interfere  in  the 
emancipation  of  slaves,  or  with  their  treatmont 
in  any  of  the  States :  and  that  was  the  answer 
still  to  bo  given.     He  then  adverted  to  tiie  cir- 
cumstances under  which  the  memorial  was  pie- 
sented.     A  number  of  fanatics,  led  on  by  foiciirn 
incendiaries,   have   been    scattering  firebiands 
through  the  Southern  States — publications  and 
pictures  exciting  the  slaves  to  revolt,  ami  to  the 
destruction  of  their  owners.     Instead  of  bene- 
fiting tho  slaves  by  this  conduct,  they  do  them 
the  greatest  injury,  causing  the  bonds  to  bo 
drawn  tighter  upon  them;  and  postponing  eman- 
cipation even  in  those  States  which  might  even- 
tually contemplate  it.    These  were  his  opinions 
on  slavery,  and  on  the  prayer  of  this  memorial. 
He  was  opposed  to  granting  the  prayer,  but  was 
in  favor  of  receiving  the  petition  as   he  similar 
one  had  been  received,  in  1 790,  and  giving  it  the 
same  answer ;  and,  he  haa  no  doubt,  with  the 
same  happy  effect  of  putting  an  end  to  such 
applications,  and  giving  peace  and  quiet  to  tho 
country.    He  could  not  vote  for  the  motion  of 
the  senator  from  South  Carolina,  Mr.  Calhoun, 
to  reject  it.    He  thought  rejection  would  in- 
flame the  question :  reception  and  condemnation 
would  quiet  it.    Mr.  Calhoun  had  moved  to  re- 
ject all  petitions  of  the  kind — not  reject  upon 
their  merits,  after  consideration,  but  before- 
hand, when  presented  for  reception.    TJiis  was 
the  starting  point  of  a  long  and  acrimonious 
contest  in  the  two  Houses  of  Congress,  in  which 
the  right  of  petition  was  maintaiiud  on  one  side, 
and  the  good  policy  of  quieting  the  question  by 
reception  and  rejection :  on  the  other  side,  it  was 
held  that  the  rights,  the  peace,  and  the  dij>iiity 
of  the  States  required  all  anti-slavery  petitions 
to  be  repulsed,  at  the  first  presentation,  without 
reception  or  consideration.    The  author  of  this 
View  aspired  to  no  lead  in  conducting  this  ques- 
tion ;  ho  thought  it  was  one  to  be  settled  by 
policy ;  that  is  to  say,  in  the  way  that  wouk' 
soonest  quiet  it.    He  thought  there  was  ii  clear 
line  of  distinction  between  mistaken  phi!an 
thropists,  and  mischievous  incendiaries— also  be- 
tween the  free  States  themselves  ond  the  incen- 
diary societies  and  individuals  within  them  j  and 


ANNO  1886.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


ion.    Tlie  author  of  this 


took  an  early  moment  to  express  these  opinions 
in  order  to  set  up  the  lino  between  what  was 
mistake  and  what  was  crime— and  between  the 
acts  of  individuals,  on  one  hand,  and  of  States, 
on  the  other ;  and  in  that  sense  delivered  the 
following  speech : 

"Mr.  Benton  rose  to  express  his  concurrence 
in  tlic  .suggestion  of  the  senator  from  Pennsyl- 
vania (Mr.  Buchanan),  that  the  consideration 
of  tlii.s  .subject  be  postponed  until  Monday.    It 
:iad  come  up  suddenly  and  unexpectedly  to-  day, 
and  the  postponement  would  give  an  opportimity 
for  senators  to  reflect,  and  to  confer  together 
and  to  conclude  what  was  best  to  be  done,  where 
all  were  united  in  wiehing  the  same  end,  namely 
to  allay,  and  not  to  produce,  excitement.    He 
had  risen  for  this  purpose ;  but,  being  on  his 
feet  he  would  say  a  few  words  on  the  general 
subject,  which  the  presentation  of  these  peti- 
tions had  so  suddenly  and  unexpectedly  brought 
up.   With  respect  to  the  petitioners,  and  those 
with  whom  they  acted,  he  had  no  doubt  but 
that  many  of  them  were  good  people,  aiming  at 
benevolent  objects,  and  endeavoring  to  amelior- 
atd  the  condition  of  one  part  of  the  human  race, 
without  inflicting  calamities  on  another  part- 
but  they  were  mistaken  in  their  mode  of  pro- 
ceeding; and  so  far  from  accomplishing  any  part 
of  their  object,  the  whole  effect  of  their  inter- 
position was  to  aggravate  the  condition  of  those 
m  whose  behalf  they  were  interfering.     But 
there  was  another  part,  and  he  meant  to  speak 
of  the  abolitionists,  generally,  as  the  body  con- 
tmmg  the  part  of  which  he  spoke;  there  was 
another  part  whom  he  could  not  qualify  as  good 
people,  seeking  benevolent  ends  by  mistaken 
niean.s,  but  as  incendiaries  and  agitators,  with 
diabolical  objects  in  view,  to  be  accomplished  by 
wicked  and  deplorable  means.    He  did  not  go 
into  the  proofs  now  to  establish  the  correctness  of 
Ills  opinion  of  this  latter  class,  but  he  presumed 
't  would  be  admitted  that  every  attempt  to  work 
"Ponthe  passions  of  the  slaves,  and  to  excite 
them  to  murder  their  owners,  was  a  wicked  anc^ 
diaboheal  attempt,  and  the  work  of  a  midnight 
'neendiary.    Pictures  of  slave  degradation  and 
raiBory,  and  of  the  white  man's  luxury  and  cru- 
elty, were  attempts  of  this  kind ;  for  they  were 

appeals  to  the  vengeance  of  slaves,  and  not  to 

be  ,n  el],gonce  or  reason  of  those  who  legis- 

cl  for  thorn.    ne(Mr.  B.)  had  had  many 

pictures  of  this  kind,  as  well  as  many  diabolicd 

Vol.  1,_37 


577 


publications,  sent  to  him  on  this  subject,  during 
the  last  summer;  the  whole  of  which  he  had 
cast  into  the  fire,  and  should  not  have  thought 
of  referring  to  the  circumstance  at  this  time,  as 
displaying  the  character  of  the  incendiary  par^ 
of  the  abolitionists,  had  he  not,  within  these  few 
days  past,  and  while  abolition  petitions  were 
pouring  into  the  other  end  of  the  Capitol,  re- 
ceived one  of  these  pictures,  the  design  of  which 
could  be  nothing  but  mischief  of  the  blackest 
dye.    It  was  a  print  from  an  engraving  (and  Mr 
B.  exhibited  it,  and  handed  it  to  senators  near 
him),  representing  a  large  and  spreading  tree  of 
liberty,  beneath  whose  ample  shade  a  slave  own- 
er was  at  one  time  luxuriously  reposing,  with 
slaves  fanning  him ;  at  another,  carried  forth  in 
a  palanquin,  to  view  the  half-naked  laborers  in 
the  cotton  field,  whom  drivers,  with  whips  were 
scourging  to  the  task.     The  print  was  evidently" 
from  the  abolition  mint,  and  came  to  him  by 
some  other  conveyance  than  that  of  the  mail 
for  there  was  no  post-mark  of  any  kind  to  iden- 
tify Its  origin,  and  to  indicate  its  line  of  march 
For  what  purpose  could  such  a  picture  be  in- 
tended, unless  to  inflame  the  passions  of  slaves  l 
And  Why  engrave  it,  except  to  multiply  copies 
for  extensive  distribution  ?    But  it  was  not  pic- 
tures alone  that  operated  upon  the  passions  of 
the  slaves,  but  speeches,  publications,  petitions 
presented  in  Congress,  and  the  whole  machinery 
of  abolition  societies.   None  of  these  things  went 
to  the  understandings  of  the  slaves,  but  to  their 
passions,  all  imperfectly  understood,  and  inspir- 
ing vague  hopes,  and  stimulating  abortive  and 
fatal  insurrections.    Societies,  especially,  were 
the  foundation  of  the  greatest  mischiefs.    What- 
ever might  be  their  objects,  the  slaves  never  did 
and  never  can,  understand  them  but  in  one  way  • 
as  allies  organized  for  action,  and  ready  to  march 
to  their  aid  on  the  first  signal  of  insurrection  ! 
I  It  was  thus  that  the  massacre  of  San  Domingo 
was  made.     The  society  in  Paris,  Les  Amis  des 
^olrs,  Friends  of  the  Blacks,  with  its  affiliated 
societies  throughout  France  and  in  London,  made 
that  massacre.     And  who  composed  that  socie- 
ty?    In  the  beginning,  it  comprised  the  ex- 
tremes of  virtue  and  of  vice;  it  contained  the 
best  and  the  basest  of  human  kind  !    Lafixyette 
and  the  Abbe  Gregoire,  those  purest  of  philan- 
thropists;  and  Marat  and  Anacharsis  Clootz, 
those  imps  of  hell  in  human  shape.    In  the  end 
(for  all  such  societias  run  the  same  career  of  de- 


I 


h' 


Hi 


I     kJ 


678 


THIRTY  YI'^ARS'  VIEW. 


in 


generation),  the  good  men,  disgusted  with  their 
associatefs,  retired  from  the  scene;  and  the 
wicked  ruled  at  pleasure.  Declamations  against 
slavery,  publications  in  gazettes,  pictures,  peti- 
tions to  the  constituent  assembly,  were  the  mode 
of  prococding ;  and  the  fish-women  of  Paris — 
he  said  it  with  humiliation,  because  American 
females  had  signed  the  petitions  now  before  us 
— the  fish-women  of  Paris,  the  very  poissnrdes 
from  the  quays  of  the  Seine,  became  the  obstre- 
perous champions  of  West  India  emancipation. 
The  efiect  upon  the  French  islands  is  known  to 
the  world ;  but  what  is  not  known  to  the  world, 
or  not  sufficiently  known  to  it,  is  that  the  same 
societies  which  wrapt  in  flames  and  drenched  in 
blood  the  beautiful  island,  which  was  then  a 
garden  and  is  now  a  wilderness,  were  the  means 
of  exciting  an  insurrection  upon  our  own  conti- 
nent :  in  T.ouisiana,  where  a  French  slave  popu- 
lation existed,  and  where  the  language  of  Les 
Amis  des  Noirs  could  be  understood,  and  where 
their  emissaries  could  glide.  The  knowledge 
of  this  event  (Mr  B.  said)  ought  to  be  better 
known,  both  to  show  the  danger  of  these  socie- 
ties, however  distant,  and  though  oceans  may 
roll  between  them  and  their  victims,  and  the 
fate  of  the  slaves  who  may  bo  excited  to  insur- 
rection by  them  on  any  part  of  the  American 
continent.  lie  would  read  the  notice  of  the 
event  from  the  work  of  Mr.  Charles  Gayarre, 
lately  elected  by  his  native  State  to  a  seat  on 
this  floor,  and  whose  resignation  of  that  honor 
he  sincerely  regretted,  and  particularly  for  the 
cause  which  occasioned  it,  and  which  abstracted 
talent  from  a  station  that  it  would  have  adorned. 
Mr.  B.  read  from  the  work,  '  Essai  Historiqne 
sur  la  Louisiane : '  '  The  white  population  of 
Louisiana  was  not  the  only  part  of  the  popula- 
tion which  was  agitated  by  the  French  revolu- 
tion. The  blacks,  encouraged  without  doubt  by 
the  success  which  their  race  had  obtained  in  San 
Domingo,  dreamed  of  liberty,  and  sought  to 
shake  oft'  the  yoke.  The  insurrection  was  plan- 
ned at  Pointe  Coupee,  which  wra  then  an  iso- 
lated parish,  and  in  which  the  number  of  slaves 
was  considerable.  The  conspiracy  took  birth  on 
the  plantation  of  Mr.  Julien  Poydras,  a  rich 
planter,  who  was  then  travelling  in  the  United 
States,  and  spread  itself  rapidly  throughout  the 
parish.  The  death  of  all  the  whites  was  re- 
solved. Happily  the  conspirators  could  not 
agree  upon  the  day  for  the  massacre ;  and  from 


this  disagreement  resulted  a  quarrel,  which  led 
to  the  discovery  of  the  plot.  The  militia  of  the 
parish  immediately  took  arms,  and  the  Baron 
de  Carondelet  caused  them  to  be  supported  by 
the  troops  of  the  line.  It  was  resolved  to  ar- 
rest, and  to  punish  the  principal  conspirators 
The  slaves  opposed  it ;  but  they  were  quickly 
dispersed,  with  the  loss  of  twenty  of  their  mim- 
ber  killed  on  the  spot.  Fifty  of  the  insiiroents 
were  condemned  to  death.  Sixteen  were  exe- 
cuted in  different  parts  of  the  parish;  the  rest 
were  put  on  hoard  a  galley  and  himg  at  inter- 
vals, all  along  the  river,  as  far  as  New  Orleans 
(a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles). 
The  severity  of  the  chastisement  intimidated  the 
blacks,  and  all  returned  to  perfect  order.' 

"  Resuming  his  remarks,  Mr.  B.  said  he  had 
read  this  passage  to  show  that  our  wliite  popu- 
lation  had  a  right  to  dread,  nay,  were  bound  to 
dread,  the  mischievous  influence  of  these  soci- 
eties, even  when  an  ocean  intervened,  and  much 
more  when  they  stood  upon  the  Fame  hemis- 
phere, and  within  the  bosom  of  the  same  country. 
He  had  also  read  it  to  show  the  miserable  fate  of 
their  victims,  and  to  warn  all  that  were  good 
and  virtuous — all  that  were  honest,  but  mistaiien 
—in  the  three  hundred  and  fifty  affiliated  so- 
cieties, vaunted  by  the  individuals  who  style 
themselves  their  executive  committee,  and  who 
date,  from  the  commercial  emporium  of  this 
Union,  their  high  manifesto  against  the  Presi- 
dent ;  to  warn  them  at  once  to  secede  from  as- 
sociations which,  whatever  may  be  their  designs, 
can  have  no  other  effect  than  to  revive  in  tiie 
Southern  States  the  tragedy,  not  of  San  Domin- 
go, but  of  the  parish  of  Pointe  Coupec'. 

"Mr.  B.  went  on  to  say  that  these  societies  had 
already  perpetrated  more  mischief  than  the  joint 
remainder  of  all  their  lives  spent  in  prayers  of 
contrition,  and  in  works  of  retribution,  could 
ever  atone  for.  They  had  thrown  the  state  of 
the  emancipation  question  fifty  years  back. 
They  had  subjected  every  traveller,  and  every 
emigrant,  from  the  non-slavehokling  States,  to 
be  received  with  coldness,  and  viewed  with  sus- 
picion and  jealousy,  in  the  elaveholding  States. 
They  had  occasioned  many  slaves  to  lose  their 
lives.  They  had  caused  the  deportation  of  many 
ten  thousands  from  the  grain-growing  to  the 
planting  States.  They  had  caused  the  privileges 
of  all  slaves  to  be  curtailed,  and  their  bonds  to 
be  more  tightly  drawn.    Nor  wai  the  mischief 


ANNO  1835.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


of  their  conduct  confined  to  slaves ;  it  reached 
the  freo  colored  people,  and  opened  a  sudden  gulf 
of  misery  to  that  population.     In  all  the  slave 
States,  this  population  has  paid  the  forfeit  of 
tiioir  intermediate  position ;  and  suffered  proscrip- 
tion as  tlie  instruments,  real  or  suspected,  of  the 
abolition  societies.    In  all  these  States,  their 
exodus  had  either  been  enforced  or  was  impend- 
ing.  In  Missouri  there  was  a  clause  in  the  con- 
titution  which  prohibited  their  emigration  to  the 
State;  but  that  clause  had  remained  a  dead  let- 
ter in  the  book  tintil  the  agitation  produced 
among  the  slaves  by  the  distant  rumbling  of  the 
abolition  thunder,  led  to  the  knowledge  In  some 
instances,  and  to  the  belief  in  others,  that  these 
people  were  the  antenme  of  the  abolitionists;  and 
their  medium  for  communicating  with  the  slaves, 
and  for  exciting  them  to  desertion  first,  and  to 
insurrection  eventually.    Then  ensued  a  painful 
scene.    The  people  met,  resolved,  and  prescribed 
thirty  days  for  the  exodus  of  the  obnoxious 
caste.    Under  that  decree  a  general  emigration 
had  to  take  place  at  the  commencement  of  win- 
ter.  Many  worthy  and  industrious  people  had 
to  quit  their  business  and  their  homes,  and  to 
go  forth  under  circumstances  which  rendered 
them  objects  of  suspicion  wherever  they  went 
and  sealed  the  door  against  the  acquisition  of 
Dew  friends  while  depriving  them  of  the  protec- 
tion of  old  ones.    He  (Mr.  B.)  had  witnessed 
many  instances  of  this  kind,  and  had  given  cer- 
tificates to  several,  to  show  that  they  were  ban- 
ished, not  for  their  oflences,  but  for  their  mis- 
fortunes; for  the  misfortune  of  being  allied  to 
the  race  which  the  abolition  societies  had  made 
the  object  of  their  gratuitous  philanthropy. 

"Having  said  thus  much  of  the  abolition  so- 
cieties in   the  non-slavehokling  States,  Mr.  B 
turned,  with  pride  and  exultation,  to  a  different 
theme-the  conduct  of  the  great  body  of  the 
people  in  all  these  States.    Before  he  saw  that 
conduct,  and  while  the  black  question,  like  a 
portentous  cloud  was  gathering  and  darkening 
on  the  Northeastern  horizon,  he  trembled,  not 
'or  the  South,  but  for  the  Union.    He  feared 
hat  he  saw  the  fatal  work  of  dissolution  about 
to  begin,  and  the  bonds  of  this  glorious  confed- 
eracy about  to  snap;  but  the  conduct  of  the 
great  body  of  the  people  in  all  the  non-slavehold- 
mgStntos  quickly  dispelled  that  fear,  and  in  its 
place  planted  deep  the  strongest  assurance  of  the 
fiarmony  and  indivisibility  of  the  Union  which 


579 


he  had  felt  for  many  years.    Their  conduct  was 
above  all  praise,  above  all  thanks,  above  all  grati- 
tude.  They  had  chased  oft' the  foreign  emissaries 
.silenced  the  gabbling  tongues  of  female  dupes 
and  dispersed  the  assemblages,  whether  fanatical' 
visionary,  or  incendiary,  of  all  that  congregated 
to  preach  against  evils  which  afilictcd   others, 
not  them;  and  to  propose  remedies  to  aggravate 
the  disease  which  they  pretended  to  cure.    They 
had  acted  with  a  noble  spirit.    They  had  exert- 
ed a  vigor  beyond  all  law.    They  had  obeyed 
the  enactments,  not  of  the  statute  book,  but  of 
the  heart ;  and  while  that  spirit  was  in  the  heart, 
he  cared  nothing  for  laws  written  in  a  book! 
He  would  rely  upon  that  spirit  to  complete  the 
good  work  it  has  begun ;  to  dry  up  these  societies  j 
to  separate  the  mistaken  philanthropist  from  the 
reckless  fanatic  and  the  wicked  incendiary,  and 
put  an  end  to  publications  and  petitions  which 
whatever  may  be  their  design,  can  have  no  other 
eflect  than  to  impede  the  object  which  they  in- 
voke, and  to  aggravate  the  evil  wliich  they  de- 
plore. 

"Turning  to  the  immediate  question  before 
the  Senate,  that  of  the  rejection  of  the  petitions, 
Mr.  B.  said  his  wish  was  to  give  that  vote  which 
would  have  the  greatest  effect  in  putting  down 
these  societies.    He  thought  the  vote  to  be  given 
to  be  rather  one  of  expediency  than  of  constitu- 
tional obligation.    The  clause  in  the  constitution 
so  often  quoted  in  favor  of  the  right  of  petition- 
ing for  a  redress  of  grievances  would  seem  to  him 
to  apply  rather  to  the  grievances  felt  by  our- 
selves than  to  those  felt  by  others,  and  which 
others    might  think    an  advantage,  what  we 
thought  a  grievance.    The  petitioners  from  Ohio 
think  it  a  grievance  that  the  people  of  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia  should  suffer  the  institution 
of  slavery,  and  pray  for  the  redress  of  that  griev- 
ance; the  people  of  the  District  think  the  insti- 
tution an  advantage,  and  want  no  redress ;  now, 
which  has  the  right  of  petitioning  ?    Looking  to 
the  past  action  of  the  Senate,  Mr.  B.  saw  that 
about  thirty  years  ago,  a  petition  against  slavery' 
and  that  in  the  States,  was  presented  to  tliis 
body  by  the  society  of  Quakers  in  Pennsylvania 
and  New  Jersey;  and  that  the  same  question 
upon  its  reception  was  made,  and  decided  by 
yeas  and  nays,  19  to  9,  in  favor  of  receiving  it. 
He  read  the  names,  to  show  that  the  senators 
from  the  slave  and  non-slaveholding  States  voted 
some  for  and  some  against  the  reception,  accord- 


A' 


•  tj;'*!''  It' 

1 

ift; 

■ 

1 
1  .  ■  ^ 

1 

l'i^  \   . 

1 

580 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


ing  to  each  one's  opinion,  and  not  according  to 
the  position  or  the  character  of  the  State  from 
which  he  came.  Mr.  B.  repeated  that  he  thought 
this  question  to  be  one  of  expediency,  and  that 
it  was  expedient  to  give  tlie  vote  which  would 
go  furthest  towards  quieting  the  public  mind. 
The  quieting  the  South  depended  upon  quieting 
the  North  ;  for  when  the  abolitionists  were  put 
down  in  the  former  place,  the  latter  would  be 
at  ease.  It  seemed  to  him,  then,  that  the  gen- 
tlemen of  the  non-slaveholding  States  were  tlie 
proper  persons  to  speak  first.  They  knew  the 
temper  of  their  own  constituents  best,  and  what 
might  have  a  good  or  an  ill  effect  upon  them, 
either  to  increase  the  abolition  fever,  or  to  allay 
it.  He  knew  that  the  feeling  of  the  Senate 
was  general ;  that  all  wished  for  the  same  end  ; 
and  the  senators  of  the  North  as  cordially  as 
those  of  the  South." 


CHAPTER  CXXXI. 

MAIL   CIECULATION  OF  INCENDIARY  PUBLICA- 
TIONS. 

Mr.  Calhoun  moved  that  so  much  of  the  Pre- 
sident's message  as  related  to  the  mail  trans- 
mission of  incendiary  publications  be  referred  to 
a  select  committee.  Mr.  King,  of  Alabama,  op- 
posed the  motion,  urging  that  the  only  way  that 
Congress  could  interfere  would  be  by  a  post- 
office  regulation  ;  and  that  all  such  regulation 
properly  referred  itself  to  the  committee  on 
post-offices  and  post-roads.  lie  did  not  look 
to  the  particular  construction  of  the  committee, 
but  had  no  doubt  the  members  of  that  commit- 
tee could  see  the  evil  of  these  incendiary  trans- 
missions through  the  mails,  and  would  provide 
a  remedy  which  they  should  deem  constitution- 
al, proper  and  adequate ;  and  he  expressed  a 
fear  that,  by  giving  the  subject  too  much  im- 
portance, an  excitement  might  be  got  up.  Mr. 
Calhoun  replied  that  the  Senator  from  Alabama 
had  mistaken  his  object — that  it  was  not  to  pro- 
fliice  any  unnecessary  excitement,  but  to  adopt 
such  a  course  as  would  secure  a  committee  which 
would  calmly  and  dispassionately  go  into  an  ex- 
amination of  the  whole  subject ;  whif^h  would 
investigate  the  character  of  those  publications, 
to  ascertain  whether  they  were  mcendiary  or 


not ;  and,  if  so,  on  that  ground  to  put  a  chock 
on  their  transmission  through  the  ninils.    Ho 
could  not  but  express  his  astonishment  at  tho 
objection  which  had  been  taken  to  his  motion, 
for  he  knew  that  the  Senator  from  Alaljama 
felt  that  deep  interest  in  the  subject  which  per- 
vaded the  feelings  of  every  man  in  the  South. 
lie  believed  that  the  post-office  committee  would 
be  fully  occupied  with  the  regular  business  wliich 
would  be  brought  before  them ;  and  it  was  tias 
consideration,  and  no  party  feeling,  which  had 
induced  him  to  make  his  motion.     Mr.  r.THindy 
chairman  of  the  committee  on  post-offices  aud 
post-roads,  said  that  his  position  was  sudi  as  tu 
have  imposed  silence  upon  him,  if  that  nilence 
might  not  have  been  misunderstood.  ■  In  icnh- 
to  the  objection  that  a  majority  of  the  commit- 
tee were  not  from  the  slave  States,  that  eircuni- 
stance  might  be  an  advantage ;  it  might  give  the 
greater  weight  to   their  action,  wliicli  it  was 
known  would  be  favorable  to  the  oliject  of  the 
motion.    lie  would  .say  that  the  federal  govern- 
ment could  do  but  little  on  this  subject  except 
through  a  post-office  regulation,  and  thciebv 
aiding  the  efficiency  of  the  State  laws,    lie  did 
not  desire  to  see  any  power  exercised  which 
would  have  the  least  tendency  to  interfere  with 
the  sovereignty  of  the  States.     Mr.  Caihouu 
adhering  to  his  desire  for  a  select  committee. 
and  expressing  his  belief  that  a  great  coii>titu- 
tional  question  was  to  be  settled,  and  that  tlie 
crisis  required  calmness  and  fiminess,  and  the 
action  of  a  committee  that  came  mainly  from 
the  endangered  part  of  the  Union — his  reqiie.-t 
was  granted  ;  and  a  connnittoe  of  five  appointed, 
composed  as  he  desired ;  namely,  Mr.  Calhoun 
chairman,  Mr.  King  of  Georgia,  Mr.  JIangum 
of  North  Carolina,  Mr.  Davis  of  Massachusettf, 
and  Mr.  Lewis  F.  Linn  of  ^lissouri.    A  bill  and 
a  report  were  soon  brought  in  by  the  committee 
— a  bill  subjecting  to  penalties  any  post-master 
who  should  knowingly  receive  and  jjut  into  the 
mail  any  publication,  or  picture  touching  tlit 
subject  of  slavery,  to  go  into  any  State  or  ter- 
ritory in  which  the  circulation  of  such  puhlica- 
tion,  or  picture,  should  be  forbid  by  tiie  State 
laws.    When  the  report  was  read  Mr.  Mangiim 
moved  the  printing  of  5000  extra  copies  of  it. 
This  motion  brought  a  majority  of  the  commit- 
teo  to  tlu'ir  feet,  to  disclaim  tlieii-  assent  to  p.irts 
of  the  report ;  and  to  absolve  themselves  from 
responsibility  for  its  contents.  A  conversational 


hat  ground  to  put  a  chwk 
n  through  the  mails.  Hu 
SB  his  astonishment  at  tho 
been  taken  to  iijs  motioa 
lie  Senator  from  Aluljaiii;i 
t  in  tho  subject  wliicli  fKt- 
r  every  man  in  the  8outli. 
post-office  committee  wonli] 
1  the  regular  business  wliich 
fore  them ;  and  it  was  tliis 

0  party  feeling,  wiiidi  had 
his  motion.    Mr.  Gnindy 

imittco  on  post-oflBccs  aud 
his  position  was  such  as  tu 

1  upon  him,  if  that  silence 
misunderstood.  In  leph- 
a  majority  of  the  conmiit- 

0  slave  States,  that  ciicura- 
dvantage ;  it  might  give  tlie 
heir  action,  whicli  it  wns 
)rable  to  the  olyect  of  t!ie 
«iy  that  the  federal  govurn- 
itle  on  this  subject  except 
B  regulation,  and  thereby 
of  the  State  laws.  He  did 
ly  power  exercised  which 
tendency  to  interfere  witli 
the  States.  Mr.  Calliouu 
re  for  a  select  committee. 
)elief  that  a  great  constitu- 
to  be  settled,  and  that  the 
less  and  firmness,  and  the 
!e  that  came  mainly  frmn 
of  the  Union — his  reque-t 
ommittee  of  five  ajjpointed, 
red ;  namelj'-,  Mr.  Calhoun 
of  Georgia,  Jlr.  Jlangiim 
r.  Davis  of  Massaclmsctts, 
m  of  Missouri.  A  bill  and 
rought  in  by  the  committee 

1  penalties  any  post-master 
ly  receive  and  jjut  into  tlie 
1,  or  picture  touching  tlie 

go  into  any  State  or  ter- 
irculation  of  such  pnhliea- 
ild  be  forbid  by  the  State 
ort  was  read  'Sir.  Manguni 
of  5000  extra  copies  of  it. 
a  majority  of  the  commit- 
wlaim  their  assent  to  jmrts 
D  absolve  themselves  from 
lontents.   A  couveroational 


AXNO  1838.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


581 


delmte  ensued  on  this  point,  on  wliich  Mr.  Davis, 
Messrs.  King  of  Alabama  and  Georgia,  Mr.  Linn 
and  Mr.  Calhoun  thus  expressed  themselves : 

"Mr.  Davis  said  that,  a.s  a  motion  had  been 
made  to  j)rint  the  paper  purporting  to  be  a  re- 
port from  the  select  committee  of  which  ho  was 
a  member,  he  would  remark  that  the  views  con- 
tained in  it  did  not  entirely  meet  his  approba- 
tion, though  it  contained  many  things  which  he 
approved  of,  lie  had  risen  for  no  other  purpose 
tlum  to  make  this  statement,  lest  the  impression 
siiould  go  abroad  with  the  report  that  lie  as- 
sented to  tho.se  portions  of  it  which  did  not 
meet  his  approbation." 

'•  Mr.  King,  of  Georgia,  said  that,  lest  the  same 
misunderstanding  should  go  forth  with  respect 
to  his  views,  he  must  state  that  the  report  was 
not  entirely  assented  to  by  himself.  However 
the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina  (Mr.  Cal- 
houn), in  making  this  report,  had  already  stated 
that  the  majority  of  the  committee  did  not  agree 
to  the  whole  of  it,  though  many  parts  of  it  were 
concurred  in  by  all." 

"Mr.  Davis  said  he  would  add  further,  that 
he  might  have  taken  the  u.«iial  course,  and  made 
an  additional  report,  containiiig  all  his  views  on 
tlie  subject,  but  thought  it'  hardly  worth  while, 
and  he  had  contended  himself  with  making  the 
statement  that  he  had  just  m.ade." 

"Mr.  King,  of  A.'abama,  said  this  was  a  de- 
pai'ture  from  the  usual  course — by  it  a  minority 


might  dissent ;  and  jet,  when  ;he  report  was 
published,  it  wor.ld  seoin  to  be  a  report  of  the 
committee  of  the  SenntC)  and  not  a  report  of 
two  members  of  it.  It  was  proper  that  the 
whole  matter  should  go  together  with  the  bill, 
that  the  reiiort  submitted  by  the  minority  might 
be  read  with  the  bill,  to  show  that  the  reading 
of  the  report  was  not  in  conflict  with  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  bill  reported.  He  thought  the  sen- 
ator from  North  Carolina  (Mr.  Mangum)  had 
better  modify  his  motion,  so  as  to  have  the  re- 
port and  bill  published  together." 

'•  Mr.  Linn  remarked  that,  being  a  member  of 
the  committee,  it  was  but  proper  for  him  to  say 
that  he  had  assented  to  several  parts  of  the  re- 
port, though  he  did  not  concur  with  it  in  all  its 
parts.  Should  it  become  necessary,  he  would 
when  the  subject  again  came  before  the  Senate! 
explam  in  what  particulars  he  had  coincided  with 
the  views  given  in  the  report,  and  how  flir  he 
had  dissented  from  them.  The  bill,  he  said,  had 
met  with  his  approbation." 

'■  Mr.  Calhoun  said  he  hoped  his  friend  from 
^orlh  Carolina  would  modify  his  motion,  so  as 
to  mchide  the  printing  of  the  bill  with  the  re- 
poi't.  It  would  be  seen,  by  comparing  both  to- 
gether, that  there  was  no  non  sequitnr  in  the 
bill,  coming  as  it  did  after  this  report." 
.  "Mr.  King,  of  Alabama,  had  only  stated  his 
iniiiressions  from  hearing  the  report  and  bill 
read,  it  appeared  to  him  unusual  that  a  report 
Biiould  be  made  by  a  minority,  and  merely  ac- 


quiesced in  by  the  committee,  and  that  the  bill 
should  be  adverse  to  it." 

"  Mr.  Davis  said  the  report  was,  as  he  under- 
stood it  to  be  read  from  the  chair,  tho  report  of 
the  committee.  lie  had  spoken  for  himself  only, 
and  for  nobody  else,  lest  the  impression  might 
go  abroad  that  he  concurred  in  all  parts  of  the 
report,  when  he  dissented  from  some  of  them." 

"Mr.  Calhoun  said  that  a  majority  of  the  com- 
mittee did  not  concur  in  the  report,  though  there 
were  two  members  of  it,  himself  and  tho  gen- 
tleman  from  North  Carolina,  who  concurred 
throughout;  three  other  gentlemen  concurred 
with  the  greater  part  of  the  report,  though  they 
dissented  from  .some  parts  of  it;  and  two  gentle- 
men concurred  also  with  some  parts  of  it.  A.s 
to  the  bill,  two  of  the  committee  would  have 
preferred  a  different  one,  though  they  had  rather 
have  that  than  none  at  all ;  another  gentleman 
was  opposed  to  it  altogether.  The  bill,  however, 
was  a  natural  consequence  of  tho  report,  and 
the  two  did  not  disagree  with  each  other." 

Tho  parts  of  the  report  which  were  chiefly 
exceptionable  wore  two:  1.  The  part  which 
related  to  the  nature  of  tho  federal  government, 
as  being  founded  in  "compact;"  which  was  the 
corner-stone  of  tho  doctrine  of  nullification,  and 
its  corollary  that  the  laws  of  nations  were  in  full 
force  between  the  several  States,  as  sovereign 
and  independent  communities  except  as  modi- 
fled  by  the  compact ;  2.  The  part  that  argued, 
as  upon  a  subsisting  danger,  the  evils  by  an  abo- 
lition of  slavery  in  the  slave  States  by  interfer- 
ence from  other  States.  On  the  first  of  these 
points  the  report  said  : 

"That  the  States  which  form  our  Federal 
Union  are  sovereign  and  independent  communi- 
ties, bound  together  by  a  constitutional  com- 
pact, and  are  possessed  of  all  the  powers  belong- 
ing to  distinct  and  separate  States,  exceptin"' 
such  as  are  delegated  to  be  exercised  by  the 
general  government,  is  assumed  as  unques- 
tionable. The  compact  itself  expressly  provides 
that  all  powers  not  delegated  are  reserved  to 
the  States  and  tho  people.  To  ascertain,  then 
whether  the  power  in  question  is  delegated  or 
reserved,  it  is  only  necessary  to  ascertain  whe- 
ther it  is  to  be  found  among  the  enumerated 
powers  or  not.  If  it  be  not  among  them,  it 
belongs,  of  course,  to  the  reserved  powers.  On 
turning  to  tho  constitution,  it  will  be  seen  that, 
while  the  power  of  defending  the  country 
against  external  danger  is  found  among  the  enu- 
merated, the  instrument  is  wholly  silent  as  to 
the  power  of  defending  the  internal  peace  and 
security  of  the  States ;  and  of  course,  reserves 
to  the  States  this  impjrtant  power,  as  it  stood 
before  the  adoption  of  the  constitution,  with  no 
other  limitation,  as  has  been  stated,  except  such 
as  are  expressly  prescribed  by  the  instrument 


582 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


Itself.  From  what  has  been  Htatod,  it  may  be 
inferml  that  tho  rif,'ht  of  a  Stiito  todi'fcnd  itsflf 
against  intfrnul  (lanp-ra  is  a  part  of  tho  >;roat, 
primary,  and  inherent  rigJit  of  Holf-defenco 
which,  by  the  hiws  of  nature,  biloiiKS  to  all 
communities;  and  so  jealous  wore  the  States  of 
this  essential  right,  without  which  their  inde- 
pendence could  not  be  preserved,  that  it  is  ex- 
pressly provided  by  the  constitution,  that  the 
general  government  shall  not  assist  a  State,  even 
in  case  of  domestic  violence,  except  on  the  ap- 
plication of  the  oathorities  of  the  State  itself; 
thus  excluding,  by  a  necessary  consequence,  its 
interference  in  all  other  cases. 

"  Having  now  shown  that  it  belongs  to  tho 
slavcholding  States,  whoso  institutions  are  in 
danger,  and  not  to  Congress,  as  is  supjjosed  by 
the  message,  to  determine  what  pajjors  are  in- 
cendiary and  intended   to  excite   insurrection 


among  tl' 


sl.ivos,  it  remains 


to  inquire,  in  the 


next  place,  what  are  the  corresponding  duties 
of  the  general  government,  and  the  otherStates, 
from  within  whose  limits  and  jurisdiction  their 
institutions  are  attacked ;  a  subject  intimately 
connected  with  that  with  which  the  conuuittee 
are  immediately  charged,  and  which,  at  the  pre- 
sent juncture,  ought  to  l)e  fully  understood  by 
all  the  parties.     'J'he  committee  will  begin  with 
the  first.    It  remains  next  to  inquire  into  the 
duty  of  the  States  from  within  whose  limits 
and  jurisdiction  the  internal  peace  and  security 
of  the  slaveholding  States  are  endangered.     In 
order  to  comprehend  more  fully  the  nature  and 
extent  of  their  duty,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
make  a  few  remarks  on  tho  relations  wliicli  exist 
between  the  States  of  our  Federal  Union,  with 
the  rights  and  obligations  reciprocally  resulting 
from  such  relations.    It  has  already  been  stated 
that  the  States  which  compose   our  Federal 
Union  are  sovereign  and  indejjendent  communi- 
ties, united  by  a  constitutional  compact.  Among 
its  members  the  laws  of  nations  are  in  full  force 
and  obligatioji,  except  as  altered  or  modified  by 
the  compact ;  and,  of  course,  the  States  possess, 
with  that  exception,  all  the  rights,  and  are  sub- 
ject to  all  the  duties,  which  separate  and  dis- 
tinct communities  possess,  or  to  which  they  are 
subject.     Among  those  are  comprehended  the 
obligation  which  all  States  are  under  to  prevent 
their  citizens  from  disturbing  the  peace  or  en- 
dangering the  security  of  other  States ;  and  in 
case  of  being  disturbed  or  endangered,  the  right 
of  the  latter  to  demand  of  the  former  to  adopt 
such  measures  as  will  prevent  their  recurrence, 
and  if  refused  or  neglected,  to  resort  to  such 
measures  as  its  protection  may  require.     This 
right  remains,  of  course^  in  force  among  the 
States  of  this  Union,  with  such  limitations  as 
are    imjOTsed    expressly   by    the    constitution. 
Within  their  limits,  the  rights  of  the  slavehold- 
ing States  are  as  full  to  demand  of  the  States 
within  whose  limits  and  jurisdiction  tiicir  peace 
is  assailed,  to  adopt  the  measures  necessary  to 
prevent  the  same,  and  if  refused  or  neglected, 
to  resort  to  means  to  protect  themselves,  as 


if  they  were  separate  and  indeiKjndent  comnin, 
nities." 

This  part  of  tho  report  was  that  which,  in 
founding  the  federal  governnu  in  compact,  as 
under  the  old  articles  of  the  confwleration,  and 
in  bringing  the  law  of  nations  to  apply  lK>tHuc,i 
tho  States  as  independent  and  sovereign  coninni- 
nities,  except  where  limited  by  the  compact 
was  supposed  to  contain  the  doctrine  of  uuliili' 
cation  and  secession ;  and  the  concluding  part 
of  tho  report  is  an  argument  in  favor  of  the 
course  recommended  in  the  Crinis  in  the  event 
that  New- York,  Massachusetts,  and  Pennsyl- 
vania did  not  suppress  tho  abu  .tion  societies. 
The  report  continues : 

"Their  professed  object  is  the  emancipation 
of  slaves  in  the  Southern  States,  which  tlieyiiro- 
pose   to    accomplish   through   the  agencies  of 
organized  societies,  spread  througiiout  the  non- 
slaveboldiiig  States,  anil  a  powerful  press  di- 
rcctcd   mainly  to  excite,  in  the  other  States 
hatred  and  abhorrence  against  tht  institiitionil 
and  citizens  of  tho  slaveholding  States,  by  ad- 
dresses, lectures,  and  pictorial  rei)re.st'ntatioiiM 
abounding  in  false  and  exaggerated  statements! 
If  the  magnitude  of  the  mischief  all'ords,  in  any 
degree,  the  measure  by  which  to  judge  of  the 
criminality  of  a  project,  few  have  ever  been  de- 
vised to  be  compared  with  the  present,  u-hother 
the  end  be  regarded,  or  the  means  by  vli'.-Ii  it 
is  proposed  to  be  accomplished.     The  blindness 
of  fanaticism  is  proverbial.  AVithniore  zeal  than 
understanding,  it  constantly  misconceives  tlie 
nature   of  tho  object  at   which  it  aims,  and 
towards  which  it  rushes  with  headlong  violence, 
regardless  of  the  means  by  which  it  is  to  be 
effected.     Never  was  its  character  more  fnlly 
exemplified  than  in  the  present  instance.    Set- 
ting out  with  the  abstract  principle  that  slavery 
is  an  evil,  the  fanatical  zealots  come  at  once  to 
the  conclusion  that  it  is  their  duty  to  abolish  it, 
regardless  of  all  the  disasters  which  must  fol- 
low.    Never  was  conclusion  more  false  or  <lan- 
gerou.s.     Admitting  their  assumption,  there  are 
innumeraljlo    things    w^'ich,    regarded    in  tlie 
abstract,  are  evils,  but  which  it  would  be  mad- 
ness  to  attemj)t   to   abolish.     Thus  regarded, 
government  itself  is  an  evil,  witii  most  of  its 
institutions  intended  to  protect  life  and  property, 
comprehending  the  civil  as  well  as  the  criminal 
and  iuilitary  code,  which  are  tolerated  only  be- 
cause to  abolish   them   would  be  to  increase 
instead  of  dinn'nishing  the  evil.    The  reason  is 
equally  apj)licable  to  the  case  under  considera- 
tion,  to   illustrate  which,   a  few  remarks  on 
slavery,  as  it  actually  exists  in  the  Southern 
States,  will  be  necessary. 

"  lie  who  regards  slavery  in  those  States  simply 
under  the  relation  of  master  and  slave,  as  im- 
portant as  that  relation  is,  viewed  mej'cly  as  a 


w 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PHESIDENT. 


583 


e  and  inclfpendont  commu. 

report  was  that  which,  in 
governiiK  in  compact,  an 
8  of  the  «;(>nfe<leration,  and 
)f  nations  to  apply  iK^twepn 
idcnt  and  sovereign  commu. 
3  limited  by  the  compact 
tain  the  doctrine  of  uuiiili. 
;  and  the  concIiidiDg  pan 
argnment  in  favor  of  the 
in  the  Crisis  in  the  event 
HsachusettH.  and  Penns)!- 
!.ss  the  abi.  ,tion  societies. 


)bjcct  is  the  emancipation 
lern  States,  which  they  pio- 

through  the  a-,'enciesof 
pread  througliout  tiie  non- 
and  a  powerful  press,  di- 
ccite,  in  the  other  Sfatos, 
20  against  the  institutions 
lavcliolding  States,  hy  ad- 
I  pictorial  representations, 
III  exaggerateil  statements. 
ho  mischief  alloids,  in  any 
by  whicli  to  ju(l»e  of  tiie 
'ct,  few  have  ever  been  dc- 

witii  tlie  present,  whotlier 

or  the  means  ijy  vli  .li  it 
omplished.  The  blimlness 
rbial.  With  more  zwd  tlwn 
iistantly  misconceives  the 
t  at  which  it  aims,  and 
hes  with  headlong  violence, 
ans  by  wliieh  it  is  to  be 

its  cliaracter  more  fully 
he  present  instance.  Set- 
tract  principle  that  slavery 
al  zealots  come  at  once  to 

is  tiieir  duty  to  abolish  it, 
lisasters  wliicli  must  ful- 
clusioii  more  false  or  <ian- 
heir  assumption,  there  are 

w!Mch,  regarded  in  tlie 
t  which  it  would  be  mad- 

abolish.  Thus  regarded, 
an  evil,  witli  most  of  its 
to  protect  life  and  jiroperty, 
ivil  as  well  as  the  criminal 
lich  are  tolerated  only  bo- 
m  would  be  to  increase 
:;  the  evil.  The  reason  is 
the  case  under  considera- 
hich,  a  few  remaiks  on 
'  c.v'ists  in  the  Southern 


qucHtion  of  property  to  the  slaveholding  section 
of  the  I'nion,  has  a  very  inii)erfect  conception  of 
the  institution,  and  the  impossibility  of  alnjlish- 
ini;  it  without  disasters  unexampled  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  world.  To  understand  its  nature 
ami  imiwrtance  fully^  it  must  be  borne  in  mind 
that  slavery,  as  it  exists  in  the  Southern  States 
(including  under  theScnithcrn  all  the  sl.avehold- 
iiijr  States),  involves  not  only  the  relation  of 
numter  and  slave,  but,  also,  the  social  and  politi- 
cal relations  of  two  races,  of  nearly  eiiual  num- 
bers, from  different  (juarters  of  tiie  glot)e, 
and  the  most  opposite  of  all  others  in  every 
particular  that  distinguishes  one  race  of  men 
Ironi  another.  Emancipation  would  destroy 
these  relations — would  divest  the  masters  of 
their  pn)|ierty,  and  subvert  the  relation,  social 
and  political,  that  has  existed  between  the  races 
from  almost  the  first  settlement  of  the  Southern 
States.  It  is  not  the  intention  of  the  committee 
to  dwell  on  the  pecuniary  a.speet  of  this  vital 
sriiject,  the  vast  amount  of  property  involved, 
oouul  at  least  to  l$950,000,OUO ;  the  ruin  of 
I  uilies  and  individuals;  tlie  impoverishment  and 
pc'-tration  of  an  entire  section  of  the  Union,  and 
t!,e  liitid  blow  that  would  be  given  to  the  pro- 
dictions  of  the  great  agricultural  staples,  on 
whic!'.  the  commerce,  the  navigation,  the  manu- 
factures, and  the  revenue  of  the  country,  almost 
entirely  ilei)end.  As  great  as  these  disasters 
would  Ik;,  they  arc  nothing,  compaied  to  what 
must  follow  the  subversion  of  the  existing  rela- 
tion between  the  two  races,  to  which  the  com- 
mittee will  confine  their  remarks,  Under  tliis 
relation,  the  two  races  have  long  lived  in  peace 
and  pi  'isixirity,  and  if  not  disturbed,  would  long 
coutiuue  so  to  live.  While  the  European  race 
has  rapidly  increased  in  wealth  .and  numbers,  and 
at  the  same  time  has  maintained  an  equality, 
at  least,  morally  and  intellectually,  with  their 
brethren  of  the  non-slaveholding  States;  the 
iUrican  race  has  multiplied  with  not  less  rapidity, 
aceouipanied  by  great  improvement,  physically 
and  intellectually,  and  the  enjoyment  of  a  de- 
gree of  comfort  with  which  the  laboring  class 
in  few  countries  can  compare  and  confessedly 
greatly  superior  to  what  the  free  peojjle  of  the 
same  riicc  possess  in  the  non-slaveholding  States. 
It  may,  indeed,  bo  safely  asserted,  that  there  is 
no  example  in  history  in  which  a  savage  people, 
such  as  their  ancestors  were  when  brought  into 
the  country,  have  ever  advanced  in  the  same 
period  so  rapidly  in  numbers  and  improvement. 
To  destroy  the  existing  relations  would  be  to 
destroy  this  prosperity,  and  to  place  the  two 
races  in  a  state  of  conflict,  which  must  end  iu 
the  expulsion  or  extirpation  of  one  or  the  other. 
No  other  can  be  substituted,  compatible  with 
their  peace  or  security.  The  difficulty  is  in  the 
diversity  of  the  races.  So  strongly  drawn  is  the 
liue  between  the  two,  iu  consequence  of  it,  and 
SQ  strengthened  by  the  force  of  habit,  and  edu- 
cation, that  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  exist 
together  in  the  same  comnnmity,  where  their 
numbers  are  so  nearly  equal  as  iu  the  slavehold- 


ing  States,  under  any  other  relation  than  which 
;  now  exists.  Social  and  jiolitical  eipudity  bo- 
I  tween  them  is  impossible.  No  |H)wer  on  earth 
can  overcome  tlie  difllculty.  The  causes  resist- 
'  ing  lie  too  deep  in  the  principles  of  our  nature 
I  to  l)e  surmounted,  Hut,  without  such  eijiiality, 
to  change  the  present  condition  of  the  .African 
race,  were  it  i)o.ssible,  would  be  but  to  ehango 
the  form  of  slavery.  It  wcnild  make  them  tho 
slaves  of  the  community,  instead  of  the  slaves 
of  individuals,  with  less  responsibility  and  in- 
terest in  their  welfare  on  the  part  of  the  com- 
munity than  is  felt  by  their  present  masters; 
while  it  would  destroy  tho  security  and  iiido- 
pcndcnco  of  the  European  raccj  if  the  African 
should  be  permitted  to  continue  in  their  changed 
condition  within  the  limits  of  thosi;  States. 
They  would  look  to  the  other  States  tor  supiwrt 
and  protection, and  would  become,  virtually,  their 
allies  and  dependents ;  and  would  thus  jdace  iu 
the  hands  of  those  States  the  most  elfeetual  in- 
strument to  destroy  the  influence  and  control  tho 
destiny  of  the  rest  of  the  Union.  1 1  is  against 
this  relation  between  the  two  races  that  tho 
blind  and  criminal  zeal  of  the  abolitionists  is 
directed — a  relation  that  now  preserves  in  (juiet 
and  security  more  than  r),5()(),00O  of  human 
beings,  and  which  cannot  be  destroyed  without 
destroying  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  nearly 
half  the  States  of  the  Union,  and  involving  their 
entire  population  in  a  deadly  conflict,  that  must 
terminate  either  in  the  expulsion  or  extii'iiation 
of  those  who  are  the  object  of  the  mi.^guided  and 
false  humanity  of  those  who  claim  to  be  their 
friends.  lie  must  be  blind,  indeed,  who  does 
not  perceive  that  the  subversion  of  a  relation 
which  must  be  followed  with  such  disastrous 
consequences  can  only  be  effected  by  convulsions 
that  would  devastate  the  country,  burst  asunder 
the  bonds  of  Union,  and  ingulf  in  a  sea  of  blood 
the  institutions  of  the  country.  It  is  madness 
to  suppo.se  that  the  .slaveholding  States  would 
quietly  submit  to  be  sacrificed.  Every  con- 
sideration— interest,  duty,  and  humanity,  the 
love  of  country,  the  sense  of  wrong,  hatred  of 
oppressors,  and  treacherous  and  faithless  con- 
federates, and  finally  despair — would  impel  them 
to  the  most  daring  and  desperate  resistance  in 
defence  of  property,  family,  countiy,  liberty, 
and  existence.  But  wicked  and  cruel  as  is  the 
end  aimed  at,  it  is  fully  equalled  bj-  the  crimi- 
nality of  the  means  by  which  it  is  proposed  to 
be  accomplished.  These,  as  has  been  stated, 
consist  in  organized  societies  and  a  powerful 
press,  directed  mainly  with  a  view  to  excite  the 
bitterest  animosity  and  hatred  of  the  peojjle  of 
the  non-slaveholding  States  against  the  citizens 
and  i  ;titutions  of  the  slaveholding  States. 
It  is  easy  to  sec  to  what  disastrous  results  such 
means  must  tend.  Passing  ovei'  the  more  ob- 
vious effects,  their  tendency  to  excite  to  insur- 
rection and  servile  war,  « ith  all  its  horrors,  and 
the  necessity  wdiich  such  tendency  must  impose 
on  the  slaveholding  States  to  resort  to  the  most 
rigid  discipline  and  severe  police,  to  the  great 


■:...:  l:-ii| 


584 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


Injury  (.f  tfio  pivsont  condition  of  tl.o  hIuvch 
thoro  mniiinH  another,  thmitoninK  incalculul.lc 
niisclnil  to  tht(  country.  Tho  intvitahio  ten- 
di-ncy  of  the  nifims  to  which  tho  aholitionists 
hny,.  ro8ortc(  to  cffoct  their  object  must,  ifnn- 
ssted  m  cn.I  in  conn.Ictely  alionatinK  th.  two 
pu'Ht  ..rt.onH  of  the  t^nio„.  The  incessant  m- 
tion  of  M.n.hy,  s  of  societicH.nn.l  a  vast  ,.rintin^r 

Trf,    '.""■'.'/'  t'"""^^'"*^  ""t  'laily  thousands  of 
artful  an.i  lullamniatory  j.uhlications,  nniHt  infike 
in  tune,  a  deep  impression  on  the  section  of  tiie 
Union  w-hcro    they   freely   cir.uilafe,    and  are 
mainly  des.frned  to  have  eflect.     The  well-in- 
fornied  and  thoughtful  may  hold  them  in  con- 
tempt,   ,ut  the  youn^',  the  incxperience.l,  the 
Ignorant,    an.l    thon^rlulcss,   will    receive    the 
poison.     In  process  of  time,  when  the  numl.er 
of  proselytos  IS  sufficiently  multiplied,  the  artful 
and  profligate,  who  are  ever  on  the  watcii  to 
Hcizc  on  any  moans,  however  wicked  and  diin- 
Kcrous,  will  unite  with  the  limatics,  and  make 
their  niovements  (he  basis  of  a  powerful  j.oliti- 
cal  party,  that  will  seek  advancement  by  diflus- 
inp   as  widely  as  possible,  hatred  nKuinst  tho 
8ux.hold.nn;  States.      iJ„t,   as    hatred   begets 
Hatred  and  animosity  animosity,  these  feclinirs 
would  become  reciprocal,  till  every  vestige  of 
attachment  would  cease  to  exist  between  the 
two  sections,  when  the  Union  and  the  constitu- 
tion, the  oflspnng  of  mutual  aflection  and  confi- 
dence, would  forever  in^^rish.     Such  is  the  danger 
to  which  the  movements  of  the  abolitionists  ex- 
pose the  country.     If  the  force  of  the  obligation 
18  in  proportion  to  the  magnitude  of  the  danirer 
stronger  cannot  be  imposed,  than  is  at  present 
on  the  States  withm  whose  limits  the  danuer 
originates,  to  arrest  its  furtlier  progress-a  duty 
they  owe,  not  only  to  the  States  whose  institu- 
tions are  assailed,  but  to  the  Union  and  consti- 
tution, as  has  been  shown,  and,  it  may  be  added, 
to  themselves.  ' 


The  insidiousness  of  this  report  was  in  the 
assunlption  of  an  actual  impending  danger  of  the 
abolition  of  slavery  in  all  tho  slave  States— the 
destruction  of  nine  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of 
proiMirty— the  ocean  of  blood  to  be  shed— the 
war  of  extermination  between  two  races— and 
the  necessity  forextraordinary  means  to  prevent 
these  dire  calamities ;  when  the  fact  was,  that 
there  was  not  one  particle  of  any  such  danger. 
The  assumption  was  contrary  to  fact :  the  re- 
port was  inflammatory  and  disorganizing:  and 
if  there  was  any  thing  enigmatical  in  its  con- 
clusions, it  was  sufficiently  interpreted  in  the 
contemporaneous  jxiblications  in  the  Southern 
slave  States,  which  were  open  in  their  declara- 
tions that  a  cause  for  separation  had  occurred 
limited  only  by  the  conduct  of  the  free  States  in 
Buppressing  within  a  given  time  tho  incendiary 


societies  within  their  liorders.  This  limitation 
woiil.l  throw  the  responsibility  of  disunion  ii^ 
on  tho  non-slaveliolding  Stntes  failing  to  sun- 
press  these  societies:  for  disunion,  in  that  ca^e 
was  foreshadowed  in  another  part  of  thin  n|,ort' 
and  fully  avowed  in  contemporary  Southern  piil>! 
lications.     Thus  the  report  said : 

"  Those  States,  on  tlio  other  hand,  arc  not 
only  iimler  all  the  obligations  which  iii(K|K.n,K.n 
comniiinities  woul.l  bo,  t<.  adopt  su.h  mLnn, 
but  also  under  the  obligation  which  theroiiHti' 
tution  superadds,  rendere<l  more  sacred,  if  .„«- 
sible,  by  the  fact  that,  while  the  Union  iinmscs 
restrictions  on  the   right  of  the  slavel.uJdinK 
States  to  defend  themselves,  it  alfor-ls  the  mc^ 
diuin  through  which  their  jK-ace  and  seciiritvaro 
assailed.     It  is  not  the  intention  of  the  coniinit- 
tee  to  inquire  what  those  restrictions  urc  ami 
what  are  the  means  which,  under  the  constitu- 
tion, are  left  to  the  slaveholding  States  to  iiro- 
tect  themselves.    The  period  hius  not  yet  come 
and  they  trust  never  will,  when  it  may  l,e  nt- 
cessary  to  decide  those  questions  ;  but  come  it 
must,  unless  the  States  whose  duty  it  is  to  siiii- 
pross  the  danger  shall  see  in  time  its  magiiitiKle 
aiKf  the  obligations  which  they  are  under  to 
adopt  siK^edy  and  effectual  measures  to  anostits 
further  progress.     That  the  full  force  of  this  obli- 
gation may  be  understood  by  all  parties  the 
conimittee  propose,  in  conclusion,  to  touch  hvM- 
\y  on  the  movements  of  the  abolitionists  with 
the  view  of  showing  the  dangerous  coiise(|uenws 
to  winch  they  must  lead  if  not  arrested." 

These  were  ominous  intimations,  to  receive 
their  full  interpretation  elsewhere,  and  indissolu- 
bly  connecting  themselves  with  the  late  disunion 
attitude  of  South  Carolina— the  basis  of  discon- 
tent only  changed.     Mr.  King  of  Georgia  said 
that  positions  had  been  assumed  and  principles 
insisted  upon  by  Mr.  Calhoun,  not  onlv  incon- 
sistent with  the  bill  reported,  but  he  'thought 
inconsistent  with  the  "existence  of  the  Union 
itself,  and  which  if  established  and  carried  into 
practice,  must  hastily  end  in  its  dissolution."  Mr. 
Calhoun  in  his  reply  pretty  veil  justified  these 
conclusions  of  the  Georgia  senator.    He  made  it  a 
point  that  tho  non-slaveholding  States  hud  done 
nothing  yet  to  suppress  the  incendiary  societies 
within  their  limits;  i«nd  joining  that  non-action 
of  these  States  with  a  refusal  of  Congress  to  pass 
this  bill,  he  looked  upon  it  as  in  vain  to  expect 
security  or  protection  for  the  slaveholding  States 
except  from    themselves— from  State  iiitenw- 
-ition,  ns  authorized  in  the  Viiviniu  resolutions 
of  1798 ;  and  as  recently  carried  out  by  South 
Carolina  in  her  nullification  proccedin[,s;  and 


ANNO  1885.     ANDREW  JAfKHON.  PRESIDENT. 


585 


declared  that  nothing  was  wanted  but  "  concert " 
amonK  theninclvcs  to  place  their  domcNtic  insti- 
tutioiiH,  tiuir  poacc  and  wcurity  uridtT  their  own 
protw'tion  und  iwyond  tlie  reach  of  (lan(j;er.  All 
this  woH  thns  intelligihly,  and  oniinoiiHly  stated 
in  his  reply  to  Mr.  King : 

'•  Tims  fur  (I  say  it  with  regret)  our  just  liope-s 
have  not  l»een  realized.  The  legislutineM  of  the 
South,  hacked  hv  the  voice  their  constituents 
expri'swd  Ihrough  innunierahje  meetings,  have 
calii'd  njiiiu  the  non-slaveholding  States  to  re- 
pn>8  the  movements  made  within  thejurisdic- 
tJDii  of  those  States  against  tlieir  peace  and  se- 
curity. Not  a  step  has  been  taken  ;  not  a  law 
has  been  passed,  or  even  proposed ;  and  I  ven- 
ture to  assert  that  none  will  he ;  not  but  what 
there  is  a  favorable  disposition  towards  us  in  the 
North,  but  I  clearly  see  the  state  of  political 
parties  there  presents  insuperable  iinjKjdiments 
to  any  legislation  on  the  subject.  I  rest  my 
opinion  on  the  fact  that  the  non-slaveholding 
Statis,  from  the  elements  of  their  population, 
ari'.and  will  continue  to  be,  divided  and  distract- 
ed  by  piirtie.s  of  nearly  equal  strength ;  and  that 
(a<ii  will  always  be  ready  to  seize  on  every 
movement  of  the  other  which  may  give  them  tlie 
superiority,  without  much  regard  to  consequen- 
ces, as  afleoting  their  own  States,  and  much  less, 
remote  and  distant  sections.  Nor  have  we  been 
less  disappointed  as  to  the  proceedings  of  Con- 
gress. IJelieving  that  the  general  government 
has  no  right  or  authority  over  i;ho  subject  of 
slavery,  we  had  just  grounds  to  hope  Congress 
would  refnse  all  jurisdiction  in  reference  to  it, 
in  whatever  form  it  might  bo  presented.  The 
very  opiwsito  course  has  been  pursued.  Aboli- 
tion petitions  have  not  only  been  received  in 
both  Houses,  but  received  on  the  most  obnoxious 
and  dangerous  of  all  grounds—  that  we  arc  bound 
to  receive  them  ;  that  is,  to  take  jurisdiction  of 
the  question  of  slavery  whenever  the  abolition- 
ists may  think  proper  to  petition  for  its  abolition, 
either  here  or  in  the  States,  Thus  far,  then,  we 
of  the  slaveholding  States  have  been  grievously 
disappointed.  One  question  still  remains  to  be 
decided  tlmt  is  presented  by  this  bill.  To  refuse 
to  puss  tills  bill  would  be  virtually  to  co-operate 
with  the  abolitionists — would  be  to  make  the 
officers  and  agents  of  the  post-office  department 
in  ellect  their  agents  and  abettors  in  the  cir- 
culation of  their  incendiary  publications,  in  vio- 
lation of  tlie  laws  of  the  States.  It  is  your  un- 
questionable duty,  as  I  have  demonstrably 
proved,  to  abstain  from  their  violation  ;  and,  by 
refusing  or  neglecting  to  discharge  that  dutv, 
you  would  clearly  enlist,  in  the  existing  contro- 
versy, on  the  side  of  the  abolitionists  against  the 
southern  States.  Should  such  be  your  decision, 
by  refusing  to  pass  this  bill,  I  shall  say  to  the 
peoplu  of  tlie  South,  look  to  yourselves— you 
have  nothing  to  hope  from  others.  But  I  must 
\i  c  '  Senate,  be  your  decision  what  it  may. 
the  bouth  will  never  abandon  the  principles  of 


this  bill.  If  you  refuse  co-operation  with  our 
laws,  and  conflict  Rhould  ensue  Initween  your 
ami  our  law,  the  ''mm  States  will  never 
yield  to  the  superH  cty  of  yours.  We  have  a 
remedy  in  our  hands,  whii'h,  in  such  events,  we 
shall  not  fail  to  a|>ply.  We  liave  high  atithority 
f<ir  asscirting  that,  in  such  cases,  'State  inter|)o- 
sition  is  the  rightful  remedy' — a  doctrine  tirst 
announced  by  Jetferson — ailojited  by  the  patri- 
otic and  rei)ublican  State  of  Kentucky  by  a  so- 
lemn resolution,  in  1708,  and  finally  carried  out 
into  successful  practice  on  a  recent  occasion,  ever 
to  Ih)  remembcreil,  by  the  gallant  State  which  I, 
in  part,  have  the  honor  to  represent.  In  this 
well-testi'd  ond  efficient  renifdy.  sustained  by 
the  principles  developed  hi  the  reiM)rt  and  a.SMcrt- 
ed  in  this  bill,  the  slaveholding  States  have  an 
ample  protection.  Let  it  be  fixed,  lei  it  be  riv- 
eted in  every  Southern  mind,  that  the  laws  of 
the  slaveholding  States  for  the  protection  of  their 
domestic  institutions  are  paramount  to  the  laws 
of  the  general  government  in  regulation  of  eom- 
nuTce  and  the  mail,  and  that  the  latter  must 
yield  to  the  former  in  the  event  of  conflict;  and 
that,  if  the  government  shoiUd  refuse  to  yield, 
the  States  have  a  right  to  interpose,  and  wo  are 
safe.  With  these  principles,  nothing  but  concert 
would  1)0  wanting  to  bid  defiance  to  the  move- 
ments of  the  abolitionisn.  whether  at  home  or 
abroadj  and  to  place  our  domestic  institutions, 
and,  with  them,  our  sccvrity  and  peace,  under 
our  own  protectijn,  and  beyond  the  reach  of 
danger." 

These  were  very  significant  intimations.  Con- 
gress itself  was  to  become  the  ally  of  the  aboli- 
tionists, and  enlist  in  their  cause,  if  it  did  not 
pass  his  bill,  which  was  opposed  by  Southern 
senators  and  founded  upon  a  minority  report 
of  a  Southern  committee  selected  by  Mr.  Cal- 
houn himself.  It  was  well  known  it  was  not  to 
pass ;  and  in  view  of  that  fact  it  was  urged  upon 
the  South  to  nullify  and  secede. 

Thus,  within  two  short  years  after  the  "com- 
promise "  of  1833  had  taken  Mr.  Calhoun  out  of 
the  hands  of  the  law,  he  publicly  and  avowedly 
relapsed  into  the  same  condition ;  recurring  again 
to  secession  for  a  new  grievance ;  and  to  be  re- 
sorted to  upon  cmtingencies  which  lie  knew  to 
be  certain ;  and  encouraged  in  this  course  by 
the  success  of  the  first  trial  of  strength  with  the 
federal  government.  It  has  been  told  at  the 
proper  place — in  the  chapter  which  gave  the 
secret  history  of  the  comproiuise  of  1833 — that 
Mr.  Webster  refused  to  go  into  that  measure, 
R.iying  tb.at  the  time  bad  pnmo  io  try  the  sti'cngth 
of  the  constitution  and  of  the  government :  and 
it  now  becomes  proper  to  tell  that  Mr.  Clay,  af- 
ter seeing  the  relapse  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  became 


w 


f  * 


illi 


586 


lUIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


doubtful  of  the  correctness  of  his  own  policy  in 
that  affair ;  and  often  said  to  his  friends  that, 
"in  looking  back  upon  the  whole  case,  he  had 
seriously  doubfod  the  policy  of  his  interference." 
Certainly  it  was  a  most  deplorable  interference, 
arresting  the  process  of  the  law  when  it  was  on 
the  point  of  settling  every  thing  without  hurting 
a  hair  of  any  man's  head,  and  putting  an  end  to 
nullification  for  ever ;  and  giving  it  a  victory, 
real  or  fancied,  to  encourage  a  new  edition  of 
the  same  proceedings  in  a  far  more  dangerous 
aud  pervading  form.  But  to  return  to  the  bill 
before  the  Senate. 


_      Mr.  Webster  addressed  the  Senate  at  length 
m  opposition  to  the  bill,  commencing  his  argu- 
ment against  what  he  contended  was  its  vague- 
ness and  obscurity,  in  not  sufficiently  definin"- 
what  were  the  publications  the  circulation  of 
which  It  intended  to  prohibit.     The  bill  pro- 
vided that  it  should  not  be  lawful  for  any  depu- 
ty postmaster,  in  any  State,  territory,  or  dis- 
trict of  the  United  States,  knowingly  to  deliver 
to  any  person  whatever,  any  pamphlet,  news- 
paper, handbill,  or  other  printed  paper  or  pic- 
torial representation,  touching  the  subject  of 
slavery,  where,  by  the  laws  of  the  said  State,  dis- 
trict, or  territory,  their  circulation  was  prohib- 
ited.    Under  this  provision,  Mr.  W.  contended 
that  It  was  impossible  to  say  what  publications 
might  not  be  prohibited  from  circulation.     No 
matter  what  was  the  publication,  whether  for  or 
against  slavery,  if  it  touched  the  subject  in  any 
shape  or  form,  it  would  fall  under  the  prohibi- 
tion.   Even  the  constitution  of  the  United  States 
inight  bo  proiiibited ;  and  the  T.erson  who  was 
clothed  with  the  power  to  judge  in  this  delicate 
matter  was  one  of  the  deputy  postmasters  who 
notwithstanding  the  difficulties  with  which  he 
was  encompassed  in  coming  to  a  correct  deci- 
sion, must  decide  correctly,  under  pain  of  bein"- 
removed  from  office.     It  would  be  necessary 
also,  he  said,  for  the  deputy  postmasters  refer- 
red to  in  this  bill,  to  make  themselves  acquainted 
with  all  the  various  laws  passed  by  the  States 
touching  the  subject  of  slavery,  and  to  decide 
on  them,  no  matter  how  variant  they  mi-'ht  be 
with  each  other.     Mr.  W.  also  contended  that 
the  bill  conflicted  with  that  provision  in  the 
constitution  which   prohibited   Congress   from 
passing  any  law  to  abridge  the  freedom  of  speech 
or  of  the  press.    What  was  the  liberty  of  the 
press  ?  he  asked.     It  was  the  liberty  of  print- 
ing as  well  as  the  liberty  (,f  publishing,  in  all 
the  ordinary  modes  of  publication;  and  was 
not  the  circulation  of  papers  through  the  mails 
an  ordinary  mode   of  publication?      He   was 
afraid  that  they  were  in  some  danger  of  taking 
a  step  in  this  matter  that  they  might  hereafter 
have  cause    to  regret,  by  its  being  contended 
that  whatever  in  this  bill  applies  to  piil>li>ations 
touching  slavery,  applies  to  other  publications 


that  the  States  might  think  proper  to  prohibit- 
and   Congress  might,  under  this  example  le 
called  upon  to  pass  laws  to  suppress  thocirciili 
tion  of  political,  religious,  or  any  other  cle>crin 
tion  of  publications  which  produced  excitinicnt 
in  the  States.    AVas  this  bill  in  accordance  « it! 
the  general  force  and  temper  of  the  constitution 
and  its  amendments  ?    It  was  not  in  accoiYlancc 
with  that  provision  of  the  instrnment  tiiwler 
which  the  freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  mtsq 
was  secured.     Whatever  laws  the  State  Iclm^I'i 
tures  might  pass  on  the  subject,  Concross  was 
restrained  from  legislating  in  any  manner  wlia't 
ever,  with  regard  to  the  press.    It  would  be  ad- 
mitted, that  if  a  newspaper  came  directed  to 
him,  he  had  a  property  in  it ;  and  how  could 
any  man,  then,  take  that  property  anti  bum  it 
without  due  form  of  law?  and  he  did  not  know 
how  this  newspaper  could  be  pronounced  an 
unlawful  publication,  and  having  no  proportv  in 
It  without  a  legal  trial.    Mr.  W.  ai-ued  a^ainn 
the  right  to  examine  into  the  nature  cf  piii.lin- 
tions  sent  to  the  post-office,  and  said  that  the 
right  of  an  individual  in  his  papers  was  secured 
to  him  in  every  fi-ee  country  in  the  world.    In 
England,  it  was  expressly  provided  that  tho 
papers  of  the  subject  shall  be  free  from  all  un 
reasonable  searches  and  seizures— la 'igua^c,  he 
said,  to  be  found  in  our  constitution,  "ihis 
principle  established  in  England,  so  esseiiti.'vl  to 
liberty,  had  been  followed  out  in  France  where 
the  right  of  printing  and  publishing  was  secured 
m  the  fullest  extent;  the  individual  publishinc' 
being  amenable  to  the  laws  for  what  lie  publish- 
ed ;  and  every  man  printed  and  publislicd  wiiat 
he  pleased,  at  his  peril.    Mr.  Webster  went  on, 
at  some  length,  to  show  that  the  bill  was  con- 
trary to  that  provision  of  the  constitution  which 
prohibits  Congress  to  pass  any  law  abrid-'iu" 
the  freedom  of  speech  or  of  the  press."      °  " 

Mr.  Clay  spoke  against  the  bill,  saying; 

"  The  evil  complained  of  was  the  circulation 
of  papers  having  a  certain  tendency.    The  pa- 
pers, unless  circulated,  did  no  harm,  and  while 
in  the  post-office  or  in  the  mail,  they  were  not 
circulated— it  was  the  circulation  solely  wliich 
constituted  tho  evil.     It  was  the  taking  them 
out  of  the  mail,  and  the  use  that  was  to  be  made 
of  them,  that  constituted  the  mischief.    Then  it 
was  perfectly  competent  to  the  State  authorities 
to  apply  the  remedy.     The  instant  that  a  pro- 
hibited paper  was  handed  out,  whether  to  a  citi- 
zen or  sojourner,  he  was  subject  to  the  laws 
which  might  compel  him  either  to  surrender 
them  or  burn  them.    He  considered  the  bill  not 
only  unnecessary,  but  as  a  law  of  a  daiipei-ous, 
if  not  a  doubtful,  authority.     It  was  objected 
that  it  was  vague  and  indefinite  in  itsclianicfer; 
and  how  is  that  objection  got  over  ?    The  bill 
provided  t!i!' t  it  shall  not  be  lawful  fur  any  deim- 
ty  postmaster,  in  any  State,  territory,  or  dis' 
trict  of  the  United  States,  knowingly  to  deliver 
to  any  person  whatever,  any  pamphlet,  newspa- 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


587 


think  proper  to  prohibit  • 
,  under  this  cxamj)ic,  be 
W8  to  suppress  tho  circtila- 
lous,  or  any  other  doscrin- 
■hich  produced  cxcittnicnt 
his  bill  in  accordance  with 
temper  of  the  constitution 

It  was  not  in  aceonlance 
of  tho  instrument  under 
f  speech  and  of  the  press 
ver  laws  the  State  Icgisla- 
the  subject,  Congress  was 
iting  in  any  manner  wliat- 
le  press.     It  would  be  ad- 
rspaper  came  directed  to 
■ty  in  it ;  and  how  could 
hat  property  and  burn  it 
iw?  and  he  did  not  know 
could  be  pronounced  an 
md  having  no  property  in 
I.    Mr.  W.  ai-gued  against 
ito  the  nature  cf  publica- 
-ofHce,  and  said  that  the 
in  his  papers  was  secured 
ountry  in  the  world.    In 
essly  provided  that  the 
hall  be  free  from  all  un 
id  seizures— language,  he 
our  constitution.     This 
1  England,  so  essential  to 
red  out  in  France,  where 
id  publishing  was  secured 
the  individual  publishing 
aws  for  what  he  publish- 
nted  and  published  what 

Mr.  Webster  went  on, 
T  that  the  bill  was  con- 
of  the  constitution  which 
pass  any  law  abridging 
)r  of  the  press." 

ist  the  bill,  saying ; 


por,  handbill,  or  other  printed  paper  or  pictorial 
representation,  touching  the  subject  of  slavery, 
where,  by  the  laws  of  the  said  State,  territory, 
or  district,  their  circulation  is  prohibited.  Now, 
what  could  be  more  vague  and  indefinite  than 
this  description  ?  Now,  could  it  be  decided,  by 
this  description,  what  publications  should  be 
withheld  from  distribution?  The  gentleman 
from  Pennsylvania  said  that  the  laws  of  the 
States  would  supply  the  omission.  He  thought 
the  senator  was  premature  in  saying  that  there 
would  be  precision  in  State  laws,  before  he 
showed  it  by  producing  the  law.  He  had  seen 
no  such  law,  and  he  did  not  know  whether  the 
description  in  the  bill  was  applicable  «r  not. 
There  was  another  objection  to  this  part  of  the 
bill ;  it  applied  not  only  to  the  present  laws  of 
the  States,  but  to  any  future  laws  that  might 
pass.  Jlr.  C.  denied  that  the  bill  applied  to  the 
slavehokling  States  only  ;  and  went  on  to  argue 
that  it  coulil  be  applied  to  all  the  States,  and  to 
any  publication  touching  the  subject  of  slavery 
whatever,  whether  for  or  against  it,  if  such  pub- 
lication was  only  prohibited  by  the  laws  of  such 
State.  Thus,  for  instance,  a  non-slaveholding 
State  might  prohibit  publications  in  defence  of 
the  institution  of  slavery,  and  this  bill  would 
apply  to  it  as  well  as  to  the  laws  of  the  slave- 
holding  States ;  but  the  law  would  be  inoper^,- 
tive:  it  declared  that  the  deputy  postmaster 
should  not  be  amenable,  unless  he  knowingly 
shall  deliver,  &c.  Why,  the  postmaster  might 
plead  ignorance,  and  of  course  the  law  would  be 
inoperative. 

'•But  he  wanted  to  know  whence  Congress 
derived  the  power  to  pass  this  law.  It  was  said 
that  it  was  to  carry  into  effect  the  laws  of  the 
States.  Where  did  they  get  such  authority? 
He  thought  that  their  only  authority  to  pass 
laws  was  in  pursuance  of  the  constitution ;  but 
to  pass  laws  to  carry  into  effect  the  laws  of  the 
States,  was  a  most  prolific  authority,  and  there 
was  no  knowing  where  it  was  to  stop ;  it  would 
make  the  legislation  of  Congress  dependent  upon 
the  legislation  of  twenty-four  diifcrent  sove- 
reignties. He  thought  the  bill  was  of  a  most 
dangerous  tendency.  The  senator  from  Penn- 
sylvania asked  if  the  post-office  power  did  not 
give  them  the  right  to  regulate  what  should  be 
carried  in  the  mails.  Why,  there  was  no  such 
power  as  that  claimed  in  the  bill ;  and  if  they 
passed  such  a  law,  it  would  be  exercising  a  most 
dangerous  power.  Why,  if  such  doctrine  pre- 
vailed, the  government  might  designate  the  per- 
sons, or  parties,  or  classes,  who  should  have  the 
benefit  of  the  mails,  excluding  all  others." 

At  last  the  voting  came  on ;  and,  what  looks 
sufficiently  curious  on  the  outside  view,  there 
were  three  tie  votes  successively — two  on  amend- 
ments, and  one  on  the  engrossment  of  the  bill. 
The  two  ties  on  amendments  stood  fifteen  to 
fifteen— the  absentees  being  eighteen :  one  third 


of  the  Senate :  the  tie  on  engrossment  was  eigh- 
teen to  eighteen — the  absentees  being  twelve: 
oiie  fourth  of  the  Senate.  It  was  Mr.  Calhoun 
who  called  for  the  yeas  and  naj's  on  each  of 
these  questions.  It  was  evident  that  there  was 
a  design  to  throw  the  bill  into  the  hands  of  tho 
Vice-President — a  New-Yorker,  and  the  pro- 
minent candidate  for  the  -presidency.  In  com- 
mittee of  the  whole  he  did  not  vote  in  the  case 
of  a  tie  5  but  it  was  necessary  to  establish  an 
equilibrium  of  votes  there  to  be  ready  for  the 
immediate  vote  in  Senate  on  the  engrossment ; 
and  when  the  committee  tie  was  deranged  by 
the  accession  of  three  votes  on  one  side,  the 
equilibrium  was  immediately  re-established  by 
three  on  the  other.  Mr.  Van  Buren,  at  the  mo- 
ment of  this  vote  (on  the  engrossmcirt)  was  out 
of  the  chair,  and  walking  behind  the  colonnade 
back  of  the  presiding  officer's  chair.  My  eyes 
were  wide  open  to  what  was  to  take  place.  Mr. 
Calhoun,  not  seeing  him,  eagerly  and  loudly 
asked  where  was  the  Vice-President  ?  and  told 
the  Sergeant-at-arms  to  look  for  him.  But  he 
needed  no  looking  for.  He  was  within  hearing 
of  all  that  passed,  and  ready  for  the  contingency : 
and  immediately  stepping  up  to  his  chair,  and 
standing  up,  promptly  gave  the  casting  vote  iu 
favor  of  the  engrossment.  I  deemed  it  a  polit- 
ical vote,  that  is  to  say,  given  from  policy ;  and 
I  deemed  it  justifiable  under  the  circumstances. 
Mr.  Calhoun  had  made  the  rejection  of  the  bill 
a  test  of  alliance  with  Northern  abolitionists, 
and  a  cause  for  the  secession  of  the  Southern 
States :  and  if  the  bill  had  been  rejected  by  Van 
Buren's  vote,  the  whole  responsibility  of  its  loss 
would  have  been  thrown  upon  him  and  the 
North ;  and  the  South  inflamed  against  those 
States  and  himself — the  more  so  as  5Ir.  White, 
of  Tennessee,  the  opposing  democratic  candidate 
for  the  presidency,  gave  his  votes  for  the  bill. 
Mr.  Wright  also,  as  I  believe,  voted  politically, 
and  on  all  the  votes  both  in  the  committee  and 
the  Senate.  He  was  the  political  and  the  per- 
sonal friend  of  the  Vice-President,  most  confi- 
dential with  him,  and  believed  to  be  the  best 
index  to  his  opinions.  He  was  perfectly  sensi- 
ble of  his  position,  and  in  every  vote  on  the 
subject  voted  with  Mr.  Calhoun.  Several  other 
senators  voted  politically,  and  without  com- 
punction, although  it  was  a  bad  bill,  as  it  was 
known  it  would  not  pass.  The  author  of  this 
View  would  not  so  vote.    He  was  tired  of  the 


)i 


i  I 


iWu 


688 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


eternaJ  cry  of  dissolving  the  Union— did  not 
believe  in  it— and  would  not  give  a  repugnant 
vote  to  avoid  the  trial.     The  tic  vote  having 
been  eflcctcd,  and  failed  of  its  expected  result, 
the  Senate  afterwards  voted  quite  fully  on  the 
final  passage  of  the  bill,  and  rejected  it— twenty- 
five  to  nineteen :  only  four  absent.    The  yeas 
were :  Messrs.  Black*,  Bedford,  Brown,  Bucha- 
nan, Calhoun,   Cuthbcrt  of  Georgia,  Grundy, 
King  of  Alabama,  King  of  Georgia,  Mangum' 
Moore,  Nicholas  of  Louisiana,  Alexander  Porter' 
Preston  of  South  Carolina,  Rives,  Robinson,' 
Tallmadge,  Walker  of  Mississippi,  White  of  Ten- 
nessee, Silas  Wright.    The  nays  were :  Messrs. 
Benton,  Clay,  Crittenden,  Davis  of  Massachu- 
setts, Ewing  of  Illinois,  Ewing  of  Ohio,  Golds- 
borough  of  JIaryland,    Ilondricks,    Hubbard, 
Kent,  Knight,  Leigh,  McKeau  of  Pennsylvania' 
Thomas  Morris  of  Ohio,  Naudain  of  Delaware' 
Niles  of  Connecticut,  Prentiss,  Ruggles,  Shepley,' 
Southard,  Swift,  Tipton,   Tomlinson,  Wall  of 
New  Jersey,  Webster :  majority  six  against  the 
bill ;  and  seven  of  them,  if  the  solecism  may  be 
allowed,  from  the  slave  States.    And  thus  was 
accomplished  one  of  the  contingencies  in  which 
"  State  interposition  »  was  again  to  bo  applied 
—the  "  rightful  remedy  of  nullification  ''  again 
resorted  to— and  tiie  "  domestic  institutions  » 
of  the  Southern  States,  by  "concert"  among 
themselves,  «to  be  placed  beyond  the  reach  of 
danger." 


TT„-f^  c!*!  however,  the  government  of  the 
Umted  States  was  awaituig  the  movements  "? 

Jwyi!^''"^^^^''"™''"^'  "^  ^'^^^'''^^  confidence 
that  the  difficulty  was  at  an  end,  the  SocmZ 

of  State  received  a  call  from  the  French  charS 
d'affaires  m  \\ashington,  who  desired  to  read  to 
him  a  letter  he  had  received  from  the  French 
minister  of  foreign  affairs.    He  was  asked  who 
ther  he  was  instructed  or  directed  to  make  anr 
otbcial  communication,  and  replied  that  he  ;vw 
only  authorized  to  read  the  letter,  and  furnish  ! 
copy  If  requested.    It  was  an  attempt  to  mil 
known  to  the  government  of  the  United  Stntes 
privately,  in  what  manner  it  could  make  oxnla' 
nations,  apparently  voluntary,  but  really  dictated 
by  France,  acceptable  to  her,  and  thus  obta  n 
payment  of  the  twenty-five  millions  of  francs 
No  exception  was  taken  to  this  mode  of  com" 
munication,  which  is  often  used  to  prepare  the 
way  for  official  intercourse;  but  the  sugoestions 
made  m  it  were,  in  their  substance,  wholly  in- 
admissible.   Not  being  in  the  shape  of  an  official 
communication  to  this  government,  it  did  not 
admit  of  reply  or  official  notice;  nor  could  it 
safely  be  made  the  basis  of  any  action  by  the 
^„^^^"  "'c,."/ the  legislature;  and  the  Secretary 
of  State  did  not  think  proper  to  ask  a.-opy  be- 
cause he  could  have  no  use  for  it." 


CHAPTER    CXXXII. 

PEENCn   AFFAIKS-APPROACII   OF   A   FRENCH 
SQUADJEON-APOLOGT  REQUIRED. 

In  his  annual  message  at  the  commencement  of 
the  session  the  President  gave  a  general  state- 
ment of  our  affairs  with  France,  and  promised  a 
special  communication  on  the  subject  at  an  early 
day.     That  communication  was  soon  made,  and 
showed  a  continued  refusal  on  the  part  of  France 
to  pay  the   indemnity,  unless  an  apology  was 
first  made ;  and  also  showed  that  a  French  fleet 
was  preparing  for  the  American  seas,  under  cir- 
cumstances which  implied  a  design  either  to 
overawe   the  American  government,  or  to  ho 
ready  for  expected  hostiHties.     On  the  subject 
of  the  apology,  the  message  said :  j 


One  cannot  but  be  struck  with  the  extreme 
moderation  with  which  the  President  gives  the 
history  of  this  private  attempt  to  obtain  a  dic- 
tated apology  from  him.    He  recounts  it  soberlj- 
and  quietly,  without  a  single  expression  of  irri- 
tated feeling ;  and  seems  to  have  met  and  put 
I  aside  the  attempt  in  the  same  quiet  manner.   It 
was  fc.  proof  of  his  extreme  indisposition  to  have 
any  collision  with  France,  and  of  his  perfect 
detennination  to  keep  himself  on  the  riglit  side 
in  the  controversy,  whatever  aspect  it  mislit 
assume.    But  that  was  not  the  only  triaMo 
which  his  temper  was  put.    The  atteinpt  to  ob- 
tain the  apology  being  civilly  repul^icd,  and  the 
proftered  copy  of  the  dictated  terms  refused  to 
be  taken,  an  attempt  was  made  to  get  thai  copy 
placed  upr)n  the  archives  of  the  government, 
with  the  view  to  its  getting  to  Congress,  and 
through  Congress  to  the  people ;  to  become  a 
point  of  attack  upon  the  President  for  not  giving 
the  apology,  and  thereby  getting  the  money 
from  France,  and  returning  to  friendly  relations 
with  her.     Of  tiiis  aUenipt  to  get  a  refused  pa- 
per upon  our  archives,  and  to  make  it  operate 
as  au  appeal  to  the  people  against  tlieir  own 
government,  the  President  (still  preserving  all 
his  moderation),  gives  tiiis  account : 

"  Copies  of  papers,  marked  Nos.  9, 10,  and  11, 


ANNO  1836.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


589 


the  government  of  tlie 
aitmg  the  movements  of 
int,  ill  perfect  confidence 

at  an  end,  the  Sceretarv 
I  from  the  French  dm-i 
>n,  who  desired  to  read 'lo 
iceived  from  the  French 
lire.    lie  was  asked  whe- 

or  directed  to  make  anr 

and  replied  that  he  Mas 

1  the  letter,  and  furnish  a 
was  an  attempt  to  niako 
ent  of  the  United  States 
!ier  it  could  make  cxpla- 

ntary,  but  really  dictated 
;o  her,  and  thus  obtain 
r-mo  millions  of  francs. 
sn  to  this  mode  of  com- 
Pten  used  to  prepare  the 
irse ;  but  the  suggestions 
ir  substance,  wholly  in- 
in  theshapeofanoificial 
government,  it  did  not 
ial  notice;  nor  could  it 
is  of  any  action  by  the 
iture ;  and  the  Secretary 
)roper  to  ask  a  >'opy  be- 
useforit." 


edNos.9, 10,  and  11, 


show  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  French 
charge  d'affaires,  many  weeks  afterwards,  to 
place  a  copy  of  this  paper  among  the  archives 
of  this  government,  which  for  obvious  reasons, 
was  not  allowed  to  be  done ;  but  the  assurance 
before  given  was  repeated,  that  any  official  com- 
munication which  ho  might  bo  authorized  to 
make  in  the  accustomed  form  would  receive  a 
prompt  and  just  consideration.  The  indiscretion 
of  this  attempt  was  made  more  manifest  by  the 
sul)sequent  avowal  of  the  French  charge  d'af- 
faires, that  the  object  was  to  bring  the  letter 
before  Congress  and  the  American  people.  If 
foreign  agents,  on  a  subject  of  disagreement  be- 
tneen  their  government  and  this,  wish  to  prefer 
an  appeal  to  the  American  people,  they  will 
hereafter,  it  is  hoped,  better  appreciate  their 
own  rights,  and  the  respect  due  to  others,  than 
to  attempt  to  use  the  Executive  as  the  passive 
organ  of  their  communications.  It  is  due  to  the 
cliaracter  of  our  mstitutions  that  the  diplomatic 
intercourse  of  this  government  should  be  con- 
ducted with  the  utmost  directness  and  simplicity, 
and  that,  in  all  cases  of  importance,  the  com- 
munications received  or  made  by  the  Executive 
should  assume  the  accustomed  official  form.  It 
is  only  by  insisting  on  this  form  that  foreign 
powers  can  be  held  to  full  responsibility  ;  that 
their  communications  can  be  officially  replied 
to ;  or  that  the  advice  or  interference  of  the 
legislature  can,  with  propriety,  be  invited  by  the 
Pre-iident.  This  course  is  also  best  calculated, 
on  the  one  hand,  to  shield  that  officer  from  un- 
just suspicions ;  and,  on  the  other,  to  subject 
this  portion  of  his  acts  to  public  scrutiny,  and, 
if  occasion  shall  require  it,  to  constitutional 
animadversion.  It  was  the  more  necessary  to 
adhere  to  these  principles  in  the  instance  in  ques- 
tion, inasmuch  as,  in  addition  to  other  important 
interests,  it  very  intimately  concerned  the  na- 
tional honor;  a  matter,  in  my  judgment,  much 
too  sacred  to  be  made  the  subject  of  private  and 
unofficial  negotiation." 

Having  shown  the  state  of  the  question,  the 
President  next  gave  his  opinion  of  what  ought 
to  be  done  by  Congress  ;  which  was,  the  inter- 
diction of  our  ports  to  the  entry  of  French  ves- 
sels and  French  products: — a  milder  remedy 
than  that  of  reprisals  which  he  had  recom- 
mended at  the  previous  session.    He  said : 

"  It  is  time  that  this  unequal  position  of  af- 
fairs should  cease,  and  that  legislative  action 
should  be  brought  to  sustain  Executive  exertion 
in  such  measures  as  the  case  requires.  While 
France  persists  in  her  refusal  to  comply  with 
tlie  terms  of  a  treaty,  the  object  of  which  was, 
by  removing  all  causes  of  mutual  complaint,  to 
renew  ancient  feelings  of  friendship,  and  to  unite 
the  tn-n  nations  in  the  bonds  of  amity,  and  of  a 
mutually  beneficial  commerce,  she  cannot  justly 
complain  if  we  adopt  such  peaceful  remedies  as 
the  law  of  nations  and  the  circumstances  of  the 


case  may  authorize  and  demand.  Of  the  nature 
of  these  remedies  I  have  heretofore  had  occasion 
to  speak ;  and,  in  reference  to  a  particular  con- 
tingency, to  express  my  conviction  that  reprisals 
would  be  best  adapted  to  the  emergency  then 
contemplated.  Since  that  period,  France,  by  all 
the  departments  of  her  government,  has  acknow- 
ledged the  validity  of  our  claims  and  the  obliga- 
tions of  the  treaty,  and  has  appropriated  the 
moneys  which  are  necessary  to  its  execution ; 
and  though  payment  is  withheld  on  grounds 
vitally  important  to  our  existence  as  an  inde- 
pendent nation,  it  is  not  to  be  believed  that  she 
can  have  determined  permanently  to  retain  a 
position  so  utterly  indefensible.  In  the  altered 
state  of  the  questions  in  controversy,  and  under 
all  existing  circumstances,  it  appears  to  me  that, 
until  such  a  determination  shall  have  become 
evident,  it  will  be  proper  and  sufficient  to  re- 
taliate her  present  refusal  to  comply  with  her 
engagements  by  prohibiting  the  introduction  of 
French  products  and  the  entry  of  French  vessels 
into  our  ports.  Between  this  and  the  interdic- 
tion of  all  commercial  intercourse,  or  other  re- 
medies, you,  as  the  representatives  of  the  people, 
must  determine.  I  recommend  the  former,  in 
the  present  posture  of  our  affairs,  as  being  the 
least  injurious  to  our  commerce,  and  as  attended 
with  the  least  difficulty  of  returning  to  the  usual 
state  of  friendly  intercourse,  if  the  government 
of  France  shall  render  us  the  justice  that  is  due ; 
and  also  as  a  proper  preliminary  step  to  stronger 
measures,  should  their  adoption  be  rendered  ne- 
cessary by  subsequent  events." 

This  interdiction  of  the  commerce  of  France, 
though  a  milder  measure  than  that  of  reprisals, 
would  still  have  been  a  severe  one — severe  at 
any  time,  and  particularly  so  since  the  formation 
of  this  treaty,  the  execution  of  which  was  so 
much  delayed  by  France ;  for  that  was  a  treaty 
of  two  parts — something  to  be  done  on  each  side. 
On  the  part  of  France  to  pay  us  indemnities :  on 
our  side  to  reduce  the  duties  on  French  wines : 
and  this  reduction  had  been  immediately  made 
by  Congress,  to  take  effect  from  the  date  of  the 
ratification  of  the  treaty ;  and  the  benefit  of  that 
reduction  had  now  been  enjoyed  by  French 
commerce  for  near  four  years.  But  that  was 
not  the  only  benefit  which  this  treaty  brought 
to  France  from  the  good  feeling  it  produced  in 
America:  it  procured  a  discrimination  in  fixvor 
of  silks  imported  from  this  side  of  the  Cajie  of 
Good  Hope — a  discrimination  inuring,  and  in- 
tended to  inure,  to  the  benefit  of  France.  The 
author  of  this  View  was  much  instrumental  in 
procuring  that  discrimination,  and  did  it  upon 
conversations  with  the  then  resident  French 
minister  at  Washington,  and  founding  his  argu- 


p  ; 


■l.  ^H.    I 


590 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


ment  upon  data  derived  from  him.  Tho  data 
Vvere  to  show  that  tlie  discrimination  would  be 
beneficial  to  the  trade  of  both  countries ;  but  the 
inducing  cause  was  good-will  to  Franco,  and  a 
desire  to  bury  all  recollection  of  past  differences 
in  our  emulation  of  good  works.  This  view  of 
the  treaty,  and  a  statement  of  the  advantages 
Vvhich  France  had  obtained  from  it,  was  well 
shown  by  Mr.  Buchanan  in  his  speech  in  sup- 
port of  the  message  on  French  affairs ;  in  which 
he  said : 

"  Th*-  government  of  the  United  States  pro- 
ceeded i:  imediately  to  execute  their  part  of  the 
treaty.    By  the  act  of  the  13th  July,  1832,  the 
duties  on  French  wines  were  reduced  according 
to  its  terms,  to  take  effect  from  tho  day  of  the 
exchange  of  ratifications.    At  the  same  session, 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  impelled,  no 
doubt,  by  their  kindly  feelings  towards  France, 
vvhich  had  been  roused  into  action  by  what  they 
bfi'h/ed  to  be  a  final  and  equitable  settlement 
of  all  our  disputes,  voluntarily  reduced  the  duty 
npon  silks  coming  from  this  side  of  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  to  Sv*;  per  cent.,  whilot  those  from 
beyond  were  fixed  at  ton  per  cent.    And  at  the 
next  session,  on  tine  2d  of  March,  1833,  this  duty 
of  five  per  cent,  vr-.s  taken  off  altogether ;  and 
ever  sinco,  French  silks  have  been  admitted  into 
our  country  free  v.  f  duty.    There  is  now,  in  fact,  a 
discriminating  dutj  of  tea  per  cent,  in  their  favor, 
over  silks  from  beyond  the  Capo  of  Good  Hope. 
"  What  has  France  gained  by  these  measures 
in  duties  on  Ler  wines  and  her  silks,  which  she 
would  otherwise  have  been  bound  to  pay  ?    I 
liave  called  upon  f  he  Secretarj^  of  the  Treasury, 
for  the  purpose  ot  ascertaining  the  amount.    I 
now  hold  in  my  hand  a  tabnlar  statement,  pre- 
pared at  my  request,  which  shows,  that  had  the 
duties  remained  what  they  were,  at  the  date  of 
the  ratification  of  the  treaty,  these  articles,  since 
that  time,  would  have  paid  into  the  Treasury 
the   20lh    September,   1834,   the    sum    oi 


I  tii  kiAi  L  J  ij 


on 

f  3,061, 525.  Judging  from  the  large  importa- 
tions which  have  since  been  made,  I  feel  no  hesi- 
tation in  declaring  it  as  my  opinion,  that,  at  the 
present  moment,  these  duties  would  amount  to 
more  than  the  whole  indemnity  which  France 
has  engaged  to  pay  to  our  fellow-citizens.  Be- 
fore the  conclusion  of  the  ten  years  mentioned 
in  the  treaty,  she  will  have  been  freed  from  the 
payment  of  duties  to  an  amount  considerably 
above  twelve  millions     c"  dollars." 

It  is  almost  incomprehensible  that  there 
should  have  been  such  delay  in  complying  with  a 
treaty  on  the  part  of  France  bringing  her  such 
advantages ;  and  it  is  due  to  the  King,  Louis 
Philippe  to  ."..ay,  thr.t  ho  conr-tantly  ix^lrrcd  the 
delay  to  the  difficulty  of  getting  the  appropria- 
tion through  the  French  legislative  chambers. 


He  often  applied  for  the  appropriation,  but  could 
not  venture  to  make  it  an  administration  ques- 
tion;  and  the  offensive  demand  for  the  apolo"y 
came  from  that  quarter,  in  the  shape  of  an  un- 
precedcntd  proviso   to  the  law  (wlien  it  did 
pass),  that  the  money  was  not  to  be  paid  until 
there  had  been  an  apology.    The  only  oljection 
to  the  King's  conduct  was  that  he  did  not  make 
the  appropriation  a  cabinet  measure,  and  try  is- 
sues with  the  chambers ;  but  that  objection  has 
become  less  since ;  and  in  fact  totally  disappeared 
from  seeing  a  few  years  afterwards,  the  ease 
with  which  the  King  was  expelled  from  his 
throne,  and  how  unable  he  was  to  try  issues 
with  the  chambers.     The  elder  branch  of  the 
Bourbons,  and  all  their  adherents,  were  unfriend- 
ly to  the  United  States,  considering  the  American 
revolution  as  the  cause  of  the  French  revolution- 
and  consequently  the  source  of  all  their  twenty- 
five  years  of  exile,  suffering  and  death.    The  re- 
publicans were  also  inimical  to  him,  and  sided 
with  the  legitimists. 

The  President  concluded  his  mes.sago  with 
stating  that  a  large  French  naval  armament 
was  under  orders  for  our  seas;  and  said: 

"  Of  the  cause  and  intent  of  these  armaments 
I  have  no  authentic  information,  nor  any  other 
means  of  judging,  except  such  as  are  common  to 
yourselves  and  to  the  public ;  but  whatever  may 
be  their  object,  we  are  not  at  liberty  to  rcard 
them  as  unconnected  with  the  measures  which 
hostile  movements  on  the  part  of  Fi-ance  may 
compel  us  to  pursue.  They  at  least  deserve  to 
be  met  by  adequate  preparations  on  our  part, 
and  I  therefore  strongly  urge  large  and  speedy 
appropriations  for  the  increase  of  tiie  navy  and 
the  completion  of  our  coast  defences.  ' 

"If  this  array  of  military  force  be  really  de- 
signed to  affect  tho  action  of  the  s^ovcriniient  and 
people  of  the  United  States  on  the  question.s  now 
pending  between  the  two  nations,  then  indeed 
would  it  be  dishonorable  to  pause  a  moment  on 
the  alternative  which  such  a  state  of  things 
would  present  to  us.  Come  what  may,  the  ex- 
planation which  France  demands  can  never  be 
accorded ;  and  no  armament,  however  powerful 
and  imposing,  at  a  distance,  or  on  our  coast,  will, 
I_  trust,  deter  us  from  discharging  the  liigli  du- 
ties which  we  owe  to  our  constituents,  ito  our 
national  character,  and  to  the  world." 

Mr.  Buchanan  sustained  the  message  in  a 
careful  and  well-considered  review  of  this  whole 
French  question,  showing  that  the  demand  f 
an  apology  was  an  insult  in  aggravation  of  the 
injury,  and  could  not  be  given  without  national 
degradation ;  joining  the  President  in  his  call 


ANNO  1830.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


591 


for  measures  for  preserving  the  rights  and  honor 
of  tlie  country ;  declaring  that  if  hostilities  came 
tliey  were  preferable  to  disgrace,  and  that  the 
wlidlc  world  would  put  the  blame  on  France. 
Mr.  Ciilhoun  took  a  different  view  of  it,  declar- 
ing that  the  state  of  our  affairs  with  France  was 
the  effect  of  the  President's  mismanagement,  and 
that  if  war  came  it  would  be  entirely  his  fault ; 
and  affirmed  his  deliberate  belief  that  it  was  the 
President's  design  to  have  war  with  France. 
He  said : 

"I  fe.ir  that  the  condition  in  which  the  coun- 
try is  now  placed  has  been  the  result  of  a  delib- 
erate and  systematic  policy.  I  am  bound  to 
speak  my  sentiments  freely.  It  is  due  to  my 
constitutents  and  the  country,  to  act  with  per- 
fect candor  and  truth  on  a  question  in  which 
their  interests  is  so  deeply  involved.  I  will  not 
assert  that  the  Executive  has  deliberately  aimed 
at  war  from  the  commencement ;  but  I  will  say 
that,  from  the  beginning  of  the  controversy  to 
the  present  moment,  the  course  which  the  Pre- 
sident has  pursued  is  precisely  the  one  calcula- 
ted to  terminate  in  a  conflict  between  the  two 
nations.  It  has  been  in  his  power,  at  every  pe- 
riod, to  give  tlie  controversy  a  direction  by  which 
the  peace  of  the  country  might  be  preserved, 
without  the  least  sacrifice  of  reputation  or  hon- 
or ;  but  he  has  preferred  the  opposite.  I  feel 
(said  Ur.  C.)  how  painful  it  is  to  make  these 
declarations  ;  how  unpleasant  it  is  to  occupy  a 
position  which  might,  by  any  possibility,  be  con- 
strued in  opposition  to  our  country's  cause ; 
but,  in  my  conception,  the  honor  and  the  inter- 
ests of  the  country  can  only  be  maintained  by 
pursuing  the  course  that  truth  and  justice  may 
dictate.  Acting  mider  this  impression,  I  do  not 
iositate  to  assert,  after  a  careful  examination  of 
the  documents  connected  with  this  unhappy 
controversy,  that,  if  war  must  come,  we  are  the 
authors — we  are  the  responsible  party.  Stand- 
ing, as  I  fear  we  do,  on  the  eve  of  a  conflict,  it 
would  to  me  have  been  a  source  of  pride  and 
pleasure  to  make  an  opposite  declaration ;  but 
that  sacred  regard  to  truth  and  justice,  which,  I 
trust,  will  ever  be  my  guide  under  the  most  dif- 
ficult circumstances,  would  not  permit." 

Mr.  Benton  maintained  that  it  was  the  con- 
duct of  the  Senate  at  the  last  session  which  had 
given  to  the  French  question  its  present  and 
hostile  aspect :  that  the  belief  of  divided  counsels, 
and  of  a  majority  against  the  President,  and  that 
we  looked  to  money  and  not  to  honor,  had  en- 
couraged the  French  chambers  to  insult  us  by 
demanding  an  apology,  and  to  attempt  to  in- 
tunidate  us  by  sending  a  fleet  upon  our  coasts. 
He  said : 

'•It  was  in  March  last  that  the  three  millions 


and  the  fortification  bill  were  lost ;  since  then  the 
whole  aspect  of  the  French  question  is  changed. 
The  money  is  withheld,  and  explanation  is  de- 
manded, an  apology  is  prescribed,  and  a  French 
fleet  approaches.  Our  government,  charged 
with  insulting  France,  when  no  insult  was 
intended  by  us,  and  none  can  be  detected  in  our 
words  by  her,  is  itself  openly  and  vehemently  in- 
sulted. The  apology  is  to  degrade  us ;  the  fleet 
to  intimidate  us ;  and  the  two  together  consti- 
tute an  insult  of  the  gravest  character.  There 
in  no  parallel  to  it,  except  in  the  history  of 
France  herself;  but  not  France  of  the  19th  cen- 
tury, nor  even  of  the  18th,  but  in  the  remote 
and  ill-regulated  times  of  the  17th  century,  and 
in  the  days  of  the  proudest  of  the  French  Kings, 
and  towards  one  of  the  smallest  Italian  repub- 
lics. I  allude,  sir,  to  what  happened  between 
Louis  XIV.  and  the  Doge  of  Genoa,  and  will  read 
the  account  of  it  from  the  pen  of  Voltaire,  in  his 
Age  of  Louis  XIV. 

"  '  The  Genoese  had  built  four  galleys  for  the 
service  of  Spain ;  the  King  (of  Franco)  forbade 
them,  by  his  envoy,  St.  Olon,  one  of  his  gentle- 
men in  ordinary,  to  launch  those  galleys.  The 
Genoese,  incensed  at  this  violation  of  their  hber- 
ties,  and  depending  too  much  on  the  support  of 
Spain,  refused  to  obey  the  order.  Immediately 
fourteen  men  of  war,  twenty  galleys,  ten  bomb- 
ketches,  with  several  frigates,  set  sail  from  the 
port  of  Toulon.  They  arrived  before  Genoa, 
and  the  ten  bomb-ketches  discharged  14,000 
shells  into  the  town,  which  reduced  to  ashes  a 
principal  part  of  those  marble  edifices  which  had 
entitled  this  city  to  the  name  of  Genoa  tlie 
Proud.  Four  thousand  men  were  then  landed, 
who  marched  up  to  the  gates,  and  burnt  the 
suburb  of  St.  Peter,  of  Arena.  It  was  now 
thought  prudent  to  submit,  in  order  to  prevent 
the  total  destruction  of  the  city.  The  King  ex- 
acted that  the  Doge  of  Genoa,  with  four  of  the 
principal  senators,  should  come  and  implore  his 
clemency  in  the  palace  of  Versailles ;  and,  lest 
the  Genoese  slvould  elude  the  making  this  satis- 
faction, and  lessen  in  any  manner  the  pomp  of 
it,  he  insisted  further  that  the  Doge,  who  was 
to  perform  this  embassy,  should  be  continued  in 
his  magistracy,  notwithstanding  the  perpetual 
law  of  Genoa,  which  deprives  the  Doge  of  his 
dignity  who  is  absent  but  a  moment  from  the 
city.  Imperialo  Lercaro,  Doge  of  Genoa,  attended 
by  the  senators  Lomellini),  Garibaldi,  Durazzo, 
an .!  Salvago,  repaired  to  Versailles,  to  submit  to 
what  was  required  of  him.  The  Doge  appeared 
in  his  robes  of  state,  his  head  covered  with  a 
bonnet  of  red  velvet,  which  he  often  took  off 
during  his  speech ;  made  his  apology,  the  very 
words  and  demeanor  of  which  wore  dictated  and 
prescribed  to  him  by  Seignolai,'  (tiie  French 
Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs). 

"  Thus,  said  Mr.  B.,  wus  the  city  of  Genoa, 
and  its  Dogo,  treated  by  Louis  XI V.  But  it 
was  not  the  Doge  who  was  degraded  by  this 
indignity,  but  the  republic  of  which  he  was 
chief  magistrate,  and  all  tho  republics  of  Italy, 


I  1 ;  i- 


m 


592 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


t'ML 


besides,  which  felt  themselves  all  humbled  by 
the  outrage  which  a  kinj;  had  inflicted  upon  one 
of  their  number.    So  of  the  apology  demanded, 
and  of  the  fleet  sent  upon  us,  and  in  presence  of 
which  President  Jackson,  according  to  the  Con- 
stitulionnel,  is  to  make  his  decision,  and  to  re- 
mit it  to  the  Tuilerios.     It  is  not  President 
Jackson  that  is  outraged,  but  the  republic  of 
whicJi  he  IS  President ;  and  all  existing  repub- 
lics, wheresoever  situated.     Our  whole  country 
IS  insulted,  and  that  is  the  feeling  of  the  whole 
country;  and  this  feeling  pours  in  upon  us  every 
day,  in  every  manner  in  which  public  sentiment 
can  be  manifested,  and  especially  in  the  noble 
resolves  of  the  States  whose  legislatures  are  in 
session,  and  who  hasten  to  declare  their  adhe- 
rence to  the  policy  of  the  special  message.    True 
President  Jackson  is  not  required  to  repair  to 
the  Tuileries,  with  four  of  his  most  obnoxious 
^^"ators^  and  there  recite,  in  person,  to  the  King 
of  the  French,  the  apology  which  he  had  first 
rehearsed  to  the  Duke  de  Broglie;   true   the 
bomb-ketches  of  Admiral  Mackau  have  not  yet 
fired  14,000  shells  on  one  of  our  cities ;  but  the 
mere  demand  for  an  apology,  the  mere  dictation 
of  Its  terms,  and  the  mere  advance  of  a  fleet  in 
the  present  state  of  the  world,  and  in  the  dif- 
ference of  parties,  is  a  greater  outrage  to  us  than 
the  actual  perpetration  of  the  enormities  were 
to  the  Genoese.     This  is  not  the  seventeenth 
century.     President  Jacljson  is  not  the  Doo-e 
of  a  trading  city.    We  are  not  Italians,  to  be 
trampled  upon  by  European  kings ;  but  Ameri- 
cans, the  descendants  of  that  Anglo-Saxon  race 
which,  for  a  thousand  years,  has  known  how  to 
command  respect,  and  to  preserve  its  place  at 
the  head  of  nations.    We  are  young,  but  old 
enough  to  prove  that  the  theory  of  the  French- 
man, the  Abbe  Raynal,  is  as  false  in  its  applica- 
tion to  the  people  of  this  hemisphere  as  it  is  to 
the  other  productions  of  nature;  and  that  the 
belittling  tendencies  of  the  New  World  are  no 
more  exemplified  in  the  human  race  than  they 
are  in  the  exhibition  of  her  rivers  and  her  moun- 
tains, and  in  the  indigenous  races  of  the  mam- 
moth and  the  mastodon.    The  Duke  de  Bro"-- 
lie  has  made  a  mistake,  the  less  excusable  be- 
cause he  might  find  in  his  own  countrj'j'and 
perhaps  m  his  own  family,  examples  of  the  ex- 
treme criticalness  of  attempting  to  overawe  a 
community  of  freemen.    There  was  a  Marshal 
Broghe,  who  was  Minister  at  War,  at  the  coin- 
menoement  of  the  French  Revolution,  and  who 
advised  the  formation  of  a  camp  of  20,000  mtn 
to  overawe  Paris.    The  camp  was  formed.   P.uris 
revoked ;  captured  the  Bastile ;  marched  to  Ver- 
sailles ;    stormed    the    Tuileries  ;    overset   the 
monarchy ;  and  established  the  Revolution.    So 
much  for  attempting  to  intimidate  a  city.    And 
yet,  here  is  a  nation  of  freemen  to  be  intimi- 
dated :  a  republic  of  fourteen  millions  of  peo- 
ple, and  descendants  of  that  Anglo-Saxon  race 
'.vliidi,  from  the  days  of  Agincourt  and  Cicssy, 
ol  Blenheim  and  Ramillies,  down  to  the  davs  of 
Salamanca  and  Waterloo,  have  always  known 


perfectly  well  how  to  deal  with  the  impetuons 
and  flcry  courage  of  the  French." 

Mr.  Benton  also  showed  that  there  was  a 
party  in  the  French  Chambers,  working  to  se- 
parate the  President  of  the  United  States  ftom 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  and  to  make 
him  responsible  for  the  hostile  attitude  of  the 
two  countries.  In  this  sense  acted  the  dcputj- 
Mons.  Henry  de  Chabaulon,  who  sjioke  thus :  ' 

"  The  insult  of  President  Jackson  tomes  from 
himself  only.  This  is  more  evident,  from  the 
refusal  of  the  American  Congress  to  concur 
with  him  in  it.  The  French  Chamber  by  in- 
teifering,  would  render  the  affair  more  serious 
and  make  its  arrangement  more  dimcult  ani 
even  dangerous.  Let  us  put  the  case  to'our- 
selves.  Suppose  the  United  States  had  taken 
part  with  General  Jackson,  we  sliGiikl  have  had 
to  demand  satisfaction,  not  from  him,  but  from 
the  United  States ;  and,  instead"  of  now  talking 
about  negotiation,  we  should  have  had  to  make 
appropriations  for  a  war,  and  to  intrust  to  our 
heroes  of  Navarino  and  Algiers  the  task  of 
teaching  the  Americans  that  France  knows  the 
way  to  Washington  as  well  as  England." 

This  language  was  received  with  applause  in 
the  Chamber,  by  the  extremes.  It  was  the  lan- 
guage held  six  weeks  after  the  rise  of  Congress, 
and  when  the  loss  of  the  three  millions  asked 
by  the  President  for  contingent  preparation,  and 
after  the  loss  of  the  fortification  bill,  Avcre  fully 
known  in  Paris.  Another  speaker  in  the  Cham- 
ber, Mons.  Ranee,  was  so  elated  by  these  losses 
as  to  allow  himself  to  discourse  thus : 

"  Gentlemen,  we  should  put  on  one  side  of  the 
tribune  the  twenty-five  millions,  on  the  other 
the  sword  of  France.  When  the  Americans 
see  this  good  long  sword,  this  very  long  sword, 
gentlemen  (for  it  struck  down  every  thing  from 
Lisbon  to  Moscow),  they  will  perhaps  recollect 
what  it  did  for  the  independence  of  their  coun- 
try ;  they  will,  perhaps,  too,  reflect  upon  what 
it  could  do  to  support  and  avenge  the  honor  and 
dignity  of  France,  when  outraged  by  an  ungrate- 
ful people.  [Cries  of '  well  said ! ']  Believe  me, 
gentlemen,  they  would  sooner  touch  your  mo- 
ney than  dare  to  touch  your  sword ;  and  for 
your  twenty-five  millions  they  will  bring  you 
back  the  satisfactory  receipt,  which  it  is  your 
duty  to  exact." 


And  this  also  w.as  received  with  great  api)ro- 
batioii,  in  the  Chamber,  by  the  two  c.xtivmcs; 
and  was  promptly  followed  by  two  royal  ordi- 
dances,  published  in  the  Mnnitrur,  under  which 
the  Admiral  Mackau  %vas  to  take  connnand  of 
a  "squadron  of  observation,"  and  proceed  to 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


deal  with  the  impetuous 
le  French." 

lowed  that  there  was  a 
hambers,  working  to  se- 
r  the  United  States  from 
ted  States,  and  to  make 
B  hostile  attitude  of  the 
i  sense  acted  the  deputy 
lulon,  who  spoke  thus : 


593 


the  West  Indies.  The  Conntitiitionncl,  the  demi- 
official  paper  of  the  government,  stated  that  this 
measure  was  warranted  by  the  actual  state  of 
the  relations  between  France  and  the  United 
States— that  the  United  States  had  no  force  to 
oppose  to  it— and  applauded  the  government  for 
its  foresight  and  energy.  Mr.  Benton  thus 
commented  upon  the  approach  of  this  French 
squadron : 

"A  French  fleet  of  sixty  vessels  of  war,  to  be 
followed  by  sixty  more,  now  in  commission,  ap- 
proaches our  coast ;  and  approaches  it  for  the 
avowed  purpose  of  observing  our  conduct,  in  re- 
lation to  France.  It  is  styled,  in  the  French 
papers,  a  squadron  of  observation ;  and  we  are 
sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  military  voca- 
bulary of  France  to  know  what  that  phrase 
means.  In  the  days  of  the  great  Emperor,  we 
were  accustomed  to  see  the  armies  which  de- 
molished empires  at  a  blow,  wear  that  pacific 
title  up  to  the  moment  that  the  blow  was  ready 
to  be  struck.  These  grand  armies  assembled 
on  the  frontiers  of  empires,  gave  emphasis  to 
negotiation,  and  crushed  what  resisted.  A  squa- 
dron of  observation,  then,  is  a  squadron  of  in- 
timidation first,  and  of  attack  eventually ;  and 
nothing  could  be  more  palpable  than  that  such 
was  the  character  of  the  squadron  in  question. 
It  leaves  the  French  coast  contemporaneously 
with  the  departure  of  our  diplomatic  agent,  and 
the  assembling  of  our  Congress ;  it  arrives  upon 
our  coast  at  the  very  moment  that  we  shall  have 
to  vote  upon  French  affairs ;  and  it  takes  a  posi- 
tion upon  our  Southern  border— that  border 
above  all  others,  on  which  we  are,  at  this  time' 
peculiarly  sensitive  to  hostile  approach. 

"What  have  we  done,  continued  Mr.  B.,  to 
draw  this  squadron  upon  us  ?  We  have  done 
no  wrong  to  France  ;  we  are  making  no  prepa- 
rations against  her;  and  not  even  ordinary  pre- 
parations for  general  and  permanent  security, 
we  have  treaties,  and  are  executing  them,  even 
the  treaty  that  she  does  not  execute.  We  have 
been  executing  that  treaty  for  four  years,  and 
may  say  that  we  have  paid  France  as  much 
under  it  as  we  have  in  vain  demanded  from  her 
as  the  first  instalment  of  the  indemnity;  not 
>nlact,by  taking  money  out;  of  our  treasury 
and  delivering  to  her,  but,  what  is  better  for  her, 
namely,  leaving  her  own  money  in  her  own 
lands,  in  the  shape  of  diminished  duties  upon 
lier  wines,  as  provided  for  in  this  same  treaty. 
Which  we  execute,  and  which  she  does  not.  In 
ms  way,  France  has  gained  one  or  two  millions 
M  dollars  from  us,  besides  the  encouragement 
0  her  wine  trade.  On  the  article  of  silks,  she 
IS  also  gaining  money  from  us  in  the  same  way, 
no  by  treaty,  but  by  law.  Our  discriminating^ 
n  S  '?  TT™'  "^  ""''"'  ^"^""^  this  side  the  Cape 
ftvnn  n  °P^'  ''P'^''***'  ^l™ost  entirely  in  her 
Frnn  r-  ;  ^^"^^^  supplies  of  silks  are  from 
France,  England,  and  China.  In  four  years,  and 
VOL.  I.— 38 


under  the  operation  of  this  discriminating  duty 
our  imports  of  Frenqh  silks  have  risen  from  two 
millions  of  dollars  per  annum  to  six  millions 
and  a  half;  from  England,  theyliave  risen  from 
a  quarter  of  a  million  to  three  quarters ;  from 
China,  they  have  sunk  from  three  millions  and 
a  quarter  to  one  million  and  a  quarter.  This 
discrirninating  duty  has  left  between  one  and 
two  millions  of  dollars  in  the  pockets  of  French- 
men, besides  the  encouragement  to  the  silk  manu- 
fiicturc  and  trade.  Why,  then,  has  she  sent  this 
squadron,  to  observe  us  first,  and  to  strike  us 
eventually  ?  She  knows  our  pacific  disposition 
towards  her,  not  only  from  our  own  words  and 
actions,  but  from  the  official  report  of  her  own 
officers:  from  the  very  officer  sent  out  last 
spring,  m  a  brig,  to  carry  back  the  recalled  min- 
ister." 

Mr.  Benton  then  went  on  to  charge  the  pre- 
sent state  of  our  affiiirs  with  France  distinctly 
and  emphatically  upon  the  conduct  of  the  Sen- 
ate, in  their  refusal  to  attend  to  the  national 
defences— in  their  opposition  to  the  President— 
and  in  the  disposition  manifested  rather  to  pull 
down  the  President,  in  a  party  contest,  than  to 
sustain  him  against  France— rather  to  plunder 
their  own  country  than  to  defend  it,  by  taking 
the  public  money  for  distribution  instead  of  de- 
fence.   To  this  efTect,  he  said : 

"  He  had  never  spoken  unkindly  of  the 
French  nation,  neither  in  his  place  here,  as 
a  senator,  nor  in  his  private  capacity  else- 
vvhere.  Born  since  the  American  Revolution 
bred  up  in  habitual  affection  for  the  Frcncli 
name,  coming  upon  the  stage  of  life  when  the 
glories  of  the  republic  and  of  the  empire  were 
filling  the  world  and  dazzling  the  imagination 
politically  connected  with  the  party  which  a 
few  years  ago,  a\^s  called  French,  his  bosom  had 
glowed  vdth  admiration  for  that  people ;  and 
youthful  affection  had  ripened  into  manly  friend- 
ship. He  would  not  now  permit  himself  to 
speak  unkindly,  much  less  to  use  epithets ;  but 
he  could  not  avoid  fixing  his  attention  upon  the 
reason  assigned  in  the  Constitutionnel  for  the 
present  advance  of  the  French  squadron  upon 
us.  That  reason  is  this  :  '  America  will  have  no 
force  cajiable  of  being  opposed  to  it.'  This  is 
the  reason.  Our  nakedness,  our  destitution 
has  drawn  upon  us  the  honor  of  this  visit ;  and 
wo  are  now  to  speak,  and  vote,  and  so  to  demean 
ourselves,  as  men  standing  in  the  presence  of  a 
force  which  tlioy  cannot  resist,  and  which  had 
taught  the  lesson  of  submission  to  the  Turk  and 
the  Arab !  And  here  I  change  the  theme :  I  turn 
from  French  intimidation  to  American  legisla- 
tion ;  .in,]  T  iisk  how  it  conies  th.it  wc  have  no 
force  to  oppose  to  this  squadron  which  comes 
here  to  take  a  position  upon  our  borders,  and  to 
show  us  that  it  knows  the  way  to  Washington 
as  well  as  the  English  ?     This  is  my  future 


H 


^H| 


im%ii\  f^ 

XM  -^  IgT 

^  iM^^H 

'\\ffim 

■ 

Yk.'lKm 

■ 

%\ , 

■ 

"f 

■ 

■ 

1 

M    '. 

■ 

594 


THIkrY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


theme;  and  I  have  to  present  the  American 
Senate  lus  Uie  responsible  party  for  leaving  our 
country  in  this  wretched  conditiou.  First,  there 
is  the  three  million  appropriation  which  was 
lost  by  the  opposition  of  the  Senate,  and  which 
carried  down  with  it  the  whole  fortification  bill, 
to  which  it  was  attachi.'d.  That  bill,  besides  the 
three  millions,  contained  thirteen  specific  appro- 
priations for  works  of  defence,  part  originating; 
in  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  part  in 
the  Senate,  and  appropriating  $i'JOO,000  to  the 
completion  and  armainent  oi  forts. 

"All  these  specific  appropriations,  continued 
Mr.  B.,  were  lost  in  the  bill  which  was  sunk  by 
the  opposition  of  the  Senate  to  the  three  mil- 
lions, which  were  attached  to  it  by  the  House 
of  Representatives.  He  (Mr.  B.)  was  not  a 
member  of  the  conference  committee  which 
had  the  disagreement  of  the  two  Houses  com- 
mitted to  its  charge,  and  could  go  into  no  detail 
as  to  what  happened  in  that  conference;  he 
took  his  stand  upon  the  palpable  ground  that  the 
opposition  which  the  Senate  made  to  the  three 
million  appropriation,  the  speeches  which  de- 
nounced it,  and  the  prolonged  invectives  against 
the  President,  which  inflamed  the  passions  and 
consumed  the  precious  time  at  the  last  moment 
of  the  session,  were  the  true  causes  of  the  loss 
of  that  bill ;  and  so  leaves  the  responsibility  for 
the  loss  on  the  shoulders  of  the  Senate. 

"  Mr.  B.  recalled  attention  to  the  reason  demi- 
ofRcially  assigned  in  the  CamtUulionnel,  for  the 
approach  of  the  French  fleet  of  observation,  and 
to  show  that  it  came  because  '  America  had  no 
force  capable  of  being  opposed  to  it.'  It  was  a 
subsidiary  argument,  and  a  fair  illustration  of 
the  dangers  and  humiliations  of  a  defenceless 
position.  It  should  stimulate  us  to  instant  and 
vigorous  action  ;  to  the  concentration  of  all  our 
money,  and  all  our  hands,  to  the  sacred  task  of 
national  defence.  For  himself,  he  did  not  be- 
lieve there  would  be  war,  because  he  knew  that 
there  ought  not  to  be  war;  but  that  belief  would 
have  no  ell'ect  upon  his  conduct.  He  went  for 
national  defence,  1  ecause  that  policy  was  right 
in  itself,  without  regard  to  times  and  circum- 
stances. He  went  for  it  now,  because  it  was  the 
response,  and  the  only  response,  which  Ameri- 
can honor  could  give  to  the  visit  of  Admiral 
Mackau.  Above  all,  he  went  for  it  because  it 
was  the  way,  and  the  only  manly  way,  of  let- 
ting France  know  that  she  had  committed  a 
mistake  in  sending  this  fleet  upon  us.  In  con- 
clusion, ho  would  call  for  the  yeas  and  nays 
and  remark  that  our  votes  would  have  to  be 
given  under  the  guns  of  France,  and  under  the 
eyes  of  Europe." 

The  reproach  cast  by  Mr.  Benton  on  the  con- 
duct of  the  Senate,  in  causing  the  loss  of  the 
defence  bills,  and  the  consequent  insult  from 
France,  bi'ought  several  members  to  their  feet 
in  defence  of  themselves  and  the  body  to  which 
.  they  belonged. 


Mr.  Webster  said  his  duty  was  to  take  caro 
that  neither  in  nor  out  of  the  Senate  thero  shoiilH 
be  any  mistake,  the  effect  of  which  shoiiM  bo 
to  produce  an  impression  unfavorable  or  re 
proachful  to  the  character  and  patriotism  ofth." 
American  people.  He  remembered  the  pn„-rp« 
of  that  bill  (the  bill  alluded  to  by  Mr.  BentS 
the  incidents  of  its  history,  and  the  real  cause 
of  Its  loss.  And  he  would  satisfy  any  man  tfi'if 
the  loss  of  it  was  not  attributable  to  any  mem' 
ber  or  offleer  of  the  Senate.  He  woiild  not" 
however,  do  so  until  the  Senate  sliould  a^ain 
have  been  in  session  on  executive  business  "as 
soon  as  that  took  place,  he  should  undertake'to 
show  that  it  was  not  to  any  dereliction  of  dutv 
on  the  part  of  the  Senate  that  the  loss  of  tliat 
bUl  was  to  be  attributed. 

"Mr.  Preston  of  South  Carolina  said  every 
senator  had  concurred  in  general  appropriations 
to  put  the  navy  and  army  in  a  state  of  defence 
Ihis  undefined  appropriation  was  not  the  only 
exception.  The  gentleman  from  Missouri  (Mr 
Benton)  had  said  this  oppropriation  was  intend- 
ed to  operate  as  a  permanent  defence.  The  sen- 
ator from  Missouri  (Mr.  Benton)  had  preferred 
a  general  indictment  against  the  Senate  before 
the  people  of  the  United  States.  I.  was  stranw 
the  gentleman  should  ask  the  departments  for 
calculations  to  enable  us  to  know  how  nnicli 
was  necessary  to  appropriate,  when  the  infor- 
mation was  not  given  to  us  when  we  rijectei! 
the  undefined  appropriations.  I  rejoice,  said 
Mr.  P.,  that  the  gentleman  has  said  even  to 
my  fears  there  will  be  no  French  \var,  France 
vyas  not  going  to  squabble  with  America  on  a 
little  point  of  honor,  that  might  do  for  duellists 
to  quarrel  about,  but  not  for  nations.  Tiiere 
\yas  no  reason  why  blood  should  be  poured  out 
like  water  in  righting  this  point  of  honor.  If 
this  matter  was  placed  on  its  proper  basis,  his 
hopes  would  be  lit  up  into  a  blaze  of  confidence. 
The  President  had  recommended  making  repri- 
sals, if  France  refused  payment.  Fi-ance  had 
refused,  but  the  remedy  was  not  pursued.  It 
may  be,  said  he,  that  this  fleet  is  merely  coming 
to  protect  the  commerce  of  France.  If  the  Pre- 
sident of  the  United  States,  at  the  last  session 
of  Congress,  had  suggested  the  necessity  of 
making  this  appropriation,  we  would  have  pour- 
ed out  the  treasury ;  we  would  have  fdled  his 
hands  for  all  necessary  purposes.  There  was 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars  afipropriated  that 
had  not  been  called  for.  He  did  not  Ivnow 
whether  he  was  permitted  to  go  aiiv  further 
and  say  to  what  extent  any  of  tlie  departments 
were  disposed  to  g.)  in  this  matter. 

"Mr.  Clayton  of  Delaware  was  surprised  at 
the  suggestion  of  an  idea  that  the  American 
Senate  was  not  disposed  to  make  tlic  necessary 
appropriations  for  the  defence  of  tlie  country; 
that  they  had  endeavored  to  ju'event  tiie  paV 
sagc  of  a  bill,  the  objuct  of  wiiich  was  to  make 
provision  for  large  appropriations  for  our  defence. 
The  senator  from  Missouri  had  gone  into  a  liberal 
attack  of  the  Senate.  He  (Mr.  C ,)  was  not  disposed 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


595 


I  h^s  duty  was  tn  take  care 
tot  the  Senate  thcro  should 
eflect  of  which  should  be 
sssion  unCavorablc  or  re- 
actcrand  patriotiHin  ot'tho 
D  remembered  the  pro;;rcss 
jlludcdtobyMr.  Ik'nton) 
istory,  and  the  real  tans. 
vouhl  satisfy  any  man  that 

attributabh!  to  any  mcin- 
)  Senate.     He  won"ld  not 

the  Senate  should  a^'aiii 
m  executive  business,  "as 
ce,  he  should  undertake  to 
to  any  dereliction  of  dutv 
>nate  that  the  loss  of  that 
ted. 

5outh  Carolina  said  every 
1  in  general  appropriations 
irmy  in  a  state  of  defence, 
priation  wa.s  not  the  only 
teman  from  Missouri  (Mr, 

nppropriation  was  intend- 
nanent  defence.  The  sen- 
rlr.  Benton)  had  preferred 
igainst  the  Senate  before 
:ed  States.    J,  was  strange 

I  ask  the  departments  for 
c  us  to  know  how  inucii 
)ropriatc,  when  the  infor- 

II  to  us  when  wc  rtjected 
iriations.  I  rejoice,  ,«aid 
itleman  has  said  even  to 
3  no  French  war.  France 
labble  with  America  on  a 
hat  might  do  for  duellists 

not  for  nations.    There 
ood  should  be  poured  out 

this  point  of  honor.  If 
d  on  its  proper  ba,sis,  his 
into  a  blaze  of  conlidenco, 
;ommended  making  repri- 
d  payment.  France  had 
dy  was  not  pursued.  It 
his  fleet  is  merely  coming 
ce  of  France.  If  the  Pre- 
tates,  at  the  last  session 
rgested  the  necessity  of 
tion,  we  would  have  poiir- 
we  would  have  filled  his 
ry  purposes.    There  was 

dollars  apjiropriated  that 

for.     lie  did  not  know 
litted  to  go  any  further 
t  any  of  the  departments 
.  this  matter, 
elawarc  was  surprised  at 

idea  that  tin-  American 
3d  to  make  tlic  necessary 

defence  of  tlie  country; 
)red  to  prevent  the  pas- 
ct  of  wliicii  was  to  make 


i  (Mr.  C.)was  notdisposed 


to  say  any  thing  further  of  the  events  of  the  last 
iii^rht  of  tht'  session.  He  took  occasion  to  say 
there  were  other  matters  in  connection  vith  this 
,i[i|iropriatii)n.  Before  any  de])artnicn  or  any 
IVJouil  of  the  administration  had  name(.  an  ap- 
pr()|iriatiou  for  defence,  he  made  the  motion  to 
iippropiiate  five  hundred  thousand  dollars.  It 
■,vii>;on  his  motion  that  the  Committee  on  Mili- 
i:ii'\  Atl'airs  made  the  approjji'iation  to  increase 
i!i("  fortili(;ations.  Actuated  by  the  -ery  same 
motives  wiiicb  induced  him  to  move  that  appro- 
priiition.  he  had  moved  an  additional  appropria- 
linn  to  Fort  Delaware.  The  motion  was  to  in- 
crease the  seventy-five  thousand  ic  one  hundred 
and  lifty  thousand,  and  elicited  a  protracted  de- 
liato.  The  next  (juestion  was,  whether,  in  the 
'Mineral  bill,  five  hundred  thou,sand  dol'ars  should 
lie  iippnipriated.  He  recollected  the  honorable 
chaiiinan  of  the  Committee  on  Finance  told 
;hiin  there  was  an  amendment  before  that  com- 
mittee of  similar  tenor.  As  chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  he  felt  disinclined 
to  give  it  up.  The  amendment  fell  on  the  single 
ground,  by  one  vote,  that  the  Committee  on 
Kinauiv  had  before  it  the  identical  proposition 
made  by  the  Committee  on  Military  AtFairs.  He 
appealed  to  the  cotmtry  whether,  imder  those 
circumstances,  they  were  to  be  arraigned  before 
the  people  of  the  country  on  a  charge  of  a  want 
of  patriotism.  He  had  always  felt  deeply  aflect- 
ed  when  those  general  remarks  were  made  im- 
]iiiguin>r  the  motives  of  patriotism  of  the  sena- 
•ors.  He  was  willing  to  go  as  far  as  he  who 
-oes  I'arthest  in  making  appropriations  for  the 
national  protection.  Nay,  he  would  be  in  ad- 
vance of  the  administration." 

Mr.  Benton  returned  to  his  charge  that  the 
defence  bills  of  the  last  session  were  lost  through 
the  conduct  of  the  Fcnate.  It  was  the  Senate 
wiiich  disagreed  to  the  House  amendment  of 
three  millions  to  the  fortification  bill  (which  it- 
self contained  appropriations  to  the  amount  of 
§000000);  and  it  was  the  Senate  which  moved 
to  "  adhere  "  to  its  disagreement,  thereby  adopt- 
ing the  harsh  measure  which  so  much  endan- 
gers legislation.  And,  in  support  of  his  views, 
he  said ' 

'•  The  bill  died  under  lapse  of  time.  It  died 
because  not  acted  upon  before  midnight  of  the 
ia.st  day  of  the  session.  Right  or  wrong,  the 
session  was  over  before  the  report  of  the  con- 
ferees could  be  acted  on.  The  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives was  without  a  quorum,  and  the  Sen- 
:Ue  was  about  in  the  same  condition.  Two  at- 
tempts in  the  Senate  to  get  a  vote  on  some 
piintmg  moved  by  his  colleague  (Mr.  Linn), 
Here  both  lost  for  want  of  a  quorum.  The  ses- 
-i'>ii  then  was  at  an  end,  for  want  of  quorums, 
whetlier  the  legal  right  to  sit  had  ceased  or  not! 
the  bill  was  not  rejected  either  in  the  House  of 
Kepresentatives  or  in  the  Senate,  but  it  died  for 


want  of  action  upon  it ;  and  that  action  was  pre- 
vented by  want  of  time.  Now,  whose  fault  was 
it  that  there  was  no  time  left  for  acting  on  the 
report  of  the  conferees.'  That  was  the  true 
question,aiid  Mie  answer  to  it  would  show  where 
the  fault  lay.  This  answer  is  a.s  clear  as  mid- 
day, though  the  transat^tion  took  place  in  the 
darkness  of  midnight.  It  was  the  Senate !  Tho 
bill  came  to  the  Senate  in  full  time  to  have  been 
acted  upon,  if  it  had  ])een  treated  as  all  bills 
must  be  treated  that  are  intended  to  be  passed 
in  the  last  hours  of  the  session.  It  is  no  time 
for  speaking.  All  speaking  is  then  fatal  to  bills, 
and  equally  fatal,  whether  for  or  against  them. 
Yet,  what  was  the  conduct  of  the  Senate  with 
respect  to  this  bill?  Members  commenced 
speaking  upon  it  with  vehemence  and  persever- 
ance, and  continued  at  it,  one  after  another. 
These  speeches  were  fatal  to  the  bill.  They 
were  numerous,  and  ciuisumed  much  time  to 
deliver  them.  They  were  criminative,  and  pro- 
voked replies.  They  denounced  the  President 
without  measure ;  and,  by  implication,  the  House 
of  Representatives,  which  sustained  him.  They 
were  intemperate,  and  destroyed  the  temper  of 
others.  In  this  way  the  precious  time  was  con- 
sumed in  which  the  bill  might  have  been  acted 
upon  ;  and,  for  want  of  which  time,  it  is  lost. 
Every  one  that  made  a  speech  helped  to  destroy 
it;  and  nearly  the  whole  body  of  the  opposition 
spoke,  and  most  of  them  iit  much  length,  and 
with  unusual  warmth  and  animation.  So  cer- 
tain was  he  of  the  ruinous  eflect  of  this  speak- 
ing, that  he  himself  never  opened  his  mouth  nor 
uttered  one  word  upon  it.  Then  came  the  fatal 
motion  to  adhere,  the  eflect  of  which  was  to 
make  bad  worse,  and  to  destroy  the  last  chance, 
unless  the  House  of  Representatives  had  hum- 
bled itself  to  ask  a  conference  from  the  Senate. 
The  fatal  effect  of  this  motion  to  adhere,  Mr.  B. 
would  show  from  .lefferson's  Manual ;  and  read 
as  follows :  '  The  regular  progression  in  this 
case  is,  that  the  Commons  disagree  to  the  amend- 
ment; the  Lords  insist  on  it;  the  Commons 
insist  on  their  disagreement.;  the  Lords  adhere 
to  their  amendment;  the  Commons  adhere  to 
their  disagreement ;  the  term  of  insisting  may 
be  repeated  as  often  as  they  choose  to  keep  the 
question  open ;  but  the  first  adherence  by  either 
renders  it  necessary  for  the  other  to  recede  or 
to  adhere  also ;  when  the  matter  is  usually  suf- 
fered to  fall.  (10  Grey,  148.)  Latterly,  how- 
ever, there  are  instances  of  their  having  gone  to 
a  second  adherence.  There  must  be  an  absolute 
conclusion  of  the  subject  somewhere,  or  other- 
wise transactions  between  the  Houses  would  be- 
come endless,  (li  Hatscll,  2C8,  270,)  The  term 
of  insisting,  we  are  told  by  Sir  John  Trevor, 
was  then  (1G78)  newly  introduced  into  parlia- 
mentary usage  by  the  Lords.  (7  Grey,  94.)  It 
was  certainly  a  happy  innovation,  as  it  multi- 
plies the  opportunities  of  trying  modifications, 
which  may  bring  the  Houses  to  a  concurrence. 
Either  House,  however,  is  free  to  pass  over  the 
term  of  insisting,  and  to  adhere  in  the  first  in- 


m 


u .  V  1 


596 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


stance.  (10  Orcy,  14().)  Rut  it  is  not  respect- 
ful to  tho  other,  in  tin"  ordinary  parliamentary 
course,  there  are  two  fivo  conferences  at  least 
before  an  adherence.     (10  Oroy,  147.)  ' 

"This  is  tlie  reRuiar  progression  in  tho  case  of 
aniendnienlH.  and  tiiere  are  five  steps  in  it.     1 . 
To  ajjree.     2.  To  disaj^ree.     ■'!.  To  recede.     4. 
To  uisist.     5.  To  adhere.     Of  these  five  steps 
adherence  is  the  last,  and  yet  it  was  the  first 
adopted  by  the  Senate.     The  ellect  of  its  adop- 
tion was,  in  parliamentary  usage,  to  put  an  end 
to  the  matter.     It  was,  by  tlie  law  of  Parlia- 
mont,  a  disrespect  to  the  House.     No  conference 
was  even  asked  by  the  Senate  after  the  adher- 
ence, altliouph.  by  the  parliamentary  law,  there 
ouffht  to  have  been  two  free  conferences  at  least 
before  tiio  adlierence  was  voted.     All  this  was 
fully  stated  to  the  Senate  that  night,  and  be- 
fore tlie  question  to  adhere  was  put.     It  was 
fully  stated  by  you,  sir  (said  Mr.  15.,  addressin" 
himself  to  Mr.  Ivinnr,  of  Alnhama,  who  was  then 
111  the   Vice-President's  cliair).      This  vote  to 
adlierc,  coupled  with  the  violent  speeches   de- 
nouncing  tlic   President,  and,   by  implication 
censuring  tlie    House  of  Kepresentatives,  and 
coupled  with  the  total  omission  of  the  Senate  to 
ask  tor  a  conference,  seemed  to  indicate  a  fatal 
purpose  to  destroy  tlie  bill ;  and  lost  it  would 
have  been  upon  the  sj.ot,  if  tiie  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, forgetting  the  disrespect  with  which 
It  had  been  treated,  and  passing  over  the  cen- 
sure impliedly  cast  upon  it,  had  not  humbled 
Itself  to  come  and  ask  for  a  conference.     The 
House  humbled  itself;  but  it  was  a  patriotic  and 
noble  ^  humiliation ;  it  was  to  servo  their  coun- 
try. The  conference  was  granted,  and  an  amend- 
ment was  agreed  upon   by  the  conferees,   by 
which  the  amount  was  reduced,  aiiu  the  sum 
divided,  and  ^300,000  allowed  to  tho  military 
and  f^500,000  to  the  naval  service.     This  was 
done  at  last,  and  after  all  the  irritating  speeches 
and  irritating  conduct  of  the  Senate;  but  the 
precious  time  was  gone.     The  hour  of  midnight 
was  not  only  come,  but  members  were  dispersed  • 
quorums  were  unattainable ;  and  the  bill  died 
for  want  of  action.     And  now  (said  Mr.  13.)  I  I 
return  to  my  question.     I  resume,  and  maintain 
my  position  upon  it.  1  ask  how  it  came  to  pass 
if  want  of  specification  was  really  the  objection 
—how  It  came  to  pass  that  the  Senate  did  not 
do  at  first  what  it  did  at  last  ?    Why  did  it  not 
amend,  by  the  easy,  natural,  obvious,  and  par- 

liampntnrv  nivK^oca  .^e  ,1;^.,™-,,,,:. :__:_i!-       ^     ■, 


ends,  another  begins,  and  midnight  is  tlio  tnni 
mg  point  both  in  law  and  in  jiractice.     \||  ,„ " 
laws  of  the  last  day  are  dated  the  ;!d  of  .M.,rd,'. 
and,  in  jioint  of  fact.  Congress,  for  evcrv  lionc' 
ficial  purpose,  is  dis.solved  at  miilnight,'  .M,,,,". 
members  will  not  act,  and  go  away;  am]  kiio'i 
was  the  practice  of  the  venerable  .M,.,  .m.^^, 
of  North  Carolina,  who  always  acted  pnr'iM  li- 
as President  Jackson  did.     lie  jiut  on  hhht 
and  went  away  at  midnight;    he  went  mnv 
when  his  own  watch  told  him  it  was  iiiidiii,,],'.', 
after  which  he  believed  ho  hud  no  autiioritv  to 
act  as  a  legislotor,  nor  the  Senate  to  iniike  In,,, 
act  as  such.      This  was    President  .[iick«nii'« 
course.     He  stayed  in  the  Capitol  until  a  duar' 
tor  after  one,  to  sign  all  the  bills  which  Con 
gress  should  pass  before  midnight.     He  stayed 
until  a  majority  of  Congress  was  gone,  and  (mo- 
rums  unattainable.     He  stayed  in  the  Caiiltnl 
in  a  room  convenient  to  the  Senate,  to  act  mm 
every  thing  that  was  sent  to  him.  and  did  not 
have  to  be  waked  up,  as  Washington  was  to 
sign  after  midnight;  a  most  unfortunate  nfer- 
ence  to  Washington,  who,  by  going  to  b,.,!  at 
midnight,  showed  that  ho  considered  tho  Ijiwi- 
ness  of  the  day  ended  ;  and  b;  getting  up  anrl 
putting  on  his  night  gown,  and  signing  a  bill  at 
two  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  4tli  showtil 
that  he  would  sign  at  that  hour  what  had  pa«<o(i 
before  midnight;   and  does  not   that  act  bear 
date  the  3d  of  March? 

Mr.  Webster  earnestly  defended  tho  Senate's 
conduct  and  his  own ;  and  said  : 


"O) 


and 


liamentary  process  of  disagreeing,  insistin 
asking  for  a  committee  of  conference  ? 

"  Mr.  B.  would  say  but  a  word  on  the  now 
calendar,  which  would  make  tho  day  begin  in 
the  middle.  It  was  sufficient  to  state  such  a 
conception  to  expose  it  to  ridicule.  A  farmci- 
would  be  sadly  put  out  if  his  laborers  should  re- 
fuse to  come  until  mid-day.  The  thing  was 
rather  too  fanciful  for  grave  deliberation.  Suffice 
It  to  say  there  .ire  no  fractions  of  dayjj  in  any 
calendar.  There  is  no  three  and  one  fourth 
three  and  one  half,  and  three  and  three  fourths 
ofMarch,  or  any  other  month.    When  one  day 


■  This  proposition,  sir,  was  thus  nnoxpectedlv 
and  sud.lenly  put  to  us,  at  eight  o'clock  in  ih'e 
evening  of  the  last  day  of  the  session.  Unusual, 
unprecedented,  extraordinary,  as  it  obviously  isj 
on  the  face  of  it,  the  manner  of  presenting  it  was 
still  more  extraordinary.  The  President  had 
asked  for  no  such  grant  of  money ;  no  depart- 
ment had  recommended  it;  no  estimate  had 
suggested  it ;  no  reason  whatever  m  us  given  for 
It.  No  emergency  had  happened,  and  nothing 
now  had  occurred ;  every  thing  known  to  the 
administration  at  that  hour,  respecting  our  fo- 
reign relations,  bad  certainly  been  known  to  it 
for  days  and  for  weeks  before. 

"  With  what  propriety,  then,  could  the  Senate 
bo  called  on  to  sanction  a  proceeding  so  entirely 
irregular  and  anomalous?  Sir,  1  recollect  the 
occurrences  of  the  moment  very  well,  and  I  re- 
member the  impression  which  this  vote  of  the 
House  seemed  to  make  all  around  tho  Senate. 
We  had  just  come  out  of  executive  session;  the 
doors  were  but  just  opened ;  and  I  hardly  re- 
member whether  there  was  a  single  spectator 
in  the  hall  or  the  galleries.  1  had  been  at  the 
clerk's  table,  and  had  not  readied  my  scat  when 
the  message  was  read.  All  the  senators  were 
in  the  chamber.  I  heard  the  iiics»age  cei  tainiy 
with  great  surprise  and  astonishment ;  and  I 
immediately  moved  the  Senate  to  disagree  to 
this  vote  of  the  House.    My  relation  to  tlie  sub- 


ANNO  1838.    ANDREW  JACK&ON,  PRESIDENT. 


1,  and  midniKht  i.H  tho  tiii„. 
wand  ill  pnictirv.  .\||  „„, 
arodiUod  the  lid  of>Farrh'. 
;,  (JonnresH,  for  every  hvw'. 
<olved  at  inidnight.'  y]^,^^. 
ct,  and  (TO  nwny;  imd'supii 

tho  ventMubIc  My.  .Macon 
.vho  always  acted  jmriH  h- 
Ml  did.  lU'iiMt  on  his  hat 
niidniKJit;    he  went  amiv 

told  liini  it  was  iiiidiiijr|it'. 
ved  lie  had  no  aiitiioiity  to 
or  tlie  Senate  to  make  lij,,, 

was  President  .Tark.son's 
n  tho  Capitol  until  a  iiuar- 
I  all  the  hills  which  Con- 
fore  midnight.  He  stayed 
on<,'resH  was  gone,  anil  qno- 
He  stayed  in  the  Capitol 
;  to  the  Senate,  to  act  upon 
4  sent  to  him,  and  did  not 
ip,  as  "Washington  was,  to 
;  a  most  unfortnuatc  refer- 

who,  by  going  to  Ixvi  at 
at  ho  considered  the  bnsi- 
sil ;  and  b;  getting  up  and 
gown,  and  signing  a  bill  at 
lorning  of  the  4tli,  sliowtd 
that  hour  what  hail  passed 
id  does  not  that  act  bear 
? 

.stly  defended  tho  Senate's 
;  and  said : 


597 


jcet,  in  consequence  of  my  connection  with  the 
Committee  on  Finance,  niafle  it  my  duty  t(.  j)r<)- 
pose  sonic  course,  aiul  I  liad  not  a  moment's 
loiibt  or  hesitation  what  that  course  ought  to 
1,0.  [  took  upon  myself,  then,  sir.  tho  responsi- 
liilitv  of  moving  that  the  Senate  should  disagree 
(0  this  vote,  and  f  now  acknowledge  that  res- 
ponsibility. It  might  ho  presumjituous  to  say 
iliat  I  took  a  leading  part,  but  I  certainly  took 
an  early  part,  a  decided  part,  and  an  earnest 
part,  in  rejecting  this  broad  grant  of  three  mil- 
lions of  dollars,  without  limitation  of  purpose 
or  specification  of  object;  called  for  by  no  le- 


commendation,  founded  on  n  <  estimate,  made 
necessary  by  no  state  of  thin^-  which  was  made 
known  to  us.  Certainly,  sir,  1  took  a  part  in 
its  rejection  ;  and  I  stand  here,  in  my  jilace  in 
the  Senate,  to-day,  ready  to  defend  the  part  so 
•Aen  by  nic  ;  or  rather,  sir,  T  disclaim  all  de- 
I'ence,  and  all  occa.sion  of  defence,  and  I  assert 
it  IS  meritorious  to  have  been  among  those  who 
arrested,  at  the  earliest  moment,  this  extraordi- 
nary departure  from  all  settled  usage,  and,  as  I 
think,  from  plain  constitutional  injunction— this 
indefinite  voting  of  a  vast  sum  ofmoney  tomere 
executive  discretion,  without  limit  assigned 
without  object  specified,  without  .eason  given,' 
.ind  without  the  least  control  under  heaven. 

"Sir,  I  am  told  that,  in  opposing  this  grant,  I 
jpoke  with  warmth,  and  I  suppose  I  may  have 
done  so.    If  I  did,  it  was  a  warmth  springing 
from  as  honest  a  conviction  of  duty  as  ever  in" 
fiuenced  a  public  man.     It  was  spontaneous, 
nnaflected,  sincere.     There  had  been  among  us, 
:=ir,  no  consultation,  no  concert.     Tliere  could 
Lave  been  none.     Between  the  reading  of  the 
message  and  my  motion  to  disagree  there  was 
not  time  enough  for  any  two  members  of  the 
'^enato  to  exchange  five  words  on  the  subject. 
The  proposition  was  sudden  and  perfectly  un- 
expeetcfl.    I  resisted  it,  as  irregular,  as  danger- 
ous in  itself,  and  dangerous  in  its  precedent,  as 
wholly  unnecessary,  and  as  violating  the  plain 
intention,  if  not  the  express  words,  of  the  con- 
stitution.   Before  the  Senate  I  then  avowed,  and 
before  the  country  I  now  avow,  my  part  in  this 
opposition.    Whatsoever  is  to  fall  on  those  who 
sanctioned  it,  of  that  let  me  have  my  full  share. 
"  The  Senate,  sir,  rejected  this  grant  by  a  vote 
of  twenty-nine  against  nineteen.    Those  twenty- 
nine  names  are  on  the  journal ;  and  whensoever 
the  expunging  process  may  commence,  or  how 
lar  soever  it  rnay  be  carried,  I  pray  it,  in  mercy 
not  to  erase  mine  from  that  record,     I  besccdi 
"■  111  Its  sparing  goodness,  to   leave  me  that 
proot  of  attachment  to  duty  and  to  principle, 
may  draw  around  it,  over  it,  or  through  it, 
oiack  lines,  or  red  lines,  or  any  lines ;  it  may 
"firk  It  III  any  way  whicii  either  the  most  pros- 
mte  and  fimtastical  spirit  of  man-worship,  or 
t  >v  liiosc  inucuiuiis  and  elaborate  study  of  self- 
I'lrraiktion  may  devise,  if  only  it  will  leave  it 
»  tiiat  those  who  inherit  my  blood,  or  whomay 
leinter  care  for  my  reputation,  shall  be  able 
to  behold  It  where  it  now  stands. 


'  '•*'!«  House,  sir,  insisted  on  this  amendment. 
The  Senate  adhered  to  its  disagreement.  Tho 
House  asked  a  conference,  to  which  request  the 
Senate  immediately  acceded.  The  committees  of 
conference  met,  and,  in  a  sliort  time,  came  to  an 
agreement,  'i'hey  agreed  to  recommend  to  their 
respective  Houses,  as  a  substitute  fof  the  vote 
propo,sed  by  the  House,  the  following: 

'' '  As  an  additional  appropriation  for  arming 
the  fortifications  of  the  United  States,  three 
hundred  thousand  dollars.' 

"  As  an  additional  appropriation  for  the  re- 
pair and  equipment  of  shijis  of  war  of  the  United 
States,  five  hundred  thousand  dollars.' 

"I  immediately  reported  this  agreement  of  tho 
committees  of  conference  to  the  Senate;  but, 
inasmuch  as  the  bill  wan  in  the  Hou.so  of  Re- 
presentatives, the  Senate  could  not  act  further 
on  tho  matter  until  tho  House  should  first  have 
considered  the  report  of  tho  committees,  de- 
cided thereon,  and  sent  us  the  bill.     I  did  not 
myself  take  any  note  of  the  particular  hour  of 
this  part  of  tho  transaction.    Tho  honorable 
member  from  Virginia  (Mr.  Leigh)  says  ho  con- 
sulted his  watch  at  the  time,  and  he  knows  that 
I  liad  come  from  tho  conference,  and  was  in  my 
seat,  at  a  quarter  past  eleven.     I  havono  reason 
to  think  that  he  is  under  any  mistake  in  this 
particular.     He  says  it  so  happened  that  he  had 
occasion  to  take  notice  of  the  hour,  and  well 
remembers   it.     It  could   not  well  have  been 
later  than  this,  as  any  one  will  be  satisfied  who  • 
will  look  at  our  journals,  public  and  executive, 
and  see  what  a  mass  of  business  was  dispatched 
after  I  came  from  the  committees,  and  before  the 
adjournment  of  tlie  Senate.     Having  made  the 
report,  sir,  I  had  no  doubt  that  both  Houses 
would  concur  in  the  result  of  the  conference, 
and  looked  every  moment  for  the  officer  of  the 
House  liringing  the  bill.     lie  did   not  come, 
however,  and  I  jiretty  soon  learned  that  there 
was  doubt  whether  the  committee  on  the  part 
of  tho  House  would  report  to  the  House  the 
agreement  of  the  conferees.     At  first  I  did  not 
at  all  credit  this  ;  but  it  was  confirmed  by  one 
communication  after  another,  until  I  was  obliged 
to  think  it  true.     Seeing  that  the  bill  was  thus 
in  danger  of  being  lost,  and  intending,  at  any 
rate,  that  no  blame  sfiould  justly  attach  to  the 
Senate,  I  immediately  moved  tlie  folio  wing  reso- 
lution : 

"  '  Bcsolred,  That  a  message  be  sent  to  tho 
honorable  the  House  of  Representatives,  respect- 
fully to  remind  the  House  of  the  report  of  tho 
committee  of  conference  appointed  on  the  dis- 
agreeing votes  of  tlie  tvro  Houses  on  the  amend- 
ment of  the  House  to  the  amendment  of  th(j 
Senate  to  the  bill  respecting  the  fortificationri 
of  the  United  States.' 

"  You  recollect  this  resolution,  sir,  havin.g,  as 
I  well  remember,  taken  some  part  on  the  occa- 
sion. 

"  This  resolution  was  promptly  passed  ;  the 
Secretary  carried  it  to  the  House,  and  delivered 
it.    What  was  done  in  the  House  on  the  receipt 


h 


598 


THIRTY  YKARH*  VIEW. 


of  tliiH  ini'MHiijie  now  appcani  from  tho  printi'd 
jouriiiil.  I  liiivit  III)  wii^li  to  coinniciit  on  the 
proctM'clinjxs  tlirn-  n'conlfil— all  inav  ifiid  llifiii, 
mill  each  lu'  alilo  to  lorm  liis  own  opinion.  Snl' 
tlcn  it  to  say,  thiit  the  IIoiihioI"  K(  pivsfntativt'N, 
liarinn  tliuu  iMWHosHioii  t)f  tin-  hill,  choHc  to  re- 
tuin  liiat  posHitSHion,  and  never  ai-leil  on  tlie 
report  of  tho  coniniitleo.  Tlie  iiili,  therefore, 
was  loHt.  It  was  lost  in  the  [!on>e  of  IN  pre- 
sentativt'S.  It  dioil  there,  mid  there  its  ri'inains 
iii'o  to  ho  found.  No  opportnnilv  was  ^iven  to 
the  iiieiuherH  of  the  House  to  decide  whether 
they  would  anieo  to  tlio  report  of  the  two  com- 
mittees or  not.  From  ii  ipiarter  past  eleven, 
when  tho  rejiort  was  a^rreod  to  hy  the  coinniit- 
tcea,  until  tw^i  or  three  o'clock  in  the  niorniiij;, 
the  Mouse  ivmainod  in  session.  If  at  any  time 
there  was  not  a  (|Uoruin  of  nienihers  present, 
th"  attendance  of  ii  (piornni,  we  an'  to  presume, 
niipht  have  liei  ii  oommanded,  as  ther'c  was  un- 
doubtedly 11  great  majority  of  the  men, hers  still 
in  tho  city. 

"Hut  now,  sir,  there  is  oiu'  otlier  tninsaclion 
of  the  evening  which  I  fcellnMiiid  to  sti'te,  he- 
cnuso  I  think  it  quite  ini]>ortant,  on  .several  ac- 
counts, that  it  shnidd  lie  known. 

"A  nomination  was  pendiiif;  before  the  Se- 
nate, for  a  judge  of  the  Supremo  (Joint.  In 
tho  course  of  tho  sitting,  that  nomination  was 
called  up,  and,  on  motion,  was  indefinitely 
postponed.  In  other  words,  it  was  ivjected  ; 
for  an  indelinite  postponement  is  a  rejection. 
The  ollico,  of  course,  remained  vacant,  ar.d  tho 
nomination  of  another  pei'soii  to  till  it  became 
necessary.  The  President  of  the  United  States 
was  then  in  the  cajiitol,  as  is  usual  on  the  even- 
ing of  the  last  da}'  of  tlutsossioii,  in  the  cham- 
hor  assigned  to  him,  and  with  tho  heads  of 
departments  around  him.  When  nominations 
are  rtjcctcd  under  these  circumstances,  it  has 
been  usual  for  tho  President  immediately  to 
tansmit  a  m  '■  nomination  to  tho  Senate  ; 
otherwise  tho  oluro  must  remain  vacant  till  the 
ne.\t  session,  as  tho  vacancy  in  such  case  has 
not  happened  in  the  recess  of  Congre.a;;.  The 
vote  of  the  Senate,  indotinitely  postponing 
this  nomination,  was  carried  to  the  President's 
room  by  the  Secretary  of  tlie  Senate.  The  Pre- 
sident told  the  Secretary  that  it  was  more  than 
an  hour  jiast  twelve  o'clock,  and  that  ho  could 
receive  no  further  communications  from  the  Se- 
nate, and  immediately  after,  as  I  have  under- 
stood, left  the  capitol.  The  Swiretary  brought 
back  the  paper  containing  tho  certitied  copy  of 
the  vote  of  the  Senate,  and  indorsed  thereon 
the  substance  of  the  President's  answer,  and 
also  added  that,  according  to  his  own  watch,  it 
was  a  quarter  past  one  o'clock." 

This  was  the  argument  of  Mr.  Webster  in 
defence  of  the  Senate  and  him.solf :  but  it  cnvA;] 
not  alter  the  facts  of  tho  case — that  tho  Senate 
disagreed  to  the  IIou.se  appropriation — that  it 
adhered  harshly — that  it  consumed  the  titae  in 


elaborate  speeches  aga'iiHt  the  Pronhlcnt— ami 
thai  the  bill  was  lo«t  upon  lnp.se  of  time,  tin. 
existence  of  the  Congiess  itself  expiiing  \vlii|,. 
this  eonieiition,  began  by  tho  Senate,  wus 
going  on. 

.Mr.  Webster  dissented  from  the  new  doctriui' 
of  counting  years  by  fractions  of  a  day,  uh  u 
thhig  having  no  place  in  the  constitiiU.in,  j,, 
law,  or  in  pn.ctico ; — and  which  was  Irnvhs 
impracticable,  and  said: 

"There  is  no  clause  of  the  consfi'iitioa,  imr 
is  there  any  law,  which  declares  that  the  term 
of  ollico   of  members  of  tho  Ilmi.se  ol'  IIciik- 
si'iitatives  shall  e.xiiire  at  twelve  o'clock  at  \]\,^h[ 
on  the  ;!d  of  March.     They  arc  to  hold  for  Trtu 
years,  but  the  preckso  hour  for  the  coniiiumv- 
inent  of  that   term  of  two  years   is   nowhin 
fixed  by  constitutional  or  legal  pro\ision,    It 
has  iK'en  established  Iiy  usage  and  by  iiifcitniv, 
and  very  properly  established,  that"  siiici'  tin 
llrst  Congress  commenced  its  e.xistciice  (in  llic 
first  Wednesday  in  March,  178',l,  whicli  liapiKmii 
to  be   the  Uh  day  of  that  montli,  tin  ivloiv,  llir 
4th  of  March  is   the  day  of  the  Coniineiuvinuii 
of  each  successive  ttriii,  but  no  jiom'  is  Unci! 
by  law  or  pmctice.    Tho  true  nile  is,  as  I  think, 
most  undoubtedly,  that  the  .session  lioldcii  nn 
the  liLst  day,  constitutes  the  last  day,  for  all  k-i- 
lative  and   legal   purposes.     AVhile  the  ftsMdn 
comiiienced   ou    that   day   continues,   tlie  ih\ 
itself    continues,    according  to  the  es!iilili,«iiiii 
practice  both  of  legislative  and  judicial  iMnlit-, 
Thi.s.could  not  well  be  othorwi.se.     If  the  pu- 
cise  moment  of  actual  time  were  to  settk'  mhIi 
a  matter,  it  would  be  material  to  ask.  who  shall 
settle  the  time  .'     Shall  it  be  done  hy  |iiililii' 
authority ;  or  shall  every  man  obs<'rve  tlic  tick 
of  his  own  watch  .'     if  absolute  time  is  t"  I'n- 
nish  a  precise  rule,     he  excess  of  a  iiiiinUi',  i:  i> 
obvious,  would  bo  as  fatal   as  the  excv  ss  of  an 
hour.     Sir,  no   bodie-,  judicial   or  leinslative. 
have  ever  been  so  byj)crcritieal,  so  astute  to  in' 
imrpose,  so  much  more  mco  thai.  wi.»e,  as  t" 
govern  'homselves  byimv  such  ideas.    Tiieso- 
sion  for  the  day,  at  whatever  hour  it  co'iiineiicc'S 
or  at  whatever  hour  it  bivaks  up,  is  the  leuisl.v 
tive  day.     Every   thing  has  reference  to  the 
commencement    of  that  diurnal   .session.    I'nr 
instance,  this  is  tho   1  Ith  day  of  .lamiary;  wt 
assembled  here  to  day   at   twelve  o'clock ;  "Ui 
journal  is  dateil  •Tamiar\-  14th. and  if  «eslioiiM 
remain   until  five   o'clock  to-morrow  nmniiii,:: 
(and  the   .Senate  has  sometimes  sat  so  lale)  mir 
proceedings  would  still  all  bear  date  of  the  Mill 
of  January;  they  would  be  .so  stated  11)11111  the 
journal,  and  the  joimal   is  a  record,  ami  is  11 
conclusive  record,   so  far  as  respects  the  \m- 
ceedings  of  the  body." 

Thit  he  adduced  practice  to  the  contrary,  ii" ' 
showed  that  the  expiring  rongres.s  had  ofte.'i 
sat  after  midnight,  on  the  day  of  the  3d  o' 


»*i*l  mv 


ANNO  IBSfl.     ANDHEW  JACKSON,  IMtHSIDKNT. 


599 


Pia'iut  the  Pr«iMent-«n.| 
t  upon  InpNi)  of  tiiiu',  till' 

■fWHH    itM'lf  t'.\|lililll,'   Wllilc 

;iin   by    tho    Miiiulu,  wuk 

iitcd  Iroin  tho  iifw  (loctriuc 
'  frutilioiiH  of  II  (lay,  as  » 

CO    ill    tllC    OHlSlitutidll,   ill 

—and  whioli  was  bcsiili> 
id: 

10  of  tho  coiiKti'iitioii,  iiiir 
eh  diThircM  lh;it  thu  tcriii 
^  of  the  lliMisi'  ol  ||,.|,||,. 
I'  lit  twclvT  oVIouK  atni;;lit 

Thoy  iu'(  to  hold  fur  («,. 

hour  lor  llic  roiniiiMiKv- 
i)f  two  yi'iiis  is  iiDwIiiiv 
ml  Ol-  loffiil  |)ro\ision.  It 
'oy  iisiif;o  iiiid  hy  infcriinv 
stiil)hHlK'd,  that,  !>iiia'  \hv 
iciioed  its  I'xiHtciicf  mi  ilir 
airh,  17H!»,  \vliichhiiii|i('iioil 
lliiit  month,  thcifluiv,  lln 
day  ol"  till"  Ct.imntiiaiiiuu 
nil,  hilt  no  hoiii'  is  (JM'ii 
I'iie  tnio  ndc  is,  us  I  think, 
Hit  tho  si's,si(m  lioldcii  on 
OS  tlie  hiHt  day,  tor  all  |c;;i... 

lOSOH.       AVlliif    thf    Kt'S-inli 

day  colli iiiiica,  tlio  il;i} 
ordin^ij;  to  llic  csiitlilislinl 
latiM'  and  Judicial  Imilio-. 

10  othorwi.-ic.  If  till'  pit- 
1  tiiiu'  woro  to  .settle  mkIi 

niatciial  to  ank.wlio  shall 
'lall  it  ho  done  l)y  |iiihlic 
ory  man  ob?"'vve  llic  tick 
If  iihsoluto  time  is  t'l  'ui- 
iio  excess  of  a  iniiiiiti',  u  i? 
fatal  as  tho  ex(( ss  ol' an 
-,  judicial  or  le^'inlativc. 
|H'irriticiil,  so  astute  torn' 
ro  nice  tliai  wise,  us  t" 
liny  such  iil-as.  'flic .so- 
liitcvoi-  hour  it  i'('!iiiiientv>. 
t  hivak.<  up,  is  ilie  k',!;i.s'a- 
inji;  has  rofeinice  to  the 
lat  diurnal  .se.ssimi.  l'"i' 
Uli  day  of  January;  wi 
)■  at  twelve  o'clock ;  "ur 
lary  1-Uli.aiid  if  weslmnH 
flock  to-inoiTii\v  niiii'iiiiir 
soniotiincs  sat  so  iiiie)  mir 

11  all  hear  date  of  t!ifl4lh 
iild  ho  so  stated  upon  tho 
lal   is  a  record,  and  i-^  !i 

far  lis  rospucts  tiie  pif- 

ctice  to  the  contrary,  a'l'' 
irin^-  {'oii;:ros.s  had  often 
m  tho  day  of  the  3d  o" 


Maroh,  in  thct  yoarH  when  that  day  wiw  tho  end 
i)f  till'  Con^crcHU ;  and  in  wiicaking  of  what  had 
„f(iii  occurrod,  hi»  was  ri^ht.  I  iiavo  often  Noon 
itmy«'lf ;  I*"''  '"  •""■''  cv^uH  there  waH  uHiially 
jii  ii(knowlod(jinont  of  the  wron^  by  .stopping; 
thy  Soiittto  clock,  or  setting  it  back  ;  and  I  have 
also  Hoen  the  hfiur  calUid  and  marked  on  the 
jdiininl  after  twelve,  and  tho  bills  sent  to  the 
President,  noted  as  passed  at  such  an  hour  of 
the  inoniiii|.?  ol'  the  fourth  ;  when  they  ri-maincd 
untouched  by  tlie  President ;  and  all  bills  and 
nets  sent  to  liini  on  tho  mornint;  of  the  fourth 
aa'iliited  of  tho  third  ;  and  that  date  loj^alizes 
tlicra,  altliouf^h  erroneous  in  point  of  fact. 
But,  many  of  the  elder  niemhors,  such  as  Afr. 
Macon,  would  biive  nothing  to  do  with  these 
contrivances,  and  loft  the  chamber  at  midnight, 
sftyiiiK  that  tlie  (^uigro.ss  was  constitutionally 
extinct,  and  that  they  had  no  longer  any  jiowor 
to  sit  and  act  as  a  Senate.  Upon  this  jioint  Mr. 
(Iruiidy,  of  'rennessoo,  a  distinguished  jurist  as 
well  118  statesman,  delivered  his  opinion,  and  in 
coiLSonance  with  tho  best  authorities.  Ho  said: 

"  A  serionH  question  seems  now  to  bo  made, 
lis  to  what  time  Congress  constitutionally  ter- 
miimtes.  Until  lately,  I  hav(^  not  heard  it  .seri- 
Diisly  urged  that  twelve  o'clock,  on  the  .'id  of 
.Miiicli,  at  night,  is  not  the  true  period.  1 1  is  now 
insisted,  however,  that  at  twelve  o'clock  on  the 
4tii  of  March  is  the  true  time ;  and  the  argu- 
ment in  support  of  this  is,  that  the  first  Con- 
[jreKs  met  at  twelve  o'clock,  on  the  4th  of  March. 
This  is  not  placing  the  question  on  the  true 
j,'round ;  it  is  not  when  tho  Congress  did  meet, 
or  when  the  President  uas  i|iialiliod  by  taking 
the  oath  of  ollice,  but  when  did  they  have  the 
constitutional  right  to  meet?  This  certainly 
was,  and  i.s,  in  all  future  cases,  on  the  4tli  of 
March  ;  and  if  tho  day  commence,  according  i  > 
the  universal  acceptation  and  undorstandin^  uf 
the  country,  at  tho  first  moment  after  twelve 
o'clock  at  night  on  tho  3d  of  March,  tin-  consti- 
tutional right  or  jiowcr  of  the  new  Congress  com- 
mences at  that  time  ;  and  if  called  by  tlu'  Chief 
Magistrate  to  meet  at  that  time,  they  might 
then  qualify  and  open  their  session.  There 
would  ho  no  use  in  arguing  away  the  common 
understanding  of  the  country,  and  it  would  seoni 
as  reasonable  to  maintain  that  the  4th  of  March 
ended  when  the  first  Coii-ircss  adjourned,  as  it 
is  to  say  that  it  began  when  they  mot.  From 
twelve o'clock  at  night  until  twelve  o'clock  at 
night  is  tho  moflo  of  computing  a  day  by  the 
iwople  of  the  United  States,  and  I  do  not  feel 
authorized  to  establish  a  diflbront  mode  of  com- 
putatif!!,  r-Av  Congress.  At  what  hour  does 
Christmas  commence  ?  When  docs  the  first  day 
of  the  year,  or  the  first  of  January,  commence  ? 
Is  it  at  midnight  or  at  noon  I    If  the  first  day 


of  a  year  or  month  begins  and  ends  at  midnight, 
does  not  every  other  flay  7  Congress  box  al- 
ways acted  upon  tho  impression  that  tlie  lid  of 
March  ende(l  at  midnight;  hence  that  setting 
bmk  of  clocks  which  we  have  wilnosse  1  (.'i  the 
.'!d  of  March,  at  the  termination  of  the  Hhorl  ses- 
sion. 

"  In  using  this  argument,  I  do  not  wisli  to  be 
understood  as  coiisni'ing  tliost^  who  have  traiiM- 
acted  tho  pnblie  business  here  after  twelve 
o'clock  on  the  .'id  of  March.  From  lliis  error, 
if  it  bo  one,  I  claim  no  exemption.  ^Vith  a  sin- 
gle exception,  I  believe,  I  have  always  remained 
until  the  final  adjournment  of  botli  lloiisos.  As 
to  the  President  of  tho  United  State.s,  he  re- 
mained until  after  one  o'clock  on  the  4th  of 
March.  This  wa<  making  a  full  and  fair  iillow- 
anco  for  tlie  diU'erence  that  ii''';ht  t^xist  in  dif- 
ferent instruments  for  keojiir.g  time ;  and  ho 
then  retired  from  bis  cliamber  in  the  Capitol. 
The  fortification  bill  never  passed  ('ongress  ;  it 
never  was  oU'ered  to  Iiiin  for  his  signature  ;  he, 
therefore,  can  be  in  no  fault.  It  was  argue(i 
that  many  acts  of  C'ongress  passed  on  flic  4th  of 
Abirch,  at  tho  short  session,  are  upon  our  slatuto 
books,  ami  that  these  acts  are  valid  and  binding. 
It  should  bo  rcniembore<l  that  they  all  bear  date 
on  the  3d  of  March  ;  and  so  high  is  tho  authen- 
ticity of  our  records,  that,  according  to  the  rules 
of  evidence,  no  testimony  can  bo  received  to  con- 
tradict any  thing  which  appears  upon  the  face 
of  our  acts." 

To  show  the  jiractico  of  tho  Senate,  when  its 
attention  was  called  to  the  true  liour,  and  to 
the  fact  that  the  fourth  day  of  March  wius  upon 
them,  the  Mutin  -  if  this  View,  in  the  conr.so  of 
this  (h  h.in',  showed  the  history  of  the  actual  ter- 
mination of  tho  last  session — the  one  at  which 
the  fortification  bill  was  lost.  Mr.  Ilill,  of  Now 
Hampshire,  was  speaking  o  certain  enormous 
lirinting  jobs  which  were  pressed  upon  the  Sen- 
ate in  its  expiring  moments,  and  defeated  after 
miilnight ;  Mr.  Benton  asked  leave  to  tell  the 
secret  history  of  this  defeat ;  which  being 
granted,  ho  stood  up,  and  said : 

"  Ho  defeated  these  printing  jobs  after  mid- 
night, and  fiy  speaking  against  tim<  .  He  had 
avowed  his  determination  to  speak  out  the  ses- 
sion ;  and  after  speaking  a  long  time  against 
time,  he  found  that  time  stood  still ;  that  the 
hands  of  our  clock  obstinately  refused  to  pass 
the  hour  of  twelve ;  and  i  hereupon  addressed 
the  presiding  officer  (Mr.  Tyler,  the  President 
pro  tetn.^,  to  cidl  to  his  attention  the  refractory 
disposition  of  the  clock  ;  which,  in  fact,  had  been 
set  back  by  tho  oflicers  of  the  House,  according 
to  couiinuii  u.sage  oi:  ihe  last  'sight,  to  idde  from 
ourselves  the  fact  that  our  time  was  at  an  end. 
The  presiding  officer  (Mr.  B.  said)  directed  an 
officer  of  the  House  to  put  forward  the  clock  to 


'^-■tM>' 


600 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


the  right  time ;  which  was  done  ;  and  not  an- 
other vote  was  taken  that  night,  except  the  vote 
to  adjourn." 

This  was  a  case,  as  the  lawyers  say,  in  point. 
It  was  the  refusal  of  the  Senate  the  very  night 
in  question,  to  do  any  thing  except  to  give  the 
adjourning  vote  after  the  attention  of  the  Senate 
was  called  to  the  hour. 

In  reply  to  Mr.  Calhoun's  argument  against 
American  arming,  and  that  such  arming  would 
bo  war  on  our  side,  Mr.  Grundy  replied: 

"But  it  is  said  by  the  gentleman  from  South 
Oarohna  (Mr.  Calhoun),  that,  if  we  arm,  we  in- 
stantly make  war:  it  is  war.    If  this  be  so  we 
are  placed  m  a  most  humiliating  situation.  Since 
this  controversy  commenced,  the  French  nation 
lias  armed;  they  have  increased  their  vessels  of 
war;  they  have  equipped  them;  they  have  en- 
listed or  pressed  additional  seamen  into  the  pub- 
lic service;   they  have  appointed  to  the  com- 
mand of  this  large  naval  force  one  of  their  most 
experienced  and  renowned  naval  officers;  and 
this  squadron,  thus  prepared,  and  for  what  par- 
ticular purpose  we  know  not,  is  now  actually  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  American  coast.    I  ad- 
mit tlJs  proceeding  on  the  part  of  the  French 
government  is  neither  war,  nor  just  cause  of  war 
ou  our  part;  but,  seeing  this,  shall  we  be  told, 
if  we  do  similar  acts,  designed  to  defend  our  own 
country,  we  are  making  war  ?    As  I  understand 
the  public  law,  every  nation  has  the  right  to 
judge  for  itself  of  the  extent  of  its  own  military 
and  naval  armaments,  and  no  other  nation  has  a 
right  to  complain  or  call  it  in  question.     It  ap- 
pears to  me  that,  although  the  preparations  and 
armaments  of  the  French  government  are  mat- 
ters  not  to  be  excepted  to,  still   they  should 
admonish  us  to  place  our  country  in  a  condition 
in  which  it  could  be  defended  in  the  event  the 
present    difficulties  between  the  two  nations 
should  lead  to  hostilities." 


and  loss  was  the  only  rule  wo  had  to  kg  bv 
that  national  honor  was  no  object ;  and  that  * 
obtain  these  miserable  twenty-five  millions  of 
francs,  we  should  be  ready  to  submit  to  ->! 
quantity  of  indignity,  and  to  wade  throiiRh  anv 
depth   of   national   humilJEtion.      The    deW 
which  has  taken  place  will  dispel  that  illiKinl 
and  the  first  dispatch  which^he  yoi^Td' 
miral  xVIackau  will  have  to  send  to  his  eovrrn 
ment  will  be  to  inform  it  that  there  has  been  ," 
mistake  in  this  business-that  these  Americin« 
wrangle  among  themselves,  but  unite  a^^ainst 
foreigners;  and  that  many  opposition  senatm 
are  ready  to  vote  double  the  amount  of  tho 
twenty-five  millions  to  put  the  country  in  I 
condition  to  sustain  that  noble  sentinient  of 
President  Jackson,  that  the  honor  of  his  coun 
try  shall  never  be  stained  by  his  making  an 
apobgy  for  speaking  truth  in  the  performance 


CHAPTER  CXXXlir. 

FRENCH  INDEMNITIES:  BRITISH  MEDIATION  •  Jif. 
DEMNITIES  PAID. 


In  the  course  of  the  debate  the  greater  part 
of  the  opposition  senators  declared  their  inten- 
tion to  sustain  measures  of  defence  ;  on  which 
Mr.  Benton  congratulated  the  country,  and  said : 

"A  good  consequence  had  resulted  from  an 
unpleasant  debate.  All  parties  had  disclaimed 
the  merit  of  sinking  the  fortification  bill  of  the 
last  session,  and  a  majority  had  evinced  a  deter- 
mination to  repair  the  evil  by  voting  adequate 
appropriations  now.  This  was  good.  It  be- 
i^poke  better  results  in  time  to  come,  and  would 
dispel  that  illusion  of  divided  counsels  cm  whioh 
the  French  govenimcnt  had  so  largely  calcula- 
ted. The  rejection  of  the  three  millions,  and 
the  loss  of  the  fortification  bill,  Iwd  deceived 
France ;  it  had  led  her  into  the  mistake  of  sup- 
posing that  we  viewed  every  question  in  a  mer- 
cantile point  of  view;  that  the  question  of  profit 


The  message  of  the  President  in  relation  to 
French  affairs  had  been  referred  to  the  Senate's 
committee  on  foreign  relations,  and  before  any 
report  had  been  received  frcm  that  committee  "a 
further  message  was  received  from  the  President 
informing  the  Senate  that   Great  Britain  had 
offered  her  friendly  mediation  between  the  Uni- 
ted States  and  France— that  it  had  been  ac- 
cepted by  the  governments  both  of  France  and 
the  United  States ;  and  recommending  a  sus- 
pension of  all    retaliatory    measures    against 
France ;  but  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  na- 
tional works  of  general  and  permanent  defence. 
The  messfvge  also  stated  that  the  mediation  had 
been  accepted  on  the  part  of  the  United  States 
with  a  careful  reservation  of  the  points  in  the 
controversy  which  involved  the  honor  of  the 
country,  and  which  admitted  of  no  compromise 
—a  reservation  which,  in  the  vocabulary  of  Gen- 
eral Jackson,  was  equivalent  to  saying  that  the 
indemnities   must    be    paid,  and  no   apologies 
made.    And  such  in  fact  was  the  case.    Within 
a  month  from  the  date  of  that  message  the  four 
mstalments  of  the  indemnities  then  due,  were 
fully  paid  ;  and  without  w.iiting  for  any  r.rtion 
on  the  part  of  the  mediator.    In  coiniiiiinicating 
the  ofier  of  the  British  mediation  the  Prosideut 
expressed  his  high  appreciation  of  the  "elevated 


ANNO  1886.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESmENT. 


CXXXIII. 


and  disinterested  motives  of  that  offer."    The 
motives  were,  in  fact,  both  elevated  and  disin- 
terested; and  presents  one  of  those  noble  spec- 
tacles in  the  conduct  of  nations  on  whicli  his- 
tory loves  to  dwell.     France  and  the  United 
States  had  fought  together  against  Great  Britain ; 
now  Great  Britain  steps  between  France  and 
the  United  States  to  prevent  them  from  fight- 
ing each  other.     George  the  Third  received  the 
combined  attacks  pf  French  and  Americans ;  his 
son,  William  the  Fourth,  interposes  to  prevent 
their  arms  from  being  turned  against  each  other. 
It  was  a  noble  intervention,  and  a  just  return 
for  the  good  work  of  the  Emperor  Alexander  in 
offering  his  mediation  between  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain— good  works  these  peace  me- 
diations, and  as  nearly  divine  as  humanity  can 
reach;— worthy  of  all  praise,  of  long  remem- 
brance, and  continual  imitation ;— the  more  so 
iu  this  case  of  the  British  mediation  when  the 
event  to  be  prevented  would  have  been  so  favor- 
able to  British  interests—would  have  thrown 
the  commerce  of  the  United  States  and  of  France 
into  her  hands^  and  enriched  her  at  the  expense 
of  both.   Happily  the  progress  of  the  age  which, 
in  cultivating  good  will  among  nations,  elevates 
great  powers  above  all  selfishness,  and  permits  no 
unfriendly  recollection— no  selfish  calculation— 
to  baik  the  impulsions  of  a  noble  philantiiropy. 
I  have  made  a  copious  chapter  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  this  episodical  controversy  with  France 
-more  full,  it  might  seem,  than  the  subject  re- 
quired, seeing  its  speedy  and  happy  termina- 
tion:  but   not  without    object.      Instructive 
lessons  result  from  this  history;  both  from  the 
French  and  American  side  of  it.     The  wrong  to 
tiie  United  States  came  from  the  French  cham- 
ber of  deputies- from  the  opposition  part  of  it, 
composed  of  the  two  extremes  of  republicans 
and  legitimists,  deadly  hostile  to  each  other,  but 
combined  in  any  attempt  to  embarrass  a  king 
whom  both  wished  to  destroy :  and  this  French 
opposition  inflamed  the  question  there.     In  the 
United  States  there  was  also  an  opposition,  com- 
posed of  two,  lately  hostile  parties  (the  modern 
wings  and  the  southern  dissatisfied  democracy) ; 
aiid  this  .)i)p„sition,  dominant  in  the  Senate,  an(i 
trustratn.g  the  President's  measures,  gave  en- 
couragement to  the  French  opposition ;  an<{  the 
two  together,  brought  their  resi)ectivo  countries 
t«  the  brink  of  war.    The  two  oppositions  are 
^sponsible  for  the  hostile  attitude  to  which  the 


601 


two  countries  were  brought.    That  this  is  not  a 
harsh  opinion,  nor  without  foundation,  may  be 
seen  by  the  history  which  is  given  of  the  case 
in  the  chapter  dedicated  to  it;  and  if  more  is 
wanting,  it  may  be  found  in  the  recorded  debates 
of  the  day;  in  which  things  were  said  which 
were  afterwards  regretted;   and  which,   being 
regretted,  the  author  of  this  View  has  no  desire 
to  repeat:— the  instructive  lesson  of  history 
wliich  he  wishes  to  inculcate,  being  complete 
without  the  exhumation  of  what  ought  to  re- 
main buried.    Nor  can  the  steadiness  and  firm- 
ness of  President  Jackson  be  overlooked  in  this 
reflective  view.    In  all  the  aspacts  of  the  French 
question  he  remained  inflexible  in  his  demand 
for  justice,  and  in  his  detrmination,  so  far  as  it 
depended  upon  him  to  have  it.    In  his  final 
message,  communicating  to  congress  the  con- 
clusion of  the  affaif,  he  gracefully  associated 
congress  with  himself  in  their  joy  at  the  resto- 
ration of  the  ancient  cordial  relations  between  two 
countries,  of  ancient  friendship,  which  miscon- 
ceptions had  temporarily  alienated  from  each 
other. 


CHAPTER     CXXXIV. 

PRESIDENT  JACKSON'S  FOHEIGN  DIPLOMACY. 


A  VIEW  of  President  Jackson's  foreign  diplo- 
macy has  been  reserved  for  the  last  year  of  his 
administration,  and  to  the  conclusion  of  his 
longest,  latest,  and  most  difficult  negotiation; 
and  is  now  presented  in  a  single  chapter,  giving 
the  history  of  his  intercourse  with  foreign  na- 
tions.   From  no  part  of  his  administration  was 
more  harm  apprehended,  by  those  who  dreaded 
the  election  of  General  Jackson,  than  from  this 
source.    From  his  military  character  they  feared 
embroilments ;  from  his  want  of  experience  as 
a  diplomatist,  they  feared  mistakes  and  blunders 
iu  our  foreign  intercourse.    These  api)rehe nsions 
were  very  sincerely  entertained  by  a  lai>,e  pro- 
portion of  our  citizens ;  but,  as  the  event  proved, 
entirely  without  foundation.     No  part  of  his 
administration,  successful,  beneficial,  and  honora- 
ble as  it  was  at  home,  was  more  successful,  bene- 
ficial and  honoiable  than  that  of  his  foreign 
diplomacy.      He  obtained   indemnities   for  all 
outrr.gC3  committed  on  our  commerce  before 


h^ 


C^" 


i;    . 


'    )l 


(?.' 


602 


THIRTY  TEARS'  VIEW. 


his  time,  and  none  were  committed  during  his 
time.  He  made  good  commercial  treaties  with 
some  nations  from  which  tliey  could  not  be  ob- 
tained before — settled  some  long-standing  and 
vexatious  questions ;  and  left  the  whole  world 
at  peace  with  his  country,  and  engaged  in  the 
good  offices  of  trade  and  hospitality.  A  brief 
detail  of  actual  occurrences  will  justify  this 
general  and  agreeable  statement. 

1.  The  Direct  Trade  with  the  British 
West  Indies. — I  have  already  shown,  in  a  sepa- 
rate chapter,  the  recovery,  in  the  first  year  of 
his  administration,  of  this  valuable  branch  of 
our  commerce,  so  desirable  to  us  from  the  near- 
ness of  those  islands  to  our  shore,  the  domestic 
productions  which  they  took  from  us,  the  em- 
ployment it  gave  to  our  navigation,  the  actual 
large  amount  of  the  trade,  t'le  acceptable  articles 
it  gave  in  return,  and  its  satisfactory  establish- 
ment on  !i  durable  basis  after  fifty  years  of  in- 
terrupted, and  precarious,  aud  restricted  enjoy- 
ment :  and  I  add  nothing  more  on  that  head. 
I  proceed  to  new  cases  of  indemnities  obtained, 
or  of  new  treaties  formed. 

2.  At  the  head  of  these  stands  the  French  In- 
demnity Treaty. — The  commerce  of  the  United 
States  had  suflered  greatly  under  the  decrees  of 
the  Emperor  Napoleon,  and  redress  had  been 
sought  by  every  administration,  and  in  vain, 
from  that  of  Mr.  Madison  to  that  of  Mr.  John 
Quincy  Adams,  inclusively.  President  Jackson 
determined  from  the  first  moment  of  his  admin- 
istration to  jjrosecute  the  claims  on  France  with 
vigor  ;  and  that  not  only  as  a  mattur  of  right, 
but  of  policy.  There  were  other  secondary 
powers,  such  as  Naples  and  Spain,  subject  to  the 
same  kind  of  reclamation,  and  which  had  shel- 
tered their  refusal  behind  that  of  France  ;  an*l 
■with  some  show  of  reason,  as  France,  besides 
having  coiuinitted  the  largest  depredation,  was 
the  origin  of  the  system  under  which  they  acted, 
and  the  inducing  cause  of  their  conduct.  France 
was  the  strong  power  in  this  class  of  wrong- 
doers, and  as  such  was  the  one  first  to  be  dealt 
with.  In  his  first  annual  message  to  the  two 
Houses  of  Congress,  President  Jackson  brought 
this  subject  before  that  body,  and  disclosed  his 
own  policy  in  relation  to  it.  He  took  up  the 
question  as  one  of  undeniable  wrong  which  had 
already  griven  rise  to  niueli  uuideasuiiL  di>cus- 
sion,  and  whicli  might  lead  to  possible  collision 
between  the  two  governments ;  aud  expressed  a 


confident  hope  that  the  injurious  delays  of  the 
past  would  find  a  redress  in  the  equity  of  the 
future.  This  was  pretty  clear  language,  and 
stood  for  something  in  the  message  of  a  Presi- 
dent whose  maxim  of  foreign  policy  was,  to  "ask 
nothing  but  what  was  right,  and  to  submit  to 
nothing  that  was  wrong."  At  the  same  time, 
Mr.  William  C.  Rives,  of  Virginia,  was  sent  to 
Paris  as  minister  plenipotentiary  and  envoy  ex- 
traordinary, and  especially  charged  ^itli  this  re- 
clamation. His  mission  was  successful ;  and  at 
the  conmiencement  of  the  session  1831-'32,  the 
President  had  the  gratification  to  communicate 
to  both  Houses  pf  Congress  and  to  submit  to  the 
Senate  for  its  approbation,  the  treaty  which 
closed  up  this  long-standing  head  of  complaint 
against  an  ancient  ally.  The  French  govern- 
ment agreed  topay  twenty-five  millions  of  francs 
to  American  citizens  "  for  (such  was  the  language 
of  the  treaty)  unlawful  seizures,  captures,  se- 
questrations, confiscations  or  destruction  of  their 
vessels,  cargoes  or  other  property ; "  subject  to  a 
deduction  of  one  million  and  a  half  of  francs  for 
claims  of  French  citizens,  or  the  royal  treasury, 
for  "  ancient  supplies  or  accounts,"  or  for  re- 
clamations on  account  of  commercial  injury. 
Thus  all  American  claims  for  spoliation  in  tiie 
time  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  were  acknow- 
ledged and  agreed  to  bo  satisfied,  and  tlic  ac- 
knowledgment and  agreement  for  satisfaction 
made  in  terms  which  admitted  the  ilk^galityand 
injustice  of  the  acts  in  which  they  originated. 
At  the  same  time  all  the  French  claims  upon 
the  United  States,  from  the  time  of  our  revolu- 
tion, of  which  two  (those  of  the  heirs  of  Beau- 
marchais  and  of  the  Count  Rochainbcau)  liad 
been  a  subject  of  reclamation  for  forty  years, 
were  satisfied.  The  treaty  was  signed  July  4th, 
1831,  one  year  after  the  accession  of  Louis  Phil- 
lippe  to  the  French  throne— and  to  tlic  natural 
desire  of  the  new  king  (under  the  circumstances 
of  his  elevation)  to  be  on  good  terms  with  the 
United  States ;  and  to  the  good  oilices  of  General 
Lafayette,  then  once  more  influential  in  the 
councils  of  France,  as  well  as  to  the  zealous  ex- 
ertions of  our  minister,  the  auspicious  conclusion 
of  this  business  is  to  be  much  attributdl.  The 
indenmity  payable  in  six  annual  equal  instair 
ments,  was  satisfactory  to  government  and  to 
the  c'  .iniants  ;  and  in  couunuiiii;;tting  infurma 
tion  of  the  treaty  to  Congress,  President  Jacii- 
son,  after  a  just  congratulation  on  putting  an 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


le  injurious  delays  of  the 
•ess  in  the  equity  of  the 
etty  clear  language,  and 
1  the  message  of  a  Presi- 
[breign  policy  was,  to  "ask 
s  right,  and  to  submit  to 
ng."  At  the  same  time, 
,  of  Virginia,  was  sent  to 
ipotentiary  and  envoy  ex- 
ially  charged  with  this  re- 
)n  was  successful ;  and  at 

the  session  1831-'32,  the 
itification  to  communicate 
igress  and  to  submit  to  the 
bation,  the  treaty  which 
anding  head  of  complaint 
ly.  The  French  govcrn- 
enty-five  millions  of  francs 
for  (such  was  the  language 
'ul  seizures,  captures,  se- 
ons  or  destruction  of  their 
er  property ; "  subject  to  a 
on  and  a  half  of  francs  for 
ms,  or  the  royal  treasury, 
1  or  accounts,"  or  tov  re- 
it  of  commercial  injury. 
lims  for  spoliation  in  tiie 
Napoleon  were  acknow- 

bo  satisfied,  and  the  ac- 
.greement  fjr  satisfiiction 
admitted  the  illepilityand 
in  which  they  originated. 

the  French  claim-!  upon 
m  the  time  of  our  revolu- 
lOse  of  the  heirs  of  Beau- 
Count  Rochambeau)  liad 
:lamation  for  forty  yeais, 
reaty  was  signed  July  4th, 
;ie  accession  of  Louis  Piiil- 
irone— and  to  the  natural 
;  (under  the  circumstances 
e  on  good  terms  with  the 
the  good  offices  of  General 
!  more  influential  in  the 
well  as  to  the  zealous  ex- 
»,  the  auspicious  conclusion 
be  nnich  attributdl.  The 
I  six  annual  equal  instalr 
ry  to  government  and  to 
1  coiamuiiie;itin;,'  infnrma 
Congress,  President  Jack- 
rratulation  on  putting  an 


603 


end  to  a  subject  of  irritation  which  for  many 
years  had,  in  some  degree,  ahenated  two  nations 
from  each  other,  which,  from  interest  as  well  as 
from  early  recollections,  ought  to  cherish  the 
most  friendly  relations— and  (as  if  feeling  all  the 
further  consequential  advantages  of  this  success) 
went  on  to  state,  as  some  of  the  good  efiFects  to 
result  from  it,  tiiat  it  gave  encouragement  to 
persevere  in  demands  for  justice  from  other  na- 
tions ;  that  it  would  be  an  admonition  that  just 
claims  would  be  prosecuted  to  satisfactory  con- 
clusions, and  give  assurance  to  our  own  citizens 
that  their  own  government  will  exert  all  its  con- 
stitutional power  to  obtain  redress  for  all  their 
foreign  wrongs.  This  latter  declaration  was 
afterwards  put  to  the  proof,  in  relation  to  the 
execution  of  the  treaty  itself,  and  was  kept  to  the 
whole  extent  of  its  letter  and  spirit,  and  with 
good  results  both  to  France  and  the  United 
States.  It  so  happened  that  the  French  legisla- 
tive chambers  refused  to  vote  appropriations 
necessary  to  carry  the  treaty  into  eifect.  An 
acrimonious  correspondence  bot-r-'^Ti  the  two 
governments  took  place,  beco?  ...mplicated 

with  resentment  on  the  part  c.  ^ ; ,  ...e  for  some 
expressions,  which  she  found  to  be  disrespectful, 
in  a  message  of  President  Jackson.  The  French 
minister  was  recalled  from  the  United  States ; 
the  American  minister  received  his  passport; 
and  reprisals  were  recommended  to  Congress 
by  the  President.  J?ut  there  was  no  necessity 
for  them.  The  intent  to  give  offence,  or  to  be 
disrespectful,  was  disclaimed;  the  instalments 
in  arrear  were  paid ;  the  two  nations  returned 
to  their  accustomed  good  feeling ;  and  no  visible 
trace  remains  of  the  brief  and  transient  cloud 
which  for  a  while  overshadowed  them.  So 
finished,  in  the  time  of  Jackson,  with  entire 
satisfaction  to  ourselves,  and  M-ith  honor  to 
both  parties,  the  question  of  reclamations  from 
France  for  injuries  done  our  citizens  in  the 
time  of  the  Great  Emperor  ;  and  which  the  ad- 
ministrations of  Jeflerson,  Madison,  Monroe  and 
John  Quincy  Adams  had  been  unable  to  en- 
force. 

3.  Danish  Treaty.— This  was  a  convention 
for  indemnity  for  spoliations  on  American  com- 
nierce,  committed  twenty  years  before  the  time  of 
(ieneral  Jacksnn'r-^  administration.  They  had  been 
committed  during  the  years  1808, 1809, 1810,  and 
1'8U,  that  is  to  say,  during  the  last  year  of  Mr. 
Jefferson's  administration  and  the  three  first  ycarg 


of  Mr.  Madison's.    They  consisted  of  illegal  seiz- 
ures and  illegal  condemnations  or  confiscations  of 
American  vessels  and  their  cargoes  in  Danish 
ports,  during  the  time  when  the  British  orders 
in  council  and  the  French  imperial  decrees  were 
devastating  the  commerce  of  neutral  nations,  and 
subjecting  the  weaker  powers  of  Europe  to  the 
course  of  policy  which  the  two  great  belligerent 
powers  had  adopted.    The  termination  of  the 
great  European  contest,  and  the  return  of  nations 
to  the  accustomed  paths  of  commercial  inter- 
course and  just  and  friendly  relations,  furnished 
a  suitable  opportunity  for  the  United  States, 
whose  citizens  had  suffered  so  much,  to  demand 
indemnity  for  these  injuries.    The  demand  had 
been  made,  and  had  been  followed  up  with  zeal 
during  each  succeeding  administration,  but  with- 
out effect,  until  the  administration  of  Mr.  John 
Quincy  Adams.     During  that  administration, 
and  in  the  hands  of  the  American  Charge  d 'Af- 
faires (Mr.  Henry   Wheaton),  the  negotiation 
made  encouraging  progress.     General  Jackson 
did  not  change   the   negotiator — did  not  incur 
double  expense,  a  year's  delay,  and  substitute  a 
raw  for  a  ripe  minister — and  the  negotiation 
went  on  to  a  speedy  and  prosperous  conclusion. 
The  treaty  was  concluded  in  March,  1830,  and 
extended  to  a  complete  settlem-^nt  of  all  ques- 
tions of  reclamation  on  be-     ?'  ■ '..-      The  Danish 
government  renounced  all   pretension   to  the 
claims  which  it  had  prefeiTed,  and  agreed  to  pay 
the  sum  of  six  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars to  the  government  of  the  United  States,  to 
be  by  it  distributed  among  the  American  claim- 
ants.    This  convention,  which  received  the  im- 
mediate ratification  of  the  President  and  Senate, 
terminated  all  difterences  with  a  friendly  power 
with  whom  the  United  States  never  had  any 
but  kind  relations  (these  spoliations  excepted), 
and  whose  trade  to  her  West  India  islands,  ly- 
ing at  our  door,  and  taking  much  of  our  domes- 
tic productions,  was  so  desirable  to  us. 

4.  Neapolitan  Indemnity  Treaty. — When 
Murat  was  King  of  Naples,  and  acting  upon  the 
system  of  his  brother-in-law,  the  Emperor  Na- 
poleon, he  seized  and  confiscated  many  vessels  and 
their  cargoes,  belonging  to  citizens  of  the  United 
States.  The  years  1809,1810, 1811  and  1812  were 
the  periods  of  these  wiuiigs.  Eilbris  had  been  made 
under  each  administration,  from  Mr.  JIadison  to 
Mr.  John  Quincy  Adams,  to  obtain  redress,  but 
in  vain.    Among  others,  the  special  mission  of 


ff'il 

ml 
I, 


m 


'  u  tm 


mi 


604 


THIRT\  YEARS'  VIEW. 


Mr.  William  Pinkney,  tho  eminent  orator  and 
jurist,  was  instituted  in  the  last  year  of  Mr. 
Madison's  administration,  exclusively  charged, 
at  that  court,  with  soliciting  indemnity  for  tho 
Murat  spoliations.  A  Bourbon  was  then  upon 
the  throne,  and  this  'legitimate,'  considering 
Murat  as  an  usurper  who  had  taken  the  king- 
dom from  its  proper  owners,  and  done  more 
harm  to  them  than  to  any  body  else,  was  i  tu- 
rally  averse  to  making  compensation  to  oJher 
nations  for  his  injurious  acts.  This  lepugnance 
had  found  an  excuse  in  the  fact  that  France,  the 
great  original  wrongdoer  in  all  these  spoliations, 
and  under  whose  lead  and  protection  they  were 
all  committed,  had  not  yet  been  brought  to  ac- 
knowledge the  wrong  and  to  make  satisfaction. 
The  indemnity  treaty  with  France,  in  July  1831, 
put  an  end  to  this  excuse ;  and  the  fact  of  the 
depredations  being  clear,  and  the  law  of  nations 
indisputably  in  our  favor,  a  further  and  more 
earnest  appeal  was  made  to  the  Neapolitan  gov- 
ernment. Mr.  John  Nelson,  of  Maryland,  was 
appointed  United  States  Charg6  to  Naples,  and 
concluded  a  convention  for  the  payment  of  the 
claims.  The  sum  of  two  millions  one  hundred 
and  fifteen  thousand  Neapolitan  ducats  was 
stipulated  to  be  paid  to  the  United  States  gov- 
ernment, to  be  by  it  distributed  among  the  claim- 
ants ;  and,  being  entirely  satisfactory,  the  con- 
vention immediately  received  the  American  j 
ratification.  Thus,  another  head  of  injury  to  ' 
our  citizens,  and  of  twenty  years'  standing,  was  ' 
settled  by  General  Jackson,  and  in  a  case  in 
which  the  strongest  prejudice  and  the  most  re- 
volting repugnance  had  to  be  overcome.  Murat 
had  been  shot  by  order  of  the  Neapolitan  king, 
for  attempting  to  recover  the  kingdom  ;  he  was 
deemed  a  usurper  while  he  had  it ;  the  exiled 
royal  family  thought  themselves  sufficiently 
wronged  by  him  in  their  own  persons,  without 
being  made  responsible  for  his  wrongs  to  others ; 
and  although  bound  by  the  law  of  nations  to 
answer  for  his  conduct  while  king  in  point  of 
fact,  yet  for  almost  twenty  years — from  their  res- 
toration in  1814  to  1832 — they  had  resisted  and 
repulsed  the  incessant  and  just  demands  of  the 
United  States.  Considenng  the  sacrifice  of 
pride,  as  well  as  the  large  compensation,  which 
this  branch  of  the  Bourbons  had  to  make  in 
paying  a  bill  of  damages  against  an  intrusive  king 
of  the  Bonaparte  dynasty,  and  this  indenniity 
obtained  from  Naples  in  tho  third  year  of  General 


Jackson's  first  presidential  term,  which  had  been 
refused  to  his  three  predecessors — Messrs.  Madi- 
son, Monroe  and  John  Quincy  Adams— may  be 
looked  upon  as  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of 
his  diplomatic  successes. 

Spanish   Indemnity    Treaty.— The  treaty 
of  1819  with  Spain,  by  which  we  gained  Florida 
and  lost  Texas,  and  paid  five  millions  of  dollars 
to  our  own   citizens  for  Spanish  spoliations. 
settled  up  all  demands  upon  that  power  up  to 
that  time ;  but  fresh  causes  of  complaint  soon 
grew  up.    All  the  Spanish- American  states  had 
beco.ie  independent — had  established  their  own 
forms  of  government — and  commenced  political 
and  commercial  communications  with  all  the 
world.    Spanish  policy  revolted  at  this  escape 
of  colonies  from  its  hands ;  and  although  uuablc 
to  subdue  the  new  governments,  was  able  to  re- 
fuse to  acknowledge  their  independence— able 
to  issue  paper  blockades,  and  to  seize  and  con- 
fiscate the  American  merchant  vessels  trading 
to  the  new  states.    In  this  way  much  damage 
had  been  done  to  American  commerce,  even  in 
the  brief  interval  between  the  date  of  the  treaty 
of  1819  and  General  Jackson's  election  to  the 
presidency,  ten  years  thereafter.    A  new  list  of 
claims  for  spoliations  had  grown  up ;  and  one 
of  the  early  acts  of  the  new  President  was  to 
intstitute  a  mission  to  demand  indemnity.    Mr. 
Cornelius   Van  Ness,  of  New- York,  was  the 
minister  appointed ;  and  having  been  refused  in 
his  first  application,  and  given  an  account  of  the 
refusal  to  his  government.  President  Jftckson 
dispatched  a  special  messenger  to  the  American 
minister  at  Madrid,  with    instructions,  "  once 
more  "  to  bring  the  subject  to  the  consideration 
of  the  Spanish  government;  informing  Congress 
at  the  same  time,  that  he  had  made  his  last  de- 
mand ;  and  that,  if  justice  was  not  done,  he 
would  bring  the  case  before  that  body,  '•  as  tho 
constitutional  jtidge  of  what  was  proper  to  bo 
done  when  negotiation  fails  to  obtain  redress  for 
wrongs."     But  it  was  not  found  necessary  to 
bring  the  case  before  Congress.    On  a  closer 
examination  of  the  claims  presented  and  for  the 
enforcement  of  which  the  power  of  the  fiovcrn- 
ment  had  been  invoked,  it  was  found  that  there 
had  occurred  in  this  case  what  often  takes  place 
in  reclamation  upon  foreign  iiowcrs;  that  claims 
were  preferred  which  were  not  founded  injustice, 
and  which  were  not  entitled    to  the  national 
interference.    Faithful  to  his  principle  to  ask 


ANNO  1886.    ANDREW  JACKSON.  PRESIDENT. 


nothing  but  what  was  right,  General  Jackson 
ordered  these  unfounded  claims  to  be  dropped,  and 
tliejust  claims  only  to  bo  insisted  upon  j  and  in 
communicating  this  fact  to  Congress,  be  declared 
liis  policy  characteristically  with  regard  to  for- 
eign nations,  and  in  terms  which  deserve  to  be 
remembered.    He  said :  "  Faithful  to  the  princi- 
ple of  asking  nothing  but  what  was  clearly  right 
additional  instructions  have  been  sent  to  modify 
our  demands,  so  as  to  embrace  those  only  on 
which,  according  to  the  laws  of  nations,  wo  had 
a  strict  right  to  insist  upon."    Under  these  mo- 
dified instructions  a  treaty  of  indemnity  was 
concluded  (February,  1834),  and  the  sum  of 
twelve  millions  of  reals  vellon  stipulated  to  be 
paid  to  the  government  of  the  United  States,  for 
distribution  among  the  claimants.   Thus,  another 
instance  of  spoliation  upon  our  foreign  com- 
merce, and  the  last  that  remained  unredressed 
was  closed  up  and  satisfied  under  the  adminis- 
tration of  General  Jackson ;  and  this  last  of  the 
revolutionary  men  had  the  gratification  to  re- 
store unmixed  cordial  intercourse  with  a  power 
which  had  been  our  ally  in  the  war  of  the  Revo- 
lution; which  had  ceded  to  us  the  Floridas  to 
round  off  with  a  natural  boundary  our  Southern 
territory;  which  was  our  neighbor,  contermin- 
ous m  dominions,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Paci- 
fie;  and  which,  notwithstanding  the  jars  and 
colhsions  to  which  bordering  nations  are  always 
subject,  had  never  committed  an  act  of  hostility 
upon  the  United  States.    The  conclusion  of  this 
affair  was  grateful  to  all  the  rememberers  of  our 
revolutionary  history,  and  equally  honorable  to 
both  parties:  to  General  Jackson,  who  renounced 
unfounded  claims,  and  to  the  Spanish  govern- 
ment, which  paid  the  good  as  soon  as  separated 
from  the  bad. 

C.  Russian  Commercial  Trkaty.— Our  re- 
lations with  Russia  had  be-n  peculiar-politi- 
cally,  always  friendly;   commerciallv,    always 
"beral-yet,  no  treaty  of  amity,  commerce,  and 
navigation,  to  assure  these  advantages  and  guar- 
antee their  continuance.    The  United  States  had 
often  sought  such  a  treaty.    Many  special  mis- 
sions, and  of  the  most  eminent  citizens,  and  at 
various  times,  and  under  ditferent  administra- 
>ons  and  under  the  Congress  of  the  confedera- 
tion before  there  was  any  administration,  harl 
been  instituted  for  that  purpose-that  of  M.^ 
Francis  Dana  of  Massachusetts  (under  whom 
the  young  John  Quincy  Adams,  at  the  age  of 


605 


sixteen,  served  his  diplomatic  apprenticeship  as 
private  secretary),  in  1784,  under  the  old  Con- 
gress ;  that  of  Mr.  Rufus  King,  under  the  first  Mr, 
Adams;  that  of  Mr.  John  Quincy  Adams,  Mr. 
Albert  Gallatin,  Mr.  James  A.  Bayard,  and  Mr. 
William  Pinkney,  under  Mr.  Monroe;  that  of 
Mr.   George  Washington  Campbell,  and   Mr 
Henry  Middleton,  under  Mr.  Monroe  (the  latter 
continued  under  Mr.  John  Quincy  Adams);  and 
all  in  vam.    For  some  cause,  never  publicly  ex- 
plained,  the  guaranty  of  a  treaty  had  been  con- 
stantly declined,  while  the  actual  advantages  of 
the  most  favorable  one  had  been  constantly 
extended  to  us.    A  convention  with  us  for  the 
definition  of  boundaries  on  the  northwest  coast 
of  America,  and  to  stipulate  for  mutual  freedom 
of  fishing  and  navigation  in  the  North  Pacific 
Ocean,  had  been  readily  agreed  upon  by  the  Em- 
peror Alexander,  and  wisely,  as  by  separating 
his  claims,  he  avoided  such  controversies  as  af- 
terwards grew  up  between  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain,  on  account  of  their  joirt  occupa- 
tion ;  but  no  commercial  treaty.    Every  thing 
else  was  all  that  our  interest  could  ask,  or  her 
friendship  extend.     Reciprocity  of  diplomatic 
mtercourse  was  fully  established ;  ministers  regu- 
larly appointed  to  reside  with  us— and  those  of 
my  time  (I  speak  only  of  those  who  came  within 
my  Thirty  Years'  View),  the  Chevalier  de  Poli- 
t.ca,  the  Baron  Thuyl,  the  Baron  Krudener,  and 
especially  the  one  that  has  remained  longest 
among  us,  and  has  married  an  American  lady^M 
Alexandre  de  Bodisco-all  of  a  personal  character 
and  deportment  to  be  most  agreeable  to  our  go- 
vernment and  citizens,  well  fitted  to  represent 
the  feelings  of  the  most  friendly  sovereigns,  and 
to  promote  and  maintain  the  most  courteous  and 
amicable  intercourse  between  the  two  countries. 
The  Emperor  Alexander  had  signally  displayed 
his  good  will  in  ofiering  his  mediation  to  termi- 
nate the  war  with  Great  Britain;  and  still  fur- 
ther, in  consenting  to  become  arbitrator  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  in 
settling  their  difference  in  the  construction  of 
the  Ghent  treaty,  in  the  article  relating  to  fugi- 
tive and  deported  slaves.    We  enjoyed  in  Rus- 
sian ports  all  the  commercial  privileges  of  the 
most  favored  nation;  but  it  was  by  an  unfixed 
tenure -.at  the  will  of  the  reigning  sovereign; 
ami  the  interests  of  commerce  required  a  more 
stable  guaranty.  Still,  up  to  the  commencement 
of  General  Jackson's  administration,  there  was 


fl  1 


Eti,i 


ir" 


606 


TIIIRTV  YEARS'  VIEW. 


no  American  treaty  of  amity,  commerce,  and 
navigation  with  that  great  power.  The  atten- 
tion of  President  Jackison  was  early  directed  to 
tliis  anomalous  point ;  and  Mr.  John  Kandolph 
of  Roanoke,  then  retired  from  Congress,  was 
induced,  by  the  earnest  persuasions  of  the  Pre- 
sident, and  his  Secretary  of  State,  Mr.  Van  Buren, 
to  accept  the  place  of  envoy  extraordinary  and 
minister  plenipotentiary  to  the  Court  of  St. 
Petersburg — to  renew  the  applications  for  the 
treaty  which  had  so  long  been  made  in  vain. 
Repairing  to  that  post,  Mr.  Randolph  found  that 
the  rigors  of  a  Russian  climate  were  too  severe 
for  the  texture  of  his  fragile  constitution  ;  and 
was  soon  recalled  at  his  own  request.  Mr. 
James  Buchanan,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  then  ap- 
pointed in  his  place ;  and  by  him  the  long-de- 
sired treaty  was  concluded,  December,  1832 — 
the  Count  Nesselrode  the  Russian  negotiator, 
and  the  Emperor  Nicholas  the  reigning  sover- 
eign. It  was  a  treaty  of  great  moment  to  the 
United  States ;  for,  although  it  added  nothing 
to  the  commercial  privileges  actually  enjoyed, 
yet  it  gave  stability  to  their  enjoyment;  and  so 
imparted  confidence  to  the  enterprise  of  mer- 
chants. It  was  limited  to  seven  years'  duration, 
but  with  a  clause  of  indefinite  continuance,  sub- 
ject to  termination  upon  one  year's  notice  from 
either  party.  Near  twenty  years  have  elapsed : 
no  notice  for  its  termination  has  ever  been  given ; 
and  the  commerce  between  the  two  countries 
feels  all  the  advantages  resulting  from  stability 
and  national  guaranties.  And  thus  was  obtain- 
ed, in  the  first  term  of  General  Jackson's  ad- 
ministration, an  important  treaty  with  a  great 
power,  which  all  previous  administrations  and 
the  Congress  of  the  Confederation  had  been  un- 
able to  obtain. 

7.  Portuguese  Indemnity.  —  During  the 
years  1829  and  '30,  during  the  blockade  of 
Terceira,  several  illegal  seizures  were  made  of 
American  vessels,  by  Portuguese  men-of-wiir, 
for  alleged  violations  of  the  blockade.  The 
United  States  charge  iVaffairs  at  Lisbon, 
Mr.  Thomas  L.  Brent,  was  charged  with  the 
necessary  reclamations,  and  had  no  difficulty  in 
coming  to  an  amicable  adjustment.  Indemnity 
in  the  four  cases  of  seizure  was  agreed  upon  in 
March,  1832,  and  payment  in  instalments  stipu- 
lated to  be  made.  There  was  default  in  all  the 
instalments  after  the  first — not  from  bad  faith, 
but  from  total  inability — although  the  instal- 


ments were,  in  u  national  point  of  view,  of  small 
amount.  It  deserv-es  to  be  recorded,  as  an  in- 
stance of  the  want  to  which  a  kingdom,  ^vhose 
very  name  had  been  once  the  .synonym  of  gold 
regions  and  diamond  mines,  may  be  reduced  by 
wretched  government,  that  in  one  of  the  inter- 
views of  the  American  charge  (then  Jfr.  Ed- 
ward Kavanagh),  with  the  Portuguese  Minister 
of  Finance,  the  minister  told  him  "  that  no  per- 
sons in  the  employment  of  the  government,  ex- 
cept the  military,  had  been  paid  any  part  of 
their  salaries  for  a  long  time ;  and  that,  on  tlmt 
day,  there  was  not  one  hundred  dollars  in  the 
treasury."  In  this  total  inability  to  pay,  and 
with  the  fact  of  having  settled  fairly,  further 
time  was  given  until  the  first  day  of  Jidy. 
1837 ;  when  full  and  final  payment  was  miu'e,  to 
the  satisfaction  of  the  claimants. 

Indemnity  was  made  to  the  claimants  by  al- 
lowing interest  on  the  delayed  payments,  and 
an  advantage  was  granted  to  an  article  of  Ame- 
rican commerce  by  admitting  rice  of  the  United 
States  in  Portuguese  ports  at  a  reduced  duty. 
The  whole  amount  paid  was  about  l$l  40,000, 
which  included  damages  to  some  other  vesfcis, 
and  compensation  to  the  seamen  of  the  e;i[i- 
tured  vessels  for  imprisonment  and  loss  of 
clothes — the  sum  of  about  1$1,()00  for  these  lat- 
ter items — so  carefully  and  minutely  were  t!ie 
rights  of  American  citizens  guarded  in  Jacksoii'.- 
time.  Some  other  claims  on  Portugal,  con- 
sidered as  doubtful,  among  them  the  case  of  tlio 
brave  Captain  Reid,  of  the  privateer  General 
Armstrong,  were  left  open  for  future  prosecu- 
tion, without  prejudice  from  being  omitted  in 
the  settlement  of  the  Terceira  claims,  which 
were  a  separate  <'la6s. 

8.  Treaty  with  the  Ottoman  E.mpirk.— 
At  the  commencement  of  the  annual  session  of 
Congress  of  1830-'31,  President  Jackson  had 
the  gratification  to  lay  before  the  Senate  a  treaty 
of  friendship  and  commerce  between  tlie  United 
States  and  the  Turkish  emperor— the  Sultan 
Mahmoud.  noted  for  his  liberal  foreign  views.  W 
domestic  reforms,  his  protection  of  Christians, 
and  his  energetic  suppression  of  the  janissaries 
— those  formidable  barbarian  cohorts,  worse 
than  i)ra!torian,  which  had  so  lon|j;  dominated 
the  Turkish  throne.  It  was  the  first  American 
treaty  made  with  that  i^wer,  and  so  declared 
in  the  preamble  (and  in  terms  which  implied  a 
personal  compliment  from  the  Porte  in  doing 


ANNO  1835.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


now  what  it  had  always  refused  to  do  before) 
and  was  omiiK'ntly  desirable  to  us  for  commer- 
cial, political  and  social  reasons.     The  Turkish 
dominions  include   what  was  once  nearly   the 
one  half  of  _the  Koman  world,  and  countries 
which  hiul  (^ebrity  before  Rome  was  founded. 
Sacred  and  i.roCanc  history  had  given  these  do- 
minions a  venerable  interest  in  our  eyes.    They 
covered  the  seat  which  was  the  birtli-place  of 
the  human  race,  the  cradle  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion ;  the  early  theatre  of  the  arts  and  sciences ; 
and  contained  the  city  which  was  founded  by  the 
first  Roman  Christian  emi>eror.  Under  good  gov- 
ernment it  had  always  been  the  seat  of  rich  com- 
merce and  of  o  roat  wealth.     Under  every  aspect 
it  was  desirable  to  the  United  States  to  have  its 
social,  political  and  commercial  intercourse  with 
these  dominions  placed  on  a  safe  and  stable  foot- 
ing under  the  guaranty  of  treaty  stipulations ;  and 
this  object  was  now  accomplished.    These  were 
tlicgenend  considerations;  particular  and  recent 


(507 


circumPtaiicos  gave  them  additional  weight. 

Exclusion  of  our  commerce  from  the  Black 
Sea,  and  the  advantages  which   some  nations 
had  lately  gained  by  the   treaty  of  Adriano- 
ple,  called  for  renewed  exertions  on  oiu-  part ; 
and  they  were    made    by  General  Jackson.' 
A  commissioner  was  appointed   (Mr.  Cl.arles 
Rhiad)  to  open  negotiations  with  the  Sublime 
Porte;  and  with  him  were  associated  the  United 
States  naval  commander  in  the  Mediterranean 
(Commodore  Biddle),  and  the  United  States 
consul  at  Smyrna  (Mr.  David   Offley).      Mr. 
Rhind  completed  the  negotiation,  though  the' 
other  gentlemen  joined  in  the  signature  of  the 
treaty.    By  the  provisions  of  this  treaty,  our 
trade  with  the  Turki:;a  dominions  was  placed 
on  the  footing  of  the  most  favored  nation  ;  and 
bemg  without  limitation  as  to  time,  may  be 
considered  as  perpetual,  subject  oidy  to  be  ab- 
rogated by  war,  in  itself  improbable,  or  by  other 
events  not  to  be  expected.     The  right  of  passing 
the  Dardanelles  and  of  navigating  the  Black  Sea 
was  secured  to  our  merchant  ships,  in  ballast  or 
with  cargo,  and  to  carry  the  products  of  the 
Ignited  States  and  of  the  Ottoman  empire,  ex- 
copt  the  proliibited  articles.     The  flag  of  the 
tnited  States  was  to  be  respected.     Factors,  or 
commercial  brokers,  of  any  religion  were  allowed 
to  be  employed  by  our  merchants.     Consuls 
were  placed  on  a  footing  of  security,  and  tra- 
velhng  with  passports  was  protected.    Fairness 


and  justice  in  suits  and  litigations  were  provided 
for.      In  questions  between  a  citizen   of  the 
United  States  and  a  subject  of  the  Sublime 
Porte,  the  parties  were  not  to  be  heard,  nor 
judgment  pronounced,  unless  the  American  in- 
terpreter (dragoman)  was  present.    In  questions 
between  American  citizens  the  trial  was  to  be 
before   the  United  States  minister  or  consul. 
"  Even  when  they  (the  American  citizens,  so  runs 
the  fourth  article),  shall  have  committed  some 
offence,  they  shall  not  be  arrested  and  put  in 
prison  by  the  local  authorities,  but  sliall  be 
tried  by  the  minister  or  consul,  and  punished 
according  to   the  offence."    By  this  treaty,.! 
that  was  granted  to  other  nations  by  the  treaty 
of  Adrianople  is  also  granted  to  the  United 
States,  with  the  additional  stipulation,  to  be  al- 
ways placed  on  the  footing  of  the  most  favored 
nation-a  stipulation  wholly  independent  of  the 
treaty  exacted  by  Russia  at  Adrianople  as  the 
fruit  of  victories,  and  of  itself  equivalent  to  a 
full  and  liberal  treaty ;  and  the  whole  guaran. 
teed  by  a  particular  treaty  with  ourselves,  which 
makes  us  independent  of  the  general  treaty  of 
Adrianople.    A  spirit  of  justice,  liberality 'and 
kindness  runs  through  it.    Assistance  and  pro- 
i«ction  is  to  be  given  throughout  the  Turkish 
dominions  to  American  wrecked  vessels  and 
their  crews ;  and  all  property  recovered  from  a 
wreck  is  to  be  delivered  up  to  the  American 
consul  of  the  nearest  port,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
owners.    Ships  of  war  of  the  two  countries  arc 
to    exhibit   towards  each    other  friendly  and 
courteous  conduct,  and  Turkish  ships  of  war  are 
to  treat  American  merchant  vessels  with  kind- 
ness and  respect.     This  treaty  has  now  been  in 
force  near  twenty  years,  observed  with  perfect 
good  faith  by  each,  and  attended  by  all  the  good 
consequences  expected  from  it.    The  valuable 
commerce  of  the  Black  Sea,  and  of  all  the  Turk- 
ish ports  of  Asia  Minor,  Europe  and  Africa 
(once  the  finest  part  of  the   Roman   world), 
travelling,  residence,  and  the  pursuit  of  business 
throughout  the  Turkish  dominions,  are  made  as 
safe  to  our  citizens  as  in  any  of  the  European 
countries  ;  and  thus  the  United  States,  though 
amongst  the  youngest  in  the  family  of  nations, 
besides   securing  particular  advantages  to  her 
own  citizens,  has   done  her  part  in   bringing 
those  ancient  countries  into  the  system  of  mod- 
ern European  commercial  policy,  and  in  har- 
,  monizing  people  long  estranged  from  each  other. 


'^i  :iV 


•i-m 


W' 


608 


THIRTY  YEARS  VIEW. 


ElMt. 


9.  Renewal  of  the  treaty  with  Monoc- 
co. — A  treaty  Imd  l)ocn  nmdo  with  this  powor 
in  tlie  time  of  the  old  CongresH  under  the  Con- 
federation ;  nnd  it  is  honorable  to  Morocco  to 
see  in  that  treaty,  at  the  time  when  all  other 
powers  on  the  Barbary  coast  deemed  the  pro- 
jierty  of  a  Christian,  lawfid  prey,  and  his  person 
a  proper  subject  for  captivity,  entering  into  such 
stipulations  lus  these  following,  with  a  nation  so 
young  as  the  United  States :  "  Neither  party  to 
take  connnissions  from  an  enemy  ;  persons  and 
property  captm-ed  in  an  enemy's  vessel  to  be 
released;  American  citizens  and  effects  to  bo 
restored ;  stranded  vessels  to  be  protected ;  ves- 
sels engaged  in  gunshot  of  forts  to  be  protected ; 
enemies'  vessels  not  allowed  to  follow  out  of 
port  for  twenty-four  hours ;  American  commerce 
to  be  on  the  most  favored  footing  ;  exchange  of 
prisoners  in  time  of  war ;  no  compulsion  in  buy- 
ing or  selling  goods  ;  no  examination  of  goods 
on  board,  except  contraband  was  proved ;  no 
detention  of  vessels  ;  disputes  between  Ameri- 
cans to  be  settled  by  their  consuls,  and  the  con- 
sul assisted  when  necessary;  killing  inmished 
by  the  law  of  the  country ;  the  effects  of  per- 
sons dying  intestate  to  be  taken  care  of,  and  de- 
livered to  the  consul,  and,  if  no  consul,  to  be 
deposited  with  some  person  of  trust ;  no  appeal 
to  arms  xmless  refusal  of  friendly  arrangements; 
in  case  of  war,  nine  months  to  be  allowed  to 
citizens  of  each  power  residing  in  the  dominions 
oftho  other  to  settle  their  affairs  and  remove." 
This  treaty,  made  in  1787,  was  the  work  of 
Benjamin  Franklin  (though  absent  at  the  sig- 
nature), John  Adams,  at  London,  and  Thomas 
Jefferson,  at  Paris,  acting  through  the  agent, 
Thomas  Barclay,  at  Fez ;  and  was  written  with 
a  plainness,  simplicity  and  ))eauty,  which  I  have 
not  seen  equalled  in  any  treaty,  between  any 
nations,  before  or  since.  It  was  extended  to 
fifty  years,  and  renewed  by  General  Jackson,  in 
the  last  year  of  his  administration,  for  fifty 
years  more ;  and  afterwards  until  twelve  months' 
notice  of  a  desire  to  abridge  it  should  be  given 
by  one  of  the  parties.  The  resident  American 
consul  at  Tangier,  Jlr.  James  R.  Leib,  negotia- 
ted the  renewal ;  and  all  the  parties  concerned 
had  the  good  taste  to  preserve  the  style  and 
language  of  the  original  throughout.  It  will 
stand,  both  for  the  matter  and  the  style,  a  monu- 
ment to  the  honor  of  our  early  statesmen. 


10.  Treaty  or  amity  and  oommehck  with 
SiAiM. — This  was  concluded  in  March,  !8;i;5  Mr, 
Edmund  Roberts  the  negotiator  on  the  part  of 
the  United  States,  and  contained  the  provisions 
in  behalf  of  American  citizens  and  conimea-o 
which  had  been  agreed  upon  in  the  treaty  with 
the  Sublime  Porte,  which  was  itself  priiuipally 
framed  upon  that  with  Morocco  in  1787 ;  ami 
which  may  well  become  the  model  of  all  that 
may  be  made,  in  all  time  to  come,  with  all  the 
Oriental  nations. 

11.  The  same  with  the  Sultan  of  Mus- 
cat. 

Such  were  the  fruits  of  the  foreign  (liplomii- 
cy  of  President  Jackson.  There  were  other 
treaties  negotiated  under  his  administration— 
with  Austria,  Mexico,  Ch''i,  Peni,  Bolivia,  Ven- 
ezuela— but  being  in  the  ordinary  coiuso  of 
foreign  intercourse,  do  not  come  witliin  tlio 
scope  of  this  View,  which  confines  itself  to  a 
notice  of  such  treaties  as  were  new  or  diflicult 
— which  were  unattainable  by  pivvio  is  adminis- 
trations ;  and  those  whicli  brought  inilciiinit)- 
to  our  citizens  for  spoliations  conunitlcd  upon 
them  in  the  time  of  General  Jackson's  prede- 
cessors. In  this  point  of  view,  the  list  of  trea- 
ties presented,  is  grand  and  impressive;  the 
bare  recital  of  which,  in  the  most  subdued  lan- 
guage of  historical  narrative,  places  the  forei^'n 
diplomacy  of  General  Jackson  on  a  level  witii 
the  most  splendid  which  the  history  of  any  na- 
tion has  presented.  First,  the  direct  trade  with 
the  British  "West  Indies,  which  had  balUcd  the 
skill  and  power  of  all  administrations,  from 
Washington  to  John  Quincy  Adams  inclusive, 
recovered,  established,  and  placed  on  a  perma- 
nent and  satisfactory  footing.  Then  indeniuities 
from  France,  Spain,  Denmark,  Naples,  Portupil, 
for  injuries  committed  on  our  commerce  in  tlie 
time  of  the  great  Napoleon.  Then  original  trea- 
ties of  conunerceand  friendship  with  great  powers 
from  which  they  never  could  be  obtained  hefoin? 
— Russia,  Austria,  the  Sublime  Porte.  Then 
leaving  his  country  at  peace  wivh  all  the  world, 
after  going  through  an  administration  of  eight 
years  which  bi'ought  him,  as  a  legacy  from  his 
predecessors,  the  accumulated  questions  of  half 
an  age  to  settle  witlx  the  great  powers.  This  is 
the  eulogy  of  FACTS,  worth  enough,  in  the  plain- 
est   language,   to  dispense  with  eulogium  ol 

WORDS. 


,1,; 


ANNO  183«.     ANDliKW  JACKSON,  rill'.SIDKNT. 


609 


n  THE  Sultan  ok  Mus- 


CHAPTKll    CXXXV. 

BLAVKUy  AGITATION. 


It  is  painful  to  seo  llic  uiici-iisiriR  cfTorts  to 
alarm  the  Scmtli   by  iiniaUuUoiis  iiKaiiist  the 
North  of  unconstitutional  desijrnH  on  the  subject 
of  slavery.     You  arc  right,  I  luivo  no  doubt,  in 
bclieviiiR  thiit  no  hucIi  intenniiddiingdiHpo.sit'ion 
existH  in  the  body  of  our  Northern  brctlircn. 
riic'ir  pood  faith  is   Hutticiontly  Kuanuitecd  by 
the  interest  tliey  have  as  nierchantN,  as  sliip 
wners,  and  as  manufacturers,  in  preserving  a 
(Inioii  witii  the  slaveholding  States.     On  the 
Jtiier  imnd  what  niachiess  in  the  South  to  h)ok 
for  Rreater  safety  in  disunion.      It  would   be 
worse  than  jumping  into  the  fire  for  fear  of  the 
frying  pan.    The  danger  from  the  alarms  is,  that 
tiie  pride  and  regentinent  exerted  by  theih  may 
be  an  overmatch  for  the  dictates  of  prudence  ; 
and  fiivor  the  project  of  a  Southern  convention' 
insidiously  revived,  as  promising  by  its  councils' 
the  lM_'st  securities  against  grievances  of  every  sort 
(mix  the  North."— So  wrote  Mr.  Madison  to  Mr. 
Clay,  in  June  IHIVS.     It  is  a  writing  every  word 
of  which  is  matter  for  grave  reflection,  and  the 
date  at  the  head  of  all.     It  is  dated  just  three 
months  after  the  tfirifT  "  compromise  »  of  18;5;} 
which,  in  arranging  the  tariff  question  for  nine 
years,  wa.s  supposed  to  have  quieted  the  South 
-put  an  end  to  agitation,  ai^d  to  the  idea  of  a 
Southern  convention— and  given  peace  and  har- 
mony to  the  whole  Union.    Not  so  the  fact— at 
least  not  so  the  fact  in  South  Carolina.    Agita- 
tion did  not  cease  there  on  one  point,  before  it 
began  on  another:  the  idea  of  a  Southern  con- 
vention for  one  cause,  was   hardly  abandoned 
before  it  was  -insidiously  revived  "  upon  another. 
Iu6e  the  language  of  Mr.  Madison  in  qualifyin-r 
this  revival  with  a  terra  of  odious  import:  for 
no  man  wa,s  a  letter  master  of  our  language  than 
he  was-no  one  more  scrupulously  just  in  all 
His  judgments  upon  men  and  things-and  no 
one  occupying  a  position  cither  personally,  po- 
Jically,  or  locally,  to  speak  more  advisedly  on 
he  subject  of  which  he  spoke.     He  wn.s  pained 
tostH)  the  efforts  to  alarm  the  South  on  the  sub- 
ject of  slavery,  and  the  revival  of  the  project  for 
a  ^outhern  convention ;  and  he  feared  the  effect 
Which  these  alarms  should  have  on  the  pride  and  j 
Vol.  I.— 39 


n'Rcntment  of  Southern  people.  His  letter  wtm 
not  to  a  neighbor,  or  to  a  citizen  in  piivale  life 
but  to  a  public  man  on  the  theatre  of  national 
action,  and  one  who  had  acted  a  part  in  compos- 
ing national  dilliculties.  It  was  evidently 
written  for  a  purpose.  It  was  in  answer  to  Mr. 
Clay's  expressed  belief,  that  no  design  hostile 
to  Southern  .slavery  cxiatcd  in  the  body  of  the 
Northern  people— to  concur  with  him  in  that 
bclief-and  to  give  him  warning  that  the  danger 
was  in  another  quarter— in  the  South  itself:  and 
tiiat  it  looked  to  a  dissolution  of  the  I'nion.  It 
was  to  warn  an  eminent  public  man  of  a  new 
source  of  national  .langer,  more  alarming  than 
the  one  he  had  just  been  composing. 

About  the  same  time,  and  to  an  ohl  and  con- 
fldential  friend  (Kdward  Coles,  Esq..  who  had 
be(-n  his  private  secretary  when  President)  Mr 
Madison  also  wrote  :  "On  the  other  lumd  what 
more  dangerous  than  nullification,  or  more  evi- 
dent  than  the  progress  it  continues  to  make, 
either  in  its  original  shape  or  in  the  disguises  it 
assumes?     Nullification  has  the  effect  of  put- 
ting powder  under   the  constitution   and   the 
Union,  and  a  match  in  the  hand  of  every  party 
to  blow  them  up  at  pleasure.     And  for  its  pro- 
gress, hearken  to  the  tone  in  which  it  is  now 
preached:  castyour  cyeson  its  increasing  minor- 
ities in  the  most  of  the  Southern  States,  without 
a  decrease  in  any  of  them.    Look  at  Virginia 
herself,  and  read  in  the  gazettes,  and  in  the  pro- 
ceedings of  popular  meetings,  the  figure  which  the 
anarchical  principle  now  makes,  in  contrast  with 
the  scouting  reception  given  to  it  but  a  short 
time  ago.     It  is  not  probable  that  this  offspring 
of  tlic  discontents  of  South  Carolina  will  ever 
approach  success  in  a  majority  of  the  States: 
but   a  susceptibility  of  the  contagion   in   the 
Southern  States  is  visible:  and  the  danger  not 
to  be  concealed,  that  the  sympathy  arising  from 
known  causes,  and  the  inculcated  impression  of 
a  permanent  incompatibility  of  interests  between 
the  South  and  the  North,  may  put  it  in  the  power 
of  popular  leaders,  aspiring  to  the  highest  sta- 
tions, to  unite  the  South  on  some  critical  occa- 
sion, in  a  course  that  will  end  in  creating  a  new 
theatre  of  great  though  inferior  interest.    In 
pursuing  this  course,  the  first  and  most  obvious 
step  is  nullification,  the  next  secession,  and  the 
last  a  farewell  sepamtion." 

In  this  vie-  ..."the  dangers  of  nullification  in  its 
new"disguisr        aosusceptibiUtyofthcSouthto 


610 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIFAT. 


itti  contB^ioiis  influence — its  fatal  action  upon  an 
"inciilcati'd  incompatiliilityof  intercHta"  botwopn 
the  North  and  the  South — ita  increase  in  the 
bIavc  Statt'H  —  its  progress,  flrHt  to  secession, 
and  then  lo  '•  farewell  separation  :  "  in  this  view 
of  the  (iH  (liint^er  under  its  new  disguise,  Mr. 
Madison,    then   eighty-four   years   old,   writes 
with  the  wisdom  of  age,  the  foresight  of  experi- 
ence, the  spirit  of  patriotism,  and  the  "  pain  " 
of  lieiirt  which  a  contemjilation  of  the  division 
of  those  States  excited  w  !iich  it  had  been  the 
pride,  the  glory,  and  the  labor  of  his  life  to 
unite.     The  slavery  turn   which  wa?t  given  to 
the  Sotitlieni  agitation  was  the  aspect  of  the 
danger  which  filled  his  mind  with  sorrow  and 
misgiving:— and  not  without  reason.     A  paper 
published  in  Washington  City,  and  in  the  in- 
terest of  Mr.  Calhoun,  was  incessant  in  propa- 
gating the  slavery  alarm — in  denouncing  the 
North — in  exhorting  the   Southern   States  to 
unity  of  feeling  and  concert  of  action  as  the 
only  means  of  saving  their  domestic  institutions. 
The  languago  had  become  current  in  some  parts 
of  the  Soutli,  that  it  was  imjiossiblc  to  unite  the 
Southern  States  upon  the  tariff  question :  that 
the  sugar  interest  in  Louisiana  would  prevent 
her  from  joining:  that  it  was  a  mistake  to  have 
made  that  issue :  that  the  slavery  question  was 
the  right  one.    And  coincident  with  this  current 
language    were    many  publications,   urging    a 
Southern  convention,   and   concert   of   action. 
Passing  by  all  these,  which  might  be  deemed 
mere  newspaper  articles,  there  was  one  which 
bore  the  impress  of  thought  and  authenticity — 
which  assumed  the  convention  to  bo  a  certainty, 
the  time  only  remaining  to  be  fixed,  and  the 
cause  for  it  to  be  in  full  operation  in  the  Nor- 
thern States.    It  was  published  in  the  Charles- 
ton Mercury  in  1835, — was  entitled  the  "Crisis" 
— and  had  the  formality  of  a  manifesto ;  and 
after  dilating  upon  the  aggressions  and  encroach- 
ments of  the  North,  proceeded  thus : 

'•The  proper  time  for  a  convention  of  the 
filaveholding  States  will  be  when  the  legislatures 
of  Pennsylvania,  Massachusettti  and  New-York 
shall  have  adjourned  without  passing  l.aws  for 
the  sujjpression  of  the  abolition  societies.  Should 
either  of  these  States  pass  such  laws,  it  would 
be  well  to  wait  till  their  efficacy  should  he  test- 
ed. The  adjojirnmcnt  of  the  legislatures  of  the 
Northern  States  without  adopting  any  measures 
effectually  to  put  down  Garrison,  'J'ajipan  and 
their  associates,  will  present  an  issue  which  nmst 
be  met  by  the  Soutli,  or  it  will  be  vain  for  us  ever 


after  to  attempt  any  thing  further  than  for  the 
State  to  pi-ovido  for  her  owji  safety  by  defciiKivi' 
measures  of  her  own.  if  the  issue  presented  is 
to  be  met,  it  can  only  be  done  by  a  convention 
of  the  aggrieved  States ;  the  iirocoedin^'s  df 
which,  to  he  of  any  value,  must  embody  imd 
make  known  the  sentiments  of  the  whole  Sontli, 
and  contain  the  distinct  annunciation  of  onr 
fixed  and  unaltered  determination  to  ol)tain  tlu' 
redi'ess  of  our  grievances,  be  the  conse(iiK'iicis 
what  they  may.  We  must  have  it  clearly  un- 
derstood that,  in  framing  a  const itutioni\l  Iniidn 
with  our  Northern  brethren,  the  slavelKiliJin^' 
States  consider  themselves  as  no  more  liiihk'  to 
any  more  interference  with  their  donu'stin  con- 
cerns than  if  they  had  remained  entiiely  inrlc- 
pendent  of  the  other  States,  and  that,  iis  sncii 
interference  would,  among  inde])endent  nations, 
be  a  just  cause  of  v>iir,  so  among  menilters  of 
such  a  c(mfedcracy  as  ours,  it  must  place  tlic 
several  States  in  the  relation  towards  each  otlicr 
of  open  enemies.  To  sum  \v\  in  a  lew  words 
the  whole  argument  on  this  .^iibj«ct,  we  wnitM 
say  that  the  abolitionists  can  only  be  put  down 
by  legislati<m  in  the  States  in  which  they  exist, 
and  this  can  only  he  brought  about  by  the  em- 
bodied opinion  of  the  whole  South,  wting  upon 
public  opinion  at  the  North,  which  can  only  k' 
effected  through  the  instrumentality  of  a  con- 
vention of  the  slaveholding  States." 

It  is  impossible  to  read  this  paragraph  from 
the  "  Crisis,"  without  seeing  that  it  is  iilcnticiil 
with  Mr.  Calhoun's  report  and  speech  upon  in- 
cendiary publications  transmitted  throiifrh  the 
mail.  The  same  complaint  against  the  North ; 
the  same  exaction  of  the  suppression  of  alioli- 
tion  s'oieties  ;  the  same  penalty  for  omitting  to 
suppress  them  ;  that  penalty  always  the  same— 
a  Southern  convention,  and  secession — and  the 
same  idea  of  the  contingent  foreign  relation  to 
each  other  of  the  respective  States,  ahvavf 
treated  as  a  confederacy,  under  a  compact. 
Upon  his  arrival  at  Washington  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  session  1835— '30,  all  his  conduct 
was  conformable  to  the  programme  laid  down 
in  the  "  Crisis,"  and  the  whole  of  it  calciilateil 
to  produce  the  event  therein  hyr>othetically  an- 
nounced ;  and,  unfortunately,  a  double  set  of 
movements  w^as  then  in  the  process  of  bcinp: 
carried  on  by  the  abolitionists,  which  favored 
his  purposes.  One  of  these  was  the  mail  trans- 
mission into  the  slave  States  of  incendiary  pub- 
lications ;  and  it  has  been  seen  in  what  manner 
he  availed  himself  of  that  wickedness  to  predi- 
cate upon  it  a  right  of  Southern  secession;  the 
other  was  the  annoyance  of  Congress  with  a 
profusion  of  pftitions  for  the  abolition  of  slavery 


ANNO  1880.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  rilESIDKNT. 


linp;  further  than  for  tho 
T  own  Hivfi'ty  by  (lefcnsivi- 
If  tho  iwHue  proHi'iitcd  j^ 
1)0  (hmo  by  a  convciilidii 
tcs ;  the  prowiMHiifiH  «( 
vivluc,  iniiKt  oinhody  nnd 
monts  of  the  wliole  Simth, 
net  nnnuiu'intioii  of  our 
stcrininiition  td  ohtain  llic 
nccs,  bo  the  consi'(iiioii(v,-: 
3  must  have  it  eU'tiily  im- 
ling  a  coiit'titutionnl  iiiiujh 
irethren,  the  shiviholilin;,' 
iolvoH  as  no  more  liiil)k'  to 
with  their  donu'stic  om- 
il  reniaiiic'I  entirely  iiulc- 
•  Stiitos,  ami  that,  as  siicli 
nong  indo|)en(lent  nutiims, 
;ir,  so  anionp  nieniliers  of 
i  ours,  it  inuHt  |)laee  tlic 
Xiltttion  towards  each  other 
)  sum  u'l  in  u  lew  wnnls 
)n  this  .sutysct,  we  wmiM 
ists  can  omy  ho  ]iut  down 
"states  in  which  they  exist. 
broufiht  about  by  the  cm- 
whole  South,  wtiiif;  upon 
North,  which  can  only  1* 
instrumentality  of  a  coii- 
olding  States." 

read  this  paragraph  from 
;  seeinjT  that  it  is  identira! 
eport  and  speech  upon  in- 
transmitted  throufrh  the 
iplaint  np;ainst  the  North ; 
the  suppression  of  aboli- 
me  penalty  for  omitting'  to 
penalty  always  the  same— 
n,  and  eecession — and  the 
tingent  foreign  relation  to 
respective  States,  ahvayJ 
leracy.  under  a  compact. 
ashington  at  the  commcuce- 
.835_'3G,  all  his  conduct 
he  programme  laid  down 
tho  whole  of  it  calculated 
therein  hyr-otlietically  an- 
tunatoly,  a  double  set  of 
n.  in  the  process  of  being 
)olitionists,  which  favored 
f  these  was  the  mail  trans- 
B  States  of  incendiary  pub- 
been  seen  in  what  manner 
f  that  wickedness  toprwli- 
if  Southern  secession;  the 
yance  of  Congress  with  a 
)  for  the  abolition  of  slavery 


in  the  District  of  Columbia }  and  hia  conduct 
with  respect  to  thrso  petitions,  remains  to  be 
Bhown.  Mr.  Morris,  of  Ohio,  preBonted  two 
from  that  State,  him.self  oppo.sed  to  touching 
tiie  subject  of  .slavery  in  the  States,  but  deeming 
it  his  duty  to  present  those  which  a|)plied  to 
tho  District  of  Columbia.  Mr.  Calhoun  d" 
inoiided  that  they  be  read ;  which  being  done,— 

"lie  demanded    tho  question    on   receiving 
them,  which,  he  said,  was  a  preliminary  <iueH- 
(ion,  which  any  member  had  a  right  to  make, 
lie  tlenianded  it  on  behalf  of  tho  State  whidi 
he  represented ;  ho  demanded  it,  because  tho  pe- 
titions were  in  themselves  a  fotd  slander  on 
nearly  one  half  of  the  States  of  the  Union  ;  he 
demanded  it,  because  the  ipicstion  involved  was 
one  over  which  neither  (his  luir  tho  House  had 
any  power  whatever  ;  and  and  a  stop  might  bo 
put  to  that  agitation  which  prevailed  in  so  largo 
a  section  of  the  comitry,   and   which,   unless 
checked,  would  endanger  the  existence  of  tho 
Union.    That  tho  i)etitions  just  read  contained 
a  pr()s,s,  false,  and  malicious  slander,  on  eleven 
States  represented  on  this  floor,  there  was  no 
man  who  in  his  heart  coidd  deny.     This  was  in 
itself,  not  only  good,  but  the  highest  cause  w'hy 
these  petitions  should  not  bo  received.     Had  it 
not  bi  en  the  practice  of  the  Senate  to  reject  peti- 
tions which  reflected  on  any  individual  member 
of  their  body;  and  should  they  who  were  tho 
representatives  of  sovereign  States  permit  peti- 
tions to  bo  brought  there,  wilfully,  maliciously, 
almost  wickedly,  slandering  so  many  .sovereign 
States  of  this  Union  ?     Were  the  States  to  be 
less  protected  than  individual  members  on  that 
floor?    Ho  demanded  tho  question  on  receiving 
the  petitions,  because  they  asked  for  what  was 
a  violation  of  the  constitution.     The  questicm 
of  emancipation  exclusively  belonged  to  the  sev- 
eral States.     Congress  had  no  jurisdiction  on 
the  subject,  no  more  in  this  District  than  the 
State  of  South  Carolina :  it  was  a  question  for 
the  individual  State  to  determine,  and  not  to  b" 
tonclied  by  Congress.     He  himself  well  under- 
stood, and  the  people  of  his  State  should  under- 
stand, that  this  was  an  emancipation  movement, 
lliose  who  have  moved  in  it  regard  this  District 
as  the  weak  point  through  which  the  first  move- 
ment should  be  made  upon  the  States.     We 
(said  Mr.  C),  of  the  South,  are  bound  to  resist 
it.    We  will  meet  this  question  as  fii'mly  as  if 
1  were  the  direct  que.stio'-  of  emancipation  in 
tlie  States.     It  is  a  moveii.cnt  which  ought  to, 
which  must  be,  arrested,  in  It, nine,  or  the  guards 
ot  tlie  constitution  will  give  way  and  be  de- 
stroyed.   He  demanded  the  question  on  receiv- 
ing the  petitions,  bocau.se  of  tho  agitation  which 
would  result  from  discussinsr  the  subject.     The 
danger  to  be  apprehended  was  from  "the  agita- 
tion of  the  question  on  that  floor.     He  did  not 
lear  those  incendiary  publications  which  were 
circulated  abfoad,  and  which  could  easily  be 


Gil 


counteracted.      Hut   he  dreaded   the  agitation 
which  would  rise  out  of  the  discussion  in  Con- 
Kress  on  the  Hubject.     Every  man   knew  that 
there  existed  a  body  of  men  in  the  Noithern 
States  who  were  ready  to  second  any  insunec- 
tionary  movement  of  the  blacks  ;  and  that  these 
men  would  be  on  the  alert  to  turn  these  discu.s- 
1  sions    to   their  advantage.       He    dreaded   tho 
discussion  in  another  sense.     It  would  have  a 
tendency  to  break  a.sunder  this  I'nion.     What 
effect  could  Ik-  brought  about  by  the  interference 
of  these  petitioners  ?     Could    they  exjicct  to 
produce  a  change  of  mind  in  the  Southern  peo- 
ple ?      No;  the  effect  would   be   dinctly  tho 
opposite.     The  more  they  were  assailed  on  this 
point,   the  more  closely  would   they  cling  to 
their   institutions.      And   what   would   be   (ho 
efle(;t  (Ml  the  rising  generation,  but  to  inspire  it 
with  odium  agii      t  those  who.  (t  mistaken  views 
and  misdirected  zeal  menaced  the  peace  and  se- 
curity of  the  Southern  StaU's.     The  effect  must 
be  to  bring  our  institutions  into  odium.     As  a 
lover  of  the  Union,  he  dreaded  this  discussion  ; 
and  asked  for  some  decided  measure  to  arrest 
the  course  of  the  evil.     There  must,  tiiere  shall 
\n',  some  decided  step,  or  the  Southern  people 
never  will  submit.     And  how  are  we  to  treat 
the  subject?     By  receiving  these  potidon-   one 
after  another,    and    thus    tampering,    trifling, 
sporting  with  the  feelings  of  the  South  ?     No, 
no,  no  !     The  abolitionists  well  understand  the 
effect  of  such  a  course  of  proceeding.     If  will 
give  importance  to  their  movements,  and   ac- 
celerate   the    ends    they    propose.      Nothing 
can,  nothing  will     top  these   petitions   but  a 
prompt  and  stern  iijoction  of  them.     We  must 
turn  them  away  from  our  doors,  regardless  of 
what  may  be  done  or  said.     If  the  issue  must 
be,  let  it  come,  and  let  us  meet  it,  as,  1   hope, 


we  shall  be  prepared  to  do." 


This  was  new  and  extreme  ground  taken  by 
Mr.  Calhoun.     To  put  the  District  of  Columbia 
and  the  States  on  the  same  footing  with  respect 
to  slavery  legislation,  was  en)  rely  contrary  to 
i-he  constitution  itself,  and  to  tlie  whole  doc- 
trine of  Congress  upon  it.    The  con.stitution 
gave  to  Congress  exclusive  jurisdiction  over  tho 
District   of  Columbia,   without    hmifation    of 
subjects;  but   it  had   always  nfused,  though 
often  petitioned,  to  interfere  with  the  subject  of 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  so  long  as  it 
existed  in  the  two  States  (Maryland  and  Virgi- 
nia) which  ceded  that  District  to  the  federal 
government.    The  doctrine  of  Mr.  Calhoun  was, 
therefore,  new ;  his  inference  that  slavery  was 
to  be  attacked  in  the  States  through  the  opening 
in  the  District,  was  gratuitous ;  his  "demand" 
(for  that  was  the  word  he  constantly  used),  that 
these  petitions  should  be  refused  a  reception. 


612 


TllIliTV  YliAR8'  VIEW. 


wttM  a  harsh  motion,  made  In  a  harsh  manner  ; 
hiH  assiimptiiin  that  tho  cxistonco  of  the  Union 
was  at  8tttl\c,  woH  without  cviiifnco  ami  contrary 
to  cvidonce ;  his  rt'iiicdy,  in  8tute  rt'sistance, 
wufl  disunion ;  \m  i'aji;t'nu'»H  to  niich  at  an 
"  issue,"  Hhowrod  that  he  was  on  the  watcli  for 
"  isHiu's,"  ami  ready  to  seize  any  one  that  would 
gi'tup  a  contcBt ;  his  language  was  all  iiillamma- 
tory,  and  calculated  to  ronsc  uii  alann  in  the 
rtlaveholding  States ; — for  the  whole  of  which 
ho  constantly  assumed  to  speaJ  Mr.  Morris 
thus  rejilied  to  him  : 

"  In  presenting  these  petitions  he  wotild  say, 
on  the  part  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  that  she  went 
to  the  entin'  extent  of  the  opinions  of  the  sen- 
ator from  South  Carolina  on  one  point.  We 
deny,  said  he,  the  power  of  Congress  to  legislate 
concerning  local  institutions,  or  to  meddle  in 
any  way  with  slavery  in  my  of  the  States  ;  but 
Viii  have  always  entertained  the  opinion  that 
Congress  haji  primary  and  exclusivt  legislation 
over  this  District;  under  this  impression,  these 
petitioners  have  come  to  the  Senate  to  pivsunt 
their  pt>titioris.  The  doctrine  that  Congress 
have  no  power  over  the  subject  of  slavery  in 
this  District  is  to  me  a  new  one  ;  iind  it  is  one 
that  will  not  meet  with  credence  in  the  State 
in  which  I  reside.  I  believe  these  petitioners 
have  the  right  to  present  themselves  here,  plac- 
ing their  feet  on  the  constitution  of  their  coun- 
try, when  they  come  to  ask  of  Congress  to 
exercise  those  powers  which  they  can  legiti- 
mately exercise.  I  believe  they  have  a  right  to 
be  heanl  in  their  |i<'titions,  and  that  Congress 
may  afterwards  dispose  of  these  petitions  as  in 
their  wisdom  they  may-  think  proper.  Under 
these  impressions,  these  petitioners  come  to  be 
heard,  and  they  have  a  right  to  be  heard.  Is 
not  the  right  of  petition  a  fundamental  right  ? 
I  believe  it  is  a  sacred  and  fundamental  right, 
belonging  to  the  people,  to  petition  Congress 
for  the  redress  of  their  grievances.  While  this 
right  is  secured  by  the  constitution,  it  is  incom- 
petent to  any  legislative  body  to  prescribe  how 
the  right  is  to  be  exercised,  or  when,  or  on 
what  subject ;  or  else  this  right  becomes  a  mere 
mockery.  If  you  are  to  tell  the  people  that 
they  are  only  to  petition  on  this  or  that  subject, 
or  in  this  or  that  manner,  the  right  of  petition 
is  but  a  mockiry.  It  is  true  we  have  a  right  to 
say  that  no  petition  which  is  couched  in  disre- 
spectful language  shall  be  received ;  but  I  pre- 
sume there  is  a  sufficient  check  provided  against 
this  in  the  responsibility  under  which  every  sen- 
ator presents  a  petition.  Any  petition  convoyed 
in  such  language  would  always  meet  with  his 
decided  disai)probation.  But  if  we  deny  the 
right  of  the  people  to  petition  in  this  instance. 
I  would  ask  how  tar  they  have  the  right.  While 
they  believe  they  possess  the  right,  no  denial  of 
it  by  Congress  will  prevent  them  from  exercis- 
ing it."      -^ 


Mr.  Bedford  Tlrown,  of  North  Carolina,  en. 
tirely  dissented  front  the  views  presented  by 
.Mr.  Calhoun,  and  considered  the  conrso  he  pro- 
posed, anil  the  language  which  he  tised,  exactly 
calculated  to  produce  the  agitation  which  he 
pn)fesHed  to  deprecate.     lie  said  : 

■  Ho  felt  himself  constrained,  by  a  »en»o  of 
duty  to  the  State  from  which  he  came,  deeply 
and  vitally  interested  as  she  was  in  every  thing 
connected  with  the  agitating  question  which 
had  imexicctedly  been  brought  into  discussion 
that  moniin:^,  to  present,  in  a  few  words,  hi» 
views  as  to  the  ptx)per  direction  which  should 
be  given  to  that  aiul  all  other  petitions  relating 
to  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia.     He  felt 
himself  more  es|)ccially  called  on  to  do  so  from 
the  aspect  which  the  riuestion  had  assumed,  in 
conse(iuence  of  the  motion  of  the  gentleman 
from  South  Carolina  [Mr.  CamioinJ,  to  refuse 
to  receive  the  petition.     He  had  believed  from 
the  first  time  he  had  reflected  on  this  subject, 
and  subsequent  events  had  but  strengthened 
that  conviction,  that  the  most  proj)er  dispositimi 
of  all  such  petitions  was  to  lay  them  on  the 
table,  without  printing.     This  course,  while  it 
indicated   to   the   fanatics    that   Congiess  will 
yield  no  countenance  to  their  designs,  at  the 
same  time  marks  them  with  decided  reprobation 
by  a  refusal  to  print.     But,  in  his  estiii.ation, 
another  reason  gave  to  the  motion  to  lay  them 
(m  the  table  ;i  decided  jtreference  over  any  otliei' 
proceedings  by  which  they  should  be  met.    The 
peculiar  merit  of  this  motion,  as  applicable  to 
this  question,  is,  that  it  precludes  all  debate, 
and  would  thus  pivvent  the  agitation  of  a  sul>- 
ject  in  Congress  which  all  should  deprecate  as 
fraught  with  mischief  to  every  portion  of  this 
happy  and  flouiishing  confederacy.     Mr.  B.  said 
that  honoiable  gentlemen  who  advocated  this 
motion  had  disclaimed  all  intention  to  produce 
agitation  on  this  ([uestion.     He  did  not  pretend 
to  question  the  sincerity  of  their  declarations, 
and,  while  willing  to  do  every  justice  to  their 
motives,  be  must  be  allowed  to  say  that  no 
method  could  be  devised  better  calculated,  in 
his  judgment,  to  produce  such  a  re.sult.     He 
(Mr.  B.)  most  sinceredy  believed  that  the  best 
interests  of  the  Southern  States  would  be  most 
consulted  by  pursuing  such  a  course  here  as 
would  harmonize  the  feelings  of  every  section, 
and  avoid  opening  for  discussion  so  dangerous 
and  delicate  a  question.     He  believed  all  the 
senators  who  were   present  a  few  days  since, 
when  a  ))etition  of  similar  character  liiid  been 
presented  by  an  honoraVde  senator,  had,  by  their 
votes  to  lay  it  on   the   table,  sanctioned  tiic 
course  which  he  now  suggested.    [Mr.  Caluoi'.v, 
in  explanation,  said  that  himself  and  his  col- 
league were  absent  from  the  Senate  on  the  oc- 
casion alluded  to.J      Mr.  ii.  resumed  his  k- 
marks,  and  said  that  he  had  made  no  reference 
to  the  votes  of  any  particular  members  of  that 
body,  but  what  he  had  said  was,  that  a  similar 


ANNO  183«.    ANDREW  JACKSON.  l'UI'>^ll)KNT. 


613 


|K?tili<>ii  had  Ih'cm  laid  on  the  tiildc  without  oJ)- 
jirtioii  tVi.m  iin.v  »w,  und  (•..iiH((|ii,iitly  Wy  n 
unimiiuiius  vott-  of  the  HtimtoiH  pri  writ .      I  li'ri- 
thtii,  wiw  a  iiioHt  tin|ihiitic  dechirutittn,  hy  ^ivn- 
th'iiR'ii    ripivseiitiiif;    the    Northern    StattH    hm 
well  118  those  from  other  piirtM  of  the  Union,  hy 
this  vole,  that  they  will  entertiiin  no  attempt  at 
liniftlation  on  the   (piewtion  of  Mliiveiv  in  the 
District  of  Colnnihia.     Wh\     then,  asked  Mr. 
J{.,  should  we  now  ailopt  a  inode  of  proceeding,' 
culculiiled  to  disturb  the  harmonious  aetion  of 
the  Senate,  which  had  been  prodiuid  hy    the 
former  vote?  Why  (he  wouhl  renpeetfullV  ask 
ofhonorahle  Kentlemeu  who  |.re>s  the  niotion 
to  refuse  to  receive  the  petition)  and  for  what 
luiieficial  purpose  do  they  press  it?     J{y  por- 
HistiriK  ir    such  a  course  it  woidd,  beyond  all 
iluul.t,  opi  ri  a  wide  rau^c  of  discussion ,  it  would 
not  fail  io  call  forth  a  >rreat  diversity  of  opinion 
111  relation  to  the  extent  of  the  rifrht  to  petition 
under  the  constitution.     Nor  would  it  he  con- 
iliied  to  that  (piCHtion  alone.  jiidr;inp  fn.ni  an 
expression  which  had  fallen  from  an  hononible 
peiitloiuan  from  Virginia  [.Mr.  Tvi.kuI    in  the 
course  of  this  debate.     That  Kenllcniiui  had  de- 
clared his  pn  I.Tcncc  for  a  direct  ne^'ative  vote 
I)V  the  Senate,  as  to  the  coiu-titutional  power 
of  LonKress  to  enmncipatc  slaves  in  the  District 
of  Columbia.     He,  for  one,  protested,  politically 
epwikiiif;,  ajrainst  opening  this  I'andora's  box  iii 
the  lialls  of  Congress.     For  all  beneficial  and 
practical  purposes,  an  overwhelniiiig  majority 
of    the    members   representing    the   Northern 
.States  were,'^vith  the  South,  in  opposition  to 
any  interlerenco  with  slavery  in  the  District  of 
Columbia.    If  there  was  half  a  dozen  in  both 
branches  of  Congress  wlio  did  not  stand  in  en- 
tire opposition  to  any  interference  with  slavery 
in  this  District  or  elsewhere,  he  had  yet  to 
leara  it.    AVas  it  wise,  wa.s  it  prudent,  was  it 
mii}?iianirnous,   in  gentlemen   representing   the 
.Southern  States,  to  urge  this  matter  still  further 
ami  say  to  our  Northern  friends  in  Congress' 
Uentlemen,  we  all  agree  in  the  general  con- 
c  usion,  that  Congress  should  not  interfere  in 
this  question,  but  wo  wish  to  know  youi-  reasons 
torarnvingat  this  conclusion;  Ave  wish  vou  to 
declare,  by  your  votes,  whether  you  arrive  at 
Ills  result  because  you  think  it  unconstitutional 
01  not?'    Air.  B.  said  that  he  would  yield  to 
'vt"oVf"nft-  "\«.".«''^»""Kand  supporting,  to  the 
X  cnt  of  his  ability,  what  he  believed  to  be  the 
true  interest  of  the  South ;  but  he  should  take 
Itaye  0  say  that,  when  the  almost  united  will 
mirnn  !  ^^"''•'^'P.ff  Congress,  for  all  practical 
purposes,  was  with  us,  against  all  interference 

1  i?  i'f/'  ^'  '''""'^  "«*  ^'''''■'''^  the  peace 
Jx  l?I  I  "'•'  '"".ntry  by  going  on  a  Quixotic 
quL  ioT"""  ^"''"'^  "    ''^'*'"'*  constitutional 


Mr  King,  of  Georgia,  was  still  more  jiointed 
than  Mr.  Browa  in  deprecating  the  course  Mr. 
caihoun  pursued,  and  charging  upon  it  the  effect 


^  of  increasing  the  slavery  agitation,  and  giving 
the  alH)litionists  ground  to  stand  upon  in  giving 
them  the  right  of  petition  to  defend.    He  said: 

"This  being  among  the  Southern  members  a 
men-  (liMcrinceof  form  in  the  !  lanner  of  (hspos- 
ing  ol  the  subject,  I  regret  exceedingly  that  the 
senator  from  Carolina  has  thought  it  his  rliity 
(as  he  donbfless  hiu^)  to  press  the  subject  utMin 
the  eonsiderati.m  of  the  Senate  in  sucii  form  a» 
not  only  to   [.ermit,  but  in  some  measure  to 
civate,  a  necessity  for  the  continued  agitation  of 
the  subject.     For  he  belie\eil  with  others,  that 
nothing  was  better  calculated  to  inctvase  agita- 
ti(m  and  excitement  than  such  motions  as  that 
of  the  senator  from  South  Carolina.    What  was 
the  object  of  the  motion  ?     Senators  said,  and 
no  doiilil  sincerely,  that  (lieir  object  was  to  quiet 
the  agitation  of  the  suljeet.  Well,  (said  Mr.  K.  ) 
my  object  is  precisely  the  same.      We  differ, 
then,  on'-'  .n   i!  .  means  of  securing  a  common 
end;  an  I  he  coi.I.'  tell  the  Senators  that   the 
value  (,•  the  -iiotii.  •  as  a  means  would  likely  be 
estiinat  il  '     itt,  ten  ency  to  secure  the  end  de- 
sired.     ,''oi-!d  eiev  an  affirmative  vote  on  the 
motion  qm  '  !};:■  •.i.itation  of  the  .subject  /     He 
thought,  01.  .-le  contrary,  it  would  much  increase 
It.     How  would  it  stop  the  a  itafion?     What 
would  be  <lecided?     Nothing,  except  it  be  that 
the  Senate  wouhl  not  rjceive  the  i)articular  me- 
morial before  it.     Would  that  prevent  the  pre- 
sentation of  others  ?     Not  at  all ;  it  would  only 
increase  the  number,  by  making  a  new  issue  for 
debate,  which  was  all  the  abolitionists  wanted ; 
or,  at  any  rate,  the  most   they  now  expected, 
these  petitions  had  been  coming  herj  without 
intermission   ever  since  the  foundation  of  the 
government,  and  he  could  tell  the  senator  that 
if  they  were  each  to  Ik.  honored  by  a  lengthy 
discussion  on  presentment,  an  honor  not  here- 
tofore granted  to  them,  they  would  not  only  con- 
tinue to  come  here,  but  they  would  thicken  upon 
us  so  long  as  the  government  remained  in  exist- 
ence.    We  may  seek  occasions  isaid  Mr.  K.)  to 
ravo  about  our  rights ;  we  may  appeal  to  the 
guaranties  of  the  constitution,  which  are  denied  • 
we  may  speak  of  the  strength  of  the  South,  and 
pour  out  unm.'asured  denunciations  against  the 
North;  we  may  threaten  vengeance  against  the 
abolitionists,  and  menace  a  dissolution  of  the 
Union,  and  all  that ;  and  thus  exhausting  our- 
sclvo  mentally  and  physically,  and  setting  down 
to  api)laud  the  spirit  of  our  own  ellbrts,  Arthur 
Tappan   and   his  pious  fraternity  would  very 
coolly  remark :  '  Well,  that  is  precisely  what  I 
wanted ;  I  wanted  agitation  in  the  South  ;  1 
wished  to  provoke  the  "aristocratic  slaveholder" 
to  make  extravagant  demands  on  the   North 
which  the  North  could  not  consistently  surren- 
der them,    T  wished  them,  •.•.•.'.ihv  the  prrtext 
of  securing  their  own  rights,  to  encroach  upon 
the  rights  of  all  the  American  people.   In  short 
I  wish  to  change  the  issue ;  upon  the  present 
issue  we  are  dead.    Every  movement,  every  de- 


614 


THIRTY  TEAKS'  VIEW. 


monstrntion  of  feeling  nnioiijj  our  own  pefjjjle, 
shows  that  u;;.in  the  present  issue  the  irreat 
body  of  the  people  is  against  us.  The  issue 
must  be  changed,  or  the  prospects  of  abolition 
are  at  an  end.'  This  language  (Mr.  K.  said) 
was  not  conjectured,  but  tlicre  was  much  evi- 
dence of  its  truth.  Sir  (said  Mr.  K.).  if  South- 
em  senators  were  actually  in  the  pay  of  the 
abolition  directory  on  Nassau-street  they  could 
not  more  eftbctually  co-operate  in  the  views  and 
administer  to  the  wishes  of  these  enemies  to  the 
peace  and  quiet  of  our  country." 

Mr.  Cdlhotm  was  dissatisfied  at  the  speeches  of 
Mr.  Brown  and  Mr.  King,  and  considered  them 
as  dividing  and  distrafting  the  South  in  their 
opposition  to  his  motion,  while  his  own  course 
was  to  keep  them  united  in  a  case  where  union 
was  so  important,  and  in  which  they  stood  but  a 
handful  in  the  midst  of  an  overwhelming  major- 
ity.    He  said : 

"I  have  heard  with  deep  mortification  and 
regret  the  speech  of  the  senator  from  Geor- 
gia ;  not  that  I  .  upposc  that  his  arguments 
can  have  much  ii.,, '^ssion  in  the  South,  but 
because  of  their  tendency  to  divide  and  dis- 
tract the  Southern  delegation  on  this,  to  us,  all- 
momentous  question.  We  are  here  but  a  hand- 
ful in  the  midst  of  an  overwhelming  majority. 
It  is  the  duty  of  every  member  from  the  South, 
on  this  great  and  vital  question,  where  union  is 
so  important  to  those  whom  we  represent,  to 
avoid  every  thing  calculated  to  divide  or  dis- 
tract our  ranks.  1  (said  Mr.  C.),the  Senate  will 
bear  witness,  have,  in  all  that  I  have  said  on 
this  subject,  been  careful  to  respect  the  feelings 
of  Southern  members  who  have  did'ered  fro'ii 
me  in  the  policy  to  be  pursued.  Having  thus 
acted,  on  my  part,  I  must  express  my  su'-prise 
at  the  harsh  expressions,  to  say  tue  least,  in 
which  the  senator  from  Georgia  has  indulged." 

The  declaration  of  this  overwhelming  majority 
against  the  South  brought  a  great  number  of 
the  non-slaveholding  senatoid  to  their  feet,  to 
declare  the  concurrence  of  their  States  with  the 
South  upon  the  subject  of  slavery,  and  to  depre- 
ciate the  abolitionists  a.s  few  in  numbi.^  in  any 
of  the  Northern  States ;  and  dLscountenanced, 
rej)robated  and  repulsed  wherever  they  were 
found.  Among  these,  Mr.  Isaac  Hill  of  New 
Hampshire,  thus  spoke : 

"  I  do  not  (said  he)  object  to  many  of  the 
positions  taken  by  senators  on  the  abstract  n:  -s- 
tion  of  Northern  interference  with  slavery  in 
the  S^ufb.  But  I  do  prntof^t  against  the  excite- 
ment that  is  attempted  on  the  floor  of  Congress, 
to  be  kept  up  against  the  North.  I  do  protest 
aaainst  the  array  that  is  made  here  of  the  acts 
of  a  few  misguided  fuiatics  as  the  acta  of  the 


whole  or  of  a  large  portion  of  the  peo])le  of  the 
North.  I  do  protest  against  the  countenance 
that  is  here  given  to  the  idea  that  the  pe()]ili"  of 
the  North  generally  are  interfering  with  the 
rights  and  property  of  the  people  of  tlie  Soutli. 

"There  is  no  course  that  will  better  .suit  the 
few  Northern  fanatics  than  the  agitation  of  the 
quction  of  slavery  in  the  halls  of  Congress— 
not.iing  will  please  them  better  than  the  discus- 
sions which  are  taking  place,  and  a  solenui  vote 
of  either  branch  denying  them  the  right  to  pre- 
fer petitions  here,  praying  that  slavery  may  be 
abolished  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  A  de- 
nial of  that  right  at  once  enables  them,  and  not 
without  color  of  truth,  to  cry  out  that  the  con- 
test going  on  is  'a  struggle  between  power  and 
liberty.' 

"  Believing  the  intentions  of  those  who  have 
moved  simultaneously  to  get  up  these  petitions 
at  this  time,  to  be  mischief,  I  was  glad  to  see 
the  first  petition  that  came  in  here  laid  on  tlie 
table  without  discussion,  and  without  reference 
to  any  committee.  The  motion  to  lay  on  tlie 
table  precludes  all  debate  ;  and,  if  decided  aflh- 
matively,  prevents  agitation.  It  was  with  the 
view  of  preventing  agitation  of  this  subject  tliat 
I  moved  to  lay  the  second  set  of  petitions  on 
the  table.  A  senator  from  the  South  (Mr,  Cal- 
houn) has  chosen  a  different  course;  he  lias  in- 
terposed a  motion  which  opens  a  debate  that 
may  be  continued  for  months.  He  has  cliosen 
to  agitate  this  question;  and  be  has  presented 
that  question,  the  decision  of  which,  let  senators 
vote  as  they  may,  will  best  please*  the  agitator.'; 
who  are  urging  the  fanatics  forward. 

" I  have  said  the  people  of  the  North  wcic 
moif  united  in  their  opposition  to  the  plans  of 
the  advocates  of  antislavery,  than  on  any  other 
subject.  This  opposition  is  confined  to  no  politi- 
cal party ;  it  pervades  every  class  of  the  comnni- 
nity.  They  deprecate  all  interference  with  the 
subject  of  slavery,  becau.se  they  believe  such  in- 
terference may  involve  the  existence  and  wel- 
fare of  the  Union  itself,  and  because  they  under- 
stand thp  obligations  which  the  non-slavelioldinp; 
States  owe  to  the  slaveholding  States  by  the 
compact  of  confederation.  It  is  the  strong  de- 
sire to  perpetuate  the  Union  ;  it  is  tlie  determi- 
nation which  every  patriotic  and  virtuous  citizen 
has  made,  in  no  event  to  abandon  the  '  ark  of 
our  safety,'  that  now  impels  the  united  North 
to  take  its  stand  against  the  agitators  of  tlie 
antislavery  project.  So  effectually  has  the 
strong  puiilic  sentiment  put  down  that  a,!j;ita- 
tion  in  New  England,  that  it  is  now  kept  alive 
only  by  the  power  of  money,  which  the  ai^ita- 
lors  have  collected,  and  appi}'  in  tlie  hiring  of 
agents,  and  in  issues  fi'oni  presses  that  are  kept 
in  their  emploj'. 

'■The  antislavery  movement,  which  brings  in 
petitions  from  various  parts  of  the  country  !i.4;- 
iui  Congress  to  abolish  .slavery  in  the  District 
of  Columbia,  originates  wiMi  a  few  persons,  who 
have  been  in  the  habit  of  making  charitjible  re- 
ligious institutions  subservient  to  jjolitical  pur- 


mm.. 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


615 


•tion  of  the  people  of  the 
against  the  countenance 
le  idea  that  the  peojilt'  of 
ire  interferinf;  witli  tlie 
the  people  of  the  South. 
that  will  better  .suit  tlio 
than  the  agitation  of  the 
the  halLs  of  Congress— 
m  better  than  the  (li.sciis- 
place,  and  a  solemn  vote 
ig  them  the  right  to  pre- 
ing  that  slavery  may  be 
ict  of  Columbia.  A  de- 
ce  enables  them,  and  not 
to  cry  out  that  the  con- 
2;gle  between  power  and 

tions  of  those  who  have 
to  get  up  the.se  petitions 
;chi>.'f^  I  was  glad  to  see 
;ame  in  here  laid  on  the 
n,  and  without  reference 
le  motion  to  lay  on  the 
ite  ;  and,  if  decided  aflh'- 
;ation.  It  was  with  the 
ation  of  this  subject  that 
:(ind  set  of  petitions  on 
rom  the  South  (Mr.  Cai- 
"erent  course;  he  has  in- 
ich  opens  a  debate  that 
lonths.  He  has  ciiosen 
;  and  ho  has  presented 
ion  of  which,  let  senators 
best  pleastf  the  agitators 
atics  forward. 
3ople  of  the  Noi'th  were 
iposition  to  the  phiiis  of 
avery,  than  on  ary  otlier 
n  is  confined  to  no  politi- 
vcry  class  of  the  connnu- 
ill  interference  with  the 
ise  they  believe  .such  in- 
thc  existence  and  wel- 
and  because  they  undei- 
lich  the  non-sIavehohlinG; 
veholding  States  by  tiie 
)n.     It  is  the  strong  de- 


poses, 
those 


and  who  have  even  controlled  some  of 
charitable  associations.      The  petitions 


are  set  on  foot  by  men  who  have  had,  and  who 
continue  to  have,  influence  with  ministefs  and 
religious  teachers  of  different  denominations. 
They  have  issued  and  sent  out  their  circulars 
calling  for  a  united  effort  to  press  on  Congress 
tlie  abolition  of  slavery  in  this  District.  Many 
of  the  clergymen  who  have  been  instruments 
of  the  agitators,  have  done  so  from  no  bad  mo- 
tive. Some  of  them,  discovering  the  purpose  of 
the  agitators — discovering  that  their  labors  were 
e:\lculated  to  make  the  condition  of  the  slave 
worse,  and  to  create  animosity  between  the  peo- 
ple of  the  North  and  the  South,  have  pau.sed  in 
tlieir  course,  and  desisted  from  the  further  ap- 
plication of  a  mistaken  philanthropy.  Others, 
having  enlisted  deeply  their  feelings,  still  pur- 
sue the  unprofitable  labor.  They  present  hero 
the  names  of  inconsiderate  men  and  women, 
many  of  whom  do  not  know,  when  they  sub- 
scrilje  their  papers,  what  they  are  asking ;  and 
others  of  whom,  placing  implicit  faith  in  their 
reiif!;ious  teacher,  arc  taught  to  believe  they  are 
tliereby  doing  a  work  of  disinterested  benevo- 
lence, which  will  be  requited  by  rewards  in  a 
future  life. 

'•  Now,  sir,  as  much  as  I  abhor  the  doings  of 
weak  or  wicked  men  who  are  moving  this  aboli- 
tion question  at  the  North,  I  yet  have  not  as 
bad  an  opinion  of  them  as  I  have  of  some  others 
who  are  attempting  to  make  of  these  puerile 
proceedings  an  object  of  alarm  to  the  whole 
South. 

"  Uf  all  the  vehicles,  tr:vCts,  pamphlets,  and 
newspapers,  printed  and  circulated  by  the  abo- 
litionists, there  is  no  ten  or  twenty  of  them 
that  have  contributed  so  much  to  the  excite- 
ment as  a  single  newspaper  printed  in  this  city. 
I  need  not  name  this  paper  when  I  inform  you 
that,  for  the  last  five  years,  it  has  b-^  ;n  laboring 
to  produce  a  Northern  and  Southern  party — to 
fan  the  flame  of  sectional  prejudice — to  open 
wider  the  breach,  to  drive  harder  the  wedge, 
which  shall  divide  the  North  from  the  South. 
It  is  the  newspaper  which,  in  1831-'2,  strove  to 
create  that  state  of  things,  in  reliition  to  the 
tai'iil',  which  would  produce  inevitable  collision 
between  the  two  sections  of  the  country,  and 
which  urged  to  that  crisis  in  South  Carolina, 
terminating  in  her  deep  disgrace 

"  [Mr.  Calhoun  here  interrupted  Mr.  Hill,  and 
called  him  to  order.  Mr.  II.  took  his  scat,  and 
Mr.  Hubbard  (being  in  the  chair)  decided  that 
the  remarks  of  Mr.  H.  did  not  impugn  the  mo- 
tives of  any  man — they  were  only  descriptive 
of  the  effects  of  certain  proceedings  upon  the 
State  of  Sonth  Carolina,  and  that  ho  was  not 
out  of  order.] 

"  Mr.  H.  n  sumcd :  It  is  the  newspaper  which 
condemns  or  ridicules  the  well-meant  efforts  of 
an  officer  of  the  government  to  stop  tht  circu- 
lation of  incendiary  publications  in  the  slave- 
holding  States,  and  which  de.signedly  magnifies 
the  number  and  the  eilbrts  of  the  Northern  abo- 


litionists. It  is  the  newspaper  which  libels  the 
whole  North  by  representing  the  almost  united 
people  of  that  region  to  be  insincere  in  their 
effoits  to  prevent  the  mischief  of  a  few  fanati- 
cal and  misguided  persons  who  arc  engaged  in 
the  abolition  cause. 

"  I  have  before  me  a  copy  of  this  newspaper 
(the  United  States  Telegraph),  filled  to  tho 
brim  with  the  exciting  subject.  It  contains, 
among  other  things,  a  speech  of  an  honoral)le 
senator  (Mr.  Leigh  of  Virginia),  which  I  shall 
not  be  surprised  soon  to  learn  has  been  issued 
by  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  from  the 
abolition  mint  at  New-York,  for  circulation  in 
the  South.  Surely  the  honorable  senator's 
speech,  containing  that  part  of  the  C  banning 
pamphlet,  is  most  likely  to  move  the  Southern 
slaves  to  a  servile  war,  at  the  same  time  the 
Channing  extracts  and  the  speech  itself  are  most 
admirably  calculated  to  awake  the  fears  or 
arouse  the  indignation  of  their  masters.  The 
circulation  of  such  a  speech  will  effect  the  ob- 
ject of  the  abolitionists  without  trenching  upon 
their  funds.  Let  the  agitation  be  kept  up  in 
Congress,  and  let  this  newspaper  be  extensively 
circulated  in  the  South,  filled  vith  such  speeches 
and  such  extracts  as  this  exhibits,  and  little 
will  be  left  for  the  Northern  abolitionists  to  do. 
They  need  do  no  more  than  send  in  their  peti- 
tions: tho  late  printer  of  the  Senate  and  his 
friends  in  Congress,  will  create  enough  of  ex- 
citement to  effect  every  object  of  those  who  di- 
rect the  movements  of  the  abolitionists." 

At  the  same  moment  that  these  petitions 
were  presented  in  the  Senate,  their  counterparts 
were  presented  in  the  House,  with  the  same  de- 
clarations from  Northern  representatives  in  favor 
of  the  rights  of  the  South,  and  in  dcj)reciation 
of  the  number  and  importance  of  the  abolition- 
ists in  the  North.  Among  these,  Jlr.  Franklin 
Pierce,  of  New  Hampshire,  was  one  of  the  most 
emphatic  on  both  points.    He  said : 

"  This  was  not  the  last  memorial  of  the  same 
character  which  would  be  sent  here.  It  was 
perfectly  apparent  that  the  question  must  be 
met  now,  or  at  some  future  time,  fully  and  ex- 
plicitly, and  such  an  expression  of  this  House 
given  as  could  leave  no  possible  room  to  doubt 
as  to  the  opinions  and  sentiments  entertained  by 
its  members.  He  (Mr.  P.),  ir.deed,  considered 
the  overwhelming  vote  of  the  House,  the  other 
day,  laying  a  memorial  of  similar  tenor,  and,  he 
believed,  the  same  in  terms,  upon  the  table,  as 
fixing  uj)on  it  the  stamp  of  reprobation.  He 
supposed  that  all  sections  of  the  country  would 
be  satisfied  with  that  expression ;  but  gentlemen 
seemed  now  to  consider  the  vote  as  equivocal 
and  evasive.  He  was  unwilling  that  any  impu- 
tation should  rest  upon  the  North,  in  conse- 
quence of  tho  misguided  and  fanatical  zeal  of  a 
few — comparatively  very  lew — who,  however 


■i]' 


616 


THTETY  TE.UIB'  VIEW. 


honest  mi.-ht  have  been  their  purposee,  he  be- 
lieved had  done  incalcukble  mischief,  and  whose 
movements,  lie  knew,  received  no  more  sanction 
amonn;  the  {,^rcat  mass  of  the   people   of  the 
North,  tiian  they  did  at  the  South.     For  one, 
he  (Mr.  P.),  while  he  would  be  the  last  to  in- 
Imgo  upon  any  of  the  sacred  reserved  riffhts 
ot  the  people,  was  prepared  to  stamp  with  dis- 
approbation-, in  the  most  express  and  unequivo- 
cal terms,  the  whole  movement  upon  this  sub- 
ject.   .Mr.  P.  .said  he  would  not  resume  his  seat 
without  ten-Ierinfr  to  the  gentleman  from  Vird- 
nia  (Mr.  Mason),  just  and  generous  as  he  always 
was    his   acknowledgments   for  the  admission 
frankly  made  in  the  opening  of  his  remarks. 
He  ha(l  said  that,  during  the  period  that  he  had 
occupied  a  seat  in  this  House  (as  Mr.  P.  under- 
stood him),  he  had  never  known  six  men  seri- 
ously disposed  to  interfere  with  the  rights  of 
the  slaveholders  at  the  South.    Sir,  said  Mr  P 
gentlemen  may  be  assured  there  was  no  such 
disi)osition   as  a  general  sentiment  prevailin"- 
among  the  people;  at  least  he  felt  confidence  in 
asserting  that,  among  the  peop'e  of  the  State 
which  he  had  the  honor  in  part  to  represent 
there  was  not  one  in  a  hundred  who  did  not 
entertain  the  most  sacred  regard  for  the  rights 
ot  their  Southern  brethren-nay,  not  one  in  five 
hundred  wlio  would  not  have  those  rights  pro- 
tected at  any  and  every  hazard.     There  was  not 
the  slightest  disposition  to  interfere  with  any 
rights  secured  by  the  constitution,  which  binds 
together,   and   which   he  humbly   hoped  ever 
would  bind  together,  this  great  and  glorious 
confederacy  as  one  family.     Mr.  P.  had  only  to 
say  that,  to  some  sweeping  charges  of  improper 
mterf  •reucc,  the  action  of  the   people  of  the 
Worth  at  home,  during  the  last  year,  and  the 
vote  oi  their  representatives  here  the  other  dav 
was  a  sulhcient  and  conclusive  answer."  ' 


freedom."    Mr.  Hill  said  it  was  an  abolition 
paper,  printed,  but  not  circulated,  at  Concord 
New  Hampshire.     He  said  the  same  paper  had 
been  sent  to  him,  and  he  saw  in  it  one  of  Mr 
Calhoun's  speeches  j  which  was  republished  us 
good  food  for  the  abolitionists ;   and  said  he 
thought  the  Senate  was  well  employed  in  listen- 
ing to  the  reading  of  disgusting  extracts  from 
an  hireling  abolition  paper,  for  the  purpose  of 
impugning  the  statements  of  a  member  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  defenc^ing  tlio  South 
there,  and  who  could  not  be  here  to  defend  him- 
self.   It  was  also  a  breach  of  parliamentary  law 
for  a  member  in  one  House  to  attack  what  was 
said  by  a  member  in  another.     ]\Ir.  Pierce's 
statement  had  been  heard  with  great  satisfaction 
by  all  except  Mr.  Calhoun ;  but  to  him  it  was 
so  repugnant,  as  invalidating  his  assertion  of  a 
great  abolition  party  in  the  North,  that  lie  could 
not  refrain  from  this  mode  of  contradicting  it. 
It  was  felt  by  all  as  disorderly  and  improper 
and  the  presiding  officer  then  in  the  chair  (Mr! 
Hiibbjird,  from  New  Hampshire)  fl-it  himself 
called  upon  to  excuse  his  own  conduct  iu  not 
having  checked  the  reading  of  the  article.    He 
said: 


The  newspaper  named  by  Mr.  Hill  was  en- 
tirely in  the  interest  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  the 
course  which  it  followed,  and  upon  system,  and 
incessantly  to  get  up  a  slavery  quarrel  between 
the  North  and  the  South,  was  undeniable— every 
daily  number  of  the  paper  containing  the  proof 
of  its  incendiary  work.     Mr.  Calhoun  would 
not  reply  to  Mr.  Hill,  but  would  send  a  paper 
to  the  Secretary's  table  to  be  read  in  contradic- 
tion of  his  statements.    Mr.  Calhoun  then  hand- 
ed to  the  Secretary  a  newspaper  containing  an 
article  impugning  the  statement  made  by  Mr. 
Pierce,  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  as  to 
the  small  luimber  of  the  abolitionists  in  the  State 
of  New  Hampshire ;  which  was  read,  and  which 
contained  scunilous  reflections  on  Mr.  Pierce 
and  severe  strictures  on  the  state  of  sl.avery  in 
the  South.     Mr.  Hill  asked  for  the  title  of  the 
newspaper ;  and  it  was  given,  "  The  Herald  of 


■•He  felt  as  if  an  apology  was  due  from  him 
to  the  Senate,  for  not  having  checked  the  read- 
ing of  the  paragraphs  from  the  newspaper  which 
had  just  been  read  by  the  Secretary.    Ho  was 
wholly  Ignorant  of  the  contents  of  the  paper 
and  could  not  have  anticipated  the  purport  of 
the  article  which  the  senator  from  Soutli  Caro- 
lina had  requested  the  Secretary  to  read     He 
understood  the  senator  to  say  that  he  wished 
the  paper  to  be  read,  to  show  that  the  .statement 
made  by  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire  as 
to  the  feelings  and  sentiments  of  the  people  of 
that  State  upon  the  subject  of  the  abolition  of 
slavery,  was  not  correct.     It  certainly  would 
have  been  out  of  order,  for  any  senator  to  have 
alluded  to  the  remarks  made  by  a  niciiibcr  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  in  debate ;  and, 
in  his  judgment,  it  was  equally  out  of  order  to 
permit  paragraphs  from  a  newspaper  to  be  read 
in  the  Senate,  which  went  to  impugn  the  course 
of  any  member  of  the  other  House;  and  he 
should  not  have  permitted  the  paper  to  have 
been  read,  without  the  direction  of  tlie  Senate, 
if  he  had  been  aware  of  the  character  of  the 
article." 

Mr.  Calhoun  said  he  was  entitled  to  the  floor 
and  did  not  like  to  be  interrupted  by  the  chair. 
he  meant  no  disrespect  to  Mr.  Pierce,  "but 
wished  the  real  state  of  things  to  be  known  "- 
as  if  an  abolition  newspaper  was  better  author- 


ANNO  1836.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


1  said  it  was  an  abolition 
ot  circulated,  at  Concord, 
D  said  the  same  paper  had 
1  he  saw  in  it  one  of  Mr. 
which  was  republished  as 
bolitionists  ;  and  said  he 
as  well  employed  in  liston- 
f  disgusting  extracts  from 
paper,  for  the  purpose  of 
lents  of  a  member  of  the 
ives,  defending  the  South 
lot  be  here  to  defend  Iiim- 
each  of  parliamentary  law 
Flouse  to  attack  what  was 
1  another.     Mr.  Pierce's 

ard  with  great  satisfaction 
loun ;  but  to  hini  it  was 
idating  his  assertion  of  a 
1  the  North,  that  he  could 
node  of  contradicting  it. 
disorderly  and  improper, 
Jr  then  in  the  chair  (Mr. 
Hampshire)  fl-it  himself 
his  own  conduct  iu  not 
iding  of  the  article.    He 

ology  was  due  from  him 
lavmg  checked  the  read- 
'on>  the  newspaper  which 
'  the  Secretary.  He  was 
J  contents  of  the  paper, 
iticipated  the  purport  of 
enator  from  South  Caro- 

Secretary  to  read.    He 
r  to  say  that  he  wished 

show  that  the  statement 
rom  New  Ilanipshire.  as 
iments  of  the  people  of 
)jcct  of  the  abolition  of 
ct.  It  certainly  would 
for  any  senator  to  have 
s  made  by  a  member  of 
itatives,  in  debate ;  and, 
equally  out  of  order  to 

a  ne^^'spaper  to  be  read 
nt  to  impugn  the  course 

other  House;  and  he 
tted  the  pa[)er  to  have 
lirection  of  the  Senate, 
of  the  character  of  the 


617 


itythan  a  statement  from  a  member  in  his  place 
in  the  House.  It  happened  that  Mr.  Pierce  was 
coming  into  the  Senate  Chamber  as  this  reading 
scene  was  going  on ;  and,  being  greatly  sur- 
prised, and  feeling  much  aggrieved,  and  liaving 
no  right  to  speak  for  himself,  he  spoke  to  the 
author  of  this  View  to  maintain  the  truth  of 
his  statement  against  the  scurrilous  contradic- 
tion of  it  which  had  been  read.  Mr.  Benton, 
therefore,  stood  up — 

"To  say  a  word  on  the  subject  of  Mr.  Pierce 
the  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives! 
from  New  Hampshire,  whose  statements  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  had  been  contradicted 
in  the  newspaper  article  read  at  the  Secretary's 
tiible.    lie  had  the  pleasure  of  an  intimate  ac- 
quaintance with  that  gentleman,  and  the  highest 
respect  for  him,  both  on  his  own  account  and  that 
of  his  venerable  and  patriotic  father,  who  was 
lately  Governor  of  New  Hampshire.     It  had  so 
happened  (said  Mr.  B.)  that,  in  the  very  moment 
of  the  reading  of  this  article,  the  member  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  whose  statement  it 
contradict(>(l,  was  coming  into  the  Senate  Cham- 
ber, and  liis  whitening  countenance  showed  the 
deep  emotion  excited  in  his  bosom.    The  state- 
ment which  that  gentleman  had  made  in  the 
House  was  in  the  highest  degree  consolatory 
and  agreeable  to  the  people  of  the  slavcholding 
States.    He  had  said  that  not  one  in  five  hun- 
dred in  his  State  was  in  favor  of  the  abolition- 
ists :  an  expression  iiuderstood  by  every  body 
not  as  an  arithmetical  proposition  worked  out 
by  figures,  but  as  a  strong  mode  of  declaring 
that  these  abolitionists  M'cre  few  in  numben 
In  that  sense  it  was  understood,  and  was  a  most 
welcome  and  agreeable  piece  of  information  to 
the  people  of  the  slavcholding  States.      The 
newspaper  article  contradicts  him,  and  vaunts 
tiie  number  of  the  abolitionists,  and  the  numer- 
oiis  sifriiers  to  their  petition.    Now  (said  Mr. 
»■),  the  member  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives (Mr.  Pierce)  has  this  moment  informed 
me  that  ho  knows  nothing  of  these  petitions, 
and  knows  nothmg  to  change  his  opinion  as  to 
the  small  number  of  abolitionists  in  his  State. 
Jlr.  J{.  thought,  therefore,  that  his  statement 
ought  not  to  be  considered  as  discredited  by  the 
newspaper  imblication  ;  and  he,  for  one,  should 
still  give  faith  to  his  opinion." 

In  his  eagerness  to  invalidate  the  statement 
of  Mr.  Pierce,  Mr.  Calhoun  had  overlooked  a 
solecism  of  action  in  which  it  involved  him. 
His  bill  to  suppress  the  mail  transmission  of  in- 
cendiary ])ublications  was  still  before  the  Senate, 
not  yet  decided  ;  and  liere  was  matter  rood  in 
tl'e  Senate,  and  to  go  forth  as  part  of  its  pro- 
ceedings, the  most  incendiary  and  diabolical  that 
IM  yet  been  seen.   Tliis  oversight  was  perceived 


by  the  author  of  this  View,  who,  after  vindi- 
cating the  statement  of  Mr.  Pierce,  went  on  to 
expose  this  solecism,  and — 

"Took    up  the   bill  reported  by  the  select 
committee  on  incendiary  publications,  and  read 
the  section  which  forbade  their  transmission  by 
mail,  and  subjected  the  postmasters  to  fine  and 
loss  of  ofHce,  who  would  put  them  up  for  trans- 
mission ;  and  wished  to  know  whether  this  in- 
cendiary publication,  which  had  been  read  at 
the  Secretary's  table,  would  be  included  in  the 
prohibition,  after  being  so  read,  and  thus  be- 
cpming  a  part  of  our  debates  ?    As  a  publica- 
tion in  New  Hampshire,  it  was  clearly  forbid ; 
as  part  orour  congressional  proceedings  would 
it  still  be  forbid?    There  was  a  difficulty  in 
this,  he  said,  take  it  either  away.    If  it  could 
still  be  inculcated  from  this  floor,  then  the  pro- 
hibition in  the  bill  was  mere  child's  play ;  if 
it  could  not,  and  all  the  city  papers  which  con- 
tained it  were  to  be  stopped,  then  the  other 
congressional  proceedings   in   the  same   paper 
would   be  stopped  also ;   and  thus  the  people 
would  be  prevented  from  knowing  what  their 
represcntutivcs  were  doing.    It  seemed  to  him 
to  be  but  lame  work  to  stop  incendiary  publi- 
cations in  the  villages  where  they  were  printed, 
a..d  then  to  circulate  them  from  this  chamber 
among  the  proceedings  of  Congress ;  and  that, 
issuing  from  this  centre,  and  spreading  to  all 
the  points  of  the  circumference  of  thi^    ..'•ended 
Union,   one    rt^ading  here  would  g.  .     "     ten 
thousand  times  more  notoriety  and    L.iusion 
than  the  printing  of  it  in  the  village  could  do. 
He  concluded  with  expressing  his  wish  that  the 
reporters  would  not  copy  into  their  account  of 
debate  the  paper  that  was  read.     It  was  too 
offensive  to  the  member  of  the  House    [Mr. 
Pierce],  and  would  be  too  disagreeable  to  the 
people  of  the  slavcholding  States,  to  be  entitled 
to  a  place  in  our  debates,  and  to  become  a  part 
of  our  congressional  history,  to  be  diffused  over 
the  country  in  gazettes,  and  transmitted  to  pos- 
terity in  the  volumes  of  debates.    He  hoped 
they  would  all  omit  it." 

The  reporters  complied  with  this  i-equest, 
and  the  Congress  debates  were  spared  the  pol- 
lution of  this  infusion  of  scurrility,  and  the 
permanent  record  of  this  abusive  assault  upon 
a  member  of  the  House  because  he  was  a  friend 
to  the  South.  But  it  made  a  deep  impression 
upon  senators ;  and  Mr.  King,  of  Georgia,  ad- 
verted to  it  a  few  days  afterwards  to  show  the 
strangeness  of  the  scene— Southern  senators 
attacking  their  Northern  friends  because  they 
defended  the  South.     He  said : 


??ft- 


i 


"It  was  known  that  there  was  a  talented 
patriotic,  and  highly  influential  member  of  the 
other    House,    from    New    Hampshire    [Mr. 


f'  i'^  i  r 


618 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


Pierce],  to  whose  diligence  and  determined 
eflforts  ho  had  heard  attributed,  in  a  {^reat  de- 
gree, the  present  prostrate  condition  of  the 
abolitionists  in  that  State.  He  had  been  the 
open  and  active  friend  of  the  Soutli  fri>m  the  be- 
ginning, and  had  encountered  the  hostility  of 
the  abolitionists  in  every  form.  lie  had  made 
a  statement  of  the  strength  and  prospects  of 
the  abolitionists  in  his  State,  near  the  com- 
mencement of  the  session,  that  was  very  grati- 
fying to  the  people  of  the  South.  This  state- 
ment was  corroborated  by  one  of  the  senators 
from  that  State  a  few  days  after,  and  the  sena- 
tor from  Carolina  rose,  and,  without  due  re- 
flection, he  was  very  sure,  drew  from  his  pocket 
a  dirty  sheet,  an  abolition  paper,  containing  a 
scurrilous  article  against  the  member  from  New 
Hampshire,  which  pronounced  him  an  impostor 
and  a  liar.  The  same  thing  in  effect  had  just  been 
repeated  by  the  senator  from  Mississippi  against 
one  of  the  best  friends  of  the  South,  Governor 
Marcy,  of  New-York.  [Here  Mr.  Calhoun 
rose  to  explain,  and  said  he  had  intended,  by 
the  introduction  of  the  paper,  no  disrespect  to 
the  member  from  New  Hampshire ;  and  Mr. 
Black  also  rose  to  say  he  only  wished  to  show 
the  course  the  abolitionists  were  pursuing,  and 
their  future  views.]  Mr.  King  said  he  had  been 
inter"upted  by  the  senators,  but  corrected  by 
neither  of  them.  lie  was  not  attacking  their 
motives,  but  only  exposing  their  mistakes.  The 
article  read  by  his  friend  from  Carolina  was 
abusive  of  the  member  from  New  Hampshire, 
and  contradicted  his  statements.  The  article 
read  by  his  friend  from  Mississippi  against  Gov- 
ernor Marcy  was  of  a  similar  character.  It 
abused,  menaced,  and  contradicted  him.  These 
abusive  productions  would  seem  to  be  credited 
and  adopted  by  those  who  used  them  as  evi- 
dence, and  incorporated  them  in  their  speeches. 
Here,  then,  was  a  contest  in  the  North  be- 
tween the  most  open  and  avowed  friends  of  the 
South  and  the  abolitionists;  and  we  had  the 
strange  exhibition  of  Southern  gentlemen  ap- 
parently espousing  the  cause  of  the  latter,  who 
were  continually  furnishing  them  evidence  witli 
which  to  aid  them  in  the  contest.  Did  gentle- 
men call  this  backing  their  friends  ?  What  en- 
couragement did  such  treatment  alFord  to  our 
friends  at  the  North  to  step  forth  in  our  be- 
half?" 

Mr.  King  did  not  limit  himself  to  the  defence 
of  Mr.  Pierce,  but  went  on  to  deny  the  increase 
of  abolitionism  at  the  North,  and  to  show  that 
it  was  dying  out  there  until  revived  by  agitation 
here.     lie  said : 

'•  A  great  deal  had  been  stated  in  one  form  or 
other,  and  in  one  quarter  or  other,  as  to  the 
numbers  .and  incre.isc  of  those  disturbers  of  the 
peace ;  and  he  did  not  undertake  to  say  what 
was  the  fact.  He  learned,  and  thought  it  pro- 
bable, that  they  had  increased  since  the  com- 


mencement of  the  session,  and  had  heard  also  the 
increase  attributed  to  the  manner  in  which  tl»e 
subject  had  been  treated  here.  However  tiiis 
might  be,  what  he  insisted  on  was,  that  those 
base  productions  were  no  evidence  of  the  fact 
or  of  any  fact ;  and  especially  should  not  be  used 
by  Southern  men,  in  opposition  to  the  statis 
ments  of  high-minded,  honorable  men  at  the 
North,  who  were  the  active  and  efficient  MemU 
of  the  South." 

As  an  evidence  of  the  manner  in  which  the 
English  emissary,  George  Thompson,  had  been 
treated  in  the  North,  upon  whose  labors  so 
much  stress  had  been  laid  in  the  South  Mr. 
King  read  from  an  English  newspaper  (the 
Leeds  Mercury),  Thompson's  own  account  of 
his  mission  as  written  to  his  English  employers' 
thus: 

"Letters  of  a  most  distressing  nature  have 
been  received  from  Mr.  George  Thompson,  the 
zealous  and  devoted  missionary  of  slave  eman- 
cipation, who  has  gone  from  this  country  to  the 
United  States,  and  who  writes  from  Boston. 
He  says  that  'the  North  (that  is,  NewEn;- 
land,  where  slavery  does  not  exist),  lias 
universally  sympathized  with  the  South.'  in 
opposition  to  the  abolitionists ;  that '  tlie  North 
has  let  fall  the  mask;'  that  'merchants  and 
mechanics,  priests  and  politicians,  have  alike 
stood  forth  the  defenders  of  Southciu  despots, 
and  the  furious  denouncers  of  Northern  pliiian- 
thropy ; '  that  all  jjarties  of  politics,  especially 
the  supporters  of  the  two  rivals  for  the  presi- 
dential office  (Van  Buren  and  Webster),  vie 
with  each  other  in  denouncing  the  abolitionists ; 
and  that  even  religious  men  shun  them,  except 
when  the  abolitionists  can  fairly  gain  a  hearin;; 
from  them.  With  regard  to  himself  he  speaks 
as  follows :  '  Rewards  are  offered  for  my  abdnc- 
tion  and  assassination ;  and  in  every  diiection  I 
meet  with  those  who  believe  they  would  bo 
doing  God  and  their  country  service  by  dejjriv- 
ing  me  of  life.  I  have  appeared  in  public,  and 
some  of  my  escapes  from  the  hands  of  uiy  foes 
have  been  truly  providential.  On  Friday  last, 
I  narrowly  escaped  losing  my  life  in  Concunl, 
New  Hampshire.'  'Boston,  September  11.— 
This  morning  a  short  gallows  was  found  stand- 
ing opposite  the  door  of  my  house,  2l'>  Ijay-.-trett, 
in  this  city,  now  occupied  by  Gani'^on.  T«o 
halters  hung  from  the  beam,  ^^•itll  the  words 
above  them,  By  order  of  Judge  Lynch ! ' " 

Mr.  Hill  corroborated  the  account  which  this 
emissary  gave  of  his  disastrous  mission,  and 
added  that  he  had  escaped  from  Concord  in  the 
night,  and  in  woman's  clothes :  and  then  said  ; 

"The  present  agitation  in  the  North  is  kepi 
up  by  the  ap])lication  of  money  ;  it  is  a  state  of 
things  altogether  forced.    Agents  are  hired, dis- 


ession,  and  had  heard  also  the 

to  the  manner  in  which  tlw 

treated  here.     Ilowevtr  this 

insisted  on  was,  that  those 

'ere  no  evidence  of  the  liict, 

especially  should  not  be  iistd 

in  opposition  to  the  statt'- 

ided,  honorable  men  at  the 

le  active  and  efHcient  friends 

of  the  manner  in  wliich  the 
jeorge  Thompson,  had  been 
)rth,  upon  whose  labors  so 
)een  laid  in  the  South  Mr. 
m  English  newspaper  (tlie 
'hompson's  own  account  of 
en  to  his  English  employers; 


lost  distressinp;  nature  have 
I  Mr.  George  Thompson,  the 
d  missionary  of  slave  cmfin- 
one  from  this  country  to  the 
1  who  writes  fnmi  Boston. 
!  North  (that  is,  NewEiij- 
;ry  does  not  exist),  has 
thized  with  the  South,'  in 
bolitionists ;  that '  the  North 
laskj'  that  'merchants  and 

and  politicians,  have  alike 
fenders  of  Southeru  despots, 
onncors  of  Northern  phiian- 
I)arties  of  politics,  especially 
the  two  rivals  for  the  presi- 
»  Buren  and  Webster),  vie 
ienouncing  the  abolitionists ; 
ious  men  shun  them,  except 
sts  can  fairly  gain  a  heariu;: 
regard  to  himself  he  speaks 
•ds  are  ofi'ered  for  my  abduc- 
ion ;  and  in  every  direction  I 
vho  believe  they  would  be 
ir  country  service  by  depriv- 
lave  appeared  in  public,  and 
5  from  the  hands  of  my  fmi 
■evidential.  On  Friday  la,-t, 
,  losing  my  life  in  Concord, 
'IJoston,  September  11.— 
)rt  gallows  was  found  stand- 
r  of  my  house,  2.''>  I5ay->tiei.'t, 
)ccupied  by  Giirri.^^on.    Two 

the  beam,  with  the  words 
der  of  Judge  Lynch!'" 

rated  the  account  which  this 
his  disastrous  mission,  and 
iscaped  from  Concord  in  the 
n's  clothes :  and  then  said; 

itation  in  the  North  is  kepi 
)ii  of  money ;  it  is  a  state  of 
irced.    Agents  are  hired,  dis- 


ANNO  1836.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


619 


guiscd  in  the  character  of  ministers  of  the  Gos- 
pel, to  preach  abolition  of  slavery  where  slavery 
does  not  exist;  and  presses  are  kept  in  constant 
employment  to  scatter  abolition  publications 
through  the  country.  Deny  the  right  of  petition 
to  the  misguided  men  and  women  who  are  in- 
duced from  no  bad  motive  to  petition  for  the 
abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia, 
and  yi'u  do  more  to  increase  their  numbers  than 
will  thousands  of  dollars  paid  to  the  emissaries 
who  traverse  the  country  to  distribute  abolition 
tracts  and  to  spread  abolition  doctrines.  Con- 
tinue to  debate  abolition  in  either  branch  of 
Congress,  and  you  more  effccti.ally  .subserve 
the  incendiary  views  of  the  movers  of  abolition 
than  any  thing  they  can  do  for  themselves.  It 
may  suit  those  who  have  been  disappointed  in 
all  their  political  projects,  to  try  Avhat  this  sub- 
ject of  abolition  will  now  avail  them.  Such  men 
will  be  likely  to  find,  in  the  end,  that  the  peo- 
ple h«ve  too  strong  attachment  for  that  happy 
Union,  to  which  we  owe  all  our  pi'osperity  and 
happiness,  to  be  thrown  from  their  propriety  at 
every  agitating  blast  which  may  be  blown  across 
the  land." 

Mr.  Webster  gave  his  opinion  in  favor  of  re- 
ceiving the  petitions,  not  to  grant  their  prayer, 
but  to  yield  to  a  constitutional  right  on  the  part 
of  the  petitioners ;  and  said : 

"He  thought  they  ought  to  be  received,  re- 
ferred, and  considered.  That  was  what  was 
usually  done  with  petitions  on  other  subjects, 
and  what  had  been  imiformly  done,  heretofore, 
with  petitions  on  this  subject  also.  Those  who 
believed  they  had  an  undoubted  right  to  petition, 
and  that  Congress  had  undoubted  constitutional 
authority  over  the  subjects  to  which  their  peti- 
tions related,  would  not  be  satisfied  with  a  re- 
fusal to  receive  the  petitions,  nor  with  a  formal 
reception  of  them,  followed  by  an  immediate 
vote  rejecting  their  prayer.  In  parliamentary 
.vfms  there  was  some  difference  between  these 
two  modes  of  proceeding,  but  it  would  be  con- 
sidered as  little  else  than  a  difference  in  mere 
form.  He  thought  the  question  must  at  some 
time  be  met,  considered,  and  discussed.  In  this 
matter,  as  in  others.  Congress  must  stand  on  its 
reasons.  It  was  in  vain  to  attempt  to  shut  the 
door  against  petitions,  and  expect  in  that  way 
to  avoid  discussion.  On  the  presentment  of  the 
tirst  of  these  petitions,  he  had  been  of  opinion 
that  it  ought  to  be  referred  to  the  proper  com- 
mittee. He  was  of  that  opinion  still.  The  sub- 
ject could  not  be  stifled.  It  must  be  discussed, 
and  he  wished  it  should  be  discussed  calmly, 
dispassionately,  and  fully,  in  all  its  branches,  and 
all  Its  bearings.  To  reject  the  prayer  of  a  pe- 
tition at  once,  without  reference  or  considera- 
tion, was  not  respectful ;  and  in  this  ease  notii- 
ing  could  be  possibly  gained  by  going  out  of  the 
usual  course  of  respectful  consideration." 

The  trial  votes  were  had  upon  the  petition 


of  the  Society  of  Friends,  the  Cain  petition ; 
and  on  Mr.  Calhoun's  motion  to  refuse  to  receive 
it.  His  motion  was  largely  rejected — 35  to  10. 
The  vote  to  receive  was :  Messrs.  Benton,  Brown, 
Buchanan,  Clay,  Clayton,  Crittenden,  Davis, 
Ewing  of  Illinois,  Ewing  of  Ohio,  Ooldsborough, 
Grundy,  Hendricks,  Hill,  Hubbard,  Kent,  King 
of  Alabama,  King  of  Georgia,  Knight  Linn,  Mc- 
Kcan,  Morris,  Naudain,  Niles.  Prentiss,  Bobbins, 
Bobinson,  Buggies,  Shepley,  Southard,  Swift, 
Tallmadge,  Tipton,  Toralinson,  "Wall,  Webster, 
Wright.  The  nays  were :  Messrs.  Black,  Cal- 
houn, Cuthbert,  Leigh,  Moore,  Nichola,",,  Porter, 
Preston,  Walker,  White. 

The  motion  to  reject  the  petition  being  thus 
lost  (only  a  meagre  minority  of  the  Southern 
members  voting  for  it),  the  motion  to  reject  its 
prayer  next  came  on ;  and  on  that  motion  Mr. 
Calhoun  refused  to  vote,  saying : 

"  The  Senate  has  by  voting  to  receive  this 
petition,  on  the  ground  on  which  the  reception 
was  placed,  assumed  the  principle  that  we  are 
bound  to  receive  petitions. to  abolish  slavery, 
whether  in  this  District  or  the  States;  that  is, 
to  take  jurisdiction  of  the  question  of  abolishing 
slavery  whenever  and  in  whatever  manner  the 
abolitionists  may  think  proper  to  present  the 
question.  He  considered  this  decision  pregnant 
with  consequences  of  the  most  disastrous  char- 
acter. When  and  how  they  were  to  occur  it 
v/as  not  for  him  to  predict ;  but  he  could  not 
be  mistaken  in  the  fact  that  there  must  follow 
a  long  train  of  evils.  What,  he  would  ask,  must 
hereafter  be  the  condition  on  this  floor  of  the 
senators  from  the  slaveholding  States  ?  No  one 
can  expect  that  what  has  been  done  will  arrest 
the  progress  of  the  abolitionists.  Its  eflects  must 
be  the  opposite,  and  instead  of  diminishing  must 
greatly  increase  the  number  of  the  petitions. 
Under  the  decision  of  the  Senate,  we  of  the 
South  are  doomed  to  sit  here  and  receive  in  si- 
lence, however  outrageous  or  abusive  in  their 
language  towards  us  and  those  whom  we  re- 
present, the  petitions  of  the  incendiaries  who 
are  making  war  on  our  institutions.  Nay,  more, 
we  are  bound,  without  the  power  of  resistance 
to  see  the  Senate,  at  the  request  of  these  incen- 
diaries, whenever  they  think  proper  to  petition, 
extend  its  jurisdiction  on  the  subject  of  slavery 
over  the  States  as  well  as  this  District.  Thus 
deprived  of  all  power  of  effectual  resistance,  can 
any  thing  be  considered  more  hopeless  and  de- 
grading than  our  situation;  to  sit  here,  year 
after  year,  session  after  session,  hearing  our- 
selves and  our  constituents  vilified  by  thousands 
of  incendiary  publication.^  in  the  fisrin  of  peti- 
tions, of  which  the  Senate,  by  its  decision,  is 
bound  to  take  jurisdiction,  and  against  which 
we  must  rise  like  culprits  to  defend  ourselves, 
or  permit  them  to  go  uncontradicted  and  un> 


Vf 


'.^:t 


620 


THii  TY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


resisted  ?  We  must  ultimately  bo  not  only  de- 
graded in  our  own  estimation  and  that  of  the 
world,  but  be  exhausted  and  worn  out  in  such  a 
contest." 

This  was  a  most  unjustifiable  at."  ;inption  on 
the  part  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  to  say  that  in  voting 
to  receive  this  petition,  confined  to  slavery  in 
the  District  of  Columbia,  the  Senate  took  j.-ris- 
diction  of  the  question  in  the  States— jurisdiction 
of  the  question  of  abolishing  slavery  whenever, 
and  in  whatever  manner,  the  abolitionists  might 
ask.  It  was  unjustifiable  towards  the  Senate, 
and  giving  a  false  alarm  to  the  South.  The 
thirty-five  senators  voting  to  receive  the  peti- 
tion wholly  repudiated  the  idea  of  interfering 
with  slavery  in  the  States.  Twelve  of  them 
were  from  the  slaveholding  Stales,  so  that  Mr. 
Calhoun  was  outvoted  in  his  own  half  of  the 
Union.  The  petition  itselt  wsis  confined  to  the 
object  of  emancipation  and  the  suppi^^  ,,,1  of 
the  slave  trade  in  the  District  of  tt.  v)U.)ia, 
where  it  alleged,  and  truly  that  Congress  pos- 
sessed jurisdiction;  and  tiiere  was  noti,'  j* 
either  in  the  prayer,  or  in  the  languttge  of  ihh 
petition  to  justify  the  inferences  drawn  fr<>sn 
its  reception,  or  to  justify  the  assumption  that 
it  was  an  insult  and  outrage  to  tlie  senators 
from  the  t^laveholding  States.  It  was  a  brief 
and  Uimperafe  memorial  in  these  words: 

"TJie  memor.il  of  Cain  Quarterly  Electing  of 
the  Religious  occiety  of  Friends,  commonly 
called  Quakers,  r-.pectfully  represents:  That 
having  long  felt  deep  :.ympatliy  with  that  portion 
of  the  inhabitants  of  tli.se  United  States  which 
is  held  in  bondage,  and  having  no  doubt  that 
the  happiness  and  interests,  moral  and  pecu- 
niary, of  both  master  and  slave,  and  our  whole 
community,  would  be  greatly  promoted  if  the 
inestimable  right  to  liberty  was  extended  equal- 
ly to  all,  we  contemplate  with  extK.'me  regret 
that  tile  District  of  Columbia,  over  which  you 
possess  entire  control,  is  acknowledged  to  be 
one  of  the  greatest  marts  for  tiie  trallio  in  the 
persons  of  human  beings  in  the  3ecov-u  v^orld 
notwithstanding  the  principles  of  tiir  constitu- 
tion declare  that  all  men  have  an  unalienable 
right  to  the  blessing  of  liberty.  We  therefore 
earnestly  desire  that  you  will  enact  such  laws 
as  will  secure  the  right  of  freedom  to  every  hu- 
man being  residing  within  the  constitutional 
jurisdiction  of  Congress,  and  prohibit  every 
species  of  traffic  in  the  persons  of  men,  which 
is  as  inconsistent  in  principle  and  inhuman  in 
practice  as  the  foreign  slaA  e  trade." 

This  was  the  petition.  It  was  in  favor  of 
emancipation  in  the  District,  and  prayed  the 
suppression  of  the  slave  trade  in  the  District ; 


and  neither  of  these  objects  had  any  relation 
to  emanc  ipationor  the  slave  trade,  in  ihe  States 
Mr.  Prcsirtn,  the  colleague  of  Mr.  Calliuun,  fravo 
1  his  reasons  for  voting  to  reject  the  prayer  of  the 
I  petition,  having  failed  in  his  first  object  to  re- 
ject the  petition  itself:  and  Mr.  Davis,  of  .Massi,, 
chusctts,  repulsed  the  inferences  and  ussuni.- 
tions  of  ?J  i'.  Calhoun  in  consequence  of  thi'  \  ., 
toreceiw.  the  petition.  He  denied  the  jii;,! 
of  any  sugj^estion  that  it  portended  misciiie 
tLe  South,  to  the  constitution,  or  'o  the  Ur-  • 
or  tha*  it  was  to  maki  the  District  the  head- 
quarters of  abolitionists,  and  the  stej.ping-etune 
and  entering  wedge  to  tho  attack  of  slavery  in 
the  States:  aid  said: 

" Neither  the  petition  on  whic'i  tho  rkt.i.. 
had  arisen,  nor  an-  other  th.ii  "le  l,,id  seci  my 
poi-vl  directly  or  indirectly  to  disturb  tli.;  iJnin 
unliss  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  Jiis  ])i.  tiict 
or  She  suppression  or  regulation  of  tli(>  \h\i 
I  tradi:  within  it,   w  ould  have  tiiat  etltot.    For 
i  m-nself.  IM.-.  D.  believed  no  puii)ose  (■(juid  bo 
i  iurtbe:- than  this  from  the  mind-;  of  tiie  jieti- 
'  .Uoixers.  lie  could  not  determine  what  tbnujphts 
'  jr  motives  might  be  in  the  minds  of  nii  !:rbiit 
he  judged  by  what  was  revealed  ;  and  ])(.■  rouid 
not    persuade  himself   that    those  jiotiifiurs 
were  not  attached  to  the  Union  and  tli;if  ,'«• 
had  (as  had  been  suggested)  auv  nltorinr  •."■- 
pose  of  making  this  District  the  hoiidHniarUi^ 
of  future  operation — the  s-tronghoM  of  ami 
slavery— the  stepping-stone  to  an  attack  iijiO!! 
the  constitutional  rights  of  the  South.    He  was 
obliged  to  repudiate  these  inferences  as  unjust, 
for  he  had  seen  no  proof  to  sustain  tliein  in' any 
of  the  petitions  that  had  come  here.    The  peti- 
tioners entertained    opinions   coincident  with 
their  fellow-citizens  as  to  the  power  of  Con- 
gress to  legislate  in  regard  to  slavery  in  tliij 
District ;  and  being  desirous  that  slavezy  sliou.» 
cease  here,  if  it  could  be  abolished  upon  just 
principles  ;  and,  if  not,  that  the  traffic  carried 
on  here  from  other  quarters  should  be  sup- 
pressed or  regulated,  they  came  here  to  aslc 
Congress  to  investigate  the  matter.    This  was 
all ;  and  he  could  see  no  evidence  in  it  of  a  clan- 
destine purpose  to  disregard  the  constitution  or 
to  disturb  the  Union." 

The  vote  was  almost  unanimous  on  Mr. 
Buchanan's  motion — 34  to  (i ;  and  those  six 
against  it,  not  because  they  were  in  favor  of 
granting  the  prayer  of  the  memorialists,  "1 
because  they  believed  that  the  petition  ( i.^  . 
to  \  '■  referred  to  a  committee,  rcj/jrtefl  vim, 
a.i;0  : !  en  rejected — whic)>  wa-«  the  fli  "  "  "'!'' 
of  treating  such  petitions;  and  also  il;;  mode 
in  which  they  were  now  treated  in  the  House 
of  Representatives.    The  vote  was : 


ANNO  1830.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


^21 


lesc  objects  had  any  relation 
■  the  slave  trade,  in  the  States. 
iolleaguo  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  give 
Ing  to  reject  the  prayer  of  the 
iled  in  his  first  object  to  le- 
self :  and  Mr.  Davis,  of  Massji. 
the  inferences  and  assumv 
un  in  consequence  of  the  \    < 
ition.     He  denied  the  jr  i; , 
that  it  portended  mischief    . 
constitution,  or  'o  the  Ur::    ; 
mako  the  District  the  head. 
jnists,  and  the  stepijing-btonc 
etotho  attack  of  slavery  In 
.id: 


n  or  regulation  of  the    „,, 
ould  have  that  eticct.    I'or 
elieved  no  purpose  coukl  be 
rom  the  mintU  of  tiie  peti- 
iiot  determine  what  tl'iufrlits 
)e  in  the  minds  of  in.  i:,  but 
;  was  revealed ;  and  h^  could 
iself   that    these  pet'<iii;iirs 
to  the  Union  and  tlKi/  ,'iey 
uggested)  any  nJtoiior  ;.!'•". 
is  District  the  head-iniar.cii 
i_n — the  stronghoM  of  ami 
ing-stone  to  an  attack  uijoh 
'ights  of  the  South.    He  was 
e  these  inferences  as  ll!li^^t, 
proof  to  sustain  them  in' any 
it  had  come  hei'c.    The  jieti- 
I    opinions   coincident  with 
8  as  to  the  power  of  Con- 
n  regard  to  slavery  in  this 
desirous  that  slavery  sliou.» 
luld  be  abolished  upon  ju>t 
not,  that  the  traffic  carried 
er  quarters  should  be  siip- 
;ed,  they  came  here  to  aslc 
gate  the  matter.    This  was 
;e  no  evidence  in  it  of  a  clan- 
[lisregard  the  constitution  or 
n." 

almost  unanimous  on  Mr. 
I — 34  to  () ;  and  those  six 
use  they  were  in  favor  of 
r  of  the  memorialists,  ",i' 
cd  that  the  ^x'litiou  <i.^ .. 

committee,  rt,;orte(1  yq-ni, 

which  was  the  (!!:■  ';';ii     hIo 

.itions;  and  also  il"^  mode 

now  treated  in  iKo  I/'J'Isd 

The  vote  was  : 


"Yeas— Messrs.  Benton,  Black,  Brown,  Bu- 
chanan, Clay,  Crittenden,  Cuthbert,  Ewing  of 
Illinois,  Ewing  of  Ohio.  Goldsborough,  Grundy, 


oiN,  rjttiiif;  ui  vyiiiu,  vjruiusuorougn,  urunay, 
,  Hubbard,  King  or  Alabama,  King  of  Geor- 
pa,  Leigh,  Linn,  McKean,  Moore,  Nicholas, 
Xiles,  Porter,  Preston,  Robbins,  Robinson,  Rug- 
..|es,  Shej)ley,  Tallmadge,  Tipton,  Tomlinson, 
Waliar.  Wall,  White,  Wright— 34.  ' 

■Xas-  -Me.s.-ri,'.  Davis,  Hendricks,  Knight, 
'^roiitiss,  tjwift,  >Vebster— G." 

\fler  this  di  ci^ien,  Mr.  Webster  gave  notice 
■jiat  Ik  hp<\  ii  i>ind  several  similar  petitions 
ffhiili  lie  had  fo; Dome  to  present  till  this  one 
from  Pennsylvania  should  bo  disposed  of;  and 
that  now  he  should,  on  an  early  occasion,  present 
them,  and  move  to  dispose  of  them  in  the  way 
in  w'.'ch  it  had  been  liis  opinion  from  the  first 
that  all  such  petitions  should  have  been  treated ; 
ihi:i.  is,  refened  to  a  committee  for  considera- 
tion and  inquiry. 

The  action  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
will  now  be  seen  on  the  subject  of  tK::e 
petitions;  for  duplicates  of  the  same  gene- 
rally went  to  that  body ;  and  there,  under  the 
lead  of  a  South  Carolina  member,  and  with 
kr^c  majorities  of  the  House,  they  were  dis- 
posed of  very  differently  from  the  way  that  Mr. 
Calhoun  demanded  in  the  Senate,  and  in  the 
way  that  he  deemed  so  fatal  to  the  slaveholding 
fifates.  Mr.  Henry  L.  Pinckney,  of  the  Charles- 
ton district,  moved  that  it  be— 

•'  Resolced,  That  all  the  memorials  which 
have  been  offered,  or  may  hereafter  be  presented 
to  this  House,  praying  for  the  abolition  of 
saverymthe  District  of  Columbia;  and  also 
tlie  resolutions  offered  by  an  honorable  member 
!rom  Manic  (Mr.  Jarvis),  with  the  amendment 
hereto  proposed  by  an  honorable  member  from 
\ir;-'inni  (Mr.  Wise),  together  with  every 
other  paper  or  proposition  that  may  be  submit- 
ted in  relation  to  the  subject,  be  referred  to  a 
select  committee,  with  instructions  to  report : 
thatCongress  possesses  no  constitutional  author- 
ity to  interfere  in  any  way  with  the  institution 
ot  slavery  m  any  of  the  States  of  this  confede- 
racy: and  that  in  the  opinion  of  this  House 
ton-ress  ought  not  to  interfere,  in  any  way' 
with  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  be- 
cause it  would  be  a  violation  of  the  public  faith 
'jmnse,  impolitic,  and  dangerous  to  the  Union! 
Assistmng  such  reasons  for  these  eonchisions 
p  in  the  ju.igmeut  of  the  committee,  may  be 
J«t  calcu  atod  to  enlighten  the  public  mind,  to 
Jlay  excitement,  to  repress  agitation,  to  secure 

-miiitaintuojust  rights  of  the  slavu-liulding 

to  '*'"'' ^^*^'P*="P'*^  of  this  District,  and 
0  re  tore  harmony  and  trauquiUity  amongst 
tne  various  sectioiiis  of  this  Union." 


On  putting  the  (juestion  the  motion  was  di- 
vided, so  as  to  have  a  separate  vote   on  the 
different  propositions  of  the  resolve  ;  and  each 
was  carried  by  large,  and  some  by  nearly  unan- 
imous   majorities.      On  the  first  division,  To 
refer  all  the  memorials  to  a  select  committee, 
the  vote  was  174  to  id.  On  the  second  division, 
That  Congress  possesses  no  constitutional  au- 
thority to  interfere,  in  any  way,  with  the  insti- 
tution of  slavery  in  any  of  the  States,  the  vote 
was  201  to  7— the  seven  negatives  being  Mr. 
John  Quincy  Adams,  Mr.  Harmer  Denny  of 
Pennsylvania,  Mr.  William  Jackson,  Mr.  Horace 
Everett  of   Vermont,   Mr.   Rice    Garland    of 
Louisiana,  Mr.   Thomas  Glascock  of  Georgia, 
Mr.  William  Jackson,  Mr.  John  Robertson  of 
Virginia ;  and  they,  because  opposed  to  voting 
on  .such  a  proposition,  deemed  gratuitous  and 
intermeddling.     On  the  third  division,   of  the 
resolve.  That  Congress  ought  not  to  interfere 
in  any  way  with  slavery  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  the  vote  stood  103  to  47.    And  on 
the  fourth  division,  giving  as  reasons  for  such 
non-interference,  Because  it  would  be  a  viola- 
tion of  the  public  faith,  unwise,  impolitic,  and 
dangerous  to  the  Union,  the  vote  was,  127  to  75. 
On  the  last  division.  To  assign  reasons  for  this 
report,  the  vote  stood  1G7  to  G.     So  the  com- 
mittee   was    ordered,  and    consisted    of  Mr. 
Pinckney,  Mr.  Hamer  of  Ohio,  Mr.  Pierce  of 
New   Hampshire,    Mr.  Hardin  of    Kentucky 
Mr.  Jarvis  of  Maine,  Mr.   Owens   of  Georgia' 
Mr.  Muhlenberg  of  Pennsylvania,  Mr.   Drom- 
goole  of  Virginia,  and  Mr.  Turrill  of  New-York. 
The  committee  reported,  and  digested  their  re- 
port into  two  resolutions, //•«/,  ThatCongress 
possesses  no  constitutional  authority  to  interfere 
in  any  way,  with  the  institution  of  slavery  in 
any  State  of  this  confederacy.    Secondly^  That 
Congress  ought  not  to  interfere   in  any  way 
with  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  And 
•'for  the  purpose  of  arresting  agitation,  and 
restoring  tranquillity  to  thw  public  mind,"  they 
recommended  the    adoption   of   this    resolve: 
"  That  all  petitions,  memorials,  resolutions,  pro- 
positions,  or  papers   relating    in  any  way  to 
the  subject  of  slavery,  or  the  abolition  of  slavery, 
shall,  without  either  being  printed  or  referred, 
be  laid  upon  the  t,.".b]c;  and  that  no  further 
action  whatever  be  had  upon  them."    All  these 
resolutions  were  adopted ;  and  the  latter  one  by 
a  vote  of  117  to  68;  so  that  the  House  came 


!,'''i.' 


tli  ' 

1 
j    , 

.      ■     i     ': 

■     :  :•    ; 

1 

622 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


to  the  same  course  which  the  Senate  had  taken 
in  relation  to  these  memorials.  Mr.  Adams, 
whoso  votes,  taken  by  themselves,  might  pre- 
sent him  as  acting  with  the  abolitionists,  was 
entirely  opposed  to  their  objects,  and  was 
governed  by  a  sense  of  w  hat  appeared  to  him 
to  be  the  rifrht  of  petition,  and  also  the  most 
effectual  way  of  putting  an  end  to  an  agitation 
which  he  sincerely  deprecated.  And  on  this 
point  it  is  right  that  he  should  be  heard  for 
himself,  as  speaking  for  himself  when  Mr. 
Pinckney's  motion  was  before  the  House.  lie 
then  said :" 

"  But,  sir,  not  being  in  favor  of  tlie  object  of 
the  petitions,  I  then  gave  notice  to  the  House  and 
to  the  country,  that,  upon  the  supposition  that 
these  petitions  had  been  transmitted  to  me  un- 
der the  exi)ectation  that  I  should  present  them, 
I  felt  it  my  duty  to  say,  I  should  not,  support 
them.  And,  sir,  the  reason  which  I  pave  at  that 
time  for  declining  to  sujiport  them  was  precisely 
the  same  reason  which  the  gentleman  from  Vir- 
ginia now  gives  for  reconsidering  this  motion — 
namely,  to  keep  the  discussion  of  the  subject 
out  of  the  House.  I  said,  sir,  that  I  believed 
this  discussion  would  be  altogether  unprofitable 
to  the  House  and  to  the  country ;  but,  in  de- 
ference to  the  sacred  right  of  petition,  I  moved 
that  these  fifteen  petitions,  all  of  which  were 
numerously  signed,  should  be  referred  to  the 
Committee  on  the  District  of  Columbia,  at  the 
head  of  which  was,  at  that  time,  a  distinguished 
citizen  of  \'irginia,  now,  I  regret  to  say — and  the 
whole  country  has  occasion  to  regret — no  more. 
These  petitions  were  thus  referred,  and,  after  a 
short  period  of  time,  the  chairman  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  the  District  of  Columbia  made  a  re- 
port to  this  House,  which  report  was  read,  and 
unanimously  accepted;  and  nothing  more  has 
been  heard  of  these  petitions  from  that  day  to 
this.  In  taking  the  course  I  then  took,  I  was 
not  sustained  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  my  own 
constituents ;  there  were  many  among  them, 
persons  as  respectable  and  as  entitled  to  consid- 
eration as  any  others,  wlio  disapproved  of  the 
course  I  pursued  on  that  occasion. 

"  Attempts  were  made  within  the  district  I 
then  represented  to  get  up  meetings  of  the  peo- 
ple to  instruct  me  to  pursue  a  different  couisic, 
or  to  multiply  petitions  of  the  s;une  character. 
These  efi'orts  were  continued  during  the  whole 
of  that  long  session  of  Congress ;  but.  I  am  grati- 
fied to  add,  without  any  other  result  than  that, 
from  one  single  town  of  the  district  which  I  had 
the  honor  to  represent,  a  solitary  petition  was 
forwarded  before  the  close  of  the  session,  with  a 
request  that  I  would  present  it  to  the  House. 
Sir.  i  (lid  present  it,  and  it  was  ret'erred  to  the 
same  Committee  on  the  District  of  Columbia, 
and  I  believe  nothing  more  has  been  heard  of  it 
since.     From  the  experience  of  this  session,  I 


was  perfectly  satisfied  that  the  tnie  and  onlv 
nie*hod  of  keeping  this  subject  out  of  disciLssion 
was,  to  take  that  course ;  to  refer  all  petitions 
of  this  kind  to  the  Committee  on  the  District  of 
Columbia,  or  some  other  committee  of  tin. 
House,  to  receive  their  report,  and  to  acooiit  it 
inianimo\isly.  This  does  equal  justice  to  all 
l)arties  in  the  country ;  it  avoids  "the  discus'sion 
of  this  agitating  question  on  the  one  liimd 
and,  on  the  other,  it  pays  a  due  res|)ect  tii 
the  right  of  the  constituent  to  petition.  Two 
years  afterwards,  similar  petitions  were  present- 
ed, and  at  that  time  an  eflbrt  made,  witlidiit  suc- 
cess, to  do  tliat  which  has  now  been  duiio  snt- 
cessfully  in  one  instance.  An  effort  was  niatlt 
to  lay  these  petitions  on  the  table ;  tlie  Hon>e 
did  not  accede  to  the  proposition  :  they  rcftrrwl 
the  petitions  as  they  had  been  before' iffemil 
and  with  the  same  result.  For,  from  the  nm- 
luent  that  these  petitions  are  refeired  to  the 
Committee  on  the  District  of  Cohmiliia,  they  p) 
to  the  family  vault  'of  all  the  Capulets'  and 
you  will  never  hear  of  them  afterwards. 

''  At  the  first  session  of  the  last  Congress,  a 
gentleman  from  the  State  of  New-Yoik%  dis- 
tinguished member  of  this  House,  now  no'  longer 
here,  which  I  regret  to  say,  although  1  do  not 
doubt  that  his  place  is  well  supplied,  presented 
one  or  more  petitions  to  this  effect,  and  (leliverid 
a  long  and  eloquent  speech  of  two  Ikjiiis  in  .sup- 
port of  them.  And  what  was  the  result?  He 
was  not  answered :  not  a  word  was  siud.  but  tlie 
vote  of  the  House  was  taken;  thepetiti(>r,sffeie 
referred  to  the  Conimitte  on  the  District,  and 
we  have  heard  nothing  more  of  them  ,>iiice.  At 
the  same  session,  or  probably  at  the  veryla-i 
session,  a  distinguished  member  of  this  House, 
from  the  State  of  Connecticut,  preseiitid  one  or 
more  petitions  to  the  same  effect!  ami  deelaml 
in  his  place  that  he  himself  concurred  in  all  the 
opinions  expressed.  Did  this  declaration  li|:ht 
up  the  flame  of  discord  in  this  Hoii.-^e  ?  Sir,  he 
was  heard  v;ith  patience  and  complacency.  Ho 
moved  the  reference  of  the  petitions  to  the 
CoTninittee  on  the  District  of  Columbia,  ami 
there  they  went  to  sleep  the  sleep  of  death.  .Mr, 
Adams,  speaking  from  recollection,  was  [there- 
porter  is  requested  by  him  to  state]  mistaken 
with  respect  to  the  reference  of  the  petitions 
presented  at  the  last  session  of  Con;:ress  to  the 
committee.  They  were  then  for  the  first  tinio 
laid  on  the  table,  as  was  the  motion  to  jirint 
one  of  them.  At  the  preceding  session  ol'  the 
last  Congress,  as  at  all  former  times,  all  snch  peti- 
tions had  been  referred  to  committees  and  prim- 
ed when  so  desired.  AVhy  not  adopt  the  .srnie 
course  now  ?  Here  is  a  petition  which  has  ban 
already  referred  to  the  Committee  on  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia.  Leave  it  there,  and.  my  word 
for  it,  sir,  you  will  have  just  such  a  resnlt  as  has 
taken  place  time  after  time  before.  Your  Com- 
mittee on  tfie  District  certainly  is  not  an  aboliiiuii 
committee.  You  will  have  a  fit,  proper,  iuul  able 
report  from  them ;  the  House,  sub  silentio.  will 
adopt  it,  and  you  will  hear  no  more  about  it. 


ANNO  183B.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


623 


sfied  tl>at  the  tnie  and  only 

this  subject  out  of  fliscussion 
-oursc  ;  to  refer  all  petitions 
Conunittee  on  the  Distiict  nf 
rie  other  committee  of  (In. 
Dmr  report,  and  to  acct'iit  it 
is  does  equal  Justice  to  all 
itry;  it  avoids  the  cliscussion 
question  on  the  one  lumd, 
r.  it  pays  a  due  respect  ti. 
ansMtuent  to  jjetition.  Two 
imilar  petitions  were  prescnt- 
e  an  effort  made,  witlKnitHiic- 
liich  has  now  been  done  sue- 
stance.  An  effort  wus  nimk' 
fins  on  the  table ;  tiic  Hoii-t' 
he  proposition  :  they  roftrrod 
ley  had  been  before^eferre.l 

result.  For,  fmm  tiie  im- 
letitions  are  referred  to  the 
District  of  Coluuihia,  they  jro 
It '  of  all  the  Capulets,'  and 
r  of  them  afterwards, 
ssion  of  the  lust  Congress,  a 
le  State  of  New-Yorl<,  a  div 
•  of  this  House,  now  no  longer 
et  to  say,  although  1  do  not 
3e  is  well  su{)plied,  presented 
>ns  to  this  effect,  anil  ilelivored 
t  speech  of  two  lumis  in  sup- 
d  what  was  the  result?   He 

not  a  word  was  .^aid,  but  the 
fvas  taken;  thepetiticirsweie 
nniiitte  on  the  Uifftrict,;ind 
hing  more  of  theui  since.  At 
3r  probably  at  the  verylibi 
shed  member  of  this  House. 
Connecticut,  presented  one  or 
the  same  effect,  and  declared 
i  himself  concurred  in  all  the 
.  Did  this  decliU'ation  li^'ht 
cord  in  this  House  ?  8ir,  lie 
:ience  and  complacency,  ilc 
lice  of  the  petitions  to  the 
'.  District  of  Coluudiia.  and 
sleep  the  sleep  of  death.  Mr. 
•om  recollection,  was  [tliore- 
1  by  him  to  state]  mistaken 
le  reference  of  the  petitions 
3t  session  of  Congress  to  the 
wea'  then  for  tiie  first  tiiiio 
IS  was  the  motion  to  jnint 
the  preceding  session  of  the 
all  former  times,  all  sneh  ]ieti- 
irred  to  committees  and  pi'int- 
1.  Why  not  adoj)!  tlu'  same 
e  is  a  jietition  which  hasliceii 
1  the  Committee  on  the  Di'- 

Leave  it  there,  nnil.  nir  word 
have  just  such  a  result  aslia^i 
tcr  time  before.  Your  Coni- 
ict  certainly  is  not  an  aboliii"" 
rill  have  a  lit,  proper,  ami  able 

the  House,  sub  silentio,  will 
will  hear  no  more  about  it. 


But  if  yo'i  afc  to  reconsider  the  vote,  and  to  lay 
these  petitions  on  the  table  ;  if  you  come  to  the 
resolution  that  this  House  will  not  receive  any 
more  petitions,  what  will  be  the  consequence  ? 
In  a  large  portion  of  this  country  every  individual 
member  who  votes  with  you  will  be  left  at  home 
at  tlic  next  election,  and  some  one  will  be  sent 
who  is  not  prepared  to  lay  these  petitions  on  the 
table." 

Theie  was  certainly  rea.son  in  what  Mr.  Ad- 
ams proiio.sed,  and  encouragement  to  adopt  his 
course,  from  the  good  effect  which  had  already 
attended  it  in  other  cases  ;  and  from  the  further 
good  effect  which  lie  affirmed,  that,  in  taking 
that  course,  the  committee  and  the  ]  louse  would 
have  come  to  the  same  conclusion  by  a  unani- 
mous, instead  of  a  divided  vote,  as  at  present. 
His  course  was  also  conformable  to  that  of  the 
earliest  action  of  Congress  upon  the  subject.    It 
was  in  the  .session  of  Congress  of  1789-'90 — be- 
ing the  first  under  the  constitution — that  the  two 
questions  of  abolishing  the  foreign  slave  trade, 
and  of  providing  for  domestic  emancipation,  came 
before  it ;  and  then,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Cain 
Memorial,  from  the  Religious  Society  of  Friends, 
theru  was  discussion  as  to  the  mode  of  acting 
upon  it — which  ended  in  referring  the  memorial 
toaspecial  committee,  without  instructions.  That 
committee,  a  majority  boing  from  the  non-slave- 
holding  States,  reported  against  the  memorial  on 
both  points ;  aiiu  on  the  question  of  emancipation 
in  the  States,  the  resolve  which  the  committee 
recommended  (after  having  been  .slightly  altered 
in  phra.seology),  read  thus :    "  That  Confess 
have  no  authority  to  interfere  in  the  cmanci- 
palioH  of  slaves,  or  in  the  treatment  of  them 
viilmamj  of  the  States;  it  remaining  with 
the  several  Slates  to  provide  any  regulations 
therein  which  humanity  and  tnie  policy  may 
required  And  under  this  resolve,  and  this  treat- 
ment of  the  subject,  the  slavery  question  was  then 
quieted;  and  remained  sountilrevivedinourown 
time.  In  the  discussion  which  then  took  place  Mr. 
Madison  was  entirely  in  fiivor  of  sending  the  pe- 
tition to  a  committee ;  and  thought  the  only  way 
to  get  up  an  agitation  in  the  country,  would  be 
by  opposing  that  course,     lie  said : 

"The  question  of  sending  the  petition  to  a 
committee  was  no  otherwise  important  than  as 


gentlemen  made  it  so  by  their  serious  opposi- 
tion. Had  they  jiermitted  the  commitment  of 
the  memorial,  as  a  matter  of  course,  no  notice 
would  have  been  taken  of  it  out  of  doors :  it 
could  never  have  been  blown  up  into  a  decision 
of  the  question  respecting  the  discouragement 
of  the  African  slave  trade,  nor  alarm  the  owners 
with  an  apprehension  that  the  general  govern- 
ment were  about  to  abolish  slavery  in  all  the 
States.  Such  things  are  not  contemplated  by 
any  gentleman,  but  they  excite  alarm  by  their 
extended  abjections  to  committing  the  me- 
morials. The  debate  has  taken  a  sciious  tuni ; 
and  it  will  be  owing  to  this  alone  if  an  alarm  is 
created :  for,  had  the  memorial  been  treated  in 
the  usual  way,  it  would  have  been  considered, 
as  a  matter  of  course ;  and  a  report  might  have 
been  made  so  as  to  give  general  satisfaction. 
If  there  was  the  slightest  tendency  by  the  com- 
mitment to  break  in  upon  the  constitution,  he 
would  object  to  it:  but  he  did  not  see  upon 
what  ground  such  an  event  could  be  appre- 
hendecl.  The  petition  did  not  contemplate  even 
a  breach  of  the  constitution :  it  prayed,  in  gene- 
ral terms,  for  the  interference  of  Congress  so  far 
as  they  were  constitutionally  authorized." 

This  chapter  opens  and  concludes  with  the  words 
of  Mr.  Madison.  It  is  beautiful  to  behold  the 
wise,  just,  and  consistent  course  of  that  virtuous 
and  patriotic  man — the  same  from  the  beginning 
to  the  ending  of  his  life ;  and  always  in  harmony 
with  the  sanctity  of  the  law.s,  the  honor  and  in- 
terests of  his  country,  and  the  peace  of  his  fellow- 
citizens.  May  his  example  not  be  lost  upon 
us.  This  chapter  has  been  copious  on  the  sub- 
ject of  slavery.  It  relates  to  a  period  when  a 
new  point  of  departure  was  taken  on  the  slave 
question ;  when  the  question  was  carried  into 
Congress  with  avowed  alternatives  of  dissolving 
the  Union ;  and  conducted  in  a  way  to  show 
that  dissolution  was  an  object  to  be  attained, 
not  prevented  ;  and  this  being  the  starting  point 
of  the  slavery  agitation  which  has  .since  menaced 
the  Union,  it  is  right  that  every  citizen  should 
have  a  clear  view  of  its  origin,  progress,  and 
design.  From  the  beginning  of  the  Missouri 
controversy  up  to  the  year  1835.  the  author  of 
this  View  looked  to  the  North  as  the  point  of 
danger  from  the  slavery  agitation:  since  that 
time  he  has  looked  to  the  South  for  that  danger, 
as  Mr.  Madison  did  two  years  earlier.  Equally 
opposed  to  it  in  cither  quarter,  he  has  opposed  it 
iu  both. 


'^^ 

■ 

■ 

m 

1' 

I 

1 

1 

1 

TT^ 

n 

624 


TIHRTY  YKARS'  VIKW. 


CHAPTER    CXXXVI. 

BKMOVAL  OF  TICK  <;HKR0KEE8  FROM  GiOROIA. 

Thb  removal  of  the  Creek  Indians  from  this 
State  WBH  accomplished  by  the  treaty  of  1820 
and  that  satisfied  the  obli},'ationH  of  the  United 
States  to  a<,'orgin,  under  the  compact  of  1802, 
so  far  as  the  Creole  tribe  was  concerned.     But 
the  same  obligation  remaini'd  with  respect  to  the 
Cherokces,  contracted  at  the  same  time,  and 
founded   on  the  same  valuable   consideration 
namely:  the  cession  by  Georgia  to  the  United 
States  of  her  western  territory,  nowconstitutin-i; 
the   two  States  of  Alabama  and   MJKsissippi. 
And  twenty-five  years'  delay,  and  unde)-  inces- 
sant application,  the  compact  had  lucii  carried 
into  .  tiect  with  respect  to  the  Creel    ;  it  was 
now  tliirty-five  years  since  it  was  fo}flied,  and 
it  still  remained  unexecuted  with  re':pect  to  the 
Cherokees.     Georgia  was  impatient  and  impor- 
tunate, and  justly  so,  for  the  ivmoval  of  this 
tril)0,  the  last  remaining  obstacle  to  the  full  en- 
joyme 1 1 1  of  nl  1  her  territory.     (Jeneral  Jackson 
was  equally  anxious  to  effect  the  removal,  botli 
as  an  act  of  justice  to  Georgia,  and  also  to  Ala- 
bama   (part  of  whose  territory  was  likewise 
covered  by  the  Cherokees),  and  also  to  com 
plete  the  business  of  the  total  removal  of  all 
the  Indians  from  the  east  to  the  west  side  of 
the  Mississippi.     It  was  the  only  tribe  remain- 
ing in  any  of  the  States,  and  he  was  i  i  the  last 
year  of  his  presidency,  and  the  time  becoming 
short,  as  well  as  the  occasion  urgent,  and  the 
question  becoming  mor  ^  complex  and  difficult. 
Part  of  the  tribe  had   removed  long  before. 
Faction  split  the  remainder  that  staid  behind. 
Intrusive  counsellors,  chiefly  from  the  Northern 
States,  came  in  to  inflame  dissension,  aggravate 
difficulties,  and  impede  removal.      For  climax 
to  this  state  of  things,  party  spirit  laid  hold  of 
it,  »nd  the  politicians  in  opposition  to  General 
Jackson  endeavored  to  turn  it  t(j  the  prejudice 
of  his  administration.     Nothing  daunted  by  this 
combination  of  obstacles.  General  -Jackson  pur- 
sued  his  plan  with   finnnesv   and   vigor,   well 
seconded  by  his  Secretary  at  War,  Mr.  Cass— 
the  War  Dejjartment  being  then  charged  with 
the  administration  of  the  Indian  affairs.    In  the 
autUQui  of  1835,  a  commission  Jiad  been  ap- 


pointed to  treat  with  th-  half  tribe  in  Gtorgia 
ami  Alabama.  It  was  vei  j  judiciously  ioiiiim),sc,| 
to  accomplish  its  ptirpose,  being  partly  military 
and  partly  ecclesiastic.  G( ,  'al  William  Car- 
roll, of  Tennessee,  well  known  to  all  tlieSoiithtm 
Indians  .w  a  brave  and  humane  warri  r.  andtho 
Uovciend  John  F.  Schernn  rhorn,  of  New- York, 
Hell  I-  .■;i  •  Mii.ssionary  lab. .n>r,  composed 
(lie  uiujKa.om;  aud  it  had  all  the  success 
1. .  ill  (ti,-  .'.cfJent  expected. 

lu  the  winter  of  1835-'3(5,  a  treaty  was  ncgo- 
i.ated,  by  which  the  Cherokees,  u')akiii(r  (km 
disposal  of  all  their  pos.sessions  east  of  the 
.Vlississippi,  ceded  the  whole,  and  agreed  to  go 
West,  to  join  the  ha  I*"  '  S.       „;  that  river. 

The  consideration  paid  them  was  ample   and 
besides  the  moneyed  consideration,  they  had 
large  inducements,  founded  in  views  of  their 
own  welfare,  to  make  the  removal.    These  in- 
ducements were  set  out  by  themselves  in  tlie 
preamble  to  the  treaty,  and  were  deeliirwl  to 
be:  «A  desire  to  get  rid  of  the  dfiiculties  ex- 
perienced by  a  residence  within  the  settled  parts 
of  the  United  States;  and  to  reunite  tiiuir  peo- 
ple, by  joining  those  who  had  crossed  tiie  Mis- 
sissippi ;  and  to  live  in  a  country  beyond  the 
limits  of  State  sovereig,aties,  and  where  they 
could  establish  and  enjoy  a  governiueut  of  their 
choice,  and  perpetuate  a  state  of  society,  which 
might  be  most  consonant  with  their  views,  habitB 
and  condition,  and  which  ii.ighi  tend  (o  their  in' 
dividual  comfort,  and  their  advancenieni    i  civili- 
zati"n."  Tliese  were  sensible  reasons  (: 
a  removal,  and.  added  to  the  moneyed  considera- 
tion, made  it  immensely  desirable  to  liit  Indiiins. 
The  direct  <;onsideratioi    was  five  millions  of 
doH,       whie'    add(^d  '       lipulation    I o  pay  for 
the  improvements  (     Uio  ceded  lam  Is— to  defray 
the  expenses  of  removal  to  their  new  homes  be- 
yond tl'-   '.i'ssissippi— to  .subsist  them  ..■  one 
year  after  their  arrival— to  commute  school 
funds  and  annuities— to  allow  pre-emptions  and 
pay  for  reserves- with  gonu>  liberal  grants  of 
mcmey  from  Cong'     -i,  for  f  <>  ,<ako  of  (jiiieting 
complaints— and  si         la        dei):irtmeiital  ai 
lowanccs,  amounted     i  tl         lole,  to  nior.;  than 
twelve  millions  of  iiullars!     Hein^  almost  as 
much  for  their  single  extinction  of  Indian  title 
in  the  comer  of  two  States,  as  the  whole  pn  v- 
ince  of  Louisiana  cost !   And  this  in  addition  to 
seven  millions  of  acres  granted  for  their  new 
j  home,  and  making  a  larger  aud  a  better  homo 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


625 


than  tbo  one  they  had  left.  Considered  as  a 
moneyed  tranaaction.  the  advantage  was  alto- 
gether, and  out  of  ill  ])roportion,  on  llio  side  of 
the  Indians  ;  but  relief  to  the  States,  and  quiet 
to  the  Indians,  and  the  completion  of  a  wine  and 
humane  policy,  wero  overruling  considerations, 
which  sanctioned  tli"  enormity  of  the  amount 
paid. 

Advantageous  as  this  treaty  was  to  the  In- 
dians, and  desirable  as  it  was  to  both  parties,  it 
was  earnestly  c  ^osod  in  the  Senate;  and  only 
saved  by  one  vote.    The  discontentid  party  of 
the  Chcroki^os,  and  the  intrusive  counsellors, 
and  party  spirit,  pursued  it  to  Washington  city, 
and  organized  an  opposition  to  it,  headed  by  the 
great  chiefs  then  opposed  to  th*  administration 
of  General  Jacks<n— Mr.  Clay,  Mr.  Webster, 
and  Jlr.  Calhoun.    Immediately  after  the  treaty 
was  communicated  to  the  Senate,  Mr.  Clay  pre- 
sented a  memorial  and  protest  against  it  from 
the"CluTokce  nation,"  u,,  they  wire  entitled  by 
the  faction  that  protested;  and  also  memorials 
from  s^evcral  individual  Cherokees;  nil   which 
wero  printed  and  referred  to  the  Senai       Com- 
mittee on  Indian  Affairs,  and     uly  considered 
when  the  merits  of  the  treaty  came  to  be  ex- 
amined.   The  exaniiifition  was  long  and  close, 
tending  at  flLwilt)  Tor  nearly  three  months 
—from  March  7th  to  the  end  of  May-  and  as- 
suming vci  V  nearly  a  ocinpleto  aspect. 
On  the  1        of  May  Mr.  Clay  nis       :,  i notion 
chich,as  disclosing  the  grnn  .is  of  the  opjwsi- 
'ion  to  tlie  treaty,  deserv          he  set  out  in  its 
0  Til  words.    It  was  a  nn      n  to  rej-       he  re 
lution  of  ratification,  and  to  adopt  ,         eso've 
in  its  place:  "That  the  instrument  of  wrii  ., 
purport itl^^  to  be  a  treaty  ''oncludod  at  New 
Echota  0     he  29th  of  '  'ecember,  1835,  between 
the  Unitei    States  and  the  chiefs,  head  men  and 
people  of  the  Cherokee  tribe  of  Indians,  an^l  the 
supplennntary  articles  thereto  annexed,  were 
notmai.    and  concluded  by  authority,  on  the 
part  of  '    '  Cherokee     ribe,  competent  to  bind 
!t ;  and,  tl^  tvfore,  withmit  reference  to  the  terms 
undcondi;  ins  of  the  said  agreenicnt  and  sup- 
plementiu  V  articles,  ihe  Senate  cannot  consent 
to  and  idvir-e  the  ratification  thereof,  :>s  a  va^-' 
treaty,  binding  uiiui)   the  Cherokee  tribe  or  na- 
tion;" concluding  with  a  recommendation   to 
ihe  President  to  treat  n2;ain  with  the  Cherokees 
east  of  the  Jlississippi  s'or   i  lie  whole,  or  any  of 
their  possessions  on  this  side  of  that  ri\er. 

Vol.  1.-40 


The  vote  on  this  •    ->lvo  and  recommendation 
was,  2!>  yeas  to  ■:  ;  and  it  requiring  two- 

thinls  to  adopt  it,  i  ,  of  course,  lost.    But  it 

showed  that  111.    tn     y  itself  was  in  imminent 
danger  of  being  lost,  and  would  actually  be  lost, 
in  a  vote,  as  the  Senate  then  stood.    The  whole 
number  of  the  Senate  was  forty-eight;  only 
forty-fojir  had  voted.    There  were  four  members 
absent,  and  unless  two  of  these  could  be  got  in, 
and  vote  with  the  friends  of  the  treaty,  and  no 
one  got  in  on  the  other  side,  the  treaty  was  re- 
jected.   It  was  a  close  pinch,  and  made  me  re- 
collect what  I  liavo  often  heard  Mr.  Randolph 
say,  that  there  were  always  members  to  get  out 
of  the  way  at  a  pinching  vote,  or  to  lend  a  hand 
at  a  pinching  vote.    Fortunately  the  four  ab- 
sent senators  wero  classified  as  friends  of  the 
administration,  and  two  of  them  came  in  to  our 
side,  the  other  two  refusing  to  go  to  the  other 
side :  tiius  saving  the  treaty  by  one  vote.    The 
vote  stood,  t'     ty-ono   for  the  treaty,  fifteen 
against  it ;  auu  it  was  only  saved  by  a  strong 
Northern  vote.    The  yeas  were  :  Messrs.  Bentoa 
of  Missouri ;   Black  of  Mississippi ;  Brown  of 
North  Carolina;   Buchanan  of  Pennsylvania; 
Cuthi  ort  of  Georgia ;  Ewing  of  Illinois ;  Golds- 
borou   a  of  Maryland;  Grundy  of  Tennessee;: 
Hendricks  of  Inliana;  Hubbard  of  New  Hamp- 
shire ;  Kent  of  Maryland ;  King  of  Alabama ;; 
King  of  Georgia;  Linn  of  Missouri;  McKcan, 
of  Pennsylva;  'a ;  Mangum  of  North  Carohna ; 
Moore  of  Alabama ;  Morris  of  Ohio ;  Niles  of 
Connecticut;  Preston  of  South  Carolina ;  Rives 
of  Virginia ;  Robinson  of  Illinois ;  Ruggles  and 
feiicpley  of  Maine;  N.  P.  Tallma.lgo  of  New- 
York  ;  Tipton  of  Illinois ;  Walker  of  Mississip- 
pi ;  Wall  of  New  Jersey ;  White  of  Tennessee ; 
and  Wright  of  New-York— -31.    The  nays  were : 
Messrs.  Calhoun  of  South  Carolina;  Clay  of 
Kentuck}      Olayton  of  Delaware;  Criiten.aH 
of  Kentucky  ;    *  >  is  of  Massachusetts ;  Bwingof 
Ohio;  Leip    >     Virginia;  Naudain of  Delawar?  ., 
Porter  of  (     lisiana;    Prentiss   of   Vermont; 
Robbins  of  Rhodi    Island;   Southard  of  New 
JerscN  ;  Swift  of  crmont ;  Tomli  son  of  Con- 
necticut; and  Webster  of  Massa    msetts— 15. 
Thu:-   i!:"  treaty  was  barely  saved     One  vote 
less  in  its  favor^  or  one  nn        :^iii  i  it,  and  it 
would  ha\    ^leen  lost.    Two  n   'nbers  were  ab- 
sent.   Ifc'    ler  had  t  no  in  ai-       itcd  nth  the 
oppoei  'on        would  Jiave  beeii  lost.    It  was 
saved  by  the  free  State  vote — oy  the  fourteen 


3 
If 


<  V 


HRirirr   <«> 


626 


TlirUTY  YtAUS'  VIEW. 


fa-o  State  afHrmativu  vott^s,  which  precisely  ba- 
lanad  and  neutralized  Ihu  Hcven  hIiivu  8tat<' 
negativcH.  If  any  one  of  tliese  fourteen  had 
voted  with  the  negatives,  or  oven  Iteen  absent  at 
the  vote,  the  treaty  would  have  lieen  lost ;  and 
thus  the  South  is  iwlebted  to  the  North  for  tliia 
most  important  treaty,  which  completed  the 
relief  of  the  Southern  Stater —the  ChickasawH, 
Creeks  and  Choctaws  having  previously  agreed 
to  remove,  and  the  treaties  with  them  (except 
with  the  Creeks)  having  been  ratified  without 
Bcrious  oppoHition. 

The  ratification  of  this  treaty  for  tlio  removal 
of  the  Chcrokces  was  one  of  the  most  difficult 
and  delicate  questions  which  wo  ever  hud  to 
manage,  and  in  which  success  seemed  to  be  im- 
possible up  to  the  last  moment.    It  ^vaa  a 
Southern  question,  involving  an  extensi.^ii  of 
slavery,  and  was  opposed  by  all  three  of  the 
great  opposition  leaders  ;  who  onl}'  required  a 
minority  of  one  third  to  make  good  their  point. 
At  best,  it  required  a  good  Northern  vote,  in 
addition  to  the  undivided  South,  to  carry  the 
treaty ;  but,  with  the  South  divided,  it  seemed 
hardly  possible  to  obtain  the  requisite  number 
to  m^ke  up  for  that  defection  ;  yet  it  was  done, 
and  done  at  the  very  time  that  the  systematic 
plan  had  commenced,  to  charge  the  Northern 
States  with  a  design  to  abolish  slavery  in  the 
South.    And  I,  who  write  history,  not  for  ap- 
plause, but  for  the  sake  of  the  instruction  which 
it  affords,  gather  up  these  dry  details  from  the 
neglected  documents  in  which  they  lie  hidden, 
and  bring  them  forth  to  the  knowledge  and  con- 
sideration of  all  candid  and  impartial  men,  that 
they  may  see  the  just  and  fraternal  spirit  in 
which  the  free  States  then  acted  towards  their 
brethren  of  the  South.    Nor  can  it  fail  to  be  ob- 
served, as  a  curious  contrast,  that,  in  the  very 
moment  that  Mr.  Calhoun  was  seeing  cause  for 
Southern  alarm  lest  the  North  should  abolish 
slavery  in  the  South,  the  Northern  senators 
were  extending  the  area  of  slavery  in  Georgia 
by  converting  Indian  soil  into  slave  soil :  and 
that  against  strenuous  exertions  made  by  him- 
.  self. 


OIIAPTEU   cxxxvri. 

EXrHNaiON  OF  THK  MIH80UUI  JKUrNDART. 

Til  iH  was  a  n\easurc  of  greiit  moment  to  Missouri 
and  full  of  difficulties  in  itself,  and  retinirini'  n 
double  process  to  acconi|)li,sh  it — an  act  of  Con- 
gress  to  extend  the  boundary,  and  an  Indian 
treaty  to  remove  the  Indians  to  a  new  home, 
It  wfi      J  extend  the  existing  boundary  of  the 
State  HO  as  to  include  a  triangle  between  thcex 
iating  line  and  the  Missouri  Uiver.  large  cnou-h 
to  form  seven  counties  of  the  first  class,  and  fur- 
tile  enough  to  sustain  the  densest  population. 
The  difficulties  were  threefold :  1.  To  make  etill 
larger  a  State  which   was  already  one  of  the 
largest  in  the  Union      2.  To  remove  Indians 
from  a  possession  which  had  just  been  assigned 
to  them  in  perpetuity.    3.  To  alter  the  Missouri 
comproniinc  line  in  relation  to  slave  territory, 
and  thereby  convert  free  soil   inro  slave  soil. 
The  two  first   difficulties   were   serious  — the 
thir<l  fonnidable :  and  in  the  then  state  of  the 
pul  :,c  mind  in  relation  to  slave  territory,  tliistn- 
lurgement  of  a  great  slave  State,  and  bycimvert- 
in^'  free  soil  into  slave,  and  m  .pairing  the  compro- 
mise line,  was  an  almost  impossible  undtinaking. 
and  in  no  way  to  be  accomplished  without  a 
generous  co-operation  from  the  nicnbers  of  the 
free  States.    They  were  a  majority  in  tlie  House 
of  Representatives,  and  no  act  of  Congress  could 
pass  for  altering  the  compromise  line  without 
their  aid :  they  were  equal  in  the  Senaie,  where 
no  treaty  for  the  removal  of  the  Indians  could 
be    ratified  except  by  a  concurrence  of  two 
thirds.    And  oil  these  difficulties  to  be  over- 
come at  a  time  when  Congress  was  inflamed 
with    angry  debates  upon  abolition  petitions, 
transmission  of  incendiary  publications,  imputed 
designs  to  abolish  slaverj  ;  and  the  appearance 
of  the  criminating  article  in  South  (^arolina  en- 
titled the  "  Crises,"  announcing  a  Southern  con- 
vention and    a  secession  if  certain   Northern 
States  did  not  suppress  tlic  abolition  societies 
within  their  limits  within  a  limited  time. 

In  the  face  of  all  these  discouraging  obstacles 
the  two  Missouri  senators,  Messrs.  Benton  and 
Linn,  commenced  their  operations.  The  first 
step  was  to  procure  a  bill  for  the  alteration  of 
the  compromise  line  and  the  ext'      'o  of  the 


fr  m,^ 


ANNO  ISar,     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


627 


S80UUI  KOirNDAKT. 


boiindftry :  it  was  obtained  from  the  Judiciary 
Gcmrriittcc,  rt'portcd  by  Mr.  John  M.  Clayton 
(if  Delaware :    iind  paxsod  the  Senate  without 
matcriiil  opposition.     It  went  to  the  House  of 
llcpresontiitivcR  I    and  found  fhero  no  gerious 
nppositioi\  to  its  passage.     A  treaty  was  negoti- 
uttd  willi  tile  Hoc  and  Fox  Indians  to  whom  the 
country  had  boiii  assigned,  and  was  ratified  by 
the  rotinisito  two  ilirds.    And  this,  besides  do- 
in;!  an  act  of  gem  rous  justice  to  the  State  of 
Mis-oiiri,  was  the  noble  answer  which  Northern 
ointiera  ^^Tivo  to  the  imputed  design  of  abolish- 
i'i|,'K]avery  in  the  States!  actually  extending  it ! 
:uiil  by  an  addition  equal  in  extent  to  such  States 
Hi  Dolnware  and  Rhode  Island ;  and  by  its  fer- 
tility equal  to  one  of  the  third  I  lass  of  States. 
Ami  this  accomplished    by  the  extraordine.ry 
process  of  altering  a  compromise  line  intended 
fohe  perpetual,  and  the  reconversion  of  soil  which 
Imil  been  slnv    and  made  free,  back  again  from 
free  to  slav. .    And  all  this  when,  had  there  been 
the  least  diHjmsition  to  impede  the  proper  exten- 
sion of  a  slave  State,  there  were  plausible  reasons 
enough  to  cover  an  opposition,  in  the  serious 
objectii'ns  to  enlarging  a  State  already  the  lar- 
gest in  tlio  Union — to  removing  Indians  agaiu 
from  a  home  to  which  they  had  just  been  re- 
moved under  a  national  pledge  of  no  more  remov- 
als—and to  disturbing  the  compromise  line  of 
1820  on  which  the  Missouri  question  had  been 
-cttled ;  and  the  line  between  free  and  slave  ter- 
ritory fixed  for  national  reasons,  to  remain  for 
ever.    The  author  of  this  View  was  part  and 
parcel  of  all  that  trfinRnction — remembers  well 
the  anxiety  of  the  State  to  obtain  the  extension 
—her  joy  at  obtaining  it— the  gratitude  which  all 
felt  to  the  Northern  members  without  whose 
aid  it  could  not  have  been  done ;   and  whose 
magnanimous  assistance  under  such  trying  cir- 
cumstances he  now  records  as  one  of  the  proofs 
-(this  work  contains  many  others) — of  the  wil- 
lingness of  the  non-slaveholding  part  of  the  Union 
to  be  iust  and  generous  to  their  slaveholding 
brethren,  even  in  disregard  of  cherished  prejudices 
and  offensive  criminations.    It  was  the  second 
great  proof  to  this  effect  at  this  identical  session, 
the  ratification  of  the  Georgia  Cherokee  treaty 
being  the  other. 


CHAPTER    CXXXVIII. 

AnMI'<SU)N  OF  THE  8TATK8  OF  ARKANSA'i  AND 
MICIIKJAN  INTO  TIIK  UNION. 

TiiKSE  two  young  States  had  applied  t.j  Congress 
for  an  act  to  enable  them  to  liolil  ii  convention, 
and  form  State  con.stitution8,  preparatory  to 
iidniission  into  the  Union.  Congress  refused  to 
pass  the  acts,  and  the  people  of  the  two  territo- 
ries held  tho  convention  by  their  own  authority, 
formed  their  constitutions — sent  copies  to  Con- 
gress, praying  admission  as  States.  They  both 
applie<l  at  this  session,  and  the  [iroceedings  on 
their  respective  applications  were  simultaneous 
in  Congress,  though  in  separate  bills.  Tlmt  of 
Michigan  was  taken  up  first,  and  had  been 
brought  before  each  House  in  a  message  from 
the  President  in  these  words : 

"By  tho  act  of  the  11  th  of  January,  1805, 
all  that  part  of  the  Indian  Territory  lying  north 
of  a  line  drawn  due  '  cast  from  the  southerly 
bend  or  extreme  of  Luke  Michigan  until  it  shall 
intersect  Lake  Erie,  and  east  of  a  line  drawn 
from  the  said  southerly  bend,  through  the  mid- 
dle of  said  lake,  to  its  northern  extremity,  and 
thence,  due  north,  to  the  northern  boundary  of 
the  United  States,'  was  erected  into  a  separate 
Territory,  by  tho  name  of  Michigan.  The  Ter- 
ritory comprised  within  these  limits  being  part 
of  the  district  of  country  described  in  the 
ordinance  of  the  13tb  of  July,  1787,  which  pro- 
vides that,  whenever  any  of  the  States  into 
which  the  same  should  be  divided  should  have 
sixty  thousand  free  inhabitants,  such  State 
should  be  admitted  by  its  deleg.ttes  'into  tho 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  on  an  equal 
footing  with  the  original  States  in  all  respects 
whatever,  and  shall  be  at  liberty  to  form  a  per- 
manent constitution  and  State  government,  pro- 
vided the  constitution  and  government  .so  to  be 
formed  shall  be  republican,  and  in  conformity 
to  the  principles  contaii.ed  in  these  articles,'  the 
inhabitants  thereof  have,  during  the  present 
year,  in  pursuance  of  the  right  secured  by  the 
ordinance,  formed  a  constitution  and  State 
government.  That  instrument,  together  with 
various  other  documents  connected  therewith, 
has  been  transmitted  to  me  for  tlie  purpose  of 
being  laid  befr  ■  Congress,  to  whom  the  power 
and  duty  of  admitting  new  States  into  the 
Union  exclusively  appertains;  and  the  whole 
are  herewith  communicated  for  your  early  deci- 
sion." 

The  application  was  referred  to  a  select  com- 
mittee, Mr.  Benton  the  chairman ;  and  a  memo 
rial,  entitled  from  the  "  Legislature  of  Michigan," 


J\% 


n 


628 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


Mas  also  referred  to  the  same  committee,  though 
objected  to  by  some  senators  as  purporting  to 
come  from  a  State  which,  as  yet,  had  no  exist- 
ence.     But  the  objection   was  considered  by 
others  as  being  one  of  form— that  it  might  bo 
considered  as  coming  from  the  people  of  Michi- 
gan—and was  not  even  material  in  that  point 
of  view,  as  the  question  was  already  before  the 
Senate    on    the  President's    Message,      Some 
objection  was  also  made  to  the  boundaries,  as 
being  too  large,  and  as  trenching  upon  those  of 
Indiana  and  Ohio,    A  bill  was  reported  for  the 
admission  of  the  State,  in  support  of  which  Mr. 
Benton  said,  the  committee  had  included  in  the 
proposed  limits  a  considerable  portion  of  terri- 
tory on  the  northwest,  and  had  estimated  the 
superficial  contents  of  the  State  at  60,000  square 
miles.    The  territory  attached  contained  but  a 
very   small  portion  of  Indian  population.     It 
was  necessary  to  make  her  larjre  and  stron"- 
being  a  frontier  State  both  to  the  Indians  and 
to   the  British  possessions.    It  should  have  a 
large  front  on  Lake  Superior.    The  principal 
points  of  objection,  of  a  permanent  character, 
weiv,  that  the  proceedings  of  the  people  were 
revolutionary,  in  forming  a  constitution  without 
a  previous  act  of  Congress ;  and  her  constitution 
inconsistent  with  that  of  the  United  States  in 
admitting  aliens  to  vote  before  naturalization. 
To   the  first  it  was  answered  that   she  had 
applied  for  an  act  of  Congress  two  years  ago, 
and  was  denied  by  the  then  dominant  party,  and 
that  it  was  contradictory  to  object  to  her  for 
not  having  that  which  had  been  refused  to  be 
given ;  and  on  the  second,  that  the  same  thing 
had  been  done  for  a  quarter  of  a  century.    On 
the  latter  point  Mr.  Buchanan  said : 

"  Michigan  confined  herself  to  such  residents 
and  inhabitants  of  her  territory  as  wci'c  there 
at  the  signing  of  her  constitution  ;  and  to  those 
alone  siie  extended  the  right  of  suffrage.  Now, 
we  had  admitted  Ohio  and  Illinois  into  this 
Union ;  two  sister  States,  of  whom  we  ought 
certainly  to  be  very  proud.  He  would  refer  sena- 
tors to  the  provision  in  the  consiitution  of  Ohio 
on  that  subject.  By  it,  all  white  male  inhabit- 
ants, twenty-one  years  of  age,  or  upwards, 
having  resided  one  year  in  the  State,  are  entitled 
to  vote.  Michigan  had  made  the  proper  dis- 
tinction;  .she  had  very  properly  confined  the 
elective  franchise  to  inhabitants  within  the  State 
at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  her  eonsiltntion : 
but  Otjio  had  given  the  right  of  suffrage  as  to 
all  future  time  to  all  her  white  inhabitants  over 
the  age  of  twenty-one  years ;  a  case  embracing 


all  time  to  come,  and  not  limited  as  in  the  con- 
stitution of  Michigan.   He  had  understood  tliat" 
since  the  adoption  of  her  constitution,  Ohio  had 
repealed  this  provision  by  law.     He  did  n^f 
know  whether  this  was  so  or  not ;  but  here  it 
was,  as  plain  as  the  English  language  could 
make  it,  that  all  the  white  male  inlialjitants  of 
Ohio,  above  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  were 
entitled  to  vote  at  her  elections.    "Well '  what 
had  Illinois  done  in  this  matter  ?     He  'woi-id 
read  an  extract  from  her  constitution,  by  wliich 
it  would  appear  that  only  six  months'  previous 
residence  was  required  to  acquire  the  ri^ht  of 
suffrage.      The    constitution    of  Illinois  was 
therefore  still  broader  and  moi'o  liberal  than 
that  of  Ohio.     There,  in  all  elections,  all  white 
male  inhabitants  above  the  age  of  twenty-one 
years,  having  resided  in  the  State  six  months 
previous  to  the  election,  shall  enjoy  the  nVhts 
of  an  elector.  Now,  sir,  it  had  been  made  a  mat- 
ter of  preference  by  settlers  to  go  to  Illinois 
instead  of  the  other  new  States,  where  they 
must  become  citizens  before  they  could  vote' 
and  he  appealed  to  the  senators  from  Tllinois 
whether  this  was  not  now  the  case,  and  whetJier 
any  man  could  not  now  vote  in  that  State  after 
a  six  months'  residence. 

"  TMr.  Robinson  said  that  such  was  the  Awt.l 
"  Now,  here  were  two  constitutions  of  States. 
the  senator  from  one  of  which  was  most  stre- 
nuously opposed  to  the  admission  of  Michigan, 
who  had  not  extended  the  right  of  suil'raue  as 
far  as  was  done  by  either  of  them.     Did  Jliclii- 
gan  do  right  in  thus  fixing  the  elective  fran- 
chise ?     He  contended  that  she  did  act  right; 
and  if  she  had  not  acted  so,  she  would  not  liave 
acted  in  obedience  to  the  spirit,  if  not  the  vwy 
letter,   of   the   ordinance   of    1787.    Michijaii 
took  the  riglit  ground,  while  the  States  of  Ohio 
and  Illinois  went  back  in  making  perpetual  in 
their  constitution  what  was  contained  in  tiie 
ordinance.     When  Congress  admitteil  them  and 
Indiana  on  this  principle,  he  thouglit  it  very 
ungracious  m  any  of  their  senators  or  repre- 
sentatives to  declare  that  Mich'^-iin  should  not 
be  adinitted,  because  she  has  ex..  iidcd  the  right 
of  sufi'rage  to  the  few  persons  within  her  limits 
at  the  adoption  of  her  constitution.    He  felt 
inclined  to  go  a  good  deal  further  into  this  sub- 
ject; but  as  he  was  exceedingly  anxious  tliat 
the  decision  should  be  made  soon,  he  would  not 
extend  his  remai-ks  any  further.    It  aiipeared 
to  him  that  an  amendment  might  very  well  be 
made  to  this  bill,  requiring  that  tlic  assent  of 
the  people  of  Jlichigan  shall  he  nivcn  to  the 
change  of  boundary.     He  did  hope  that  by  this 
bill  all  objections  would  ho  removed  ;  .and  that 
this  State,  so  ready  to  rush  into  our  arms,  would 
not  be  repulsed,  because  of  the  ahsence  of  some 
formalities,  which,  perhaps,  were  very  proper, 
but  certainly  not  indispensable. 


On  the  other  point,  that  of  a  revolutionary 
moveme:   ,  Mr.  Buchanan  answered: 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESsUJhixi 


i  not  limited  as  in  the  con- 
n.  He  had  understood  tliat 
f  her  constitution,  Ohio  hai 
sion  by  law.  He  did  not 
(vas  so  or  not ;  but  here  it 
he  English  language  could 
white  male  inliabitants  of 
of  twenty-one  j-oai-s,  wore 
lier  electionK.  'W^eli,  wimt 
1  this  matter?  He  world 
I  her  constitution,  by  which 
;  only  six  month.s'  previous 
ed  to  acquire  the  riglit  of 
tistitution  of  Ilh'nois  was 
der  and  moi'o  liberal  than 
e,  in  all  elections,  all  white 
ove  the  age  of  twenty-one 
1  in  the  State  six  months 
ipn,_  shall  enjoy  the  rights 
sir,  it  had  been  made  a  mat- 
settlers  to  go  to  Illinois. 
r  new  States,  wliere  they 
is  before  they  could  vote; 
the  senators  from  Illinois 
t  now  the  case,  and  whetlier 
low  vote  in  tliat  State  after 
ace. 

lid  that  such  was  the  iiict.] 
two  constitutions  of  States. 
of  which  was  mo.^t  stre- 
the  admission  of  Michigan. 
id  the  right  of  sutlrage  a,^ 
ither  of  them.    Did  Miclii- 
s  fixing  the  elective  trail- 
ed that   slie  (lid  act  right; 
:tcd  so,  slie  would  not  have 
)  the  sjiirit,  if  not  the  vwy 
lance   of    1787.    .Alichigaii 
i,  while  the  States  of  Ohio 
:k  in  making  iici'iietual  in 
hat  was  contained  in  the 
ongrcss  admitted  them  and 
iciple,  he  tliouglit  it  very 
f  their  senators  or  ropre- 
tiiat  Mich'^an  should  not 
she  has  ex..  nded  the  right 
r  persons  within  her  limits 
her  constitution.    He  felt 
deal  furtiier  into  this  sub- 
exceedingly  anxiou.s  that 
e  made  soon,  he  would  not 
any  lurtlier.    It  ajipoared 
Inient  niiglit  very  well  be 
Hiring  that  the  a.s.sent  of 
;a?i  shall  he  given  to  the 
He  did  hojie  that  by  this 
dd  bo  removed  ;  and  that 
>  rush  into  our  aruLs,  woulil 
ise  of  the  absence  uf  fome 
?rhai)S.  were  very  proper, 
spensable. 

t,  that  of  a  revolutionary 
nan  answered ; 


629 


"I  think  their  course  is  clearly  justifiable ; 
but  if  there  is  any  thing  wrong  or  unusual  in 
it,  it  is  to  be  attributed  to  the  neglect  of  Con- 
gress. For  three  years,  they  have  been  rapping 
at  your  door,  and  asking  for  the  consent  of  Con- 
gress to  form  a  constitution,  and  for  admission 
into  the  Union;  but  their  petitions  have  not 
been  heeded,  and  have  been  tn^ated  with  neglect. 
Not  being  able  to  be  admitted  in  the  way  they 
sought,  they  have  been  forced  to  take  their  own 
course,  and  stand  upon  their  rights — rights  se- 
cured to  them  by  the  constitution  and  a  solemn 
irrepcalable  ordinance.  They  have  taken  the 
census  of  the  territory;  they  have  formed  a 
constitution,  elected  their  oflBcers,  and  the  whole 
machinery  of  a  State  government  is  ready  to  be 
put  in  operation :  they  are  only  awaiting  your 
action.  Having  assumed  this  attitude,  they  now 
demand  admission  as  a  matter  of  right :  they 
demand  it  as  an  uzt  of  justice  at  your  hands. 
Are  they  now  to  be  repelled,  or  to  be  told  that 
they  must  retrace  their  steps,  and  come  into  the 
Union  in  the  way  they  at  first  sought  to  do,  but 
could  not  obtain  the  sanction  of  Congress  ?  Sir, 
I  fear  the  consequences  of  such  a  decision ;  I 
tremble  at  an  act  of  such  injustice." 

The  bill  passed  the  Senate  by  rather  a  close 
vote— twenty-four  to  eighteen ;  the  latter  being 
all  senators  in  the  opposition.  It  then  went  to 
the  House  of  Representatives  for  concurrence. 
From  the  time  of  the  admission  of  new  States, 
it  bad  been  the  practice  to  admit  a  free  and 
slave  State  together,  or  alternately,  so  as  to 
keep  up  a  numerical  equilibrium  between  them 
—a  practice  rcsultmg  from  some  slight  jealousy 
existing,  from  the  beginning,  between  the  two 
classes  of  States.  In  1820,  when  the  Missouri 
controversy  inflamed  that  jealousy,  the  State  of 
Mas,sachusetts  divided  herself  to  furnish  terri- 
tory for  the  formation  of  a  new  free  State 
(Maine)  to  balance  Missouri ;  and  the  acts  of 
Coiigressyor  the  admission  of  both,  were  passed 
contemporaneously,  Slarch,  1820.  Now,  in  1830, 
when  the  slave  question  again  was  much  in- 
ilamed,  and  a  State  of  each  kind  to  be  admitted, 
the  proceedings  for  that  purpose  were  kept  as  ' 
nearly  together  as  possible,  not  to  include  them  \ 
in  the  same  bill.  The  moment,  then,  that  the  | 
Michigan  bill  had  passed  the  Senate,  that  of  j 
Arkansas  was  taken  up,  under  the  lead  of  Mr.  . 
Buchanan,  to  whom  the  Arkansas  application  had 
bee-  confided,  as  that  of  Michigan  had  been  to  Mr. 
Ben.  1.  This  latter  senator  alluded  to  this  cir- 
cuffistiuice  toshuw  that  the  people  of  these  young  ' 
States  had  no  fear  of  trusting  their  rights  and 
interests  to  the  care  of  senators  differing  from 
themselves  on  the  slavery  question.    He  said:    | 


"  It  was  worthy  of  notice,  that,  on  the  pre- 
sentation of  these  two  great  questions  for  the 
admission  of  two  States,  the  people  of  those 
States  were  so  slightly  affected  by  the  exer- 
tions that  had  been  made  to  disturb  and  ulcer- 
ate the  public  mind  on  the  subject  of  slavery, 
as  to  put  them  in  the  hands  of  senators  who 
might  be  supposed  to  entertain  opinions  on  that 
subject  different  from  those  held  by  the  States 
whose  interests  they  were  charged  with.  Thus, 
the  people  of  Arkansas  had  put  their  application 
into  the  hands  of  a  gentleman  representing  a 
non-slaveholding  State;  and  the  people  of  Michi- 
gan had  put  their  application  into  the  hands  of 
a  senator  (himself)  coming  from  a  State  where 
the  institutions  of  slavery  existed ;  affording  a 
most  beautiful  illustration  of  the  total  impo- 
tence of  all  attempts  to  agitate  and  ulcerate  the 
public  mind  on  the  worn-out  subject  of  slavery. 
He  would  further  take  occasion  to  say,  that  the 
abolition  question  seemed  to  have  died  out; 
there  not  having  been  a  shigle  presentation  of  a 
petition  on  that  subject,  since  the  general  jail 
delivery  ordered  by  the  Senate." 

Mr,  Swift,  of  Vermont,  could  not  vote  for  the 
admission  of  Arkansas,  because  the  constitution 
of  the  State  sanctioned  perpetual  slavery ;  and 
said: 

"  That,  although  he  felt  every  disposition  to 
vote  for  the  admission  of  the  new  State  into  the 
Union,  yet  there  were  operative  reasons  under 
which  he  must  vote  against  it.  On  looking  at 
the  constitution  submitted  by  Arkansas,  he  found 
that  they  had  made  the  institution  of  slavery 
perpetual ;  and  to  this  he  could  never  give  hfs 
assent.  He  did  not  mean  to  oppose  the  passage 
of  the  bill,  but  had  merely  risen  to  explain  the 
reasons  n    y  he  could  not  vote  for  it." 

Jlr.  Buchanan  felt  himself  bound  by  the  Mis- 
souri compromise  to  vote  for  the  admission,  and 
pointed  out  the  ameliorating  feature  in  the  con- 
stitution which  guaranteed  the  right  of  jury  trials 
to  slaves ;  and  said : 

"That,  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  this  constitu- 
tion was  more  liberal  than  the  constitution  of 
any  of  the  slaveholding  States  that  had  'i^en  ad- 
mitted into  the  Union.  It  preserved  the  very 
words  of  the  other  constitutions,  in  regard  to 
slavery ;  but  there  wore  other  provisions  in  it  in 
favor  of  the  slaves,  and  among  them  a  provision 
which  secured  to  them  the  "right  I'f  trial  by 
jury ;  thus  putting,  them,  in  that  particular,  on 
an  equal  footing  with  the  whites.  He  consider- 
ed the  compromise  Vvdiich  had  been  made,  when 
Missouri  wasadmiiied  into  tlie  Union,  as  having 
settled  the  question  as  to  slavery  in  the  new- 
South  Western  States ;  and  the  committee,  there- 
fore, did  not  deem  it  right  to  interfere  with  the 
question  of  slavery  in  Arkansas." 


630 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


Mr.  Prentiss,  of  Vermont,  opposed  the  admis- 
sion, on  account  of  the  "  revohitionary  "  manner 
in  which  the  State  had  held  her  convention,  with- 
out tlie  authorization  of  a  previous  act  of  Con- 
gress, and  because  her  constitution  had  given 
perpetual  sanction  to  slaver}^ ;  and,  referring  to 
the  rea.sons  which  induced  )\im  to  vote  against 
the  admission  of  Michigan,  said: 

"  That  he  must  also  vote  against  the  admission 
of  Arkansas.  He  viewed  the  movements  of 
these  two  territories,  with  regard  to  their  ad- 
mission into  the  Union,  as  decidedly  /evolution- 
ary, forming  their  constitution  without  the  pre- 
vious consent  of  Congress,  and  importunately 
knocking  at  its  doors  for  admi.,sion.  The  ob- 
jections he  had  to  the  admission  of  Arkansas, 
particularly,  were,  that  she  had  formed  her  con- 
stitution without  the  previous  assent  of  Con- 
gress, and  in  that  constitution  had  made  slavery 
perpetual,  as  noticed  by  his  colleague.  He  re- 
gretted that  he  was  compelled  to  vote  ag-ainst 
this  bill ;  but  he  could  not,  in  the  discharge  of 
his  duty,  do  otherwise  " 

Mr.  Morris,  of  Ohio,  spoke  more  fully  on  the 
objectionable  point  than  other  senatoi-s,  justifying 
the  right  of  the  people  of  a  territory,  when 
amounting  to  G0,000  to  meet  and  form  their  own 
constitution— rc;^retting  the  slavery  clause  in 
the  constitution  of  Arkansas,  but  refusing  to 
vote  against  her  on  that  account,  as  she  was  not 
restrained  by  the  ordinance  of  1787,  nor  had 
entered  into  agreement  against  slaver}^  He 
said: 

"  Before  I  record  my  vote  in  favor  of  the  passage 
of  the  bill  under  consideration,  I  must  ask  the 
indulgence  of  the  Senate  for  a  moment,  while  I 
ofler  a  few  of  the  reasons  wliich  govern  me  in 
the  vote  1  shall  give.  Being  one  of  the  repre- 
sentatives of  a  free  State,  and  believing  slavery 
to  be  wrong  in  principle,  and  mischievous  in 
practice,  I  wish  to  be  clearly  understood  on  the 
subject,  both  here  and  by  those  I  have  the  honor 
to  represent.  I  have  objections  to  the  constitu- 
tion of  Arkansas,  on  the  ground  that  slavery  is 
recognized  in  that  constitution,  and  settled  and 
established  as  a  fundamental  principle  in  her 
government.  I  object  to  the  existence  of  this 
principle  forming  -i  part  of  tlie  organic  law  in 
any  State ;  and  I  would  vote  a.L'ainst  the  admis- 
sion of  Arkansas,  as  a  member  of  this  Union, 
if  I  believed  I  had  the  power  to  do  so.  The 
wrong,  in  a  moral  sense,  with  which  I  view 
slavery,  would  be  sufficient  for  me  to  do  this, 
did  I  not  consider  my  political  obligations,  and 
the  duty,  as  a  member  of  this  body.  I  owe  to 
the  constitution  undei'  vvhiih  I  now  act,  clearly 
require  of  me  the  vote  I  shall  give.  I  hold  that 
any  portion  of  American  citizens,  who  may  re- 
side on  a  portion  of  tiie  territory  of  the  United 


States,  whenever  their  numbers  shall  amount  to 
that  which  would  entitle  them  to  a  representa- 
tion in  the  House  of  Representatives  in  Con- 
gress, have  the  right  to  provide  for  themselves  a 
constitution  and  State  government,  and  to  be 
admitted  into  the  Union  whenever  they  shall  so 
apply ;  and  they  are  not  bound  to  wait  the  ac- 
tion of  Congress  in  the  first  instance,  exceiit 
therc  is  some  compact  or  agreement  reqiiirin<- 
them  to  do  so.  I  place  this  riglit  upon  the 
broad,  and,  I  consider,  indisputable  ground  that 
all  persons,  living  within  th«>  jurisdiction  of  the 
United  States,  are  entitle  '  to  equal  privileges' 
and  it  ought  to  be  matter  of  high  gratificalion 
to  us  here,  that,  in  every  portion,  even  tlie  most 
remote,  of  our  country,  our  people  are  anxious 
to  obtain  this  high  privilege  at  as  early  a  day  a> 
possible.  It  furnishes  clear  proof  that  the  Union 
is  highly  esteemed,  and  has  its  foundation  deep 
in  the  hearts  of  our  fellow-citizens. 

"  By  the  constitution  of  the  United  States, 
power  is  given  to  Congress  to  admit  new  States 
into  the  Union.     It  is  in  the  character  of  a 
State  that  any  portion  of  our  citizens,  inhabitin" 
any  part  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States! 
must  apply  to  be  admitted  into  the  Union;  a 
State  government  and  constitution  n.ust  first  be 
formed.     It  is  not  necessary  for  the  power  of 
Congress,  and  I  doubt  whether  Congress  k\> 
such  power,  to  prescribe  the  mode  by  which  the 
people  shall  form  a  State  constitution ;  and,  for 
this  plain  reason,  that  Congress  would  be  en- 
tirely incompetent  to  the  exercise  of  any  coercive 
power  to  carry  into  etfect  the  mode  they  might 
pi'escribe.     I  cannot,  therefore,  vote  auainst  tho 
admission  of  Arkansas  into  the  Union,  on  the 
ground  that  there  was  no  previous  act  of  Clon- 
gress  to  authorize  the  holding  of  her  convention. 
As  a  member  of  Congress,  1  will  not  look  be- 
yond the  constitution  that  has  been  presented, 
I  have  no  right  to  presume  it  was  formed  by  in- 
competent persons,  or  that  it  does  not  fully  ex- 
press the  opinions  and  wishes  of  the  people  of 
that  country.     It  is  tnie  that  the  Uiiiti'd  States 
shall  guarantee  to  every  State  in  the  Union  a 
re|)ublican  form  of  government :  meaning,  in  my 
judgment,  that  (Congress  shall  noi:  permit  any 
power  to  establish,  in  any  State,  a  government 
without  the  assent  of  the  people  of  .-luh  State; 
and  it  will  not  be  amiss  that  we  renieinbei'  here. 
also,  that  that  guaranty  is  to  the  Slate,  and  not 
as  to  the  formation  of  the  goveriunent  by  the 
people  of  the  State;  but  should  it  be  admitted 
that  Congress  can  look  into  the  constitntion 
of  a  State,  in  order  to  ascertain  its  character, 
beforj  such  State  is  admitted  into  the  Union. 
yet  I  contend  that  Congress  cannot  object  to  it 
for  the  want  of  a  rt'publican  fonii,  if  i*  (.'(intaiii.s 
the  great  principle  tlsat  all  power  is  inlu nut  in 
the  peoi)le,  and  tiiat  the  goveriunent  drew  all  its 
just  powers  from  I  lie  p;nvei'iii'(l, 

"The  people  of  the  territory  of  Ari^an.'^as, 
having  formed  for  themselves  a  Slate  govern- 
ment, having  presenti'd  their  constitution  for 
admission  into  the  Union  and  that  constitution 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


631 


eir  numbers  shall  amount  to 
sntitle  them  to  a  representa- 
of  Representatives  in  Con- 
t  to  provide  for  themselves  a 
tato  government,  and  to  be 
nion  whenever  the}'  shall  so 
B  not  bound  to  wait  the  ac- 
1  the  first  instance,  excejit 
pact  or  agreement  requiring 
place  this  right  upon  the 
3r,  indisputable  ground,  that 
'ithin  th«>  jurisdiction  of  the 
ntitlc  i  to  equal  privile<»es' 
matter  of  high  gratitiea'tion 
every  portion,  even  the  mo^t 
itry,  our  people  are  anxious 
privilege  at  as  early  a  day  as 
es  clear  proof  that  the  Union 
and  has  its  foundation  deep 
'  fellow-citizens, 
jtion  of  the  United  States, 
ongress  to  admit  new  States 
It  is  in  the  character  of  a 
on  of  our  citizens,  inhabitin" 
ritory  of  the  United  States'! 
idraitted  into  the  Union;  a 
nd  constitutioi.  UiUst  first  be 
necessary  for  the  power  of 
Hibt  whether  Congress  ims 
cribe  the  mode  by  which  the 
State  constitution ;  and,  for 
hat  Congress  would  be  en- 
)  the  exercise  of  any  coercive 
effect  the  mode  they  might 
;,  therefore,  vote  aj;auist  the 
isas  into  the  Union,  on  tlie 
'as  no  previous  act  of  Con- 
le  holding  of  her  convention 
mgress,  1  will  not  look  bc- 
in  that  has  been  piesentcfi, 
resume  it  was  formed  by  in- 
or  that  it  does  not  fully  cx- 
uul  wishes  of  tlie  people  of 
tnic  th;it  the  Uniti'd  States 
every  State  in  (lie  Union  a 
svernment :  nieaninii',  in  my 
irress  shall  noi  permit  any 
n  any  State,  a  government 
f  the  people  of  sueh  State; 
liss  that  we  remember  here, 
tnty  is  to  the  State,  and  not 
of  the  government  liy  the 
but  should  it  be  admitted 
look   into  the  constitution 
to  ascertain  i(s  eliaracler, 
i  admitted  into  the  Union. 
ongress  cannot  object  to  it 
)ubiican  form,  if  it  contains 
tilt  all  power  is  inlierent  in 
the  government  drew  all  its 
'  (rovorni'd, 

;1k'  lei  ritory  of  Arkansas, 
liemselvcs  a  State  govern- 
iteel  their  con.stitutiun  for 
'uion,  and  that  constitution 


being  republican  in  its  form,  and  believing  that 
the  people  who  prepared  and  sent  this  constitu- 
tion here  arc  sufficiently  numerous  to  entitle 
them  to  a  representative  in  Congress,  and  be- 
lieving, also,  that  Congress  has  no  right  or  power 
to  regulate  the  system  of  police  these  people 
have  established  for  them.selves,  and  the  or- 
dinance of  1787  not  operating  on  them,  nor 
iiavc  they  entered  into  any  agreement  with  the 
United  States  that  slavery  should  not  be  admit- 
ted in  their  State,  have  the  right  to  choose  this 
lot  for  themselves,  though  I  regret  that  they 
made  this  choice.  Yet,  believing  that  this  gov- 
ernment has  no  right  to  interfere  with  the  ques- 
tion of  slavery  in  any  of  the  States,  or  prescribe 
what  shall  or  shall  not  be  considered  property 
in  the  dill'erent  States,  or  by  what  tenure  pro- 
perty of  any  kind  shall  be  holden,  but  that  all 
these  are  exclusively  questions  of  State  policy, 
I  cannot,  as  a  member  of  this  body,  refuse  my 
vote  to  admit  this  State  into  the  Union,  because 
her  constitution  recognizes  the  right  and  exist- 
ence of  slavery." 

Jlr.  Alexander  Porter,  of  Louisiana,  would 
vote  against  the  admission,  on  account  of  the 
"revolutionary"  proceedings  of  the  people  in 
the  formation  of  their  constitution,  without  a 
previous  act  of  Congress.  It  is  believed  that 
Mr.  Clay  voted  upon  the  same  ground.  There 
were  but  six  votes  against  the  admission ;  name- 
ly: Mr.  Cb.y,  Mr.  Knight  of  Rhode  Island,  'Mr. 
Porter,  Mr.  Prentiss,  Jlr.  Robbins  of  Rhode 
Island,  and  Mr.  Swift.  It  is  believed  that  Mr. 
Robbins  and  Mr.  Knight  voted  on  the  same 
ground  with  Mr.  Clay  and  Mr.  Porter.  So,  the 
bill  was  easily  pas.sed,  and  the  two  bills  went 
together  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  where 
they  gave  rise  to  proceedings,  the  interest  of 
which  still  survives,  and  a  knowledge  of  which, 
therefore,  becomes  necessary.  The  two  bills 
were  made  the  special  order  for  the  same  day. 
Wednesday,  the  8th  of  June,  Congress  being  to 
adjourn  on  the  4th  of  July ;  and  the  Michigan 
bill  having  priority  on  the  calendar,  as  it  had 
first  passed  the  Senate.  Mr.  Wise,  of  Virginia, 
on  the  announcement  of  the  Michigan  bill,  from 
the  chair,  as  the  business  before  the  House, 
moved  to  postpone  its  consideration  until  the 
ensuing  Monday,  in  order  to  proceed  with  the 
Arkan.sas  bill.  Mr.  Thomas,  of  Maryland,  ob- 
jected to  the  motion,  and  said : 

"  lie  would  call  the  attention  of  the  House  to  I 

tlin  t->A,;;f ;.>..   ,.f  *.t.„  A.. —  1M1-  ---  ^1     tt-.  -1 ^-  i 

-  ! "   ••!    lut;   lWu   (tiii«  ou  ih'j  .■speaker  s 

table,  and  iMidenvor  to  show  that  this  postpone- 
ment is  entirely  unnecessary.  These  bills  are 
from  the  Senate.     By  the  rides  of  this  House, ! 


two,  I  may  say  three,  questions  will  arise,  to 
be  decided  before  they  can  become  a  law,  so  far 
as  this  House  is  concerned.  We  must  first 
order  each  of  these  bills  to  be  read  a  third  time ; 
the  next  question  then  will  be,  when  shall  the 
bill  be  read  a  third  time  ?  And  the  last  question 
to  be  decided  will  be,  shall  the  bill  pass  ?  Why, 
then,  should  Southern  men  now  make  an  effort  to 
give  precedence  to  the  bill  for  the  admission  of 
Arkansas  into  the  Union  ?  If  they  manifest  dis- 
trust, must  we  not  expect  that  fears  will  be  enter- 
tained by  Northern  members,  that  unreasonable 
opposition  will  be  made  to  the  admission  of  Michi- 
gan ?  Let  us  proceed  harmoniously,  until  we 
find  that  our  harmony  must  be  interrupted. 
We  shall  lose  nothing  by  so  doing.  If  a  ma- 
jority of  the  House  be  in  favor  of  reading  a 
third  time  the  Michigan  bill,  they  will  order  it 
to  be  done.  After  that  vote  has  been  taken,  we 
can  refuse  to  read  the  bill  a  third  time,  go  into 
Committee  of  the  Whole  on  the  state  of  the 
Union,  then  consider  the  Arkansas  bill,  report  it 
to  the  House,  order  it  to  be  read  a  third  time,  and 
in  this  order  proceed  to  read  them  each  a  thii'd 
time,  if  a  majority  of  the  House  be  in  favor  of  that 
proceeding.  Let  it  not  be  said  that  Southern 
men  may  be  taken  by  surprise,  if  the  proceeding 
here  respectfully  recommended  be  adopted.  If 
the  friends  of  Arkansas  are  sufficiently  numer- 
ous to  carry  now  the  motion  to  postpone,  they 
can  arrest  at  any  time  the  action  of  the  House 
on  the  Michigan  bill,  until  clear  undubitablo  in- 
dications have  been  given  that  the  Missouri 
compromise  is  not  to  be  disregarded." 

These  latter  words  of  Mr.  Thomas  revealed 
the  point  of  jealousy  between  some  Southern 
and  Northern  members,  and  brought  the  observ- 
ance of  the  Missouri  compromise  fully  into  view, 
as  a  question  to  be  tried.  Mr.  Wise,  after  some 
remarks,  modified  his  motion  by  moving  to  re- 
fer both  bills  to  the  Committee  of  the  Whole 
on  the  state  of  the  Union,  with  instructions  to 
incorporate  the  two  bills  into  one  bill.  Mr. 
Patton,  of  \  irginia,  opposed  the  latter  motion, 
and  gave  his  reasons  at  length  against  it.  If  his 
colleague  would  so  modify  his  motion  as  to  move 
to  refer  both  bills  to  the  Committee  of  the 
Whole  House,  without  the  instructions,  he 
would  vote  for  it.  Mr.  Bouldin,  of  Virginia, 
successor  to  Mr.  Randolph,  said : 

"  He  agreed  with  his  colleague  [Jlr.  Patton]  in 
a  fact  too  plain  for  any  to  overlook,  that  both 
bills  must  be  acted  on  separately,  and  that  one 
must  have  the  preference  in  point  of  time. 
Michigan  had  it  at  that  time — he  was  willing  it 
shoub'  t:.-,ld  it.  Hi;;  collcii,[:uc  [Mr.  Patton] 
seemed  to  think  that  in  the  incipient  steps  in  re- 
lation to  this  bill,  it  would  be  well  enough  to 
sufler  Michigan  to  hold  her  pa-sent  position ; 


1^   H 


Hi      I 


]4 


632 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


but  that,  before  the  final  passage  of  the  bill,  it 
would  be  well  to  require  of  the  House  ^or  rather 
of  the  non-slaveholding  portion  of  the  Union)  to 
give  some  unequivocal  guaranty  to  the  South 
that  no  difficulty  would  be  raised  as  to  the  re- 
ception of  Arkansas  in  regard  to  negro  slavery. 
Mr.  B.  was  willing  to  go  on  with  the  bill  for  the 
admission  of  Michigan.    He  had  the  most  im- 
pJ    it  confidence  in  the  House,  particularly  al- 
.v   'ng  to  the  non-slaveholding  i)art  of  the  Union, 
th^t  no  serious  difficulty  would  be  made  as  to 
u'.?al-nission  of  Arkansas  in  regard  to  negro 
■^'i'a^cry.    If  there  were  any  serious  difficulties 
to  be  raised  in  the  House  to  the  admission  of 
Arkansas,  uj)on  the  ground  of  negro  slavery  he 
wished  immediate  notice  of  it.     If  his  confidence 
was  misplaced,  he  wished  to  be  corrected  as  soon 
and  as  certainly  as  possible.     If  there  really  was 
any  intention  in  the  House  of  putting  the  South 
under  any  difficulty,  restraint,  limit,  any  shackle 
or  embarrassment  on  the  South  on  account  of 
negro  slavery  (some  gentlenuin  said  slavery,  but 
he  said  negro  slavery),  he  wished  to  know  it. 
If  there  were  any  individuals  having  such  feelinn- 
he  wished  to  know  them ;  lie  wished  to  hea'^r 
their  names  upon  yeas  and  nays.     If  tliere  were 
a  majority,  he  should  act  promptly,  decisively 
immediately  upon  it,  and  had  no  doubt  all  the' 
South  would  do  the  same.      There  might  be 
some  question  as  to  the  claim  of  non-slavehold- 
ing States  to  stop  the  progress  of  Southern 
habits  and  Southern  influence  Northward.     As 
to  Arkansas,  there  could  be  no  question  ;  and  if 
seriously   pressed,  such  claims  cculd  leave  no 
doubt  on  the  minds  of  the  South  as  to  the  object 
of  those  who  pressed  them,  or  the  course  to  be 
pursued  by  them.     Such  a  stand  being  taken  by 
the  non-slaveholding  States,  it  would  make  little 
cMerence  whether  Michigan  was  in  or  out   of 
this  Union.     He  said  he  would  sit  down,  a-ain 
assuring  the  House,  and  the  gentlemen  particu- 
larly from  the  non-slaveholding  States,  of  his 
entire  confidence  tliat  no  such  thing  would  be 
seriously  attempted  by  any  considerable  num- 
bers of  this  House." 


BIr.  Lewis,  of  North  Carolina,  took  decided 
ground  in  favor  of  giving  the  Arkansas  bill  the 
priority  of  decision ;  and  expressed  himself  thus : 

"  He  should  vote  for  the  proposition  of  the 
gentleman  from  Virginia  [Mr.  AVise]  to  lay  the 
bill  lor  the  admission  of  Michigan  into  the  Union 
on  the  table,  until  the  bill  for  the  admission  of 
Arkansas  should  be  first  passed.  He  should  do 
this,  for  the  obvious  reason  that  there  were 
dangers,  he  would  not  .say  how  great,  which 
beset  Arkansas,  and  which  did  not  Ijcset  Jlichi- 
gan.  The  question  of  slavery  could  be  moved 
as  a  condition  for  the  admission  of  Arkansas,  and 
it  could  not  as  a  condition  to  the  admission  of 
M'chijran,  I  look  upon  the  Arkiuisar-  question 
as  therefore  the  weaker  of  the  two,  and  for  that ' 
reason  I  u'ould  give  it  precedence.  Besides,  upon 
the  delicate  question  which  may  ht>  involved  in  | 


the  admission  of  Arkansas,  we  maybe  the  weakpi- 
party  in  this  House.    For  that  reason,  if  gentle- 
men mean  to  ofier  no  obstructions  to  the  admis.sion 
of  Arkansas,  let  them  give  the  assurance  by  heln- 
ing  the  weaker  party  through  with  the  weakor 
question.    We  of  the  South  cannot,  and  will  not 
as  I  pledge  myself,  offer  any  objections  to  tho 
domestic  institutions  of  Michigan  with  recaid 
to    slavery.    Oan    any  gentleman    make   the 
same  pledge  that  no  such  proposition  shall  come 
from  the  North  ?    Besides,  the  two  bills  aie  no 
now  on  an  equal  footing.    The  bill  for  the  ad- 
mission  of  Arkansas  must  be  sent  to  a  Commit 
tee  of  the  Whole  on  the  state  of  the  Union.  The 
bill  for  the  admission  of  Michigan  need  not  ne 
cessarily  go  to  that  commi:  tee.     It  will  tlicrefore 
pass  in  perfect  safety,  while  we  shall  be  left  to 
get  Arkansas  along,  through  the  tedious  staces 
of  commitment,  as  well  as  we  can.     The  "■ontle 
man  from  I'ennsylvania  [Mr.  SutherhuKfl  savs 
that  these  two  bills  will  be  hostages  fur  the 
safety  of  each  other.    Not,  sir,  if  you  pass  the 
stronger  bill  in  advance  of  the  weaker.    Be.sides 
tlie  North  want  no   hostages  on  this  subject' 
iheir  institutions  cannot  be  attacked.    We  of 
the  South  M'ant  a  hostage,  to  protect  us  on  a 
delicate  question ;  and  the  effect  of  giving  pre- 
cedence to  the  Michigan  bill  is  to  deprive  us  of 
that  hostage." 

Mr.  Gushing,  of  Massachusetts,  addressed  the 
committee  at  length  on  the  subject,  of  which 
only  the  leading  passages  can  be  given.    He  said: 

"  The  House  has  now  continued  in  session  for 
the  space  of  eighteen  or  nineteen  hours  \vithout 
any  interval  of  refreshment  or  rest.    It  is  impos- 
sible to  mistake  the  intentions  of  the  ruling  ma- 
jority.    I  see  clearly  that  the  committee  is  re- 
soivcd  to  sit  out  the  debate  on  these  important 
bills  for  the  admis.sion  of  Michigan  and  Arkansas 
into  the  Lnion.    This,  it  is  apparent,  the  ma- 
jority have  the  power  as  well  as  the  right  to  do. 
Whether  it  be  just  and  reasonable,  is  another 
questv  n.     I  shall  not  quarrel,  howevei-  with 
the  avo    ed  will  of  tiie  House.     It  has  done  me 
the  favor  to  hear  me  with  patience  on  other  oc- 
casions ;  and  I  cannot  render  it  the  unfit  return 
of  tresjiassing  on  its  indulgence  at  this  ;iiiseason- 
ablc  hrair,  nor  seek  to  defeat  its  purposes  by 
sp.>i:   ■  ig  against  time.     But  having  been  charg- 
ef     '.'.itli    sundry  memorials   from  citizens  of 
Mas.<achusetts  and  New  Iljunpshiiv,  remonstrat- 
ing against  that  clause  in  the  constitution  of 
Arkansas  which  relates  to  the  subject  of  slavery, 
I  should  be  recreant  to  the  trust 'tliev  have  re- 
posed in  me,  if  I  sulfered  the  bill  for  the  admis- 
sion of  Arkansas  to  pass  without  a  word  of  ])ro- 
te.station.      The    extraordinary    circumstances 
under  wliich  I  rise  to  address  (he  coniiiiittee 
impel  meto  brevity  and  succinctness;  but  they 
would  afiord  nic-  no  justllicatiim  for  a  passive 
acquiescence  in  the  admission  of  Arkansas  into 
the  I'nion,  with  all  the  sins  of  its  constitution 
upon  its  head. 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESmENT. 


633 


kansas,  we  may  be  (he  weaker 
3.  For  that  reason,  if  gentle- 
>  obstructions  to  the  admission 
;m  give  the  assurance  by  help- 
■ty  through  M-ith  the  weaker 
ic  South  cannot,  and  will  not 

oiler  any  objecti(jns  to  the 
ais  of  Michigan  with  regard 
any  gentleman  make  the 
J  such  proposition  shall  come 
Besides,  the  two  bills  are  not 
oting.  The  bill  for  the  ad- 
s  must  bo  sent  to  a  Commit- 

the  state  of  the  Union.  The 
)n  of  Michigan  need  not  ne- 
conimi;  tee.  It  will  therefore 
;y,  while  we  shall  be  left  to 
,  through  the  tedious  stages 
veil  as  we  can.  The  gentle- 
-ania  [Mr.  Suther-land]  says 
Is  will  be  hostages  fur  tiie 
•.  Not,  sir,  if  you  pass  the 
nee  of  the  weaker.  Besides, 
)  hostages  on  this  subject" 
mnot  be  attacked.  We  of 
hostage,  to  protect  us  on  a 
ud  the  effect  of  giving  pre- 
igan  bill  is  to  deprive  us  of 

rassachusetts,  addressed  the 
1  on  the  subject,  of  whicli 
ages  can  be  given.    He  said: 

low  continued  in  session  for 
or  nineteen  hours,  without 
ihmentorrest.    Itisimpos- 
intentions  of  the  ruling  ma- 
y  that  the  committee  is  re- 
debate  on  these  important 
Q  of  Michigan  and  Arkansas 
liis,  it  is  ai)parent,  the  ma- 
r  as  well  as  the  right  to  do. 
and  reasonable,  is  another 
ot  quarrel,  liowever,  with 
le  House.     It  has  done  me 
with  patience  on  other  oc- 
t  render  it  the  unfit  return 
ndulgcnce  at  this  iinscason- 
to  defeat  its  purj)uses  by 
!.    But  having  been  charg- 
miorials    from  citizens  of 
I'w  Il!iuip«hire,  renionstrat- 
.se  in  the  constitution  of 
es  to  the  subject  of  slavery, 
to  the  trust  they  Iiavc  re- 
red  the  bill  for  the  adniis- 
ass  without  a  word  of  pro- 
raordinary    circumstances 
to  address  (lie  connnittee 
nd  succinctness;  but  they 
justilication  for  a  i)assive 
dmission  of  Arkansas  into 
lie  sins  of  its  constitution 


"  The  constitution  of  Arkansas,  as  communi- 
cated to  Congress  in  the  memorial  of  the  people 
of  that  Territory,  praying  to  be  admitted  into 
the  Union,  contains  the  following  clause :  '  The 
(General  i*ssembly  shall  have  no  power  to  pass 
laws  for  the  emancipation  of  slaves  without  the 
consent  of  the  owners.  They  shall  have  no 
power  to  prevent  emigrants  to  this  State  from 
bringing  with  them  such  persons  as  are  deemed 
skves  by  the  laws  of  any  one  of  the  United 
States.'  This  provision  of  the  constitution  of 
Arkansas  is  condemned  by  those  whom  I  re- 
present on  this  occasion  as  anti-republican,  as 
wrong  on  general  principles  of  civil  polity,  and 
as  unjust  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  non-slave- 
holding  States.  They  object  to  it  as  being,  in 
effect,  a  provision  to  render  slavery  perpetual  in 
the  new  State  of  Arkansas.  I  concur  in  repro- 
bating such  a  clause.  The  legislature  of  Ar- 
kansas is  forbidden  to  emancipate  the  slaves  with- 
in its  jurisdiction,  even  though  it  should  be  ready 
to  indemnify  fully  their  owners.  It  is  forbidden 
to  exclude  slaves  from  being  imported  into  the 
State.  I  cannot,  by  any  vote  of  mine,  ratify  or 
sanction  a  constitution  of  government  which 
undertakes  in  this  way  to  foreclose  in  advance 
the  progress  of  civilization  and  of  liberty  for  ever. 
In  order  to  do  justice  to  the  unchangeable  opin- 
ions of  the  North,  without,  in  any  respect,  in- 
vading the  rights,  real  or  supposed,  of  the  South, 
my  colleague  [Mr.  Adams],  the  vigilant  eye  of 
wliose  unsleeping  mind  there  is  nothing  which 
L'scapes,  has  moved  an  amendment  of  the  bill  for 
the  admission  of  Arkansas  into  the  Union,  so 
that  if  tlie  amendment  be  adopted,  the  bill  would 
vcad  as  follows :  '  The  State  of  Arkansas  is  ad- 
mitted into  the  Union  upon  the  express  condition 
that  tlie  people  of  the  said  State  shall  never  inter- 
fere with  the  primary  disposal  of  the  public  lands 
within  the  said  State,  nor  shall  they  levy  a  tax 

'H  any  of  the  lands  of  the  United  States  within 
the  said  State  ;  and  nothing  in  this  act  shall  be 
constriied  as  an  assent  by  Congress  [to  the  arti- 
cle in  the  constitution  of  the  said  State  relating 
to  slavery  and  to  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves, 
or]  to  all  or  to  any  of  the  propositions  contained  in 
thj  ordiuance  of  the  said  convention  of  the  people 

if  Arkansas,  nor  to  deprive  the  said  State  of 
Arkansas  of  the  same  grants,  subject  to  the  same 
restrictions,  which  were  r^ade  to  the  State  of 
Missouri.'    This  amendmc      is,  according  to  my 

judgment,  reasonable  and  ^,.'oper  in  itself,  and 

lie  very  least  that  any  member  from  the  North 
oan  propose  in  vindication  of  the  opinions  and 
principles  of  himself  and  his  constituents. 

"It  is  opposed,  however,  by  the  gentlemai! 
from  Virginia  [Mr.  "Wise],  with  his  accustomed 
vigor  and  ability.  He  alleges  consideratii  '.^ 
adverse  to  the  motion.  He  interrogates  il..- 
friends  of  the  proposed  amendment  in  regard  to 
its  force,  olfoct,  and  purposes,  in  terms  which 
seem  to  challenge  response;  or  which,  at  any 
rate,  if  not.  distinctly  and  promptly  met,  would 
leave  the  objections  which  'hose  interrogatories 
impliedly  convey,  to  be  taken  as  confessed  and 


admitted  by  our  significant  silence.  What  may 
be  the  opinions  of  Martin  Van  Buren  as  to  this 
particular  bill,  what  his  conduct  formerly  in  re- 
ference to  a  similar  case,  is  a  point  concerning 
which  I  can  have  no  controversy  with  the  gen- 
tleman from  Virginia.  I  look  only  to  the  merits 
of  the  qusetion  before  the  committee.  There  is 
involved  in  it  a  principle  which  I  regard  as  im- 
measurably more  important  than  the  opinion 
of  any  individual  in  this  nation,  however  high 
his  present  situation  or  his  possible  destiny — 
the  great  principle  of  constitutional  freedom. 
The  gentleman  from  Virginia,  who,  I  cheerfully 
admit,  is  always  frank  and  honorable  in  his 
course  upon  this  floor,  has  just  declared  that, 
as  a  Southern  man,  he  had  felt  it  to  be  his  duty 
to  come  forward  and  take  a  stand  in  behalf  of 
an  institution  of  the  South.  That  institution 
is  slavery.  In  like  manner,  I  feel  it  to  be  my 
duty,  as  a  Northern  man,  to  take  a  counter 
stiind  in  conservation  of  one  among  the  dearest 
of  the  institutions  of  the  North.  This  institu- 
tion is  liberty.  It  is  not  to  assail  slavery,  but 
to  defend  liberty,  that  I  speak.  It  is  demanded 
of  us.  Do  you  seek  to  impose  restrictions  on 
Arkansas,  in  violation  of  the  compromise  under 
which  Missouri  entered  the  Union  ?  I  might 
content  myself  with  replying  that  the  State  of 
Massachusetts  was  not  a  party  to  that  compro- 
mise. She  never  directly  or  indirectly  assented 
to  it.  Most  of  her  Representatives  in  Congress 
voted  against  it.  Those  of  her  Representatives 
who,  regarding  that  compromise  in  the  light  of 
an  act  of  conciliation  important  to  the  general 
interests  of  the  Union,  voted  for  it,  were  disa- 
vowed and  denounced  at  home,  and  were  stig- 
matized even  here,  by  a  Southern  member,  as 
over-compliant  towards  the  exactingncss  of  the 
South.  On  the  first  introduction  of  this  sub- 
ject to  the  notice  of  the  House,  the  gentleman 
from  Virginia  made  a  declaration,  which  I  par- 
ticularly noticed  at  the  time,  for  the  purpose 
of  having  the  tenor  of  the  declaration  distinctly 
understood  by  the  House  and  by  the  coimtry. 
The  gentleman  gave  it  to  be  known  that,  if 
n::;mbers  from  the  North  held  themselves  not 
engaged  by  the  terms  of  the  compromise  under 
which  Missouri  entered  into  the  Union,  neither 
would  members  from  the  South  hold  themselves 
engaged  therebj^ ;  and  that,  if  we  sought  to  im- 
pose restrictions  affecting  slave  property  on  the 
one  hand,  they  might  be  impelled,  on  the  other 
hand,  to  introduce  slavery  into  the  heait  of  the 
North.  I  heard  the  suggestion  with  the  feel- 
iiif.H  natural  to  one  born  and  bred  in  a  land  of 
(^quality  and  freedom.  I  took  occasion  to  pro- 
U'st,  in  the  surprised  impulse  of  the  moment, 
a^fjnst  the  idea  of  putting  restrictions  on  liberty 
in  one  quarter  of  the  Union,  in  retaliation  of  the 
attempt  to  limit  the  spread  of  slavery  in  an- 
other quarter.  I  held  up  to  view  the  incon- 
sistency and  inconsequence  of  uttering  the 
warmest  eulogiums  on  freedom  one  day,  of 
pouring  out  aspirations  that  the  spirit  of  liberty 
might   pervade   the  universe,  and  at  another 


j 

I 


^^il 

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■4       ;  ^ 

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^^^1 

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!  ^R^H 

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^^1 

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^^^H 

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1^1 

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1^1 

1   .. 

634 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


time  threatening  the  North  with  the  establish- 
ment of  Slavery  within  its  borders,  if  a  Northern 
member  should  depreco  tc  the  legal  perpetuation 
of  slavery  in  a  proposed  new  State  of  the  West. 
It  did  not  fail  within  the  rules  of  pertinent 
debate  to  pursue  the  subject  at  that  time ;  and 
I  have  but  a  single  idea  to  present  now,  in  ad- 
dition to  what  I  then  observed.    It  is  not  pos- 
sible for  me  to  judge  whether  the  gentleman 
Irom  V  irginia,  and  any  of  his  friends  or  fellow- 
citizcns  at  the  South,  deliberately  and  soberly 
cherish  the  extraordinary  purpose  which  his 
language  implied.    I  trust  it  was  but  a  hasty 
thought,  struck  out  in  the  ardor  of  debate.    To 
introduce  slavery  into  the  heart  of  the  North  ? 
Vain  idea !    Invasion,  pestilence,  civil  war,  may 
conspire  to  exterminate  the  eight  millions  of 
free  spirits  who  now  dwell  there.     This,  in  the 
long  lapse  of  ages  incalculable,  is  possible  to 
happen.      You    may   raze   to    the    earth   the 
thronged  cities,   the  industrious  villages    the 
peaceful  hamlets  of  the  North.    You  ma'y  lay 
waste  Its  fertile  valleys  and  verdant  hill-sides. 
You  may  plant  its  very  soil  with  salt,  and  con- 
sign  It   to  everlasting  desolation.     You  may 
transform  its  beautiful  fields  into  a  desert  as 
bare  as  f     blank  face  of  the  sands  of  Sahara 
You  n.;i      each  the  realization  of  the  infernal 
boast  with  which  Attila  the  Ilun  marched  his 
barbaric  hosts  into  Italy,  demolishing  whatever 
there   is  of  civilization  or  prosperity  in   the 
happy  dwellings  of  the   North,  and   reducin- 
their  very  substance  to  powder,  so  that  a  squad'^ 
ron  of  cavalry  shall  gallop  over  the  site  of  popu- 
lous cities,  unimpeded  as  the  wild  steeds  on  the 
sayanniis  of  the  West.     All  this  you  may  do: 
It  IS  within  the  bounds  of  physical  possibility. 
but  1  solemnly  assure  every  gentleman  within 
the  sound  of  my  voice,  I  proclaim  to  the  country 
and  to  the  world,  that,  until  all  this  be  fully 
accomplished  to  the  uttermost  extremity  of  the 
letter,   yuu  cannot,  you   shall   not,   introduce 
slavery  into  the  heart  of  the  North." 


may  be  assumed  under  three  heads :  1.  The 
formation  of  constitutions  without  the  previous 
assent  of  Congress:  and  this  was  applicable  to 
both  States.  2.  The  right  of  aliens  to  vote  be. 
fore  naturalization.  3.  The  right  of  Arkansas 
to  be  admitted  with  slavery  by  virtue  of  the 
rights  of  a  State,— by  virtue  of  the  third  article 
of  the  treaty  which  ceded  Louisiana  to  the 
United  States— and  by  virtue  of  the  Missouri 
compromise.  On  these  points,  Mr.  Ilamcr  of 
Ohio,  spoke  thus :  ' 


A  point  of  order  being  raised  whether  the  two 
bills  were  not  required  by  a  rule  of  the  'ouse 
to  go  before  the  Committee  of  the  "Whole 
the  Speaker,  Mr.  Polk,  decided  in  the  affirma- 
tive—the  Arkansas  bill,  upon  the  ground  of 
containing  an  appropriation  for  the  salary  of 
judges ;  and  that  of  Michigan  because  it  provided 
for  judges,  which  involved  a  necessity  for  an 
appropriation.  The  two  bills  then  went  into 
Committee  of  the  Whole,  Mr.  Speight,  of  North 
Carolina,  in  the  chair.  Many  members  spoke, 
and  miicli  of  the  speaking  related  to  the  boun- 
daries of  ^Michigan,  and  especially  the  line  be- 
tween herself  and  the  State  of  Ohio— to  which 
no  surviving  interest  attaches.  The  debate, 
therefore,  will  only  be  pursued  as  it  presents 
points  of  present  and  future  interest.    These  I 


One  of  the  principal  objections  urged  aninst 
their  admission  at  this  time  is,  that  their  pro 
ceedings  have  been  lawless  and  revolutionary 
and  that,  for  the  example's  sake,  if  for  no  other 
reason  we  should  reject  their  application  and 
force  them  to  go  back  and  do  all  their  work 
over  again.    I  cannot  assent  to  this  proposition 
Two  ways  are  open  to  every  territory  tliat  de- 
sires to  emerge  from  its  dependent  coiRlition 
and  become  a  State.   It  may  either  petition  Con- 
gress  for  leave  to  form  a  State  constitution  and 
when  that  permission  is  given,  proceed  to'forai 
It,  and  present  the  new  State  coLstitution  fnr 
our  approbation  ;  or  they  may  meet,  in  the  firsi 
instance,  form  the  constitution,  and  otCer  it  for 
our  approval.   There  is  no  improin-ielv  in  either 
mode.     It  is  optional  with  Congress,  at  last,  to 
admit  the  State  or  not,  as  may  be  tlioiiirht  expe- 
dient.    If  they  wish  to  admit  her.  tlicT  can  do 
It  by  two  acts  of  Congress;  one  to  a'utlionze 
the  formation  of  a  constitution,  and  tlio  other 
to  approve  of  it  when  made  ;  or  by  one  act  al- 
lovying  the  prayer  of  the  petitioners  to  become 
a  State,  and  approving  of  their  constitution  at 
the  same  time.      This  latter  course  is  the  one 
adopted  in  the  present  case.     There  is  nothin" 
disrespectful  in  it.     Indeed,  there  is  much  to 
justify  the  Territory  in  its  ifroceeding.    Year 
after  year  they  petitioned  for  leave  to  form  a 
constitution,  and  it  was  refused,  or  tlieir  appli- 
cation was  treated  with  neglect.     Wearied  with 
repeated  instances  of  this  treatment,  they  have 
formed  a  constitution,  brought  it  to  us.  and 
asked  us  to  sanction  it,  and  admit  them  into  the 
Union.     We  have  the  authority  to  do  this ;  and 
if  their  constitution  is  republican,  wo  ought  to 
do  it.     There  is  no  weight  in  this  objection,  and 
1  will  dismiss  it  without  further  rei'iiark.    An- 
other objection  is,  that  aliens  have  aided  in  mak- 
ing this  constitution,  and  are  allowed  the  right 
of  suffrage  in  all  elections  by  the  p;'(ivisions  it 
contains.     As  to  the  first  point,  it  is  sufficient 
to  say  that  all  the  new  States  northwest  of  the 
Ohio  formed  their  constitutions  piecisely  in  the 
same  way.     The  ordinance  of  17 H7  docs"  not  re- 
quire  sixty   thousand   citizens  of  the  United 
States  to  be  resident  within  the  limits  of  anew 
State,  in  oider   to  authorize  a  constitution  and 
admission  into   the   Ciiion.      It  requires  tliat 
number  of    'free  inhabitants;'  and  the  alien 
who  resides  there,  if  ho  be  a  '  free  iiihahitaut,' 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  THIvSIDENT. 


635 


under  three  heads :  1.  The 
tutioiis  without  the  previous 
:  and  this  was  applicable  to 
le  right  of  aliens  to  vote  be- 
3.  The  right  of  Arkansas 
th  slavery  by  viitue  of  the 
by  virtue  of  the  third  article 
3h  ceded  Louisiana  to  the 
by  virtue  of  the  Missouri 
hese  points,  Mr.  IIamer,of 

iipal  objections  urged  against 
;his  time  is,  that  their  pro- 
lawless  and  revolutionary 
imple's  sake,  if  for  no  other 
[•eject  their  application,  and 
ack  and  do  all  their  »ork 
)t  assent  to  this  proposition. 
to  every  territory  tliat  de- 
'm  its  dependent  coiidition 

It  may  either  petition  Con- 
nn  a  State  constitution,  and, 
on  is  given,  proceed  to  fonn 
new  State  coLstitution  f^r 

they  may  meet,  in  the  firsi 
lonstitution,  and  oiler  it  for 
i  is  no  impropriety  in  cither 
-Iwith  Congro~s,at  last,  to 
ot,  as  may  bo  t  bought  oxpc- 

to  admit  her.  tbcy  can  do 
/ongress ;  one  to  authorize 
constitution,  and  tbe  otiier 
n  made  ;  or  by  one  act,  ai- 

the  petitioncr.s  to  become 
ig  of  their  constitution  at 
lis  latter  course  is  the  one 
ent  case.     There  is  nothing 
Indeed,  there  is  much  to 
T_  in  its  proceeding.    Year 
tioned  for  leave  to  form  a 
vas  refused,  or  their  appli- 
ith  neglect.    IVearicd  with 
"  this  treatment,  they  have 
)n,  brought  it  to  us.  and 
it,  and  admit  them  into  the 
3  authority  to  do  tiiis ;  and 
s  republican,  we  ought  to 
eight  in  this  objection,  and 
lOut  further  remark,    iln- 
t  aliens  have  aided  in  niak- 
and  are  allowed  the  right 
itions  by  the  lyvi visions  it 
first  pt)int,  it  is  suflicient 
.V  States  northwest  of  the 
istitutions  precisely  in  the 
nance  of  1787  docs  not  re- 
1   citizens   of  the  United 
within  the  limits  of  a  new 
:horizo  a  constitution  and 
['nion.      It  requires  that 
labitants ;'   am!  the  alien 
he  be  a  '  free  inliabitaut,' 


is  entitled  to  vote  in  the  election  of  delegates 
to  the  convention ;  and  afterwards  in  deciding 
whether  the  people  will  accept  the  con.stitution 
formed  by  their  convention.  Such  has  been 
the  construction  and  practice  in  all  the  country 
north  of  the  Ohio ;  and  as  the  last  census  shows 
tliat  there  are  but  a  few  hundreds  of  aliens  in 
.Michigan,  it  would  be  hard  to  set  aside  their 
constitution,  because  some  of  these  may  have 
jiarticipated  in  its  format' ""n.  It  would  be  un- 
just to  do  so.  if  we  had  the  j.  "iwer ;  but  we  have 
no  authority  to  do  it ;  for  if  we  regard  the  or- 
dinance as  of  any  validity,  it  allows  all '  free  in- 
habitants' to  vote  in  fra.ning  the  State  govern- 
ments which  are  to  be  created  within  the  si)here 
of  its  inHuence.  We  will  now  turn  to  the  re- 
maining point  in  this  objection,  and  we  shall  see 
that  it  has  no  more  force  in  it  than  the  other. 

"The  constitution  allows  all  white  male  citizens 
over  twenty-one  years  of  age,  having  resided  six 
months  in  Michigan,  to  vote  at  all  elections ; 
and  every  white  male  inhabitant  residing  in  the 
State  at  the  time  of  signing  the  constitution  is 
allofved  the  same  privilege.  These  provisions 
undoubtedly  confer  on  aliens  the  right  of  suf- 
frage; and  it  is  contended  that  they  are  in  viola- 
tion of  the  constitution  of  the  United  States. 
That  instrument  declares  that '  new  States  may 
be  admitted  by  the  Congress  into  this  Union  ;' 
that '  the  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every 
State  in  this  Union  a  republican  form  of  govern- 
ment;' and  tiiat  '  the  citizens  of  each  State 
shall  bo  entitled  to  all  privileges  and  immunities 
of  citizens  in  the  several  States.'  The  ordinance 
of  1787  provides  that  the  constitution  to  be  for'v- 
cd northwest  of  the  Ohio  'shall  be  republic  n, 
'■  It  is  an  error  not  very  uncommon  to  suppose 
that  the  right  of  suifrage  is  inseparably  connect- 
ted  with  the  privilege  of  citizenship.  A  slight 
investigation  of  the  subject  will  prove  that  this 
is  not  so.  The  privileges  are  totally  distinct. 
A  State  cannot  make  an  American  citizen  who, 
under  the  constitution  of  the  United  States 
shall  be  entitled  to  the  rights  of  citizenship 
throughout  the  Union.  The  power  belongs  to 
the  federal  government.  We  pass  all  the  na- 
turalization laws,  by  which  aliens  are  trans- 
formed into  citizens.  We  do  so  under  the  con- 
stitution of  the  United  States,  conceding  to  us 
this  authority.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  we  have 
m  control  over  the  right  of  suflVage  in  the  dif- 
ferent States.  That  belongs  exclusivel}'-  to 
State  legislation  and  State  authority.  It  varies 
in  almost  all  the  States  ;  and  yet  who  ever  sup- 
posed that  Congress  could  interfere  to  change 
the  rules  adopted  by  the  people  in  regard  to  it? 
A'o  one,  I  luvsuiue.  Why  then  attempt  to  con- 
trol it  here  ?  Other  States  have  adopted  the 
same  provisions.  Look  at  the  constitutions 
of  ( 'hio  and  other  new  States,  and  you  will  find 
that  they  rrcjuire  residence  only,  and  not  citi- 
zenship, to  enable  a  man  to  vote.  Eacli  State 
can  confer  this  right  upon  all  persons  witliin 
her  limits.  It  gives  them  no  rights  beyond  the 
limits  of  the  State.    It  cannot  make  them  citi- 


zens, for  that  'fould  violate  the  naturalization 
laws ;  or,  rather,  it  would  render  them  nugatory. 
It  cannot  give  them  a  right  to  vote  in  any  other 
State,  for  that  would  infringe  ujion  the  autlior- 
ity  of  such  State  to  regulate  its  own  affairs. 
It  simply  confers  the  right  of  aiding  ^n  the 
choice  of  public  officers  whilst  the  alien  remains 
in  the  State;  it  does  not  make  him  a  citizen; 
nor  is  if  of  the  slightest  advantage  to  him  be- 
yond the  boundaries  of  Michigan." 

Mr.  Hamer  concluded  his  remarks  with  a 
feeling  allusion  to  the  distractions  which  had 
prevailed  during  the  Missouri  controversy,  a  con- 
gratulation upon  their  disappearance  under  the 
Missouri  compromise,  and  an  earnest  exhortation 
to  harmony  and  the  preservation  of  good  feeling 
in  the  speedy  admission  of  the  two  States ;  and 
said: 

"We  can  put  an  end  to  a  most  distracting 
contest,  that  has  agitated  our  country  from 
Maine  to  Georgia,  and  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
most  remote  settlement  upon  the  frontier.  There 
was  a  time  when  the  most  painful  anxiety  per- 
vaded the  whole  nation ;  and  whilst  each  one 
waited  with  feverish  impatience  fu'  further  in- 
telligence from  the  disputed  tenitory,  he  trem- 
bled lest  the  ensuing  mail  should  bear  the  dis- 
astrous tidings  of  a  civil  strife  in  which  brotlier 
had  fallen  by  the  hand  of  brotlier,  and  the  soil 
of  freedom  had  been  stained  l)y  the  blood  of 
her  own  sons.  But  the  storm  has  passed.  The 
usual  good  fortiuie  of  the  American  people  has 
prevailed.  The  land  heaves  in  view,  and  a 
a..v  ;n,  with  its  wide-spread  arms,  invites  us  to 
vii.or.  After  so  long  an  exposure  to  the  fur\'  of 
a  tempest  that  was  apparently  gathering  in  our 
political  horizon,  let  tis  seize  the  first  opportu- 
nity to  steer  ihe  sh'p  into  a  s!>fe  harbor,  far  be- 
yond the  reich  of  that  elo';iental  war  that 
thicatened  her  ci  w  'fy  in  th'  open  sea.  Let  us 
pa.-s  this  bill.  It  <(' "6  ;nstice  to  all.  It  concili- 
ates all.  Its  prov  ;.-  ^ns  vill  carry  peace  and 
harmon}^  to  those  t.ao  are  now  agitated  by 
strife,  and  disquieted  by  tumults  and  disorders. 
B^^  this  just,  humane,  and  benelicen*^  policy,  we 
shall  consolidate  our  liberties,  and  make  this 
government  what  Mr.  Jelferson.  more  than  thirty 
years  ago,  declared  it  to  be.  '  the  strongest  gov- 
ernment on  earth ;  the  only  one  where  every 
man,  at  the  call  of  the  law,  will  fly  to  the  stand- 
ard of  the  law,  and  meet  invasions  of  the  public 
order  as  bis  own  personal  concern.'  With  this 
policy  on  the  part  of  the  govcrnuient  and  the 
spirit  of  patriotism  that  now  animates  our  citi- 
zens in  full  vi;  or,  united  America  may  bid  de- 
fiance to  a  V,  orld  in  arms  ;  and  should  Provi- 
dence continue  to  smile  upon  our  country,  we 
may  confidently  atitiHpiits'  tliat  tb.e  freedoni, 
the  happiness,  and  tbe  prosperity,  which  we  now 
enjoy,  will  be  as  perpetual  as  tlie  lofty  moun- 
tains that  crown  our  continent,  or  the  noble 
rivers  that  fertilize  our  plains." 


636 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


Mr.  Adams  commenced  a  speech  in  Committee 
of  the  Whole,  which  was  finished  in  the  House, 
and  being  incparcd  for  publication  by  him.solf 
and  therefore  free  from  error,  is  here  given— all 
the  main  parts  of  it— to  show  his  real  position 
on  the  slavery  question,  so  much  misunderstood 
at  the  time  on  account  of  his  tenacious  adher- 
ence to  the  right  of  petition.    Ho  said  : 


I  cannot,  consistently  with  my  sense  of  mv 
obligations  as  a  citizen  of  the  United  States 
and  bound  by  oath  to  support  their  constitution' 
1  cannot  object  to  the  admission  of  Arkansas 
mto  the  Union  as  a  slave  State ;  I  cannot  pro- 
pose or  agree  to  make  it  a  condition  of  her  ad- 
mission, that  a  convention  of  her  people  shall 
expunge  this  article  from  her  constitution    She 
is  entitled  to  admission  as  a  slave  State,  as"  Lou- 
isiana and  Mississippi,  and  Alabama,  and  Mis- 
souri, have  been  admitted,  by  virtue  of  that 
article  in  the  treaty  for  the  acquisition  of  Louis- 
iana, which  secures  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
ceded  territories  all  the  rights,  privileges,  and 
immunities,  of  the  original  citizens  of  the  United 
btatos^;  and  stipulates  for  their  admission  con- 
lormably  to  that    principle,   into  the  Union 
Louisiana  was  purchased  as  a  country  wherein 
slavery  was  the  established  law  of  the   land 
As  Congress  have  not  power  in  time  of  peace  to 
abolish  slavery  in  the  original  States  of  the 
Union,  they  are  equally  destitute  of  the  power 
m  those  parts  of  the  territory  ceded  by  France 
to  the  Lnited  States  by  the  name  of  Louisiana 
\vhere  slavery  existed  at  the  time  of  the  acnui- 
Bition.     Slavery  is  in  this  Union  the  subject  of 
internal  egislation  in  the  States,  and  in  peace  is 
cognizable  by  Congress  only,  as  it  is  tacitly 
tolerated  and  protected  where  it  exists  by  the 
constitution  of  the   United  States,  and  as  it 
mingles  in  their  intercourse  with  other  nations. 
Arkansas,  therefore,  comes,  and  has  the  right  to 
come  into  the  Union  with  her  slaves  and  her 
slave   huvs.     It  is  written  in  the  bond,  and 
however  I«iay  lament  that  it  ever  was  sowrit^ 
ten,  1  must  fiiithfully  perform  its  obligations 
1  am  content  to  receive  her  as  one  of  the  slave- 
holding  States  of  this  Union  ;  but  I  am  unwil- 
ling that  Congress,  in  accepting  her  constitution, 
should  even  he  under  the  imputation  of  assent- 
ing to  an  article  in  the  constitution  of  a  State 
which  withholds  from  its  legislature  the  power 
of  givmg  freedom  to  the  slave.     Upon  this  topic 
1  will  not  enlarge.     Were  I  disposed  so  to  do 
tw(;nty  hours   of  continuous  session  have  too 
much  exhausted  my  own  physical  strength,  and 
the  faculties  as  well  as  the  indulgence  of  those 
who  might  inclinf  to  hear  me,  for  me  to  trespass 
longer  upon  their  patience.     When  the  bill  shall 
be  reported  to  the  House,  I  may,  perhaps,  again 
ask  to  be  hearil.  n|)(in  reneuinf  thsTo  a-  I  ir-  '■ 
tend,  the  motion  for  this  amendment.'  ' 

After  a  session  of  twenty-five  hours,  including 


the  whole  night,  the  committee  rose  and  reported 
the  two  bills  to  the  House.  Of  the  arduousnoss 
of  this  session,  which  began  at  ten  in  the  morn- 
ing of  Thursday,  and  was  continued  until  eleve-, 
o'clock  the  next  morning,  Mr.  Adams,  who  re 
maiued  at  his  post  the  whole  time,  gave  this 
account  in  a  subsequent  notice  of  the  sitting; 


"On  Ihursday,  the  9th  of  June,  the  lIou,e 
went  into  Committee  of  the  Whole  on  tho  st  ' 
of  the  Union  upon  two  bills;  one  to  fK  tl 
Northern  boundary  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  and  f 
the  conditional  admission  of  the  State  of  Mirhi 
gan  into  the  Union ;  and  the  other  for  tho  J 
mission  of  the  State  of  Arkansas  into  thuT^ninn" 
The  bill  for  fixing  the  Northern  iZiZ 
the  State  of  Ohio,  and  the  conditional  admisaion 
of  Michigan  into  the  Union,  was  first  taken  m 
tor  consideration,  and  gave  rise  to  debates  which 
continued  till  near  one  o'clock  of  the  niornin" 
of  Friday,  the  10th  of  June  :  repeated  niotiS 
to  afljoum  had  been  made  and  rejected    The 
committee  had  twice  found  itself  without  a 
quorum,  and  had  been  thereby  compelled  to  rise 
and  report  the  fact  to  the  House.    In  the  first 
instance  there  had  been  found  within  ])rivate 
calling  distance  a  sutficient  number  of  members 
who,  though  absent  from  their  duty  of  attend- 
ance upon  the  House,  were  upon  the  alert  to 
appear  and  answer  to  their  names  to  make  a 
quorum  to  vote  against  adjourning,  and  then  to 
retire  again  to  their  amusement  or  repose.   Upon 
the  first  restoration   of  the  quorum  bv  this 
operation,  the  delegate  from  Arkansas  said  that 
if  the  committee  would  only  take  up  and  read 
the  bill,  he  would  not  urge  any  discussion  upon 
It  then,  and  would  consent  to  the  committee's 
rising,  and  resuming  the  subject  at  the  next  sit- 
ting of  the  House.    The  bill  was  accordingly 
read ;  a  motion  was  then  made  for  the  comniit- 
tee  to  rise,  and  rejected  ;  an  amendment  to  the 
bill  was  moved,  on  taking  the  question  upon 
which  there  was   no  quorum.     The  usual  ex- 
pedient of  private  call  to  stragj^ling  members  was 
found  meflectual.     A  call  of  the  House  was  or- 
dered, at  one   o'clock  in  the  morning.    This 
operation,  to  be  carried  through  f  11  its  stages, 
must  necessarily  consume  about  three  hours" of 
time,  during  which  the  House  can  do  nn  other 
business.     Upon  this  call,  after  the  names  (if  all 
the  members  had  been  twice  called  over,  and  all 
the  absentees  for  whom  any  valid  or  plausible 
excuse  was  offered  had  been  excused,  there  re- 
mained eighty-one  name  s  of  members,  who,  by 
the  rules  of  the  House,  were  to  be  taken  into 
custody  as  they  should  appear,  or  were  to  be 
sent  for,  and  taken  into  custody  wherever  thev 
might  be  found,  by  special  messengers  appointcil 
for  that  purpose.     At  this  hour  of  the  night  the 
city   of  Washington   was  ransacked  by  these 
s|)eciai    messengers,    and   the   membeis'of  the 
House  were  summoned  from  their  beo   to  be 
brought  in  custody  of  these  special  messengers, 
before  the  House,  to  answer  for  tlieii'  absence! 


ANNO  1886.    ANDREW  JACKSON.  PRESIDENT. 


637 


5  committee  roHoand  reported 
House.  Ofthenrduousncss 
±  began  at  ten  in  the  morn- 
d  was  continued  until  eleTen 
lorning,  Mr.  Adams,  wlio  re'. 
'  tJio  whole  time,  gave  this 
lent  notice  of  the  sitting; 

he  9th  of  June,  the  Ilou^e 

;o  of  the  Whole  on  the  state 
two  bills ;  one  to  fix  the 

of  the  State  of  Ohio,  and  for 
ission  of  the  State  of  .Michj. 

and  the  other  for  the  ad- 
of  Arkansas  into  the  Union 
the  Northern  boundary  of 
id  the  conditional  admission 
e  Union,  was  first  taken  un 
d  gave  rise  to  debates  which 
jne  o'clock  of  the  mornin" 
of  June  :  repeated  motions 
I  made  and  i-cjcctcd.  The 
ce  found  itself  without  a 
'.n  thereby  compelled  to  rise. 
to  the  House.  In  the  first 
been  found  within  private 
iicient  number  of  members, 
from  their  duty  of  attend- 
e,  were  upon  the  alert  to 
to  their  names  to  make  a 
ist  adjourning,  and  then  to 
uusement  or  repose.   Upon 

of  the   quorum  bv  this 
te  from  Arkansas  fsai'd  that 
Id  only  take  up  and  read 
I  urge  any  discussion  upon 
)nsent  to  the  committee's 
the  subject  at  the  next  sit- 
The  bill  was  accoixlingly 
hen  made  for  the  commit- 
ted ;  an  amendment  to  the 
taking  the  question  upon 
quorum.     The  usual  ex- 
to  stragfiling  members  was 
call  of  the  House  was  or- 
f   in  the   morning.    This 
3d  through  f  11  its  stages, 
lune  about  three  houis  of 
le  House  can  do  no  other 
call,  after  the  names  of  all 
1  twice  called  over,  and  ail 
im  any  valid  or  plausible 
id  been  excused,  there  re- 
lics of  members,  who,  by 
ie,  were  to  be  taken  into 
d  appear,  or  were  to  be 
to  custody  wherevei-  they 
cial  messengers  appointed 
this  hour  of  the  night  the 
was   ransacked  by  these 
nd   the   membeis  of  the 
:?d  from  their  bed   to  be 
these  special  messengers, 
.uswer  for  tlicii'  absence. 


Afler  hearing  the  excuses  of  two  of  these  mem- 
bers, and  the  acknowledged  no  good  reason  of 
a  third,  they  were  all  excused  in  a  mass,  without 
payment  of  fees  ;  which  foes,  to  the  amount  of 
tivo  or  three  hundred  dollars,  have  of  course 
Iteoome  a  charge  upon  the  people,  and  to  be  paid 
witli  their  money.  By  this  operation,  between 
foir  aud  five  o'clock  of  the  morning,  a  small 
qtiorum  of  the  House  was  obtained,  and,  without 
liiiy  vote  of  the  House,  the  speaker  left  the 
diair,  wliich  was  resumed  by  the  chairman  of 
the  Coraniitteo  of  the  Whole." 

Mr.  Adams  resumed  his  seat,  and  Mr.  Wise 
addressed  the  committee,  particularly  in  reply 
to  Mr.  Cushing.  Confusion,  noise  and  disorder 
became  great  in  the  Hall.  Several  members 
spoke ;  and  cries  of  "  order,"  and  "  question  " 
were  frequent.  Personal  reflections  passed,  and 
an  affair  of  honor  followed  between  two  South- 
ern members,  happily  adjusted  without  blood- 
shed. The  chairman,  Mr.  Speight,  by  great 
exertions,  had  procured  attention  to  Mr.  Hoar, 
of  Massachusetts.  Afterwards  Mr.  Adams  again 
addressed  the  committee.  Mr.  Wise  inquired 
of  him  whether  in  bis  own  opinion,  if  his  amend- 
ment should  be  adopted,  the  State  of  Arkansas 
would,  by  this  bill,  be  admitted  ?  Mr.  Adams 
answered — "  Certainly,  sir.  There  is  not  in  my 
amendment  the  shadow  of  a  restriction  proposed 
upon  tlie  State.  It  leaves  the  State,  like  all  the 
rest,  to  regulate  the  subject  of  slavery  within 
herself  by  her  own  laws."  The  motion  of  Mr. 
Adams  was  rejected,  only  thirty-two  members 
voting  for  it ;  being  not  one  third  of  the  mem- 
bers from  the  non-slaveholding  States. 

The  vote  was  taken  on  the  Michigan  bill  first, 
and  was  ordered  to  a  third  reading  by  a  vote  of 
153  to  45.    The  nays  were : 

"Messrs.  John  Quincy  Adams,  Heman  Allen, 
Jeremiah  Bailey,  John  Bell,  George  N.  Briggs, 
William  B.  Calhoun,  George  Chambers,  John 
Chambers,  Timothy  Childs,  William  Clark, 
Horace  Everett,  William  J.  Graves,  George 
Grennell,  jr.,  John  K.  Griffin,  Hiland  Hall. 
Gideon  Hard,  Benjamin  Hardin,  James  Harper, 
Abner  Hazeltine,  Samuel  Hoar,  Joseph  II.  In- 
gersoll,  Daniel  Jenifer,  Abbott  Lawrence,  Levi 
Lincoln,  Thomas  C.  Love,  Samson  Mason,  Jona- 
than McCarty,  Thomas  M.  T.  IMcKcnnan, 
Charles  F.  Mercer,  John  J.  Milligan,  Mathias 
Morris.  .James  Parker,  James  A.  'Pcarco,  Ste- 
phen C.  Phillips,  David  Potts,  jr..  John  Reed, 
.lohn  Robertson,  David  RussellJ  William  Sladc, 
John  N.  Steele,  John  Taliaferro,  Joseph  R. 
-fiderwood,  Lewis  Williams,  Sherrod  Williams, 
Henry  A.  Wise.  ' 

It  is  remarkable  that  this  list  of  nays  begins 


with  Mr.  Adams,  and  ends  with  Mr.  Wi.se— a 
proof  that  all  the  negative  votes,  were  not  given 
upon  the  same  reasons. 

The  vote  was  immediately  after  taken  on 
ordering  to  a  third  reading  the  bill  for  the  ad- 
mission of  the  State  of  Arkan.sa8  ;  which  was  so 
ordered  by  a  vote  of  143  to  50.    The  nays  were : 

"M  ra.  John  Quincy  Adams,  Heman  Allen, 
Josep-  1.  Anthony,  Jeremiah  Bailey,  William  K. 
Bond,  Nathaniel  B.  Borden,  George  N.  Briggs, 
William  B.  Calhoun,  Timothy  Childs,  William 
Clark,  Joseph  H.  Crane,  Caleb  Cushing,  Edward 
Darlington,  Ilarmer  Denny,  George  Evans, 
Horace  Everett,  Philo  C.  Fuller,  George  Gren- 
nell, jr.,  Hiland  Hall,  Gideon  Hard,  James  Harper, 
Abner  Hazeltine,  Joseph  Henderson,  William 
Hiester,  Samuel  Hoar,  William  Jackson,  Henry 
F.  Janes,  Benjamin  Jones,  John  Laporto,  Ab- 
bott Lawrence,  George  W.  Lay,  Levi  Tiincoln, 
Thomas  C.  Love,  Samson  Mason,  Jonathan 
McCarthy,  Thomas  M.  T.  McKennan,  Mathias 
Morris,  James  Parker,  Dutee  J.  Pearcc,  Stephen 
C.  Phillips,  David  Potts,  jr.,  John  Reed,  David 
Russell,  William  N.  Shinn,  William  Slade,  John 
Thomson,  Joseph  R.  Underwood,  Samuel  F. 
Vinton,  Elisha  Whittlesey,  Lewis  Williams." 

Here  again  the  beginning  and  the  ending  of 
the  list  of  voters  is  remarkable,  beginning  again 
with  Mr.  Adams,  and  terminating  with  Mr. 
Lewis  Williams,  of  North  Carolina — two  gen- 
tlemen wide  apart  in  their  political  courses,  and 
certainly  voting  on  this  occasion  on  different 
principles. 

From  the  meagreness  of  these  negative  votes, 
it  is  evident  that  the  struggle  was,  not  to  pass 
the  two  bills,  but  to  bring  them  to  a  vote.  This 
was  the  secret  of  the  arduous  session  of  twenty- 
five  hours  in  the  House.  Besides  the  public 
objections  which  clogged  their  admission — 
boundaries  in  one,  slavery  in  the  other,  alien 
voting,  and  (what  was  deemed  by  some),  revolu  • 
tionary  conduct  in  both  in  holding  conventions 
without  authority  of  Congress ;  besides  these  pu).  • 
lie  reasons,  there  was  another  cause  operating 
silently,  and  which  went  more  to  the  postpone- 
ment than  to  the  rejection  of  the  State;-.  This 
cause  was  political  and  partisan,  and  grew  out 
of  the  impending  presidential  election,  to  be 
held  before  Congress  should  meet  again.  Mr. 
Van  Buren  was  the  democratic  candidate;  Gene- 
ral William  Henry  Harrison  was  the  candidate 
of  the  opposition ;  and  Mr.  Hugh  L.  White,  of 
Tennessee,  was  brought  forward  by  a  fraction 
wliich  divided  from  the  democratic  party.  The 
new  States,  it  was  known,  would  vote,  if  uow 


638 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


admitted,  for  Mr.  Van  Burt-n ;  and  this  furnifihed 
a  reason  to  the  friends  of  the  otlier  candidates 
(even  those  friendly  to  eventual  ndmis-ion,  and 
on  which  some  of  them  were  boliuvcd  lo  act), 
to  wish  to  stiivo  off  the  admissio    to  thocnMuin-^ 
session.— The  actual  negative  vote  to  the  f\d- 
mission  of  each  State,  was  not  only  small,  but 
nearly  th(   >iime  in  number,  nini  mixed  both  as 
to  politicui  parties  and  sectional  localitii  s  ;  so 
as  to  excludi.'  tiio  idea  of  any  regular  or  consi- 
derable opposition  to  Arkansas  as  a  slave  Slate. 
The  vote  which  would  come  nearest  to  referring 
itself  to  that  cause  was  the  one  on  Mr.  Adams' 
proposed  amendment  to  the  State  constitution  ; 
and  there  tlie  whole  vote  amounted  only  to  32 ; 
and  of  the  sentiments  of  the  greater  part  of 
these,  including  Mr.  Adams  himself,  the  speech 
of  that  gentleman  must  be  considered  the  au- 
thentic exponent ;  and  will  refer  their  opposition, 
not  to  any  objection  to  the  admission  of  the 
State  as  slave-holding,  but  to  an  unwillingness 
to  appear  upon  the  record  as  assenting  to  a  con- 
stitution which  forbid  emancipation,  and  made 
slavery  perpetual.    The  number  actually  voting 
to  reject   the   State,  and  keep  her  out  of  the 
Union,  because  she  admitted  slavery,  must  have 
been  quite  small— not  more  in  pi'oportion,  pro- 
bably, than  what  it  was  in  the  Senate. 


CHAPTER  CXXXIX. 

ATTEMPTED   INQUIRY   INTO  THE   MILITAET 
ACADEMY. 

This  institution,  soon  after  its  organization 
under  the  act  of  1812,  began  to  attract  public 
attention,  as  an  establishment  unf  iendly  to  the 
rights  of  the  people,  of  questionable  constitu- 
tionality, as  being  for  the  benefit  of  the  rich 
and  influential ;  and  as  costing  an  enormous  sum 
for  each  officer  obtained  from  it  for  actual  service. 
Movements  against  it  were  soon  commenced  in 
Congress,  and  for  some  years  perseveringly  con- 
tinued, principally  under  the  lead  of  Mr.  Newton 
Cannon,  and  Mr.  ,Jolm  Cooke,  representatives 
from  the  State  of  Tennessee.  Their  speeches 
and  statements  made  considerable  impression 
Ufionthe  public  mind,  but  very  little  upon  Con- 
gress, where  no  amelioration  of  any  kind  could  be 
obtained,  eitlier  in  the  organization  of  the  in- 


stitution,   or    in   the  practical   administration 
which  had  grown  up  under  it.     In  M,p  sessinn 
of  1834— '35  these  efforts  were  renowe.i,  rhiefly 
induced  by  Mr.  Albert  Gallatin  Hawes,'  repro 
scntative  from  Kentucky,  who  moved  for,  ani 
attciirud  tho  appointment  of   a  committii 
twenty-four,  one  from  each  Sl;,te;  whicli  ir  ,ie 
a  report,  for  whicli  no  consideration  coula  !jf 
procured— not  even  tho  printing  of  the  report 
Baffled  in  their  attempts  to  get  at  their  oljectin 
the  usual  formsoflegislation,the members oppnL 
ed  to  the  institution  resorted  to  the  extraonhnary 
mode  of  attacking  its  existence  in  an  appropria- 
tion  bill:  that  is  to  say,  resisting  appropriations 
for  its  support—!)  mode  of  proceeding  cntinlv 
hope'ess  of  success,    but  justifiable,  as  tliev 
believed,  under  the  circumstances;  and  at  ail 
events  as  giving  them  an  opporf-mity  to  get 
their  objections  before  the  public. 

It  was  at  the  session  of  1835-'36,  that  this 
form  of  opposition  took  its   most   determined 
course ;  and  some  brief  notices  of  what  was  said 
then  may  still  be  of  service  in  awakening  a  spirit 
of  inquiry  in  the  country,  and  promoting  inves- 
tigations which  have   so  long  been  requested 
and  denied.      But  it  was  not  until  after  another 
attempt  had  failed  to  do  any  thing  througli  a 
committee  at  this  session  also,  that  the  ultimate 
"esourceof  an  attack  upon  tlie  ai)piopriation  for 
the  support  of  the  institution  was  resorted  to, 
Early  in  the  session  Mr.  Hawes  offered  this  re- 
solution :    "  That  a  select  committee  of  nine  lie 
aj  pointed  to  inquire  into  what  amenaments,  if 
any,  are  expedient  to  be  made  to  the  laws  re- 
lating to  the  military  Academy  at  West  Point, 
in  the  State  of  New- York;  and  also  into  the  ex- 
pediency of  modifying  the  organization  of  .^aid 
institution ;  and  also  whether  it  would  not  com- 
port with  the   public   interest  to  abolish  the 
same:  with  power  in  the  committee  to  report 
by  bill  or  otherwise."     Jlr.  Hawes,  in  support 
of  his  motion  reminded  the  House  of  the  ap- 
pointment of  the  committee  of  the  last  session, 
of  its  report,  and  his  inability  to  obtain  action 
upon  it,  or  to  procure  an  order  for  its  printing. 
The  resolution  which  he  now  submitted  varied 
but  in  one  particular  from  that  which  he  had 
offered  the  year  before,  and  that  Avas  in  tlie  re- 
duced  number   of   tho  committee   asked  for. 
Twenty-four  was  a  larger  immbcr  tlian  eould 
be  induced  to  enter  into  any  extended  or  patient 
investigation  j  and  he  now  proposed  a  commit- 


ANNO  1831,     Ais    Iltv    JACi  -'»v    PRESIDENT. 


639 


the  practical  administration 
I  up  under  il.  h.  'ho  session 
e  efforts  were  reiiewi-fl,  rliiefly 
Jbcrt  Gallatin  Hawes,  reprr- 
i-ntucky,  who  moved  for,  nn-i 
:>intment  uf  a  comniittii  ■ 
from  each  State ;  which  ir  de 
;h  no  consideration  coiila  f* 
m  the  printing  of  the  report. 
tempts  to  get  at  their  ohjcct  in 
legislation,  the  members  opt.,. 
n  resorted  to  the  extraonhuury 

its  existence  in  an  iipproprin- 
to  say,  resisting  appropriations 

mode  of  proceediuu  cntiivly 
'ss,  but  justifiable,  as  tlicy 
le  circumstances ;  ami  at  all 
them  an  opportunity  to  get 
ifore  the  public, 
lession  of  1835-'3f),  that  this 
1  took  its  most  ilctermined 
brief  notices  of  what  was  said 
)f  service  in  awakening  a  spirit 
ouutry,  and  promoting  invcs- 
avc  so  long  been  reqiic^tcil 
it  was  not  until  after  anotlur 
1  to  do  any  thing  through  a 
session  also,  that  the  ultimate 
3k  upon  tiie  ai)propriation  for 

institution  was  resorted  to. 
n  Mr.  Hawes  offered  this  r^ 
select  committee  of  nine  lie 
re  into  what  amendments,  if 

to  be  made  to  the  la\v.«  rc- 
iry  Academy  at  West  Point, 
r-York;  and  also  into  the  ex- 
'ing  the  organization  of  said 
<o  whether  it  would  not  com- 
alic  interest  to  abolish  the 
in  the  committee  to  report 
e."  Mr.  Hawes,  in  support 
inded  the  House  of  the  .np- 
jmmittoe  of  the  last  session, 
lis  inability  to  obtain  action 
iro  an  order  for  its  printing. 
•h  he  now  submitted  varied 
lar  from  that  which  he  had 
fore,  and  that  was  in  the  re- 

thc  committee  asked  for. 

larger  iminbor  than  c-ouhi 
into  any  extended  or  patient 
he  now  proposed  a  commit' 


,  e  of  line  only.  Hia  solution  was  on'y  one 
uf  in<;niry.  to  ob'ain  a  report  for  the  infor- 
mation of  the  p.  jple,  and  the  action  of  the 
House — a  Hpecies  of  rcsdlution  usually  gru  i 
us  a  matter  of  course ;  and  ho  hoped  there  woi  I 
he  no  objection  to  bis  motion.  ,ili.  Wi>  dw«  il, 
, I  New- York,  objected  to  the  appointmeii  ^f 
a  select  committee,  and  tl  mght  the  inquiry 
ought  tw  go  to  the  standinp,  committee  on  mili- 
tary affaii  .  Mr.  F.  0.  J.  Smith,  of  'laine, 
\nshe(l  liear  somi  reason  a;  igned  for  thi.« 
'II  (t  seemel  to  him  that  a  special  com- 
uu  .c  ui._lit  to  bu  raised ;  but  if  the  friends  of 
ihe  institution  were  fearful  of  a  m  kct  commit- 
tee, and  wuuld  assign  tliMt  fear  as  a  motive  for 
I'fii-ing  the  standing  committee  he  would 
withdraw  his  objection.  Mr.  Briggs,  of  Massa- 
chusetts, believed  the  subject  was  already  re- 
forrod  to  the  military  committee  in  the  I'oneral 
n  !ice  to  that  committee  of  .u!  that  related 
in  tlu'  Presideiii'  message  to  thim  Academy; 
aul  so  bt  I  ,  vin  made  it  a  ponit  of  order  for 

the  Sp«i^  r  tu  decide,  whether  the  ion  of 
Mr.  Hawes  <   aid  be  entertained.    1'ii  ker, 

Mr,?"''  '1  '•  that  the  motion  waf  ,„  "i  in- 
quiry; ,1  considered  the  reference  of  the 
President's  message  as  not  applying  to  the  case. 
Mr.  Briggs  adhered  to  his  belief  that  the  subject 
ought  to  go  to  a  standing  committee.  The  com- 
mittee had  made  an  elaborate  report  at  the  last 
session,  which  was  now  on  the  files  of  the  House ; 
and  if  gentlemen  wished  information  from  it, 
tliey  could  order  it  to  be  printed.  Mr.  John 
Reynolds,  of  Hlinois,  said  it  was  astonishing 
that  members  of  this  House,  friends  of  this  in- 
stitution, were  so  strenuous  in  their  opposition 
to  investigation.  If  it  was  an  institution  founded 
on  a  proper  basis,  and  conducted  on  proper  and 
republican  principles,  they  had  nothing  to  fear 
from  investigation ;  if  otherwise  the  people  had : 
and  the  great  dread  of  investigation  portended 
something  Avrong.  His  constituents  were  dis- 
satisfied with  this  Academy,  and  expected  him 
to  represent  them  fairly  in  doing  his  part  to  re- 
form, or  to  abolish  it ;  and  he  should  not  dis- 
appoint them.  The  member  from  Massachu.sotts, 
Mr.  Briggs,  he  "-..id,  had  endeavored  to  stifle 
this  inf|uiry,  b  r  making  it  a  point  of  order  to  be 
decided  by  the  Speaker ;  which  augured  badly 
for  the  integrity  of  the  institution.  Failing 
iii,that  attempt  to  stifle  inquiry,  he  had  joined 
the  member  from  New-York,  Mr.  Wardwell, 


in  the  attempt  to  send  it  to  a  committee  where 
no  inquiry  would  bo  made,  and  in  violation  of 


n 


ds,had 

tarj 

all, 

astitu- 

inenibor 

inquiry ; 


parliamentiir_y  practice.  He,  Mr.  Re 
great  respect  for  the  members  ol  u 
comui  'eo;  but  .some  of  them,  and 
had  cxpi  ~?*ed  an  opinion  in  favor  ol  i 
tion.  Neitlier  the  chairman,  nor  an\ 
of  the  committee  had  asked  for  this 
it  was  the  law  of  parliament,  and  also  of  rea.son 
ind  ommon  sense,  that  all  inquiries  should  go 
to  committees  disposed  to  make  them;  and  it 
was  without  precedent  or  justification,  and  in- 
jurious to  the  fair  conduc''g  of  business,  to  take 
an  inquiry  out  of  the  h.aids  of  n  nember  that 
moves  it,  and  is  responsible  ftr 


prosecution,  and  refer  it  to 
against  it,  or  indiflerent  toi 
gets  up,  and  moves  an  in 
branch  of  the  public  servit 
duct  of  any  ofBcer,  he  in( 
to  the  moral  sense  of  the 


^I'f'quato 

that  is 

<  ;k  member 

hing  any 

iie  ofTioial  con- 

.  responsibility 

House  and  (  f  the 


country.  He  assumes  that  there  is  something 
wrong — that  he  can  i1nd  it  out  if  he  has  a 
chance ;  and  ho  is  entitled  to  a  chance,  both  for 
his  own  sake  and  the  country  ;  and  not  i  nly  to 
have  his  committee,  but  to  be  its  chairman,  and 
to  have  a  majority  of  the  members  favorable  to 
its  object.  If  it  were  otherwise  niemliers  would 
have  but  poor  encouragement  to  move  inquiries 
for  the  public  service.  Cut  off  himself  from  the 
performance  of  his  work,  an  indifTercnt  or  pre- 
judiced committee  may  neglect  inquiry,  or  per- 
vert it  into  defence ;  and  subject  the  mover  to 
the  imputation  of  preferring  false  and  frivolous 
motions;  and  so  discredit  him,  whilq,  injuring 
the  public,  and  sheltering  abuse.  Under  a 
just  report  he  believed  the  Academy  would 
wither  and  die.  Under  its  present  organiza- 
tion it  is  a  mon  poly  for  the  gratuitous 
education  of  the  y-'  is  and  con ' lections  of  the  rich 
and  influential-  to  be  afterwards  preferred  for 
army  appointments,  or  even  for  civil  appoint- 
ments ;  and  to  be  always  provided  for  as  the  child- 
ren of  the  government,  getting  not  only  gratuitous 
education,  but  a  preference  in  appointments.  A 
private  soldier,  though  a  young  David,  slaying 
Goliath,  could  get  no  appointment  in  our  urmy. 
He  must  stand  back  for  a  West-Pointer,  even  the 
most  inefiBcient,  who  through  favor,  or  driving, 
had  gone  through  his  course  and  got  his  diplo- 
ma. Promotion  was  the  stimulus  and  the  re- 
ward to  merit.    We,  members  of  Congress,  rise 


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640 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


from  the  ranks  of  the  people  when  we  come 
here,  and  have  to  depend  upon  merit  to  get  here. 
Why  not  let  the  same  rule  apply  in  the  army, 
and  give  a  chance  to  merit  there,  instead  of  giv- 
ing all  the  offices  to  those  who  may  have  no 
turn  for  war,  who  only  want  support,  and  get 
it  by  public  patronage,  and  favor,  because  they 
have  official  friends  or  parents  ?     The  report 
made  at  the  last  session  looks   bad  for  the 
Academy.    Let  any  one  read  it,  and  he  will  feel 
that  there  is  something  wrong.    If  the  friends 
of  the  institution  would  suffer  that  report  to  be 
printed,  and  let  it  go  to  the  people,  it  would  be 
a  great  satisfaction.     Mr.  Wardwell  said  the 
last  Congress  had  refused  to  prin*  the  report ; 
and  asked  why  it  was  that  these  complaints 
against  the  Academy  came  from  the  "West? 
Was  it  because  the  Western  engineers  wanted 
the  employment  on  the  roads  and  bridges  in 
place  of  the  regular  officers.    Mr.  Hannegan,  of 
Indiana,  said  he  was  a  member  of  the  military 
committee  which  made  the  report  at  the  last 
session,  and  which  Mr.  Wardwell  had  reminded 
them  the  House  refused  to  order  to  be  printed. 
And  why  that  refusal  ?    Because  the  friends  of 
the  Academy  took  post  behind  the  two-thirds 
rule  5  and  the  order  for  printing  could  not  be 
obtained  because  two-thirds  of  the  House  could 
not  be  got  to  suspend  the  rule,  even  for  one  hour 
and  that  the  morning  hour.    The  friends  of  the 
Academy  rallied,  he  said,  to  prevent  the  suspen- 
sion of  the  rule,  and  to  prevent  publicity  to  the 
report.    Mr.  Hamer,  of  Ohio,  said,  why  oppose 
this  inquiry?    The  people  desire  it.     A  large 
portion  of  them  believed  the  Academy  to  be  an 
aristocratical    institution,  which  ought    to  be 
abolished ;  others  believe  it  to  be  republican,  and 
that  it  ought  to  be  cherished.    Then  why  not 
inquire,  and  find  out  which  is  right,  and  legis- 
late accordingly  ?    Jlr.  Abijah  Mann,  of  New- 
York,  said  there  was  a  considerable  interest  in 
the  States  surrounding  this  institution,  and  he 
had  seen  a  strong  disposition  in  the  members 
coming  from  those  States  to  defend  it  against 
all  charges.    He  was  a  member  of  the  committee 
of  twenty-four  at  the  last  session,  and  concurred 
partially  in  the  report  which  was  made,  which 
was,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  an  elaborate  cvamina- 
tion  of  the  institution  from  its  foundation.     lie 
knew  that  in  doing  so  he  had  incurred  some 
censure  from  a  part  of  his  own  State ;  but  he 
never  had  flinched,  and  never  would  flinch,  from 


the  performance  of  any  duty  here  which  he  felt 
it  incumbent  upon  him  to  discharge.    He  had 
found  much  to  censure,  and  belie  red  if  tiie 
friends  of  the  institution  would  take  the  trouble 
to  investigate  it  as  the  committee  of  tweuty-four 
had  done,  they  would  find  more  to  censure  in 
the  principle  of  the  establishment  than  they 
were  aware  of.    There  were  abuses  in  this  in- 
stitution,  developed  in  that  report,  of  a  character 
that  would  not  find,  he  presumed,  a  single  ad- 
vocate upon  that  floor  when  they  came  to  be 
published.    He  believed  the  principle  of  the  in- 
stitution was  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  prin- 
ciple of  all  other  institutions;  but  he  was  not 
for  exterminating  it.    Reformation  was  his  ob- 
ject.   It  was  the  only  avenue  by  which  the 
people  of  the  country  could  approach  the  offices 
of  the  army— the  only  gateway  by  which  they 
could  be  reached.    The  principle  was  wrong, 
and  the  practice  bad.    We  saw  individuals  con 
tinually  pressing  the  government  for  admission 
into  this  institution,  to  be  educated  professedly 
for  the  military  service,  but  very  frequently,  and 
too  generally  with  the  secret  design  in  their 
hearts  to  devote  themselves  to  the  civil  pursuits 
of  society ;  and  this  was  a  fraud  upon  the  gov- 
ernment, and  a  poor  way  for  the  future  ofBcer  to 
begin  his  educational  life.    When  the  report  of 
the  twenty-four  came  to  be  printed,  as  he  hoped 
it  would,  it  would  be  seen  that  this  institution 
cost  the  government  by  far  too  much  for  the 
education  of  these  young  men.  Whether  it  sprung 
from  abuse  or  not,  such  was  the  fact  when  they 
looked  at  utility  connected  with  the  expenditure. 
If  he  recollected  the  report  aright  it  proved  that 
not  more  than  two  out  of  five  wh  j  entered  the 
institution  remained  there  long  enough  to  gradu- 
ate ;  and  not  two  more  out  of  five  graduates 
who  entered  the  army.    If  his  memory  served 
him  right  the  report  would  show  that  every 
graduate  coming  from  that  institution  in  the  last 
ten  years,  had  cost  the  United  States  more  than 
five  thousand  dollars  ;  and  previously  a  much 
larger  sum;  and  he  believed  within  one  year 
the  graduates  had  cost  upwards  of  thirty  thou- 
sand dollars.     If  there  be  any  truth  in  these 
statements  the  institution  must  be  niismpuaged, 
or  misconducted,  and  ought  to  be  thoroughly 
investigated  and  reformed.    And  he  appealed 
to  the  friends  of  the  Academy  to  withdraw  their 
opposition,  and  suffer  the  report  to  be  printed. 
and  the  select  committee  to  be  raised ;  but  he 


ANNO  1886.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


iny  duty  here  which  he  felt 
him  to  discharge.  He  had 
isure,  and  belie  red  if  tlie 
tion  would  take  the  trouble 
le  committee  of  tweuty-four 
i  find  more  to  censure  in 
1  establishment  than  they 
ere  were  abuses  in  this  in- 
n  that  report,  of  a  character 
,  he  presumed,  a  single  ad- 
3or  when  they  came  to  be 
ved  the  principle  of  the  in- 
inconsistent  with  the  prin- 
ititutions ;  but  he  was  not 

Reformation  was  his  ob- 
ily  avenue  by  which  tiie 
'•  could  approach  the  offices 
ily  gateway  by  which  they 
The  principle  was  wrong, 

We  saw  individuals  con- 
government  for  admission 
to  be  educated  professedly 
ce,  but  very  fi-equently,  and 
he  secret  design  in  their 
iselves  to  the  civil  pursuits 
ivas  a  fraud  upon  the  gov- 
ray  for  the  future  officer  to 
life.    When  the  report  of 
to  be  printed,  as  he  hoped 
seen  that  this  institution 
by  far  too  much  for  the 
ngmen.  Whether  it  sprung 
ch  was  the  fact  when  they 
ictcd  with  the  expenditure, 
eport  aright  it  proved  that 
it  of  five  wh  J  entered  the 
here  long  enough  to  gradu- 
are  out  of  five  graduates 
y.    If  his  memory  served 
would   show  that  every 
that  institution  in  the  last 
3  United  States  more  than 
;  and  previously  a  much 
believed  within  one  year 
t  upwards  of  thirty  thou- 
re  be  any  truth  in  these 
tion  must  be  niisni,''ijaged, 
ought  to  be  thoroughly 
[•med.    And  he  appealed 
cademv  to  withdraw  their 


641 


appealed  in  vain.  The  opposition  was  kept  up, 
and  tlie  two-thirds  rule  again  resorted  to,  and 
effectually  used  to  balk  the  friends  of  inquiry. 
It  was  after  this  second  failure  to  get  at  the 
subject  regularly  through  a  committee,  and  a 
published  report,  that  the  friends  of  inquiry 
resorted  to  the  last  alternative — that  of  an  at- 
tack upon  the  appropriation.  The  opportunity 
for  this  was  not  presented  until  near  the  end  of 
the  session,  when  Mr.  Franklin  Pierce,  of  New 
Hampshire,  delivered  a  well-considered  and  well- 
reasoned  speech  against  the  institution,  bottomed 
on  facts,  and  sustained  by  conclusions,  in  the 
highest  degree  condemnatory  of  the  Academy ; 
and  which  will  be  given  m  the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER    CXL. 

MILITARY  ACADEMY--SPEECH  OF  ME.  PIERCE. 

"Mr.  Chairman  :— An  attempt  was  made  duriner 
the  last  Congress  to  bring  the  subject  of  the  re- 
organization of  the  Military  Academy  before  the 
country,  through  a  report  of  a  committee.  The 
same  thing  h..s  been  done  during  the  present 
session,  again  and  again,  but  all  eflbrts  have 
proved  alike  unsuccessful !  Still,  you  do  not 
cease  to  call  for  appropriations ;  you  require  the 
people's  money  for  the  support  of  the  institu- 
!on,  while  you  refuse  them  the  light  necessary 
to  enable  them  to  judge  of  the  propriety  of 
your  annual  requisitions.  Whether  the  amount 
proposed  to  be  appropriated,  by  the  bill  upon 
yom  table,  is  too  great  or  too  small,  or  precisely 
sutticient  to  cover  the  current  expenses  of  the 
institution,  is  a  matter  into  which  I  will  not  at 
present  inquire ;  but  I  shall  feel  bound  to  oppose 
the  bill  in  every  stage  of  its  progress.  I  cannot 
vote  a  single  dollar  until  the  resolution  of  in- 
quiry, presented  by  my  friend  from  Kentucky 

hJii.  fl  !^'/''.*  ''°  '"''■^^  ^"y  ^°  ^'he  session. 
Shall  be  first  taken  up  and  disposed  of.  I  am 
aware,  sir,  that  it  will  be  said,  because  I  have 
r  *u  A.'?"®  declaration  on  a  former  occa- 
.  ion,  that  this  is  not  the  proper  time  to  discuss 
the  ments  of  the  institution;  that  the  bill  is  to 
make  provision  for  expenses  already  incurred 
n.  part ;  and  whatever  opinions  may  bo  enter- 
toned  upon_  the  necessity  of  a  reorganization, 

he  appropriation  must  be  made.  I  say  to  pen- 
iemen  who  are  opposed  to  the  principles  of  the 

^^!';  i°"'u''"'^  *P  *^°^«  ''''^o  ^«"eve  that  abuses 
,u  f '  ^'^"^}^  ouglit  to  be  exposed  and  corrected. 

onmrf ''•/'  f ''''.''  ""''^y  *'°^«'  '^"'i  tliis  the  only 
opportunity  during  the  present  session,  to  at- 

relfK^K"?)""*'-'}'^*^^*'"'^^*  t^'^y^'i"  steadily 
resist  the  bill  until  its  friends  shall  find  it  neccs- 

VoL.  I. — 41 


sary  to  take  up  the  resolution  of  inquiry,  and 
give  it  its  proper  reference. 

"Sir,  why  has  this  investigation  been  resist- 
ed ?    Is  It  not  an  institution  which  has  already 
cost  this  country  more  than  three  millions  of 
dollars,  for  which  you  propose,  in  this  very  bill 
an  appropriation  of  more  than  one  hundred  and 
thirty  thousand  dollars,  and  which,  at  the  same 
time,  in  the  estimation  of  a  large  portion  of  the 
citizens  of  this  Union,  has  failed,  eminently 
P*i'ed,  to  fulfil  the  objects  for  which  it  was  es- 
tablished, of  suflicient  interest  and  importance 
to  claim  the  consideration  of  a  committee  of  this 
House,  and  of  the  House  itself?    I  should  have 
expected  the  resolution  of  the  gentleman  from 
Kentucky  (Mr.  Ilawes),  merely  proposing  an 
inquiry,  to  pass  without  Oi^position,  had  I  not 
witnessed  the  strong  sensation,  nay,  excitement 
that  was  produced  here,  at  the  last  session,  by 
the  presentation  of  his  yet  unpublished  repon. 
Sir,  if  you  would  have  an  exhibition  of  highly 
excited  feeling,  it  requires  little  observation  to 
learn  that  you  may  produce  it  at  any  moment 
by  attacking  such  laws  as  confer  exclusive  and 
gratuitous  privileges.    The  adoption  of  tue  re- 
solution of  inquiry,  at  the  last  session  of  Con- 
gress, and  the  appointment  of  a  select  commit- 
tee under  it,  were  made  occasion  of  newspaper 
paragraphs,  which,  in  tone  of  lamentation  and 
direful  prediction,  rivalled  the    most    hi<Thly 
wrought  specimens  of  the  panic  era.    One  of 
those  articles  I  have  preserved,  and  have  before 
me.    It  commences  thus :  '  The  architects  of 
rvtn.— This  name  has  been  appropriately  given 
to  those  who  are  leading  on  the  base,  the  igno- 
rant, and  the  unprincipled,  in  a  remorseless  war 
upon  all  the  guards  and  defences  of  society.' 

"  I  introduce  it  here  merely  to  show  what  are 
in  certain  quarters,  considered  ttie  guards  and 
defences  of  society.    After  various  compliments 
similar  to  that  just  cited,  the  article  proceeds :' 
All  this  is  dangerous  as  novel,  and  the  ulti- 
mate results  cannot  be  contemplated  without 
anxiety.    If  this  spirit  extends,  who  can  check 
It  ?    «  Down  with  the  Bank ; "  «  down  with  the 
Mihtaiy  Academy ;""  down  with  the  Judici- 
ary;" "  down  with  the  Senate ;"  will  be  follow- 
ed by  watchwords  of  a  worse  character.'    Here 
Mr.  Chairman,  you  have  the  United  States  Bank 
first,  and  then  the  Military  Academy,  as  the 
guards  and  defences  of  your  country.     If  it  be 
so,  you  are,  indeed,  feebly  protected.     One  of 
these  guards  and  defences  is  already  tottering 
And  who  are  the  '  architects  of  ruin '  that  have 
resolved  its  downfall  ?    Are  they  the  base  the 
Ignorant,  and  the  unprincipled  ?    No,  sir.    The 
most  pure  and  patriotic  portion  of  your  com- 
munity: the  staid,  industrious,  intelligent  far- 
mers and  mechanics,  through  a  public  servant 
who  has  met  responsibilities  and  seconded  their 
wishes,  with  equal  jntropidity  and  sueecss,  in 
the  camp  and  in  the  cabinet,  have  accomplished 
this  great  work.     Jfr.  Chairman,  there  is  no 
real  danger  to  be  apprehended  from  this  much- 
dreaded  levellmg  principle. 


642 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


"  From  the  middling  interest  you  have  derived 
your  most  able  and  efficient  support  in  the  most 
gloomy  and  trying  periods  of  your  history.  And 
what  have  they  asked  in  return  ?  Nothing  but 
the  common  advantages  and  blessings  of  a  free 
government,  administered  under  equal  and  im- 
partial laws.  They  are  responsible  for  no  por- 
tion of  your  legislation,  Avhich,  through  its  par- 
tial and  unjust  operation,  has  shaken  this  Union 
to  its  centre.  That  has  had  its  origin  in  a  dif- 
ferent quarter,  sustained  by  wealth,  the  wealth 
of  monopolies,  and  the  power  and  influence 
which  wealth,  thus  accumulated  and  disposed, 
never  fails  to  control.  Indeed,  sir,  while  far 
from  demanding  at  your  hands  special  favors 
for  themselves,  they  have  not,  in  my  judgment, 
been  sufficiently  jealous  of  all  legislation  confer- 
ring exclusive  and  gratuitous  privileges. 

"  That  the  law  creating  the  Institu  tion,  of  which 
I  am  now  speaking,  and  the  practice  under  it,  is 
strongly  marked  by  both  these  characteristics,  is 
apparent  at  a  single  glance.  It  is  gratuitous, 
because  those  who  are  so  fortunate  as  to  obtain 
admission  there,  receive  their  education  without 
any  obligation,  except  such  as  a  sense  of  honor 
may  impose,  to  return,  either  by  service  or  other- 
wise, the  slightest  equivalent.  It  is  exclusive, 
inasmuch  as  only  one  youth,  out  of  a  population 
of  more  than  47,000,  can  participate  in  its  ad- 
vantages at  the  same  time  ;  and  those  who  are 
successful  are  admitted  at  an  age,  when  their 
characters  cannot  have  become  developed,  and 
with  very  little  knowledge  of  their  adapta- 
tion, mental  or  physical,  for  military  life.  The 
system  disregards  one  of  those  great  principles 
which,  carried  into  practice,  contributed,  per- 
haps, more  than  any  other  to  render  the  arms 
of  Napoleon  invincible  for  so  many  years.  Who 
does  not  percieve  that  it  destroys  the  very  life 
and  spring  of  mihtary  ardor  and  enthusiasm, 
by  utterly  foreclosing  all  hope  of  promotion  to 
the  soldier  and  non-commissioned  officer  ?  How- 
ever meritorious  may  be  his  service.-!,  however 
pre-eminent  may  become  his  qualifications  for 
command,  all  is  unavailing.  The  portcullis  is 
dropped  between  him  and  preferment ;  the  wis- 
dom of  your  laws  having  provided  another  cri- 
terion than  that  of  admitted  courage  and  con- 
duct, by  which  to  determine  who  are  worthy  of 
command.  They  have  made  an  Academy,  where 
a  certain  number  of  young  gentlemen  are  edu- 
cated annually  at  the  public  expense,  and  to 
which  there  is,  of  consequence,  a  general  rush, 
not  so  much  from  sentiments  of  patriotism  and 
a  taste  for  military  life,  as  from  motives  less 
worthy — the  avenue,  and  the  only  avenue,  to 
rank  in  your  army.  These  are  truths,  Mr. 
Chairman,  which  no  man  will  pretend  to  deny ; 
and  I  leave  it  for  this  House  and  the  nation  to 
determine  whether  they  do  not  exhibit  a  spirit 
of  exclusiveness,  alike  at  variance  with  the  ge- 
nius of  your  government,  and  the  efficiency  and 
chivalrous  character  of  your  military  force. 

"  Sir,  no  man  can  feel  more  deeply  interested 
in  the  army,  or  entertain  a  higher  regard  for  it, 


than  myself.  My  earliest  recollections  connect 
themselves  fondly  and  gratefully  with  tlic  namw 
of  the  orave  men  who,  relinquishing  the  quiet 
and  security  of  civil  life,  were  staking  their  ail 
upon  the  defence  of  their  country's  rights  ami 
honor.  One  of  the  most  distinguished  amon" 
that  noble  band  now  occupies  and  honors  a  mi 
upon  this  floor.  It  is  not  fit  that  I  should  j.i- 
dulge  in  expressions  of  personal  respect  and  ad- 
miration, which  I  am  sure  would  find  a  heaity 
response  in  the  bosom  of  every  member  of  tliis 
committee.  T  allude  to  him  merely  to  express 
the  hope  that,  on  some  occasion,  we  may  iiave, 
upon  this  subject,  the  benefit  of  his  experience 
and  observation.  And  if  his  opinions  shall  dif- 
fer from  my  own,  I  promise  carefully  to  review 
every  step  by  which  I  have  been  led  to  my  ])re- 
sent  conclusions.  You  cannot  mistake  me,  ,sir; 
I  refer  to  the  hero  of  Erie.  I  have  declared 
myself  the  friend  of  the  army.  Satisfy  mo,  tliea, 
what  measures  are  best  calculated  to  render  it 
effective  and  what  all  desire  it  to  be,  and  I  go 
for  the  proposition  with  my  whole  heart. 

"  But  I  cannot  believe  that  the  Military  Aca- 
demy, as  at  present  organized,  ia  calculated  to 
accomplish  this  desirable  end.  It  may,  and  un- 
doubtedly does,  send  forth  into  the  country 
much  military  knowledge;  but  the  advantage 
which  your  army,  or  that  which  will  constitute 
your  army  in  time  of  need,  derives  from  it,  is  by 
no  means  commensurate  with  the  expense  you 
incur.  Here,  Mr.  Chairman,  permit  me  to  say 
tkat  I  deny,  utterly,  the  expediency,  and  the 
right  to  educate,  at  the  public  expense,  any 
number  of  young  men  who,  on  the  completion  o.f 
their  education,  are  not  to  form  a  portion  of  your 
military  force,  but  to  return  to  the  walks  of 
j)rivate  life.  Such  was  never  the  operation  of 
the  Military  Academy,  until  after  the  law  of 
1H)2;  and  the  doctrine,  so  far  as  I  have  been 
abiu  to  ascertain,  was  first  formally  announced 
by  a  distinguished  individual,  at  this  time  suffi- 
ciently jealous  of  the  exercise  of  executive  pa- 
tronage, and  greatly  alarmed  by  what  he  con- 
ceives to  be  the  tendencies  of  this  gorernincnf 
to  centralism  and  consolidation.  It  may  be 
found  in  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War, 
communicated  to  Congress  in  1819. 

"  If  it  shall,  upon  due  consideration,  receive 
the  sanction  of  Congress  and  the  country,  I  can 
sec  no  limit  to  the  exercise  of  power  and  gov- 
ernment patronage.  Follow  out  the  princi- 
ple, and  where  will  it  lead  you  ?  You  conf'r 
upon  the  national  government  the  .absolute 
guardianship  of  literature  and  science,  military 
and  civil ;  you  need  not  stop  at  military  science; 
any  one,  in  the  wide  range  of  sciences,  becomes 
at  once  a  legitimate  and  constitutional  object  of 
yoiir  patronage ;  you  are  confined  by  no  limit 
but  your  discretion ;  you  have  no  check  but  your 
own  good  pleasure.  If  you  may  afford  instruc- 
tion, at  the  public  expense,  in  the  languages,  in 
philosophy,  in  chemistry,  and  in  the  exact  sci- 
ences, to  young  gentlemen  who  are  under  no 
obligation  to  enter  the  service  of  their  country, 


ANNO  1836.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


643 


:e;  but  the  advantam 


but  are,  in  fact,  destined  for  civil  life,  why  may 
you  not,  by  parity  of  reasoning,  provide  the 
means  of  a  legal,  or  tlicolop;ieal,  or  medical  edu- 
ration,on  tlie  ground  tiiat  the  recipients  of  your 
bounty  will  carry  forth  a  fund  of  useful  know- 
ledge, that  may,  at  some  time,  under  some  cir- 
cumstances, produce  a  beneficial  inlluence,  and 
promote  '  the  general  welfare  ? '     Sir,  I  fear  that 
even  some  of  us  may  live  to  see  the  day  when 
this  'general  welfare'  of  your  constitution  will 
leave  us  little  ground  to  boast  of  a  government 
of  limited  powers.     But  I  did  not  propose  at 
this  time  to  discuss  the  abstract  question  of 
constitutional  right.    I  will  regard  the  expedi- 
ency alone ;  and,  whether  the  power  exist  or  not 
its  exercise,  in  an  institution  like  this,  is  subver- 
sive of  the  only  principle  upon  which  a  school 
conducted  at  the  public  expense,  can  be  made 
profitable  to  the  public  service— that  of  making 
an  admission  into  your  school,  and  an  education 
there,  secondary  to  an  appointment  in  the  army. 
Sir,  this   distinctive  feature  characterized   all 
your  legislation,  and  all  executive  recommenda- 
tions, down  to  1810. 

•'I  may  as  well  notice  here,  as  at  any  time 
an  answer  which  has  always  been  ready  when 
objections  have  been  raised  to  this  institution— 
an  answer  which,  if  it  has  not  proved  quite  sa- 
tisfactory to  minds  that  yield  their  assent  more 
readily  to  strong  reasons  than  to  tho  -ithority 
of  great  names,  has  yet,  unquestion  ..jiy,  exer- 
cised a  powerful  influence  upon  the  public  mind. 
It  has  not  gone  forth  upon  the  authority  of  aii 
individual  merely,  but  has  been  published  to  the 
world  with  the  approbation  of  a  committee  of  a 
former  Congress.    It  is  this :  that  the  institu- 
tion has  received,  at  different  times,  the  sanc- 
tion of  such  names  as  AVashington,  Adams,  and 
Jefferson ;  and  this  has  been  claimed  with  si, 
boldness,  and  in  a  form  so  imposing,  as  almc 
to  forbid  any  question  of  its  accuracy.     If  this 
were  correct,  in  point  of  fact,  it  would  be  enti- 
tled to  the  most  profound  respect  and  considera- 
tion, and  no  change  should  be  urged  against  the 
weight  of  such  authority,  without  mature  delib- 
eration, and  thorough  conviction  of.  expediency. 
Ufortunately  for  the  advocates  of  the  institu- 
tion, and  fortunately  for  the  interests  of  the 
country,  this  claim  cannot  be  sustained  by  re- 
ference to  executive  documents,  from  the  first 
report  of  General  Knox,  in  1790,  to  the  close 
01  Mr.  Jefferson's  administration. 

■  The  error  has  undoubtedly  innocently  oc- 
curred, by  confounding  the  Military  Academy 
»t  West  Point  as  it  was,  with  the  Military  Aca- 
tonyatWest  Point  as  it  is.  The  report  of 
■:^ecretary  Knox,  just  referred  to,  is  character- 
'z^'u  by  this  distinctive  feature— that  the  corps 
proposed  to  be  organized  were  'to  serve  as  an 
«ual  defence  to  the  community,'  and  to  consti- 
"ite  a  part  of  the  active  military  force  of  the 
■tiiitry,  -to  serve  in  the  field,  or  on  the  frontier, 
or  in  the  fortifications  of  the  sea-coast,  as  the 
ommander-in-chief  may  direct.'  At  a  later  pe- 
"00,  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War  (Mr. 


McIIenry),  communicated  to  Congress  in  1800 
altliougli  It  proposed  a  plan  for  military  schools' 
dittenng  m  many  essential  particulars  from  those 
which  had  preceded  it,  still  retained  the  distinc- 
tive feature  just  named  as  characterizing  there- 
port  of  General  Knox. 

"With  regard  to  educating  young  men  gratu- 
itously, which,  whatever  may  have  been  the 
design,  I  am  prepared  to  show  it;  the  practical 
operation  of  the  Academy,  as  at  present  organ- 
ized, I  cannot,  perhaps,  exhibit  more  clearly  the 
sentiments  of  the  Executive  at  that  early  day 
urgent  as  was  the  occasion,  and  strong  as  must 
have  been  the  desire,  to  give  strength  and  effi- 
ciency to  the  military  force,  than  by  reading  one 
or  two  paragrrphs  from  a  supplementary  report 
ot  becretary  McHenry,  addressed  to  the  chair- 
man of  the  Committee  of  Defence,  on  the  31st 
January,  1800. 

"  The  Secretary  says :  'Agreeably  to  the  plan 
ot  the  Military  Academy,  the  directors  thereof 
are  to  be  officers  taken  from  the  army ;  conse- 
quently, no  expense  will  be  incurred  by  such 
anointments.    The  plan  also  contemplates  that 
officers  of  the  army,  cadets,  and  non-commis- 
sioned officers,  shall  receive  instruction  ia  the 
I  Academy.    As  the  rations  and  fuel  wliich  they 
are  entitled  to  in  the  army  will  suffice  for  them 
in  the  Academy,  no  additional  expense  will  be 
required  for  objects  of  maintenance  while  there. 
The  expenses  of  servants  and  certain  incidental 
expenses  relative  to  the  police  and  administra- 
tion, may  be  defrayed  by  those  who  shall  be 
admitted,  out  of  their  pay  and  emoluments.' 

"  You  will  observe,  Mr.  Chairman,  from  the 
phraseology  of  the  report,  that  all  were  to  con- 
I  stitute  a  part  of  your  actual  military  force ;  and 
^    lat  whatever  additional    charges  should  be 
JO-  (•>   i,  were  to  be  defrayed  by  those  who 
'"'g'l'^  i"«3ive  the  advantages  of  inctruction. 
These  were  provisions,  just,  as  they  are  impor- 
tant.   Let  me  call  your  attention  for  a  moment 
to  a  report  of  Col.  Williams,  which  was  made 
the  subject  of  a  special  message,  communicated 
to  Congress  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  on  the  18th  of 
March,  1808.    The  extract  I  propose  to  read,  as 
sustaming  fully  the  views  of  Mr.  McHenry  upon 
this  point,  is  in  the  follow  ing  words :    '  It  might 
be  well  to  make  the  plan  upon  such  a  scale  as 
not  only  to  take  in  the  minor  officers  of  the  navy 
but  also  any  youths  from  any  of  the  States  who 
might  wish  for  such  an  education,  whether  de- 
signed for  the  army  or  navy,  or  neither,  and  let 
them  be  assessed  to  the  value  of  their  education, 
which  might  form  a  fund  for  extra  or  contingent 
expenses.'    Sir,  these  are  the  true  doctrines  upon 
this  subject;  doctrines  worthy  of  the  adminis- 
tration under  which  they  were  promulgated, 
and  in  accordance  with  the  views  of  statesmen  iii 
the  earlier  and  purer  days  of  the  Republic.     Give 
to  the  officers  of  your  army  the  highest  advan- 
tages for  perfection  in  all  the  branches  of  military 
science,  and  let  those  advantages  be  open  to  all 
in  rotation,  and  under  such  terms  and  regulations' 
as  shall  bo  at  once  impartial  toward  the  officers, 


644 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


and  advantageous  to  the  service ;  but  let  all 

J'^oung  gentlemen  who  have  a  taste  for  military 
ife,  and  desire  to  adopt  arms  as  a  profession, 
prepare  themselves  for  subordinate  situations 
at  their  own  expense,  or  at  the  expense  of  their 
parents  or  guardians,  in  the  same  manner  that  the 
youth  of  the  country  are  qualified  for  the  profes- 
sions of  civil  life.  Sir,  while  upon  this  subject  of 
gratuitous  education,  I  will  read  an  extract  from 
'  Dupin's  Military  Force  of  Great  Britain,'  to  show 
what  favor  it  finds  in  another  country,  from  the 
practice  and  experience  of  which  we  may  derive 
some  advantages,  however  far  from  approving  of 
its  institutions  generally.  The  extract  is  from 
the  2d  vol.  71st  page,  and  relates  to  the  terms  on 
which  young  gentlemen  are  admitted  to  the  ju- 
nior departments  of  the  Royal  Military  College 
at  Sandhurst. 

"  First :  The  sons  of  officers  of  all  ranks, 
whether  of  the  land  or  sea  forces,  who  have 
died  in  the  service,  leaving  their  famiUes  in  pe- 
cuniary distress;  this  class  are  instructed,  board- 
ed, and  habited  gratutiously  by  the  State  ;  be- 
ing required  only  to  provide  their  equipments 
on  admission,  and  to  maintain  themselves  in 
linen.  Secondhj :  The  sons  of  all  ofiicers  of  the 
army  above  the  rank  of  subalterns  actually  in 
the  service,  and  who  pay  a  sum  proportioned  to 
their  ranks,  according  to  a  scale  per  annum  re- 
gulated by  the  supreme  board.  The  sons  of  living 
naval  ofiicers  of  rank  not  below  that  of  master 
and  commander,  are  also  admitted  on  payment 
of  annual  stipends,  similar  to  those  of  corres- 
ponding ranks  in  the  army.  The  orphan  sons 
of  ofiicers,  who  have  not  left  their  families  in 
pecuniary  difficulties,  are  admitted  into  this  class 
on  paying  the  stipends  required  of  ofiicers  of  the 
rank  held  by  their  parents  at  the  time  of  their 
decease.  Thirdly :  The  sons  of  noblemen  and 
private  gentlemen  who  pay  a  yearly  sum  equiv- 
alent to  the  expenses  of  their  education,  board, 
and  clothing,  according  to  a  rate  regulated  from 
time  to  time  by  the  commissioners.'  Sir,  let  it 
be  remembered  that  these  are  the  regulations 
of  a  government  which,  with  all  its  wealth  and 
power,  is,  from  its  structure  and  practice,  groan- 
ing under  the  accumulated  weight  of  pensions, 
sinecures,  and  gratuities,  and  yet  you  observe, 
that  only  one  class,  '  the  sons  of  ofiicers  of  all 
ranks,  whether  of  the  land  or  sea  forces,  who 
have  died  in  the  service,  leaving  their  families  in 
pecuniary  distress,'  are  educated  gratuitously. 

"  I  do  not  apiirove  even  of  this,  but  I  hold  it 
up  in  contrast  with  your  own  principles  and 
practice.  If  the  patience  of  the  committee  would 
warrant  me,  Mr.  Chairman,  I  could  show,  by 
reference  to  Executive  communications,  and  the 
concurrent  legislation  of  Congress  in  1794, 1796, 
1802,  and  1808,  that  prior  to  the  last  mentioned 
date,  such  an  institution  as  we  now  have  was 
neither  recommended  nor  contemplated.  Upon 
this  point  I  will  not  detain  you  longer ;  but 
when  hereafter  confronted  by  the  autliority  of 
great  names,  I  trust  we  shall  be  told  where  the 
cxpreasious  of  approbation  arc  to  be  found.  Wo 


may  then  judge  of  their  applicability  to  the 
Military  Academy  as  at  present  organized.  I 
am  far  from  desiring  to  see  tliis  country  desti- 
tute of  a  Military  Academy  ;  but  I  would  have 
it  a  school  of  practice,  and  instruction,  foi'  olFicer-: 
actually  in  the  service  of  the  United  States :  not 
an  institution  for  educating  gratuitously,  youii" 
gentlemen,  who,  on  the  completion  of  their  term. 
or  after  a  few  months'  leave  of  absence,  rcsipi 
their  commissions  and  return  to  the  pursuits  of 
civil  life.  If  any  one  doubts  that  this  is  the 
practical  operation  of  j'our  present  system,  I  re- 
fer hun  to  the  annual  list  of  resignations,  to  be 
found  in  the  Adjutant  General's  ofiicc. 

"  Firmly  as  I  am  convinced  of  the  necessity 
of  a  reorganization,  I  would  take  no  step  to 
create  an  unjust  prejudice  against  the  institutinn. 
All  that  I  ask,  and,  so  far  as  I  know,  all  that 
any  of  the  opponents  of  the  institution  ask,  is, 
that  after  a  full  and  impartial  investigation,  it 
shall  stand  or  fall  upon  its  merits.  I  Icnow 
there  are  graduates  of  the  institution  who  are 
ornaments  to  the  army,  and  an  honor  to  their 
country ;  but  they,  and  not  the  seminary,  are 
entitled  to  the  credit.  Here  I  would  remark, 
once  for  all,  that  I  do  not  reflect  upon  the  offi- 
cers or  pupils  of  the  Academy ;  it  is  to  the  prm- 
ciples  of  the  institution  itself,  as  at  present  or- 
ganized, that  I  object.  It  is  often  said  that  the 
graduates  leave  the  institution  with  sentiments 
that  but  ill  accord  with  the  feelings  and  ojjinions 
of  the  great  mass  of  the  people  of  that  govern- 
ment from  which  they  derive  the  means  of  edu- 
cation, and  that  many  who  take  commi  ions 
possess  few  qualifications  for  the  connnaml  of 
men,  either  in  war  or  in  peace.  Most  of  the 
members  of  this  House  have  had  more  or  kss 
intercourse  with  these  young  gentlemen,  andl 
leave  it  for  each  individual  to  form  his  own 
opinion  of  the  correctness  of  the  charges.  Tliu; 
much  I  will  say  for  myself,  that  I  believe  that 
these,  and  greater  evils,  are  the  natural,  if  not 
the  inevitable,  result  of  the  principles  in  which 
this  institution  is  founded ;  and  any  system  of 
education,  established  upon  similar  principles, 
on  government  patronage  alone,  will  produce 
like  results,  now  and  for  ever.  Sir,  what  are 
some  of  these  results  1  By  the  report  of  the 
Secretary  of  War,  dated  January,  1831,  we  are 
informed  that,  "  by  an  estimate  of  the  last  five 
years  (preceding  that  date),  it  appears  that  the 
supply  of  the  army  from  the  corps  of  gradnated 
cadets,  has  averaged  about  twenty-two  annually, 
while  those  who  graduated  are  about  forty. 
making  in  each  ear  an  excess  of  eighteen.  The 
number  received  annually  into  the  Academy  ave- 
rages one  hundred,  of  which  only  the  nuniher 
stated,  to  wit,  forty,  pass  through  the  pre- 
scribed course  of  education  at  schools,  and  «•; 
come  supernumerary  lieutenants  in  the  t^^'^y' 
By  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  De- 
cember, 1830,  we  are  inibrniud,  that  "  the  narn- 
ber  of  promotions  to  the  army  from  this  corp-, 
for  the  last  five  years,  has  averaged  aboiu 
twenty-two    annually    while    the   number  oi 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


645 


their  applicability  to  the 
i  at  present  organized.  I 
to  sec  this  country  rlesti- 
adcmy  ;  but  I  would  iiave 
and  instruction,  for  officerv 
!  of  the  United  States :  not 
icating  gratuitously,  youn'^ 
le  completion  of  their  term" 
s'  leave  of  absence,  rcsipi 
d  return  to  the  pursuits  of 
10  doubts  that  this  is  the 
j'our  present  system,  I  rc- 
1  list  of  resignations,  to  bt 
t  General's  office, 
convinced  of  the  necessity 
I  would  take  no  step  to 
idice  against  the  institution. 
50  far  as  I  know,  all  tlwt 
1  of  the  institution  aslv,  is, 
impartial  investigation,  it 
upon  its  merits.  I  know 
of  the  institution  wlio  are 
my,  and  an  honor  to  their 
and  not  the  seminary,  arc 
t.  Hero  I  would  remark. 
)  not  reflect  ui)on  the  offi- 
Academy ;  it  is  to  the  prin- 
;ion  itself,  as  at  present  or- 
t.  It  is  often  said  that  the 
institution  with  sentiments 
ith  the  feelings  and  oj)inions 
'  the  people  of  that  goveni- 
?y  derive  the  means  of  edii- 
ny  who  take  coninii  ions 
tions  for  the  command  cf 
or  in  peace.  Jlost  of  the 
use  have  had  more  or  le-s 
ise  young  gentlemen,  ami  I 
[dividual  to  form  his  own 
tness  of  the  charges.  Thu5 
myself,  that  I  bolieve  tliat 
vils,  are  the  natural,  if  not 
of  the  principles  in  which 
unded;  and  any  system  of 
id  upon  similar  principles, 
•onage  alone,  will  i)roduoe 
id  for  ever.  Sir,  what  are 
ts  7  By  the  report  of  the 
ated  January,  1831,  we  are 
an  estimate  of  the  last  iivc 
it  date),  it  appears  that  the 
from  the  corps  of  graduated 
about  twenty-two  annually, 
raduated  are  about  forty. 
an  excess  of  eigliteen.  The 
lually  into  the  Academy  are- 
of  which  only  the  nnndier 
y,  pass  through  the  pre- 
ucation  at  schools,  and  In;; 
i  lieutenants  in  the  army. 
he  Secretary  of  War,  De- 
e  informed,  that  "  the  nurrr 
,0  the  army  from  this  corjis, 
^•ears,  has  averaged  about  i 
ly    while    the   number  ol 


graduates  has  been  at  an  average  of  forty.  This 
excess,  which  is  annually  increasing,  has  placed 
eighty-seven  in  waiting  until  vacancies  shall 
take  place,  and  show  that  in  the  next  year, 
probably,  and  in  tho  succeeding  one,  certainly, 
there  will  be  an  excess  beyond  what  the  exist- 
ing law  authorizes  to  be  commissioned.  There 
will  then  be  106  supernumerary  brevet  second 
lieutenants  appurtenant  to  the  army,  at  an 
average  annual  expense  of  ^80,000.  Sir,  that 
results  here  disclosed  were  not  anticipated  by 
Mr.  Madison,  is  apparent  from  a  recurrence  to 
his  messages  of  1810  and  1811. 

"In  passing  the  law  of  1812,  both  Congress 
and  the  President  acted  for  the  occasion,  and 
they  expected  those  who  should  succeed  them 
to  act  in  a  similar  manner.    Their  feelings  of 
patriotism  and  resentment  were  aroused,  by  be- 
holding the  privileges  of  freemen  wantonly  in- 
yaded,  our  glorious  stars  and  stripes  disregard- 
ed, and  national  and  individual  rights  trampled 
in  the  dust,    'ihe  -war  was  pendinj;.    The  ne- 
cessity for  increasing  the  military  Ibrce  of  the 
country  was  obvious  and  pressing,  and  the  ur- 
gent occasion  for  increased  facilities  for  military 
instruction,  equally  apparent.    Sir,  it  was  under 
circumstances  like  these,  when  we  had  not  only 
enemies  abroad^  but,  I  blush  to  siiy,  enemies  at 
home,  that  the  mstitution,  as  at  present  organ- 
ized, had  its  origin.    It  will  hardly  be  pretended 
that  it  was  the  original  design  of  the  law  to 
augment  the  number  of  persons  instructed,  be- 
yond the  wants  of  the  public  service.    Well,  the 
report  of  the  Secretary  shows,  that  for  five  years 
prior   to    1831,  the  Academy  hctd   furnished 
eighteen  supernumeraries  annually.    A  practical 
operation  of  this  character  has  no  sanction  in  the 
recommendation  of  Mr.  Madison,     The  report 
demonstrates,   further,    the   fruitfulness    and 
nliUtii  of  this  institution,  by  showing  the  fact, 
that  but  two-fifths  of  those  who  enter  the 
Academy  graduate,  and  that  but  a  fraction  more 
than  one-fifth  enter  the  public  service.     This  is 
not  the  fault  of  the  administration  of  the  Acade- 
my ;  it  is  not  the  fault  of  the  young  gentlemen 
who  are  sent  there ;  on  your  present  peace  es- 
tablishment there  can  be  but  little  to  stimulate 
them,  particularly  in  the  acquisition  of  military 
science.    There  can  hardly  be  but  one  object  in 
the  mind  of  the  student,  and  that  would  be  to 
obtain  an  education  for  the  purposes  of  civil  life. 
The  difficulty  is,  that  the  institution  has  out- 
lived both  the  occasion  that  called  it  into  exist- 
ence, and  its  original  design.    I  have  before  re- 
marked, that  the  Academy  was  manifestly  en- 
larged to  correspond  with  the  army  and  militia 
actually  to  be  called  into  service.    Look  then 
for  a  moment  at  facts,  and  observe  with  how 
much  wisdom,  justice,  and  sound  policy,  you  re- 
tain the  provisions  of  the  law  of  1812.    The  total 
authorized  force  of  1813,  after  the  declaration  of 
war,  was  58,254;   and  in  October,  1814,  the 
military  establishment  amounted  to  62,428.     By 
the  act  of  March,  1815,  the  peace  establishment 
was  limited  to  10,000,  and  now  hardly  exceedo 


that  number.  Thus  you  make  a  reduction  of 
more  than  50,000  in  your  actual  military  force, 
to  accommodate  the  expenses  of  the  government 
to  its  wants.  And  why  do  you  refuse  to  do  tho 
same  with  your  grand  system  of  public  educa- 
tion? Why  does  that  remain  unchanged  ?  Why 
not  reduce  it  at  once,  at  least  to  the  actual  wants 
of  the  service,  and  dispense  with  your  corps  of 
supernumerary  lieutenants  ?  Sir,  there  is,  there 
can  be  but  one  answer  to  the  question,  and  that 
may  be  found  in  the  war  report  of  1819,  to  which 
I  have  before  had  occasion  to  allude.  The  Sec- 
retary says,  '  the  cadets  who  cannot  be  provided 
for  in  the  army  will  return  to  private  life,  but 
in  the  event  of  a  war  their  knowledge  will  not 
be  lost  to  the  country.'  Indeed,  sir,  these  young 
gentlemen,  if  they  could  be  induced  to  take  the 
field,  would,  after  a  lapse  of  ten  or  fifteen  years, 
come  up  from  the  bar,  or  it  may  be  the  pulpit, 
fresh  in  military  science^  and  admirably  quali- 
fied for  command  in  tho  flvce  of  an  enemy.  The 
magazine  of  facts,  to  prove  at  the  same  glance 
the  extravagance  and  unfruitfulness  of  this  in- 
stitution, is  not  easily  exhausted :  but  I  am  ad- 
monished by  the  lateness  of  tho  hour  to  omit 
many  considerations  which  I  regard  as  both  in- 
teresting and  important.  I  will  only  detain  the 
committee  to  make  a  single  statement,  placing 
side  by  side  some  aggregate  results.  There  has 
already  been  expended  upon  the  institution  more 
than  three  miUions  three  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars. Between  1815,  and  1821,  thirteen  himdred 
and  eighteen  students  were  admitted  into  the 
Academy ;  and  of  all  the  cadets  who  were  ever 
there,  only  two  hundred  and  sixty-five  remain- 
ed in  the  service  at  the  end  of  1830.  Here  are  the 
expenses  you  have  incurred,  and  the  products 
you  have  realized. 

"  I  leave  them  to  be  balanced  by  the  people. 
But  for  myself,  believing  as  I  do,  that  the  Acad- 
emy stands  forth  as  an  anomaly  among  the  in- 
stitutions of  this  country ;  that  it  is  at  variance 
with  the  spirit,  if  not  the  letter  of  the  constitu- 
tion under  which  we  live  ;  so  long  as  this  House 
shall  deny  investigation  into  its  principles  and 
practical  operation,  I,  as  an  individual  member, 
will  refuse  to  appropriate  the  first  dollar  for  its 
support." 


CHAPTER    CXLI. 

EXPUNGING  EESOLUTION— PEEOEATION  OF  SEN- 
ATOE  BENTON'S  SECOND  SPEECH. 

"  The  condemnation  of  the  President,  combining 
as  it  did  all  that  illegality  and  injustice  could  in- 
flict, had  the  further  misfortune  to  be  co-opera- 
tive in  its  effect  with  the  conspiracy  of  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States  to  effect  the  most  wicked 


\%h. 


u       |. 


646 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW 


and  universal  scheme  of  mischief  which   the 
annals  of  modern  times  exhibit.    It  was  a  plot 
against  tho  government,  and  against  the  pro- 
perty of  the  country.     The  government  was  to 
be  upset,  and    property  revolutionized.     Six 
hundred  banks  were  to  be  broken— the  general 
currency  ruined— myriads  bankrupted— all  bu- 
siness stopped— all  property  sunk   in  value — 
all  confidence  destroyed  !  that  out  of  this  wide 
spread  ruin  and  pervading  distress,  the  vengeful 
institution  might  glut  its  avarice  and  ambition, 
trample  upon  the  President,  ti<ke  possession  of 
the  government,  reclaim  its  lost  deposits,  and 
perpetuate  its  charter.     These  crimes,  revolting 
and  frightful  in  themselves,  were  to  be  accom- 
plished by  the  perpetration  of  a  whole  system 
of  subordinate  and  subsidiary  crime !  the  people 
to  be  deceived  and  excited  ;  the  President  to  be 
calumniated ;  the  effects  of  the  bank's  own  con- 
duct to  be  charged  upon  him ;  meetings  got  up ; 
business  suspended;   distress  deputations  or- 
ganized ;  and  the  Senate  chamber  converted  into 
a  theatre  for  the  dramatic  exhibition  of  all  this 
fictitious  woe.    That  it  was  the  deep  and  sad 
misfortune  of  the  Senate  so  to  act,  as  to  be  co- 
operative in  all  this  scene  of  mischief,  is  too  fully 
proved  by  the  facts  known,  to  admit  of  denial. 
I  speak  of  acts,  not  of  motives.    The  effect  of 
the  Senate's  conduct  in  trying  the  President 
and  uttering  alarm  speeches,  was  to  co-operate 
with  the  bank,  and  that  secondarily,  and  as  a 
subordinate  performer;  for  it  is  incontestable 
that  the  bank  began  the  whole  affair ;  the  little 
book  of  fifty  pages  proves  that.    The  bank  be- 
gan it ;  the  bank  followed  it  up  ;  the  bank  at- 
tends to  it  now.    It  is  a  case  which  might  well 
be  entered  on  our  journal  as  a  State  is  entered 
against  a  criminal  in  the  docket  of  a  court :  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States  versus  President 
Jackson :  on  impeachment  for  removing  the  de- 
posits.   The  entry  would  be  justified  by  the 
facts,  for  these  are  the  indubitable  facts.    The 
bank  started  the  accusation  ;  the  Senate  took  it 
up.    The  bank  furnished  arguments;  the  Se- 
nate used  them.  The  bank  excitx;d  meetings ;  the 
Senate  extolled  them.    The  bank  sent  deputa- 
tions ;  the  senators  received  them  with  honor. 
The  deputations  reported  answers  for  the  Presi- 
dent which  he  never  gave;  the  Senate  repeated  and 
enforced  these  answers.    Hand  in  hand  through- 
out the  whole  process,  the  bank  and  llic  Senate 
acted  together,  aud  succeeded  in  getting  up  the 


most  serious  and  afflicting  panic  ever  known  in 
this  country.    Tlic  whole  country  was  agitated. 
Cities,  towns,  and  village?,  the  entire  country 
and  the  whole  earth  seemed  to  be  in  commotion 
against  one  man.     A  revolution  was  proulaiincd ! 
the  overthrow  of  all  law  was  announced !  tlie 
substitution  of  one  man's  will  for  the  voice  of 
tho  whole  government,  was  daily  asserted  !  the 
public  sense  was  astounded  and  bewildered  witli 
dire  and  portentous  annunciations !     In  the 
midst  of  all  this  machinery  of  alarm  and  distress 
many  good  citizens  lost  their  reckoning;  sensi- 
ble heads  went  wrong ;  stout  hearts  quailed ;  old 
friends  gave  way;  temporizing  counsels  came  in ; 
and  tho  solitary  defender  of  his  country  was 
urged  to  yield  !    Oh,  how  much  depended  upon 
that  one  man  at  tiat  dread  and  awful  point  of 
time  !    If  he  had  given  way,  then  all  was  gone! 
An  insolent,  rapacious,  and  revengeful  institu- 
tion would  have  been  installed  in  sovereign 
power.    The  federal  and  State  governments  the 
Congress,  the  Presidency,  the  State  legislatures, 
all  would  have  fallen  under  the  dominion  of  the 
bank ;  and  all  departments  of  the  govcramcnt 
would  have  been  filled  and  administered  by  the 
debtors,  pensioners,  and  attorneys  of  that  in- 
stitution.   He  did  not  yield,  and  the  country 
was  saved.    The  heroic  patriotism  of  one  man 
prevented  all  this  calamity,  and  saved  the  Re- 
public from  becoming  the  appendage  and  fief  of 
a  moneyed  corporation.    And  what  has  been 
his  reward  ?    So  far  as  the  people  are  concerned, 
honor,  gratitude,  blessings,  everlasting  benedic- 
tions ;  so  far  as  the  Senate  is  concerned,  dis- 
honor, denunciation,  stigma,  infamy.    And  shall 
these  two  verdicts  stand  ?    Shall  our  journal 
bear  the  verdict  of  infamy,  while  the  hearts  of 
the  people  glow  and  palpitate  with  the  verdict 
of  honor  ? 

"  President  Jackson  has  done  more  for  the 
human  race  than  the  whole  tribe  of  politi- 
cians put  together ;  and  shall  he  remain  stigma- 
tized and  condemned  for  the  most  glorious  action 
of  his  life  ?  The  bare  attempt  to  stigmatize  Mr. 
Jefferson  was  not  merely  expunged,  but  cut  out 
from  the  journal ;  so  that  no  trace  of  it  remains 
upon  the  Senate  records.  The  designs  are  the 
same  in  both  cases;  but  the  aggravations  are 
inexpressibly  greater  in  the  case  of  President 
Jackson.  Referring  to  the  j  oumals  of  the  House 
of  Kt-presenlutives  for  the  character  of  tlie  at- 
tempt against  President  Jefferson,  and  tlie  rea- 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


647 


:ting  panic  ever  known  in 
>olc  country  was  agitatud. 
lagcf.  the  entire  country 
denied  to  be  in  commotion 
evolution  was  proclaimed ! 
law  wns  announced !  the 
an's  will  for  the  voice  of 
,  was  daily  asserted  !  the 
ndcd  and  bewildered  with 
annunciations !     In  the 
aery  of  alarm  and  distress 
St  their  reckoning;  sensi- 
J  stout  hearts  quailed ;  olj 
porizlng  counsels  came  in ; 
nder  of  his  country  was 
low  much  depended  upon 
dread  and  awful  point  of 
1  way,  then  all  was  gone ! 
!,  and  revengeful  institu- 
n  installed  in  soverein^n 
ad  State  governments,  tiic 
icy,  the  State  legislatures, 
inder  the  dominion  of  the 
nenta  of  the  government 
and  administcml  by  the 
nd  attorneys  oi  that  in- 
t  yield,  and  the  country 
c  patriotism  of  one  man 
imity,  and  saved  the  Re- 
the  appendage  and  fief  of 
n.    And  what  1ms  been 
the  people  are  concerned, 
ings,  everlasting  bcnedic- 
5enate  is  concerned,  dis- 
igma,  infamy.    And  shall 
md  ?    Shall  our  journal 
imy,  while  the  hearts  of 
ilpitate  with  the  verdict 


sons  for  repulsing  it,  and  it  is  seen  that  the 
attempt  was  made  to  criminate  Mr.  Jefferson, 
and  to  charge  him  upon  the  journals  with  a 
violation  of  the  laws ;  and  that  this  attempt  was 
made  at  a  time,  and  under  circumstances  insidi- 
ously calculated  to  excite  unjust  suspicion  in 
the  minds  of  the  people  against  the  Chief  Magis- 
trate. Such  was  precisely  the  character  of  the 
cliarge;  and  the  effect  of  the  charge  against 
President  Jackson,  with  the  dill'erence  only  that 
the  proceeding  against  President  Jackson,  was 
many  ten  thousand  times  more  revolting  and 
aggravated ;  commencing  as  it  did  in  the  Bank, 
carried  on  by  a  violent  political  party,  prosecuted 
toscnicnce  and  condemnation;  and  calculated, 
if  believed,  to  destroy  the  President,  to  change 
the  administration,  and  to  put  an  end  to  popular 
representative  government.  Yes,  sir,  to  put  an 
end  lo  elective  and  representative  government ! 
For  what  are  all  the  attacks  upon  President 
Jackson's  administration  but  attacks  upon  the 
people  who  elect  and  re-elect  him,  who  approve 
his  administration,  and  by  approving,  make  it 
tiieir  own  ?  To  condemn  such  a  F.  '3sident,  thus 
supported,  is  to  condemn  the  pople,  to  condemn 
the  elective  principle,  to  condemn  the  funda- 
mental principle  of  our  government;  and  to 
establish  the  favorite  dogma  of  the  monarchists, 
that  the  people  are  incapable  of  self-government, 
and  will  surrender  themselves  as  collared  slaves 
into  the  hands  of  military  chieftains. 

"Great  are  the  services  which  President 
Jackson  has  rendered  his  country.  As  a  Gene- 
ra! he  has  extended  her  frontiers,  saved  a  city, 
and  carried  her  renown  to  the  highest  pitch  of 
glory.  His  civil  administration  has  rivalled  and 
transcended  his  warlike  exploits.  Indemnities 
procured  from  the  great  powers  of  Europe  for 
spoliations  committed  on  our  citizens  under 
former  administrations,  and  which,  by  former 
administrations  were  reclaimed  in  vain ;  peace 
and  friendship  with  the  whole  world,  and,  what 
is  more,  the  respect  of  the  whole  world ;  the 
character  of  our  America  exalted  in  Europe ; 
so  exalted '  that  the  American  citizen  treading 
the  continent  of  Europe,  and  contemplating 
the  sudden  and  great  elevation  of  the  national 
character,  might  feel  as  if  he  himself  was  an 
hundred  feet  high.  Such  is  the  picture  abroad ! 
At  home  we  behold  a  brilliant  and  grateful 
wnp;  the  public  debt  paid,— taxes  reduced,— 
the  gold    currency  restored,  —  the  Southern 


States  released  from  a  useless  and  dangerous 
population, — all  disturbing  questions  settled, — 
a  gigantic  moneyed  institution  repulsed  in  its 
march  to  the  conquest  of  the  government, — the 
highest  prosperity  attained,  —  and  the  Hero 
Patriot  now  crownmg  the  list  of  his  glorious 
services  by  covering  his  country  with  the  panoply 
of  defence,  and  consummating  his  measures  for 
the  restoration  and  preservation  of  the  currency 
of  the  constitution.  We  have  had  brilliant  and 
prosperous  administrations;  but  that  of  Presi- 
dent Jackson  eclipses,  surpasses,  and  casts  into 
the  shade,  all  that  have  preceded  it.  And  is 
he  to  be  branded,  stigmatized,  condemned,  un- 
justly and  untruly  condemned ;  and  the  lecords 
of  the  Senate  to  bear  the  evidence  of  this  out- 
rage to  the  latest  posterity  ?  Shall  this  Presi- 
dent, so  glorious  in  peace  and  in  war,  so  success- 
ful at  home  and  abroad,  whose  administration, 
now,  hailed  with  applause  and  gratitude  by  the 
people,  and  destined  to  shine  for  unnumbered 
ages  in  the  political  firmament  of  our  history  : 
shall  this  President,  whose  name  is  to  live  for 
ever,  whose  retirement  from  life  and  services 
will  be  through  the  gate  that  leads  to  the  tem- 
ple of  everlasting  fame ;  shall  he  go  down  to 
posterity  with  this  condemnation  upon  him; 
and  that  for  the  most  glorious  action  ol  his  life  ? 

"Mr.  President,  I  have  some  knowledge  of 
history,  and  some  pcquaintance  with  the  dangers 
which  nations  have  encountered,  and  from 
which  heroes  and  statesmen  have  saved  them. 
I  have  read  much  of  ancient  and  modern  his- 
tory, and  nowhere  have  I  found  a  parallel  to 
the  service?  rendered  by  President  Jackson  in 
crushing  .  conspiracy  of  the  Bank,  but  in  the 
labors  of  thr  Roman  Consul  in  crushing  the 
conspiracy  of  Catiline.  The  two  conspiracies 
were  identical  in  their  objects;  both  directed 
against  the  government,  and  the  property  of 
the  country.  Cicero  extinguished  the  CatiU- 
narean  conspiracy,  and  saved  Rome ;  President 
Jackson  defeated  the  conspiracy  of  the  Bank, 
and  saved  our  America.  Their  heroic  service 
was  the  same,  and  their  fates  have  been  strange- 
ly alike.  Cicero  was  condemned  for  violating  the 
laws  and  the  constitution ;  so  has  been  President 
Jackson.  The  consul  was  refused  a  hearing  in  his 
own  defence :  so  has  been  President  Jackson.  The 
life  of  Cicero  was  attempted  by  two  assassins ; 
twice  was  the  murderous  pistol  levelled  at  our 
President.    All  Italy,  the  whole  Roman  world^ 


648 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


bore  Cicero  to  the  Capitol,  and  tore  the  sentence 
of  the  consul's  condemnation  from  Iha fasti  of  the 
rcimblic:  a  million  of  Americans,  fathers  and 
heads  of  fiunilios,  now  demand  the  expurgation  of 
the  sentence  against  the  President.     Cicero,  fol- 
lowed by  all  that  was  virtuous  in  Rome,  repaired 
to  the  temple  of  the  tutelary  gods,  and  swore 
upon  the  altar  that  he  had  saved  his  country: 
President  Jiickson,  in  the  temple  of  the  living 
God,  might  take  the  same  oath,  and  find  its  re- 
sponse in  the  hearts  of  millions.    Nor  shall  the 
parallel  stop  here  ;  but  after  times,  and  remote 
posterities  shall  render  the  same  honors  to 
each.    Two  thousand  years  have  passed,  and 
the  great  actions  of  the  consul  are  fresh  and 
green  in  history.    The  school-boy  learns  them ; 
the  patriot  studies  them ;  the  statesman  applies 
thom  :  so  shall  it  be  v  kh  our  patriot  President. 
Two  thousand  years  hence,— ten  thousand,— 
nay,  while  time  itself  shall  last,  for  who  can 
contcmplat    the  time  when  the  memory  of  this 
republic  shall  bo  lost  ?  while  time  itself  shall 
last,  the  name  and  fame  of  Jackson  shall  remain 
and  flourish  ;  and  this  last  great  act  by  which 
he  saved  the  government  from  subversion,  and 
property  from  revolution,  shall  stand  forth  as 
the  seal  and  crown  of  his  heroic  services.    And 
if  any  thing  that  I  myself  may  do  or  say,  shall 
survive  the  brief  hour  in  which  I  live,  it  will 
be  the  part  which  I  have  taken,  and  the  efforts 
which  I  have  made,  to  sustain  and  defend  the 
great  defender  of  his  country. 

"Sir.  President,  I  have  now  finished  the  view 
which  an  imperious  sense  of  duty  has  required 
me  to  take  of  this  subject.  I  trust  that  I  have 
proceeded  uijon  proofs  and  facts,  and  have  left 
nothing  unsustained  which  I  feel  it  to  be  my 
duty  to  advance.  It  is  not  my  design  to  repeat, 
or  to  recapitulate  ;  but  there  is  one  further  and 
vital  consideration  which  demands  the  notice 
of  a  remark,  and  which  I  should  be  faithless  to 
the  genius  of  our  government,  if  I  should  pre- 
termit. It  is  known,  sir,  that  ambition  for 
oflBce  is  the  bane  of  free  States,  and  the  conten- 
tions of  rivals  the  destruction  of  their  country. 
These  contentions  lead  to  every  species  of  in- 
justice, and  to  every  variety  of  violence,  and 
all  cloaked  with  the  pretext  of  the  public  good. 
Civil  wars  and  banishment  at  Rome ;  civil  wars, 
and  the  ostracism  at  Athens ;  bills  of  attainder, 
star-chamber  prosecutions,  and  impeachments 
in  England ;  all  to  get  rid  of  some  envied,  or 


hated  rival,  and  all  pretexted  with  the  publja 
good :  such  has  been  the  history  of  free  States 
for  two  thousand  years.    The  wise  men  who 
framed  our  constitution  wei-c  well  aware  of  all 
this  danger  and  all  this  mischief;  and  took  elTic- 
tual  care,  as  they  thought,  to  guard  against  it. 
Banishment,  the  ostracism,    the  star-chamber 
prosecutions,  bills  of  attainder,  all  those  sum- 
mary and  violent  modes  of  hunting  down  a 
rival,  which  deprive  the  victim  of  defence  by 
depriving  him  of  the  intervention  of  an  accus- 
ing body  to  stand  between  the  accuser  and  the 
trying  body;  all  these  are  proscribed  by  the 
genius    of    our   constitution.      Impeachments 
alone  are   permitted;  and  these  would  most 
usually  occur  for  political  offences,  and  be  of  a 
character  to  enlist  the  passions  of  many,  and 
to  agitate  the  country.    An  effectual  guard,  it 
was  8ui)posed,  was  provided  against  the  abii?e 
of  the  impeachment  power,  first,  by  requirinj  a 
charge  to  be  preferred  by  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, as  the  grand  Inquest  of  the  nation  • 
and  next,  in  confining  the  trial  to  the  Senate 
and  requiring  a  majority  of  two-thirds  to  con- 
vict.   The  gravity,  the  dignity,  the  age  of  the 
senators,  and  the  great  and  various  powers  with 
which  they  were  invested— greater  and  more 
various  than  are  united  in  the  same  persons 
under  any  other  constitutional  government  upon 
earth —these  were  supposed  to  make  the  Senate 
a  safe  depository  for  the  impeachment  power; 
and  if  the  plan  of  the  constitution  is  followed 
out  it  must  be  admitted  to  be  so.    But  if  a 
public  officer  can  be  arraigned  by  his  rivals 
before  the  Senate  for  impeachable  offences  with- 
out the  intervention  of  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives, and  if  he  can  be  pronounced  guilty  by 
a  simple  majority,  instead  of  a  majority  of  two- 
thirds,  then  has  the  whole  frame  of  our  govern- 
ment miscarried,  and  the  door  left  wide  open  to 
the  greatest  mischief  which  has  ever  aflflicted 
the  people  of  free  States.    Then  can  rivals  and 
competitors  go  on  to  do  what  it  was  intended 
they  should  never  do ;  accuse,  denounce,  con- 
demn, and  hunt  down  each  other  I    Great  has 
been  the  weight  of  the  American  Senate.   Time 
was  when  its  rejections  for  office  were  fatal  to 
character ;  time  is  when  its  rejections  are  rather 
passports  to  public  favor.    Why  this  sad  and 
ominous  decline  ?    I^t  no  one  deceive  himself. 
Public  opinion  is  the  arbiter  of  character  in 
cur  enlightened  day ;  it  is  the  Areopagus  from 


ANNO  ma.    ANDREW  JACKSON.  PRESIDENT. 


•ctexted  with  the  piiblia 
ho  history  of  free  Stntcs 
ira.    The  wise  men  who 
n  wore  well  awaro  of  all 
8  nii.schicfj  and  took  elftc- 
ght,  to  guard  against  it. 
Hsm,    the  star-chamber 
ittainder,  all  those  sum- 
dc8  of  hunting  down  a 
he  victim  of  defence  by 
ntervention  of  an  accus- 
rcen  the  accuser  and  the 
10  arc  proscribed  by  the 
itution.      Impeachments 
and   these  would  most 
ical  offences,  and  bo  of  a 
passions  of  many,  and 
An  effectual  guard,  it 
Jvided  against  the  abuse 
wer,  first,  by  requiring  a 
by  the  House  of  Repre- 
I  Inquest  of  the  nation ; 
;he  trial  to  the  Senate, 
ty  of  two-thirds  to  con- 
dignity,  the  age  of  the 
and  various  powers  with 
«ted— greater  and  more 
d  in  the  same  persons 
utional  government  upon 
osed  to  make  the  Senate 
e  impeachment  power; 
:»nstitution  is  followed 
id  to  be  80.    But  if  a 
irraigned  by  his  rivals 
ipeachable  offences  with- 
the  House  of  Represen- 
i  pronounced  guilty  by 
ad  of  a  majority  of  two- 
ole  frame  of  our  govern- 
e  door  left  wide  open  to 
rhich  has  ever  afflicted 
!S.    Then  can  rivals  and 
>  what  it  was  intended 
accuse,  denounce,  con- 
ach  other!    Great  has 
American  Senate.  Time 
for  office  were  fatal  to 
its  rejections  are  rather 
>r.    Why  this  sad  and 
no  one  deceive  himself, 
arbiter  of  character  in 
is  the  Areopagus  from 


which  there  is  no  appeal !  That  arbiter  has 
pronounced  against  tho  Sonuto.  It  has  sustained 
the  President,  and  condemned  the  Senate.  If 
it  had  sustained  the  Senate,  the  President  must 
have  been  ruined !  as  it  has  jiot,  the  Senate 
must  bo  ruined,  if  it  perseveres  in  its  course, 
and  goes  on  to  bravo  public  opinion  .'—as  an  in- 
stitution, it  must  be  ruined  1 


649 


CHAPTER  CXLII. 

DI8TEIBUTI0N  OF  THE  LAND  EEVENUE. 

"The  great  loss  of  the  bank  ha.s  been  in  the 
depreciation  of  the  securities ;  and  the  only  way 
to  regain  a  capital  is  to  restore  their  value.    A 
large  portion  of  them  consists  of  State  stocks, 
wluch  are  so  far  below  their  intrinsic  worth  that 
the  present  prices  could  not  have  been  antici- 
pated by  any  reasonable  man.    No  doubt  can 
be  entertained  of  their  ultimate  payment.    The 
States  themselves,  unaided,  can  satisfy  every 
claim  against  them;  they  will  do  it  speedily  if 
Congress  adopt  the  measures  contemplated  for 
tlieir  relief.     A  division  of  the  public  lands 
among  the  States,  whiih  would  enable  them  all 
topay  their  debts-or  a  pledge  of  the  proceeds 
of  sales  for  that  purpose-would  be  abundant 
security.    Either  of  these  acts  would  inspire 
confidence,  and  enhance  the  value  of  all  kinds 
of  property."    This  paragraph  appeared  in  the 
Philadelphia  National  Gazette,  was  attributed 
to  Mr.  Biddle,  President  of  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States;  and  conn*ts  that  institution 
«>th  all  the  plans  fo^    ''stributing  the  public 
land  monty  among  t^  3  States,  either  in  the 
shape  of  a  direct  distribution,  or  in  the  disguise 
of  a  deposit  of  the  surplus  revenue ;  and  this  for 
the  purpose  of  enhancing  the  value  of  the  State 
stocks  held  by  it.     That  institution  was  known 
to  have  interfered  in  the  federal  legislation,  to 
promote  or  to  baffle  the  passage  of  law.^  as 
deemed  to  be  favorable  or  otherwise  to  her  in- 
terests; and  this  resort  to  the  land  revenue 
through  an  act  of  Congress  was  an  eminent  in- 
stance of  the  spirit  of  interference.     This  dis- 
tribution   had   become,  very   nearly,  a  party 
me«.,„re  :  and  of  the  party  of  which  the  bank 
'^as  a  member,  and  Mr.  Clay  the  chief.    He  was 


the  author  of  the  pchemo— had  introduced  it  at 
several  sessions-  and  now  renewed  it.   Mr.  Web- 
ster also  made  a  proposition  to  the  same  effect  at 
this  session.    It  was  the  summer  of  the  presiden- 
tial election ;  ami  great  calculations  were  made  by 
the  party  which  favored  the  distribution  upon 
its  effect  in  adding  to  their  popularity.    Mr. 
Clay  limited  his  plan  of  distribution  to  five  years ; 
but  the  limitation  was  justly  considered  as  no- 
thing—as a  mere  means  of  beginning  the  system 
of  these  distributions— which  once  began,  would 
go  on  of  themselves,  while  our  presidential  elec- 
tions continued,  and  any  thing  to  divide  could 
be  found  in  the  treasury.     Mr.  Benton  opposed 
the  whole  scheme,  and  confronted  it  with  a  pro- 
position to  devote  the  surplus  revenue  to  the 
purposes  of  national  defence ;  thereby  making 
an  issue,  as  he  declared,  between  the  plunder  of 
the  country  and  the  defence  of  the  country. 
He  introduced  an  antagonistic  bill,  as  he  termed 
it,  devoting  the  surplus  moneys  to  the  public 
defences  ;  and  showing  by  reports  from  the  war 
and  navy  departments  that  seven  millions  a 
year  for  fifteen  years  would  bo  required  for  the 
completion  of  the  naval   defences,  and  thirty 
millions  to  complete  the  military  defences ;  of 
which  nine  millions  per  annum  could  be  benefi- 
cially expended;  and  then  went  on  to  say  ; 


i.v     f  ^u  '"^'P''''*'  ^™™  ^'^•<=''  ^^  had  read, 
taken  together,  presented  a  complete  system  of 
preparation  for  the  national  defence;  every  arm 
and  branch  of  defence  was  to  be  provided  for ;  an 
increase  of  the  navy,  including  steamships ;  ap- 
propriate fortifications,  including  steam  UtteVi 
les;  armories,  foundries,  arsenals,  with  ample 
.supplies  of  arms  and  munitions  of  war:  an  in- 
crease of  troops  for  the  West  and  Northwest  • 
a  line  of  post,s  and  a  military  road  from  the  Red 
Kiver  to  the  Wisconsin,  in  the  rear  of  the  settle- 
ments, and  mounted  dragoons  to  scour  the 
country;  every  thing  was  considered;  all  wa« 
reduced  to  system,  and  a  general,  adequate,  and 
appropriate  plan  of  national  de/ence  was  p7e- 
sented,  sufficient  to  absorb  all  the  surplus  re- 
venue, and  wanting  nothing  but  the  vote  of 
Congress  to  carry  it  into  effect.    In  this  ereat 
system  of  national  defence  the  whole  Union  was 
equally  interested;  for  the  country,  in  all  that 
eoncerned  its  defences,  was  but  a  un^ld  every 
section  was  interested  in  the  defence  of  every 
other  section,  and  every  individual  citizen  was 
mteres  ed  in  the  defence  of  the  whole  popE 
tion     It  was  in  vain  to  say  that  the  navy  was 
.^^fl  f  ^' -^nd  the  fortifications  on  the  seaboard, 
and  that  the  citizens  in  the  interior  States  or 

!:  Z:f'''  1**1  ?'--«iPPi.  had  no  SesJ 
m  these  remote  defences.    Such  an  idea  was 


650 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


mistaken  and  d«tu«We,  T)ic  inhotiitant  of  Mi.s- 
Bouri  and  of  In  liana  Imd  n  direct  intt'ioHt  in 
keeping  open  tlio  mouths  of  tlie  rivurs,  dcfonding 
the  si'uport  towns,  and  pristTving  a  nuval  Ioitc 
that  would  prott'cl  thu  pro(hu'i;  of  hin  labor 
in  (Tortsinp;  tlio  ocean,  and  arriviufj;  mMy  in 
fori'i^cn  niarki't-).  All  the  forts  at  the  mouth 
of  thu  Mississippi  were  just  us  nmch  for  the 
iHJiiellt  of  the  western  States,  as  if  those 
States  were  down  ut  tho  mouth  of  that  river. 
So  of  all  the  forts  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Five 
forts  arc  completed  in  the  delta  of  the  Missis- 
sippi ;  two  are  eoinpleted  on  tho  Florida  or 
Alabama  coast ;  and  seven  or  ei^ht  more  are 
projected;  all  calculated  to  give  security  to 
western  commerce  in  passing  through  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico.  Much  had  been  done  for  that  fron- 
tier, but  more  remained  to  be  done  ;  and  among 
tho  great  works  contemplated  in  that  quarter 
were  large  establishments  at  Pensaoola,  Key 
West,  or  the  Dry  Tortugus.  Large  military  and 
naval  stations  were  contemplated  at  these  points, 
and  no  expenditure  or  preparations  could  exceed 
in  amount  the  magnitude  of  the  interests  to  be 
protected.  On  the  Atlantic  ))oard  the  C(mimerco 
of  the  States  found  its  way  to  the  ocean  through 
many  outlets,  from  Maine  to  Florida;  in  the 
West,  on  the  contrary,  the  whole  commerce  of 
tho  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  all  that  of  the  Al- 
abama, of  western  Florida,  and  some  part  of 
Gfeorgia,  passes  through  a  single  outlet,  and 
reaches  the  ocean  bv  passing  between  Key  West 
and  Cuba.  Here,  tnen,  is  an  immense  conmierce 
collected  into  one  channel,  compressed  into  one 
line,  and  passing,  as  it  were,  through  one  gate. 
This  gives  to  Key  West  and  tho  Dry  Tortugas 
an  importance  hardly  possessed  by  any  point  on 
the  globe;  for,  besides  commanding  the  com- 
merce of  the  entire  West,  it  will  also  command 
that  of  Mexico,  of  the  West  Indies,  of  the  Carib- 
bean sea,  and  of  South  America  down  to  the 
middle  of  that  continent  at  its  most  eastern  pro- 
jection. Cape  Roquc.  To  understand  the  cause 
of  all  this  (Mr.  B.  said),  it  was  necessary  to 
look  to  the  trade  winds,  which,  blowing  across 
the  Atlantic  between  the  tropics,  strike  the 
South  American  continent  at  Cape  Roque,  fol- 
low the  retreating  coast  of  that  continent  up 
to  the  Caribbean  sea,  and  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
creating  the  gulf  stream  as  they  go.  and  by  the 
combined  elfect  of  a  current  in  the  air  and  in  the 
water,  sweeping  all  vessels  from  this  side  Cape 
Boquo  into  its  stream,  carrying  them  round  west 
of  Cuba  and  bringing  them  out  between  Key 
West  and  the  Havana.  These  two  positions, 
then,  constitute  the  gate  through  which  every 
thing  mu,;t  pass  that  comes  from  the  valley  of 
the  Mississippi,  from  Mexico,  and  from  South 
America  as  low  down  as  Cape  Roquc.  As  the 
masters  of  the  Mississippi,  we  should  be  able  to 
predominate  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  ;  and,  to  do 
60,  we  mus  have  great  establishments  at  Key 
Wost  and  Pensaeola.  Sueh  eKlabii;ihinuiits  arc 
now  proposed ;  and  every  citizen  of  the  West 
should  look  upon  them  as  the  guardians  of  his 


own  iiii  uediato  intea-sts,  tho  indiaijcnsablcsafo- 
guard  to  his  own  commerce;  and  to  him  tlio 
highest,  most  s.acred,  and  most  benellcial  obji  ct 
to  which  sur|>lus  revenue  eould  he  Mpplit  d.  'I'lm 
(lulf  of  Mexico  should  he  coiisidt'icd  ns  tlir  fn- 
tuary  of  the  Mississippi.  A  naval  uiid  niilitiuy 
supremacy  should  be  estabrMlied  in  that  uulf 
cost  what  it  might ;  for  wi'hont  llialsiipreuiiicy 
the  commerce  of  thti  enti'o  West  would  lie  at 
the  mercy  of  the  fleets  ant  privateers  of  inipuical 
[)ower8. 

"Mr.  B.  returned  to  tho  •tnmediule  olijict  of 
his  remarks — to  the  object  of  showing  tliat  the 
defences  of  the  country  would  absorb  (ivtrj  sur- 
plus d()!lar  that  would  ever  be  found  in  tlietna- 
sury.  lie  recapitulated  tho  aggregates  of  tluwe 
heads  of  exj)enditnre ;  for  the  navy,  atmut  fnity 
millions  of  dollars,  embracing  the  ineivase  of 
the  navy,  navy  yards^  ordnance,  and  rciiaii-a  of 
vessels  for  a  .series  of  years  ;  for  furl  if  icat  ions 
about  thirty  millions,  reported  by  tlio  ennineer 
department;  and  which  sum,  after  rediie  ii;r  llio 
size  of  some  of  the  largest  class  of  furts,  not  yet 
commenced,  would  still  be  large  enough,  w'iiji 
the  sum  reported  by  the  ordnance  de[)urtnient, 
amounting  to  near  thirty  millions,  to  make  u 
totality  not  much  loss  than  one  hundred  millions ; 
and  far  more  than  sufHcient  to  awnllow  np  all 
the  8urj)luses  which  will  ever  be  found  to  exist 
in  the  treasury.  Even  after  deducting  much 
from  these  estimates,  the  remainder  will  still  };o 
beyond  any  surplus  that  will  actually  he  found. 
Every  person  knows  that  the  present  year  is  no 
criterion  for  estimating  tho  revenue ;  excess  of 
pajjor  issues  has  inflated  all  business,  and  led  to 
excess  in  all  branches  of  the  revenue  ;  next  year 
it  will  be  down,  and  soon  fall  as  much  below 
the  usual  level  as  it  now  is  above  it,  ^bire  than 
that ;  what  is  now  called  a  surplus  in  (lie  ticii- 
sury  is  no  surplus,  but  a  mere  accinnulatiou  for 
want  of  passing  the  appropriation  bills.  The 
whole  of  it  is  pledged  to  the  bills  which  are 
piled  upon  our  tables,  and  which  wo  cannot  get 
passed  ;  for  the  opposition  is  strong  enough  to 
arrest  the  appropriadons,  to  dam  up  tho  money 
in  the  treasury ;  ana  then  call  that  a  >ur[)Ius 
which  would  now  be  in  a  course  of  expenditure,  if 
the  necessary  appropriation  bills  could  be  passed. 

"Tho  public  defences  will  require  near  one 
hundred  millions  of  dollars ;  the  annual  amount 
required  for  these  defences  alone  amount  to 
thirteen  or  fourteen  millions.  The  engineer 
department  answers  explicitly  that  it  can  bene- 
ficially expend  six  millions  of  dollars  annually ; 
the  ordnance  that  it  can  benelicially  expend 
three  millions  ;  the  navy  that  it  can  beneficially 
expend  several  millions  ;  and  all  this  for  a  series 
of  years.  This  distribution  bill  has  five  years 
to  run,  and  in  that  time,  if  the  money  is  applied 
to  defence  instead  of  distribution,  the  great  work 
of  national  defence  will  be  so  far  completed  as 
to  place  the  United  States  in  a  condition  to  cause 
her  rights  and  her  iuterestri,  lier  ilag  «"•''  "f" 
soil,  to  be  honored  and  respected  by  the  whole 
world." 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


651 


Thn  bill  was  pasHt-d  in  the  Scnnto,  though  by 
a  Toto  Boincwhat  close— 25  to  20.  Tlio  jcuh 
were : 

Messrs.  Illacit,  Buchanan,  Clay,  Clayton, 
CritlcniU'n,  Davis,  EwiuK  of  Oliio,  Ooldshorongh 
lltwiriokH,  Kent,  Kninlil,  Li'l^r),,  McKoiin,  Mun- 
L'lmi,  Xaiiiluiii,  NicholiiH,  Porter  PrentisH,  Pn-s- 
luii,  Hobbins,  Noutbartl,  Swift,  Tonilinson,  Web- 
ster, VVbitc. 

Nays.— McHRrs.  Benton,  Calhoun,  Cuthlurt 
Ettinp;  of  Illinois,  Grundy,  Hill,  Hubbard,  Kin{,' 
of  Alabama  King  of  Ck'or(;ia,  Linn,  Moore,  Mor- 
ris, Niles,  Hives,  Holiinson,  lUigglcs,  Shenlev. 
Taiimadgo,  Walker,  Wright.  ^    ^' 


unli  liable  as  to  n-fiiso  to  refund  a  dejiosit  which 
their  faith  w.nild  be  plighted  to  nturn,  and  rrst 
the  refusal  on  the  ground  of  prefirriiig  to  lay 
tt  tax,  becauHi!  it  would  Iwa  bounty  to  tlicni.  and 
would  eoiisequently  throw  the  whol(.  bunk'iM.f 
the  tax  on  the  other  States.  Hut,  bo  this  as  it 
may,  I  can  tell  the  senator  that,  if  thiv  sliouia 
take  a  course  ho  unjust  and  inonstrons;  he  may 
[  bo  assured  that  the  other  .States  would  must 
umiuestionably  resist  the  increa^<u  of  the  impo:<ts ; 
so  that  the  government  would  have  to  tako  its 
dundo,  either  to  go  without  the  money,  or  cull 
on  the  States  to  refund  the  deposits." 


Being  .sent  to  tlio  House  for  concuiTcnce  it 
tecame  evident  that  it  couhl  not  pass  that  body; 
and  then  the  friends  of  distribution  in  the  Senate 
fell  upDii  a  new  mode  to  cfiect  their  object,  and 
in  a  form  to  gain  the  votes  of  many  members 
wlio  held  distribution  to  be  a  violation  of  the 
constitution— among  them  Mr.  Calhoun ;— who 
took  the  lead  in  the  movement.     There  wss  a 
bill  before  the  Senate  to  regulate  the  keeping  of 
the  public  moneys  in  the  deposit  banks ;  and 
this  was  turned  into  distribution  of  the  surplus 
public  moneys  with  the  States,  in  proportion  to 
their  representation  in  Congress,  to  be  returned 
wlien  Congress  should  call  for  it :  and  this  was 
called  a  deposit  with  the  States ;  and  the  faith 
ofthe  States  pledged  for  returning  the  money. 
The  deposit  was  defended  on  the  same  argument 
on  which  Mr.  Calhoun  had  proposed  to  amend 
the  constitution  two  years  before ;  namely   i,ii( 
there  was  no  other  way  to  get  rid  of  the  surplus. 
And  to  a  suggestion  from  Mr.  Wright  that  the 
moneys,  wlien  once  so  deposited  might  never  be 
got  back  again,  Mr.  Calhoun  answered  : 

"  But  the  senator  from  New- York  objects  to 
the  measure,  that  it  would,  in  effect,  amount  to 
» distribution,  on  the  ground,  as  he  conceives 
that  the  States  would  never  refund.  He  does 
not  doubt  but  that  they  would,  if  called  on  to 
refund  by  the  government ;  but  he  says  that 
tongress  will  in  fact  never  make  the  call.  He 
rests  this  conclusion  on  the  supposition  that 
there  would  be  a  majority  ofthe  States  opposed 
to  it.  He  admits,  in  case  the  revenue  should 
become  deficient,  that  the  southern  or  staple 
st'Ues  would  prefer  to  refund  their  quota,  rather 
than  to  rai.sc  the  imposts  to  meet  the  deficit ; 
hut  ho  insists  that  the  contrary  would  be  the 
case  with  the  manufacturing  States,  which  would 
prefer  to  increase  the  imposts  to  refunding  their 
quota,  on  the  ground  that  ihn  increase  of  the 
unties  would  promote  the  interests  of  manufac- 
,K  ^"o^  cannot  agree  with  the  senator  that 
"lose  States  would  assume  a  position  so  utterly 


Mr.  Benton  took  an  objection  to  this  scheme  of 
deposit,  that  it  was  a  distribution  under  a  false 
name,  making  a  double  disposition  of  the  same 
money ;  that  the  land  money  was  to  bo  distributed 
under  the  bill  already  jmsscd  by  the  Senate  :  and 
he  moved  an  atnendment  to  except  that  money 
from  the  operation  ofthe  deposit  to  be  made  with 
the  States.   He  said  it  was  hardly  to  be  supposed 
that,  in  the  nineteenth  century,  a  grave  legisla- 
tive body  would  pass  *  *  n  bills  for  dividing  the 
same  money;  and  it  was  to  save  the  Senate 
from  the  ridicule  of  such  a  blunder  that  he  tailed 
their  attention  to  it,  and  jiroposed  the  amend- 
ment.   Mr.  Calhoun  said  there  was  a  remedy 
for  it  in  a  few  words,  by  adding  a  proviso  of  ex- 
ception, if  the  land  distribution  bill  became  a 
law.    Mr.  Benton  was  utterly  opposed  to  such 
a  proviso— a  proviso  to  take  eflect  if  the  same 
thing  did  not  become  law  in  another  bill.     Mr. 
Morris  also  wished  to  know  if  the  Senate  was 
about  to  make  a  double  distribution  of  the  same 
money  ?    As  far  it  respected  the  action  of  the 
Senate  the  land  bill  was,  to  all  intents  and  pur- 
poses, a  law,    1 L  had  passed  the  Senate,  and  they 
were  done  with  it.    It  had  changed  its  title 
from  "bill"  to  "act."    It  was  now  the  act  of 
the  Senate,  and  they  could  not  know  what  dis- 
position the  House  would  make  of  it.     Mr. 
Webster  believed  the  land  bill  cou  '  not  pass 
the  House;  that  it  was  put  to  rest  .     re;  and 
therefore  he  had  no  objection  to  voting  for  the 
second  cne:    thus  admitting  that,  under  the 
name  of  "distribution"  the  act  could  not  pass 
the  House,  and  that  a  change  of  name  was  indis- 
pensable.   Mr.  Wright  made  a  speech  of  state- 
ments and  facts  to  show  that  there  would  be  no 
surplus ;   and  taking  up  that  idea,  Mr.  Benton 
spoke  thus  : 

"  About  this  time  two  years  ago,  the  Senate 
was  engaged  in  proclaiming  the  danger  of  a 
bankrupt  Treasury,  and  in  proving  to  the  peo- 


if 

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if; 

652 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


pie  that  utter  ruin  must  ensue  from  the  removal 
of  the  deposits  from  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States.     The  same  Senate,  nothing  abated  in 
confidence  from  the  failure  of  former  predictions, 
Is  now  engaged  in  celebrating  the  prosperity  of 
the  country,  and  proclaiming  a  surplus  of  forty, 
and  fifty,  and  sixty  millions  of  dollars  in  that 
same  Treasury,  which  so  short  a  time  since 
they  thought  was  going  to  bo  bankrupt.    Both 
occupations    are    equally    unfortunate.      Our 
Treasury  is  in  no  more  danger  of  bursting  from 
distension  now,  than  it  was  of  collapsing  from 
depiction  then.    The  ghost  of  the  panic  was  dri- 
ven from  this  chamber  in  May,  1834,  by  the  re- 
port of  Mr.  Taney,  showing  that  all  the  sources 
of  the  national  revenue  were  in  their  usual  rich 
and  bountiful  condition ;  and  that  there  was  no 
danger  of  bankruptcy.    The  speech  and  state- 
ment, so  brief  and  perspicuous,  just  delivered  by 
the  senator  from  New  York  [Mr.  Wright],  will 
perform  the  same  office  upon  the  distribution 
spirit,  by  showing  that  the  appropriations  of  the 
session  will  require  nearly  as  much  money  as 
the  ;)ublic  Treasury  will  be  found  to  contain. 
The  present  exaggerations  about  the  surplus  will 
have  their  day,  as  the  panic  about  an  empty 
Treasury  had  its  day ;  and  time,  which  corrects 
all  things,  will  show  the  enormity  of  these  ejTors 
which  excite  the  public  mind,  and  stimulate  the 
public  appetite,  for  a  division  of  forty,  fifty,  and 
sixty  millions  of  surplus  treasure." 


The  bill  being  ordered  to  a  third  reading,  with 
only  six  dissenting  votes,  the  author  of  this 
View  could  not  consent  to  let  it  pass  without 
an  attempt  to  stigmatize  it,  and  render  it  odious 
to  the  people,  as  a  distribution  in  disguise — as  a 
deposit  never  to  be  reclaimed;  as  a  miserable 
evasion  of  the  constitution ;  as  an  attempt  to 
debauch  the  people  with  their  own  money ;  as 
plundering  instead  of  defending  the  country; 
as  a  cheat  that  would  only  last  till  the  presiden- 
tial election  was  over ;  for  there  would  be  no 
money  to  deposit  after  the  first  or  second  quar- 
ter ;— and  as  having  the  inevitable  effect,  if  not 
the  intention,  to  break  the  deposit  banks  ;  and, 
finally,  as  disappointing  its  authors  in  their 
schemes  of  popularity :  in  which  he  was  pro- 
phetic ;  as,  out  of  half  a  dozen  aspirants  to  the 
presidency,  who  voted  for  it,  no  one  of  them 
ever  attained  that  place.  The  following  are 
parts  of  his  speech : 

"  I  now  come-  Mr.  President  (continued  Mr. 
B.),  to  the  second  subject  in  the  bill— the  dis- 
tribution feature — and  to  which  the  objections 
are,  not  of  detail,  but  of  principle ;  but  which 
objections  are  so  strong,  in  llic  ininu  of  myself 
and  some  friends,  that,  far  from  shrinking  from 
the  contest,  and  sneaking  away  in  our  little 
mmority  of  six,  where  we  were  left  last  eveu- 


mg,  we  come  forward  with  unabated  resolution 
to  renew  our  opposition,  and  to  signalize  our 
dissent ;  anxious  to  have  it  known  tiiat  we  con 
tended  to  the  last  against  the  seductions  of  a 
measure,  specious  to  the  view,  and  temptinc  to 
the  taste,  but  fraught  with  mischief  and  fearful 
consequences  to  the  character  of  this  govLTn 
ment,  and  to  the  stability  and  harmony  of  this 
confederacy. 

"  Stripping  this  enactment  of  statutory  ver- 
biage, and  collecting  the  provisions  of  the  sec- 
tion into  a  single  view,  they  seem  to  be  these  ■ 
1.  The  public  moneys,  above  a  specific  sum  are 
to  be  deposited  with  the  States,  in  a  specified 
ratio ;  2.  The  States  are  to  give  certificates  of 
deposit,  payable  to  the  United  States ;  but  no 
time,  or  contingency,  is  fixed  for  the  payment  • 
3.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  to  sell  and 
assign  the  certificates,  limited  to  a  ratable  pro- 
protion  of  each,  when  necessary  to  meet  apnro- 
priations  made  by  Congress ;  4.  The  certificates 
so  assigned  are  to  bear  an  interest  of  five  per 
cent.,  payable  half  yearly ;  5.  To  bear  no  inte- 
rest before  assignment ;  6.  The  principal  to  be 
payable  at  the  pleasure  of  the  State. 

"  This,  Mr.  President,  is  the  enactment ;  and 
what  is  such  an  enactment  ?   Sir,  I  will  tell  you 
what  it  is.    It  is,  in  name,  a  deposit ;  in  form  a 
loan;    in   essence   and  design,   a  distribution. 
Names  cannot  alter  things  ;  and  it  is  as  idle  to 
call  a  gift  a  deposit,  as  it  would  be  to  call  a  stab 
of  the  dagger  a  kiss  of  the  lips.    It  is  a  distri- 
bution of  the  revenues,  under  the  name  of  a 
deposit,  and  under  the  form  of  a  loan.    It  is 
known  to  be  so,  and  is  intended  to  be  so ;  and 
all  this  verbiage  about  a  deposit  is  nothing  but 
the  device  and  contrivance  of  those  who  have 
been  for  years  endeavoring  to  distribute  tlie 
revenues,  sometimes  by  the  land  bill,  sometimes 
by  direct  propositions,  and  sometimes  by  pro- 
posed amendments  to  the  constitution.   Finding 
all  these  modes  of  accomplishing  the  object  met 
and  frustrated  by  the  constitution,  they  full  upon 
this  invention  of  a  deposit,  and  exult  in  the  suc- 
cess of  an  old  scheme  under  a  new  name.    That 
it  is  no  deposit,  but  a  free  gift,  and  a  regular 
distribution,  is  clear  and  demonstrable,  not  only 
from  the  avowed  principles,  declared  intentions, 
and  systematic  purposes  of  those  who  conduct 
the  bill,  but  also  from  the  means  devised  to  ef- 
fect their  object.     Names  are  nothing.    The 
thing  done  gives  character  to  the  transaction ; 
and  the  imposition  of  an  erroneous  name  cannot 
change  that  character.     This  is  no  deposit.    It 
has  no  feature,  no  attribute,  no  .'haracteristic, 
no  quality  of  a  deposit.    A  deposit  is  a  trust. 
requiring  the  consent  of  two  parties,  leaving  to 
one  the  rights  of  ownership,  and  imposing  on 
the  other  the  duties  of  trustee.     The  deposiloi- 
retains  the  right  of  property,  and  reserves  the 
privilege    of   resumption  ;    the    depositary   is 
bound,  lo  i-crttoi-e.    But  here  tlie  riglit  of  propel  U 
is  parted  with ;  the  privilege  of  resumption  is 
surrendered ;  the  obligation  to  render  back  is 
not  imposed.    On  the  contrary,  our  money  is 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


653 


put  where  we  cannot  reach  it.    Our  treasury 
warrant  cannot  pursue  it.     Tlie  States  are  to 
keep  the  money,  free  of  interest,  until  is  is  need- 
ed to  meet  appropriations ;  and  then  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury  is— to  do  what  ?— cal'  (ipon 
the  State  ?     No !  but  to  sell  and  assign  the  cer- 
tificate ;  and  the  State  is  to  pay  the  assignee  an 
interest  hn'f  yearly,  and  the  principal  when  it 
jileascs.     Now,  these  appropriations  will  never 
be  made.    The  members  of  Congress  are  not 
yet  born— the  race  of  representatives  is  not  yet 
known— who  will  vote  appropriations  for  na- 
tional objects,  to  be  paid  out  of  their  own  State 
treasuries.     Sooner  will  the  tariff  be  revived  or 
the  price  of  public  land  Le  raised.     Sooner  will 
the  assignability  of  the  certificate  be  re;;ealed 
by  law.    The  contingency  will  never  arrive  on 
whicli  the  Secretary  is  to  assign :  eo  the  deposit 
will  stand  as  a  loan  for  ever,  without  interest. 
At  the  end  of  some  years,  the  nominal  transac- 
tion will  be  rescinded ;  the  certificates  will  all 
be  cancelled  by  one  general,  unanimous,  harmo- 
nious vote  in  Congress.    The  disguise  of  a  de- 
posit, hko  the  mask  after  a  play,  will  be  thrown 
aside ;  and  the  delivery  cf  the  money  will  turn 
out  to  be,  what  it  is  no        tended  to  be,  a  gift 
from  the  beginning.    Th..s  ,,'ill  be  the  end  of  the 
first  chapter.     And  now,  how  unbecoming  in 
the  Senate  to  practise  this  indirection,  and  to 
do  by  a  false  name  what  cannot  be  done  by  its 
true  one.     The  constitution,  by  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  many  who  conduct  this  bill,  will  not 
admit  of  a  distribution  of  the  revenues.    Not 
fiirtiier  back  than  the  last  session,  and  again  at 
the  commencement  of  the  present  session,  a  pro- 
position was  made  to  amend  the  constitution,  to 
permit  this  identical  distribution  to  be  made. 
That  projiosition  is  now  upon  our  calendar  for 
the  action  of  Congress.    All  at  once,  it  is  disco- 
vered that  a  change  of  names  will  do  as  well  as 
a  change  of  the  constitution.     Strike  out  the 
vord  < distribute,'  and  insert  the  word  'depo- 
rt;' and,  incontinently,  the  impediment  is  re- 
moved: the  constitution  difficulty  is  surmount- 
ed; the  difision  of  the  money  can  be  made. 
This,  at  least,  is  quick  work.    It  looks  magical' 
though  not  the  exploit  of  the  magician.     It 
commits  nobody,  though  not  the  invention  of 
the  non-committal  school.    After  all,  it  must  be 
admitted  to  be  a  very  compendious  mode  of 
amending  the  constitution,  and  such  a  one  as 
the  franiers  of  that  instrument  never  happened 
to  think  of.    Is  this  fancy,  or  is  it  fact?    Are 
we  legislating,  or  amusing  ourselves  with  phan- 
tasmagoria ?    Can  we  forget  that  wo  now  have 
upon  the  calendar  a  proposition  to  amend  the 
constitution,  to  effect  this  very  distribution,  and 
tliat  the  only  diflerence  between  that  resolution 
and  this  thirteenth  section,  is  in  substituting 
the w-ord  'deposit'  for  the  word  'distribute?' 

Having  shown  this  pretondod  deposit  to  be 
a  distribution  in  disguise,  and  to  bo  a  mere  eva- 
sion of  the  constitution,  Mr.  B.  proceeded  to  ex- 
amine its  efl'ects,  and  to  trace  its  ruinous  conse- 
quences upon  the  federal  government  and  the 


States.    It  is  brought  forward  as  a  temporary 
measure,  as  a  single  operation,  as  a  thing  to  bo 
done  but  once ;  but  what  career,  either  for  good 
or  for  evil,  ever  stopped  with  the  first  step?   It 
IS  the  first  step  which  costs  the  difliculty  ;  that 
taken,  tho  second  becomes  easy,  and  repetition 
habitual.     Let  this  distribution,  in  this  disguise 
take  effect;  and  future  distribution  will  be  com- 
mon and  regular.    Every  presidential  election 
will  bnng  them,  and  larger  each  time ;  as  the 
consular  elections  in  Kome,  commnncing  with 
distribution.3  of  grain  from  the  public  granaries 
went  on  to  the  exhibitions  of  games  and  shows' 
the  remission  of  debts,  largesses  in  money  lands' 
and  provisions ;  until  the  rival  candidates  openly 
bid  against  each  other,  and  the  diadem  of  em- 
pire was  put  up  at  auction,  and  knocked  down 
to  the  last  and  highest  bidder.    The  purity  of 
elections  may  not  yet  be  affected  in  our  young 
and  vigorous  country ;  but  how  long  will  it  be 
before  voters  will  look  to  the  candidates  for  tho 
magnitude  of  their  distributions,  instead  of  look- 
ing to  them  for  the  qualifications  which  the  pre- 
sidential office  requires  ? 

"The  bad  consequences  of  this  distribution 
of  money  to  the  States  are  palpable  and  friglit- 
ful.    It  is  complicating  the  federal  and  State 
systems,  and  multiplying  their  points  of  contact 
and  hazards  of  collision.    Take  it  as  ostensibly 
presented,  that  of  a  deposit  or  loan,  to  be  repaid 
at  some  future  time;  then  it  is  establishing  the 
relation  of  debtor  and  creditor  between  them : 
a  relation  critical  between  friends,  embarrassing 
between  a  State  and  its  citizens ;  and  eminently 
dangerous  between  confederate  States  and  their 
common  head.    It  is  a  rtiation  always  depre- 
cated in  our  federal  system.    The  land  credit 
system  was  abolished  by  Congress,  fifteen  years 
ago,  to  get  rid  of  the  relation  of  debtor  and 
creditor  between  the  federal  governni3nt  and  tho 
citizens  of  the  States ;  and  seven  or  eight  mil- 
lions of  debt,  principal  and  interest,  was  then 
surrendered.     The  collection  of  a  large  debt 
from  numerous  individual  debtors,  was  found  to 
be  almost  impossible.     How  much  worse  if  the 
State  itself  becomes  the  debtor !  and  more,  if 
all  the  States  become  indebted  together !     Any 
attempt  to  collect  the  debt  would  be  attended, 
first  with  ill  blood,  then  with  cancellation.    It 
must  be  the  representatives  of  the  States  who 
are  to  enforce  the  collection  of  the  debt.    This 
they  would  not  do.    They  would  stan^  together 
against  the  creditor.     No  member  of  Congress 
could  vote  to  tax  his  State  to  raise  money  for 
the  general  purposes  of  the  confederacy.    No 
one  could  vote  an  appropriation  which  was  to 
become  a  charge  on  his  own  State  treasury. 


Taxation  would  first  be  resorted  to,  and  the 
tariff  and  the  public  lands  would  become  the 
fountain  of  supply  to  the  federal  government. 
Taken  as  a  real  transaction — as  a  deposit  with 
the  States,  or  a  loan  to  the  Staii,:— .is  this  mea- 
sure professes  to  be,  and  it  is  fraugl'.t  with  con- 
sequences adverse  to  the  harmony  of  the  federal 
system,  and  fraught  with  new  burdens  upon  the 


1 


654 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


customs,  and  upon  tlie  lands ;  taken  as  a  fiction 
to  avoid  the  constitution,  as  a  John  Doe  and 
Richard  Roe  Invention  to  convey  a  gift  under 
the  name  of  a  deposit,  and  to  eflect  a  distribu- 
tion under  the  disguise  of  a  loan,  and  it  is  an 
artifice  which  makes  derision  of  the  constitu- 
tion, lets  down  the  Senate  from  its  lofty  station ; 
and  provides  a  facile  way  for  doing  any  thing 
that  any  Congress  may  choose  to  do  in  all  time 
to  come.  It  is  only  to  depose  one  word  and  in- 
Tital  another — it  is  merely  to  change  a  name — 
and  the  frowning  constitution  immediately  smiles 
on  the  late  forbidden  attempt. 

"  To  the  federal  governinent  the  consequences 
of  these  distributions  must  be  deplorable  and 
destructive.  It  must  be  remitted  to  the  helpless 
condition  of  the  old  confederacy,  depending  for 
its  supplies  upon  the  voluntary  contributions 
of  the  States.  Worse  than  depending  upon  the 
voluntary  contributions,  it  will  be  left  to  the 
gratuitous  leavings,  to  the  eleemosynary  crumbs, 
which  remain  upon  the  table  after  the  feast  of 
the  States  is  over.  God  grant  they  may  not 
prove  to  be  the  feasts  of  the  Lapithse  and 
Centaurs  !  But  the  States  will  be  served  first ; 
and  what  remains  may  go  to  the  objects  of  com- 
mon defence  and  nacio"nal  concern  for  which  the 
confederacy  was  framed,  and  for  which  the 
power  of  raising  money  was  confided  to  Con- 
gress. The  distribution  bills  will  be  passed 
first,  and  the  appropriation  bills  afterwards ;  and 
every  appropriation  will  be  cut  down  to  the 
lowest  point,  and  kept  off  to  the  last  moment. 
To  stave  off  as  long  as  possible,  to  reduce  as 
low  as  possible,  to  defeat  whenever  possible, 
will  be  the  fcictics  of  federal  legislation ;  and 
when  at  last  some  object  of  national  expenditure 
has  miraculously  run  the  gauntlet  of  all  these 
assaults,  and  escaped  the  perils  of  these  multi- 
plied dangers,  behold  the  enemy  still  ahead,  and 
the  recapture  which  awaits  the  devoted  appro- 
priation, in  the  shape  of  an  unexpended  balance, 
on  the  first  day  of  January  then  next  ensuing. 
Thus  it  is  already;  distribution  has  occupied  us 
all  the  session.  A  proposition  to  amend  the 
constitution,  to  enable  us  to  make  the  division, 
was  brought  in  in  the  first  month  of  the  session. 
The  land  bill  followed,  and  engrossed  months, 
to  the  exclusion  of  national  defence.  Then  came 
the  deposit  scheme,  which  absorbs  the  remainder 
of  the  session.  For  nearly  seven  months  we 
have  been  occupied  with  distribution,  and  the 
Senate  has  actually  passed  two  bills  to  effect  the 
same  object,  and  to  divide  the  same  identical 
money.  Two  bills  to  divide  money,  while  one 
bill  cannot  be  got  through  for  the  great  objects 
of  national  defence  named  in  the  constitution. 
We  are  now  near  the  end  of  the  seventh  month 
of  the  session.  The  day  named  by  the  Senate 
for  the  termination  of  the  session  is  long  passed 
by ;  the  day  fixed  by  the  two  Houses  is  close 
at  hand.  The  year  is  half  gone,  and  the  season 
for  labor  largely  lost ;  yet  what  is  the  state  of 
the  gc'nei-al,  national,  and  most  essential  aj)pro- 
priations  ?    Not  a  shilling  is  yet  voted  for  forti- 


fications ;  not  a  shilling  for  the  ordnance ;  no- 
thing for  filling  the  empty  ranks  of  the  skeleton 
army;  nothing  for  the  new  Indian   trea'ios- 
nothing  for  the  continuation  of  the  Cumborlaiul 
road;   nothing  for  rebuilding  the  bumt-dovrn 
Treasury ;  nothing  for  the  custom-house  in  New 
Orleans;  nothing  for  extinguishing  the  riphts 
of  private  corporators  in  the  Louisville  canal 
and  making  that  great  thoroughfare  free  to  the 
commerce  of  the  West ;  nothing  for  the  western 
armory,  and  arsenals  in  the  States  which  have 
none  ;  nothing  for  the  extension  of  the  circuit 
court  system  to  the  new  States  of  the  West  and 
Southwest ;   nothing  for  improving  the  mint 
machinery;    nothing    for  keeping    the  mints 
regularly  supplied  with    metals  for  coining 
nothing  for  the  new  marine  hospitals ;  notliin'' 
for  the  expenses  of  the  visitors  now  gone  to  the 
Military  Academy;  nothing  for  the  chain  of 
posts  and  the  military  road  along  the  Western 
and  Northwestern  frontier.    All  those,  and  a 
long  list  of  other  objects,  remain  without  a  cent 
to  tlus  day ;  and  those  who  have  kept  them  olf 
now  coolly  turn  upon  us,  and  say  the  money 
cannot  be  expended  if  appropriated,  and  that,  on 
the  first  of  January,  it  must  fall  into  the  surplus 
fund  to  be  divided.     Of  the  bills  passed,  many 
of  the  most  essential  character  have  been  delay- 
ed for  months,  to  the  great  injury  of  individuals 
and  of  the  public  service.     Clerks  and  salaried 
ofiicers  have  been  borrowing  money  at  usury  to 
support  their  families,  while  we,  wholly  absorb- 
ed with  dividing  surpluses,  were  withholding 
from  them  their  stipulated  wages.    Laborers  at 
Harper's   Ferry  Armory  have  been    witiiout 
money  to  go  to  market  for  their  fomilies,  and 
some  have  lived  three  weeks  without  meat, 
because  we  must  attend  to  the  distribution  bills 
before  we  can  attend  to  the  pay  bills.    Disburs- 
ing officers  have  raised  money  on  their  own  ac- 
count, to  supply  the  want  of  appropriations, 
Even  the  annual  Indian  Annuity  Bill  has  but 
just  got  through  ;  the  Indians  even — the  poor 
Indians,  as  they  were  wont  to  be  called— even 
they  have  had  to  wait,  in  want  and  misery,  foi 
the  annual    stipends    solemnly  guarantied  bj 
treaties.     All  this  has  already  taken  place  un 
der  the  deplorable  influence  of  the  distribution 
spirit. 

"  The  progress  which  the  distribution  spirit 
has  made  in  advaancing  beyond  its  own  preten- 
sions, is  a  striking  feature  in  the  history  of  the 
case,  and  ominous  of  what  may  be  expected 
from  its  future  exactions.  Originally  the  pro- 
position was  to  divide  the  surplus.  It  was  the 
surplus,  and  nothing  but  the  surplus,  which  was 
to  be  taken ;  that  bona  fide  and  inevitable  sur- 
plus which  remained  after  all  the  defences  were 
provided  for,  and  all  needed  apjjrojiriations  fully 
made.  Now  the  defences  are  iwstponedand  de- 
cried; the  needful  approjjriations  are  rijected, 
stinted,  and  deferred,  till  they  cannot  be  used ; 
and,  instead  of  the  surplu.s,  it  is  the  integral 
revenue,  it  is  the  money  in  the  Treasury,  it  is 
the  money  appropriated  by  law,  which  is  to  bo 


ANNO  1836.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


655 


Bcized  upon  and  divided  out.    It  is  the  unexpend- 
ed balunc     which  are  now  the  object  of  all  de- 
sire    I)         J  prize  of   meditated   distribution. 
The  w .         irplus  is  not  in  the  bill !  that  word 
whicli  'u'..,  figured  in  so  many  speeches,  which' 
has  been  the  subject  of  so  much  speculation 
whioh  ha.s  been  the  cause  of  so  much  delusion 
in  the  pubhc  mind,  and  of  so  much  excited  hone ; 
that  word  is  not  in  the  bill !    It  is  carefully 
studiously,  systematically  excluded,  and  a  form 
of  expres.sion  is  adopted  to  cover  all  the  money 
in  the  Treasury,  a  small  sum  excepted,  althouffh 
appropriated  by  law  to  the  most  sacred  and 
necessary  objects.     A  recapture  of  the  ^'ppr()- 
priated  money  is  intended;  and  thus  the  rcry 
identical  money  which  we  appropriate  at  this 
session  is  to  be  seized  upon  on  the  first  day  of 
January,  torn  away  from  the  objects  to  which 
it  was  dedicated,  and  absorbed  in  the  fund  for 
general  distribution.     And  why?  because  the 
cormorant  appetite  of  distribution  grows  as  it 
feeds,  and  becomes  more  ravenous  as  it  fforges 
It  set  out  for  the  surplus ;  now  it  takes  the  un- 
expended balances,  save  five  millions;  next  year 
it  will  take  all.    But  it  is  sufficient  to  contemplate 
the  thing  as  it  is ;  it  is  sufficient  to  contemplate 
this  bill  as  seizing  upon  the  unexpended  balances 
on  the  first  day  of  January,  regardless  of  the 
objects  to  which  they  are  appropriated ;  and  to 
witness  its  effect  upon  the  laws,  the  policy,  and 
the  existence  of  the  federal  government. 

"Such,  then,  is  the  progress  of  the  distribu- 
tion spirit ;  a  cormorant  appetite,  growing  as  it 
feeds,  ravening  as  it  gorges ;  seizing  the  appro- 
priated moneys,  and  leaving  the  federal  govern- 
ment to  starve  upon  crumbs,  and  to  die  of  in- 
anition.   But  this  appetite  is  not  the  sole  cause 
for  this  seizure.     There  is  another  reason  for  it 
connected  with  the  movements  in  this  chamber' 
and  founded  in  the  deep-seated  law  of  self-pre- 
servation.   For  six  months  the  public  mind  has 
been  stimulated  with  the  storyof  sixty  millions 
of  surplus  money  in  the  Treasury;  and  two 
months  ago,  the  grave  Senate  of  the  United 
btates  carried  the  rash  joke  of  that  illusory 
asseveration  so  far  as  to  pass  a  bill  to  commence 
he  distribution  of  that  vast  sum.    It  was  the 
land  bill  which  was  to  do  it,  commencing  its 
swelling  dividends  on  the  1st  day  of  July,  deal- 
ing them  out  every  ninety  days,  and  completing 
the  splendid  distribution  of  prizes,  in  the  sixty" 
lour  million  lottery,  in  eighteen  months  from 
-he  commencement  of  the  drawing.    It  was  two 
montlis  ago  that  we  passed  this  bill ;  and  all 
attempts  then  made  to  convince  the  people  that 
they  were  deluded,  wore  vain  and  useless.  Sixty- 
lour  millions  they  were    promised,  sixt\--four 
nmions  they  were  to  have,  sixty-four  millions 
tiicy  began  to  want;  and  slates  and  pencils  were 
JUht  as  busy  then  in  figuring  out  the  dividends 
ot  the  sixty-fonr  millions,  to  begin  nn  the  Ut 
w  duly  as  they  now  are  in  figuring  out  the 
lividenc  s  under  the  forty,  fifty,  and  sixty  mil- 
lions, which  are  to  br-i,,  on  the  1st  of  January 


next.    And  now  Ichuid  the  end  of  the  first 


chapter.     The  1st  of  July  is  come,  but  the  sixty- 
four  millions  are  not  in  the  Treasury !    It  is 
not  there ;  and  any  attempt  to  commence  the 
distribution    of  that    sum,  according    to    the 
terms  of  the  land   bill,   would  bankrupt  the 
Ireasury,  stop  the  government,  and  cause  Con- 
gress to  be  calle<l   together,  to   levy  taxes  or 
make  loans.    So  much  for  the  land  bill,  wWch 
two  months  ago  received  all  the  praises  which 
are  now  bestowed  upon  the  deposit  bill.     So 
the  dra\ying  had  to  be  postponed,  the  perform- 
ance had  to  be  adjourned,  and  the  1st  of  Jan- 
uary was  substituted  for  the  1st  of  July.    This 
gives  six  months  to  go  upon,  and  defers  the 
catastrophe  of  the  mountain  in  labor  until  the 
presidential  election  is  over.     Still  the  first  of 
January  must  come  ;  and  the  ridicule  would  bo 
too  great,  if  there  was  nothing,  or  next  to  no- 
thing,  to   divide.     And  nothing,   or  next  to 
nothing,  there  would  be,  if  the  appropriations 
were  fairly  made,  and  made  in  time,  and  if 
nothing  but  a  surplus  was  left  to  divide.  There 
would  be  no  more  in  the  deposit  bank,  in  that 
event,  than  has  usually  been  in  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States— say  ten,  or  twelve,  or  fourteen 
or  sixteen  millions;  and  from  which,  in   the 
hands  of  a  single  bank,  none  of  those  dangers 
to  the  country  were  then  seen  which  are  now 
discovered  in  like  sums  in  three  cro.-!cn  uncon- 
nected and  independent  banks.     Even  after  al! 
the  delays  and  reductions  in  the  appropriations 
the  surplus  will  now  be  but  a  trifle— such  a 
trifle  as  must  expose  to  ridicule,  or  something 
worse,  all  those  who  have  tantalized  the  public 
with  the  expectation  of  forty,  fifty,  or  sixty 
millions  to  divide.    To  avoid  this  Me,  and  to 
make  up  something  for  distilbution,  then  the 
unexpended  balances  have  been  fallen  upon  ; 
the  law  of  1795  is  nullified;  the  fiscal  year  is 
changed;  the  policy  of  the  government  subvert- 
ed ;  reason,  justice,  propriety  outraged ;  all  con- 
tracts, labor,  service,  salaries  cut  off,  inten-upted 
or  reduced ;  appropriations  recaptured,  and  the 
government  paralyzed.     Sir,  the  people  are  de- 
ceived ;  they  are  made  to  believe  that  a  surplus 
only,  an  unavoidable  surplus,  is  to  be  divided 
when  the  fact  is  that  appropriated  moneys  aro 
to  be  seized. 

"Sir,  lam  opposed  to  the  whole  policy  of 
this  measure.  1  am  opposed  to  it  as  going  to 
sap  the  foundations  of  the  Federal  Govcmment 
and  to  undo  the  constitution,  and  that  by  eva- 
sion, in  the  very  point  for  which  the  constitu- 
tion was  made.  "What  is  that  point?  A 
Treasury  !  a  Treasury  !  a  Trcasurv  of  its  own, 
unconnected  with,  and  independent  of  the  States. 
It  was  for  this  that  wise  and  patriotic  men 
wrote,  and  spoke,  and  prayed  for  the  fourteen 
years  that  intervened  from  the  declaration  of 
independence,  in  177G,  to  the  formation  of  the 
constitution  in  1789.  It  w.-is  for  this  that  so 
many  appeals  were  made  so  many  cdbrts  ex- 
erted, so  many  fruitless  attempts  so  long  re- 
peated, to  obtain  from  the  States  the  power  of 
raising  revenue  from  imports.    It  was  for  this 


«R    |i 


1: 


656 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


that  the  convention  of  1787  met,  and  but  for 
'his  they  never  would  have  met.  The  forma- 
tion of  a  federal  treasury,  unconnected  with  the 
States,  and  indepcncnt  of  the  States,  was  the 
cause  of  the  meeting  of  that  convention  ;  it  was 
the  great  object  of  't'5  labors ;  it  was  the  point 
to  which  all  its  ex  rtions  tendt  ^  and  it  was  the 
point  at  which  failure  would  hu*e  been  the  ftiil- 
ure  of  the  whole  object  of  the  meeting,  of  the 
whole  frame  of  the  general  government,  nnd  of 
the  whole  design  of  the  constitution.  "With  in- 
finite labor,  pains,  and  difficulty,  they  succeeded 
in  erecting  thecdiflce  of  the  federal  treasury ;  we, 
not  builders,  but  destroyers,  "architects  of 
ruin,"  imdo  in  a  night  what  they  accomplished  in 
many  years.  We  expunge  the  federal  treasury ; 
we  throw  the  federal  government  l)ack  upon 
States  for  si'.pi)lics  ;  we  unhinge  and  undo  the 
constitution ;  and  we  effect  our  purpose  by  an 
artifice  which  derides,  mocks,  ridicules  that 
sacred  instrument,  and  opens  the  way  to  its 
perpetual  evasion  bj''  eveiy  paltry  performer 
that  is  able  to  dethrone  one  word,  and  exalt 
another  in  its  place. 

"I  object  to  the  time  for  another  reason. 
There  is  no  necessity  to  act  at  all  upon  this 
subject,  at  this  session  of  Congress.  The  dis- 
tribution is  not  to  take  effect  until  after  we  are 
in  session  again,  and  when  the  true  state  of  the 
treasury  shall  be  known.  Its  true  state  cannot 
be  known  now  ;  but  enough  is  known  to  make 
it  questionabli'  whether  there  will  be  any  sur- 
plus, requiring  a  specific  disposition,  over  and 
beyond  the  wants  of  the  country.  Many  ap- 
propriations are  yet  behind  ;  two  Indian  wars 
are  yet  to  be  finished  ;  when  the  wars  are  over, 
the  vanquished  Indians  arc  to  be  removed  to 
tlie  West ;  and  when  there,  either  the  Federal 
Govcnment  or  the  States  must  raise  a  force  to 
protect  the  people  from  them.  Twenty-five  thou- 
sand Creeks,  seven  thousand  Seminoles,  eigh- 
teen thousand  Cherokees,  and  others,  making  a 
totality  of  seventy-two  thousand,  are  to  be  re- 
moved ;  and  the  expenses  of  removal,  and  the 
year's  subsistence  afterwards,  is  close  upon 
seventy  dollars  per  head.  It  is  a  problem 
whether  there  will  be  any  surplus  worth  dis- 
posing of.  The  surplus  party  themselves  admit 
there  will  be  a  disappointment  unless  they  go 
beyond  the  surplus,  and  seize  the  appropriated 
moneys.  The  Senator  from  New-York  [Mr. 
Wright],  has  made  an  exposition,  as  candid  and 
perspicuous  as  it  is  patriotic  and  luianswcrablc, 
showing  that  there  will  be  an  excess  of  appro- 
priations over  the  money  in  the  treasury  on 
the  day  that  we  adjourn ;  and  that  we  shall 
have  to  dciicnd  upon  the  accruing  revenue 
of  the  remainder  of  the  year  to  meet  the  de- 
iiiunds  which  we  authorize.  This  is  the  state 
('f  the  surplus  question:  problematical,  debata- 
ble ;  the  weiirht  of  the  cvid'ince  and  tlio  Rtventcth 
of  the  ai-gument  entirely  a;j:ainst  it ;  time 
cuon;j,li  to  ascertain  the  truth,  and  yot  a  deter- 
mination to  reject  all  evidence,  refu.^c  all  time, 
rush  on  to  the  object,  and  divide  the  money, 


cost  what  it  may  to  the  constitution,  the  gov- 
ernment, the  good  of  the  States,  and  the  puritv 
of  elections.  The  catastrophe  of  the  land  bill 
project  ought  certainly  to  be  a  warni-g  to  us. 
Two  months  ago  it  was  pushed  through,  as 
the  only  means  of  saving  the  country,  as  ttio 
blessed  act  which  was  to  save  the  republic.  It 
was  to  commence  on  the  first  day  of  .July  its 
magnificent  operations  of  distributing  sixty- 
four  millions ;  now  it  lies  a  corp.se  in  the  House 
of  Representatives,  a  monument  of  haste  and 
folly,  its  very  authors  endeavoring  to  super- 
sede it  by  another  measure,  because  it  could 
not  take  effect  without  ruining  the  country; 
and,  what  is  equally  important  to  them,  ruining 
themselves. 

"  Admitting  that  the  year  produces  more  re- 
venue than  is  wanting,  is  it  wise,  is  it  states- 
manlike, is  it  consonant  with  our  experience, 
to  take  fright  at  the  event,  and  throw  tlio 
money  away  ?  Did  wc  not  have  forty  millions 
of  income  in  the  year  1817  ?  and  did  we  not 
have  an  empty  treasury  in  1819  ?  Instead  of  tak- 
ing fright  and  throwing  the  money  away,  the 
statesman  should  look  into  the  cause  of  things ; 
he  should  take  for  his  motto  the  prayer  of 
Virgil :  Cognoscere  causa  Tcrum.  Let  me 
know  the  cause  of  things ;  and,  learning  this 
cause,  act  accordingly.  If  the  redundant  sup- 
ply is  accidental  and  transient,  it  will  quickly 
correct  itself ;  if  founded  in  laws,  alter  them. 
This  is  the  part  not  merely  of  wisdom,  hut  of 
common  sense:  it  was  the  conduct  of  1817, 
when  the  excessive  supply  was  seen  to  he  the 
effect  of  transient  causes— termination  of  the 
war  and  efflorescence  of  the  paper  system— and 
left  to  correct  itself,  which  it  did  in  two  years. 
It  should  be  the  conduct  now,  when  the  exces- 
sive income  is  seen  to  be  the  effect  of  the  laws 
and  the  paper  system  combined,  and  when  legis- 
lation or  regulation  is  necessary  to  correct  it. 
Reduction  of  the  tariff;  reduction  of  tlie  price 
of  land  to  actual  settlers ;  rejection  of  bank 
paper  from  universal  receivability  for  public 
dues ;  these  are  the  remedies.  After  all,  the 
whole  evil  may  be  found  in  a  single  cause,  and 
the  whole  remedy  may  bo  seen  in  a  single  mea- 
sure. The  public  lands  are  exchangeable  for 
paper.  Seven  hundred  and  fifty  machines  are 
at  work  striking  off  paper ;  that  paper  is  per- 
forming the  grand  rounds,  from  the  hanks  to 
the  public  lands,  and  from  the  lands  to  the 
banks.  Every  body,  especially  a  public  man, 
may  take  as  much  as  his  trunks  can  carry 
The  public  domain  is  changing  into  paper ;  tliv 
ptiblic  treasury  is  filling  up  with  paper ;  the 
new  States  are  deluged  with  paper;  the  current- 
is  ruining  with  paper;  farmers,  settlers,  culti- 
vators, arc  outbid,  deprived  of  their  selected 
homes,  or  made  to  pay  double  for  them,  l>y 
public  men  loaded,  not  like  Philip's  ass,  with 
bags  of  gold,  but'  like  bank  advocates,  wuh 
bales  of  paper.  Sir,  the  evil  is  in  the  unbridled 
state  of  the  paper  system,  and  m  the  unchecked 
receivability  of  paper  for  federal  dues.    Here  is 


M'oduces  more  ro- 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


657 


the  evil.  Bunks  aro  our  masters  ;  not  one.  but 
fcvcn  hundred  and  fifty!  and  this  splendid 
Moral  Con-^res.s,  like  a  chainfd  and  chast!  ed 
f\m',  lies  helpless  and  powerless  at  their  feet. 

'•Sir,  T  can  see  nothing  hut  evil,  turn  on 
ffliioh  side  r  may,  from  this  fatal  scheme  of  di- 
viiiin?;  money;  not  surjilus  money,  but  appro- 
! liiiti'd  funds ;  not  by  an  amendment,  but  by  a 
■liiisory  evasion  of  the  constitution.  Where  is  it 
to  end  ?  History  shows  us  that  those  who  bedn 

ivvoliitions  never  end  them ;  that  those  who  com- 
mence iunovatious  never  limit  them.     Here  is 
airivat  innovation,  coustitutinfj;  in  reality— not 
iiilisure  of  sjjeech,  but  in  reality— a  revolution 
in  the  form  of  our  governn\ent.     We  set  out  to 
divide  the  surplus;  we  arc  now  ilividin"-  the 
appropriated  fimds.     To  prevent  all  appropria- 
tions except  to  the  powerful  States,  will  be  the 
next  step;  and  the  small  States,  in  self-defence 
must  oppose  all  appropriations,  and  go  for  a  di- 
vision of  the  whole.     They  will  have  to  stand 
tosrethcr  in  the  Senate,  and  oppose  all  appropria- 
tions.   It  will  not  do  for  the  large  States  to 
lake  all  the  appropriations  first,  and  the  bulk 
of  the  distribution  afterwai'ds ;  and  there  will 
be  no  way  to  prevent  it  but  to  refuse  all  appro- 
pnations,   divide   out   the    money  among    the 
•states,  and  let  each  State  lay  it  out  for  itself. 
Anew  surplus  party  will  supersede  the  present 
surplus  party,  as  successive  factions  supersede 
each  other  in  chaotic  revolutions.     They  will 
make  Congress  the  qufcutor  of  provinces  to  col- 
Itct  money  for  the  Stiiti's  to  administer.     This 
will  be  their  argument :  the  States  know  best 
ivhat  they  need,  and  can  In y  out  the  money  to 
the  best  advantage,  and  to  suit  themselves.   One 
State  will  Avant  roads  and  no  cmals ;  another 
canals  and  no  roads ;  one  will  want  forts,  an- 
other troops ;  one  wants  shiiis,  another  stcam- 


with  a  senator  from  New  Jersey,  now  Secretary 
of  the  navy  (Mr.  Dickerson).  They  were 
denounced  by  many,  for  their  unconstitutional- 
ity, their  corrupting  tendencies,  and  their  fatal 
efTccts  upon  the  federal  and  State  governments 
I  took  my  position  then,  have  st(;od  upon  it 
during  all  the  modifications  of  the  original 
scheme ;  and  continue  standing  upon  it  now 
My  answer  then  was,  pay  the  public  debt  and 
reduce  the  taxes ;  my  answer  now  is,  provide 
for  the  public  defences,  reduce  the  taxes,  and 
bridle  the  paper  system.  On  this  ground  I 
have  stood— on  this  I  stand ;  and  never  did  I 
feel  more  satisfaction  and  more  exultation  in 
my  vote,  when  triumphant  in  numbers,  than  I 
now  do  m  u  minority  of  six." 

The  bill  went  to  the  House,  and  was  concurred 
in  by  a  large  majority— one  hundred  and  fifty- 
five  to  thirty-eight— although,  under  the  name 
of  distribution,  there  was  no  chance  for  it  to 
pass  that  House.  Deeming  the  opposition  of 
this  small  minority  courageous  as  well  as  meri- 
torious, and  deserving  to  be  held  in  honorable 
remembrance,  their  names  are  here  set  down ; 
to  wit  : 


oars;   one   wants    high   scliools,   another  low 
schools ;  one  is  for  the  useful  arts,  another  is 
for  the  fine  arts,  for  lyceums,  athenaeums,  muse- 
ums, arts,  statuary,  painting,  music;  and  the 
paper  State  will  want  all  for  banks.     Thus  will 
ihings  go  on,  and  Congress  will  have  no  appro- 
priation to  make,  except  to  the  President,  and 
ni3  head  clerks,  and  their  under  clerks.     Even 
our  own  pay,  like  it  was  under  the  confedera- 
tion, may  be  remitted  to  our  own  States.     The 
fight  dollars  a  day  may  be  voted  to  them,  and 
supported  by  the  argument  that  they  can  get 
better  men  for  fou?.  dollars  a  day ;  and  so  save 
naif  the  money,  and  have  the  work  better  done. 
Si'ch  is  the  progress  in  this  road  to  ruin.     Sir 
i  say  of  this  measure,  as  I  said  of  its  proTcni- 
for,  the  land  bill :  if  I  could  be  willing  to  let 
fvii  pass,  that  good  might  come  of  it,  I  should 
be  willing  to  let  this  bill  pass.    A  recoil,  a  reac- 
tion, a  revulsion  must  take  place.     This  con- 
Icderacy  cannot  go  to  ruin.    This  Union  has  a 
?-1fP  m  the  hearts  of  the  people  which  will  save 
"  !"?™  nullification  in  disguise,  as  well  as  from 
pullification  in  arms.     One  word  of  myself.    It 
IS  now  ten  years  since  schemes  of  distribution 
ifcre  broached  upon  this  floor.     They  boran 
Vol.  I.— 42 


Messrs.  Michael  W.  Ash,  .James  Jf.  H.  Beale. 
Bennmg  M.  Bean,  Andrew  Beaumont,  .John  W 
Brown,  Robert  Burns,  John  F.  II.  Claiborne' 
Walter  Coles,   Samuel    Cushinan,   Gcor>e    C' 
Dromgoole,  John  Fairfield,  William  K    Fuller' 
Ransom   H.   Giilet,   Joseph   Hull.   Thomas   Li 
Hamer,  Leonard  Jarvis,  Cave  JoJinson,  Gerrit 
Y.  Lansing,  Gideon  Lee,  George  Loyall,' Abijah 
Mann,  jr.,  John  Y.  Mason,  James  J.  McKay 
John  xMcKeon,  Isaac  McKim,  Gorham  Park'i' 
Franklin    Pierce,    Henry  L.    Pinckney,    .Volm 
Roane,  James  Rogers,  Nicholas  Sickles,"  W^iHiam 
Taylor,   Francis  Thomas,  Joel   Tnrrill,  Aaron' 
Vanderpoel,   Aaron   Ward,   Daniel   Wardwell 
Henry  A.  Wise.  ' 

The  bill  passed  the  Hou.se,  and  was  approved 
by  the  President,  but  witli  a  repugnance  of  feel- 
ing, and  a  recoil  of  judgment,  which  it  required 
great  efforts  of  friends  to  overcome;  and  with 
a  regret  for  it  afterwards  which  he  often  and 
publicly  expressed.      It  was  a  grief  that  his 
name  was  seen  to  such  an  act.    It  was  a  most 
unfortunate  act,  a  plain  evasion  of  the  constitu- 
tion for  a  bad  purpose — soon  gave  a  sad  over- 
throw to  the  democracy— and  disappointed  every 
calculation  made  upon  it.    Politically,  it  was  no 
advantage  to  its  numerous  and  emulous  support- 
ers—of no  disservice  to  its  few  determined  oppo- 
nents— only  four  in  number,  in  the  Senate,  the 
two  senators  from  Mississippi  voting  against  it 
for  reasons  found  in  the  constitution  of  their 


658 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


State.    To  the  States,  it  was  of  no  advantage, 
raising  expectations  which  were  not  fulfilled, 
and  upon  which  many  of  them  acted  as  realities, 
and  commenced  enterprises  to  which  they  were  ^ 
inadequate.    It  was  understood  that  some  of  ! 
Mr.  Van  Buren's  friends  favored  the  President's 
approval,  and  recommended  him  to  sign  it — in- 
diiced  by  the  supposed  effect  which  its  rejection  | 
might  have  on  the  democratic  parly  in  the  elcc-  ' 
tion.    The  opponents  of  the  bill  did  not  visit  j 
the  President  to  giye  him  their  opinions,  nor  j 
had  he  heard  their  arguments.     If  they  had 
seen  him,  their  opinions  concurring  with  his 
own  feelings  and  judgment,  his  conduct  might 
have  been  different,  and  the  approval  of  the  act 
withheld.    It  might  not  have  prevented  the  act 
(Vom  becoming  a  law,  as  two  thirds  in  each 
House  might  have  been  found  to  support  it; 
but   it  would   have  deprived  the    bill  of  the 
odor  of  his  name,  and  saved  himself  from  sub- 
sequent regrets.    In  a  party  point  of  view,  it 
was  the  commencement  of  calamities,  being  an 
efficient  cause  in  that  general  suspension  of 
specie  payments,  which  quickly  occurred,  and 
brought  so  much  embarrassment  on  the  Van 
Burcn  administration,  ending  in  the  great  demo- 
cratic defeat  of  1840.    But  of  this  hereafter. 


CHAPTER    CXLIII. 

EECIUnTER  OF  THE  DISTRICT  BANKS-SPEECH 
OF  MU.  BENTON:  THE  PAKT9  OF  LOCAL  AND 
TEMI'OUAKY  INTEREST  OMITTED. 

"Mr.  Benton  rose  to  oppose  the  passage  of  the 
bill,  notwithstanding  it  was  at  the  third  read- 
ing, and  that  it  was  not  usual  to  continue  oppo- 
sition, which  seemed  to  be  useless,  at  that  late 
stage.  But  there  were  occasions  when  he  never 
took  such  things  into  calculation,  and  when  he 
continued  to  resist  pernicious  measures,  regard- 
less of  common  usages,  as  long  as  the  forms  of 
parliamentary  proceeding  would  allow  him  to 
go  on.  Thus  he  had  acted  at  the  passing  of  the 
United  States  Bank  charter,  in  1832 ;  thus  he 
did  at  the  passing  of  the  resolution  against  Pre- 
sident Jackson,  in  1834  ;  and  thus  he  did  at  the 
passing  of  the  famous  land  bill,  at  the  preseul 
session.  He  had  continued  to  speak  against  all 
these  measures,  long  after  speaking  seemed  to 


be  of  any  avail ;  and,  far  from  regretting,  he  had 
reason  to  rejoice  at  the  course  that  he  had  pur- 
sued.    The  event  proved  him  to  be  right ;  for 
all  these  measures,  though  floated  through  this 
chamber  upon  the  swelling  wave  of  a  resistless 
and  impatient  majority,  had  quickly  run  tlair 
brief  career.    Their  day  of  triumph  had  bctii 
short.     The  bank  charter  perished  at  thn  firt<i 
general  election ;  the  condemnatory  resolution 
was  received  by  the  continent  in  a  tempest  of 
execration  ;  and  the  land  bill,  that  last  hope  of 
expiring  party,  has  dropped  an  abortion  from 
the  Senate.     It  is  dead  even  here,  hi  this  cham- 
ber, where  it  originated — where  it  was  once  so 
omnipotent  that,  to  speak  against  it,  was  deemed 
by  some  to  be  an  idle  consumption  of  time,  iimi 
by  others  to  be  an  unparliamentary  demonstra- 
tion against  the  ascertained  will  of  the  IIou.-( . 
Yet,  that  land  bill  is  finished.     That  brief  can- 
dle is  out.    The  Senate  has  revoked  that  bill ; 
has  retracted,  recanted,  and  sung  its  {lalinode 
over  that  unfortunate  conception.    It  has  sent 
out  a  committee — an  extraordinary  committee 
of  nine — to  devise  some  other  scheme  for  divid- 
ing that  same  money  which  the  land  bill  divides! 
and,  in  doing  so,  the  Senate  has  authentically 
declared  a  change  of  opinion,  and  a  revocation 
of  its  sentiments  in  favor  of  that  bill.    Thus  i 
has  happened,  in  recent  and  signal  cases,  tliat, 
by  continuing  the  contest  after  the  battle  seemed 
to  be  lost,  the  battle  was  in  fact  gained ;  and  so 
it  may  be  again.    These  charters  may  yet  be 
defeated ;  and  whether  they  will  be  or  not.  is 
nothing  to  me.    I  believe  them  to  be  wrong- 
greatly,  immeasurably  wrong  ! — and  siiall  con- 
tinue to  oppose  them  without  regard  to  calcula- 
tions, or  consequences,  until  the  rules  of  par- 
liamentary proceeding  shall  put  an  end  to  the 
contest.    Mr.  B.  said  he  had  moved  for  a  select 
committee,  at  th^  commencement  of  the  session, 
to  examine  into  the  condition  of  these  banks, 
and  he  had  done  so  with  no  other  object  than 
to  endeavor  to  provide  some  checks  and  guards 
for  the  security  of  the  country  against  the  abuses 
and  excesses  of  the  paper  system.    The  select 
committee  had  not  been  raised.    The  standing 
Committee  on  the  District  of  Columbia  had  hcon 
charged  with  the  subject ;  and,  seeing  that  they 
had  made  a  report  adverse  to  his  opinions,  ami 
brought  in  a  bill  which  he  could  not  sanction, 
it  would  be  his  part  to  act  upon  tlie  meagre 
materials  which  had  been  placed  before  the  Sen- 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


jtp,and  endeavor  to  accomplish  as  a  member  of 
that  body,  what  could  have  been  attempted,  with 
!« tter  prospects  of  success,  as  a  member  of  a 
^  imraittee  which  had  had  tho  management  of 
;he  subject. 

"  Mr.  B.  said  he  had  wished  to  have  been  on 
,1  --'.Icct  committee  for  the  charter  of  these  banks ; 
ho  \vished  to  have  revived  the  idea  of  a  bank 
■rithout  circulation,  and  to  have  disconnected 
!hc  government  from  the  banking  of  the  district. 
lie  iiad  failed  in  his  attempt  to  raise  such  a 
oommittce;  and,  as  an  individual  member  of 
the  Senate,  ho  could  now  do  no  more  than  men- 
tion in  debate  the  ideas  which  he  would  have 
irished  to  have  ripened  into  legislation  through 
the  instrumentality  of  a  committee. 

"Mr.  B.  said  he  had  demonstrated  that  no 
hnk  of  circulation  ought  to  be  authorized  in 
this  district;  and,  he  would  add,  that  none  to 
furnish  currency,  except  of  large  notes,  ought 
io  bo  authorized  any  where;  yet  what  are  we 
ioing  ?    We  are  breeding  six  little  corporations 
at  a  birth,  to  issue  $2,250,000  of  paper  currency : 
and  on  what  terms  ?    No  bonus ;  no  tax  on  the 
capital;  none  on  the  circulation  ;  no  reduction 
of  interest  in  lieu  of  bonus  or  tax;  no  specie 
but  «hat  the  stockholders  please  to  put  in  ;  and 
no  liability  on  the  part  of  the  stockholders  for  a 
fiilure  of  these  corporations  to  redeem  their 
aotos  and  pay  their  debts.     This  is  what  we  are 
img;  and  now  let  us  see  what  burdens  and 
taxes  these  six  corporations  will  impose  upon 
the  business  part  of  tho  community— tho  pro- 
JDctive  classes  among  which  they  are  to  be  per- 
Ftuated.    First,  there  is  the  support  of  these 
>a  corporation  governments ;  for  every  bank 
must  have  a  government,  like  a  State  or  king- 
fcra;  and  tho  persons  who  administer  these 
corporation  governments  must  be  paid,  and  paid 
1>7  the  people,  and  that  according  to  the  rates 
fixed  by  themselves  and  not  by  the  people. 
Each  of  these  six  banks  must  have  its  president, 
cashier,  clerks,  and  messengers  ;  Its  notary  pub- 
ic to  protest  notes ;  and  its  attorney  to  bring 
-tilts.    The  aggregate  salaries,  fees,  and  perqui- 
^i!c5,  of  all  these  officers  of  the  six  banks  will 
^  the  first  tax  on  the  people.    Next  comes  the 
Nits  to  tho  stockholders.    The  nett  profits 
"tanks  .--ro  usu.ally  eight  to  ten  per  cent,  at 


659 


fresent;  the  gross  profits  are  several  per  cent. 
more;  and  the  gross  profits  are  what  the  people 
W.    Assuming  the  gross  profits  to  be  twelve 


per  cent.,  and  the  anniial  levy  upon  the  com- 
munity will  be  about  $270,000.     The  third  loss 
to  the  community  will  be  on  the  fluctuations  of 
prices  of  labor  and  property,  and  the  rise  and 
fall  of  stocks,  from  the  expansions  and  contrac- 
tions of  currency,  prodiiced  by  making  money 
plenty  or  scarce,  as  it  suits  the  interest  of  the 
bank  managers.    This  item  cannot  be  calculated, 
and  depends  entirely  upon  the  moderation  and 
consciences  of  the  Neptunes  who  preside  over 
the  flux  and  reflux  of  tho  paper  ocean;  and  to 
whom  all  tides,  whether  of  ebb  or  flow,  and  all 
conditions  of  the  sea,  whether  of  calm  or  storm 
are  equally  welcome,  equally  auspicious,  and 
equally  productive.    Then  come   three   other 
heads  of  loss  to  the  community,  and  of  profit  to 
the  bank  :  loss  of  notes  from  wear  and  tear,  coun- 
terfeits imposed  upon  the  people  for  good  notes 
and  good  notes  rejected  by  the  banks  for  coun- 
terfeits; and  then  the  loss  to  the  holders  from 
the  stoppage  and  failure  of  banks,  and  the  shav- 
ing in  of  ijotes  and  stocks.    Such  are  the  bur- 
dons  and  taxes  to  be  imposed  upon  the  people 
to  give  them  a  paper  currency,  when,  if  the  paper 
currency  were  kept  away,  and  only  large  notes 
used,  as  in  France,  they  would  have  a  gold  and 
silver  currency  without  paying  a  tax  to  any  body 
for  it,  and  without  being  subject  to  any  of  the 
frightful  evils  resulting  from  the  paper  system. 
"  Objecting  to  all  banks  of  circulation,  but 
not  able  to  suppress  them  entirely,  Mr.  B.  sug- 
gested some  ameliorations  in  the'charters  pro- 
posed to  be  granted  to  render  them  less  dan- 
gerous to  tho  community.    1.  The  liability  of 
the  stockholders  for  all  the  debts  of  the  institu- 
tion, as  in  the  Scottish  banks.    2.  The  bank 
stock  to  be  subject  to  taxation,  like  other  pro- 
perty.    3.  To  issue  or  receive  no  note  of  less 
than  twenty  dollars.     4.  The  charters  to  be 
repealable  at  the  will  of  Congress  :  and  he  gave 
reasons  for  each  of  these  improvements ;  and 
first  for  the  liability  of  the  stockholders.    He 
said : 

"  Reasons  for  this  liability  were  strong  and 
palpable.  A  man  that  owes  should  pay  while 
he  has  property  to  pay  with ;  and  it  is  iniquitous 
and  unjustifiable  that  a  bank  director,  or  stock- 
holder, should  riot  in  wealth  while  the  business 
part  of  the  community  should  hold  the  bank 
notes  which  they  have  put  into  circuktion,  and 
bo  able  to  get  nothing  for  them  after  the  bank 
had  closed  its  doors.    Such  exemptions  are  con* 


660 


THIRTY  YKARS'  VIEW. 


trary  to  the  rights  of  the  community,  and  one 
of  the  great  causes  of  the  fuii\ae  of  banks,  A 
liability  in  the  stockbrokers  is  one  of  the  best 
securities  which  the  public  can  have  for  tlic  cor- 
rect management  and  solvency  of  the  institution. 
The  fiunous  Scottish  banks,  which,  in  unwards 
of  one  hundred  years'  operations,  had  neither 
Duco  convulsed  the  country  with  contractions 
and  expansions,  nor  once  8tii}pi)od  payment,  were 
constituted  upon  tliis  principle.  All  the  country 
banks  in  England,  and  all  the  bankers  on  the 
continent  of  Europe,  were  liable  to  a  still  greater 
degree ;  for  in  them  each  stockholder,  or  part- 
ner, was  liable,  individually,  for  the  whole 
amount  of  the  debts  of  the  bank.  Tlio  principle 
proposed  to  bo  incorporated  in  these  chartei-s 
strikes  the  just  medium  between  the  common 
law  principle,  which  makes  eacli  partner  liable 
for  the  whole  debts  of  the  linn ;  and  the  corpo- 
ration principle  in  the  United  States,  which 
absolves  each  from  all  lia))ility,  and  leaves 
the  penniless  "nd  soulless  carcase  of  a  defunct 
and  eviscerated  bank  alone  responsible  to  the 
community.  Liability  to  the  amount  of  the 
stock  was  an  equitable  principle,  and  with  sum- 
mary process  for  the  recovery  of  the  amounts 
of  notes  and  deposits,  and  the  invalidity  of 
transfers  of  stock  to  avoid  this  liability,  would 
be  found  a  good  remedy  for  a  great  evil.  If  tlic 
stockholders  in  the  three  banks  which  stopped 
payment  in  this  city  during  the  panic  session 
had  been  thus  liable,  the  notes  would  not  have 
been  shaved  out  of  the  hands  of  the  holders ;  if 
the  bank  which  stopped  in  Batimoro  at  the  same 
time,  had  been  subject  to  this  principle,  the  riots, 
which  have  afflicted  that  city  in  consequence  of 
that  stoppage,  would  not  have  taken  place. 
Instead  of  these  losses  and  riots,  law  and  remedy 
would  have  prevailed ;  every  stockholder  would 
have  been  summoned  before  a  justice  of  the 
peace— judgment  granted  against  him  on  motion 
— for  the  amount  held  by  the  complainant ;  and 
so  on,  until  all  were  paid,  or  he  could  plead  that 
he  had  paid  up  the  whole  amount  of  his  stock." 
The  evil  of  small  notes  he  classed  under  three 
general  heads :  1.  The  banishment  of  gold  and 
silver.  2.  Encouragement  to  counterfeiting. 
3,  Throwing  the  burthens  and  losses  of  the 
paper  system  upon  the  laboring  and  small- 
dealing  part  of  the  community,  who  have  no 
share  in  the  profits  of  banking,  and  should  not  be 
made  to  bear  its  losses.  On  these  points,  he  said : 


"The  instinct  of  banks  to  sink  their  circula- 
tion to  the  lowest  denomination  of  notes  whicli 
can  be  forced  upon  the  conununity,  is  a  trait  in 
the  system  universally  proved  to  exist  wherever 
banks  of  circulaticm  have  been  permitted  to 
give  a  currency  to  a  country ;  and  the  efl'oct  of 
tiiat  instinct  has  always  been  to  banish  gokl 
and  silver.  When  the  Bank  of  England  was 
chartered,  in  the  year  1094,  it  could  issue  no 
note  less  than  XIOO  sterling;  that  amount  was 
gradually  reduced  by  the  persevering  efforts  of 
the  bank,  to  £i>0 ;  then  to  X20 ;  then  to  £\ri  ■ 
then  to  £10;  at  last  to  £5;  and  finally  to  £2 
and  £1.  Those  last  denominations  were  not 
reached  until  the  year  1797,  or  until  one  liunilrwl 
and  three  years  after  the  institution  of  the 
bank ;  and  as  the  several  reductions  in  the  size 
of  the  notes,  and  the  consequent  increase  of 
paper  currency  took  place,  gold  became  moru 
and  more  scarce ;  and  with  the  issue  of  tlie  one 
and  two  pound  notes,  it  totally  disapi)caroil 
from  (he  country. 

"This  effect  was  foretold  by  all  political 
economists,  and  especially  by  Mr.  Burke,  then 
aged  and  retired  from  public  life,  who  wiotc 
from  his  retreat,  to  Mr.  Canning,  to  say  to  .Mr. 
Pitt,  the  Prime  Minister,  these  prophetic  words: 
'  If  this  bill  for  the  one  and  two  pounds  is  per- 
mitted to  pass,  we  shall  never  see  another  guinea  ; 
in  England.'  The  bill  did  pass,  and  the  predic- 
tion was  fulfilled ;  for  not  another  guinea,  ha!i' 
guinea,  or  sovereign,  was  seen  in  England,  for  ^ 
circulation,  until  the  bill  was  repealed  two  and 
twenty  years  afterwards !  After  remaining 
nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  without  a  gold 
circulation,  England  abolished  her  one  and  two 
pound  notes,  limited  her  paper  currency  to  £5 
sterling,  required  all  Bank  of  England  notes  to 
be  paid  in  gold,  .and  allowed  four  years  for  tiie 
act  to  take  elTect.  Before  the  four  years  were 
out,  the  Bank  of  England  reported  to  Parliament 
that  it  was  ready  to  begin  gold  payments;  and 
commenced  accordingly,  and  has  continued  tliera 
ever  since. 

"  The  encouragement  of  counterfeiting  was  the 
next  great  evil  which  Mr.  B.  pointed  out  as  le- 
longing  to  a  small  note  currency;  and  of  all  the 
denominations  of  notes,  he  said  those  of  one  and 
two  pounds  in  England  (corresponding  with 
fives  and  tens  in  the  United  States),  were  those 
to  which  the  demoralizing  business  of  counter- 
feiting was  chiefly  directed !     They  were  the 


ANNO  1886.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


661 


link  their  circula- 
on  of  notes  wliidi 
unity,  is  a  tniit  in 

to  exist  wlicrever 
K^on  porniiltfd  to 
;  and  the  efl'cct  of 
■n  to  banisli  gokl 
c  of  England  wag 
it  couhl  iHsue  no 

tliat  amount  was 
severing  efl'orts  of 
20;  then  toiir); 

and  finally  to  X2 
inations  were  not 

until  one  hundnd 
nstitution  of  the 
nations  in  the  size 
tjuent  increase  of 
;old  became  more 
le  issue  of  tlie  one 
3tally  difiappearctl 

'.  by  all  political  r 
r  Mr.  Burke,  tlitii 
i  life,  who  wiiiti 
ling,  to  say  to  Mr. 
c  prophetic  wor(l> ; 
:wo  pounds  is  pci  ■ 
sec  another  guiiii;i 
3s,  and  the  predii  - 
lother  guinea,  liii!; 
n  in  England,  fii 
repealed  two iiiil 
After  reniaiiiiii.u 
•y  without  a  goM 
.1  her  one  and  two 
er  currency  to  £■> 
'  England  notes  to 
four  years  for  the 
e  four  years  wore 
rted  to  Parliament 
Id  payments ;  ami 
las  continued  tlicni 

nterfeitingwasthe 
pointed  out  as  he- 
icy ;  and  of  all  the 
d  those  of  one  and 
irresponding  with 
Italcs),  were  thoso 
isiness  of  counter- 
They  were  tho 


rhoscn  game  of  llic  forging  depredator!  and 
that,  for  the  obvious  reasons  that  fives  and  tens 
were  small  enough  to  pass  currently  among  per- 
sons not  much  acqtiainted  with  bank  paper,  and 
large  enough  to  aflbrd  some  profit  to  compen- 
•;ite  for  the  exjwnse  and  labor  of  producing  the 
counterfeit,  and  the  risk  of  passing  it.     Below 
live:*,  the  i)rofits  are  too  small  for  the  labor  and 
risk.    Too  many  have  to  be  forged  and  passed 
before  an  article  of  any  value  can  be  purchased ; 
and  the  change  to  bo  got  in  silver,  in  passing 
one  for  a  small  article,  is  too  little.     Of  twenty 
and  upwards,  though  the  profit  is  greater  on 
passing  them,  yet  the  danger  of  detection  is 
also  greater.     On  account  of  its  larger  size,  the 
note  is  not  only  more  closely  scrutinized  before 
it  is  received,  and  tho  passer  of  it  better  remem- 
hcred,  but  the  circulation  of  them  is  more  con- 
lined  to  business  men  and  large  dealers,  and 
silver  change  will  not  be  given  for  them  in  buy- 
in;,'  small  articles.    The  fives  and  tens,  then,  in 
the  United  States,  like  the  £1  and  £2  in  Eng- 
land, are  the  peculiar  game  of  counterfeiters, 
and  this  is  fully  proved  by  the  criminal  statistics 
of  the  forgery  department  in  both  countries. 
According  to  returns  made  to  the  British  Parlia- 
ment for  twenty-two  years— from  1797  to  1819 
-tile  period  in  wliich  the  one  and  two  pound 
uotcs  were   allowed  to    circulate,   the  whole 
number  of  prosecutions  for  counterfeiting,  or 
passing  counterfeit  notes  of  the  Bank  of  Eng- 
land, was  998:  in  that  number  there  were  313 
capital  convictions ;  530  inferior  convictions ;  and 
155  acquittals :  and  the  sum  of  £249,900,  near  a 
million  and  a  quarter  of  dollars,  was  expend- 
ed by  the  bank  in  attending  to  prosecutions. 
Of  this  great  number  of  prosecutions,  the  re- 
turns show  that  the  mass  of  them  were  for 
offences  connected  with  the  one  and  two  pound 
notes.    The  proportion  may  be  distinctly  seen 
in  the  number  of  counterfeit  notes  of  different 
denominations  detected  at  the  Bank  of  England 
in  a  given  period  of  time— from  the  1st  of 
January,  1812,  to  the  10th  of  April,  1818— being 
a  period  of  six  years  and  three  months  out  of 
the  twenty-two  years  that  the  one  and  two 
pound  notes  continued  to  circulate.    The  detec- 
tions were,  of  one  pound  notes,  the  number  of 
107,238 ;  of  two  pound  notes,  17,787  ;   of  five 
pound  notes,  5,826;  of  ten  pound  notes,  419; 
nf  twenty  pound  notes,  54.     Of  all  above  twenty 
pounds,  35.    The  proportion  of     -s  and  twos 


to  tho  other  sizes  may  be  well  seen  in  tho  tables 
for  this  brief  period ;  but  to  have  any  idea  of 
the   mass  of  counterfeiting  done  upon  those 
small  notes,  tho  whole   period  of  twenty-two 
years  must  be  considered,  and  the  entire  king- 
dom of  Great  Britain  taken  in  ;  for  the  list  only 
includes  the  number  of  counterfeits  detected  at 
the  counter  of  the  bank ;  a  place  to  which  the 
guilty  never  carry  their  forgeries,  and  to  which 
a  portion  only  of  those  circulating  in  and  about 
London  could  be  carried.     The  proportion  of 
crime  connected  with  tho  small  notes  is  here 
shown  to  be  enormously  and  frightfully  great. 
The  same  results  are  found  in  the  United  States. 
Jlr.  B.  had  looked  over  the  statistics  of  crime 
connected  with  the  counterfeiting  of  bank  notes 
in  the  United  States,  and  found  the  ratio  between 
the  great  and  small  notes  to  be  about  the  same 
that  it  was  in  England.     lie  had  liad  recourse 
to  the  most  authentic  data— Bicknell's  Coun- 
terfeit Detector— and  there  found  the  editions  of 
counterfeit  notes  o''  the  local  or  State  banks,  to 
be  eight  hundred  and  eighteen,  of  which  seven 
hundred  and  fifty-six  were  of  ten  dollars  and 
under;  and  sixty-two  editions  only  were  of 
twenty  dollars  and  upwards.    Of  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States  and  its  branches,  he  found 
eighty-two  editions  of  fives ;  seventy-one  edi- 
tions of  tens  ;  twenty-six  editions  of  twenties ; 
and  two  editions  of  fifties ;  still  showing  that 
in  the  United  States,  as  well  as  in  England,  on 
local  banks  as  well  as  that  of  the  United  States, 
the  coarse  of  counterfeiting  was  still  the  same ; 
and  that  the  whole  stress  of  the  crime  fell  upon 
tlie  five  and  ten  dollar  notes  in  this  country,  and 
their  corresponding  classes,  the  one  and  two 
pound  notes  in  England,    Mr.  B.  also  exhibited 
the  pages  of  Bicknell's  Counterfeit  Detector,  a 
pamphlet   covered   over  column  after  column 
with  its  frightful  lists,  nearly  all  under  twenty 
dollars  ;  and  he  called  upon  the  Senate  in  the 
sacred  name  of  the  morals  of  the  country— in 
the  name  of  virtue  and  morality— to  endeavor 
to  check  the  fountain  of  this  crime,  by  stopping 
the  issue  of  the  description  of  notes  on  which 
it  exerted  nearly  its  whole  force. 

"Mr.  B.  could  not  quit  the  evils  of  the 
crime  of  counterfeiting  in  the  United  States 
without  remarking  that  tho  difficulty  of  legal 
detection  and  punishment  was  so  great,  owing 
to  the  distance  at  which  the  counterfeits  were 
circulated  from  the  banks  purporting  to  issue 


662 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW, 


them,  and  the  Ptill  greater  difficulty  (in  most 
cases  impossible)  of  getting  witnesses  to  attend 
in  person,  in  States  in  which  tliey  do  not  reside, 
the  coiinterfeitcra  nil  choosing  to  practise  their 
crime  and  circulate  their  forgeries  in  States 
which  do  not  contain  tlio  Imnks  whoso  paper 
tliey  are  imitating.  So  dilllcult  is  it  to  obtain 
the  attendance  of  witnesses  in  other  States,  that 
the  crime  of  counterfeiting  is  almost  practised 
with  impunity.  The  notes  under  $20  feed  and 
supply  this  crime;  let  them  bo  stopped,  and 
ninety-nino  hundredths  of  this  crime  will  stop 
with  them. 

"  A  third  objection  which  Mr.  U.  urged  against 
the    notes    under   twenty    dollars    was,    that 
nearly  the  whole  evils  of  that  i)art  of  the  paper 
system  fell  upon  the  laboring  and  small  deal- 
ing part  of  tho  community.      Nearly  all  tlie 
counterfeits   lodged    in   their    hands,   or  were 
shaved  out  of  their  hands.  When  a  bank  failed, 
the    mass  of  its   circulation   being    in    small 
notes,  sunk  upon  their  hands.     The  gain  to  the 
banks  from  tho  wear  and  tear  of  small  notes, 
came  out  of  them ;   tho  loss   from    the   same 
cause,  falling  upon  them.   Tho  ten  or  twelve  per 
cent,  annual  profit  for  furnishing  a  currency  in 
place  of  gold  and  silver  (for  which  no  intei-est 
would  be  paid  to  the  mint  or  the  government), 
chiefly  falls  upon  them ;  for  the  paper  currency 
is  chiefly  under  twenty  dollars.     These  evils 
they  almost  exclusively  bear,  while   they  have, 
over  and  above  all  these,  their  full  proportion 
of  all  the  evils  resulting  from  the  expansions 
and  contractions  which  are   incessantly  goin" 
on,  totally  destroying  the  standard  of  value, 
periodically  convulsing  the  country ;  and  in  every 
cycle  of  five  or  six  years  making  a  lottery  of 
all  property,  in  which  all  the  prizes  are  drawn 
by  bank  managers  and  their  friends. 

"  He  wished  the  basis  of  circulation  through- 
out the  country  to  be  in  hard  money.  Fanners 
laborers,  and  market  people,  ought  to  receive 
their  payments  in  hard  money.  They  ought 
not  to  be  put  to  the  risk  of  receiving  bank  notes 
in  all  their  small  dealings.  They  are  no  judges 
of  good  or  bad  notes.  Counterfeits  are  sure  to 
fall  upon  their  hands ;  and  the  whole  business 
of  counterfeiting  was  mainly  directed  to  such 
notes  as  they  handle— those  under  twenty 
dollars. 

"  Mr.  B.  said  he  here  wished  to  fix  the  attcn- 
tion  of  those  who  were  in  favor  of  a  respectable 


paper  currency— a  currency  of  resjR'ctablc-sizea 
notes  of  twenty  dollars  and  upwardH— on  tin. 
great  fact,  that  tho  hugn-  the  epicie  basis,  Hh. 
larger  and  safer  would  be  the  BuperKtnieliue  of 
l)aper  which  rested  upon  it;  the  smaller  tlmt 
si)ecie  basis,  the  smaller  and  more  unsafe  nnilt 
be  the  paper  which  rested  on  it.    The-  curreiitv 
of  England  is  ^■"■00,0()(),()00,  to  witr  £8,000  ooo 
steriiug  (near  #  l(),0()(),0()0)in  silver;  4:22,OOo'(100 
Bteriing  (above    liJl()(),000,00())  in    g„ia;  '„„,i 
about  £30,000,000  sterling  (near  5^150,000,000) 
in  bank  notes.    The  currency  of  tho  United 
States  is  difllcult  to    bo  ascertained,  from  Hi,, 
multitude  of  banks,  and  the  incessant  ebb  and 
flow  of  their  issues;  calculations  vi.ry;  but  all  put 
the  i)aper  circulation  at  less  than  ltiil()(),()OO,OO0j 
and  the  proportion  of  specie  and  puiier,  at  more 
than  one  half  paper.     This  is  agreed  upon  all 
hands,  and  is  suflicient  for  the  pnietical  re.iuJt. 
that  an  increase  of  our  specie  to  $100,000,000, 
and  the  suppression  of  small  notes,  will  give  a 
larger  total  circulation  than  we  now  have  niwl 
a  safer  one.     The  total  circidation  may  Ihen  be 
$200,000,000,in  the  proportions  of  Lairimperiiiid 
half  specie ;  and  tho  specie,  half  gold  ami  hair 
silver.     This  would  be  an  immense  iiiii}rove- 
ment  upon  our  present  coiidition,  both  in  (juan- 
tity  and  in  quality ;  the  paper  part  would  be- 
come respectable  from  tho  suppression  of  notes 
under  twenty  dollars,  which  are  of  no  prolit  ex- 
cept to  the  banks  which  issue  them,  and  the 
counterfeiters  who    imitate  them ;   the  .specie 
part  would  be  equally  improved  by  beconiing 
one  half  gold,    Mr,  B.  could  not  quit  this  im- 
portant point,  namely,  the  practicability  of  soon 
obtaining  a  specie  currency  of  $100,000,000,  and 
the  one  half  gold,  without  giving  other  proofs 
to  show  the  facility  with  which  it  has  been 
every  where  done  when  attempted.    lie  refer- 
red to  our  own  history  immediately  after  the 
Revolution,  when  the   disappearance  of  paper 
money  was  instantly  followed,  as  if  by  magic, 
by  the  appearance  of  gold  and  silver;  to  France, 
where  tho  energy  of  the  great  Napiolcon,  tlioii 
first  consul,  restored  an  abundant  sujjply  of  gold 
and  silver  in  one  year ;  to  England,  wlieie  tla 
acquisition  of  gold  was  at  the  rate  of  $24  000,0(10 
per  annum  for  four  years  after  the  notes  iinde: 
five  pounds  were  ordered  to  be  suppr<'ssed ;  and 
he  referred  with  triumph  to  our  own  present 
history,  when,  in  defiance  of  an  immen.-e  a;- 1 
powerful  political  and  moneyed  combination 


ANNO  183a.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  miaiDENT. 


663 


ipiiiiNt  f^'I'l,  wo  will  have  iic(|uirc(!  about 
g20,(K)0,()()()  of  that  tiiftal  in  tho  two  concliKlinn 
years  of  I'lvsidont  Jack.Moii'H  administnition. 

"Mr.  B.  took  thiH  occasion  to  exprcHS  his  ro- 
pret  that  thi)  f.riio  idea  of  hanks  seemed  to  he 
!  ist  in  this  country,  and  that  here  wu  liad  hut 
1  tile  conception  of  a  bank,  except  as  an  isHucr 
ol  currency.  A  bank  of  discount  and  depcsit 
in  contradistinction  to  a  bank  of  circulation,  is 
iiardly  thought  of  in  tho  United  States;  and  it 
miiy  be  news  to  some  bank  projectors,  who  sujh 
pose  that  nothing  can  bo  done  without  banks 
to  issue  millions  of  paper,  to  learn  that  the  great 
tankers  in  London  and  Paris,  and  other  capitals 
of  EuroiKj,  issue  no  paper;  and,  still  more,  it 
may  bo  news  to  them  to  learn  that  Liverpool 
and  Manchester,  two  cities  which  happen  to  do 
dioiit  as  much  btisiiiess  as  a  myriad  of  such 
cities  as  this  our  AVashington  put  together,  also 
happen  to  ha\e  no  banks  to  issue  currency  for 
them.  They  use  money  and  bills  of  exchange, 
and  have  l)anks  of  discount  and  deposit,  but  no 
banks  of  circulation.  Mr.  Gallatin,  in  his  Essay 
upon  Currency,  thus  speaks  of  tliem : 

'••There  are,  however, oven  in  England,  where 
incorporated  country  banks  issuing  paper  are 
iis  numerous,  and  have  been  attended  with  tho 
>mc  advantages,  and  the  samo  evils,  as  our 
country  banks,  some  extensive  districts,  highly 
industrious  and  prosperous,  where  no  such  bank 
does  exist,  and  where  that  want  is  supplied  by 
bills  of  exchange  drawn  on  London.  This  is 
the  case  in  Lancashire,  which  includes  Liverpool 
and  Manchester,  and  where  such  bills,  drawn  at 
ninety  days  after  date,  are  indorsed  by  each 
successive  holder,  and  circulate  through  numer- 
ous persons  before  they  reach  their  ultimate 
destination,  and  are  paid  by  the  drawee.' 

"Mr.  B.  greatly  regretted  that  such  banks  as 
those  in  Liverpool  and  Manchester  were  not  in 
Toguc  in  the  United  States.  They  were  tlie 
right  kind  of  banks.  They  did  great  good,  and 
were  wholly  free  from  mischief.  They  lent 
money;  they  kept  money;  they  transferred 
credits  on  books ;  they  bought  and  sold  bills  of 
e:;change ;  and  these  bills,  circulating  through 
many  hands,  and  indorsed  by  each,  answered 
the  purpose  of  large  bank  notes,  without  their 
tlangcrs,  and  became  stronger  every  time  they 
«erc  passed.  To  the  banks  it  was  a  profitable 
business  to  sell  thorn,  because  they  got  both  ex- 
change and  interest.    To  tho  commercial  com- 


munity they  were  convenient,  both  an  a  remit- 
tance and  as  fun<ls  in  hand.  To  tho  conunnnitj 
they  were  entirely  safe.  Hanks  of  discount  and 
(leposit  in  tho  United  States,  isstiing  no  currency 
and  issuing  no  bank  note  except  of  ,'$100  and 
upwards,  and  dealing  in  exchange,  would  be  en- 
titled to  the  favor  and  confidence  of  the  jteoplc 
and  of  tho  federal  government.  Such  banks 
only  should  bo  tho  depositories  of  the  public 
moneys. 

"  It  is  tho  faculty  of  issuing  pai)er  currency 
which  makes  banks  dangerous  to  the  country, 
and  tho  height  to  which  this  danger  lias  risen 
in  tho  United  States,  and  tho  progress  which  it 
is  making,  should  rouse  and  alarm  tho  whole 
conununity.    It  is  destroying  all  standard  of 
value.  It  is  subjecting  tho  country  to  demoraliz- 
ing and  ruinous  fluctuations  of  price.    It  is  mak- 
ing a  lottery  of  property,  and  nuiking  merchan- 
dise of  money,  which  has  to  be  bought  by  the 
ticket  holder^  in  the  great  lottery  at  two  and 
three  per  cent,  a  month.     It  is  equivalent  to  tho 
destruction  of  weights  and  measures,  and  like 
buying  and  selling  without  counting,  weighing, 
or  measuring.     It  is  the  realization,  in  a  diflur- 
ent  form,  of  the  debasement  and  arbitrary  alter- 
ation of  the  value  of  coins  practised  by  the  kings 
of  Europe  in  former  ages,  and  now  by  theSultun 
of  Turkey.    It  is  extinguishing  the  idea  of  fixed, 
moderate,  annual  interest.      Great  duties  are 
thus  imposed  upon  the  legislator  ;  and  tho  first 
of  these  duties  is  to  revive  and  favor  the  class 
of  banks  of  discount  and  deposit ;  banks  to  make 
loans,  keep  money,  transfer  credits  on  books, 
buy  find  sell  exchange,  deal  in  buiuo.i ;  but  to 
i.ssue  no  paper.     This  class  of  banks  should  be 
revived  and  favored;   and  tho  United  States 
could  easily  revive  them  by  confiding  to  them 
the  public  deposits.     The  next  great  duty  of  the 
legislator  is  to  limit  the  issues  of  banks  of  circu- 
lation, and  make  them  indemnify  the  community 
in  some  little  degree,  by  refunding,  in  annual 
taxes,  some  part  of  their  undue  gains. 

"The  progress  of  the  banking  business  is 
alarming  and  deplorable  in  the  United  States. 
It  is  now  computed  that  there  are  750  banks 
and  their  branches  in  operation,  all  having  au- 
thority to  issue  currency ;  and,  what  is  worse, 
all  that  currency  is  receivable  by  the  federal 
government.  The  rjunntity  .-.f  chartered  bauk 
capitjil,  as  it  is  called,  is  estimated  at  near 
$800,000,000 ;  tho  amount  of  tins  capital  re- 


664 


TIIIUTV  YF.ARS'  VIEW. 


porf«d  by  the  banks  to  hftve  Iwcn  paid  In  in 
»bw     f  3(X»,()O0,(»0n ;  and  the  qnantity  of  paper 
W/    v)y  whicli  thi'y  *re  nuthorizod  hy  their  chnr- 
tem  t  » isstic  is  about  |iT  *«,000,((00.     How  miicli 
of  this  IS  ajitually  JMHiied  enn  \n-\or  ho  known 
witli  u.iy  precision  ;  for  such  arc  (in-  Hi.rtiiationB 
in  the  ttiiK.iiiif  of  a  pajK-'r  currency,  I  lowing  from 
750  fountains,  i.    t  the  circulation  of  one  day 
cannot  b«  relied  upon  lor  the  nrxt.    The  amount 
of  capiUl,  reported  to  be  paid  in,      however,  well 
ii«*rtaimd,  and  tiiat  in  fixed  at   .,.J()(),IM)(),()()(). 
TbJM,  upon  its  face,  and  without  recourNo  to  any 
other  evidence,  is  jjroof  that  our  bankinp;  system, 
as  a  whole,  is  uiisolid  and  delusive,  and  a  fright- 
fid  imposition  upon  the  people.     Nothing  but 
Bpecio  can  form  the  capital  of  a  bank  ;  there  are 
not  above  sixty  or  seventy  millions  of  si)ecio  in 
the  country,  and,  of  that,  the  banks  have  not 
the  Olio  half.     Thirty  millions  in  specie  is  the 
extent ;  the  remainder  of  tiie  capital  nuist  have 
been  made  up  of  that  undelinable  material  called 
'specie  funds,' or  ' fimds  equivalent  to  cpecie,' 
the  fallacy  of  which   is  established  by  the  fiu-ts 
already  stated,  and  which  show  that  all  tlie 
specie  in  the  country  put  together  is  not  suffi- 
cient to  meet  the  one  fifth  part  of  these  '  specie 
funds,'  or  'funds  equivalent   to   specie.'     The 
equivalent,  then,  does  not  exist !  credit  alone 
exists  ;  and  any  general  attempt  to  realize  these 
'  specie  funds,'  and  turn  them  into  specie,  would 
explode  the  whole  banking  system,  and  cover 
the  country  with  ruin.     There  may  be  some 
Bolid  and  substantial  banks  in  the  country,  and 
undoubtedly  there  are  better  and  worse  among 
them  ;  but  as  a  whole — and  it  is  in  that  point 
of  view  the  community  is  interested — as  a  whole, 
the  s)'stem  is  unsolid  and  delusive  ;  and  there  is 
no  safety  for  the  country  until  great  and  radical 
reforms  are  effected. 

"  The  burdens  which  these  750  banks  impose 
upon  the  people  were  then  briefly  t  m  ,ched  by  Mr. 
B.  It  was  a  great  field,  which  he  had  not  time  I 
to  explore,  but  which  could  not,  in  justice,  be  ' 
entirely  pa.ssed  by.  First,  there  were  the  sala- 
ries and  fees  of  750  sets  of  bank  ofTicers :  presi- 
dents, cashiers,  clerks,  messengers,  notaries  pub- 
•'^  pfotci^t  notes,  and  attorneys  to  sue  on 
f.»'  d  the  .iiad  sabiries,  and  good  salaries, 
]^ut^  - 1"  i<eople,  though  the  people  had  no 
ca;u.,  {\...Ag  these  f'i  Aca:  next,  the  profits 
tti  the  Eii.ckhnlderRj  which,  at  an  avcv«n;r  cf  t'^n 
per  centum  gross  would  give  thirty  millions  of 


dollars,  nil  levied  upon  the  people;  lh<n  camo 
the  profits  t<)  the  brokers,  flrMt  cousins  to  tho 
Iwinkers,  for  changing  notes  for  money,  or  for 
(41  r  notes  at  por  ;  then  the  gain  to  the  banks 
an<l  their  friends  on  sjieculotions  in  properly 
merchandiso,  produce,  and  Rto««ks,  dining  tlic 
IK'riodical  visitations  of  fho  expansions  und  con- 
tractions of  the  currency  ;  then  the  gain  from 
tho  wear  and  tear  of  notes,  which  is  so  much 
lo-is  to  tho  i)eople;  und,  finally,  the  great  clmp- 
ter  of  counterfeiting  which,  without  being  pro- 
fitable to  the  bank,  is  a  great  burden  to  the  [loo- 
ple,  on  whose  hands  all  tho  counterfeits  sink. 
The  amoimt  of  these  burdens  he  could  not  com- 
pute; but  there  was  one  item  about  wl  id,  then 
was  no  dispute— the  salaries  to  tho  oWnm  nni) 
the  prftflts  to  the  stockholders— and  this  \>tc- 
sented  an  array  of  names  nion  u'lUicrous  and 
an  amount  of  money  more  excessive,  than  was 
to  be  foimd  in  the  '  Blue  Book,'  with  the  Army 
and  Navy  Uegister  inclusive. 

"Mr.  B.  said  this  was  a  faint  sketch  of  the 
bunlens  of  the  banking  system  as  carried  on  in 
the  United  State  t,  where  every  bank  is  a  coiner 
of  paper  currency,  and  where  every  tonn,  in 
some  States,  nnist  have  its  banks  of  circulation 
while  such  cities  as  Liver|)ool  and  .Mantliestcr 
have  no  such  banks,  and  where  the  paper  money 
of  all  these  machines  receive  wings  to  ily  over 
the  whole  continent,  and  to  infest  the  whole 
land,  from  their  universal  receivability  by  the 
federal  government  in  payment  of  all  dues  at 
their  custom-houses,  land-offices,  pojit-ofBccs, 
and  by  all  the  district  attorneys,  marshals,  and 
clerks,  employed  under  tho  federal  judiciary. 
The  improvidence  of  the  States,  in  chartering 
such  institutions,  is  great  and  deplorable ;  but 
their  error  was  trifling,  compared  to  tho  impro- 
vidence of  tho  federal  government  in  taking  the 
paper  c  .'n.iy  .<l  nV  these  banks  for  the  currency 
of  tho  f'/iVrid  '■■r^,  ,-mient,  mri'.T  that  clause 
in  the  '".ii-ititutiO'  vhich  recognizes  nothing  but 
gold  and  silver  for  currency,  and  which  was  in- 
tended for  ever  to  defend  and  preserve  this  Union 
from  the  evils  of  paper  money. 

•'Mr.  B.  averred,  with  a  perfect  knowledge  of 
the  fact,  that  the  banking  system  of  the  United 
States  was  on  a  worse  footing  than  it  was  in  any 
country  upon  the  face  of  the  earth;  and  that, in 
addition  to  its  deep  and  dangerous  defects,  it 
was  also  the  most  e.xjjcnsivc  and  burJcnsuuie, 
and  gave  the  most  undue  advantages  to  one  part    1 


^;- 


ANNO  1838.     ANDRKW  JACKSON,  PRE8IDKNT. 


C>65 


of  tlio  comnninity  ovrr  flni>ther.     Ho  had  no 
in\M  l)ut  tliat  this  hanklnpr  »iy«tom  wus  more 
Lurdensomo  to  the  free  t-itiieins  of  (In-  Tuitctl 
State*  than  over  the  foiidBl  «>  sfcm  wa«  to  the 
fillfins,  nn<l  Hcrfn,  nnd  iK>n«ant8  ni  Kiirope.  And 
ivliatdid  they  get  in  rctui  i  for  thJM  vii      hur- 
ien?    A  pcstifiTouH  currency  of  omall  paper! 
bIk'm  they  mi^ht  hnvo  a  gold  ciirrenry  without 
paying  interest,  or  Bullerinn;  l<'88efl,  if  tfii  r  hnnkR, 
like  those  ill  Liverpool  and  Manchester,  issued  no 
currency  except  as  l.iljs  of  exchange;  or,  like 
the  Hank  of  France,  issued  no  notes  hut  thone 
r  .WO  and  1,(100  francs  (say  $100  and  ,tjr>(»()) ; 
,n  eve,,  like  the  Hank  of  England,  issued  no 
note  tinder  XS  sterling,  and  payable  in  gold.  And 
ivith  how  much  real  capital  is  this  bankini?  s^s- 
tem,  so  burdcnsomo  to  the  people  af  the  United 
States,  carried  on  ?  About  $;?(),(X)(),000 !  Yes ;  on 
aboil!  ,^30,()00.0()()  of  specie  rests  tho,^3()(),000  000 
piid  in,  and  on  which  the  community  are  paying 
ititm-st.  and  giving  profits  to  bankers,  and  blind- 
ly }iehiing  their  faith  and  confidence,  as  if  the 
tvliole  .1i;;!00,0()0,000  was  a  solid  bed  of  gold  and 
jilver,  instead  of  being,  a.s  it  is,  one  tenth  part 
«licc'i(>,  and  nine  tontlis  paper  credit !  " 

Other  senators  spoke  against  the  recharter  of 
these  banks,  without  the  amelioration  of  their 
charters  which  the  public  welfare  required  ;  luit 
without  effect.  The  amendments  were  nil  re- 
jected, and  the  bill  passed  for  tha  recharter  of 
the  wliole  six  by  a  largo  vote— 26  to  14,  The 
)cas  and  nays  were  : 


•iEAs.-Me.ssrs.  Black,  Buchanan,  Calhoun, 
Cay  Crittenden,  Ciithbcrt,  Davis,  Ewing  of 
Ohio,Goldsborough,  Hendricks,  Hubbard  Kent 
King  of  Alabama,  Knight,  Leigh,  Naudain' 
.Nicholas,  Porter,  Prentiss,  Rives,  Southard, 
bvrift,  lallumdge,  lomlinson.  Walker,  Webster; 
J^'^^l'—^lcssrs.  Benton,  Ewing  of  Hlinois, 
hing  of  Georgia,  Linn,  McKean,  Mangum,  Mor- 

u\r   Av'  ."°'^'°«o°'  Rugglfs,  Shepley,  Wall, 
tthite,  Uright.  ' 


of  that  small  revolto.1  piovinct-,  utrong  from  the 
beghining  of  the  contest,  now  :  ifliirned  into  rage 
from  the  massacres  of  the  Alamo  ind  of  (loliad. 
Towanis  the  mid.llo  of  U»y  news  of  the  vlc- 
ttwy  of  San  Jocinto  arrived   at   Washington. 
Public   feeling  no   loiigi  i    knew   any    boundn. 
The  people  were  exalted— Congress  not  less  m> 
—and  a  fueling   for  the    arknowletlgment  of 
Texlan  indepen<l<  iice,  if  not   iinivcrsial,  almost 
gpuenil.   The  sixteenth  of  May -th'-  (list  silting 
of  the  Senate  after  this  great  news— Mr.  Man- 
gum,  of  North  Carc'ina,  presented  the  proceed- 
ings of  a  public  meeting  in  Burke  coin, it ,  of  that 
State,  praying  Congress  toacknowledge  »he  in- 
dependence of  t  he  young  republic.    Mr.  Prestoi 
.said :  "  Th(«  elfects  of  that  victory  had  optf.ed  up 
a  curtain  to  n  most  mngnificent  nwiu      This 
invader  had  come  at  the  head  of  his  force     urged 
on  by  no  ordinarv  impul.-c— byun  infuriate  fana- 
ticism—by a  siifjerstitioiis  Catholicism,  goaded 
on  by  a  miseral,'"  priesthood,  against  that  in- 
vincible Anglo-Saxon  race,  the  van  of  which 
now  approaches  tl.  ■  (Id  Norte.    It  wiim  at  once 
a  war  of  religion     iid  of  liberty.    And  when 
that  noble  race  cup  aged  in  a  war,  victory  was 
sure  to  perch  upon     'icir  standai.l.     This  wa.s 
not  merely  the  rctribi.tion  of  the  cruel  war  upon 
the  Alamo,  but  that  tide  which  was  swullen 
liy  this  extraordinary  victory  would  roll   on; 
and  it  was  not  in  the  ^  ;rit  of  prophecy  to  say 
where  it  would  stop."     .Mr.  Walker,  of  Missis- 
sippi, said : 


CHAPTER   CXLIV. 

INDEPENDENCE  OF  TEXAS. 

Dbrino  several  months  memorials  had  been 
coming  in  from  public  meetings  in  diffircnt  cities 
in  favor  of  acknowledging  the  independence  of 
rcxa.s— the  public  feeling  in  behalf  of  the  people 


•  He  had,  upon  the  2L'  1  of  April  last,  colled 
the  attention  of  the  Sen;,  j  to  the  stru-^-le  in 
lexas,  and  suggested  th     reservation  of  any 
surplus  that  might  remain   n  the  treasury  for 
the  purpose  of  acquiiing  'i   .xas  from  whatever 
government  might  n>niain     ho  government  de 
Jucto  of  that  country.    At     at  period  (said  Mr, 
W.)  no  pllusion  had  been  m    ic,  he  believed  by 
any  one  in  either  Ilou.se  of  (    ngresa  to  the  .situ- 
ation ot  affairs  in  Texas.    /,  ;d  now  (said  Mr. 
W.),  ui)on   the  very  day  tl.at  he   had  called 
the  attention  of  the  Senate  ro  this  subject  it 
appeared  that  Santa  Anna  had  been  captured 
and  his  army  overthrown.    Mr.  W,  said  he  had 
never  doubted  this  result.     'Vhen  on  the  22d 
of  April  last,  resolutions  were  ii  troduced  bcibre 
the  Senate  by  the  senator  from  Ohio  (Mr.  xMor- 
ns),  requesting  Congress  to  rec  ,'iiize  the  inde- 
pendence of  Texas,  he  (Mr.  "VV  )  had  opposed 
laying  these  resolutions  on  the  table,  and  advo- 
cated  their  reference  to   a   committfs',   o'  '■h* 
Senate.    Mr.  W.  said  he  had  addressed  the 
Senate  then  under  very  different  circumstances 
from  those  which  now  existed.    The  cries  of 


666 


THIllTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


the  pxpiriiifi;  prisouora  at  tlio  Aliimo  were  then 
rosoiindinp  in  our  ears ;  t?ic  victorious  nsurper 
was  ailvancinp;  onward  with  his  exterminutinp 
warCare,  and,  in  the  minds  of  many,  all  was 
gloom  and  desi)ondency ;  hut  Mr.  W.  said  that 
tlie  puhlished  rei)ort  of  our  proccedinj^s  demon- 
strated that  he  did  not  for  a  moment  rlespond  ; 
that  liin  confidence  in  the  rifle  of  the  West  was 
iirm  and  unshaken ;  and  that  he  had  then  de- 
chiri'd  that  the  sun  was  not  more  certain  to  set 
in  ti»e  western  horizon,  than  that  Texas  wodd 
maintain  her  indoiK»ndenco ;  and  this  sentiment 
he  had  taken  occasion  to  repeat  in  the  dehatc 
on  this  suhject  in  the  Senate  on  tiie  ',)(h  of  May 
last.  Mr.  W.  said  that  whai  was  then  jjredic- 
tion  was  now  reality;  and  his  heart  heat  high,  and 
his  pulse  throhbed  with  delii^ht,  in  contc  niplatinn; 
this  triumph  of  liherty.  Sir  (said  Mr.  W.),  the 
people  of  the  valley  tif  the  Mississippi  never 
could  have  permitted  Santa  Ana  and  his  myr- 
midons to  retain  the  dominion  of  'J'exus." 

Mr.  Walker  afterwards  moved  the  reftrence 
of  all  the  memorials  in  relation  to  Texas  to  the 
Oonnnittee  on  Foreign  Relations.  If  the  accounts 
received  from  Texas  had  been  oflicial  (for  as 
yet  thci-e  were  nothing  but  newspaper  accounts 
of  the  great  victory),  ho  would  have  moved  for 
the  immediate  recognition  of  the  Texian  inde- 
pendence. Ueing  unofticial,  he  could  only  move 
the  reference  to  the  committee  in  the  expecta- 
tion that  they  would  investigate  the  facts  and 
bring  the  .subject  before  the  Senate  in  a  suitable 
form  for  action.    Mr.  Webster  said : 

"  That  if  the  people  of  Texas  had  established 
a  government  dc  facto,  it  was  undoubtedly 
the  duty  of  this  government  to  acknowledge 
their  independence.  The  time  and  manner  of 
doing  so,  liowever,  were  all  matters  proper 
for  grave  and  mature  consideration.  lie  should 
have  been  better  satisfied,  had  this  matter 
not  been  moved  again  till  all  the  evidence 
had  been  collected,  and  until  they  had  received 
oilicial  information  of  the  important  events  that 
had  taken  place  in  Texas.  As  this  proceeding 
had  been  moved  by  a  member  of  the  adminis- 
tration party,  he  felt  himself  bound  to  undcr- 
Btand  that  the  Executive  was  not  op[x>scd  to 
take  the  ilrst  steps  now,  and  that  in  his  opinion 
this  proceeding  was  not  dangerous  or  jjremature. 
Mr.  y\.  was  of  opinion  that  it  would  be  best 
not  to  act  with  precipitation.  If  this  informa- 
tion was  true,  they  would  doubtless  before  long 
hear  from  Texas  herself;  for  as  soon  as  she  felt 
that  she  was  a  country,  and  had  a  countiy,  she 
woidd  naturally  present  her  claims  to  her  neigh- 
bors, to  be  recognized  as  an  ind.^pendent  nation. 
lie  did  not  say  that  it  would  be  necessary  to 
wait  for  this  event,  but  he  thought  it  would  be 
discreet  to  do  so.  He  would  be  one  of  the  first 
to  acknowledge  the  i^idependence  of  Texas,  on 


reasonable  proof  that  she  had  established  a  gov- 
ernment. There  were  views  connected  with 
Texas  which  he  would  not  now  present  as  it 
would  be  premature  to  do  so ;  l.>ut  he  wotdd  ol). 
Bcrve  that  he  had  received  some  infornmtio;! 
from  a  respectable  sourc.o,  which  turned  iiis  ,ii- 
tention  to  the  very  significani  exjiression  uscl 
by  Mr.  Monroe  in  his  message  of  1822.  that  no 
European  Power  should  ever  be  pcrniittcil  Ui 
establish  a  colony  on  the  American  continent. 
He  had  no  doubt  that  attempts  woi.iid  he  niiuio 
by  .some  European  government  to  obtain  a  ces- 
sion of  Texas  from  the  government  of  Mexico!" 

Mr.  King,  of  -Alabama,  counselled  moderation 
and  deliberation,  although  he  was  aware  that  in 
the  present  excited  feeling  in  relation  to  Texas, 
every  prudent  and  cautious  course  would  be 
misunderstood,  and  a  proper  reserve  he  probablv 
construed  into  hostility  to  Texian  independence: 
but  he  would,  so  long  as  ho  remained  a  nienibtT 
on  that  floor,  be  regardless  of  every  personal 
consideration,  and  place  himself  in  ojiposition  to 
all  measures  whicli  he  conceived  were  calculated 
to  detract  from  the  exalted  chars  cter  of  this 
country  for  good  faith,  and  for  undeviating  ad- 
herence to  all  its  treaty  stipulations.  He  then 
went  on  to  say  : 

"  He  knew  not  whether  the  information  w- 
ceived  of  the  extraordinarj'  successes  of  the  Te.\- 
ans  was  to  be  relied  on  or  not ;  he  sincerely 
hoped  it  might  prove  true ;  no  man  here  felt  a 
deeper  detestation  of  the  bloodthirsty  wretches 
who  had  cruelly  butchered  their  defenceless 
prisoners,  than  he  did;  but,  whetlicr  true  or 
false,  did  it  become  wise,  discreet,  prudent  nan, 
bound  by  the  strongest  considerations  to  pre- 
serve the  honor  and  faith  of  the  country-,  to  he 
hurried  along  by  the  eflervescence  (;!'  feelinir. 
and  at  once  abandon  the  course-,  and,  he  Wdiiiil 
say,  the  only  true  course,  which  this  government 
has  invariably,  heretofore,  ptu'sued  towai'ds  fo- 
reign powers  ?  We  have  uniformly  (said  Mr. 
K.)  recognized  the  existing  governments— the 
governments  (A'_/«c<o;  we  have  not  stopped  to  I" 
inquire  whether  it  is  a  despotic  or  constitutional  i» 
government ;  whether  it  is  a  republic  or  a  des- 
potism. All  we  ask  is.  does  a  government  actu- 
ally exist?  and,  huving  .satisfied  ourselves  of 
that  fact,  we  look  no  further,  but  recognize  it  as 
it  is.  It  was  on  this  principle  (said  Mr.  K.)— 
this  safe,  this  correct  principle,  that  we  reeop:- 
nized  what  was  called  the  Republic  of  Friince, 
founded  on  the  ruins  of  the  old  monarchy;  then. 
the  consular  government ;  a  little  after,  the  ini- 
perial ;  and  wlien  that  was  crushed  by  a  combi- 
nation of  all  Europe,  and  that  extniordinaiy 
man  who  wielded  it  was  driven  into  exile,  we 
again  acknowledged  the  kingly  government  of 
the  House  of  Bourbon,  and  now  the  constitu-  gj 
tional  King  Louis  Philippe  of  Orleans. 


ANNO  1886.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PKimiDENT. 


'Sir  (said  Afr.  K.),  we  take  things  as  they 
arc;  we  ask  not  how  governments  are  estah- 
li^hcl— by  what  rcvohitions  they  are  broueht 
into  existence.  Let  us  see  an  independent  gov- 
irin.ent  in  lexas,  and  he  would  not  be  behind 
the  seniitor  froin  Jlississippi  nor  the  senator 
frniii  Ninth  Carolina  in  pressing  forward  to  its 
...nsnition  and  establishing  with  it  the  most 
(Midial  and  friendly  relations." 

Mi-.  Calhoun  went  beyond  all  other  speakers 
and  advocated  not  only  immediate  recognition' 
of  the  independence  of  Texas,  but  lier  simulta- 
neous admission  into  the  Union;  was  in  favor 
of  acting  on  both  questions  together,  and  at  the 
pro.«cnt  session ;  and  saw  an  interest  in  the  slave- 
lioWins  States  in  preventing  Texas  from  having 
the  power  to  annoy  them.    An<l  lie  said : 

"lie  was  of  opinion  that  it  would  add  more 
« renglh  to  he  cause  of  Texas,  to  wait  for  a  {J^v 
days,  until  they  received  oflicial  confirmation  of 
he  victory  and  capture  of  Santa  Anna,  in  order 
to  obtain  a  more  unanimous  vote  in  favor  of  the 
recognition  of  Tex.is.  He  had  been  of  but  o  e 
opinion,  from  the  beginning,  that,  so  far  from 
Mexico  being  able  to  reduce  Texas,  there  was 
?rcat  danger  of  Mexico,  herself,  being  conoue^d 
MlieTexans.  The  result  of  one  bat  le  Ind 
"laced  the  ruler  of  Mexico  in  the  p<,wer  of    he 


667 


Kir.!^b?*'-*''7  '•'""'''  *^"  "«  t''^T  J'" J  'lone 
|n  all  other  similar  cases :  recognize  her  as  an 
""Impendent  nation ;  and  if  her  people,  he  wc"e 
S  io'ri  ''  t'""  KopublicVi'shed  ,or,e 
a,nw  Tf  '  *"  '"'T'"''  '■'-''■'-''^^  them  with  open 
b  rnnl,  T."''  '\''""'*^  >'"  ""  "«  they  hud  done, 
could  not  bu     hope  that,  before  the  close  o 

o  nv^H-  T'l?'""  f  <^'""K''^''^«.  they  would  not 
only  acknowledge  the  independence  of  Texis 
but  admit  her  into  the  Unioi'i.     Ile^^o  il  tl!^^  J 

Sll  ^^;  ^  •n'''"'"'''  ^'^".K"'""'^;  l^ut  that  they 
«ouI<l  act  with  unanimity,  and  act  promptly." 


exans ;  and  they  were  now  able,  either  to  dic- 
HMvhat  terms  they  pleased  to  him,  or  to  make 
.>™s  with  the  opposition  in  Mexico.  This  cx- 
iiaoidinary  meeting  h.nd  given  a  handful  of  brave 
«i  a  most  powerful  control  over  the  destiISs 
cf  Mexico;  he  trusted  they  would  u.se  tE 
"otory  with  moderation,     lio  had  made  up  Is 

l^^UufTV'  T'?"!^^  ^''^'  ""lependen?e  of 

'  i;5"'^f"'"^"" ''''"''*«■"» i"to  this  Union;  and 

theJexans  managed  their  aflairs  prudently 

Mt  on.  In  0  man  could  suppose  for  a  moment 
I  at  that  country  could  ever  come  again  under 
e  donnnion  of  Mexico  ;  and  he  was%.f  opin  on 
tat  It  was  not  for  our  interests  that  thire 
'ould  be  ,  independent  community  betS 
;  ami  Mexico.  There  were  powerful  rea  ^ns 
')•  Texas  should  be  a  part  of  this  Union    S 

'  ply  interested  m  preventing  that  countrv 
*  having  the  power  to  annoy  then, ;  St  he 
avi,at,ng  and  manufacturing  interess  of  e 
Wthaiid  the  East  were  eq,raMy  interested  in 
K-.t  a  part  of  this  Union:  Ili  f h  iS 
"'^y  would  soon  be  called  on  to  decide  Zso 
^  Jons ;  and  when  they  did  act  on  it  he  S 
:  acting  on  both  together-for  recognizing   l!^ 

Etv°  '^^^''\\"'^  ^''  adiittinl?  i 

I     „  If  ^"  "!'•     Though  he  felt  the  deepest  so- 

J  «';  this  subject,  he  was  for  acting  calmly 

I  wlibcratoly,  and  cautiously,  but  at  the  ^a,  f.' 

"jewith  decision  and  firm^nes       '^,ey  sS 

«t  violate   their  neutrality;   but  2n  tZv 

^ere  once  satisfied  that  ToL  had  esSlsh^J 


T  he  author  of  this  View  did  not  reply  to  Mr 
Calhoun,  I,eing  then  on  ill  terms  with  him ;  but 
he  saw  m  the  speech  much  to  he  considere<i  and 
remembered-the  shadowings  forth  of  coming 
j  events ;  the  revelation  of  a  new  theatre  for  the 
slavery  agitation;  and  a  design  to  make  the 
lexas  question  an  clement   in  the  imiKuding 
election.   Mr.  Calhoun  had  been  one  of  .Afr  i  [on- 
roc's  cabinet,  at  the  time  that  Texas  was  ce'-d 
to  Spain,  and  for  reasons  (as  Mr.  Monroe  st«  f,i 
to  General  Jackson,  in  the  private  letter  her«'<o- 
fore  quoted)  of  internal  policy  and  considera- 
tion ;  that  IS  to  say,  to  conciliate  the  fr-e  States 
by  amputating  slave  territory,  and  preventing 
their  opposition  to  future  Southern  presidential 
candidates.    lie  did  not  use  those  precise  words 
but  that  was  the  meaning  of  the  words  used' 
The  cession  of  Texas  A^as  made  in  the  crisis  of 
the  Missouri  controversy ;  and  both  Mr.  Mon- 
roe and  Mr.  Calhoun   received  the  benefit  of 
the  conciliation  it  produced:  Mr.  Monroe  in  the 
re-election,  almost  unanimous,  of  1820 ;  and  Mr 
Calhoun  in  the  vice-presidential  elections  of 

1824  and  1828;  in  which  hewas  so  much  a 
I  favorite  of  the  North  a.s  to  get  more  votes  than 
I  Mr.  Adams  received  in  the  free  States,  and  owed 
to  them  his  honorable  election  by  the  people 
when  all  others  were  defeated,  on  the  popular 
vote.     Their  justification  (that  of  Mr.  Monroe's 
cabinet)  for  this  cession  of  a  great  province, 
was,  that  the  loss  was   temporary— "  that   it 
could  be  got  back  again  whenever  it  was  want- 
ed "-but  the  victory  of  San  .Jacinto  was  hardly 
foreseen  at  that  time.     It  was  these  reasons 
(Aorthern  conciliation, and  getting  it  back  «hen 
we  pleased)  that  reconciled    General  Jackson 
to  the  cession,  at  the  time  it  was  made.     One 
of  the  foremost  to  give  away  Texas,  Mr.  Cal- 
houn was  the  very  foremost  to  get  her  back; 
and  at  an  immense  cost  to  our  foreign  relations' 
and  domestic  peace.    The  immediate  admissioo 


668 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


of  Texas  into  the  Union,  was  his  plan.  She 
was  at  war  with  Mexico — wc  at  peace :  to  in- 
corporate her  into  the  Union,  was  to  adopt  her 
war.  "We  had  treaties  of  amity  with  Mexico : 
to  join  Texa.s  in  the  war,  was  to  be  faithless  to 
those  treaties.  We  had  a  presidential  election 
depending ;  and  to  discuss  the  question  of  Texian 
admission  into  our  Union,  wiis  to  bring  that  ele- 
ment into  the  canvass,  in  which  all  prudent  men 
who  were  adverse  to  the  admission  (as  Mr. 
Van  Buren  and  his  friends  were),  would  be 
thrown  under  the  force  of  an  immense  popular 
current;  while  al'  that  were  in  favor  of  if, 
would  expect  to  swim  high  upon  the  waves  of 
that  current.  The  proposition  was  incredibly 
rash,  tending  to  involve  us  in  war  and  dishonor ; 
and  also  disrespectful  to  Texas  herself,  who  had 
not  asked  for  admission;  and  extravagantly 
hasty,  in  being  broached  before  there  was  any 
official  news  of  the  great  victory.  Before  the 
debate  was  over,  the  author  of  this  View  took 
an  opportunity  to  reply,  without  reference  to 
other  speakers,  and  to  give  reasons  against  the 
present  admission  of  Texas.  But  there  was 
one  of  Mr.  Calhoun's  reasons  for  immediate  ad- 
mission, which  to  him  was  enigmatical,  and  at 
that  time,  incomprehensible ;  and  that  was,  the 
prevention  of  Texas  "from  having  the  power  to 
annoy"  the  Southern  slave  States.  We  had 
just  been  employed  in  suppressing,  or  explod- 
ing, this  annoyance,  in  the  Northeast ;  and,  in 
the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  it  sprung  up  in  the 
Southwest,  two  thousand  miles  off,  and  quite 
diagonally  from  its  late  point  of  ai)parition. 
That  sudden  and  so  distant  re-appearance  of  the 
danger,  was  a  puzzle,  remaining  unsolved  until 
the  Tyler  administration,  and  the  return  of  Mr. 
Duff  Green  from  London,  with  the  discovery 
of  the  British  abolition  plot ;  which  was  to  be 
planted  in  Texas,  cpread  into  the  South,  and 
blow  up  its  slavery.  Mr.  Bedford  Brown,  and 
others,  answered  Mr.  Calhoun.  Mr.  Brown 
said: 

"  lie  regar'Dd  our  national  character  as  worth 
infinitely  more  than  all  the  territorial  posses- 
sions of  jMexico,  her  wealth,  or  tlie  wealth  of  all 
other  nations  added  together.  We  occupied  a 
standing  among  the  nations  of  tlie  earth,  of 
which  we  might  well  he  proud,  and  which  we 
ought  not  to  permit  to  be  tarnished.  We  liave, 
said  Mr.  B.,  arrived  at  tliat  period  of  our  history, 
as  a  nation,  when  it  behooves  us  to  act  with  tlie 
greatest  wisdom  and  circumspection.  But  a  few 
years  since,  as  a  nation,  we  were  comparatively 


in  a  state  of  infancy ;  wc  were  now,  in  tlie  con- 
fidence of  youth,  and  with  the  buoyancy  of  spirit 
incident  to  this  period  of  our  existence  as  a  na- 
tion, about  to  enter  on  '  man's  estate.'  Power- 
ful in  resoui'ces,  and  conscious  of  our  strength 
let  us  not  forget  the  sacred  obligations  of  ju.s- 
tice  and  good  faith,  which  form  the  indispensa- 
ble basis  of  a  nation's  character — greatnes.s  and 
freedom ;  and  without  which,  no  people  could 
long  preserve  the  blessings  of  self-government. 
Kepublican  government  was  based  on  the  prin- 
ciples of  justice;  and  for  it  to  be  administered 
on  any  other,  either  in  its  foreign  or  domestic 
affairs,  was  to  undermine  its  foundation  and  to 
hasten  its  overthrow." 

Mr.  Rives  concurred  in  the  necessity  for  cau- 
tion ;  and  said ; 

'•  This  government  should  act  with  modera- 
tion, calmness,  and  dignity ;  and,  becanse  he 
wished  the  Senate  to  act  with  that  becoming  i 
moderation,  calmness,  and  dignity,  which  oucht 
to  chai'acterize  its  deliberations  on  international 
subjects,  it  was  his  wish  that  the  subject  might 
be  referred.  If  it  r-as  poslpoi-ed,  it  would  come  i 
up  again  for  discussion,  ficiu  morning  to  morn- 
ing, to  the  exclusion  of  rarest  of  the  business  I 
of  the  Senate,  as  there  was  nothing  to  prevent 
the  presentation  of  petitions  every  morning,  to 
excite  discussion.  It  was  for  the  purpose  of  | 
avoiding  these  discussions,  that  he  should  vote 
to  refer  it  at  once  to  the  Committee  on  Foreign 
Relations.  A  prominent  member  of  that  com- 
mittee had  been  long  and  intimately  acquainted 
with  the  subject  of  our  foreign  relations,  and 
there  were  members  on  it  representing  all  the 
different  sections  of  the  country,  to  whose  charn:e 
he  believed  the  subject  could  be  safely  commit- 
ted. It  would  seem,  from  the  course  of  debate 
this  morning,  that  gentlemen  supposed  the  ques- 
tion of  the  recognition  of  the  independence  of 
Texas,  or  its  admission  into  this  Union,  was  di- 
rectly before  the  Senate  ;  and  some  gentlemen 
had  volunteered  their  opinions  in  advance  of  the 
reiiort  of  the  committee.  lie  did  not  vote  to 
refer  it  to  the  committee  to  receive  its  quietus, 
but  that  they  might  give  their  views  upon  it ; 
nor  did  lie  feel  as  if  he  were  called  upon  to  ex- 
press an  opinion  upon  the  propriety  of  the  mea- 
sure. It  was  strange  that  senators,  who  stated 
that  their  opinions  were  made  up,  should  op- 
pose the  reference." 

Mr.  Niles,  of  Connecticut,  was  entirely  in 
favor  of  preserving  the  national  faith  inviolate. 
and  its  honor  untarnished,  and  ourselves  from 
the  imputation  of  base  motives  in  our  future 
conduct  in  relation  to  Texas,  and  said : 

"  This  was  a  case  in  which  this  government  ^ 
sho'ibl  .act  with  caution.     In  ordinary  cases  of 
this  kind  the  question  was  only  one  of  fact,  and 
was  but  little  calculated  to  compromit  the  in- 
terests or  honor  of  the  United  States ;  but  the  ^^ 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


', 


i. 


in  the  necessity  for  cau- 


669 


question  in  regard  to  Texas  was  very  different, 
»nd  vastly  more  important.    Tliat  is  a  country 
on  our  own  borders,  and  its  inhabitants,  most 
of  them,  emigrsints  from  the  United  States; 
and  most  of  tiio  bravo  men   constituting  its 
army,  who  arc  so  heroically  lighting  to  redeem 
the  province,  are  citizens  of  the  United  States 
who  have  engaged  in  this  bold  enterprise  as  vo- 
lunteers.    Were  this  government  to  be  precipi- 
tate in  acknowledging    the    indep-judenco  of 
Texas,  might  it  not  be  exposed  to  a  suspicion 
of  having  encouraged  these  eaerprises  of  its 
citizens?     There  is  another  consideration  of 
more  importance.    Should  the  independence  of 
Texas  be   followed  by  its  annexation  to  the 
Cnited  States,  the  reasons  for  suspicions  dero- 
gatory to   the    national  faith    might  be  still 
stronger.     If  we,  by  our  own  act,  contribute  to 
clothe  the  constituted  authorities  of  the  pro- 
vince with  the  power  of  sovereignty  over  it 
and  then  accept  a  cession  of  the  country  from' 
those  authorities,  might  there  not  be  some  rea- 
m  to  cliarge  us  with  having  recognized  tiie 
independence  of  the  country  as  a  means  of  gettino- 
possession  of  it  ?    These  and  other  considera^ 
tions  require  that  this  government  should  act 
inth  caution  ;  yet,  when  the  proper  time  arrives 
It  will  be  our  duty  to  act,  and  to  act  promptly. 
But  he  trusted  that  all  would  feel  the  impor- 
tance of  preserving  the  national  faith  and  na- 
tional honor.     They  should  not  only  be  kept 
pure,  but  free  from  injurious  suspicions,  beinn- 
more  to  be  prized  than  any  extension  of  terri- 
tory, wealth,  population,  or  other  acquisition, 
nhich  enters  mto  the  elements  of  national  pros- 
imiy  or  power." 


The  various  memorials  were  referred  to  the 
committee  on  foreign  relations,  consisting  of  Mr. 
Clay,  Mr.  King  of  Georgia,  Mr.  Tallmadge,  Mr. 
llangum,  and  Mr.  Porter  of  Louisiana;  which 
reported  early,  and  unanimously,  in  favor  of  the 
recognition  of  the  independence  of  Texas,  as 
soon  as  satisfactoiy  information  should  be  re- 
ceived, showing  that  she  had  a  civil  government 
in  operation  capable  of  performing  the  duties 
and  fulfilling  the  obligations  of  a  civilized 
power.  In  the  report  which  accompanied  the 
Kesolution,  its  author,  Mr.  Clay,  said : 

. ''Sentiments  of  sympathy  and  devotion  to 
civil  liberty,  which  have  always  animated  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  have  prom.^ted  the 
^option  of  the  resolution,  and  other  manifes- 
'»tions  of  popular  feeling  which  have  been 
fcterred  to  the  committee,  recommending  an  ac- 
taowledgment  of  the  independence  of  Texas 
ihe  committee  shares  fully  in  all  these  .seuti- 

Sm  ^f  ^  ^'',''^  ''""^  prudeuL  government 
nould  not  act  solely  on  the  impulse  of  feelinc 
However  natural  and  laudable  it  may  Ije  Jt 
«ught  to  avoid  all  precipitation,  and  not  adopt  so 


grave  a  measure  as  that  of  recognizing  the  inde. 
pendence  of  a  new  Power,  until  it  has  satisfac- 
tory mformalion,  and  has  fully  deliberated. 

The  committee  has  no  information  respecting 
the  recent  movements  in  Texas,  except  such  as 
is  derived  from   the  public  prints.     According 
to  that,  the  war  broke  out  in  Texas  last  autumn. 
Its  professed  object,  like  that  of  our  revolution- 
ary   contest    in  the    commencement,  was  not 
separation  and  independence,  but  a  redress  of 
grievances.      In  March  last,  independence  was 
proclaimed,  and  a  constitution  and  form  of  gov- 
ernment were  established.    No  means  of  ascer- 
taining accurately  the    exact  amount  of   the 
population  of  Texas  are  at  the  command  of  the 
committee.  It  has  been  estimated  at  some  sixty 
or  seventy  thousand  souls.   Nor  are  the  precise 
limits  of  the  country  which  passes  under  the 
denomination  of  Texas  known  to  the  committee. 
Ihey  are  probably  not  clearly  defined,  but  they 
ace  supposed  to  be  extensive,  a-id  safliciently  large, 
when  peopled,  to  form  a  respectable  Power." 

Mr.  Southard  concurred  in  the  views  and  con- 
clusion of  the  report,  but  desired  to  say  a  few- 
words  in  reply  to  that  part  of  Mv.  Calhoun's 
speech  which  looked  to  the  '•  balance  of  power, 
and  the  perpetuation  of  our  institutions,"  as  a 
reason  for  the  speedy  admission  of  Texas  into 
the  Union,  and  said ; 


"I  should  not  have  risen  to  express  the 
notions,  if  I  had  not  understood  the  Scmu.  • 
from  South  Carolina  [Mr.  Calhoun]  to  decl' 
that  he  regarded  the  acknowledgment  of  the  .a- 
depence  of  Texas  as  important,  and  principally 
important,  because  it  prepared  the  w  av  for  the 
speedy  admission  of  that  State  as  a  member  of 
our   Union;  and  that  he  looked  anxiously  to 
that  event,  as  conducing  to  a  j)ropcr  balance  of 
power,  and  to  the  perpetuation  of  our  institu- 
tions.    I  am  not  now,  sir,  prepared  to  exjTOSs 
an  opmion  on  that  question— a  question  which 
all  must  foresee  will  embrace  interests  as  wide 
as  our  Union,  and  as  lasting  in  their  consequen- 
ces as  the  freedom  which  our  institutions  secure. 
When  it  shall  Ix;  necessarily  presented  to  me,  I 
shall  endeavor  to  meet  it  in  a  manner  suitable 
to  Its  magnitude,  and  to  the  vital  interests  which 
It  involves  ;  but  I  will  not,  on  the  present  reso- 
lution, anticipate  it ;  nor  can  I  j)ermit  an  inference 
as  to  my  decision  upon  it,  to  be  drawn  from 
the  vote  which  I  now  give.     That  vote  is  won 
this  resolution  alone,  and  confined  to  it.  foim'led 
upon  principles  sustained  by  tlie  laws  of  na- 
tions, upon  the  unvarying  practice  of  our  gov- 
ernment, and  upon  the  facts  as  thev  are  now 
known  to  exist.     It  relates  to  the  independence 
of  Texas,  not  to  the  admission  of  'JVxas  into 
this  Union.     The  aoliievouiciit  of  theonif  .at  the 
proper  time,  may  be  justified;  tlie  other  may 
be  found  to  be   opposed   by  the   highest  and 
strongest  considerations  of  inteiest  and  duty. 
I  discuss  neither  at  this  time ;  nor  am  I  willing 


670 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


that  the  remarks  of  tlic  senator  should  lead,  in 
or  out  of  this  cliamber.  to  tlie  inference  that  all 
those  who  vote  for  the  resolution  concur  with 
him  in  opinion.  The  question  which  he  has 
started  should  be  left  perfectly  open  and  free." 

The  vote  in  favor  of  the  Resolution  re- 
ported by  Mr.  Clay  was  unanimous— 39  senators 
present  and  votinj;.  In  the  House  of  Kepre- 
Bentatives  a  similar  resolution  was  reported 
from  the  House  Committee  of  foreign  relations, 
Mr.  John  Y.  Mason,  of  ^'irginia,  chairman ;  and 
adopted  by  a  vote  of  113  to  22.  The  nays 
were:  Messrs.  John  Qnmcy  Adams,  Ilcman 
Allen,  Jeremiah  IJailey,  Andrew  Beaumont, 
James  W.  Bouldin,  William  Clark,  Walter 
Coles,  Edward  Darlington,  George  Grennell,  jr., 
Hiland  Hall,  Abner  Hazeltine,  William  Hiester, 
Abbott  Lawrence,  Levi  Lincoln,  Thomas  C. 
Love,  John  J.  Milligan,  Dutee  J.  Pearcc,  Ste- 
phen C.  Phillips,  David  Potts,  jr.,  John  Reed, 
David  Russell,  William  Slade. 

It  is  remarkable  that  in  the  progress  of  this 
Texas  question  both  Mr.  Adams  and  Mr.  Cal- 
houn reversed  their  positions— the  fov.ner  being 
against,  and  the  latter  in  favor,  of  its  alienation 
in  1819;  the  former  being  against,  and  the 
latter  in  liivor  of  its  recovery  in  183G— '44.— Mr. 
Benton  was  the  last  speaker  in  the  Senate  in 
favor  of  the  recognition  of  independence  ;  and 
his  speech  being  the  most  full  and  carefully 
historical  of  any  one  delivered,  it  is  presented 
entire  in  the  next  chapter;  and,  it  is  believed, 
that  in  going  more  fully  than  other  speakers  did 
into  the  origin  and  events  of  the  Texas  Revolu- 
tion, it  will  give  a  fair  and  condensed  view  of  that 
remarkable  event,  so  interesting  to  the  American 
people. 


CHAPTER     CXLV. 

TEXAS  INDEPENDENCE-MK.  BENTON'S  SPEECH. 

'  Mr.  Bkxton  rose  and  said  he  should  confine 
himself  strictly  to  the  proposition  presented  in 
the  resolution,  and  should  not  complicate  the 
practical  question  of  recognition  with  specula- 
tions on  the  future  fate  of  Texas.  Such  specu- 
lations could  have  no  good  effect  upon  either  of 
the  countries  interested;  upon  Mexico  Texas 
or  the  United  States.  Texas  has  not  asked  for 
admission  into  this  Union.    Her  independence 


is  still  contested  by  Mexico.  Her  boundai-ies 
and  other  important  points  in  her  political  con- 
dition, are  not  yet  adjusted.  To  discuss  the 
question  of  her  admission  into  this  Union,  under 
these  circumstances,  is  to  treat  her  with  disre- 
spect, to  embroil  ourselves  with  ilexico,  to  coin-, 
promise  the  disinterestedness  of  our  motives  ii, 
the  eyes  of  Europe;  and  to  start  among  ourselves 
prematurely,  and  without  reason,  a  question 
which,  whenever  it  comes,  cannot  be  without 
its  own  intrinsic  difficulties  and  perplexities. 

"  Since  the  three  months  that  the  affairs  of 
Texas  have  been  the  subject  of  repeated  discus- 
sion in  this  chamber,  I  have  imposed  on  myself 
a  reserve,  not  the  eflect  of  want  of  feeling,  but 
the  effect  of  strong  feeling,  and  some  judgment 
combined,  which  has  not  permitted  me  to  give 
uttei'ance  to  the  general  expression  of  my  sen- 
timents.    Once  only  have  I  spoken,  and  that  at 
the  most  critical  moment  of  the  contest,  and 
when  the  reported  advance  of  the  Mexicans 
upon  Nacogdoches,  and  the  actual  movement  of 
General  Gaines  and  our  own  troops  in  that  di- 
rection, gave  reason  to  apprehend  the  encounter 
of  ll.ags,  or  the  collision  of  arms,  which  might 
compromise  individuals  or  endanger  the  peace 
of  nations.    It  was  then  that  I  used  those  words, 
not  entirely  enigmatical,  and  Mhich  have  sime 
been  repeated  by  some,  without  the  prefix  of 
their  important  qualifications,  namely;  that  while 
neutrality  was  the  obvious  line  of  our  duty  and 
of  our  interest,  yet  there  might  be  emergencies 
in  which  the  obligation  of  duty  could  have  no 
force,  and  the  calculations  of  interest  could  have 
no  place ;  when,  in  fact,  a  man  should  have  no 
head  to  think  !  nothing  but  a  heart  to  feel !  and 
an  arm  to  strike !  and  I  illustrated  this  senti- 
ment.    It  was  after  the  aflidr  of  Goliad,  and  llie 
imputed  order  to  unpeople  the  country,  with 
the  supposititious  case  of  prisoners  assassinated, 
women  violated,  and  children  slaughtered;  and 
these  horrors  to  be  perpetrated  in  the  presence 
or  hearing  of  an  American  army    In  such  a  ease 
I  declared  it  to  be  my  sentiment— and  I  now  re- 
peat it,  for  I  feel  it  to  be  in  me— in  such  a  case, 
I  declared  it  to  be  my  .^cntimcnt,  that  treaties 
were  nothing,  books  were  nothing,  laws  wcr: 
nothing  I  that  the  paramount  law  of  God  and 
nature  was  every  thing !  and  that  the  American 
soldier,  hearing  the  cried  of  helplessness  and 
weakness,  and  remembering  only  that  he  was  a 
man,  and  born  of  woman,  and  the  father  of  chil- 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


1,  and  whicli  have  sinK 


lircQ,  should  fly  to  the  rcRciic,  and  strike  to  pre- 
vent the  perpetration  of  crimes  which  shock  hu- 
manity and  di.shonor  the  nge.     I  tittered  this 
fcntimcnt  not  upon  impulsion,  but  with  consid- 
eration ;  not  for  theatrical  effect,  but  as  a  rule 
for  notion;  not  as  vapuc  declamation,  but  with 
an  eye  to  possil)le  or  probable  events,  and  with  a 
view  to  the  public  justification  of  General  Gaines 
mi  his  men,  if,  under  circumstances  appallin<? 
to  humanity,  they  should  nobly  resolve  to  obey 
the  impulsions  of  the  heart  instead  of  coldly  con- 
jiiltinp;  the  musty  loaves  of  books  and  treaties. 
"Beyond  this  I  did  not  go,  and,  except  in  thi.s 
instance,  T  do  not  speak.     Duty  and  interest 
rrcscribcd  to  the  United  States  a  rigorous  neu- 
trality ;  and  this  condition  she  has  faithfully  ful- 
filled.   Our  young  men  have  gone  to  Texas  to 
fiirht;  but  they  have  gone  without  the  sanction 
of  the  laws,  and  against  the  orders  of  the  Gov- 
ornmciit.     They  have  gone  upon  that  impulsion 
ivhieh,  in  all  time,  has  carried  the  heroic  youth 
of  all  ages  to  seek  renown  in  the  perils  and  glo- 
ries of  distant  war.    Our  foreign  enlistment  law 
i<  not  repealed.     Unlike  England,  in  the  civil 
nrnow  raging  in  Spain,  we  have  not  licensed 
interference  by  repealing  our  penalties :  wo  have 
mit  stimulated  action  by  withdrawing  obsta- 
*.?.    No  member  of  our  Congress,  like  General 
Evans  in  the  British  Parliament,  has  left  his 
;cat  to  levy  troops  in  the  streets  of  the  metrop- 
"!i.«,  and  to  lead  them  to  battle  and  to  victory  in 
t!ie  land  torn  by  civil  discord.    Our  statute 
■lainst  armaments  to  invade  friendly  powers  is 
ii  full  force.    Proclamations  have  attested  our 
neutral  dispositions.     Prosecutions  have  been 


671 


and  commercial  communications.   Mexico  is  our 
nearest  neighbor,  dividing  with  us  the  continent 
of  North  America,  and  possessing  the  elements 
of  a  great  power.    Our  boundaries  are  co-tcr- 
minous  for  more  than  two  thousand  miles.    We 
have  inland  and  maritime  commerce.    She  has 
mines ;  we  have  ships.     General  considerations 
impose  upon  each  power  the  duties  of  reciprocal 
friendship ;   especial  inducements  invite  as  to 
uninterrupted  commercial   intercourse.     As  a 
western  senator,  coming  from  the  banks  of  the 
:\rississippi,  and  from  the  State  of  Missouri,  I 
cannot  be  blind  to  the  consequences  of  inter- 
nipting  that  double  line  of  inland  and  maritime 
commerce,  which,  stretching  to  the  mines  of 
Jfexico,  brings   back  the  perennial  supply  of 
solid  money  which  enriches  the  interior,  and 
enables  New  Orleans  to  purchase  tbe  vast  accu- 
mulation of  agricultural  produce  of  which  she 
IS  the  emporium.     Wonderful  are  the  workings 
of  commerce,  and  more  apt  to  find  out  its  own 
proper  channels  by  its  own  operations  than  to 
be  guided  into  them  by  the  hand  of  legislation. 
New  Orleans  now  is  what  the  Havana  once  was 
—the  entrepot  of  the  Mexican  trade,  and  the 
recipient  of  its  mineral  wealth.     The  superficial 
reader  of  commercial  statistics  would  say  that 
Mexico  but  .slightly  encourages  our  domestic 
industry;  that  she  takes  nothing  from  our  a"-- 
viculture,  and  but  little  from  our  manufacture! 


ordered  against  violators  of  law.    A  naval  force 
in  the  gulf,  and  a  land  force  on  the  Sabine,  have 
been  directed  to  enforce  the  policy  of  the  gov- 
tmment;  and  so  far  as  acts  have  gone,  the  ad- 
rantaoe  has  been  on  the  side  of  Mexico;  for 
'lie  Tcxian  armed  schooner  Invincible  has  been 
brought  into  an  American  port  by  an  American 
*ip  of  war.     If  parties  and  individuals  still  go 
10  Texas  to  fight,  the  act  is  particular,  not  na- 
lional,  compromising  none  but  the  parties  them- 
selves, and  may  take  place  on  one  side  as  well 
« on  the  other.    The  conduct  of  the  administra- 
tis has  been  strictly  neutral;  and,  as  a  friend 
'0  that  administration,  and  from  my  own  con- 
vi>  tions,  I  have  confoi-med  to  its  policy,  avoid- 
»ig  the  language  which  would  irritate,  and  op- 
f«mg  the  acts  which  might  interrupt  pacific 


On  the  contrary,  the  close  observer  would  see  a 
very  different  picture.     He  would  see  the  pro- 
ducts of  our  soil  passing  to  all  the  countries  of 
Europe,  exchanging  into  fine  fabrics,  and  these 
returning  in  the  ships  of  many  nations,  our  own 
predominant,  to  the  city  of  New  Orieans;  and 
thence  going  off  in  small  Mexican  vessels  to 
I^latamoros,  Tampico,  Vera  Cruz,  and  other  Mex- 
ican ports.     The  return  from  these  ports  is  in 
the  precious  metals ;  and,  to  confine  myself  to 
a  single  year,  as  a  sample  of  the  whole,  it  may 
be  stated  that,  of  the  ten  millions  and  three 
quarters  of  silver  coin  and  bullion  received  in 
the  United  States,  according  to  the  custom-house 
returns  dtiring  the  least  year,  eight  millions  and 
one  quarter  of  it  aime  from  Jlexico  alone,  and  the 
mass  of  it  through  the  port  of  New  Orieans.  This 
amount  of  treasure  is  not  received  for  nothing 
nor,  as  it  would  seem  on  the  commercial  tables' 
for  foreign  fabrics  unconnected  with  American 
industry,  but,  in  reality,  for  domestic  produc- 
tions changed  into  foreign  fabrics,  and  giving 


672 


TUniTY  YKARS'  VI KW. 


double  employment  to  the  navigation  of  the 
country.  New  Orleans  Ima  taken  the  place  of 
the  Havana;  it  has  become  the  ontrei)Ot  of  this 
trade  ;  and  many  circumstances,  not  directed  by 
law,  or  even  known  to  lawgivers,  havu  combined 
to  produce  the  result.  First,  iho  application  of 
steam  power  to  the  propidsiou  of  vessels,  which, 
in  the  form  of  towlioats,  has  given  to  a  river 
city  a  prompt  and  facile  communication  with  the 
sea;  then  the  advantagx^  of  Tull  and  assorted 
cargoes,  which  brings  the  im)/orting  vessel  to  a 
point  where  sl.e  delivi  rs  freight  for  two  differ- 
ent empires;  then  tin"  marked  advantage  of  a 
return  cargo,  with  cheap  and  abundant  supplies, 
which  arc  always  found  in  the  grand  emporium 
of  the  great  West;  then  the  discriminating  du- 
ties in  Mexican  ports  in  favor  of  Mexicau  vessels, 
which  makes  it  advantageous  to  the  importer  to 
stop  and  transship  at  New  Orleans  ;  finally,  our 
enterprise,  our  police,  and  our  free  institutions, 
our  perfect  security,  under  just  laws,  for  life, 
liberty,  person  and  property.  These  circum- 
stances, undirected  by  government,  and  without 
the  knowledge  of  government,  have  given  to 
New  Orleans  the  supreme  advantage  of  being 
the  entrepot  of  the  Mexican  trade ;  and  have 
presented  the  unparalleled  spectacle  of  the  no- 
blest valley  in  the  world,  and  the  richest  mines 
in  the  world,  sending  their  respective  products 
to  meet  each  other  at  the  mouth  of  the  noblest 
river  in  the  world ;  and  there  to  create  in  lapse 
of  time,  the  most  wonderful  city  which  any  age 
or  country  has  ever  beheld.  A  look  upon  the 
map  of  the  great  West,  and  a  tolerable  capacity 
to  calculate  the  aggregate  of  geographical  ad- 
vantages, must  impress  the  beholder  wiih  a  vast 
opinion  of  the  future  greatness  of  New  Orleans ; 
but  he  will  only  look  upon  one  half  of  the  pic- 
ture unless  he  contemplates  this  new  branch  of 
trade  which  is  making  the  emporium  of  the 
Mississippi  the  entrepot  of  Mexicau  commerce, 
and  the  recipient  of  the  Mexican  mines,  and 
which,  though  now  so  great,  is  still  in  its  in- 
fancy. Let  not  government  mar  a  consunnna- 
tion  80  auspicious  in  its  aspect,  and  teeming 
with  so  many  rich  and  precious  results.  Let 
no  unnecessary  collision  with  Jlexico  interrupt 
our  commerce,  turn  back  the  streams  of  three 
hundred  mines  to  the  Havana,  and  give  a  wound 
to  a  noble  city  which  must  bo  felt  to  the  hentl- 
spring  and  soiu-ce  of  every  stream  that  pours 
its  tribute  into  the  King  of  Floods. 


"  Thus  far  Mexico  has  no  cause  of  complaint. 
The  conduct  of  our  government  has  been  tliat 
of  rigorous  neutrality.  The  present  motion  does 
not  depart  from  that  lino  of  conduct ;  f  r  the 
proposed  recognition  is  not  only  contingent  upon 
the  (le  facto  independence  of  Texas,  l)iit  it  fol- 
lows in  the  train,  and  conforms  to  the  spirit  of 
the  actual  arrangements  of  the  President  (jleiicral 
Santa  Anna,  for  the  complete  separation  of  the 
two  countries.  We  have  authentic  inlormation 
that  the  President  General  has  agreed  to  nn 
armistice  ;  that  he  has  directed  the  evacuation 
of  the  country ;  that  the  .Mexican  army  is  in 
full  retreat;  that  the  llio  Grande,  a  limit  far 
beyond  the  discovery  and  settlement  of  La  Salle. 
in  1G84,  is  the  provisional  boundary ;  and  that 
negotiations  arc  impending  for  the  estahlislinicnt 
of  peace  on  the  basis  of  separation.  Jlexipo  luw 
had  the  advantage  of  these  arrangements,  though 
made  by  a  captive  chief,  in  the  unmolested  re- 
treat and  happy  extrication  of  her  troops  from 
their  perilous  {position.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, it  can  be  no  infringement  of  neutrality 
for  the  Semate  of  the  United  States  to  adopt  a 
resolution  for  the  contingent  and  qualified  ac- 
knowledgment of  Texian  independence.  Even 
after  the  adoption  of  the  resolution,  it  will  re- 
main inoperative  upon  the  hands  of  the  Presi- 
dent until  he  shall  have  the  satisfactory  infoi- 
mation  which  shall  enable  him  to  act  witlioui 
detriment  to  any  interest,  and  without  infrac- 
tion of  any  law. 

"  Even  without  the  armistice  and  provisional 
treaty  with  Santa  Anna,  1  look  upon  the  separa- 
tion of  the  two  countries  as  being  in  tlie  lixwl 
order  of  events,  and  absolutely  certain  to  take 
place.  Texas  and  Mexico  are  not  formed  lor 
union.  They  are  not  homogeneous.  I  speak 
of  Texas  as  known  to  La  Salle,  the  bay  of  .St. 
Bernard — (JIatagorda) — and  the  waters  which 
belong  to  it,  being  the  western  boundar3\  They 
do  not  belong  to  the  same  divisions  of  country, 
nor  to  the  same  systems  of  conmiercc,  nor  to 
the  tame  pursuits  of  business.  Tliey  have  no 
allinities — no  attractions — no  tendencies  to  coa- 
lesce. In  the  cour.se  of  centuries,  and  whik 
Mexico  has  extended  her  settlements  inflnilely 
further  in  other  directions — to  the  head  of  tlio 
Kio  Grande  in  the  north,  and  to  the  bay  of  .San 
Franci.sco  in  the  nortliwest ;  yet  no  sotflcinent 
had  been  extended  east,  along  the  neighboring 
coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.    The  rich  and  deep 


f;; 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


673 


ler  settlemoute  iiifiiiilcly 
ions — to  the  head  of  tlio 
th,  and  to  tlio  bay  of  San 
nvest ;  yet  no  sptllcment 
St,  along  the  neighboring  | 
3xico.     The  rich  and  deep 


cotton  and  suRar  lands  of  Texas,  though  at  the 
very  door  of  Mexico,  yet  requiring  the  applica- 
tion of  a  laborious  industry  to  niako  them  pro- 
ductive, have  presented  no  temptation   to  the 
mining  and  pastoral  population  of  that  empire. 
For  agL's  this  beautiful  agricultural  and  jjlanting 
n-Rion  had  Iain  untouched.    Within  a  few  years, 
and  by  another  race,  its  settlement  lias  begun  ; 
and  the  presence  of  this  race  has  not  smoothed' 
but  increased,  the  obstacles  to  union  presented  by 
nature.    Sooner  or  later,  separaticm  would  be  in- 
evitable ;  and  the  progress  of  human  events  has 
accelerated  the  operation  of  natural  causes.    Go- 
liad has  torn  Texas  from  Mexico;  Goliad  has 
decreed  independence ;  San  Jacinto  has  sealed  it ! 
What  the  ma.ssacre  decreed,  the  victory  has  seal- 
ed; and  the  day  of  the  martyrdom  of  prisoners 
must  for  ever  be  regarded  as  the  day  of  disunion 
between  Texas  and  Mexico.    I  speak  of  it  politi- 
cally, not  morally ;  that  massacre  was  a  great 
political  blunder,  a  miscalculation,  an  error,  and 
8  mistake.    It  was  expected  to  put  an  end  to 
resistance,  to  subdue  rebellion,  to  drown  revolt 
in  blood,  and  to  extinguish  aid  in  terror.    On 
the  contrary,  it  has  given  life  and  invincibility 
to  the  cause  of  Texas.    It  has  fired  the  souls  of 
her  own  citizens,  and  imparted  to  their  courage 
the  energies  of  revenge  and  despair.    It  has 
given  to  her  the  sympathies  and  commiseration 
of  the  civilized  world.    It  has  given  her  men 
and  money,  and  claims  upon  the  aid  and  a  hold 
upon  the  sensibilities  of  the  human  race.    If  the 
struggle  goes  on,  not  only  our  America,  but 
Europe  will  send  its  chivalry  to  join  in  the  con- 
test.   I  repeat  it ;  that  cruel  morning  of  the 
Alamo,  and  that  black  day  of  Goliad,  were  great 
political  faults.    The  blood  of  the  martyr  is  the 
seed  of  the  church.    The  blood  of  slaughtered 
patriots  is  the  dragon's  teeth  sown  upon  the 
earth,  from  which  heroes,  full  grown  and  armed. 


leap  into  life,  and  rush  into  battle.  Often  will 
tlie  Mexican,  guiltless  of  that  blood,  feel  the 
Anglo-American  steel  for  the  deed  of  that  day, 
if  this  war  continues.  Many  were  the  innocent 
at  San  Jacinto,  whose  cries,  in  broken  Spanish, 
abjuring  Goliad  and  the  Alamo,  could  not  save 
their  devoted  lives  from  the  avenging  remem- 
brance of  the  slaughtered  garrison  and  the  mas- 
sacred prisoners. 

"ITnhappy  day,  for  over  to  be  deplored,  that 
Sunday  morning,  March  6,  1836,  when  the  un- 
tounted  garrison  of  the  Alamo,  victorious  in  so 

Vol.  I. — 43 


many  a-ssaulta  over  twenty  times  their  numlwr 
perished  to  the  last  man  by  the  hands  of  those 
part  of  whom  they  had  released  on  parole  two 
months  before,  leaving  not  one  to  toll  how  they 
first  dealt  out  to  multitudes  that  death  which 
they  themselves  finally  received.     Unhappy  day 
that   Palm  Simday,  March  27,  when  the  five 
hundred  and  twelve  prisoners  at  Goliad,  issuing 
from  the  sally  port  at  dawn  of  day,  one  by  one, 
under  the  cruel  delusion  of  a  return  to  their 
families,  found  themselves  enveloped  in  double 
files  of  cavalry  and  infantry,  marched  to  a  spot 
fit  for  the  perpetration  of  the  horrid  deed— and 
there,  without  an  instant  to  think  of  parents, 
country,  friends,  and  God— in  the  midst  of  the 
consternation  of  terror  and  surprise,  were  in- 
humaidy  set  upon,  and  pitilessly  ]mt  to  death, 
in  spite  of  those  moving  cries  whicdi  reached  to 
heaven,   and   regardless  of  those   stipplicating 
hands,  stretched  fol-th  for  mercy,  from  which 
arms  had  been  taken  under  the  perfidious  forms 
of  a  capitulation.    Five  hundred  and  six  perish- 
ed that  morning— young,  vigorous,  bravo,  sons 
of  respectable  families,  and  the  jiride  of  many  a 
parent's  heart— and  their  bleeding  bodies,  torn 
with  wounds,  and  many  yet  alive,  were  thrown 
in  heaps  upon  vast  fires,  for  the  flames  to  con- 
sume what  the  steel  had  mangled.   Six  only  es- 
caped, and  not  by  mercy,  but  by  miracles.    And 
this  was  the  work  of  man  upon  his  brother;  of 
Christian  upon  Christian;  of  those  upon  those 
who  adore  the  same  God,  invoke  the  same  hear 
venly  benediction,  and  draw  precepts  of  charity 
and  mercy  from  the  same  divine  fountain.    Ac- 
cursed be  the  ground  on  which  the  dreadful  deed 
was  done  !    Sterile,  and  set  apart,  let  it  for  ever 
be  !    No  fruitful  cultivation  should  ever  enrich 
it;  no  joyful  edifice  should  ever  adorn  it;  but 
shut  up,  and  closed  by  gloomy  walls,  the  mourn- 
ful cypress,  the  weeping  willow,  and  the  inscrip- 
tive monument,  should  for  ever  attest  the  foul 
deed  of  which  it  was  the  scene,  and  invoke  from 
every  passenger  the  throb  of  pity  for  the  slain, 
and  the  start  of  horror  for  the  slayer.    And  you' 
neglected  victims  of  the  Old  Mission  and  Sai^ 
Patricio,  shall  you  be  forgotten  because  your 
numbers  were  fewer,  and  your  hapless  fate  more 
concealed  ?    No !  but  to  you  also  justice  shall 
be  done.     One    common  fate  befell  you.  all ; 
one  common  memorial  shall  perpetuate  your 
names,  and  embalm  your  memories.  Inexorable 
history  will  sit  in  judgment  upoi  all  concerned. 


1. 1,     i.Ttj' 


674 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


and  will  reject  the  plea  of  government  orders, 
oven  if  those  orders  emanated  from  the  govern- 
ment, instead  of  being  dictated  to  it.  The  French 
National  Convention,  in  1793,  ordered  all  the 
English  ]H-isiiner.s  who  should  be  taken  in  battle 
to  be  put  to  death.  The  French  armies  refused 
to  exeoito  the  decree.  They  answered,  that 
French  soldiers  were  the  protectors,  not  the  assas- 
sins of  prisoners  ;  and  all  France,  all  Europe,  the 
wholes  civilized  world,  applauded  the  noble  reply. 
"  I\nt  let  us  not  forget  that  there  is  some  relief 
to  this  black  and  bloody  picture— some  allevia- 
tion to  the  horror  of  its  appalling  features. 
There  was  humanity,  as  well  as  cruelty,  at  Go- 
liad— humanity  to  deplore  what  it  could  not 
prevent.  The  letter  of  Colonel  Fernandez  does 
honor  to  the  human  heart.  Doubtless  many 
other  officers  felt  and  mourned  like  him,  and 
spent  the  day  in  unavailing  regrets.  The  ladies, 
Losero  and  others,  of  Matamoros,  saving  the 
doomed  victims  in  that  city,  from  day  to  day, 
by  their  intercessions,  appear  like  ministering 
angels.  Several  public  journals,  and  many  in- 
dividuals, in  Mexico,  have  given  vent  to  feelings 
worthy  of  Christians,  and  of  the  civilization  of 
the  age ;  and  the  poor  woman  on  the  Gauda- 
loupe,  who  succored  and  saved  the  young 
Georgian  (Iladaway),  how  nobly  she  appears ! 
He  was  one  of  the  few  that  escaped  the  fate  of 
the  Georgia  battalion  sent  to  the  Old  Mission. 
Overpowered  by  famine  and  despair,  without 
arms  and  without  comrades,  he  entered  a  soli- 
tary house  filled  with  Mexican  soldiers  hunting 
the  fugitives  of  his  party.  Ilis  action  amazed 
them ;  and,  thinking  it  a  snare,  they  stepped  out 
to  look  for  the  armed  body  of  which  he  was 
supposed  to  be  the  decoy.  In  that  instant  food 
was  given  him  by  the  humane  woman,  and  in- 
stant flight  to  the  swamp  was  pointed  out.  He 
fled,  receiving  the  fire  of  many  guns  as  he  went ; 
and,  escaping  the  perils  of  the  way,  the  hazards 
of  battle  at  San  Jacinto,  where  he  fought,  and 
of  Indian  massacre  in  the  Creek  nation,  when 
the  two  stages  were  taken  and  part  of  his 
travelling  companions  killed,  he  lives  to  publish 
in  America  that  instance  of  devoted  humanity 
in  the  poor  woman  of  the  Gaudaloupe.  Such 
acts  as  all  these  deserve  to  be  commemorated. 
They  relieve  the  revolting  picture  of  military 
barbarity— soften  the  rcfJcntmcnts  of  nations — 
and  redeem  a  people  from  the  offence  of  indi- 
viduals. 


"  Great  is  the  mistake  which  has  prevailed  in 
Mexico,  and  in  some  parts  of  the  United  States 
on  the  character  of  the  population  which  has 
gone  to  Texas.  It  has  been  common  to  dis- 
parage and  to  stigmatize  them.  .Nothing  could 
be  more  unjust;  and,  speaking fn 'in  knowledge 
either  persimally  or  well  acquired  (for  it  fall? 
to  my  lot  to  know,  either  from  actual  acquaint- 
ance or  good  information,  the  mass  of  its  inhabi- 
tants), I  can  vindicate  them  from  erroneous  im- 
putations, and  place  their  conduct  and  character 
on  the  honorable  ground  which  they  deserve  to 
occupy.  The  founder  of  the  Texian  colony  was 
Mr.  Moses  Austin,  a  respectable  and  enterprisin" 
native  of  Connecticut,  and  largely  engaged  in 
the  lead  mines  of  Upper  Louisiana  when  I  wont 
to  the  Territory  of  Missouri  in  1815.  The  pre- 
sent head  of  the  colony,  his  son,  Mr.  Stephen 
F.  Austin,  then  a  very  young  man,  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Territorial  Legislature,  distinguished 
for  his  intelligence,  business  habits,  and  gentle- 
manly conduct.  Among  the  grantees  we  dis- 
tinguish the  name  of  Robertson,  son  of  the 
patriarchal  founder  and  first  settler  of  West 
Tennessee.  Of  the  body  of  the  emigrants,  most 
of  them  are  heads  of  families  or  enterprising 
young  men,  gone  to  better  their  condition  by  re- 
ceiving grants  of  fine  land  in  a  fine  climate,  and 
to  continue  to  live  under  the  republican  form  of 
government  to  which  they  had  been  accustomed. 
There  sits  one  of  them  (pointing  to  Mr.  Carson, 
late  member  of  Congress  from  North  Carolina, 
and  now  Secretary  of  State  for  Texas).  We  all 
know  him  ;  our  greetings  on  his  appearance  in 
this  chamber  attest  our  respect ;  and  such  as 
we  know  him  to  be,  so  do  I  know  the  nuiltitude 
of  those  to  be  who  have  gone  to  Texas.  They 
have  gone,  not  as  intrudei'S,  but  as  grantees ; 
and  to  become  a  barrier  between  the  Mexicans 
and  the  marauding  Indians  who  infested  their 
borders. 

"  Heartless  is  the  calumny  invented  and  pro- 
pagated, not  fn>m  this  floor,  but  elsewhere,  on 
the  cause  of  the  Texian  revolt.  It  is  said  to  be 
a  war  for  the  extension  of  slavery.  It  had  as 
well  be  said  that  our  own  Revolution  was  a  war 
for  the  extension  of  slavery.  So  far  from  it, 
that  no  revolt,  not  even  our  own,  ever  had  a 
more  just  and  a  more  sacred  origin.  The  set- 
tlers in  Texits  went  to  live  nnder  the  form  of 
government  which  they  had  left  behind  in  the 
United  States— a  government  which  extends  so 


ANNO  188fi.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRKaiDENT. 


many  Kimrantoos  for  life,  liberty,  property,  nnd 
the  puiHuit  of  happinecH,  and  which  their  Amer- 
Icun  and  English  ancestors  had  vindicated  for 
80  many  hundred  years.  A  succession  of  violent 
chnnjres  in  povornment,  and  the  rapid  overthrow 
of  rulers,  annoyed  and  distressed   them ;  but 
they  remained  tranquil   under  every  violence 
T.hich  did  not  immediately  bear  on  themselves. 
In  1822  the  republic  of  1821  was  superseded  by 
the  miperial  diadem  of  Tturbide.    In  1823  he 
was  dei,osed  and  banished,  returned  and  was 
shot,  and  Victoria  made  President.    Mentuno 
and  Bravo  disputed  the  presidency  with  Vic- 
toria;  and  found,  in  banishment,  the  mildest 
issue  known  amonp:  Mexicans  to  unsuccessful  ] 
civil  war.    Pedi-aza  was  elected  in  1828 ;  (Guer- 
rero overthrew  him  the  next  year.    Then  Bus- 
tamento    overthrew   Guerrero;    and,  quickly, 
Santa  Anna  overthrew  Bustamente,  and,  with 
him,  all  the  forms  of  the  constitution,  and  the 
whole  frame  of  the  federative  government.    By 
his  own  will,  and  by  force,  Santa  Anna  di.«olved 
the  existmg  Congress,  convened  another,  formed 
the  two  Houses  into  one,  called  it  a  convention ; 
and  made  it  the  instrumei.<-,  for  deposing,  with- 
out trial,  the  constitutional  Vice-President  Go- 
mez Farias,  putting  Barragan  into  his  place 
annihilating  the  State  governments,  and  estab- 
lishing a  consolidated  government,  of  which  he 
1   was  monarch,  under  the  retained  republican  title 
of  President.   Still,  the  Toxians  did  not  take  up 
arms:  they  did  not  acquiesce,  but  they  did  not 
revolt.    They  retained  their  State  government 
m  operation,  and  looked  to  the  other  States 
older  and  more  powerful  than  Texas,  to  vindi- 
cate the  general  cause,  and  to  re-establish  the 
federal  constitution  of  1824.     In  September 
1-^5,  this  was  still  her  position.   In  that  month,' 
a  -Mexican  armed  vessel  appeared  off  the  coast 
ot  Texas,  and  declared  her  ports  blockaded. 
At  the  same  time,  General  Cos  appeared  in  the 
West  with  an  army  of  fifteen  hundred  men 
«;ith  orders  to  arrest  the  State  authorities,  to 
disarm  the  inhabitants,  leaving  one  gun  to  every 
five  hundred  souls;  and  to  reduce  the  State  to 
unconditional  submission.     Gonzales  was  the 
selected  point  for  the  commencement  of  the  exe- 
cution of  these  orders ;  and  the  first  thing  was 
he  arms,  those  trusty  rifles  which  the  settlers 
!iad  brought  with  them  from  the  United  States, 
»lueh  were  their  defence  against  savages,  their 
resource  for  game,  and  the  guard  which  convert- 


675 


cd  their  houses  into  castles  stronger  than  those 
'whicn  the  king  cannot  enter.'    A  detachment 
of  General  Cos's  anny  ni.f)eared  at  the  village  of 
Gonzales,  on  the  28th  of  September,  an.l  de- 
manded the  arms  of  the  inhabitants;  it  was  the 
same  demand,  and  for  the  same  purpose,  which 
the  British  detachment,  under  Major  Pitcairn, 
had  made  at  Lexington,  on  the  19th  of  April,' 
1775.    It  was  the  same  demand !  and  the  same 
answer  was  given— resistance— battle— victory ! 
for  the  American  blood  was  at  Gonzales  as 'it 
had  been  at  Lexington ;  and  between  using  their 
arms,  and  surrendering  their  arms,  that  blood 
can  never  hesitate.     Then  followed  the  rapid 
succession  of  brilliant  events,  which,   in  two 
months,  left  Texas  without  an  aimed  enemy  in 
her  borders,  and  the  strong  forts  of  Goliad  and 
the  Alamo,  with  their  garrisons  and  cannon,  the 
almost  bloodless  prizes  of  a  few  hundred  Texian 
^  rifles.     This  was  the  origin  of  the  revolt;  and 
a  calumny  more  heartless  can  never  be  imagined 
than  that  which  would  convert  this  just  and 
holy  defence  of  life,  liberty,  and  property,  into 
an  aggression  for  the  extension  of  slaverj-. 

"Just  in  its  origin,  valiant  and  humane  in  its 
conduct,  sacred  in  its  object,  the  Texian  revolt 
has  illustrated  the  Anglo-Saxon  character,  and 
given  It  new  titles  to  the  respect  and  admiration 
of  the  world. 

"It  shows  that  liberty,  justice,  valor— moral 
physical,  and  intellectual  power— discriminate 
that  race  wherever  it  goes.    Let  our  America 
rejoice,  let  Old  England  rejoice,  that  the  Brasses 
and  Colorado,  new  and  strange  names— streams 
far  beyond  the  western  bank  of  the  Father  of 
Floods-have  felt  the  impress,  and  witnessed  the 
exploits  of  a  people  sprung  from  their  loins 
and  carrying  their  language,  laws,   and  cus- 
toms, their  magna  chartn  and   its   glorious 
privileges,  into   new  regions  and  far   distant 
climes.    Of  the  individuals  who  have  purchased 
lasting  renown  in   this  young  war,  ,.  would 
be  impossible,  ia  this  place  to  speak  in  detail, 
and  invidious  to  discriminate;  but  there  is  one 
among  them  whose  position  forms  an  excep- 
tion,  and  whose  early  association  with   my- 
self justifies  and  claims  the  tribute  of  a  par- 
ticular notice.    I  speak  of  him  whose  romantic 
victory  has  given  to  the  Jaeinto*  that  immor- 
tality in  grave  and  serious  history  which  the 


'!     i 


*  Hyacinth;  byaclnthus;  huaklnthos;  water  flower. 


676 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


diskos  of  Apollo  had  given  to  it  in  the  fabu- 
lous papres  of  the  heathen  mythology,  (k-neral 
Houston  waa  bom  in  the  State  of  Virginia. 
county  of  Rockbridge ;  he  wan  appointed  an  en 
sign  in  the  army  of  the  United  States,  dnriii- 
the  late  war  with  Great  Britain,  and  served  in 
the  Creek  campaign  under  the  banners  of  Jack- 
son. I  was  the  lieutenant  colonel  of  the  regi- 
ment to  which  he  belonged,  and  the  first  field 
officer  to  whom  he  reported.  I  then  marked  in 
him  the  same  soldierly  and  gentlemanly  quali- 
ties which  have  since  distinguished  his  eventful 
career :  ft-ank,  generous,  brave ;  ready  to  do,  or 
to  eufler,  whatever  the  obligations  of  civil  or 
military  duty  imposed ;  and  always  prompt  to 
answer  the  call  of  honor,  patriotism,  and  friend- 
ship. Sincerely  do  I  rejoice  in  his  victory.  It 
is  a  victory  without  alloy,  and  without  parallel, 
except  at  New  Orleans.  It  is  a  victory  which 
the  civilization  of  the  age,  and  the  honor  of  the 
human  race,  required  him  to  gain :  for  the  nine- 
teenth century  is  not  the  age  in  which  a  rc[ieti- 
tion  of  the  Goliad  matins  could  be  endured. 
Nobly  has  he  answered  the  requisition ;  fresh 
and  luxuriant  are  the  laurels  which  adorn  his 
brow. 

"  It  is  not  within  the  scope  of  my  present 
purpose,  to  speak  of  military  events,  and  to 
celebrate  the  exploits  of  that  vanguard  of  the 
Anglo-Saxons  who  arc  now  on  the  confines  of 
the  ancient  empire  of  Montezuma;  but  that 
combat  of  the  San  Jacinto !  it  must  for  ever  re- 
main in  the  catalogue  of  military  miracles. 
Seven  hundred  and  fifty  citizens,  miscellane- 
ously armed  with  rifles,  muskets,  belt  pistols, 
and  knives,  under  a  leader  who  had  never  seen 
service,  except  as  a  subaltern,  march  to  at- 
tack near  double  their  numbers — march  in  open 
day  across  a  clear  prairie,  to  attack  upwards  of 
twelve  hundred  veterans,  the  61ite  of  -^n  invad- 
ing army  of  seven  thousand,  posted  in  a  wood, 
their  flanks  secured,  front  intrenched ;  and  com- 
manded by  a  general  trained  in  civil  wars,  vic- 
torious in  numberless  battles ;  and  chief  of  an 
empire  of  which  no  man  becomes  chief  except 
as  conqueror.  In  twenty  minutes,  the  position 
is  forced.  The  combat  becomes  a  carnage.  The 
flowery  prairie  is  stained  with  blood;  the  hya- 
cinth is  no  longer  blue,  but  scarlet.  Six  hun- 
dred Mexicans  are  dead ;  six  hundred  more  are 
prisoners,  half  wounded ;  the  President  General 
himself  is  a  prisoner ;  the  camp  and  baggage  all 


taken ;  and  the  loss  of  the  victors,  six  killed 
and  twenty  wounded.  Such  are  the  results,  and 
which  no  Euro|)can  can  believe,  but  those  who 
•<aw  Jackson  at  New  Orleans.  Houston  is  the 
pupil  of  Jackson ;  and  he  is  the  11.  st  self-niado 
general,  since  the  time  of  Mark  Antony,  and  Iho 
King  Antigonus,  who  has  taken  the  general  of 
the  army  and  the  head  of  the  government  cap- 
tive in  battle.  Ditferent  from  Antony,  he  has 
spared  the  life  of  his  captive,  though  forfeited 
by  every  law,  human  and  divine. 

"I  voted,  in  1821,  to  acknowledge  the  abso- 
lute independence  of  Mexico;  I  vote  now  to  rc- 
•ognizo  the  contingent  ami  expected  independ- 
ence of  Texas.  In  both  cases,  the  vote  is  given 
upon  the  same  principle — upon  the  principle  of 
disjunction  where  conjunction  is  impossible  or 
disastrous.  The  Uniou  of  Mexico  and  Spain 
had  become  impossibV  ;  that  of  Mexico  and 
Texas  is  no  longer  rkniirable  or  possible.  A 
more  fatal  present  c  )ul  1  not  be  made  than  that 
of  the  future  incorporation  of  the  Texas  of  La 
Salle  with  the  ancient  empire  of  Montezuma. 
They  could  not  live  together,  and  extermination 
is  not  the  genius  of  the  age ;  and,  besides,  is 
more  easily  talked  of  than  done.  Bloodshed 
only  could  be  the  fruit  of  their  conjunctioi,; 
and  e  "ry  drop  of  that  blood  would  be  the  dra- 
gon's 'eelh  sown  upon  tlie  earth.  No  wise 
Mexican  should  wish  to  have  this  Trojan  horse 
shut  up  within  their  walls." 


CHAPTER    CXLVI. 

THE  SPECIE  CIRCULAR. 

The  issue  of  the  Treasury  order,  known  as 
the  "  Specie  Circular,"  was  one  of  the  event.i; 
which  marked  the  foresight,  the  decision,  and 
the  invincible  firmness  of  General  Jackson.  It 
was  issued  immediately  after  the  adjournment 
of  Congress,  and  would  have  been  issued  before 
the  adjournment,  except  for  the  fear  that  Con- 
gress would  counteract  it  by  law.  It  was  an 
order  to  all  the  land-offices  to  reject  paper  money, 
and  receive  nothing  but  gold  and  silver  in  pay- 
ment of  the  »^ublic  lands '  and  was  issued  under 
the  authority  of  the  resolution  of  the  year  181C, 
which,  in  giving  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 


ANNO  1886.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PI  •        pnt. 


discretionary  authority  to  receive  the  notes  of 
gpcie  payiiiK  banks  in  revenue  payments,  gave 
him  ttlHo  the  right  to  rtject  them.     The  num- 
ber of  these  hanks  had  now  become  so  great, 
ihe  quantity  of  notes  iseiied  so  enormous,  tlie 
faiility  of  obtaining  loans  so  universal,  and  the 
temptation  to  converting  shadowy  paper  into 
real  estate,  so  tempting,  that  the  rising  streams 
of  paper  from  seven  hundred  and  lifty  banks  took 
their  course  towanls  the  new  States,  seat  of  the 
public  domain— ilischarging  in  accumulated  vol- 
ume there  collected  torrents  upon  the  dillerent 
iaml-oflfices.     The  sales  were  running  up  to  five 
millions  a  month,  with  the  prospect  of  unbound- 
ed increase  after  the  rise  of  Congress ;  and  it 
was  this  increase  from  the  land  sales  which  made 
that  surplus  which  the  constitiition  had  been 
burlesqued  to  divide  among  the  States.      And 
there  was  no  limit  to  this  conversion  of  public 
land  into  inconvertible  paper.    In  the  custom- 
house branch  of  the  revenue  there  was  a  limit 
in  the  amount  to  be  received— limited  by  the 
amount  of  duties  to  be  paid :  but  in  the  land-office  I 
branch  there  was  no  limit.    It  was  therefore  at 
that  point  that  the  remedy  was  wanted  ;  and 
for  that  reason,  the  "  Specie  Circular  "  was  limit- 
ed in  its  application  to  the  land-offices ;   and 
totally  forbade  the  sale  of  the  public  lands  for 
aiy  thing  but  hard  money.    It  was  an  order  of 
incalculable  value  to  the  United  States,  and 
issued  by  President  Jackson  in  known  disregard 
of  the  will  both  of  the  majority  of  Congress  and 
of  his  cabinet. 

Before  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  and  in 
concert  with  the  President,  the  author  of  this 


terent  on  them  for  years  before  they  ha. 
deem  them.     Thus  spculators,  loaded  \m    ,  n«r 
per,  would  outbid  settlers  and  cidtivatois,  who 
liad  no  undue  acconunodations  from  banks  and 
who  had  noliiing  but  s|)ecie  to  give  f..r  lands 
or  the  notes  which  were  its  real  equivalent.  Mr! 
H.  siiK  that,  living  in  a  new  State,  it  came  with- 
in his  knowledge  that  sucli  accommodations  as 
he  had  mentioned  were  the  main  cause  of  the 
excessive  sales    which  had  taken  place  in  the 
public  lands,  and  that  the  eflect  was  equally  in- 
jurious to  every  interest  concerned— except  the 
banks  and  the  speculators:  it  was  injurious  to 
the  treasury  which  was  filling  up  with  paper; 
to  the  new  States,  which  were  flooded  with  pa- 
per ;  and  to  settlers  and  cultivators,  who  were 
outbid  by  speculators,  loaded  with  this  borrow- 
ed naper.     A  return  to  specie  payments  for  lands 
IS  the  remedy  for  all  these  evils." 

Having  exposed  the  evil,  and  that  to  the  coun- 
try generally  as  well  as  to  the  federal  treasury, 
Mr.  B.  went  on  to  give  his  opinion  of  the  bene- 
fits of  suppressing  it ;  and  said  : 

"  It  would  put  an  end  to  every  complaint  now 
connected  with  the  subject,  and  have  a  beneficial 
effect  upon  every  public  and  private  interest. 
Upon  the  federal  government  its  effect  would  be 
to  check  the  unnatural  sale  of  the  public  lands 
to  speculators  for  paper ;  it  would  throw  the 
speculators  out  of  market,  limit  the  sales   to 
settlers  and  cultivators,  stop  the  swelling  in- 
creases of  paper  surpluses  in  the  treasury,  put 
an  end  to  all  projects  for  disposing  of  surpluses ; 
and  relieve  all  anxiety  for  the  fate  of  the  public 
moneys  in  the  deposit  banks.     Upon  the  new 
States,  where  the  public  lands  are  situated,  ita 
effects  would  be  most  auspicious.    It  would  stop 
the  flood  of  paper  with  which  they  are  inundated, 
and  bring  in  a  steady  stream  of  gold  and  silver  in 
its  place.    It  would  give  them  a  hard-money 
currency,  and  especially  a  share  of  the  gold  cur- 


*  lew  naa  attempted  to  get  an  act  of  Congress  to    '"ency ;  for  every  emigrant  could  then  carrv  go'd 


stop  the  evil ;  and  in  support  of  his  motion  to 
that  eflect  gave  his  opinion  of  the  evil  itself,  and 
of  the  benefits  which  would  result  from  its  sup- 
pression.   He  said: 

"He  was  able  to  inform  the  Senate  how  it 
happened  that  the  sales  of  the  public  lands  had 
aeceived  all  calculations,  and  run  up  from  four 
millions  a  year  to  five  millions  a  quarter ;  it  was 
this :  speculators  went  to  banks,  borrowed  five 
ten,  twenty,  fifty  thousand  dollars  in  paper  in 
email  notes,  usually  -der  twenty  dollars  and 
engaged  to  carry  ofl'  those  notes  to  a  great  dis- 
tance, sometimes  five  hundred  or  a  thousand 
miles ;  and  there  laid  them  out  for  public  lands 


to  the  country.    Upon  the  settler  and  cultivator 
who  wished  to  purchase  land  its  eflfect  would  be 
peculiarly  advantageous.    He  would  be  relieved 
from  the  competition  of  speculators ;  he  would 
not  have  to  contend  with  those  who  received 
undue  accommodations  at  banks,  and  came  to 
the  land-offices  loaded  with  bales  of  bank  notes 
which  they  had  borrowed  upon  condition  of 
carrying  them  far  away,  and  turning  them  loose 
where  many  would  be  lost,  and  never  get  back 
to  the  bank  that  issued  them.    All  these  and 
many  other  good  effects  would  thus  lie  produced, 
and  no  hardship  or  evil  of  any  kind  could  accrue 
to  the  meritorious  part  of  the  country ;  for  the 
settler  and  cultivator  who  wishes  to  buy  land 
for  use,  or  for  a  settlement  for  his  children,  or 


B„'     I     1    rr>      —       ""nwi  puuiiu  jauuH.    lor  usc.  Or  lor  a  setfloment  fc 

Being  land-office  money  they  would  circulate  in  I  to  increase  h^  L^"wS  h-'-'^  r^  -^i^crtlv  in 

ter""reS  ra^llndThefrTol^^^'l  r^'"  I  f  "'"=  ^'^^'^  money  to  "make  his  purSf'^ri^ 
clear  Jfnt^fh.h.ni.;.?       '°'^7«"1^1  be  a    has  no  undue  accommodations  from  banks.     He 

Cl  C  time .  aStL  banrwoi?."°f  '''^'■"    ^"^T  ^''^'  ^"*  ^^^*  ^'  6°^^ '  '^'^  ^  he  can 
long  time,  and  the  bank  would  draw  m- 1  readily  convert  into  specie.    To  him  the  exac- 


1:  ■ 
!  '. 

ill 
].  '• 

m 

^■j? 

^Hil 

678 


TinUTY  YKAItS'  VI KW. 


tion  of  Hperio  pnymcntu  from  nil  piirchnNont  would 
bt!  a  rule  of  i<iimlity,  which  woiihl  timblo  him 
to  piirchiiHo  whiit  hv  wviin  without  ('i)tn|H'tition 
witli  fictitious  and  borrowed  ciipitiil." 

Mr.  n.  Rave  t\  view  of  the  actual  condition  of 
thf.'  paper  currency,  which  he  dcKcrilH'd  uh  hide- 
OUH  and  appalling,  doonu'd  to  a  catastrophe;  and 
he  advised  every  prudent  man,  as  well  as  the 
government,  to  fiy  from  its  embrace.     His  voice, 
and  his  warning,  answered  no  purpose.     He  got 
no  supjort  for  his  motion.     A  few  frien<ls  were 
willing  to  stand  by  him,  but  the  opposition  se- 
nators stood  out  in  uid>rokcn  front  against  it, 
reinforced  largely  by  the  friends  of  the  adminis- 
tration :  but  it  is  in  vain  to  attribute  the  whole 
opposition  to  the  measure  merely  to  the  mis- 
taken oj)inions  of  friends,  nnd  the  resentful  pol- 
icy of  foes.    There  was  another  cause  operating 
to  the  same  effect ;  and  the  truth  of  history  re- 
quires it  to  be  told.    There  were  many  members 
of  Congresg  engaged  in  these  land  speculations, 
upon  loans  of  bank  paper  ;  and  who  were  un- 
willing to  sec  a  sudden  termination  of  so  profit- 
able a  game.     The  rejection  of  the  bill  it  was 
thought  would  bo  sufficient ;  and  on  the  news 
of  it  the  speculation  redoubled  its  activity.   But 
there  avos  a  remedy  in  reserve  for  the  cure  of 
the  evil  which  they  had  not  foreseen,  and  which 
was  applied  the  moment  that  Congress  was  gone. 
Jackson  was  still  President  1  and  he  had  the 
nerve  which  the  occasion  required.     He  saw 
the  public  lands  fleeting  away — saw  that  Con- 
gress would  not  interfere — and  knew  the  major- 
ity of  his  cabinet  to  be  against  his  interference. 
He  did  as  he  had  often  done  in  councils  of  war 
— called  the  council  together  to  hear  a  decision. 
He  summoned  his  cabinet — laid  the  case  before 
them — heard  the  majority  of  adverse  opinions : 
— and  directed  tlie  order  to  issue.     His  private 
Secretary,  Mr.  Donelson,  was  directed  to  prepare 
a  draught  of  the  order.    The  author  of  this  View 
was  all  the  while  in  the  oflBce  of  this  private 
Secretary.    Mr.  Donelson  came  to  him,  with 
the  President's  decision,  and  requested  him  to 
draw  up  the  order.    It  was  done — the  rough 
draught  carried  back  to  the  council — put  into 
official  form — signed — issued.    It  was  a  second 
edition  of  the  removal  of  the  deposits  scene,  and 
made  an  immense  sensation.    The  disappointed 
speculators  raged.     Congress  was  considered  in- 
sulted, the  cabinet  defied,  the  banks  disgraced. 
But  the  vindication  of  the  measure  soon  came, 


in  the  diacoTcry  of  the  fact,  tliat  some  ttim  of 
millions  of  this  bank  paper  was  on  its  way  to 
the  land-ofHccH  to  l)e  changed  into  land— when 
overtaken  by  this  fatal  "  SjMscie  Circular,"  nnd 
turned  buck  to  the  sources  from  which  it  came. 


CHAPTER    CXLVII. 

DEATH  OF   MK.   MADISON,    lOIUTII   I'ltKSIDENT 
OF  TIIK  UNITKD  .sTATKS. 

He  died  in  the  last  year  of  the  second  tcnn  of 
the  presid(aicy  of  General  Jackson,  at  the  mi- 
vanced  ago  of  eighty-six,  his  mind  clear  nnd 
active  to  the  last,  and  greatly  occupied  with 
solicitous  concern  for  the  safety  of  the  Uiiiim 
which  ho  had  contributed  so  much  to  establish. 
He  was  a  patriot  from  the  beginning.    "  When 
the  first  blood  was  shed  in  the  streets  of  Boston, 
he  was  a  student  in  the  process  of  his  ei'ucntion 
at  Princeton  College,  where  the  next  year,  he 
received  the  degree  of  Hachelor  of  Arts.     He 
was  even  then  so  highly  distinguished  by  the 
power  of  application  and  the  rapidity  of  progress, 
that  he  performed  all  the  exerciscH  of  tiie  tuu 
senior  collegiate  years   in  one — while  at  the 
same  time  his  deportment  was  so  exemplary, 
that  Dr.  Witherspoon,  then  at  the  head  of  the 
college,  and  afterwards  himself  one  of  the  most 
eminent  patriots  and  sages  of  our  revolution, 
always  delighted  in  bearing  testimony  to  the 
excellency  of  his  character  at  that  early  stu^o 
of  his  career;  and  said  to  Thomas  Jdrerson 
long  afterwards,  when  they  were  all  colleagues 
iu  the  revolutionary  Congress,  that  in  the  whole 
career  of  Mr.  Madison  at  Princeton,  he  had 
never  known  him  say,  or  do,  an  indiscreet  thing." 
So  wrote  Mr.  John  Quincy  Adams  in  his  dis- 
course upon  the    "Life  of  James  Madihon," 
written  at  the  request  of  the  two  Houses  of 
Congress :  and  in  this  germ  of  manhood  is  to 
be  seen  all  the  qualities  of  head  and  heart  whicli 
mature  age,  and  great  events,  so  fully  developed. 
and  which  so  nobly  went  into  the  formation  of 
national  character  while  constituting  his  own : 
the  same  quick  intellect,  the  same  laborious  aj)- 
plication,  the  same  purity  of  morals,  the  same 
decorum  of  deportment.     lie  had  a  rare  com- 
bination of  talent — a  speaker,  a  writer,  a  coun- 
sellor.   In  these  qualites  of  the  mind  he  classed 


ct,  tliat  Honif  ti'im  of 
vr  wan  oil  itri  wuy  to 
i»je<l  into  liiiid— whtn 
■ipecio  Circulur,"  nnd 
from  which  it  came. 


D  X  L  V 1 1 . 

FOt'RTn   I'ltKSIDENT 

0  STATES. 

if  the  Hccond  tonn  of 

JaekBon,  ut  the  nd- 

his  mind  clear  and 

roatly  occupied  with 

safety  of  the  Union 

so  inuch  to  establish. 

bepinnin^.    "  When 

the  streets  of  Hcjuton, 

xiess  of  his  ei'ucation 

:o  tho  next  year,  he 

ichelor  of  Arts.     Ho 

distinguished  by  the 

s  rapidity  of  proprcss, 

exercises  of  the  two 

one — while  at  tiie 

t  was  so  exemplary, 

1  at  the  head  of  tiie 
iself  one  of  the  most 
is  of  our  rovolutidii, 
ng  testimony  to  the 
•  at  that  early  sta^e 
;o  Thomas  Jefferson 
'■  were  all  colK'apucn 
J88,  that  in  the  whulu 
t  Princeton,  he  had 
,an  indiscreet  thinf;." 
y  Adams  in  his  dis- 
)f  J.ames   Madibon.'' 

tho  two  Houses  of 
m  of  manhood  is  to 
lead  and  heart  which 
:s,  so  fully  developed. 
nto  the  formation  of 
instituting  his  own; 
le  same  laborious  aj)- 
of  morals,  the  same 
lie  had  a  rare  com- 
er, a  writer,  a  coun- 
'  the  mind  he  classed 


ANNO  1886.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRBilDENT. 


679 


with  Oenerol  Hamiltoii ;  and  was,  pcrlmpg,  the 
only  eminciU  |.,iblic  man  of  \m  day  who  so 
classed,  and  so  CHjually  conteniJ-  !,rec  of  tho 

ticltlH  of  iMfllectual  action.    Mr.  JuiTfrsou  waa 
accustomed  to  Hay  ho  was  tho  only  man  that 
coulil  answer  Hamilton.    PerHpicuity,  precision, 
closeness  of  reasoning,  and  strict  adherence  to 
the  unity  of  his  subject,  were  tlio  character- 
Lstics  of  his  style ;  and  his  siK'echcs  in  Congress, 
and  his  dispatches  from  tho  State  Department, 
may  bo  e(jually  studied  as  models  of  stylo,  di- 
plonuitic  and  parliamentary  as  sources  of  in- 
formation, as  examples  of  integrity  in  conduct- 
ing public  fitiestions:  and  as  illustrations  of  the 
iimenity  with  which  tho  most  earnest  debate, 
and  the  most  critical  correspondence!,  can  he 
conducted  by  good  senso,  good  taste,  and  good 
temper.      Mr.  Madison  was  one  of  tho  great 
founders  of  our  present  united  federal  govern- 
ment, equally  efficient  in  tho  working  convention 
which  framed  the  constitutii^n  and  tho  written 
labors  which  secured  its  adoption.     Co-laborer 
with  General  Hamilton  in  tho  convention  and 
in  the  Federalist— both  members  of  tho  oM  Con- 
gress and  of  tho  convention  at  the  same  time, 
and  working  together  in  both  bodies  for  tho  at- 
tainment of  the  same  end,  until  the  division  of 
parties  in  Washington's  time  began  to  estrange 
old  friends,  and  to  array  against  each   other 
former  cordial  political  co-laborers.     As  the 
first  writer  of  one  party,  General   Hamilton 
wrote  some  leading  papers,  which,  as  the  first 
writer  of  the  other  party,  Mr.  Madison  was 
called  upon  to  answer :  but  without  forgetting 
on  the  part  of  either  their  previous  relations 
their  decorum  of  character,  and  their  mutual 
respect  for  each  other.    Nothing  that  either 
said  could  give  an  unpleasant  personal  feeling 
to  the  other ;  and,  though  writing  under  bor- 
rowed names,  their  production.s  were  equally 
known  to  each  other  and  tho  public ;  for  none 
hut    themselves    could    imitate     themselves. 
Purity,  modesty,  decorum— a  moderation,  tem- 
perance, and  virtue  in  every  thing  — were  the 
characteristics  of  Mr.  Madison's  life  and  man- 
ners J  and  it  is  grateful  to  look  back  upon  such 
elevation  and  beauty  of  personal  characte"  in 
the  illustrious  and  venerated  founders  of  our 
Kepublic,  leaving  such  virtuous  private  charac- 
ters to  be  .admired,  as  well  as  such  great  works 
to  be  preserved.    The  offer  of  this  tribute  to 
the  memory  of  one  of  the  purest  of  public  men 


is  the  more  gratefully  rcmlere<l,  private  rcasuni 
mixing  with  considerationn  of  public  duty.  Mr. 
Madison  is  tho  only  Pn'sident  from  whom  he 
ever  asketl  a  favor,  and  who  granted  immediately 
all  that  was  ask'id— a  lieuttnant-colonelcy  in 
the  army  of  the  United  States  in  the  late  war 
with  Great  Britain. 


CHAPTER  CXLVIIT. 

UEATII  OF  MK.  MONKOK,  FIFTH  PUESIDKNT  OF 
TIIE  UNITED  BTATE9. 


Hk    died    during   tho    first  term  of  the  ad- 
ministration of  President  Jackson,  and  is  ap- 
propriately noticed  in  this  work  next  after  Mr. 
Aladison,  with  whom  he  had  been  so  long  and 
so  intimately  associated,  both  in  public  and  in 
private  life ;  and  whose  successor  he  had  been 
in  successive  high  posts,  including  that  of  the 
presidency  itself.     He  is   one  of  our  eminent 
public  characters  which  have  not  attained  their 
due  phice  in  history  ;  nor  has  any  one  attempted 
to  give  him  that  place  but  (no— Mr  John  Qtiincy 
Adams— in  his  discourse  upon  the  life  of  Mr. 
Monroe.    Mr.  Adams,  and  who  could  l)e  a  more 
competent  judge  ?  places  him  in  the  first  tine 
of  American  statesmen,  and  contributing,  during 
the  fifty  years  of  his  connectioi.  «ifh  the  public 
afiairs,  a  full  .share  in  the  aggi  .mdiscment  and 
advancement  of  his  country.     His  parts  were 
not  shining,  but  solid.    He  lacked  genius,  but 
he  possessed  judgment :  and  it  was  the  remark 
of  Dean  Swift,  well  illustrated  in  his  own  case 
and  that  of  his  associate  friends,  Harley  and 
Bolingbroke  (three  of  tho  rarest  geniuses  that 
ever  acted  together,  and  whose  cause  went  to  ruin 
notwithstanding  their  wit  and  eloquence),  that 
genius  was  not  necessary  to  the  conducting  of  the 
affairs  of  state :  that  judgment,  diligence,  know- 
ledge, good  intentions,  and  will,  were  sufficient. 
Mr.  Monroe  was  an  instance  of  the  soundness  of 
this  remark,  as  well  as  the  three  brilliant  geniuses 
of  Queen  Anne's  time,  and  on  the  opposite  side 
of  it    Mr.  Monroe  had  none  of  the  mental 
qualities  which  dazzle  and  astonish  mankind ; 
but  he  had  a  discretion  which  seldom  committed 
a  mistake — an  integrity  that  always  looked  to 
the  public  good— a  firmness  of  will  which  car- 
ried him  resolutely  upon  his  object— a  diligence 


680 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


that  mastered  every  subject — and  a  perseverance 
that  yielded  to  no  obstacle  or  reverse.  lie  began 
his  patriotic  career  in  the  military  service,  at  the 
commencement  of  the  war  of  iho  revolution — 
went  into  the  general  assembly  of  his  native 
State  at  an  early  age— and  thence,  while  still 
young,  into  the  continental  Congress.  There 
he  showed  his  character,  and  laid  the  foundation 
of  his  future  political  fortunes  in  his  uncompro- 
mising opposition  to  the  plan  of  a  treaty  with 
Spain  by  which  the  navigation  of  the  Mississip- 
pi was  to  be  given  up  for  twenty-five  years  in 
return  for  commercial  privileges.  It  was  the 
qualities  of  judgment,  and  perseverance,  which 
he  displayed  on  that  occasion,  which  brought 
him  those  calls  to  diplomacy  in  which  he  was 
afterwards  so  much  employed  with  three  of  the 
then  greatest  European  powers— France,  Spain, 
Great  BriUiin.  And  it  was  in  allusion  to  this 
circumstance  that  President  Jefferson  after- 
wards, when  the  right  of  deposit  at  New  Orleans 
had  been  violated  by  Spain,  and  when  a  minister 
was  wanted  to  recover  it,  said,  "  Monroe  is  the 
man :  the  defence  of  the  Mississippi  belongs  to 
him."  And  under  this  appointment  he  had  the 
felicity  to  put  his  name  to  the  treaty  which  se- 
cured the  Mississippi,  its  navigation  and  all  the 
territory  drained  by  its  western  waters,  to  the 
United  States  for  ever.  Several  times  in  his  life 
he  seemed  to  miscarry,  and  to  fall  from  the 
top  to  the  bottom  of  the  political  ladder :  but 
always  to  rea^scend  as  high,  or  higher  than  ever. 
Recalled  by  Washington  from  the  French  mis- 
sion, to  which  he  had  been  appointed  from  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  he  returned  to  the 
starting  point  of  his  early  career — the  general 
assembly  of  his  State — served  as  a  member  from 
his  county— was  elected  Governor;  and  from 
that  post  restored  by  Jefferson  to  the  French 
mission,  soon  to  bo  followed  by  the  embassies 
to  Spain  and  England.  Becoming  estranged 
from  Mr.  Madison  about  the  time  of  that  gentle- 
man's first  election  to  the  presidency,  and  hav- 
ing returned  from  his  missions  a  little  mortified 
that  Mr.  Jefferson  had  rejected  his  British  treaty 
without  sending  it  to  the  Senate,  he  was  again 
at  the  foot  of  the  political  ladder,  and  apparently 
out  of  favor  with  those  who  were  at  its  top. 


Nothing  despairing,  he  went  back  to  the  old 
starting  point— served  again  in  the  Virginia 
general  assembly— was  again  elected  Governor : 
and  from  that  post  was  called  to  the  cabinet  of 
Mr.  Madison,  to  be  his  double  Secretary  of  State 
and  War.    IIo  was  the  effective  power  in  the 
declaration  of  war  against  Great  Britain,    lli.s 
residence  abroad  had  shown  him  that  unavenged 
British  wrongs  was  lowering  our  character  with 
Europe,  and  that  war  with  the  "  mistress  of  the 
seas  "  was  as  necessary  to  our  respectability  in 
the  eyes  of  the  world,  as  to  the  security  of  our 
citizens  and  commerce  upon  the  ocean.    He 
brought  up  Mr.  Madison  to  the  war  point.    lie 
drew  the  war  report  which  the  committee  on 
foreign  relations  presented  to  the  House— that 
report  which  the  absence  of  Mr.  Peter  B.  Porter 
the  chairman,  and  the  hesitancy  of  Mr.  Grundy 
the  second  on  the  committee,  threw  into  the 
hands  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  the  third  on  the  list  and 
the  youngest  of  ti._  jommittee ;  and  t.ie  pre- 
sentation of  which  immediately  gave  him  a  na- 
tional reputation.     Prime  mover  of  the  war  he 
was  also  one  of  its  <nost  eificient  supporters 
taking  upon  himself,  when  adversity  pressed 
the  actual  duties  of  war  minister,  financier,  and 
foreign  secretary  at  the  same  time.    He  was  an 
enemy  to  all  extravagance,  to  all  intrigue,  to  all 
indirection  in   the  conduct  of  business.    Mr. 
Jefferson's  comprehensive  and  compendious  eu- 
logium  upon  him,  as  brief  as  true,  was  the 
faithful  description  of  the  man— "honest  and 
brave."    Ho  was  an  enemy  to  nepotism,  and 
no  consideration  or  entreaty — no  need  of  the 
support  which  an  office  would  give,  or  interces- 
sion from  friends— could  ever  induce  him  to 
appoint  a  relative  to  any  place  under  the  go- 
vernment.   He  had  opposed  the  adoption  of 
the  constitution  until  amendments  were  ob- 
tained; but  these  had,  he  became  one  of  its 
firmest  supporters,  and  labored  faithfully,  anx- 
iously and  devotedly,  to  administer  it  in  its  puri- 
ty.  He  was  the  first  President  under  whom  the 
author  of  this  View  served,  commencing  his  first 
senatorial  term  with  the  commencement  of  the 
second  presidential  term  of  this  last  of  the  men 
of  the  revolution  who  were  spared  to  fill  the  office 
in  the  great  Republic  which  they  had  founded. 


)ack  to  the  old 
ti  the  Virginia 
cted  Governor : 
)  tlie  cabinet  of 
cretiiry  of  State 

0  power  in  the 
t  Britain.  Hi.s 
that  unavenged 
:•  character  witli 
mistress  of  the 
•cspectability  in 
security  of  our 
he  ocean.  He 
rt-ar  point.    Ho 

committee  on 
le  House— that 
Peter  B.  Porter, 
of  Mr.  Grundy, 
threw  into  the 

on  the  list  and 
5  and  t.ie  pre- 
gave  him  a  na- 
■  of  the  war,  he 
L'nt  supporters, 
■crsity  pressed. 
',  financier,  and 
le.    He  was  an 

intrigue,  to  all 
business.  Mr. 
)mpendious  eu- 

true,  was  the 
— "  honest  and 

nepotism,  and 
10  need  of  the 
ive,  or  interces- 
induce  him  to 

under  the  go- 
le  adoption  of 
ents  were  ob- 
me  one  of  its 
faithfully,  anx- 
er  it  in  its  puri- 
nder  whom  the 
lencing  his  first 
acement  of  the 
ast  of  the  men 

1  to  fill  the  office 
had  founded. 


ANNO  1836.    ANDIIK W  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


CHAPTER    CXLIX. 

DEATH  OF  CIIIKF  JUSTICE  MAKSIIALL. 

He  died  in  the  middle  of  the  second  term  of 
General  Jackson's  i)residency,  having  been  chief 
justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  full  thirty-five  years,  presiding  all  the 
while  (to  use  the  inimitable  language  of  Mr. 
Randolph),  "with  native  dignity  and  unpre- 
tending grace."     He  was  supremely  fitted  for 
high  judicial  station:— a  solid  judgment,  great 
rea.soning  powers,  acute  and  penetrating  'mind  : 
with  manners  and  habits  to  suit  the  purity  and 
the  -n.ncityof  the  ermine  .--attentive,  patient, 
laborious:    grave  on  the  bench,  .social  in  the 
intcrcour.se  of  life:  simple  in  his  tastes,  and  in- 
exorably just.     Seen  by  a  stranger  come  into  a 
room,  and  he  would  be  taken  for  a  modest  coun- 
try gentleman,  without  claims  to  attention,  and 
ready  to  take  the  lowest  place  in  company,  or 
at  fable,  and  to  act  his  part  without  trouble  to 
any  body.     Spoken  to,  and  closely  observed,  he 
would  be  seen  to  be  a  gentleman  of  finis'hed 
breeding,  of  winning  and  prepossessing  talk,  and 
just  as  much  mind  as  the  occasion  required 
him  to  show.    Coming  to  man's  estate  at  the 
beginning  of  the  revolution  he  followed  the  cur- 
rent into  which  so  many  young  men,  destined 
to  become  eminent.   =0  ardently  entered;  and 
served  in  the  army,  and  with  notice  and  obser- 
vation, under  the  eyes  of  Washington.    Elected 
to  Congress  at  an  early  age  he  served  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  in  the  time  of  the 
eider  Mr.  Adams,  and  found  in  one  of  the  pro- 
minent questions  of  the  day  a  subject  entirely 
fitted  to  his  acute  and  logical  turn  of  mind— the 
case  of  the  famous  Jonathan  Robbins,  claiming 
to  be  an  American  citizen,  reclaimed  by  the 
British  government  as  a  deserter,  delivered  up, 
and  hanged  at  the  yard-arm  of  an  English  man- 
of-war.    Party  spirit  took  up  the  case,  and  it 
was  one  to  inflame  that  spirit.    Mr.  Marshall 
spoke  in  defence  of  the  administration,   and 
made  the  master  speech  of  the  day,  when  there 
were   such  master  speakers    in   Congress    as 
JIadison,  Gallatin,  William  B.  Giles,  Edward 
Kingston,  John  E.indolpL    It  wsvs  a  judicial 
object,  adapted  to  the  legal  mind  of  Mr.  Mar- 
fan, requiring  a  legal  pleading:  and  well  did 
he  plead  it.    Mr.  Randolph  has  often  been  heard 


681 

to  say  that  it  distanced  competition— leaving  all 
associates  and  opponents  far  behind,  and  carry- 
ing the  case.    Seldom  has  one  si)eech  brought 
so  much  fame,  and  high  appointment  to  any  one 
man.     When  he  had  delivered  it  his  reputation 
was   in   the  zenith:    in   less   than  nine   brief 
months  thereafter  he  was  Secretary  at  War 
Secretary  of  State,  Minister  to  Fnince,  and  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States.    Politically,  ho  classed  with  the  federal 
party,  and  was  one  of  those  high-minded  and 
pati-iotic  men  of   that  jiarty,  who,  acting   on 
principle,  commanded  the  respect  of  those  even 
who  deemed  them  wrong. 


CHAPTER    CL. 

BEATH  OF  COT.   BURE,  TIIIKD  VICE-PRESIDEKT 
OF  TUE  UNITED  STATES. 


He  was  one  of  the  few  who,  entering  the  war 
of  independence  with  ardor  and  brilliant  pros- 
pects,  disappointed   the  expectations   he  had 
created,  dishonored  the  cause  he  had  espoused, 
and  ended  in  shame  the  career  which  he  had 
opened  with  splendor.     He  was  in  the  adven- 
turous expedition  of  Arnold  through  the  wilder- 
ness to  Quebec,  went  ahead  in  the  di.sguise  of 
a  priest  to  give  intelligence  of  the  approach  of 
aid    to   General    I\Iontgomery,   arrived   safely 
through  many  dangers,  captivated  the  General 
by  the  courage  and  address  which  he  had  shown 
was  received  by  him  into  his  military  family  ; 
and  was  at  his  side  wheu  he  was  killed.     Re- 
turning to  the   seat  of  war  in  the  Northern 
States  he  was  invited  by  Washington,  captiva- 
ted like  Jlontgomery  by  the  soldierly  and  intel- 
lectual qualities  he  had  shown,  to  his  head- 
quarters, with  a  view  to  placing  him  on  his 
staff;  but  he  soon  perceived  that  tho  brilliant 
young  man  lacked  principle;  and  quietly  got 
rid  of  him.     The  after  part  of  his  life  ^\as  such 
as  to  justify  the  opinion  which  Washington  had 
formed  of  him;  but  such  was  his  address  and 
talent  as  to  rise  to  high  political  distinction- 
Attorney   General    of  New- York,   Senator  in 
Congress,  and  Vice-President  of   the   United 
States.    At  the  close  of  the  presidential  election 
of  1800,  he  stood  equal  with  Mr.  Jefferson  in 
the  vote  which  he  rea-ived,  and  his  undoubted 


Ufl 


682 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


successor  at  the  end  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  term. 
But  there  his  honors  came  to  a  stand,  and  took 
a  downward  turn,  nor  ceased  descending  until 
he  was  landed  in  the  abyss  of  shame,  misery, 
and  desolation.  lie  intrigued  with  the  federal- 
ists to  supplant  Mr.  Joffer".on — to  get  the  place 
of  President,  for  which  he  had  not  received  a 
single  vote — was  suspected,  detected,  baffled — 
lost  the  respect  of  his  party,  and  was  thrown 
upon  orimcs  to  recover  a  position,  or  to  avenge 
his  losses.  The  treasonable  attempt  in  the 
West,  and  the  killing  of  (Jeueral  Hamilton, 
ended  his  career  in  the  United  States.  But 
although  ho  had  deceived  the  masses,  and 
reached  the  second  office  of  the  government, 
with  the  certainty  of  attaining  the  first  if  he 
only  remained  still,  yet  there  were  some  close 
observers  whom  he  never  deceived.  The  early 
mistrust  of  Washington  has  been  mentioned : 
it  became  stronger  as  Burr  mounted  higher  in 
the  public  favor  ;  and  in  1794,  when  a  senator 
in  Congress,  and  when  the  republican  party  had 
taken  him  for  their  choice  for  the  French  mission 
in  the  place  of  Mr.  Monroe  recalled,  and  had 
sent  a  committee  of  which  Mr.  Madison  was 
chief  to  ask  his  nomination  from  Washington, 
that  wise  and  virtuous  man  peremptorily  re- 
fused it,  giving  as  a  categorical  reason,  that  his 
rule  was  invariable,  never  to  appoint  an  im- 
moral man  to  any  office.  Mr.  Jefterson  had  the 
same  ill  opinion  of  him,  and,  notwithstanding  his 
party  zeal,  always  considered  him  in  market 
when  the  federalists  had  any  high  office  to 
bestow.  But  General  Hamilton  was  most 
thoroughly  imbued  with  a  sense  of  his  un- 
worthiness,  and  deemed  it  due  to  his  country  to 
balk  his  election  over  Jefferson;  and  did  so. 
His  letters  to  the  federal  members  of  Congress 
painted  Burr  in  his  true  character,  and  dashed 
far  from  his  grasp,  and  for  ever,  the  gilded  prize 
his  hand  was  touching.  For  that  frustration 
of  his  hopes,  four  years  afterwards,  he  killed 
Hamilton  in  a  duel,  having  on  the  part  of  Burr 
the  spirit  of  an  assassination — cold-blooded,  cal- 
culated, revengeful,  and  falsely-pretexted.  He 
alleged  some  trivial  and  recent  matter  for  the 
challenge,  such  as  would  not  justify  it  in  any  code 
of  honor;  and  went  to  the  ground  to  kill  upon 
an  old  grudge  which  he  was  ashamed  to  avow. 
Hard  was  the  fat-o  of  Hamilton — losing  his  life 
at  the  early  ago  of  fortj-two  for  having  done 
justice  to  his  country  in  the  person  of  the  man 


to  whom  he  stood  most  politically  opposed  and 
the  chief  of  the  party  by  which  he  Ind  been 
constrained  to  retire  from  the  scene  of  public 
life  at  the  age  of  thirty-four — the  age  at  which 
most  others  begin  it— he  having  accomplished 
gigantic  works.  He  was  the  man  most  eminently 
and  variously  endowed  of  all  the  eminent  men 
of  his  day — at  once  soldier  and  statesman,  with  a 
head  to  conceive,  and  a  hand  to  execute :  a  writer 
an  orator,  a  jurist:  an  organizing  mind,  able  to 
grasp  the  greatest  system  ;  and  administrative 
to  execute  the  smallest  details :  wholly  turned 
to  the  practical  business  of  life,  and  with  a  c:^- 
pacity  for  application  and  production  which 
teemed  with  gigantic  labors,  each  worthy  to  be 
the  sole  product  of  a  smgle  master  intellect ;  but 
lavished  in  litters  from  the  ever  teeming  fecun- 
dity of  his  prolific  genuis.  Hard  his  fivte,  when, 
withdrawing  from  public  hfe  at  the  age  of 
thirty-four,  ho  felt  himself  constrained  to  appeal 
to  posterity  for  that  justice  which  contempo- 
raries withheld  from  him.  And  the  appeal  was 
not  in  vain.  Statues  rise  to  his  memory :  his- 
tory embalms  his  name:  posterity  will  do  jus- 
tice to  the  man  who  at  the  age  of  twenty  was 
"the  principal  and  most  confidential  aid  of 
Washington,"  who  retained  the  love  and  confi- 
deme  of  the  Father  of  his  countrj"^  to  the  last; 
and  to  whom  honorable  ooponents,  while  op- 
posing his  systems  of  policy,  accorded  honor, 
and  patriotism,  and  social  affections,  and  tran- 
scendental abilities. — This  chapter  was  com- 
menced to  write  a  notice  of  the  character  of 
Colonel  Burr;  but  that  subject  will  not  re- 
main under  the  pen.  At  the  appearance  of 
that  name,  the  spirit  of  Hamilton  starts  up  to 
rebuke  the  intrusion — to  drive  back  the  foul 
apparition  to  its  gloomy  abode — and  to  conccn- 
ti'ate  all  generous  feeling  on  itself. 


CHAPTER    CLI. 

DEATH  OF  WILLIAM  B.  GILES,  OF  VIEGINIA. 

He  also  died  under  the  presidency  of  General 
Jackson.  He  was  one  of  the  eminent  public 
men  coming  upon  the  stage  of  action  with  the 
establishment  of  the  new  constitution — with 
the  change  from  a  League  to  a  Union ;  fi'om  the 
confederation  to  the  unity  of  the  States— and 


AN.^  0  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


683 


was  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  in  the  early 
annals  of  our  Congress.    He  had  that  kind  of 
speaking  talent  which  is  most  effective  in  legis- 
lative bodies,  and  which  is  so  different  from 
set-speaking.     He  was  a  debater;  and  Was  con- 
sidered by  Mr.  Randolph  to  be,  in  our  House  of 
Representatives,  what  Charles  Fox  was  admit- 
ted to  be  in  the  British  House  of  Commons : 
the  most  accomplished  debater  which  his  coun- 
try had  ever  seen.    But  their  acquired  advan- 
tages were  very  different,  and  their  schools  of 
practice  very  opposite.     Mr.  Fox  perfected  him- 
self in  the  House,  speaking  on  every  subject ; 
Mr.  Giles  out  of  the  House,  talking  to  every 
body.    Mr.  Fox,  a  ripe  scholar,  addicted  to  hter- 
ature,  and  imbued  with  all  the  learning  of  all 
the  classics  in  all  time ;  Mr.  Giles  neither  read 
nor  studied,  but  talked  incessantly  with  able 
men,  rather  debating  with  them  all  the  while  : 
and  drew  from  this  source  of  information,  and 
from  the  ready  powers  of  his  mind,  the  ample 
means  of  speaking  on  every  subject  with  the 
fulness  which  the  occasion  required,  the  quick- 
ness which  confounds  an  adversary,  and  the 
effect  which  a  lick  in  time  always  produces. 
He  had  the  kind  of  talent  which  was  necessary 
to  complete  the  circle  of  all  sorts  of  ability 
ivhich  sustained  the  administration  of  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson.    Macon  was  wise,  Randolph  brilliant, 
Gallatin  and  Madison  able  in  argument;  but 
Giles  was  the  ready  champion,  always  ripe  for 
the  combat— always  furnished  with  the  ready 
change  to  meet  every  bill.     He  was  long  a 
mtober  of  the  House ;  then  senator,  and  gov- 
ernor ;  and  died  at  an  advanced  age,  like  Patrick 
Henry,  without  doing  justice  to  his  genius  in 
the  transmission  of  his  labors  to  posterity ;  be- 
cause, like  Henry,  he  had  been  deficient  in  edu- 
cation and  in  reading.     He  was  the  intimate 
friend  of  all  the  eminent  men  of  his  day,  which 
sufficiently  bespeaks  him  a  gentleman  of  manners 
aad  heart,  as  well  as  a  statesman  of  head  and 
tongue. 


CHAPTER    CLII. 

PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION  OF  1836. 

5Ir.  Van  Buren  was  the  candidate  of  the  demo- 
cratic party ;  General  Harrison  the  candidate  of 


the  opposition;  and  Mr.  Hugh  L.  White  that  of 
a  fragment  of  the  democracy.    Mr.  Van  Buren 
was  elected,  receiving  one  hundred  and  seventy 
electoral  votes,  to  seventy-three  given  to  Gene- 
ral Harrison,  and  twenty-six  given  to  Mr.  "White. 
The  States  voting  for  each,  were:— Mr.  Van 
Buren :  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Rhode  Island, 
Connecticut,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,' 
North  Carolina,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  Illinois' 
Alabama,  Missouri,  Michigan,  Arkansas.     For 
General  Harrison :  Vermont,  New  Jersey,  Dela- 
ware, Maryland,  Kentucky,  Ohio,  Indiana.    For 
Mr.  White :  Georgia  and  Tennessee.    Massachu- 
setts complimented  Mr.  Webster  by  bestowing 
her  fourteen  votes  upon  him ;  and  South  Caro- 
lina, as  in  the  two  preceding  elections,  threw 
her  vote  away  upon  a  citizen  not  a  candidate, 
and  not  a  child  of  her  soil— Mr.  Mangum  of 
North  Carolina— disappointing  the  expectations 
of  Mr.  White's  friends,  whose  standing  for  the 
presidency  had  been  instigated  by  Mr.  Calhoun,  to 
divide  the  democratic  party  and  defeat  Mr.  Van 
Buren.    Colonel  Richard  M.  Johnson,  of  Ken- 
tucky, was  the  democratic  candidate  for  the  vice- 
presidency,  and  received  one  hundred  and  forty- 
seven  votes,  which,  not  being  a  majority  of  the 
whole  number  of  votes  given,  the  election  was 
referred  to  the  Senate,  to  choose  between  the 
two  highest  on  the  list ;   and  that  body  being 
largely  democratic,  he  was  duly  elected :  receiv- 
ing thirty-three   out  of  forty-nine   senatorial 
votes.    The  rest  of  the  vice-presidential  vote,  in 
the  electoral  colleges,  had  been  between  Mr. 
Francis  Granger,  of  New  York,  who  received 
seventy-seven  votes  ;  Mr,  John  Tyler,  of  Virgi- 
nia, who  received  forty-seven ;  and  Mr.  William 
Smith,  of  South  Carolina,  complimented  by  Vir- 
ginia with  her  twenty-three  votes.    Mr.  Gran- 
ger, being  the  next  highest  on  the  list,  after 
Colonel  Johnson,  was  voted  for  as  one  of  the  two 
referred  to  the  Senate;  and  received  sixteen 
votes.    A  list  of  the  senators  voting  for  each 
will  show  the  strength  of  the  respective  parties 
in  the  Senate,  at  the  approaching  end  of  Presi- 
dent Jackson's  administration ;  and  how  signally 
all  the  efforts  intended  to  overthrow  him  had 
ended  in  the  discomfiture  of  their  authors,  and 
converted  an  absolute  majority  of  the  whole 
Senate  into  a  meagre  minority  of  one  third. 
The  votes  for  Colonel  Johnson  were :  Mr.  Ben- 
ton of  Missouri ;  Mr.  Black  of  Mississippi ;  Mr. 
Bedford  Brown  of  North  Carolina  j  Mr.  BuchaU' 


,!^: 


!'^     ii 


!5i    ii 


684 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


'-><'  . 


■?-->^,n. 


'*.!^,;:* 


an  of  Pennsylvania;  Mr.  Cuthbert  of  Georgia; 
Mr.  Dnna  of  Maine;  Mr.  Ewing  of  Illinois;  Mr. 
Fulton  of  Arkansas ;  Mr.  Grundy  of  Tennessee ; 
Mr.  Hendricks  of  Indiana;  Mr.  Hubbard  of 
Maine ;  Mr.  William  Kufus  King  of  Alabama ; 
Mr.  John  P.  King  of  Georgia ;  ]\Ir.  Louis  F. 
Linn  of  Missouri ;  Mr.  Lucius  Lyon  of  Michi- 
gan ;  Mr.  McKcan  of  Pennsylvania ;  Mr.  Gabriel 
iMoore  of  Alabama ;  Mr.  Morris  of  Ohio ;  Mr. 
Alexander  Mouton  of  Louisiana;  Mr.  Wilson 
C.  Nicholas  of  Louisiana;  Mr.  Niles  of  Connec- 
ticut ;  Mr.  John  Norvell  of  Michican  ;  Mr.  John 
Page  of  New  Hampshire  ;  Mr.  Richard  E.  Par- 
ker of  Virginia ;  Mr.  Rives  of  Virginia ;  Mr. 
John  M.  Robinson  of  Illinois ;  Mr.  Ruggles  of 
Maine  ;  Mr.  Ambrose  11.  Sevier  of  Arkansas ; 
Mr.  Peleg  Sprague  of  Maine ;  Mr.  Robert  Strange 
of  North  Carolina ;  Mr.  Nathaniel  P.  Talmadge 
of  New  York  ;  Mr.  Tipton  of  Indiana ;  Mr.  Ro- 
bert J.  Walker  of  Mississippi ;  Mr.  Silas  Wright 
of  New  York.  Those  voting  for  Mr.  Francis 
Granger  were :  Mr.  Richard  II.  Bayard  of  Dela- 
ware ;  Mr.  Clay ;  Mr.  John  M.  Clayton  of  Dela- 
ware ;  Mr.  John  Crittenden  of  Kentucky ;  Mr. 
John  Davis  of  Massachusetts ;  Mr.  Thomas 
Ewing  of  Ohio ;  Mr.  Kent  of  Maryland ;  Mr. 
Nehemiah  Knight  of  Rhode  Island ;  Mr.  Pren- 
tiss of  Vermont ;  Mr.  Asher  Robbins  of  Rhode 
Island ;  Mr.  Samuel  L.  Southard  of  New  Jer- 
sey; Mr.  John  S.  Spence  of  Maryland;  Mr. 
Swift  of  Vermont ;  Mr.  Gideon  Tomlinson  of 
Connecticut ;  Mr.  Wall  of  New  Jersey ;  Mr. 
Webster.  South  Carolina  did  not  vote,  neither 
in  the  person  of  Mr.  Calhoun  nor  in  that  of  his 
colleague,  Mr.  Preston ;  an  omission  which  could 
not  be  attributed  to  absence  or  accident,  as  both 
were  present ;  nor  fail  to  be  remarked  and  con- 
tiidered  ominous  in  the  then  temper  of  the  State, 
and  her  refusal  to  vote  in  the  tluee  preceding 
presidential  electioniS. 


CHAPTER    CLIII. 

LAST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE  OF  PRESIDENT  JACKSON. 

At  the  opening  of  the  second  Session  of  the 
twenty-fourth  Congress,  President  Jackson  de- 
livered his  last  Annual  Message,  and  under  cir- 
cumstances to  be  grateful  to  his  heart.  The 
powerful  opposition  in  Congress  had  been  broken 


down,  and  he  saw  full  majorities  of  ardent  and 
tried  friends  in  each  House.  We  were  in  peace 
and  friendship  with  all  the  world,  and  all  excit- 
ing questions  quieted  at  home.  Industry  in  all 
its  branches  was  prosperous.  The  revenue  was 
abundant — too  much  so.  The  people  Averc  hap- 
py. His  message,  of  course,  was  first  a  recapitu- 
lation of  this  auspici6u8  state  of  things,  at  homo 
and  abroad ;  and  then  a  reference  to  the  ques- 
tions of  domestic  interest  and  policy  which  re- 
quired attention,  and  might  call  for  action.  At 
the  head  of  these  measures  stood  the  deposit 
act  of  the  last  session — the  act  which  imder  the 
insidious  and  fabulous  title  of  a  deposit  of  a 
surplus  of  revenue  with  the  States— made  au 
actual  distribution  of  that  surplus ;  and  was  in- 
tended by  its  contrivers  to  do  so.  His  notice 
of  this  measure  went  to  two  points — his  own 
regrets  for  having  signed  the  act,  and  his  mis- 
givings in  relation  to  its  future  observation.  He 
said : 

"The  consequences  apprehended,  when  the 
deposit  act  of  the  last  session  received  a  re- 
luctant approval,  have  been  measurably  realized. 
Though  an  act  merely  for  the  deposit  of  the 
surplus  moneys  of  the  United  States  in  the 
State  Treasuries,  for  safe  keeping,  luitil  they 
may  be  wanted  for  the  service  of  the  general 
government,  it  has  been  extensively  spoken  of 
as  an  act  to  give  the  money  to  the  several  States; 
and  they  have  been  advised  to  use  it  as  a  gift, 
without  regard  to  the  means  of  refunding  it 
when  called  for.  Such  a  suggestion  has  doubt- 
less been  made  wit  hout  a  due  consideration  of 
the  obligation  of  the  deposit  act,  and  without 
a  proper  attention  to  the  various  principles 
and  interests  which  are  affected  by  it.  It  is 
manifest  that  the  law  itself  cannot  sanction  such 
a  suggestion,  and  that,  as  it  now  stands,  the 
States  have  no  more  authority  to  receive  and 
use  these  deposits  without  intending  to  returu 
them,  than  any  deposit  bank,  or  any  individuiil 
temi)orarily  charged  with  the  safe-keeping  or 
application  of  the  public  money,  would  now 
have  for  converting  the  same  to  their  private 
use,  without  the  consent  and  against  the  will  of 
the  government.  But,  independently  of  the 
violation  of  public  faith  and  moral  obligation 
which  are  involved  in  this  suggestion,  when 
examined  in  reference  to  the  terms  of  the  pit- 
sent  deposit  act,  it  is  believed  that  the  con- 
siderations which  should  govern  the  future 
legislation  of  Congress  on  this  subject,  will  he 
cquai.y  conclusive  against  the  adoption  of  auy 
measure  recognizing  the  princinles  on  which 
the  suggestion  has  been  made." 

Tliis  misgivmg  was  well  founded.  Before  th? 


t; 


t 


majorities  of  ardent  and 
)iise.  We  were  in  peace 
the  world,  and  all  excit- 
t  home.  Industry  in  all 
rous.  The  revcmie  was 
I.  The  people  were  hap- 
irse,  was  first  a  recapitu- 
I  state  of  things,  at  homo 
a,  reference  to  the  qucs- 
est  and  policy  which  re- 
light call  for  action.  At 
sures  stood  the  deport 
-the  act  whicli  under  the 
title  of  a  deposit  of  a 
h  the  States — made  au 
lat  surplus ;  and  was  in- 
's  to  do  so.  His  notice 
to  two  points — his  own 
2d  the  act,  and  his  mis- 
3  future  observation.  He 


apprehended,  when  the 
t  session  received  a  rc- 
icen  measurably  realized. 

for  the  deposit  of  tlio 
e  United  State:-  in  the 
safe  keeping,  until  tliey 

service  of  the  general 
;n  extensively  spo];en  of 
ley  to  the  several  States; 
[vised  to  use  it  as  a  gift, 

means  of  refunding  it 
a  suggestion  has  doubt- 
it  a  due  consideration  of 
leposit  act,  and  without 
)  the  various  principles 
re  affected  by  it.  It  is 
self  cannot  sanction  sucii 
,,  as  it  now  stands,  the 
luthority  to  receive  and 
out  intending  to  return 

bank,  or  any  individual  -.  , 
ith  the  safe-keeping  or  |ti 
)lic  money,  would  now 
1  same  to  their  private 
t  and  against  the  will  of 
;,  independently  of  the 
h  and  moral  obligation 

this  suggestion,  when 
to  the  terms  of  the  pre- 

believed  that  the  con- 
luld  govern  the  future 
ou  this  sul^ject,  will  he 
nst  the  adoption  of  any 
le  principles  on  which 
1  made." 

rell  founded.  Before  the 


ANNO  183fi.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


session  was  over  there  was  actually  a  motion  to 
release  the  States  from  their  obligation  to  re- 
store the  money— to  lay  which  motion  on  the 
table  there  were  seventy-three  resisting  votes— 
an  astonishing  number  in  itself,  and  tiio  more 
so  as  given  by  the  same  members,  sitting  in  the 
same  seats,  who  had  voted  for  the  act  Is  a  de- 
posit a  kw  months  before.     Such  a  vote  was 
omuious  of  the  fate  of  the  money ;  and  that 
fate  was  not  long  d-Iaycd.    Akin  to  this  mea- 
sure, and  in  fact  the  parent  of  which  it  was  the 
bastard  progeny,  was  distribution  itself,  under 
its  own  proper  name ;  and  which  it  was  evident 
was  soon  to  be  openly  attempted,  encouraged 
as  Its  advocates  were  by  the  success  gained  in 
the  deposit  act.     The  President,  with  his  char- 
acteristic frankness  and  firmness,  impugned  that 
policy  in  advance ;  and  deprecated  its  effects  un- 
der every  aspect  of  public  and  private  justice 
and  of  every  consideration  of  a  wise  or  Just 
policy.    He  said: 

tnZ^TJtnf  ''''''T''  "'"''^^y  ^°''  distribution 
to  the  States,  would  seem  to  be  highly  impolitic 

.no  as  daugerousasthepropositionto  regain  it 
in  the  Treasury.     The  shortest  retiection  must 
satisfy  every  one  that  to  require  the  people  to 
pay  Uixes  to  the  government  merely  that  thev 
may  be  paid  back  again,  is  sporting  with  the 
substantia    interests  of  the  country,   and  no 
ystem  which  produces  such  a  result  can  be  ' 
expected   to  receive   the    public    countenance! 
^ut  ling  could  be  gained  by  it,  even  if  each  in- 
dividual who  contributed  a  portion  of  the  tax 
m    receive  back  promptly  ^the  same  portion 
liutit  IS  apparent  that  no  system  of  the  kind 
m  ever  be  enforced,  which  will  not  absorb  a 
onsiderable  portion  of  the  money,  to  be  distri- 
buted in  sa  aries  and  commissions  to  the  ao-ents 
I'Bployed  in   the  process,  and  in  the  vSs 
o«es  and  depreciations  which  arise  from  other 
rauses ;  and  the  practical  effect  of  such  an  at- 
tempt must  ever  be  to  burden  the  people  with 
t^st*,,    i   '^  P  «'P°'^/  beneficial  to  them,  but 

ution  to  the  people  is  impracticable  and  unjust 

pother  respects.  It  would  be  taking  one  rnS 

rope.,^.  and  giving  it  to  another.     Such  would 

the  unavoidable  result  of  a  rule  of  equalitv 

n   none  other  is  spoken  of,  or  would  STy 

tobadopted),  inasmuch  as  there  is  no  mode  by 

ch   he  amount  of  the  individual  contribu- 

^  ascei  ained.  We  know  that  they  contribute 
SE'/^'h  ""^  '  rule  therefore  tha{  would  di! 
J  olyect,ons  which  apply  to  the  principle  of 

reJalLv""'""  5  P'-?Perty.  To  make  the 
general  government  the  instrument  of  carrying 


C85 


this  odious  principle  into  effect,  would  be  at 
once  to  destroy  the  means  of  its  usefulness,  and 
change  the  character  designed  for  it  by  the 
fralners  of  the  constitution." 

There  was  another  consideration  connected 
with  this  policy  of  distribution  which  the  Pro- 
sident  did  not  name,  and  could  not,  in  the  deco- 
rum and  reserve  of  an  official  communication  to 
Congress :  it  was  the  intended  effect  of  these 
distributions— to  debauch  the  people  with  their 
own  money,  and  to  gain  presidential  votes  by 
lavishing  upon  them  the  spoils  of  their  counfy. 
To  the  honor  of  the  people  this  intended  .ilect 
never  occurred;  no  one  of  those  contriving  these 
distributions  ever  reaching  the  high  object  of 
their  ambition.  Instead  of  distribution— instead 
of  raising  money  from  the  people  to  be  returned 
to  the  people,  with  all  the  deductions  which  the 
double  operation    of  collecting   and    dividing 
would  incur,  and  with  the  losses  which  unfaith- 
ful agents  might  inflict— instead  of  thr.t  idle 
and  wasteful  process,  which  would  have  been 
childish  if  it  had  not  been  vicious,  he  recom- 
mended a  reduction  of  taxes  on  the  comforts 
and  necessaries  of  life,  and  the  levy  of  no  more 
money  than  was  necessary  for  the  economical 
administration  of  the  government;  and  said: 

"  In  reducing  the  revenue  to  the  wants  of  the 
government,  your  particular  attention  is  invited 
?  rp^^'^ai^'^l'^^  which  constitute  the  necessaries 
ot  lite.  Ihe  duty  on  salt  was  laid  as  a  war  tax 
and  was  no  doubt  continued  to  assist  in  provid- 
ing lor  the  payment  of  the  war  debt.    There  is 

!Ln^'-!'K^*^  '■*^'^'''*'  °^  ^^''"^^  f^o"^  taxation 
would  be  felt  so  generally  and  so  beneficially. 
To  this  may  be  added  all  kinds  of  fuel  and  pro- 
visions. Justice  and  benevolence  unite  in  favor 
ot  releasing  the  poor  of  our  cities  from  burdens 
which  pre  not  necessary  to  the  support  of  our 
government,  and  tend  only  to  increase  the 
wants  of  the  destitute." 

The  issuance  of  the  "Treasury  Circular" 
naturally  claimed  a  place  in  the  President's 
message  ;  and  received  it.  The  President  gave 
his  reason  for  the  measure  in  the  necessity  of 
saving  the  public  domain  from  being  exchanged 
for  bank  paper  money,  which  was  not  wanted 
and  might  be  of  little  value  or  use  when  want- 
ed ;  and  expressed  himself  thus : 

"  The  effects  of  an  extension  of  bank  credits 
and  over-issues  of  bank  paper,  have  been  striki 
wigly  illustrated  in  the  sales  of  the  public  lands. 
*rom  the  returns  made  by  the  various  registers 
and  receivers  in  the  early  part  of  last  simmer, 


I  > 


I  I 


If  ^1 


686 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


it  was  pcrcoiTod  that  the  receipts  arising  from 
the  Riilfls  of  tlio  public  landiJ,  were  increasing  to 
an  unprecedented  amount.  In  effect,  however, 
these  receipts  amounted  to  nothinir  more  than 
credits  in  bank.  Tlie  banlcK  lent  otit  their  notes 
to  speculators  ;  they  were  paid  to  the  receivers, 
and  immediately  returned  to  the  banks,  to  be 
lent  out  again  and  again ;  being  mere  instni- 
ments  to  transfer  to  speculators  the  most  valu- 
able public  land,  and  ])ay  the  government  by  a 
credit  on  the  books  of  the  banks.  Those  cre- 
dits on  tlie  books  of  some  of  the  western  banks, 
usually  called  deposits,  were  already  greatly 
beyond  their  iuunediate  means  of  payment,  and 
were  rapidly  increasing.  Indeed  eacli  specula- 
tion furnished  means  for  another ;  for  no  sooner 
had  one  individual  or  company  paid  in  the 
notes,  than  they  were  immediately  lent  to  ano- 
ther for  a  like  purpose  ;  and  the  banks  were 
extending  their  business  and  their  issues  so 
largely,  as  to  alarm  considerate  men,  and  render 
it  doubtful  whether  these  bank  credits,  if  per- 
mitted to  accumulate,  would  ultimately  be  of 
the  least  value  to  the  government.  The  spirit 
of  expansion  and  speculation  was  not  confined 
to  the  deposit  banks,  but  pervaded  the  whole 
multitude  of  banks  throughout  the  Union,  and 
was  giving  rise  to  new  institutions  to  aggravate 
the  evil.  The  safety  of  the  public  funds,  and 
the  interest  of  the  people  generally,  required 
that  these  operations  should  be  checked  ;  and  it 
became  the  duty  of  every  branch  of  the  geneml 
and  State  governments  to  adopt  all  legitimate 
and  proper  means  to  produce  that  salutary 
eftect.  Under  this  view  of  my  duty,  I  directed 
the  issuing  of  the  order  which  will  be  laid  be- 
fore you  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  re- 
quiring payment  for  the  public  lands  sold  to  be 
made  in  specie,  with  an  exception  until  the  15th 
of  the  present  month,  in  favor  of  actual  settlers. 
This  measure  has  produced  many  salutary  con- 
sequences. It  checked  the  career  of  the  Western 
banks,  and  gave  them  additional  strength  in 
anticipation  of  the  pressure  which  has  since 
pervaded  our  Eastern  as  well  as  the  European 
commercial  cities.  By  preventing  the  extension 
of  the  credit  system,  it  measurably  cut  oif  the 
means  of  speculation,  and  retarded  its  progress 
in  monopolizing  the  most  valuable  of  the  public 
lands.  It  has  tended  to  save  the  new  States 
from  a  non-resident  proprietoi'ship,  one  of  the 
greatest  obstacles  to  the  advancement  of  a  new 
country,  and  the  prosperity  of  an  old  one.  It 
has  tentled  to  keep  open  the  public  lands  for 
the  entry  of  emigrants  at  government  prices, 
instead  of  their  being  compelled  to  purchase  of 
speculators  at  double  or  treble  prices.  And  it 
is  conveying  into  the  interior  large  sums  in 
silver  and  gold,  there  to  enter  permanently  into 
the  currency  of  the  country,  and  phice  it  on  a 
firmer  foundation.  It  is  "confidently  believed 
that  the  country  will  find  in  the  luotivcs  wliich 
induced  that  order,  and  the  happy  consequences 
which  will  have  ensued,  much  to  commend  and 
nothing  to  condemn." 


The  people  were  satisfied  with  the  Treasury 
Circular;  they  saw  its  honesty  and  good  effects- 
but  the  politicians  were  not  satisfied  with  it. 
They  thought  they  saw  in  it  a  new  exercise  of 
illegal  power  in  the  President— a  new  tampering 
witl'.  the  currency— a  new  destruction  of  the 
public  pros|)erity;  and  commenced  an  attack 
upon  it  the  moment  Congress  met,  very  much 
in  the  style  of  the  attack  upon  the  order  for  tlie 
removal  of  the  deposits  ;  and  with  fresh  hopes 
from  the  resentment  of  the  "  thousand  banks " 
whose  notes  had  been  excluded,  and  from  the 
discontent  of  many  members  of  Congress  whose 
schemes  of  speculation  had  been  bidkod.  And 
notwithstanding  the  democratic  majorities  in 
the  two  Houses,  the  attack  upon  the  "Circular" 
had  a  great  success,  many  members  being  in- 
terested in  the  excluded  banks,  and  partners  in 
schemes  for  monopolizing  the  lands.  A  bill  in- 
tended to  repeal  the  Circular  was  actually 
passed  through  both  Houses ;  but  not  in  direct 
terms.  That  would  have  been  too  flagrant.  It 
was  a  bad  thing,  and  could  not  be  fairly  done, 
and  therefore  gave  rise  to  indirection  and  ambi- 
guity of  provisions,  and  complication  of  plirasos, 
and  a  multiplication  of  amphibologies,  which 
brought  the  bill  to  a  very  ridiculous  conclusion 
when  it  got  to  the  hands  of  General  Jackson. 
But  of  this  hereafter. 

The  intrusive  efforts  made  by  politicians  and 
missionaries,  first,  to  prevent  treaties  from  being 
formed  with  the  Indians  to  remove  from  tlio 
Southern  States,  and  then  to  prevent  the  re- 
moval after  the  treaties  were  made,  led  to  se- 
rious refusals  on  the  part  of  some  of  these 
tribes  to  emigrate ;  and  it  became  necessary  to 
dispatch  officers  of  high  rank  and  reputation, 
with  regular  troops,  to  keep  down  outrages  and 
induce  peaceable  removal.  Alajor  General 
Jesup  was  sent  to  the  Creek  nation,  where  he 
had  a  splendid  success  in  a  speedy  and  bloodless 
accomplishment  of  his  object.  Major  General 
Scott  was  sent  to  the  Cherokees,  where  a  perti- 
nacious resistance  was  long  encountered,  but 
eventually  and  peaceably  overcome.  The  Semi- 
nole hostilities  in  Florida  were  just  breaking 


out ;  and  the  President,  in  his 
notices  all  these  events : 


message, 


thus 


"  The  military  movements  rendered  necessary 
by  the  aggressions  of  the  hostile  portions  of  the 
Seminole  and  Creek  tribes  of  Indians,  and  by 
other  circumstances,  have  required  the  active 


I 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON.  PRESIDENT. 


687 


employment  of  nearly  our  whole  regular  force 
includinp;  the  marine  corps,  and  of  JarRc  bodies 
of  militia  and  volunteers.   With  all  these  events 
so  far  as  they  were  known  at  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment heforc  the  tcrniinationof  your  last  session 
ymi  are  already  acquainted;  and  it  is  therefore 
only  needful  in  tliis  place  to  Lay  before  you  a 
brief  summary  of  what  has  since  occurred.   1'he 
u-arwith  the  Seminoles  during  the  summer  was 
on  our  part,  chiefly  confined  to  the  protection' 
of  our  frontier  settlements  from  the  incursions 
of  the  enemy ;  and,  as  a  necessary  and  impor- 
tant means  for  the  accomplishment  of  that  end 
to  the  maintenance  of  the  posts  previously  es- 
tablislied.     in  the  course  of  this  duty  several 
actions  took  i)lace,  in  wiiich  the  bravery  and 
discipline  of  both  officers  and  men  were  con- 
spicuously displayed,  and  which  I  have  deemed 
it  proper  to  notice  in  respect  to  the  foi'mer  by 
the  granting  of  brevet  rank  for  gallant  serv'ices 
in  tile  field.     But  as  the  force  of  the  Indians 
n-as  not  so  far  weakened  by  these  partial  suc- 
cesses as  to  lead  them  to  submit,  and  as  their 
>aviioe  inroads  were  frequently  repeated,  early 
liieasures  were  taken  for  placing  at  the  disposal 
lit'  Governor  Call,  who,  as  commander-in-chief 
of  the  territorial  militia,  had  been  temporarily 
invested  with  the  command,  an  ample  force,  for 
the  purpose  of  resuming  oflensive  operations  in 
the  most  etlicient  manner,  so  soon  an  the  season 
should  permit.     Major  General  Jesup  was  also 
directed,  on  the  conclusion  of  Ids  duties  in  the 
L'leek  country,  to  repair  to  Florida,  and  assume 
the  command.     Happily  for  the  interests  of 
iiuinanity,  the  h.ostilities  with  the  Creeks  were 
hiuught  to  a  .:lose  soon  after  your  adjournment 
without  that  elfusion  of  blood,  which  at  one  time 
n-as  apprehended  as  inevitable.     The  uncondi- 
tional submission  of  the  hostile  party  was  fol- 
luwed  by  their  speedy  removal  to  the  country 
L-sigued  them  west  of  the  Mississippi.    The  iu- 


and  all  its  subscribers  except  the  TJnited  States, 
tv»  a  new  corporation,  under  the  same  name' 
created  by  nproviso  to  a  road  bill  in  the  General 
Assembly  of  Pennsylvania,  obtained  by  bribery, 
as  subsequent  legislative  investigation  proved.' 
This  transfer,  or  transmigration,   was  a  new 
and  most  amazing  procedure.     The  meteinpsy- 
chosis  of  a  bank  was  a  novelty  which  confound- 
ed and  astounded  the  senses,  and  set  the  wits 
of  Congress  to  work  to  find  out  how  it  could 
legally  be  done.     The  President,  though  a  good 
lawyer  and  judge  of  law,  did  not  trouble  him- 
self with  legal  subtleties  and  disquisitions.     He 
took  the  broad,  moral,  practical,  business  view  of 
the  question ;  and  pronounced  it  to  be  dishonest, 
unlawful,  and  irresponsible ;  and  recommended 
to  Congress  to  look  after  its  stock.     The  mes- 
sage said : 


assio 


quiry  as  to  the  alleged  frauds  in  the  purchase 
of  the  reservations  of  these  Indians,  and  the 
causes  of  their  hostilities,  requested  by  the  re- 
M)lution  of  the  House  of  Kepresentatives  of  the 
l»t  of  July  last  to  be  made  by  the  President,  is 
noiv  going  on.  tlirough  the  agency  of  commis- 
sioners appointed  for  that  purpose.  Their  report 
may  be  expected  during  your  present  session. 
lac  cifficulties  apprehended  in  the  Clierokee 
country  have  been  prevented,  and  the  peace  and 
safety  of  that  region  and  its  vicinity  eliectually 
secured,  by  the  timely  measures  taken  by  the 
»ar  department,  and  still  continued." 

The  Bank  of  the  United  States  was  destined 
*o  receive  another,  and  a  parting  notice  from 
General  Jackson,  and  greatly  to  its  further  dis- 
credit, brought  upon  it  by  its  own  lawless  and 
aishonest  course.  Its  charter  had  expired,  and 
't  had  delayed  to  refund  the  stock  paid  for  by 
»e  United  States,  or  to  pay  the  back  dividend; 
>nd  had  transferred  itself  with  all  its  effects 


The  conduct  and  present  condition  of  that 
bank,  and  the  great  amount  of  capital  vested  in 
It  by  the  Lnited  States,  require  your  careful  at- 

fi»r"'i. .       ^''''''^^'"  expired  on  the  third  day 
ot  March  liust,  and  it  has  now  no  power  but  that 
given  m  the  2l8t  section,  'to  use  the  corporate 
name,  style,  and  capacity,  for  the  pun.ose  of 
suits,  for  the  final  settlement  and  liquidation  of 
the  affairs  and  accounts  of  the  corporation,  and 
tor  the  .sale  and  disposition  of  their  estate  real 
personal,  and  mixed,  and  not  for  any  other  purl 
pose,  or  m  any  other  manner  whatsoever  nor  for 
a  iieriod  exceeding  two  years  after  the  expira- 
tion of  the  said  term  of  incorporation.'    Eefore 
the  expiration  of  the  charter,  the  stockholders 
01  the  bank  obtained  an  act  of  incorporation 
from  the  legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  excludin"- 
only  the  United  States.    Instead  of  proceeding 
to  wind  up  their  concerns,  and  pay  over  to  the 
United  States  the  amount  due  on  account  of  the 

^^J'lx:     Y}  ?^  ^^''™'  *^^  president  and  directors 
ot  the  old  bank  appear  to  have  transferred  the 
books,  papers,  notes,  obligations,  and  most  or  all 
ot  Its  property,  to  this  new  corporation,  which 
entered  upon  busint;ss  as  a  continuation  of  the 
0(1  concern.     A  mongst  other  acts  of  questiona- 
ble validity,  the  notes  of  the  expired  corporation 
are  known  to  have  been  used  as  its  own  and 
again  put  in  circulation.    That  the  old  bank 
had  no  right  to  issue  or  reissue  its  notes  after 
the  expiration  of  its  charter,  cannot  be  denied; 
and  that  it  could  not  confer  any  .such  right  on 
Its  substitute,  any  more  than  exercise  it  itself 
Ks  equally  plain.    In  law  and  honesty,  the  notes 
of  the  bank  in  circulation,  at  the  expiration  of 
Its  charter,  should  have  been  called  in  by  public 
advertisement,  paid  up  as  presented,  and    to- 
gether with  those  on  hand,  cancelled  and  de- 
stroyed.   Their  re-issue  is  sanctioned  by  no  law 
and  warranted  by  no  necessity.     If  the  United 
States  be  responsible  in  their  stock  for  the  pay- 
ment of  these  notes,  their  re-i*Bue  by  the  new 


I'*'' 


688 


THIRTY  YEAFIH'  VIEW. 


corponitioTi,  for  their  own  profit,  is  a  friuid  on 
till'  noviMiniKMit.  If  the  TTnitcd  StatcH  is  not 
rcsponsihlf,  tlicn  tluTo  ia  no  lo-ral  ri's|)onsil)ility 
in  any  (|tinrti'r.  and  it  is  a  frand  on  tlie  country. 
Tlipy  are  tlu'  n'dooniod  notes  of  a  dJHHolvcd 
partni'islii]),  Imt,  contrary  to  the  winhcH  of  the 
retirinjr  piirtiier,  and  withont  liis  consent,  are 
again  re-issued  and  circulated.  It  is  the  hi^h 
and  iieculiar  duly  of  Conpross  to  decide  wliether 
any  further  lejrislation  bu  nccessiiry  for  the  se- 
curity of  the  larpic  amount  of  public  proi)erty 
now  held  and  in  use  by  the  now  bank,  and  for 
vindicatinji;  the  rijihts  of  the  povernnient,  and 
coiupeUinp  a  speedy  and  honest  settlement  with 
all  the  creditors  of  the  old  bank,  public  and  pri- 
vate, or  whether  the  subject  shall  be  left  to  tlie 
power  now  possessed  by  the  executive  and 
judiciary.  It  remains  to  be  seen  whether  the 
persons,  who,  as  manap;erfl  of  the  old  bank,  un- 
dertook to  control  the  government,  retained  the 
public  dividends,  shut  their  doors  upon  a  com- 
mittee of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  tilled 
tlie  country  with  panic  to  accomplish  tlieir  own 
sinister  objects,  may  now,  as  manap;ers  of  a  new 
Bank, continue  with  impunity  to  Hood  the  coun- 
try wiUi  a  spurious  currency,  iise  the  seven  mil- 
lions o'"  ['overnment  stock  for  their  own  prolit, 
and  ret  'se  to  the  United  States  all  information 
as  to  tlie  present  condition  of  their  own  proper- 
ty, and  the  prospect  of  recovering  it  into  their 
own  possession.  The  lessons  taught  by  the 
bank  of  the  United  States  cainiot  well  be  lost 
upon  the  American  people.  The}"-  will  take  care 
never  again  to  phice  so  tremendous  a  power  in 
irresponsible  hands,  and  it  will  bo  fortunate  if 
they  seriously  consider  the  consequences  which 
are  likely  to  result  on  a  smaller  scale  from  the 
facility  with  which  corporate  powers  are  granted 
by  their  State  government." 

This  novel  and  amazing  attempt  of  the  bank  to 
transmigrate  into  the  body  of  another  bank  with 
all  its  eflects,  was  a  necessity  of  its  position — the 
necessity  which  draws  a  criminal  to  even  insane 
acts  to  prevent  the  detection,  exposure,  and  ruin 
from  which  gnilt  recoils  in  not  less  guilty  contriv- 
ances. The  bank  was  broken,  and  could  not  wind 
up,  and  wished  to  postpone,  or  by  chance  avert 
the  dreaded  discover}'.  It  was  in  the  position  of 
a  glass  vase,  cracked  from  top  to  bottom,  and 
ready  to  split  open  if  touched,  but  looking  as 
if  whole  while  sitting  unmoved  on  the  shelf. 
The  great  bank  was  in  this  condition,  and  there- 
fore untouchable,  and  saw  no  resource  except  in 
a  metempsychosis — a  difficidt  proceed  for  a  soul- 
less institution — and  thereby  endeavoring  to 
continue  its  life  without  a  change  of  name,  form, 
or  substance.  The  experiment  was  a  catastro- 
phe, as  might  have  been  expected  beforehand ; 
and  as  was  soon  seen  afterwards. 


The  injury  rc^sulting  to  th(>  pulilic  service 
fnim  the  long  delay  in  making  Ihc  apjjropri.v 
tions  at  the  la-st  session — delayed  while  occupied 
with  distribution  bills  until  the  season  for  lal)or 
had  well  passed  away.  On  this  ]ioint  the  nies- 
sage  said : 

"  No  time  was  lost,  after  the  makin-^  of  (ho 
requisite  aiipropriations,  in  re^;iiuiiii!r  tiie  (ireiit 
national  work  of  completing  the  untinislied  for- 
lilicatiinis  on  our  seaboard,  and  of  pliu'injr  t]\cm 
in  a  proper  state  of  defence.  In  coiiseipu'iico 
however,  of  the  very  late  day  at  wliieh  (hose 
bills  were  passed,  but  little  pnniress  eouM  bo 
made  during  the  season  wliich  has  jus(  closed. 
A  very  large  amount  of  the  moneys  praulod  at 
your  last  session  accordingly  remains  nnexpeiKl- 
ed;  but  as  the  work  will  be  agiii))  resinned  at 
tiic  earliest  moment  in  the  coniiu'.'  spring,  the 
balance  of  the  existing  appropriations,  and,  in 
several  cases  which  will  bo  laid  heforc  you,  with 
the  pro{)er  estimates,  further  sums  for  tlie  like 
objects,  may  bo  usefully  expended  during  the 
next  year." 

Here  was  one  of  tho  evils  of  dividing  the  pub- 
lic money,  and  of  factious  opposition  to  the  gov- 
ernment. Tho  session  of  1 SJM — '5  had  closed 
without  a  dollar  for  the  military  defences,  leav- 
ing half  finished  works  unfinished,  and  finished 
works  unarmed ;  and  that  in  the  presence  of  a 
threatening  collision  with  France ;  and  at  tho 
subsequent  session  of  1835-  G,  the  approjiriations 
were  not  made  until  the  month  of  July  and 
when  they  could  not  be  used  or  applied. 

Scarcely  did  the  railroad  system  begin  to 
spread  itself  along  the  highways  of  tlie  United 
States  than  the  effects  of  the  monopoly  and  ex- 
tortion incident  to  moneyed  corporations,  began 
to  manifest  itself  in  exorbitant  demands  for  the 
transportation  of  tho  mails,  and  in  cnpricious 
refusals  to  carry  them  at  all  except  on  their  own 
terms.  President  Jackson  was  not  tho  man  to 
.submit  to  an  imposition,  or  to  capitulate  to  a 
corporation.  He  brought  the  suliject  before 
Congress,  and  invited  particular  attention  to  it 
in  a  paragraph  of  his  mesfcrige ;  in  which  he 
said: 

"  Your  particular  attention  is  invited  to  the 
subject  of  mail  contracts  with  railroad  com- 
panies. The  present  laws  providing  for  the  mak- 
ing of  contracts  are  based  upon  the  presumption 
that  competition  among  bidders  will  secniv  the 
service  at  a  fair  price.  But  on  most  of  the  rail 
road  lines  there  is  no  competition  in  that  K''"*'- 
of  transportation,  and  advertising  is  therefore 
useless.  No  contract  can  now  be  made  with 
them,  except  such  as  shall  be  negotiated  before 


ANNO  1830.     ANDRKW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


to  the  pnlilic  service 
iniikinp  (lie  iii)iiro])i-in- 
-dolaycil  wliilc  ociMipicd 
itil  till'  siMison  lor  labor 
Oil  tins  point  the  nn-s- 


tor  tli(!  mnkiiTj;  of  (bo 
in  resinning  (lie  LM-oiit 
nnp;  ihv  iinlinisluMJ  I'or- 
■i\,  !Ui(l  of  placinj;  tbein 
jncc.  In  ("onst'rjiu'iico 
to  (lay  at  wbicb  Hidsq 
ttle  i)roi;Tcss  coulil  bo 
wliiob  lias  just  dosed. 
the  moneys  prantod  at 
iply  remains  inK.\])eii(l- 
1  bo  a.uain  resumed  at 
the  coniiu'j:  spriiif;,  tiie 
appropriations,  and,  in 
)e  laid  befoie  you,  with 
thcr  Hums  for  tlio  like 
'  expended  during  the 


nls  of  dividing  the  pub- 
i  opposition  to  the  gov- 
of  ISiU—T)  had  closed 
military  defences,  leav- 
mfinished,  and  finished 
at  in  the  presence  of  a 
th  France ;  and  at  tho 
5-  6,  the  approjjriations 
e  month  of  July  and 
used  or  applied, 
road  system  begin  to 
ighways  of  the  United 
'  the  monopoly  and  ex- 
>red  corporaticns,  began 
bitant  demands  for  the 
laila,  and  in  capricious 
all  excejit  on  their  own 
on  was  not  the  man  to 
,  or  to  capitulate  to  a 
lit  the  subject  before 
rticular  attention  to  it 
mestnge ;  in  which  he 


intion  is  iiivited  to  the 
ts  with  railroad  com- 
s  providing  for  the  mak- 
ilupon  the  presu.nption 
bidders  will  secure  the 
But  on  most  of  the  ra-1 
mipetition  in  tliat  kin<!  \^ 
dvertising  is  therefore 
an  now  be  made  with 
ill  bo  negotiated  before 


689 


I 


the  time  of  ofTcring  or  afterwards,  and  thopf)wcr 
f  tho  roHtmnKfer-gcneral  to  pay  them  high 
•ices  is,  practically,  without  limitation.  It 
,  oiild  be  a  relief  to  him,  and  no  doubt  would 
conduce  to  tho  public  interest,  to  prescribe  by 
law  some  eqiiitablo  basis  upon  wliich  such  con- 
tracts shall  rest,  and  restrict  liim  Ity  a  fixed  rule 
oi' allowance.  Tinder  a  liberal  tict  of  that  sort 
h<'  would  undoubtedly  be  able  to  secure  the  ser- 
vices of  most  of  the  railroad  companies,  and  the 
interest  of  tlie  Department  would  bo  thus  ad- 
vanced." 


Tho  message  rccommonded  a  friendly  super- 
vision over  tho  Indian  tribes  removed  to  tho 
West  of  tho  Jlissiasippi,  with  tho  important 
suggestion  of  preventing  intestine  war  by  mili- 
tary interference,  as  well  as  improving  their  con- 
ilition  by  all  tho  usual  means.  On  these  points 
it  said : 

•'The  national  policy,  founded  alike  in  interest 
and  in  humanity,  so  long  and  so  steadily  pun  iied 
h  this  government,  for  tho  removal  of  tho  In- 
dian tribes  originally  settled  on  this  side  of  the 
Mississippi,  to  the  west  of  that  river,  may  bo 
said  to  have  been  consummated  by  the  conclusion 
of  tho  late   treaty  with  the  Cherokees.     The 
measures  taken  in  the  execution  of  that  treaty 
and  in  relation  to  our  Indian  affairs  generally' 
will  fully  appear  by  referring  to  the  accompany- 
ing papers.     Without  dwelling  on  the  numerous 
and  important  topics  embraced  in  them,  I  again 
invite  your  attention  to  tho  importance  of  pro- 
viding a  well-digested  and  comprehensive  system 
for  the  protection,  supervision  and  improvement 
of  the  various  tribes  now  planted  in  the  Indian 
country.      The  suggestions  submitted  by  the 
oomniissioner  of  Indian  affairs,  and  enforced  by 
the  secretary,  on  this  subject,  and  also  in  regard 
to  the  establishment  of  additional  military  posts 
m  the  Indian  country,  are  entitled  to  your  pro- 
found consideration.     Both  measures  are  neces- 
sary for  the  double  purpose  of  protecting  the 
Indians  from  intestine  war,  and  in  other  respects 
complying  with  our  engagements  to  them,  and 
of  securing  our  Western  frontier  against  incur- 
sions, which  otherwise  will  assuredly  be  made 
on  it.    The  best  hopes  of  humanity,  in  regard 
to  the  aboriginal  race,  the  welfare  of  our  rapidly 
extending  settlements,  and  the  honor  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  are  all  deeply  involved  in  the  rela- 
tions existing  between  this  government  and  the 
emigrating  tribes.     I  trust,  therefore,  that  the 
various  matters  submitted  in  the  accompanying 
flocmnents,  in  respect  to  those  relations,  will  re- 
'meyour  early  and  mature  deliberation;  and 
tliat  it  may  issue  in  the  adoption  of  legislative 
iiicasiires  adapted  to  the  circumstances  and  du- 
'les  of  the  present  crisis." 


This  suggestion  of  preventing  intestine  wars 
(as  they  are  called)  in  the  bosoms  of  the  tribes, 
is  founded  equally  in  humanity  to  the  Indians 

Vol.  I.— 44 


and  <luty  to  ourselves.    Such  wars  are  nothing 
hnt  massacres,  assassinations  and  confiscations. 
'I'he  stronger  party  oppress  a  hatod,  or  feared 
minority  or  chief;  and  slay  with  impunity  (in 
some  of  the  tribes),  where  the  assumption  of  a 
form  of  govermnont,  modelled  after  that  of  tho 
white  race,  for  which   they  have  no  capacity, 
gives  the  justification  of  executions  to  what  is 
nothing  but  revenge  and  assassination.     Under 
their  own  ancient  laws,  of  blood  for  blood,  and 
for  tho  slain  to  avenge  the  wrong,  this  lialiility 
of  personal  responsibility  restrained  the  killings 
to  cases  of  public  justifiable  necessity.     Since 
the  removal  of  that  responsibility,  revenge  am- 
bition, plunder,  take  their  course:   and  the  con- 
sequence is  a  series  of  assassinations  which  have 
been  going  on  for  a  long  time ;  and  still  continue. 
To  aggravate  many  of  these  massacres,  anc'  to 
give  their  victims  a  stronger  claim  upon  the  pro- 
tection of  the  United  States,  they  are  done  upon 
those   who  are  friends  to  tho  United  States, 
ujion  accusations  of  having  betrayed  the  interest 
of  the  tribe  in  some  treaty  for  the  sale  of  lands. 
The  United  States  claim  jurisdiction  over  their 
country,  and  exercise  it  in  the  punishment  of 
some  classes  of  criminals ;  and  it  would  be  good 
to  extend  it  to  the  length  recommended  by  Pre- 
sident Jackson. 

The  message  would  have  been  incomplete 
without  a  renewal  of  tho  standing  recommenda- 
tion to  take  the  presidential  election  out  of  tho- 
hands  of  intermediate  bodies,  and  give  it  direct-- 
ly  to  the  people.    He  earnestly  urged  an  amend- 
ment to  the  constitution  to  that  effect ;  but  that 
remedy  being  of  slow,  difficult  and  doubtful  at- 
tainment, the  more  speedy  process  by  the  action . 
of  the  people  becomes  the  more  necessary.  Con- 
gressional caucuses  wore  put  down  by  the  people 
in  the  election  of  1824:  their  substitute  and  suc- 
cessor—national conventions— ruled  by  a  minor- 
ity, and  managed  by  intrigue  and  corruption, 
are  about  as  much  worse  than  a  Congress  cau- 
cus as  Congress  itself  would  be  if  the  members 
appointed,  or  contrived  the  appointment,  of  them- 
selves,  instead  of  being  elected  by  the  people. 
The  message  appropriately  concluded  with  thanks 
to  the  people  for  the  high  honors  to  which  they 
had  lifted  him,  and  their  support  under  arduou- 
circumstances,  and  said : 


•  Having  now  finished  the  observations  deem 
cd  prope-  on  this,  the  last  occasion  I  shall  have 
of  communicating  with  the  two  Houses  of  Con- 


I  '  J:  •( 


690 


TIIIIITV  YKARS'  VIMVV. 


PTTOSH  at  their  mectinp,  I  cannot  omit  an  cxpros- 
8ion  of  tlio  Rratitudo  whi(!h  is  duo  to  the  ^rreiit 
l)odyofmyfi'llou' citizens,  in  whose  jiartiality  iind 
indulgence  I  have  found  enc(iniaj,'einent  and  sup- 
port in  the  many  (Uflicult  and  trying  Hcencs 
through  which  it  has  been  my  lot  to  pass  dur- 
ing my  public  career.  Though  deeply  sensible 
that  my  exertions  have  not  been  crowned  with  a 
success  corresponding  to  the  degree  of  favor  be- 
stowed upon  me,  I  am  sure  that  they  will  be 
considered  as  having  been  directed  by  an  earnest 
desire  to  promote  the  good  of  my  country  ;  and 
I  am  consoled  by  the  persuasion  that  whatever 
errors  have  been  committed  will  find  a  conectivc 
in  the  intelligence  and  patriotism  of  those  who 
will  succeed  us.  All  that  has  occurred  during 
my  administration  is  calculated  to  inspire  me 
with  increased  confidence  in  the  stability  of  our 
institutions,  and  should  I  be  spared  to  enter  up- 
pon  that  retirement  which  is  so  suitable  to  my 
age  and  infirm  health,  and  so  much  desired  by 
mo  in  other  respects,  I  shall  not  cease  to  invoke 
that  beneficent  Being  to  whose  providence  we 
are  already  so  signally  indebted  for  the  continu- 
ance of  his  blessings  on  our  beloved  country," 


CHAPTER    CLIV. 

FINAL  EEMOVAI.  OF  THE  INDIANS. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  annual  session  of 
1830~'37,  President  Jackson  had  the  gratifica- 
tion to  make  known  to  Congress  the  completion 
■of  the  long-pursued  policy  of  removing  all  the 
Indians  in  the  States,  and  within  the  organized 
territories  of  the  Union,  to  their  new  homes 
west  of  the  Mississippi.  It  was  a  policy  com- 
mencing with  Jefierson,  pursued  by  all  succeed- 
ing Presidents,  and  accomplished  by  Jackson. 
The  Creeks  and  Cherokees  had  withdrawn  irom 
Georgia  and  Alabama;  the  Chickasaws  and 
Choctawa  from  Mississippi  and  Alabama;  the 
Seminoles  had  stipulated  to  remove  from  Flori- 
da ;  Louisiana,  Arkansas  and  Missouri  had  all 
been  relieved  of  their  Indian  population  ;  Ken- 
tucky and  Tennessee,  by  earlier  treaties  with 
the  Chickasaws,  had  received  the  same  advan- 
tage. This  freed  the  slave  States  from  an  ob- 
stacle to  their  growth  and  prosperity,  and  left 
them  free  to  expand,  and  to  cultivate,  to  the 
full  measure  of  their  ample  boundaries.  All 
the  free  Atlantic  States  had  long  been  relieved 
from  their  Indian  populations,  and  in  thi.",  re- 
spect the  northern  and  southern  States  were 
now  upon  an  equality.    The  result  has  been 


proved  to  be,  what  it  was  then  believed  it  would 
be,  beneficial  to  both  parties  ;  ond  still  more  so 
to  the  Indians  than  to  the  wliites.     With  them 
it  was  a  question  of  extinction,  the  time  only 
the  debatable  point.     They  were  daily  wastiii<' 
under  contact  with  the  whites,  and  had  befDro 
their  eyes  the  eventual  but  certain  fate  of  the 
hundreds  of  tribes  found  by  the  early  colonists 
on  the  Roanoke,  the  James  River,  tho  Potomac 
the  Susquehannah,  the  Delaware,  the  Connecti- 
cut, the  Merrimac,  the  Kenneliec  and  the  Pen- 
obscot.    The  removal  saved  the  southcni  trilx 
from  that  fate;  and  in  giving  them  new  ami 
unmolested  homes  beyond  the  verge  of  the 
white  man's  settlement,  in  a  coimtry  temperate 
in  climate,  fertile  in  soil,  adapted  to  ugricnlturo 
and  to  pasturage,  with  an  outlet  for  hunting, 
abounding  with  salt  water  and  salt  springs— it 
left  them  to  work  out  in  peace  the  problem  of 
Indian  civilization.    To  alltl:3  relieved  States 
the  removal  of  the  tribes  within  thc'r  borders 
was  a  great  benefit — to  the  slave  States  trans- 
cendently  and  inappreciably  great.    The  largest 
tribes  were  within  their  limits,  and  the  best  of 
their  lands  in  the  hands  of  the  Indians,  to  the 
extent,  in  some  of  the  States,  as  Georgia,  Ala- 
bama and  Mississippi,  of  a  third  or  a  quarter  of 
their  whole  area.     I  have  heretofore  sliown,  in 
the  case  of  the  Creeks  and  the  Cherokees  in 
Georgia,  that  the  ratification  of  the  treaties  for 
the  extinction  of  Indian  claims  within  her  lim- 
its, and  which  removed  the  tribes  which  encum- 
bered her,  received  the  cordial  support  of  north- 
em  senators;  and  that,  in  fact,  without  that 
support  these  great  objects  could  not  have  been 
accomplished.    I  have  now  to  say  the  sarno  of 
all  the  other  slave  States.      They  were  all  re- 
lieved in  like  manner.    Chickasaws  and  Choc- 
taws  in  Mississippi  and  Alabama;   Chickasaw 
claims  in  Tennessee  and  Kentucky ;  Seminoles 
in  Florida ;  Caddos  and  Quapaws  in  I-onisiana 
and  in  Arkansas  ;  Kickapoos,  Delawarcs,  Sliaw- 
nees,  Osagcs,  lowas,  Pinkc-haws,   Weas,    Pe- 
orias,  in  Missouri ;  all  underwent  the  same  pro- 
cess, and  with  the  came   support  and  result. 
Northern  votes,  in  the  Senate,  came  to  the  ratifi- 
cation of  every  treaty,  and  to  the  passage  oi 
every  necessary  appropriation  act  in  the  House 
of  Representatives.      Northern   men  may  be 
said  to  have  made  the  treaties,  and  J>.^s.'^ed  the 
acts,  as  without  their  aid  it  could  not  have  been 
done,  constituting,  as  they  did,  a  large  majority 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRRSTDKNT. 


len  believed  it  would 
s  ;  and  still  more  so 
rt'liites.  With  thorn 
ction,  the  time  only 
were  daily  wustiii;^ 
ites,  and  had  before 
It  certain  fate  of  the 
y  the  early  colonists 
River,  tho  Potomac, 
aware,  the  Connocti- 
nebec  and  the  Pcn- 
l  the  southem  triln- 
ifinp  them  now  ann 
I  the  verge  of  the 
u  country  temperate 
apted  to  ugriculturo 
outlet  for  huntinf?, 
and  salt  sprinf^s— it 
eacc  the  problem  of 
th3  relieved  States 
v'ithin  the'r  borders 

0  slave  States  trans- 
great.    The  largest 

aits,  and  the  best  of 
'  the  Indians,  to  the 
les,  as  Georgia,  Alii- 
hird  or  a  quarter  of 
leretoforc  shown,  in 

1  the  Chcrokees  in 
n  of  the  treaties  for 
inis  within  her  lim- 
tribes  which  encuiii  ■ 
ial  support  of  north  • 
I  fact,  without  that 
lould  not  have  been 
■  to  say  the  same  of 

They  were  all  rc- 
ickasaws  and  Choc- 
labama ;  Chickasaw 
jntucky ;  Seminolcs 
uipaws  in  T,ouisiana 
s,  Delawares,  Shaw- 
-haws,  Wcas,  Pe- 
rwent  the  same  pro- 
upport  and  result. 
c,  came  to  the  ratifi- 
[  to  the  passage  ol 
)n  act  in  the  House 
hern  men  may  hi' 
;ies,  and  passed  the 
could  not  have  been 
id,  a  large  majority 


m 


I 


in  the  IFouse,  and  beinp  equal  in  the  Senate, 
where  a  vote  of  two-thirds  was  wanting.     I  do 
not  go  over  these  treaties  and  laws  one  by  one, 
to  show  their  passage,  and  by  what  votes.     I 
■lid  that  in  the  case  of  the  Creek  treaty  and  the 
CIicroKee  treaty,  for  the  removal  of  these  t.-ibes 
from  Ceorgia;  aiul  showed  that  the  North  was 
imaninious  in  one  case,  and  nearly  so  in  the 
olher,  while  in  both  treaties  there  was  a  south- 
ern opposition,  and  in  one  of  them  (the  Chero- 
kee), both  Mr.  Calhoun  and  Mr.  Clay  in  the 
iKgalive:  and  these  instances  may  stand  for  an 
illustration  of  the  whole.    And  thus  the  area  of 
slave  population  has  been  altnost  doubled  in  the 
slave  States,  by  sending  away  the  Indians  to  make 
room  for  their  expansion;  and  it  is  unjust  and 
:mel— unjust  and  cruel  in  itself,  independent  of 
the  motive— to  charge  these  Northern  States 
n-itli  a  design  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  South, 
[f  they  had  harbored  such  design— if  they  had 
licen  merely  unfriendly  to  the  growth  and  pros- 
perity of  those  Southern  States,  there  was  an 
easy  way  to  have  gratified  their  feelings,  with- 
out committing  a  breach  of  the  constitution,  or 
an  aggression    or    encroachment    upon   these 
States:  they  had  only /to  sit  still  and  vote 
against  the  ratification  of  the  treaties,  and  the 
otioctmcnt  of  the  laws  which  effected  this  great 
removal.     They  did  not  do  so— did  not  sit  still 
md  vote  against  their  Southern  brethren.     On 
the  contrary,  they  stood  up  and  spoke  aloud,  and 
gave  to  these  laws  and  treaties  an  effective  and 
zealous  support.    And  I,  who  was  the  Senate's 
chairman  of  the  committee  of  Indian  afi'airs  at 
this  time,  and  know  how  these  things  were  done, 
and  who  was  so  thankful  for  northern  help  at 
the  time ;  I,  who  know  the  truth  and  love  jus- 
tice, and  cherish  the  harmony  and  union  of  the 
American  people,  feel  it  to  be  my  duty  and  my 
privilege  to  note  this  great  act  of  justice  from  the 
Xorth  to  the  South,  to  stand  in  history  as  a  per- 
petual contradiction  of  all  imputed  design  in  the 
free  States  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  slave  States. 
I  ppeak  of  States,  not  of  individuals  or  societies. 
I  have  shown  that  this  policy  of  the  uni- 
versal removal  of  the  Indians  from  the  East  to 
tile  West  of  the  Mississippi  originated  with  Mr. 
Jefferson,  and  from  the  most  humane  motives 
iuid  after  having  seen  the  extinction  of  more  than 
'oily  tribes  in  his  own  State  of  Virginia;  and 
had  been  followed  up  under  all  subsequent  ad- 
ministrations.   With  General   Jackson  it  was 


nothing  but  the  continuation  of  an  established 
policy,  but  one  in  wlilch  he  heartily  concurred, 
and  of  which  his  local  imsition  and  his  experience 
made  him  one  of  the  safest  of  judges  ;  l)ut,  like 
every  other  act  of  his  administration,  it  was 
destined  to  obloquy  and  opposition,  and  to  mis- 
representations,  which  have  survived  the  object 
of  their  creation,  and  gone  into  history.     Fie  was 
charged  with  injustice  to   the  Indians,  in  not 
protecting  them  against  the  laws  and  jurisdiction 
of  the  States ;  with  cruelty,  in  driving  them 
away  from  the  bones  of  their  fathers  ;  with  rob- 
bery, in  taking  their  lands  for  paltry  considera- 
tions.    Parts   of  the   tribes   were   excited    to 
resist  the  execution  of  the  treaties,  and  it  even 
became  necessary  to  send  troops  and  distinguish- 
ed generals— Scott  to  the  Cherokees,  Jesup  to 
the  Creeks— to  effect  their  removal ;  which,  by 
the  mildness  and  steadiness  of  these  generals 
and  according  to  the  humane  spirit  of  their 
orders,  was  eventually  accomplished  without  the 
aid  of  force.    The  outcry  raised  against  General 
Jackson,  on  account  of  these  measures,  reached 
the  ears  of  the  French  traveller  and  writer  on 
American  democracy  (De  Tocqueville),  then  so- 
journing among  us  and  collecting  materials  for 
his  work,  and  induced  him  to  write  thus  in  his 
chapter  18 : 


"  The  ejectment  of  the  Indians  very  often  takes 
plax:c,  at  the  present  day,  in  a  regular,  and,  as  it 
^ye^e,  legal  manner.  When  the  white  popula- 
tion begins  to  approach  the  limit  of  a  desert 
inhabited  by  a  savage  tribe,  the  government  of 
the  United  States  usually  dispatches  envoys  to 
them,  who  assemble  the  Indians  in  a  large  plain 
and  having  first  eaten  and  drunk  with  them' 
accost  them  in  tho  following  manner  :  '  What 
have  you  to  do  in  the  land  of  your  fathers  ? 
Before  long  you  must  dig  up  their  bones  in  order 
to  live.  In  what  respect  is  tho  country  you  in- 
habit better  than  another  ?  Are  there  no  woods, 
marshes  or  prairies,  except  where  you  dwell  ? 
and  can  you  live  nowhere  but  under  your  own 
sun  ?  Beyond  those  mountains,  which  you  sec 
at  the  hoi-izon— beyond  the  lake  which  bounds 
your  territory  on  the  west— there  lie  vast  coun- 
tries where  beasts  of  chase  are  found  in  great 
abundance.  Sell  your  lands  to  us,  and  go  and 
live  happily  in  those  solitudes.' 

"After  holding  this  language,  they  spread 
before  the  ey-s  of  the  Indians  fire-arms',  woollen 
garments,  kegs  of  brandy,  glass  necklaces,  brace- 
lets of  iin.~ei,  ear-rings,  and  looking-gia».ses. 
If,  when  they  have  beheld  all  these  riches,  they 
still  hesitate,  it  is  insinuated  that  they  have  not 
the  means  of  refusing  their  required  consent, 


ii'       I' 


692 


TIIIIITY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


and  that  tho  government  itftelf  will  not  long 
have  tho  power  of  i)roteoting  thoi  i  in  their 
I  itfhlM.  What  art"  thoy  to  do  ?  Half  convincfcl, 
half  coiniH'llcd,  they  go  to  inhabit  new  dcHertM, 
wliere  the  iinportunuto  whites  will  not  permit 
tluiu  to  remain  ten  years  in  tranipiillity.  In 
this  manner  do  the  Americans  obtain,  at  a  very 
low  priec,  whole  provinreH,  whieh  the  richest 
HovureiKHs  in  EurojMj  could  not  purchase." 

TIjo  Grecian  Plutjvrch  dcen  jd  it  necessary  to 
reside  forty  years  in  Rome,  to  qualify  hiniEelf 
to  write  the  lives  of  some  Roman  citizens  ;  and 
then  made  mistakes.     European  writers  do  not 
deem  it  necessary  to  reside  in  our  country  at  all 
in  order  to  writer  our  history.   A  sojourn  of  some 
months  in  the  principal  towns — a  rapid  flij^ht 
along  some  great  roads — the  gossip  of  the  steam- 
boat,  the  steam-car,  the  stage-coach,  and  the 
hotel— iho  whispers  of  some  earwigs — with  tho 
reading  of  the  daily  papers  and  tho  periodicals, 
all  more  or  less  engaged  in  partisan  warfare — 
and  the  view  of  some  debates,  or  scene,  in  Con- 
gress, whieh  nuiy  be  an  excepti(jn  to  its  ordinary 
decorum  and  intelligence:    these  constitute  a 
modern    European   traveller's   qualifications  to 
write  American  history.     No  wonder  that  they 
commit  mistakes,  even  where  tho  intent  is  honest. 
And  no  wonder  that  Mons.  de  Tocqucville,  with 
admitted  good  intentions,  but  with  no  "forty 
years  "  residence  among  us,  should  bo  no  excep- 
tion to  the  rule  which  condemns  the  travelling 
European  writer  of  American  history  to  the 
compilation  of  facts  manufactured  for  partisan 
effect,  and  to  the  invention  of  reasons  supplied 
from  his  own  fancy.    I  have  alrea.  ly  had  occa- 
sion, several  timej,  to  correct  the  erroi-s  of  Mons. 
de  Tocqueville.     It  is   a  compliment  to  him, 
implicative  of  respect,  and  by  no  means  extend- 
ed to  others,  who  err  more  largely,  and  of  pur- 
pose, but  less  harmfully.    His  error  in  all  that 
he  has  hero  written  is  profound !  and  is  injuri- 
ous, not  merely  to  General  Jackson,  to  whom 
his  mistakes  apply,  but  to  the  national  charac- 
ter, made  up  as  it  is  of  the  acts  of  individuals; 
and  which  character  it  is  the  duty  of  every 
American  to  cherish  and  exalt  in  all  that  is 
worthy,  and  to  protect  and  defend  from  all  un- 
just imputation.    It  was  in  this  sense  that  I 
marked  this  passage  in  De  Tocque\  ille  for  re- 
futation as  soon  as  his  book  appeared,  and  took 
steps  to  make  the  contradiction  (so  fai'  as  the 
aiieged  robbery  and  cheatmg  of  tho  Indians  was 
concerned)  authentic  and  complete,  and  as  pub- 


lic and  durable  as  the  archives  of  tlie  govern- 
m«nt  itself.  In  this  sense  I  had  a  rail  made  I'm 
a  full,  numerical,  chronological  and  offlcial  state- 
ment of  all  our  Indian  jmrchases,  from  the  be- 
gining  of  the  federal  govermnoii'  in  178!)  to  that 
day,  1810— tribe  by  tribe,  cession  by  eessioii, 
year  by  year—for  the  fifty  years  which  the  gov- 
ernment hail  existed;  with  the  ntunber  of  acres 
acquired  at  each  cession,  and  the  amount  paid 
for  each. 

Tho  call  was  made  in  tho  Senate  of  the  trni- 
ted  States,  and  answered  by  document  No.  (Ufi, 
1st  session,  20th  Congress,  in  a  document  of 
thirteen  printed  tabular  pages,  and  authenticated 
by  the  signatures  of  Mr.  Van  Uureu,  President; 
Mr.  Poinsett,  Secretary  at  War;  and  Mr.  Hart- 
ley Crawford,  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs. 
From  this  document  it  appeared,  that  the  Uni- 
ted States  had  paid  to  the  Indians  eighty-tive 
millions  of  dollars  for  land  purchases  up  to  the 
year  1840!  to  which  five  or  six  millions  may 
be  added  for  purchases  since — say  nuiety  mil- 
lions.   This  is  near  six  times  as  much  as  the 
United   States  gave    tho  great  Napoleon   for 
Louisiana,  tho  whole  of  it,  soil  and  jurisdiction; 
and  nearly  three  times  as  much  as  all  three  of 
the  great  foreign  purchases — Louisiana,  FlonJa 
and  California— cost  us !  and  that  for  soil  alone, 
and  for  so  much  as  would  only  be  a  fragment 
of  Louisiana  or  California.    Impressive  as  this 
statement  is  in  the  gross,  it  becomes  more  so  in 
the  detail,  and  when  applied  to  the  particular 
tribes  whoso  imputed  sufferings  have  drawn  ho 
mournful  a  picture  from  Mons.  de  Tocijueville. 
These  are  the  four  great  southern  tribes— Creeks, 
Cherokees,  Chickasaws  and  Choctaws.    Applied 
to  them,  and  the  table  of  purchases  and  pay- 
ments   stands  thus :    To  the  Creek   Indians 
twrnty-two  millions  of  dollars  for  twenty-five 
millions  of  acres ;  which  is  seven  millions  more 
than  was  paid  France  for  Louisiana,  and  seven- 
teen millions  more  than  was  paid  Spain  for 
Florida.    To  the  Choctaws,  twenty-three  mil- 
lions of  dollars  (besides    reserved  tracts),  for 
twenty  millions  of  acres,  being  three  millions 
more  than  was  paid  for  Louisiana  and  Florida. 
To  the  Cherokees,  for  eleven  millions  of  aciis, 
was  paid  about  fifteen  millions  of  dollars,  the 
exact  price  of  Loujsana  or  California.    To  the 
Chickasaws,  the  whole  net  amount  for  which 
this  country  sold  under  the  land  system  of  the 
United  States,  and  by  the  United  States  land 


M 


ANNO  1836.     ANDRKW  .lAfKaON.  rRF.srDKNT. 


of  thu  govorn- 
a  rail  nmdo  Im 
ndndiciiil  Htali'- 
L'H,  from  tlio  k'- 
'^  in  l7Hi)  to  thill 
iioli  liy  ci'ssioii, 
i  whicJi  tlu>  miv- 
luiiiilii'r  of  lUTis 
»o  uiuouiit  jmiU 

ate  of  the  Tni- 
uiiicnt  Xo.  01(1, 
a  (lociiiiient  of 
iiliiiithenlicatod 
iruii,  Pivsiduiit ; 
;  and  Mr.  Hart- 
Indimi  Alliiirs. 
I,  that  the  Uni- 
iiins  eighty-Jive 
hasea  up  to  tlic 
X  million:!  may 
lay  ninety  mil- 
ls much  as  the 
Napoleon    for 
id  jurisdiction; 
as  all  tiiree  of 
uisiana,  Floiida 
it  for  soil  alone, 
be  a  fragment 
pressive  as  this 
mes  more  so  in 
the  particular 
have  drawn  su 
de  Tocijneville. 
tribes — Creeks, 
;aw8.    Applied 
lases  and  pay- 
Dreck   Indians 
for  twenty-five 
I  millions  more 
ina,  and  seven- 
paid  Spain  for 
snty-threc  mil- 
ed  tracts),  for 
three  millions 
a  and  Florida, 
illions  of  aeivs, 
of  dollars,  the 
brnia.    To  the 
unt  for  wiiich 
system  of  the 
:d  States  land 


693 


offlcorH,  three  niillions  of  dollars  for  six  and 
three-quarter  mililonH  of  acrew,  luinp;  the  way 
the  nation  choso  to  diHposo  of  it.  Here  are 
fifty-six  millions  to  four  tribes,  leavinj;  thirty 
millionH  to  go  to  the  small  tribes  whose  names 
are  unknown  to  history,  and  which  it  is  pru!)able 
the  writer  on  American  (lemocraoy  luid  never 
heard  of  when  sketching  the  picture  of  their 
fancied  oppressions. 

I  will  attend  to  the  case  of  these  small  re- 
mote trilx's,  and  say  that,  besides  their  propor- 
tion of  the  remaining  thirty-six   millions  of 
dollars,  they  received  a  kind  of  compensation 
suited  to  their  condition,  and  intended  to  induct 
thtm  into  the  comforts  of  civilized  life.    Of 
these  I  will  give  one  cxninple,  drawn  from  a 
treaty  with  the  08ageH,in  IHIJO  ;  and  which  was 
only  in  addition  to  similar  benefits  to  the  same 
tribe,  in  previous  treaties,  and  which  were  ex- 
tended to  all  the  tribes  which  were  in  the  hunt- 
iug  state.    These  benefits  were,  to  these  Osages, 
two  blacksmith's  shops,  with  four  blacksmiths, 
with  five  hundred  pounds  of  iron  and  sixty 
pounds  of  steel  annually ;  a  grist  and  a  saw 
mill,  with  millers  for  the  same  ;  1,000  cows  and 
calves;   two   thousand  breeding  swine;   1,000 
ploughs  ;  1,000  sets  of  horse-gear  ;  1,000  axes; 
1,000  hoes  ;  a  house  each  for  ten  chiefs,  costiv" 
two  hundred  dollars  apicfv;   to  furnish  f  ese 
chiefs   with   six   goo.l   wag(.iis,  sixteen   carts, 
twenty-eight  yok^  ,  of  oxen,  with  yokes  and 
log-chain;  to  j)ay  all  claims  for  injuries  com- 
mitted by  tiie  tribe  on  the  white  people,  or  on 
other  Indians,  to  the  amount  of  thirty  thuusand 
dollars;  to  purchase  their  reserved  lands  at  two 
dollars  ]..  r  acre  ;  three  thousand  dollars  to  re- 
imburse that  sum  for  so  much  deducted  from 
thoir  annuity,  in  1825,  for  property  taken  from 
tliu  wliites,  and  since  returned;  and,  finally 
three  thousand  dollars  more  for  au   imi)uted 
nrongful  withholding  cf  that  amount,  for  the 
^nme  reason,  in  the  annuity  payment  of  the 
■  1820.     In  previous  treaties,  had  been  given 
wed  grains,  and  seed  vegetables,  with  fruit  seeds 
and  fruit  trees;  domestic  fowls;    laborers  to 
plough  up  their  ground  and  to  make  their  fences, 
to  raise  crops  and  to  save  them,  and  teach  the 
Indians  how  to  farm ;  with  spinning,  weaving, 
and  sewing  implements,  and  persons  to  show 
*heif  use.     Now,  ail  tliis  was  in  one  single  trea- 
ty, with  an  inconsiderable  tribe,  which  had  been 
largely  provided  for  in  the  same  way  in  six  dif- 


ferent previous  treaties  I  And  all  the  rude  tribes 
—those  In  the  hunting  state,  or  just  emerging 
fro!  1  it  -were  provided  for  in  the  same  manner, 
the  object  of  the  Tuited  States  being  to  train 
them  to  agriculture  and  pasturage— to  conduct 
them  from  the  hunting  to  the  pastoral  and  agri- 
cultural state  ;  and  for  that  purpose,  and  in  ad- 
dition to  nil  other  benefits,  are  to  be  odded  the 
suppoit  of  schools,  the  encouragement  of  mis- 
sionaries, and  a  small  annual  contribution  to 
religious  societies  who  take  charge  of  their  civ- 
ilization. 

Besides  all  this,  the  government  keeps  up  a 
large  establishment  for  the  siK-cial  care  of  the 
Indians,  and  the  management  of  thoir  affairs  ;  a 
special  bureau,  presided  over  by  a  commissioner 
at  Washington  City ;  superintendents  in  differ- 
ent districts  ;  agents,  sub-agents,  and  interpret- 
ers, resident  with  the  tribe;   and  all  charged 
with  seeing  to  their  rights  and  interests— seeing 
that  the  laws  are  observed  towards  them ;  that 
no  injuries  are  done  them  by  the  whites ;  that 
none  but  licensed  traders  go  among  them  ;  that 
nothing  shall  bo  bought  from  them  which  is  ne- 
cessary for  their  comfort,  nor  an    thing  sold  to 
ihem  which  may  be  to  their  detriment.    Among 
the  prohibited  articles  are  spirits  of  all  kinds ; 
and  so  severe  are  the  penalties  on  this  head,  that 
forfeiture  of  the  li(.    se,  forfeiture  of  the  whole 
cargo  of  goods,  forfeiture  of  the  penalty  of  the 
bond,  and  immediate  suit  in  the  nearest  federal 
court  for  its  recovery,  expulsion  from  the  Indian 
country,  and  .Usability  for  ever  to  acquire  another 
license,  immediately  follow  every  breach  of  the 
laws  for  the  introduction  of  the  .smallest  quan- 
tity of  any  kind  of  spirits.    How  unfortunate, 
then,  in  M.  de  Tocqueville  to  write,  that  kegs 
of  brandy  are  spread  before  the  Indians  to  in- 
duce them  to  sell  their  lands !    IIow  unfortunate 
in  ixpresenting  these  purchases  to  be  made  in 
exchange  for  woollen  garments,  glass  necklaces, 
tinM'l  bracelets,  ear-rings,  and  looking-gla-sses  ! 
What  a  picture  this  assertion  of  his  makes  by 
the  side  of  the  eighty-five  millions  of  dollars  at 
that  time  actually  paid  to  those  Indians  for  their 
lands,  and  the  long  and  large  list  of  agricultural 
articles  and  implements— long  and  large  list  of 
domestic  animals  and  fowls— the  ample  supply 
of  mills  and  shops,  with   mechanics  to  work 
them  and  teach  their  use — the  provisions  for 
schools  and  missionaries,  for  building  f?nces  and 
houses — wliich  are  found  in  the  Osage  treaty 


I'       I 


694 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


quoted,  and  which  are  to  be  found,  more  or  less, 
in  every  treaty  with  every  tribe  emerging  from 
the  hunter  state.  The  fact  is,  that  tlie  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  has  made  it  a  fixed 
policy  to  cherish  and  protect  the  Indians,  to  im- 
prove their  condition,  and  turn  them  io  the 
habits  of  civiHzed  life  ;  and  great  is  the  wrong 
and  injury  which  the  mistake  of  this  writer  has 
done  to  our  national  character  abroad,  in  repre- 
senting the  United  States  as  clieating  and  rob- 
bing these  cliildren  of  the  forest. 

But  Mons.  de  Tocqueville  has  quoted  names 
and  documents,  and  particular  instances  of  im- 
position upon  Indians,  to  justify  his  picture ;  and 
in  doing  so  has  connnitted  the  mistakes  into 
which  a  stranger  and  sojourner  may  easily  fall. 
He  cites  the  report  of  Messrs.  Clark  and  Cass, 
and  makes  a  wrong  application — an  inverted  ap- 
plication— of  what  they  reported.  They  were 
speaking  of  the  practices  of  disorderly  persons 
in  trading  with  the  Indians  for  their  skins  and 
furs.  They  were  reporting  to  the  government 
an  abuse,  for  correction  and  punishment.  They 
were  not  speaking  of  United  States  commission- 
ers, treating  for  the  purchase  of  lands,  but  of 
individual  traders,  violating  the  laws.  They 
were  themselves  those  commissioners  and  super- 
intendents of  Indian  affairs,  and  governors  of 
Territories,  one  for  the  northwest,  in  Michigan, 
the  other  for  the  far  west,  in  Missouri ;  and  both 
noted  for  their  justice  and  humanity  to  the  In- 
dians, and  for  their  long  and  careful  adminis- 
tration of  their  affairs  within  their  respective 
superintendencies.  Mons.  de  Tocqueville  has 
quoted  their  words  corrcctlj',  but  with  the  comi- 
cal blunder  of  reversing  their  application,  and 
applying  to  the  commissioners  themselves,  in 
their  land  negotiations  for  the  government,  the 
cheateries  which  they  were  denouncing  to  the 
government,  in  the  illicit  trafBc  of  lawless 
traders.  This  was  the  comic  blunder  of  a 
stranger  :  yet  this  is  to  appear  as  American  his- 
tory in  Europe,  and  to  be  translated  into  our 
own  language  at  home,  and  commended  in  a  pre- 
face and  notes. 


CHAPTER    CLV. 

EECI8I0N  OF  THE  TKEASUKr  CIRCDLAI:. 

Immediately  upon  the  opening  of  the  Senate 
and  the  organization  of  the  body,  Mr.  Ewing, 
of  Ohio,  gave  notice  of  his  intention  to  move  a 
joint  resolution  to  rescind  the  treasury  circular- 
and  on  hearing  the  notice,  Mr.  Benton  made  it 
known  that  he  would  oppose  the  resolution  at 
the  second  reading— a  step  seldom  resorted  to, 
except  when  the  measure  to  be  so  opposed 
is  deemed  too  flagrantly  wrong  to  be  entitled 
to  the  honor  of  rejection  in  the  usual  forms  of 
legislation.  The  debate  came  on  i)roinjitIy  and 
upon  the  lead  of  the  mover  of  the  resolution  in 
a  prepared  and  well-considered  speech,  in  which 
he  said : 

"  This  extraordinary  paper  was  issued  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  on  the  11th  of  July 
last,  in  the  form  of  a  circular  to  the  rcoi'ivers  of 
public  money  in  the  several  land  offices  in  the 
United  States,  directing  them,  after  tlio  ]5t]i  of 
August  then  next,  to  receive  in  payment  for 
public  lands  nothing  but  gold  and  silver  and 
certificates  of  deposits,  signed  by  the  Trwisurer 
of  the  United  States,  with  a  saving  in  favor  of 
actual  settlers,  and  bona  fide  residents  in  the 
State  in  which  the  land  hapjiened  to  lie.  This 
saving  was  for  a  limited  time,  and  expires,  I 
think,  to-morrow.  The  professed  object  of  this 
order  was  to  check  the  s])eculations  in  ]mblic 
lands ;  to  check  excessive  iss\ics  of  Lank  paper 
in  the  West,  and  to  increase  the  specie  rurrcncy 
of  the  country;  and  the  necessity  of  tli(!  niea'- 
sure  was  supported,  or  pretended  to  be  support- 
ed, by  the  opinions  of  members  of  this  l.ody  and 
the  other  branch  of  Congress.  But.  before  I  ]iro- 
ceed  to  examine  in  detail  this  paper,  its  ciiarac- 
ter,  and  its  consequences,  I  will  biiet!\  advert 
to  the  state  of  things  out  of  which  it  tvw.  I 
am  confident,  and  1  believe  I  can  niaice  the  thing 
manifest,  that  the  avowed  objects  were  not  tiie 
only,  nor  even  the  leading  objects  fer  wiiich  this 
order  was  framed  ;  they  may  have  inliueuced  the 
minds  of  some  who  advised  it,  but  those  who 
planned,  and  those  who  at  last  viitually  exe- 
cuted it,  were  governed  by  otiier  and  ditrercnt 
motives,  which  I  shall  proceed  to  explain.  It 
was  foreseen,  prior  to  the  coniniencenieiit  of  the 
last  session  of  Congress,  that  thci'o  would  lie  a 
very  large  .snr])liis  of  money  in  the  public  tica- 
sury  beyond  the  wants  of  the  country  lor  all 
their  reasonable  expcndJtiMvs.  !{  was  also  v.tII 
understood  that  the  land  bill,  or  some  other 
measure  for  the  distribution  of  this  fund,  would 
be  again  presented  to  Congress ;  and,  if  the  true 


ANNO  1836.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


695 


SUUr  CIRCULAK. 


bill,  or  soiiio  (illicr 


condition  of  the  public  sentiment  were  known 
j    and  understood,  that  its  distribution,  in  some 
;    form  or  other,  would  be  demanded  by  the  coun- 
try.    On  the  other  hand,  it  seerns  to  have  been 
determined  by  the  party,  and  some  of  those  who 
i    aot  with  it  thoroughly,  that  the  money  should 
J    remain  where  it  was  in  the  deposit  banks,  so 
i    that  it  could  be  wielded  at  pleasure  by  the  exe- 
I    cntivo.     This  order  prew  out  of  the  contest  to 
which  I  have  referred.     It  was  issued  not  by 
the  advice  of  Congress  or  imder  the  sanction  of 
any  law.     Tt  was  delayed  until  Congress  was 
fairly  out  of  the  city,  and  all  possibility  of  inter- 
ference by  legislation  was  removed ;  and  then 
came  forth  this  new  and  last  expedient.    It  was 
known  that  these  funds,  received  for  public 
lands,  had  become  a  chief  source  of  revenue,  and 
it  may  have  occurred  to  some  that  the  passage 
of  a  treasury  order  of  this  kind  would  have  a 
tendency  to  embarrass  the  country ;  and  as  the 
bill  for  the  regulation  of  the  deposits  had  just 
passed,  the  public  might  be  brought  to  believe 
that  all  the  mischief  occasioned  by  the  order 
was  the  effect  of  the  distribution  bill.     It  has, 
indeed,  happened,  that  this  scheme  has  failed; 
the  public  tmderstand  it  rightly,  but  that  was 
not  by  any  means  certain  at  the  time  the  mea- 
sure was  devised.    It  was  not  then  foreseen  that 
the  people  would  as  generally  see  through  the 
contrivance  as  it  has  since  been  found  that  they 
do.   There  may  have  been  various  other  motives 
which  led  to  the  moasiire.     Many  minds  were 
probably  to  be  consulted ;  for  it  is  not  to  be  pre- 
sumed that  a  step  like  this  was  taken  without 
consultation,  and  guided  by  the  will  of  a  single 
individual  alone.    That  is  not  the  way  in  which 
these  things  are  done.     No  doubt  one  effect 
hoped  for  by  some  was,  that  a  check  would  be 
put  to  the  sales  of  the  public  lands.     The  ope- 
ration of  the  order  would  naturally  be,  to  raise 
the  price  of  land  by  raising  the  price  of  the  cur- 
rency in  which  it  was  to  be  paid  for.   But,  while 
this  would  be  the  effect  on  small  buyers,  those 
who  purchased  on  a  large  scale  would  be  ena- 
bled to  sell  at  an  advance  of  ten  or  fifteen  per 
cent,  over  what  would  have  b^en  given  if  the 
United  States  lands  had  been  open  to  purchasers 
in  the  ordinary  way.    Those  who  had  borrowed 
money  of  the  deposit  banks  and  paid  it  out  for 
lands,  would  thus  be  enabled  to  make  sales  to 
advantage ;  and  l)y  means  of  such  sales  make 
payment  to  the  banks  who  found  it  necessary 
to  call  in  their  large  loans,  in  order  to  meet  the 
provisions  of  the  deposit  bill.    The  order,  there- 
fore, was  likely  to  operate  to  the  common  benefit 
of  the  deposit  banks  and  the  great  land  dealers, 
while  it  counteracted  the  effect  of  the  obnoxious 
deposit  bill.     There  may  have  been  yet  another 
motive  actuating  some  of  those  who  devised  this 
order.   There  was  danger  that  the  deposit  banks, 
when  called  upon  to  refund  the  public  trensuro. 
would  be  unable  to  do  it:  indeed,  it  was  said 
on  this  floor  that  the  immediate  effect  of  the 
distribution  bill  would  be  to  break  those  banks. 
Now  this  treasury  order  would  operate  to  col- 


lect the  specie  of  the  country  Into  the  land  of- 
fices, whence  it  would  immediately  go  into  the 
deposit  banks,  and  would  prove  an  acceptable 
aid  to  them  while  making  the  transfers  required 
by  law.  These  seem  to  me  to  have  been  among 
the  real  motives  which  led  to  the  adoption  of 
that  order," 

Mr.  Ewing  then  argued  at  length  against  the 
legality  of  the  treasury  circular,  quoting  the 
joint  resolution  of  1816,  and  insisting  that  its 
provisions  had  been  violated ;  also  insisting  on 
the  largeness  of  the  surplus,  and  that  it  had 
turned  out  to  be  much  larger  than  was  admitted 
by  the  friends  of  the  administration ;  which 
latter  assertion  was  in  fact  true,  because  the 
appropriations  for  the  public  service  (the  bills 
for  which  were  in  the  hands  of  the  opposition 
members)  had  been  kept  off  till  the  middle  of 
the  summer,  and  could  not  be  used ;  and  so  left 
some  fifteen  millions  in  the  treasury  of  appro- 
priated money  which  fell  under  the  terms  of  the 
deposit  act,  and  became  divisible  as  surplus. 

Mr.  Benton  replied  to  Mr.  Ewing,  saying : 

the  present 
famous  reso- 


"  In  the  first  of  these  objects 
movement  is  twin  brother  to  the 


lution  of  1833,  but  without  its  boldness ;  for 
that  resolution  declared  its  object  upon  its  face, 
while  this  one  eschews  specification,  and  insidi- 
ously seeks  a  judgment  of  condemnation  by  in- 
ference and  argument.  In  the  second  of  these 
objects  every  body  will  recognize  the  great  de- 
sign of  the  second  branch  of  the  same  famous 
resolution  of  1833,  which,  in  the  restoration  of 
the  deposits  to  the  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
clearly  went  to  the  establishment  of  the  paper 
system,  and  its  supremacy  over  the  federal  gov- 
ernment. The  present  movement,  therefore,  is 
a  second  edition  of  the  old  one,  but  a  lame  and 
impotent  affair  compared  to  that.  Then,  we  had 
a  magnificent  panic ;  now,  nothing  but  a  misera- 
ble starveling!  For  though  the  letter  of  the 
president  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  an- 
nounced, early  in  November,  that  thp  meeting 
of  Congress  was  the  time  for  the  new  distress 
to  become  intense,  yet  we  are  two  weeks  deep 
in  the  session,  and  no  distress  memorial,  no  dis- 
tress deputation,  no  distress  committees,  to  this 
hour !  Nothing,  in  fact,  in  that  line,  but  the 
distress  speech  of  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  [Mr. 
Ewing] ;  so  that  the  new  panic  of  1836  has  all 
the  signs  of  being  a  lean  and  slender  affair — a 
mere  church-mouse  concern — a  sort  of  dwarf- 
ish, impish  imitation  of  the  gigantic  spectre  which 
stalked  through  the  land  in  1833." 

Mr.  Bonton  then  showed  that  this  subaltern 
and  Lilliputian  panic  was  brought  upon  the  stage 
in  the  same  way,  and  by  the  same  managers,  with 
its  gigantic  brother  of  1833-'34 ;  and  quoted  from 


696 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW, 


a  published  letter  of  Mr.  Biddle  in  November 
preceding,  and  a  public  speech  of  Mr.  Clay  in 
the  month  of  September  preceding,  in  which 
they  gave  out  the  programme  for  tlie  institution 
of  the  little  panic ;  and  tlio  proceeding  against 
the  President  for  violating  the  laws ;  and  against 
the  treasury  order  itself  as  the  cause  of  the  new 
distress.    Mr.  Biddle  in  his  publication  said : 
"  Our  pecuniary  condition  seems  to  be  a  strange 
anomaly.    When  Congress  adjourned,  it   left 
the  country  with  .I'jundant  crops,  and  high 
prices  for  them— with  every  branch  of  industry 
flourishing,  and  with  more  specie  than  we  ever 
had  before— with  all  the  elements  of  universal 
prosperity.    None  of  these  have  undergone  the 
slightest  change ;  yet,  after  a  few  months,  Con- 
gress will  rc-assemble,  and  find  the  whole  coun- 
try suffering  intense  pecuniary  distress.    The 
occasion  of  this,  and  the  remedy  for  it,  will  oc- 
cupy our  thoughts.    In  my  judgment,  the  main 
cause  of  it  is  the  mismanagement  of  the  reve- 
nue— mismanagement  in  two  respects :  the  mode 
of  executing  the  distribution  law,  and  the  order 
requiring  specie  for  the  payment  of  the  public 
lands — an  act  which  seems  to  me  a  most  wan- 
ton abuse  of  power,  if  not  a  flagrant  usurpation. 
The  remedy  follows  the  causes  of  the  evils.  The 
first  measure  of  relief,  therefore,  should  be  the 
instant  repeal  of  the  treasury  order  requiring 
specie  for  lands ;  the  second,  the  adoption  of  a 
proper  system  to  execute  the  distribution  law. 
These  measures  would  restore  confidence  in 
twenty-four  hours,  and  repose  in  at  least  as 
many  days.    If  the  treasury  will  not  adopt  them 
voluntarily,  Congress  should  immediately  com- 
mand it."    This  was  the  recommendation,  or 
mandate,  of  the  president  of  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  still  acting  as  a  part  of  the  na- 
tional legislative  power  even  in  its  new  trans- 
formation, and  keeping  an  eye  upon  that  dis- 
tribution which  Congi-ess  passed  as  a  deposit, 
which  he  had  recommended  as  raising  the  price 
of  the  State  stocks  held  by  the  bank ;  and  the 
delay  in  the  delivery  of  which  he  considers  as 
one  of  the  causes  which  had  brought  on  the  new 
distress,    Mr.  Clay  in  his  Lexington  speech  had 
taken  the  same  grounds ;  and  speaking  of  the 
continued  tampering  with  the  currency  by  the 
administration,  wen*-  on  to  say : 


"One  rash,  lawless,  and  crude  experiment 
succeeds  another.  He  considered  the  late  trea- 
sury order,  by  which  all  payments  for  public  lands 


were  to  be  m  specie,  with  one  exception,  for  a 
short  duration,  a  most  ill-advised,  illegal   and 
pernicious  measure.    In  principle  it  was  wrono-- 
in  practice  it  will  favor  the  very  speculation 
which   it  professes    to  endeavor  to  sur)nress 
The  officer  who  issued  it,  as  if  conscious  of  its 
obnoxious  character,  shelters  himself  behind  tiie 
name  of  the  President.    But  the  President  and 
Secretary  had  no  right  to  promulgate  anv  such 
order.     The  law  admits  of  no  such  discrimina- 
tion.    If  the  resolution  of  the  30th  of  April 
1816,  continued  in  operation  (and  the  adminis- 
tration on  the  occasion  of  the  removal  of  the  de- 
posits, and  on  the  present  occasion,  relies  upon 
it  as  in  full  force),  it  gave  the  Secretary  no  such 
discretion  as  he  has  exercised.    That  resolution 
.required  and    directed  the   Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  to  adopt  such  measures  as 'he  mi-'ht 
deem  necessary,  '  to  cause,  as  soon  as  may  be 
all  duties,  taxes,  debts,  or  sums  of  money  ac- 
cruing or  becoming  payable  to  the  United  States, 
to  be  collected  and  paid  in  the  legal  currency  of 
the  United  States,  or  treasury  notes,  or  notes 
of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  as  by  law  pro- 
vided and  declared,  or  in  notes  of  banks  which 
are  payable  and  paid  on  demand,  in  said  legal 
currency  of  the  United  States.'    This  resolution 
was  restrictive  and  prohibitory  upon  the  Secre- 
tary only  as  to  the  notes  of  banks  not  redeem- 
able in  specie  on  demand.    As  to  all  such  notes 
he  was  forbidden  to  receive  them  from  and  after 
the  20th  of  February,  1817.    As  to  the  notes 
of  banks  which  were  payable  and  paid  on  de- 
mand in  specie,  the  resolution  was  not  merely 
permissive,  it  was  compulsory  and  mandator}'. 
He  was   bound,  and  is  yet  bound,  to  reaive 
them,  until  Congress  interfere." 

Mr.  Benton  replied  to  the  arguments  of  Mr. 
Ewing,  the  letter  of  Mr.  Biddle,  and  the  speech 
of  Mr.  Clay  ;  and  considered  them  all  as  identi- 
cal, and  properly  answered  in  the  lump,  without, 
special  reference  to  the  co-operating  assailants. 
On  the  point  of  the  alleged  illegality  of  the 
treasury  order,  he  produced  the  Joint  Resolu- 
tion of  181G  under  which  it  was  done  ;  and  then 
said : 


"  This  is  the  law,  and  nothing  can  be  plainer 
than  the  right  of  selection  which  it  gives  to 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  Four  differ- 
ent media  are  mentioned  in  which  the  revenue 
may  be  collected,  and  the  Secretary  is  made 
the  actor,  the  agent,  and  the  power,  by  which 
the  collection  is  to  be  eifected.  He  is  to 
do  it  in  one,  or  in  another.  He  may  clioose 
several,  or  all,  or  two,  or  one.  All  are  in 
the  disjunctive.  No  two  are  joined  together, 
but  all  are  disjoined,  and  presented  to  him  in- 
dividually and  separately.  It  is  clearly  the 
right  of  the  Secietary  to  order  the  collections 
to  be  made  in  either  of  the  four  media  mention- 
ed.   That  the  resolution  is  not  mandatory  in 


I 


ANNO  1886.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRISIDENT. 


)ne  exception,  for  a 
advised,  illegal,  and 
ncipleit  was  wron"'' 
10  very  speculation 
leavor  to  suppress. 
s  if  conscious  of  its 
1  himself  behind  the 
t  the  President  and 
i-omulgate  any  such 
no  such  discriniina- 
the  30th  of  April, 

(and  the  adminis- 
B  removal  of  the  de- 
ccasion,  relies  upon 
c  Secretary  no  such 
d.    That  resolution 

Secretary  of  the 
sures  as  he  might 
IS  soon  as  may  be 
ams  of  money,  ac- 
)  the  United  States, 
10  legal  currency  of 
jry  notes,  or  notes 
ates,  as  by  law  pro- 
:es  of  banks  which 
smand,  in  said  legal 
3.'  This  resolution 
ry  upon  the  Secre- 
banks  not  redeem- 
ls  to  all  such  notes, 
hem  from  and  after 
As  to  the  notes 
le  and  paid  on  do- 
u  was  not  merely 
y  and  mandatory. 

bound,  to  rea-ive 
e.» 

arguments  of  Mr. 
He,  and  the  speech 
them  all  as  identi- 
the  lump,  without, 
crating  assailants. 

illegality  of  the 
the  Joint  Re.'^olu- 
as  done  ;  and  then 


ling  can  be  plainer 
?hich  it  gives  to 
ry.  Four  difter- 
vhich  the  revenue 
iccretary  is  made 

power,  by  which 
cted.      lie  is  to 

lie  may  choose 
Dne.  All  are  in 
:  joined  together, 
sented  to  him  in- 
It  is  clearly  the 
;r  tiie  collections 
I"  media  mention- 
lot  mandatory  in 


697 


favor  of  any  one  of  the  four,  is  obvious  from  the 
manner  in  which  the  notes  of  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States  are  mentioned.    They  were  to  be 
received  as  then  provided  for  by  law ;  for  the 
bank  charter  had  then  just  passed ;  and  the  14th 
j   section  had  provided  for  the  reception  of  the 
I   notes  of  this  institution  until  Congress,  by  law 
I  should  direct  otherwise.    The  right  of  the  in- 
1   stitution  to  deliver  its  notes  in  payment  of  the 
1   revenue,  was  anterior  to  this  resolution,  and  al- 
ways held  under  that  14th  section,  never  under 
this  joint  resolution,  and  when  that  section  was 
repealed  at  the  last  session  of  this  Congress,  that 
right  was  admitted  to  bo  gone,  and  has  never 
been  claimed  since.    The  words  of  the  law  are 
clear;  the  practice  under  it  has  been  uniform 
and  uninterrupted  from  the  date  of  its  passage 
to  the  present  day.    For  twenty  years,  and  un- 
der three  Presidents,  all  the  Secretaries  of  the 
Treasury  have  acted  alike.    Each  has  made  se- 
lections, permitting  the  notes  of  some  specie- 
paymg  banks    to  be  received,  and  forbidding 
others.    Mr.  Crawford  did  it  in  numerous  in- 
sfances ;  and  fierce  and  universal  as  were  the 
attacks  upon  that  eminent  patriot,  during  the 
presidential  canvass  of  1824,  no  human  being 
ever  thought  of  charging  him  with  illegality  in 
\s  respect.    Mr.  Rush  twice  made  similar  se- 
.  tions,  during  the  administration  of  Mr.  Adams, 
d  no  one,  either  in  the  same  cabinet  with  him, 
or  out  of  the  cabinet  against  him,  ever  complain- 
ed of  it.    For  twenty  years  the  practice  has 
been  uniform ;  and  every  citizen  of  the  West 
knows  that  that  practice  was  the  general,  thnutrV- 
not  universal,  exclusion  of  the  Western      ■  >  ■• 
paying  bank  paper  from  the  Western  land  oi    .es. 
This  every  man  in  the  West  knows,  and  knows 
that  that  general  exclusion  contmued  down  to 
the  day  that  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  ceas- 
ed to  be  the  depository  of  the  public  moneys. 
It  was  that  event  which  opened  the  door  to  the 
receivability  of  Stete  bank  paper,  which  has 
since  been  enjoyed." 


Having  vindicated  the  treasury  order  from 
the  charge  of  illegality,  Mr.  Benton  took  up  the 
head  of  the  new  distress,  and  said : 

"  The  news  of  all  this  approaching  calamity 
was  given  out  in  advance  in  the  Kentucky 
speech  and  the  Philadelphia  letter,  already  re- 
ferred to ;  and  the  fact  of  its  positive  advent 
and  actual  presence  was  Touched  by  the  senator 
from  Ohio  [Mr.  Ewing]  on  the  last  day  that  the 
benate  was  in  session.  I  do  not  permit  myself 
(said  Mr.  B.)  to  bandy  contradictory  assevera- 
tions and  debatable  assertions  across  this  floor. 
1  choose  rather  to  make  an  issue,  and  to  test 
assertion  by  the  application  of  evidence.  In  this 
way  I  will  proceed  at  present.  I  will  take  the 
letter  of  the  president  of  the  Rank  nf  the  United 
■'tates  as  being  official  in  this  case,  and  most  au- 
lioritative  in  the  distress  department  of  this  com- 
bined movement  against  President  Jackson.  He 
announces,  in  November,  the  forthcoming  of  the 


national  calamity  in  December ;  and  after  charg- 
ing  part  of  this  ruin  and  mischief  on  the  mode 
of  executing  what  he  ostentatiously  styles  the 
distribution  law,  when  there  is  no  such  law  in 
the  country,  he  goes  on  to  charge  the  remainder, 
being  ten-fold  more  than  the  former  u...m  the 
Ireasury  order  which  excludes  paper  money 
from  the  land  offices."  "^ 

Mr.  Benton  then  read  Mr.  Biddle's  description 
of  the  new  distress,  which,  in  his  publication 
was  awful  and  appalling,  but  which,  he  said,  was 
nowhere  visible  except  in  the  localities  where 
the  bank  had  power  to  make  it.  It  was  a  pic- 
gire  of  woe  and  ruin,  but  not  without  hope  and 
remedy  if  Congress  followed  his  directions  ;  in 
the  mean  time  he  thus  instructed  the  country 
how  to  behave,  and  promised  his  co-operation— 
that  of  the  bank— -in  the  overthrow  of  President 
Jackson,  and  his  successor,  Mr.  Van  Buren  (for 
that  is  what  he  meant  in  this  passage) : 

"In  the  mean  time,  all  forbearance  and  calm- 
ness should  be  maintained.  There  is  great  rea- 
son for  anxiety— none  whatever  for  alarm ;  and 
with  mutual  confidence  and  courage,  the  coun- 
try may  yet  be  able  to  defend  itself  against  the 
government.  In  that  struggle  my  own  poor 
efforts  shall  not  be  wanting.  I  go  for  the  coun- 
try, whoever  rules  it.  I  go  for  the  country 
best  loved  when  worst  governed— and  it  wili 
afiord  me  far  more  gratification  to  assist  in  re- 
pairing wrongs,  than  to  triumph  over  those  who 
inflict  them." 


This  pledge  of  aid  in  a  struggle  with  the  gov- 
ernment was  a  key  to  unlock  the  meaning  of  the 
movements  then  going  on  to  produce  the  general 
suspension  of  specie  payments  in  all  the  banks 
which  saluted  the  administration  of  Mr.  Van 
Buren  in  the  first  quarter  of  its  existence,  and 
was  intended  to  produce  it  in  its  first  month. 
Considering  specie  payments  as  the  only  safety 
of  the  country,  and  foreseeing  the  general  bank 
explosions,  chiefly  contrived  by  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  which  was  to  re-appear  in  the 
ruin,  and  claim  its  re-establishment  as  the  only 
remedy  for  the  evils  which  itself  and  its  confed- 
erates created,  Mr.  Benton  said : 

"  There  is  no  safety  for  the  federal  revenues 
but  in  the  total  exclusion  of  local  paper,  and 
that  from  every  branch  of  the  revenue— customs 
lands,  and  post  ofiice.  There  is  no  safety  for 
the  national  finances  but  in  the  constitutional 
nieduim  of  gold  and  silvt-r.  After  ibrty  years 
of  wandering  in  the  wilderness  of  paper  money 
we  Have  approached  the  confines  of  tlie  consti- 
tutional medium.  Seventy-five  millions  of  specie 
in  the  country,  with  the  prospect  of  annual  in- 


698 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


crease  of  ten  or  twelve  millions  for  the  next  four 
years ;  three  branch  mints  to  commence  next 
sprinp;,  and  tlio  complete  restoration  of  the  pold 
currency;  announce  the  success  of  President 
Jackson's  peat  measures  for  the  reform  of  the 
curre.,.';  md  vindicate  the  constitution  from  the 
libel  of  having  prescribed  an  impracticable  cur- 
rency.    The  success  is  complete ;  and  there  is 
no  way  to  thwart  it.  but  to  put  down  the  treas- 
uiy  order,  and  to  re-open  the  public  lands  to  the 
in  •udation  of  paper  money.     Of  this,  it  is  not 
to  bo  dissembled,  there  is  great  danger.     Four 
deeply  interested  classes  are  at  work  to  do  it- 
speculators,  local  banks,  United  States  Bank, 
and  polil  ioians  out  of  power.    They  may  succeed, 
but  he  (Mf.  iJ.)  would  not  despair.     The  dark- 
est hour  of  night  is  just  before  the  break  of  da}* 
and,  through  the  gloom  ahead,  he  saw  the  bright 
vision  of  the  constitutional  currency  erect,  ra- 
diant, and  victorious.     Through  regulation,  or 
explosion,  success  must  eventually  come.     If  re- 
form measures  go  on,  gold  and  silver  will  be 
gradually  and  temperately  restored;    if  reform 
measures  are  stopped,  then  the  paper  system 
runs  not,  and  explodes  from  its  own  expansion. 
Then  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  will  exult 
in  the  e.itaslrophe,  and  claim  its  own  re-estab- 
lishment, as  the  only  adequate  regulator  of  the 
local  banks.     Then  it  will  be  said  the  specie  ex- 
periment has  failed  !  But  no ;  the  contrary  will 
be  known,  that  the  specie  experiment  has  not 
failed,  but  it  was  put  down  by  the  voice  and 
power  of  the  interested  classes,  and  must  be  put 
up  again  by  the  voice  and  power  of  the  disinter- 
ested community." 

This  was  utterod  in  December  1836:  in  April 
1837  it  was  history. 

Mr.  Crittenden,  of  Kentucky,  replied  to  Mr. 
Benton ;  and  said : 

''The  senator  from  Missouri  had  exhibited  a 
table,  the  results  of  which  he  had  pressed  with 
a  very  triumphant  air.  Was  it  extraordinary 
that  the  depo.-it  banks  should  be  strengthened? 
The  ellect  of  the  order  went  directly  to  sustain 
them.  But  it  ^\.ls  at  the  expense  of  all  the 
other  banks  of  the  country.  Under  this  order, 
all  the  specie  was  collected  and  carried  into  their 
vaults  :  an  oiicration  which  went  to  disturb  and 
embarrass  the  general  circulation  of  the  country, 
and  to  produce  that  pecuniary  difficulty  which 
was  felt  in  all  quarters  of  the  Union.  Mr.  C. 
did  not  profess  to  be  competent  to  judge  how 
far  liie  wiiole  of  this  distress  was  attributable 
to  the  operation  of  the  treasury  order,  but  of 
this  at  least  he  was  very  sure,  through  a  great 
part  of  the  Western  coimtry,  it  was  universally 
attnltuted  to  that  cause.  The  senator  from 
Missouri  supposed  that  the  order  had  produced 
no  part  of  this  pressure.  If  not,  he  would  ask 
what  it  had  produced  ?  Had  it  increased  the 
specie  in  the  country  ?  Had  it  increased  the 
Bpecie  in  actual  and  general  circulation  ?  If  it 
had  done  no  evil,  what  good  had  it  done  ?    This, 


he  believed  was  as  yet  undiscovered.    So  far  as 
It  had  operated  at  all,  it  had  been  to  derange 
the  state  of  the  currency,  and  to  give  it  a  direc 
tion  inverse  to  the  course  of  business      The 
honorable  senator,  however,  could  not  s-e  how 
nu)vmg  money  across  a  street  could  operate  to 
aftect  the  currency ;  and  seemed  to  suppose  that 
movmg  money  from  west  to  east,  or  from  east 
to  west,  would  have  as  little  effect.     Jloncv 
however,  if  left  to  itself,  would  always  move  ac- 
cordmg  to  the  ordinary  course  of  business  trans- 
actions.    This  course  might  indeed  be  disturbed 
for  a  time,  but  it  would  be  like  forcing  the  needle 
away  from  the  pole :  you  miglit  turn  it  round 
and  round  as  often  as  you  pleased,  but,  left  to 
Itself,  it  would  still  settle  at  the  north.    Our 
great  commercial  cities  were  the  natural  reposi- 
tories where  money  centred  and  settled.    Tiiere 
it  was  wanted,  and  it  was  more  valuable  if  left 
there  than  if  carried  into  the  interior.    Any  in- 
telligent business  man  in  the  West  would  rather 
have  money  paid  him  for  a  debt  in  New- York 
than  at  his  own  door.    It  was  worth  more  to 
him.    If,  then,  specie  was  forced,  by  treasury 
tactics,  to  take  a  direction  contrary  to  the  natu- 
ral course  of  business,  and  to  move  from  oast  to 
west,  the  operation  would  be  beneficial  to  none 
injurious  to  all.     It  was  not  in  the  power  of  gov- 
ernment to  keep  it  in  a  false  direction  or  posi- 
tion.    Specie  was  in  exile  whenever  it  was  forced 
out  of  that  place  where  business  called  for  it. 
Such  an  operation  did  no  real  good.    It  was  a 
forced  movement  and  was  soon  overcome  by  tlio 
natural  course  of  things. 

"  Mr.  C.  was  well  aware  that  men  miglit  be 
deluded  and  mystified  on  this  subject,  and  that 
while  the  delusion  lasted,  this  treasury  order 
might  be  held  up  before  the  eyes  of  men  as  a 
splendid  arrangement  in  finance;  but  it  was 
only  like  the  natural  rainbow,  which  owed  its 
very  existence  to  the  mist  in  which  it  had  its 
being.  The  moment  the  atmosphere  was  clear, 
its  bright  colors  vanished  from  the  view.  So  it 
would  be  with  this  matter.  The  specie  of  the 
country  must  resume  its  natural  course.  JIan 
might  as  well  escape  from  the  physical  necessi- 
ties of  their  nature,  as  from  the  laws  which  gov- 
erned the  movements  of  finance :  and  the  man 
who  professed  to  reverse  or  dispense  with  t'<s 
one  was  no  greater  quack  than  he  who  made 
the  same  professions  with  regard  to  the  other. 

"  But  it  was  said  to  be  the  distribution  bill 
which  had  done  all  the  mischief;  and  .Mr.  C. 
was  ready  to  admit  that  the  manner  in  which 
the  government  had  attempted  to  carry  that 
law  into  effect  might  in  part  have  furnished  tlio 
basis  for  such  a  supposition.  lie  had  no  doubt 
that  the  jiecuniary  evils  of  the  country  had  been 
aggravated  by  the  manner  in  which  this  had 
been  done." 

Mr.  Webster  also  replied  to  Mr.  Benton,  in  an 
elaborate  speech,  in  which,  before  arguing  the 
legal  question,  ho  said : 


i 


"  1 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


699 


liscovered.    So  far  aa 
had  been  to  derange 
vnd  to  give  it  a  direc-. 
e  of  business.     The 
r,  could  not  see  how 
eet  could  operate  to 
emed  to  supijose  that 
to  east,  or  from  cast 
ittle  elfect.     Jloncy, 
3uld  always  move  ac- 
rse  of  business  trans- 
t  indeed  be  disturbed 
ike  forcing  the  needle 
miglit  turn  it  round 
1  picased,  but,  left  to 
'  at  the  north.    Our 
•e  the  natural  rcposi- 
l  and  settled.    There 
more  valuable  if  left 
he  interior.    Any  in- 
le  West  would  rather 
a  debt  in  New-York 
t  was  worth  more  to 
forced,  by  treasury 
contrary  to  the  natu- 
to  move  from  east  to 
be  beneficial  to  none, 
:.  in  the  poux'r  of  gov- 
Ise  direction  or  posi- 
hcnever  it  was  forced 
isiness  called  for  it. 
'eal  good.    It  was  a 
con  overcome  by  the 

that  men  might  be 
;his  subject,  and  that 
this  treasury  order 
lie  eyes  of  men  as  a 
inance;  but  it  was 
)ow,  which  owed  its 
i  in  which  it  hud  its 
mosphere  was  clear, 
•om  the  view.  So  it 
The  specie  of  the 
xtural  course.  Jlan 
the  physical  necessi- 
tho  laws  which  gov- 
lance :  and  the  wan 
r  dispense  with  f'a 
than  he  who  made 
egard  to  the  other, 
;he  distribution  bill 
lischief ;  and  .Mr.  C. 
lie  manner  in  which 
iptcd  to  carry  that 
t  have  furnished  tiie 
.  He  had  nn  doulit 
he  country  had  been 
in  which  this  had 


to  Mr.  Benton,  in  an 
before  arguing  the 


"  The  honorable  member  from  Missouri  (Mr. 
Benton)  objects  even  to  giving  the  resolution  to 
rescii.d  a  second  reading.  lie  avails  himself  of 
his  right,  though  it  be  not  according  to  general 
practice,  to  arrest  the  progress  of  the  measure 
at  its  first  stage.  TJiis,  at  least,  is  open,  bold, 
and  manly  warfare.  The  honorable  member,  in 
Ills  elaborate  speech,  founds  his  opposition  to 
this  resolution,  and  his  support  of  the  treasury 
order,  on  those  general  principles  respecting 
ciureucy  which  he  is  known  to  entertain,  and 
which  he  has  maintained  for  many  years.  His 
opinions  some  of  us  regard  as  altogether  ultra 
and  impracticable ;  looking  to  a  state  of  things 
not  desirable  in  itself,  even  if  it  were  practica- 
ble ;  and,  if  it  were  desirable,  as  being  far  be- 
yond the  power  of  this  government  to  bring 
about. 

"  The  honorable  member  has  manifested  much 
perseverance  and  abundant  labor,  most  undoubt- 
edly, in  support  of  his  opinions ;  he  is  under- 
stood, also,  to  have  had  countenance  from  high 
places ;  and  what  new  hopes  of  success  the  pre- 
sent moment  holds  out  to  him,  I  am  not  able  to 
judge,  but  v,-e  shall  probably  soon  see.  It  is  pre- 
cisely on  these  general  and  long-known  opinions 
tiiat  he  rests  his  su{)port  of  the  treasury  order. 
A  question,  therefore,  is  at  once  raised  between 
the  gentleman's  principles  and  opinions  on  the 
subject  of  the  cuiTcncy,  and  the  principles  and 
opinions  which  have  generally  prevailed  in  the 
country,  and  which  are,  and  have  been,  entirely 
opposite  to  his.  That  question  is  now  about  to 
h  put  to  the  vote  of  the  Senate.  In  the  pro- 
gross  and  by  the  termination  of  this  discussion, 
TC  shall  learn  whether  the  gentleman's  senti- 
ments arc  or  are  not  to  prevail,  so  far,  at  least, 
as  the  Senate  is  concerned.  The  country  will 
rejuice,  I  am  sure,  to  see  some  declaration  of  the 
opinions  of  Congress  on  a  subject  about  which 
so  much  has  been  said,  and  which  is  so  well  cal- 
culated, by  its  perpetual  agitation,  to  disquiet 
and  disturb  the  confidence  of  society. 

"  AV'e  are  now  fast  approaching  the  day  when 
one  administratiou  goes  out  of  office,  and  an- 
other is  to  come  in.  The  country  has  an  inte- 
rest in  learning,  as  soon  as  possible,  whether  the 
new  administration,  while  it  receives  the  power 
and  patronage,  is  to  inherit,  also,  the  topics  and 
the  projects  of  the  past ;  whether  it  is  to  keep 
up  tlic  iivowal  of  the  same  objects  and  the  same 
schemes,  especially  in  regard  to  the  currencv. 
The  order  of  the  Secretary  is  prospective,  an  1, 
on  the  face  of  it,  perpetual.  Nothing  in  )r 
about  it  gives  it  the  least  appearance  of  a  tem- 
.porary  measure.  On  the  contrary,  its  terms 
imply  no  limitation  in  point  of  duration,  and  the 
gradual  manner  in  which  it  is  to  come  into  ope- 
lutioii  shows  plainly  an  intention  of  making  it 
llic  settled  and  permanent  policy  of  government. 
Indeed,  it  i's  but  now  beginning  its  complete  ex- 
istence. It  is  only  live  or  six  days  since  its  full 
operation  has  commenced.  Is  it  to  stand  as  the 
law  of  the  land  and  the  rule  of  the  treasury, 
under  the  administration  which  is  to  ensue? 


And  are  those  notions  of  an  exclusive  specie 
currency,  and  opposition  to  all  banks,  on  which 
it  is  defended,  to  be  espoused  and  maintained  by 
the  new  administration,  as  they  have  been  by  its 
predecessci  ?  These  are  questions,  not  of  mere 
curiosity,  but  of  the  highest  interest  to  the 
whole  country.  In  considering  this  order,  the 
first  thing  naturally  i.s,  to  look  for  the  causes 
which  led  to  it,  or  are  assigned  for  its  promulga- 
tion. And  these,  on  the  face  of  the  order  itself, 
are  declared  to  be  '  complaints  which  have  been 
made  of  frauds,  speculations,  and  monopolies,  in 
the  purchase  of  the  public  lands,  and  the  aid 
which  is  said  to  be  given  to  efliect  these  objects, 
by  excessive  bank  credits,  and  dangerous,  if  not 
partial,  facilities  through  bank  drafts  and  bank 
deposits,  and  the  general  evil  influence  likely  to 
result  to  the  public  interest,  and  especially  the 
safety  of  the  great  amount  of  money  in  the  trea- 
sury, and  the  sound  condition  of  the  currency 
of  the  country^  from  the  further  exchange  of  the 
national  domain  in  this  manner,  and  chiefly  for 
bank  credits  and  paper  money.' 

''  This  is  the  catalogue  of  evils  to  be  cured  by 
this  order.    In  what  these  frauds  consist,  what 
are  the  monopolies  complained  of,  or  what  is 
precisely  intended  by  these  injurious  .specula- 
tions, we  are  not  informed.    All  is  left  on  the 
general  surmise  of  fraud,  speculation,  and  mono- 
poly.    It  is  not  avowed  or  intimated  tiiat  the 
government  has  sustained  any  loss,  either  by 
the  receipt  of  the  bank  notes  which  proved  not 
to  be  equivalent  to  specie,  or  in  any  other  way. 
And  it  is  not  a  little  remarkable  that  these  evils, 
of  fraud,  speculation,  and  monopoly,  should  have 
become  so  enormous  and  so  notorious,  on  the 
11th  of  July,  as  to  require  this  executive  inter- 
ference for  their  suppression,  and  yet  that  they 
should  not  have  reached  such  a  height  as  to 
make  it  proper  to  lay  the  subject  before  Con- 
gress, although  Congress  remained  in  session 
until  within  seven  days  of  the  date  of  the  order. 
And  what  makes  this  circumstance  still  more 
remarkable,  is  the  fact  that,  in  bis  annual  mes- 
sage, at  the  commencement  of  the  same  session, 
the  President  had  spoken  of  the  rapid  sales  of 
the  public  lands  as  one  of  the  most  gratifying 
proofs  of  the  general  prosperity  of  the  country, 
without  suggesting  that  any  danger  whatever 
was  to  be  apprehended  from  fraud,  speculation, 
or  monopoly.     His  words  were:  'Among  the 
evidences  of  the  increasing  prosperity  of  the 
country,  not  the  least  gratifying,  is  that  aiibrdcd 
by  the  receipts  from  the   sales  of  the  public 
lands,  which  amount,  in  the  present  year,  to  the 
unexpected  sum  of  eleven  millions.'     From  tlie 
time  of  the  delivery  of  that  message,  dovMi  to 
the  date  of  the  treasury  order,  there  bad  not 
been  the  least  change,  so  far  as  I  know,  or  so 
far  as  we  are  informed,  in  the  manner  of  receiv- 
ing jiaymeiit  for  the  public  l.'inds.     Every  thini' 
stood,  on  the  11th  of  July,  1830,  as  it  had  stood 
at  the  opening  of  the  session,  in  December,  1835. 
How  so  different  a  view  of  things  happened  to 
be  taken  at  the  two  periods,  we  may  be  able  to 


I      L 


'M,       I 


kl'4 


i   ' 


700 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


learn,  perhaps,  in  the  further  progress  of  this 
debate. 

"The  order  speaks  of  the  'evil  influence' 
likely  to  result  from  the  further  exchange  of  the 
public  lands  into  '  paper  money.'    Now,  this  is 
the  very  language  of  the  gentleman  from  Mis- 
souri.    He  habitually  speaks  of  the  notes  of  all 
banks,  however  solvent,  and  however  promptly 
their  notes  may  bo  redeemed  in  gold  and  silver, 
as  '  paper  money.'     The  Secretary  has  adopted 
the  honorable  member's  phrases,  and  he  speaks, 
too,  of  all  the  bank  notes  received  at  the  land 
offices,  although  every  one  of  them  is  redeem- 
able in  specie,  on  demand,  but  as  so  much  '  paper 
money.'    In  this  respect,  also,  sir,  I  hope  wo 
may  know  more  as  we  grow  older,  and  be  able 
to  learn  whether,  in  times  to  come,  as  in  times 
recently  passed,  the  justly  obnoxious  and  odious 
character  of  'paper  money'  is  to  be  applied  to 
the  issues  of  all  the  banks  in  all  the  States, 
with  whatever  punctuality  they  redeem  their 
bills.     This  is  quite  new,  as  financial  language. 
By  paper  money,  in  its  obnoxious  sense,  I  under- 
stand paper  issues  on  credit  alone,  without  capi- 
tal, without  funds  assigned  for  its  payment,  rest- 
ing only  on  the  good  faith  and  the  future  ability 
of  those  who  issue  it.     Such  was  the  paper  mo- 
ney of  our  revolutionary  times ;  and  such,  per- 
haps, may  have  been  the  true  character  of  the 
paper  of  particular  institutions  since.    But  the 
notes  of  banks  of  competent  capitals,  limited  in 
amount  to  a  due  proportion  to  such  capitals, 
made  payable  on  demand  in  gold  and  silver,  and 
always  so  paid  on  demand,  are  paper  money  in 
no  sense  but  one ;  that  is  to  say,  they  are  made 
of  paper,  and  they  circulate  as  money.     And  it 
may  be  proper  enough  for  those  who  maintain 
that  nothing  should  so  circulate  but  gold  and 
silver,  to  denominate  such  bank  notes  'paper  mo- 
ney,^ since  they  regard  them  but  as  paper  intrud- 
ers into  channels  which  should  flow  only  with 
gold  and  silver.     If  this  language  of  the  order 
is  authentic,  and  is  to  be  so  hereafter,  and  all 
bank  notes  are  to  be  regarded  and  stigmatized 
as  mere  '  paper  money,'  the  sooner  the  country 
knows  it  the  better. 

"Tiic  member  from  Missouri  charges  those 
who  wish  to  rescind  the  treasury  order  witli 
two  objects :  first,  to  degrade  and  disgrace  the 
President ;  and,  next,  to  overthrow  the  consti- 
tutional currency  of  the  country.  For  my  own 
part,  sir,  I  denounce  nobody  ;  I  seek  to  degrade 
or  disgrace  nobody.  Holding  the  order  illegal 
an(i  unwise,  I  shall  certainly  vote  to  rescind  it ; 
and,  in  the  discliarge  of  this  duty,  I  hope  I  Jim 
not  expected  to  shrink  back,  lest  I  might  do 
something  which  might  call  in  question  the  wis- 
dom of  the  Secrctar}',  or  even  of  tiie  President. 
And  I  hope  that  so  much  of  independence  as 
may  be  manifested  by  free  discussion  and  an 
honest  vote  is  not  to  cause  denunciation  from 
any  qiiailer.     If  it  should,  iuL  it  come." 

It  became  a  very  extended  debate,  in  which 


Mr.  Niles,  Mr.  Rives,  Mr.  Hubbard,  Mr.  South- 
ard, Mr.  Strange  of  N.  C,  Mr.  Clay,  Mr.  Walker 
of  Miss.,  and  others  partook.    The  subject  havinp 
been  referred  to  the  committee  of  public  lands 
of  which  Mr.  Walker  was  chairman,  reported  a 
bill,  "  limiting  and  designating  the  funds  receiv- 
able for  the  revenues  of  the  United  States ; "  the 
object  of  which  was  to  rescind  the  treasury  cir- 
cular without  naming  it,  and  to  continue  tlie 
receipt  of  bank  notes  in  payment  of  all  dues  to 
the  government.    Soon  after  the  bill  was  re- 
ported, and  had  received  its  second  readir!g,  a 
motion  was  made  in  the  Senate  to  lay  the  im- 
pending subject  (public  lands)  on  the  tabic  for 
the  purpose  of  considering  the  bill  reported  by 
Mr.  Walker  to  limit  and  designate  the  funds 
receivable  in  public  dues.    Mr.  Benton  was  taken 
by  surprise  by  this  motion,  which  was  imme- 
diately agreed  to,  and  the  bill  ordered  to  be  en- 
grossed for  a  third  reading  the  next  day.    To 
that  third  reading  Mr.  Benton  looked  for  liis 
opportunity  to  speak ;  and  availed  liimself  of  it, 
commencing  his  speech  with  giving  the  reason 
why  he  did  not  speak  the  evening  before  when 
the  question  was  on  the  engroi^sment  of  the 
bill.    He  said  he  could  not  have  foreseen  tliat 
the  su  jject  depending  before  the  Senate,  the  bill 
for  limiting  the  sales  of  the  public  lands  to  ac- 
tual settlers,  would  be  laid  down  for  the  purpose 
of  taking  up  this  subject  out  of  its  order  5  and, 
therefore,  had  not  brought  with  him  some  mem- 
orandums which  he  intended  to  use  when  this 
subject  came  up.    He  did  not  choose  to  ask  for 
delay,  because  his  habit  was  to  speak  to  subjects 
when  they  were  called ;  and  in  this  particular 
cause  he  did  not  think  it  material  when  he  spoke ; 
for  he  was  very  well  aware  that  his  speaking 
would  not  afiect  the  fate  of  the  bill.    It  would 
pass ;  and  that  was  known  to  all  in  the  chamber. 
It  was  known  to  the  senator  from  Ohio  (Mr. 
Ewing)   who   indulged  himself  in  saying  he 
I  hought  otherwise  a  few  days  ago ;  but  that 
was  only  a  good-natured  way  of  stimulating  his 
fi  iends,  and  bringing  them  up  to  the  scratch. 
The  bill  would  pass,  and  that  by  a  good  vote, 
for  it  would  have  the  vote  of  the  opposition,  and 
a  division  of  the  administration  vote.    Why, 
then,  did  he  speak  ?    Because  it  was  due  to  liis 
position,  and  the  part  he  had  acted  on  the  cur- 
rency questions,  to  express  his  sentiments  more 
fully  on  this  bill,  so  vital  to  the  general  curren- 
cy, than  could  be  done  by  a  mere  negative  vote. 


reminded 

speech  on 

that  two  1 

coraplishe 

the  implie 

for  violatii 

stroying  t 

cinclly,  th 

the  States 

respect  to 

it  was  ful 

opposition 

ject;  and, 

lieved  it  w 

tiie  origint 

form  it  wai 

especially  1 

the  end  of 

Mr.  B.  t 

committee, 

ology,  not 

in  the  spiri 

meat.    Th< 

things,  and 

ffas  a  thing 

tion  of  tha 

The  bill  of 

exclusive  oi 

and  used  v 

were  not  r 

fair  subject 

they  went  t 

tution,  and 

Dai(]  in  soni 


ANNO  1886.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


701 


ibbard,  Mr.  South- 
Clay,  Mr.  Walker 
The  subject  havinp 
ec  of  public  lands, 
kirman.  reported  a 
;  the  funds  recciv- 
lited  States ; "  the 
d  the  treasury  cir- 
i  to  continue  the 
tient  of  all  dues  to 
the  bill  was  re- 
second  readirJg,  a 
ite  to  lay  the  im- 
)  on  the  table  for 
B  bill  reported  by 
signate  the  funds 
Benton  was  taken 
(V'hich  was  imme- 
ordered  to  be  cn- 
le  next  day.    To 
m  looked  for  his 
iiiled  liimself  of  it, 
giving  the  reason 
ning  before  when 
igroosment  of  the 
lave  foreseen  that 
he  Senate,  the  bill 
iblic  lands  to  ae- 
vn  for  the  purpose 
jf  its  order ;  and, 
h  him  some  mcm- 
to  use  when  this 
choose  to  ask  for 
)  speak  to  subjects 
in  this  particular 
al  when  he  spoke ; 
bat  his  speaking 
le  bill.    It  would 
dl  in  the  chamber, 
from  Ohio  (Mr. 
If  in  saying  he 
rs  ago  ;  but  that 
af  stimulating  his 
I  to  the  scratch. 
by  a  good  vote, 
le  opposition,  and 
ion  vote.    Why, 
it  was  due  to  his 
acted  on  the  cur- 
sentiments  more 
e  general  curreu- 
're  negative  vote. 


He  should,  therefore,  speak   against    it,  and 
should  direct  his  attention  to  the  bill  reported 
i)y  the  Public  Land  Committee,  which  had  so 
totally  changed  the  character  of  the  proceeding 
on  this  subject.    The  rocision  of  the  treasury 
order  was  introduced  a  resolution— it  went  out 
a  resolution— but  it  came  back  a  bill,  and  a  bill 
to  regulate,  not  the  land  office  receipts  only,  but 
all  the  receipts  of  the  federal  government ;  and 
in  this  new  form  is  to  become  statute  law,  and 
a  law  to  operate  on  all  the  revenues,  and  to  re- 
peal all  other  laws  upon  the  subject  to  which  it 
lolated.    In  this  new  form  it  assumes  an  im- 
portance, and  acquires  an  effect,  infinitely  be- 
)ond  a  resolution,  and  becomes  in  fact,  as  well 
as  in  name,  a  totally  new  measure.    Mr.  B. 
reminded  the  Senate  that  he  had,  in  his  first 
•peech  on  this  suV-hct,  given  it  as  his  opinion, 
that  two  main  objects  were  proposed  to  be  ac- 
romplished  by  the  rescinding  resolution ;  first, 
the  implied  condemnation  of  President  Jackson 
for  violating  the  laws  and  constitution,  and  de- 
stroying the  prosperity  of  the  country ;  and,  se- 
condly, the  imposition  of  the  paper  currency  of 
the  States  upon  the  federal  government.    With 
respect  to  the  first  of  these  objects,  he  presumed 
it  was  fully  proved  by  the  speeches  of  all  the 
opposition  senators  who  had  spoken  on  this  sub- 
ject ;  and,  with  respect  to  the  second,  he  be- 
lieved it  would  find  its  proof  in  the  change  which 
the  original  resolution  had  undergone,  and  the 
form  it  was  now  assuming  of  statute  law,  and 
especially  with  the  proviso  which  was  added  at 
the  end  of  the  second  section. 

Mr.  B.  then  took  up  the  bill  reported  by  the 
committee,  and  remarked,  first,  upon  its  phrase- 
ology, not  in  the  spirit  of  verbal  criticism,  but 
in  the  spirit  of  candid  objection  and  fair  argu- 
ment.   There  were  cases  in  wliich  words  were 


things,  and  this  was  one  of  those  cases.  Money 
ivas  a  thing,  and  the  only  words  in  the  constitu- 
tion of  that  thing  were,  "  gold  and  silver  coin." 
The  bill  of  the  committee  was  systematically 
exclusive  of  the  words  which  meant  this  thing, 
and  used  words  which  included  things  which 
were  not  money.  These  words  were,  then,  a 
fair  subject  of  objection  and  argument,  because 
they  went  to  set  aside  the  money  of  the  consti- 
tution, and  to  admit  the  public  revenues  to  be 
paid  in  something  which  w.-is  not  money.  The 
title  of  the  bill  uses  the  word  ''  funds."  It  pro- 
fesses to  designate  the  funds  receivable  for  the 


revenues  of  the  United  States.    Upon  this  word 
Mr.  B.  had  remarked  before,  as  being  one  of  the 
most  indefinite  in  the  English  language ;  and, 
so  far  from  signifying  money  only,  even  paper 
money  only,  that  it  comprehended  every  variety 
of  paper  security,  public  or  private,  individual  or 
corporate  out  of  which  money  could  be  raised. 
The  retention  of  this  word  by  the  committee, 
after  the  objections  made  to  it,  were  indicative 
of  their  intentions  to  lay  open  the  federal  trea- 
sury to  the  reception  of  something  which  was 
not  constitutional  money ;  and  this  intention, 
thus  disclosed  in  the  title  to  the  bill,  was  fully 
carried  ou  i  in  its  enactments.    The  words  "  legal 
currency  of  the  United  States  "  are  twice  used 
in  the  first  section,  when  the  words  "gold  and 
silver  "  would  have  been  more  appropriate  and 
more  definite,  if  hard  money  was  intended. 

Mr.  B.  admitted  that,  in  the  eye  of  a  regular 
bred  constitutional  lawyer,  legal  currency  might 
imply  constitutional  currency  5   but  certain  it 
was  that  the  common  and  popular  meaning  of 
the  phrase  was  not  limited  to  constitutional 
money,  but  included  every  currency  that  the 
statute  law  made  receivable  for  debts.    Thus, 
the  notes  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  were 
generally  considered  as  legal  currency,  because 
receivable  by  law  in  payment  of  public  dues ; 
and  in  like  manner  the  notes  of  all  specie-paying 
banks  would,  under  the  committee's  bill,  rise  to 
the  dignity  of  legal  currency.    The  second  sec- 
tion of  the  bill  twice  used  the  word  "  cash ;  "  a 
word  which,  however  understood  at  the  Bank 
of  England,  where  it  always  means  ready  money, 
and  where  ready  money  signifies  gold  coin  in 
hand,  yet  with  the  banks  with  which  wo  have 
to  deal  it  has  no  such  meaning,  but  includca  all 
sorts  of  current  paper  money  on  hand,  as  well 
as  gold  and  silver  on  hand. 

Having  remarked  upon  the  phraseology  of  the 
bill,  and  shown  that  a  paper  currency  composed 
of  the  notes  of  a  thousand  local  banks  not  only 
might  become  the  currency  of  the  federal  go- 
vernment, but  was  evidently  intended  to  bo 
made  its  currency ;  and  that  in  the  face  of  all 
the  protestations  of  the  friends  of  the  adminis- 
tration in  favor  of  re-establishing  the  national 
gold  currency,  Mr.  B.  would  now  take  up  the 
bill  of  the  committee  under  two  or  three  other 
aspects,  and  show  it  to  be  as  mistaken  iu  its 
design  as  it  would  be  impotent  ^  its  effect.  In 
the  first  place,  it  transferred  the  business  of 


!J„ 


702 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


BiippressiiiK  tho  Bmall    note  circulation   from 
the  deposit  branch  to  tho  collecting  branch  of 
tho  public  revenue.     At  present,  the  business 
was  in  a  course  of  progress  through  the  deposit 
banks,  as  a  condition   of  holdin}^  the   public 
moneys;  and,  as  such, had  a  place  in  the  deposit 
act  of  the  last  session,  and  also  had  a  place  in 
tho  President's  message  of   the  last  session, 
where  the  suppression  of  paper  currency  (uider 
twenty  dollars  was  expressly  referred  to  the 
action  of  the  deposit  banks,  and  as  a  condition 
of  their  retaining  the  public  deposits.     It  was 
through  the  deposit  banks,  and  not  through  the 
reception  of  local  bank  paper,  that  the  suppres- 
sion of  small  notes  should  be  effected.     In  the 
next  place,  he  objected  to  the  committee's  bill, 
because  it  proposed  to  makeabargn'n  with  each 
of  the  thousand  banks  now  in  the  United  States, 
and  the  hundreds  more  which  will  soon  be  born ; 
and  to  give  them  a  right— a  right  by  law— to 
have  their  notes  received  at  the  federal  treasury. 
He  was  against  such  a  bargain.     He  had  no  idea 
of  making  a  contract  with  these  thousand  banks 
for  the  reception  of  their  notes.     He  had  no  idea 
of  contracting  with   them,  and  giving  them  a 
right  to  plead  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States  against  us,  if,  at  any  time,  after  having 
agreed  to  receive  their  notes,  upon  condition 
that  they  would  give  up  their  small  circulation, 
they  should  choose  to  say  we  had  impaired  the 
contract  by  not  continuing  to  receive  them  ;  and 
so  either  relapse  into  the  issue  of  this  small  trash, 
or  have  recourse  to  the  judicial  process  to  com- 
pel the  United  States  to  abide  the  contract,  and 
continue  the  reception  of  all  their  notes.     Mr. 
B.  had  no  idea  of  letting  down  this  federal  go- 
vernment to  such  petty  and  inconvenient  bar- 
gains with  a  thousand  moneyed  corporations. 
The  government  of  the  United  States  ought  to 
act  as  a  government,  and  not  as  a  contractor. 
It  should  prescribe  conditions,  and  not  make 
bargains.     It  should  give   the   law.     He   was 
against  these  bargains,  even  if  they  were  good 
ones ;  but  they  were  bad  bargains,  wretchedly 
bad,  and  ought  to  be  rejected  as  such,  even  if 
all  higher  and  nobler  considerations  wero  out  of 
the  question.     What  is  the  consideration  that 
the  United  States  is  to  receive  ?     A  mere  indi- 
vidual agreement  with  each  bank  by  itself,  that 
in  three  years  it  will  cease  to  issue  notes  under 
ten  dollars,  and  in  five  years  it  will  cease  to  issue 
notes  under  twenty  dollars.    What  is  the  price 


which  she  pays  for  this  consideration  ?  In  tho 
first  place,  it  receives  the  notes  of  such  bank  as 
gold  and  silver  at  all  the  land-offlres,  custom- 
houses, and  j)ost-ofnce8,  of  the  United  States  • 
and,  of  course,  pays  them  out  again  hs  jiojd  and 
silver  to  all  her  debtors.  In  the  next  plMco,  it 
compels  the  deposit  banks  to  credit  them  as  casli. 
In  the  third  place,  it  accredits  the  whole  circu- 
lation of  the  banks,  and  makes  it  ciu'rent  all  over 
the  United  States,  in  consequence  of  universal 
receivability  for  all  federal  dues.  In  other  words 
it  endorses,  so  far  as  credit  is  concerned  the 
whole  circulation  of  every  bank  that  comes  into 
the  bargain  thus  proposed.  This  is  certainly  a 
most  wretched  bargain  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States— a  bargain  in  which  what  she  receives  is 
ruinous  to  her ;  for  the  more  local  payment  she 
receives  in  payment  of  her  revenues,  the  worse 
for  her,  and  the  sooner  will  her  treasury  be  filled 
with  unavailable  funds. 

Mr,  B.  having  gone  over  these  objections  to 
the  committee's  bill,  would  now  ascend  to  a 
class  of  objections  of  a  higher  and  graver  cha- 
racter.     He  had  already  rcmai'ked  that  the 
committee  had  carried  out  a  resolution,  and  had 
brought  back  a  bill ;  that  the  committee  pro- 
posed a  statutory  enactment,  where  the  senator 
from  Ohio  [Mr.  Ewing],  and  the  senator  from 
Virginia  [Mr.  Rives],  had  only  proposed  ajdinl 
resolution;  and  he  had  already  further  remarked, 
that  in  addition  to  this  total  change  in  the 
mode  of  action,  the  committee  had  added  what 
neither  of  these  senators  had  proposed,  a  clause, 
under  a  proviso,  to  enact  paper  money  into  cash 
—to  pass  paper  money  to  the  credit  of  the 
United  States,  as  cash— and  to  punish,  l)y  the 
loss  of  tho  deposits,  any  deposit  bank  which 
should  refuse  so  to  receive,  so  to  credit,  and  so 
to  pass,  the  notes  "receivable  "  under  the  piovi- 
sions  of  their  bill.   These  two  changes  make  en- 
tirely a  new  measure— one  of  wholly  a  dill'erent 
character  from  the  resolutions  of  the  two  semi- 
tors — a  measure  which  openly  and  in  terms,  and 
under  penalties  undertakes  to  make  local  State 
paper  a  legal  tender  to  the  federal  government. 
and  to  compel  the  reception  of  all  its  revi  nues  in 
the  notes  •' receivable  "  under  (he  i)rovisions  of 
the  committee's  bill.    After  this  gigantic  step— 
this  colossal  movement — in  favor  of  paper  nionev, 
there  was  but  one  step  more  for  the  connnitfce 
to  take ;  and  that  was  to  make  these  notes  a 
legal  tender  in  all  payments  from  the  federal 


ANNO  1836,    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


708 


y 


government.      Hut  that  step  was  unnecessary 
to  be  taken  in  vvonln,  for  it  is  taken  in  fact,  wlien 
the  other  givat  step  becomes  law.     For  it  is  in- 
contestable tiiat  what  tlio  govenunent  receives, 
it  must  pay  out;  and  what  it  pays  out  becomes 
the  ctuTeuoy  of  (he  country.     So  tliat  wiien 
this  bill  passes,  (lio  paper  money  of  the  local 
banks  will  bo  a  tender  by  law  to  the  federal 
government,  and  a  tender  by  duresse  from  the 
government   to  its  creditors  and   the   people. 
This  is  tho  state  to  which  the  committee's  bill 
will  brin-  us  !  and  now,  let  us  pause  and  con- 
template, for  a  moment,  the  position  we  occujiy, 
and  the  vast  ocean  of  paper  on  which  we  are 
propose 'd  to  be  embarked. 

We  stand  upon  a  constitution  which  recog- 
nizes nothiii-  but  gold  and  silver  for  money ;  wu 
ftand  upon  a  legislation  of  near  fifty  years, 
tt-iiich  reco-rnizes  nothing  but  gold  and  silver 
money.     Now,  for  the  first  time,  we  have  a  sta- 
tutory   enactment  proposed  to  recognize   the 
paper  of  a  wilderness  of  local  banks  for  money, 
and  in  so  doing  to  repeal  all  prior  legislation  by 
law,  and  the  constitution  by  fact.    This  is  an 
era  in  our  legislation.     It  is  statute  law  to  con- 
trol all  other  law,  and  is  not  a  resolution  to 
aid  other  laws,  and  to  express  the  o])inions  of 
Congress.     It  is  statutory  enactment  to  create 
law,  and  not  a  declaratory  resolution  to  expound 
law ;  and  the  effects  of  this  statute  would  be,  to 
make  a  paper  government— to  insure  the  ex- 
portation of   our  specie— to  leave  the   State 
banks  without  foundations  to  rest  upon— to  pro- 
duce a  certain  catastrophe  in  the  whole  paper 
system— to  revive  the  pretensions  of  the  United 
States  Bank— and  to  fasten  for  a  time  the  Adam 
Smith  system  upon  the  Federal  Government  and 
the  whole  Union. 


Mr.  Kenton  concluded  his  speech  with  a 
warning  against  the  coming  explosion  of  the 
banks  ;  and  said : 

The  day  of  revulsion  may  come  sooner  or  later, 
and  its  eilects  may  be  more  or  less  disastrous ;  but 
come  it  ninst,  and  disastrous,  to  some  degree,  it 
must  be.  The  present  bloat  in  the  paper  system 
cannot  continue ;  the  present  depreciation  of 
money  .•xeinplified  in  the  high  price  of  every 
tiling  dependent  upon  the  home  market,  cannot 
last.  The  revulsion  will  come,  us  surely  a.s  it  did 
m  1819-20.  But  it  will  come  with  less  force  if 
the  treasury  order  is      .,  itained,  and  if  paper 


money  shall  bo  excluded  from  tho  federal  trea- 
snry.     But,  let  these  things  go  as  they  may, 
and  let  reckless  or  mischievous  banks  do  what 
they  i.lease,  there  is  still  a  refuge  for  tho  wise 
and  good;  there  i.s  still  an  ark  of  safety  fop 
every  honest  bank,  and  for  every  prudent  man  j 
it  is  in  the  mass  of  gold  and  silver  now  in  tho 
country-the  seventy  odd  millions  which  the 
wisdom  of  President  Jackson's  administration 
has  accumnlated-and  by  getting  their  share  of 
which,  all  who  arc  so  dispost.'d  can  take  care  of 
themselves.  Sir  (said  Mr.  B.),  I  have  jierformed 
a  duty  to  myself,  not  j.leasant,  but  necessary. 
This  bill  is  to  be  an  era  in  our  legislation  and  in 
our  political  history.     It  is  to  be  a  point  upon 
which  the  future  age  will  be  thrown  back,  and 
from  which  future  consequences  will  be  traced. 
I  separate  myself  fiom  it;  I  wash  my  hands  of 
it ;  I  oppose  it.    I  am  one  of  those  who  pro- 
mised gold,  not  paper.    T  promised  the  currency 
of  the  constitution,  not  tho  currency  of  corpo- 
rations.    I  did   not  join  in  putting  down  tho 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  to  put  up  a  wilder- 
ness of  local  banks.     I  did  not  join  in  putting 
down  the  paper  curency  of  a  national  bank,  to 
pnt  up  a  national  paper  currency  of  a  thousand 
local  banks.    I  did  not  strike  Cicsar  to  make 
Anthony  master  of  Rome. 

Mr.  Walker  replied  to  what  he  called  the  biU 
of  indictment  preferred  by  the  senator  from 
Missouri  against  the  committee  on  public  lands; 
and  after  some  prefatory  remarks  went  on  to 
say: 


But  when  that  senator,  having  exhausted 
the  argument,  or  having  none  to  otter,  had  in- 
dulged in  violent  and  intemperate  denunciation 
of  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands,  ami  of  the 
report  made  by  him  as  their  organ    Mr    W 
could  not  withhold  the  expression  of  his  sur- 
prise and  a,stoni8hment.     Mr.  W.  said  it  was  his 
good  fortune  to  be  upon  terms  of  the  kindest 
personal  intercourse  with  every  senator,  and 
these  friendly  relations  should  not  be  inter- 
rupted by  any  aggression  upon  his  part.     And 
now,  Mr.  W.  said,  he  called  upon   the  whole 
N3nate  to  bear  witness,  as  he  was  sure  -thev  all 
cheerfully  would,  that  in  this  controversv^  he 
was  not  the  aggressor,  and  that  nothing  had 
been  done  or  said  by  him  to  provoke  the  wrath 
ot  the  senator  from  Missouri,  unless,  indeed,  to 
dittor  Irom   him  in  opinion  ujjon  any  subject 
constituted  an  offence  in  the  mind  of  that  sena- 
tor    If  such  were  the  views  of  tliat gentleman, 
It  he  was  prepared  to  immolate  every  senator 
who  would  not  worship  the  same  images  of  gold 
and  silver  which  decorated  the  political  chapel 


Warn 


704 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


of  the  honorable  gentleman,  Mr.  W.  was  fearful 
that  the  .senator  from  Missouri  would  do  execu- 
tion ujpon  everv  member  of  the  Senate  but 
himself,  and  be  l(>ft  here  alone  in  his  glory.  Mr. 
W.  said  lie  recurred  to  the  remarks  of  the 
senator  from  MiHsouri  with  feelings  of  regret, 
rather  than  of  anger  or  excitement ;  and  that 
he  could  not  but  hope,  that  when  the  senator 
from  Missouri  had  calmly  reflected  upon  this 
subject,  he  would  himself  see  much  to  regret 
in  the  course  ho  had  pursued  in  relation  to  the 
Committee  on  Public  Lands,  and  much  to  recall 
that  he  had  uttered  under  feelings  of  temponuy 
excitement.  Sir  (said  Mr.  W.),  being  deeply 
solicitous  to  preserve  unbroken  the  ranks  of  the 
democratic  party  in  this  body,  participating  with 
the  people  in  grateful  recollection  of  the  distin- 
guished services  rendered  by  the  senator  from 
Missouri  to  the  democracy  of  the  Union,  he 
would  pass  by  many  of  the  renuu  i.s  made  by 
that  senator  on  this  subject. 

"  [Mr.  Benton  here  rose  from  his  chair  and 
demanded,  with  much  warmth,  that  Mr.  Wnlker 
should  not  pass  by  one  of  them.  Mr.  \V.  asked, 
what  one  ?  Mr.  B.  replied,  in  an  angry  tone. 
Not  one,  sir.  Then  Mr.  W.  said  ho  would  ex- 
amine them  all,  and  in  a  spirit  of  perfect  free- 
dom ;  that  he  would  endeavor  to  return  blow 
for  blow ;  and  that,  if  the  senator  from  Missouri 
desired,  as  it  appeared  he  did,  an  angry  contro- 
versy with  him,  in  .ill  its  consequences,  in  and 
out  of  this  house,  he  could  be  gratified.] 

"Sir   (said  Mr.  W.),  why  has  the   senator 
from  Missouri  assailed  the  Committee  on  Pub- 
lic Lands,  and  himself,  as  its  humblo  organ  ? 
lie  was  not  the  author  of  this  measure,  so  much 
denounced  by  the  senator  from  Missouri,  nor 
had  he  said  one  word  upon  the  subject.     The 
measure  originated  with  the  senator  from  Vir- 
ginia [Mr.  Kives].     He  was  the  author  of  the 
measure,  and  had  been,  and  still  was,  its  able, 
zealous,  and  successful  advocate.     Whf,  then, 
had  the   senator  from   Missouri  assailed    him 
(Mr.  W.),    and  permitted  the    author   of  the 
measure  to  escape  unpunished  ?     Sir,  are  the  | 
arrows  which  appear  to  be  aimed  by  the  senator  ■ 
from  Missouri  at  the  humble  organ  of  the  Com- ' 
mittoc  on  Public  lands,  who  reported  this  bill,  \ 
intended  to  inflict  a  wound  in  another  quarter  ?  : 
Is  one  senator  the  ajjjwrent  object  of  assault,  | 
when  another  is  designed  as  the  real  victim  ?  J 
Sir,  when  the  senator  from  Missouri,  without  { 
any  provocation,   like  a  thunderbolt  from  an  I 
unclouded  sky,  broke  upon  the  Senate  in  a  pe" 
feet  tempest  of  wrath  and  fury,  bursting  upon 
his  poor  head  like  a  tropical  tornado,  did  he  in- 
tend to  sweep  before  the  avenging  storm  another 
individual  more  obnoxious  to  his  censure  ? 

"Sir  (said  Mr.  W.),the  .senator  from  Missouri 
has  thrice  repeated  the  prayer,  '  God  save  the 
country  fi'om  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands  ; ' 
but  Mr.  W.  fi;)!y  believed  if  the  prayer  of  tlie 
country  could  be  heard  within  these  walls, 
it  would  be,  God  save  us  from  the  wild,  vision- 
ary, ruinous,  and  impracticable  schemes  of  the 


senator  of  Missouri,  for  exclusive  gold  and  sil- 
ver currency ;  and  such  is  not  only  the  prayer 
of  the  country,  but  of  the  Senate,  with  scarcely 
a  dissenting  voice.     Sir,  if  the  senator  from 
Mi8.souri  could,  by  his  mandate,  in  direct  op- 
position to  the  views  of  the  President,  luivt')- 
foro  expressed,  sweep  from  existence  all  the 
banks  of  the  States,  and  establish  his  exclusive 
constitutional  currency  of  gold  and  silver,  he 
would  bring  upon  this  country  .«'enes  of  ruin 
and  distress  without  a  parallel— an  immediute 
bankruptcy  of  nearly  every  debtor,  and  of  al- 
most every  creditor  to  whom  large  amounts 
were  duo,  a  prodigious  depreciation  in  the  pria' 
of  all  property  and  all  products,  and  an  inmic- 
diate  cessation  by  States  and  individuals  of  near- 
ly every  work  of  private  enterprise  or  public 
improvement.     The  country  would  be  involved 
in  one  universal  bankruptcy,  and  near  the  grave 
of  the  nation's  prosperity  would  perhaps  repose 
the  scattered  fragments  of   those  great   and 
glorious   institutions  which  give  happiness  to 
millions  here,  and  hopes  to  millions  more  of 
disenthralment  Irom  despotic  power.     Sir,  in 
resistance  to  the  power  of  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  in  opposition  to  the  re-cstablish- 
ment  of  any  similar  institution,  the  senator  from 
Missouri  would  find  Mr.  W.  with  him ;  but  he 
could  not  enlist  as  a  recruit  in  this  new  crusade 
against  the  banks  of  his  own  and  every  other 
State  in  the  Union.     These  institutions,  whether 
for  good  or  evil,  are   created  by  the  Stiite.s, 
cherished  and  sustained  by  them,  in  many  ca.ses 
owned  in  whole  or  in  part  by  the  States,  and 
closely  united  with  their  prosperity ;  and  what 
right  have  we  to  destroy  them  ?     What  right 
had  he^  a  humble  servant  of  the  people  of  Alis- 
sissippi,  to  say  to  his  own,  or  any  other  State, 
your  State  legislation  is  wrong — your  State  in- 
stitution, your  State  banks,  must  be  aimihilated, 
and  we  will  legislate  here  to  effect  this  object. 
Are  we  the  masters  or  servants  of  the  .sovereign 
States,  that  we  dare  speak  to  them  in  language 
like  this  —  that  we  dare  attempt  to  prostrate 
here  those  institutions  which  are  created  and 
maintained    by  those   very   States  which  we 
represent   on   this  floor?     These  may  be  tiie 
opinions  entertained  by  some  senators  of  their 
duty  to  the  States  they  represent,  but  they  were 
not  his  (Mr.  Ws)  views  or  his  opinions.    He 
was  sincerely  desirous  to  co-operate  with  his 
State  in  limiting  any  dangerous  powers  of  tiie 
banks,  in  enlarging  the  circulation  of  gold  and 
silver,  and  in  suppressing  the  small  note  cur- 
rency, so  as  to  avoid  that  explosion  which  was 
to  be  apprehended  from  excessive  issues  of  bank 
paper.     But  a  total  annihilation  of  all  the  banks 
of  his  own  State,  now  pos>essing  a  chartered 
capital  of  near  forty  millions  of  dollars,  would, 
Mr.  W.  knew,  produce  almost  universal  bank- 
ruptcy, and  was  not,  he  believed,  anticipated  by 
;tti3'  one  of  hi;^  constituents. 

"  But  the  senator  from  Missouri  tells  us  tliat 
this  measure  of  the  committee  is  a  rei)eal  of  the 
constitution,  by  authorizing  the  receipt  of  paper 


'). 


I 


ANVO  1886.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


705 


1 


money  in  rcven.io  payments.     If  so,  then  the 
eoiiHtitiition  never  1ms  had  uri  existence ;  for  tJio 
period  cannot  I .-  (lesiRnated  when  |w,,er  money 
was   not  HO  roe,  ivahio  by  the  federal   govern- 
ment.    Ihis  speeum  of  money  was   expresHly 
mude  receivable  for  the  ,.,iblle  dues  by  an  act 
of  (.onsress,  passed  immediately  after  the  n.lop- 
tioii  of  the  c.nstitution,  an<l  which  remained  in 
tiiree   until  eighteen   hundred  and  eleven      It 
was  so  received  as  a  matter  of  practice,  from 
"itrh  een   hundred    and  eleven    until   eighteen 
iiindre,!  and  si.xf.en,  when,  again,  hy  an  act  of 
tongress  then  passed   and  which  baa  just  ex- 
pired, It  was  so  authorized  to  be  received  .luriuK 
all  tha    ,,eriod.     Now,  althougj,  tliefle  acts  have 
expired  there  IS  that  which  is  e.,uivaJent  to  a 
law  still   in   force,  expressly  authorizing  the 
notes  of  the  sj.ccic-paying  banks  of  the  States 
to  he  received  in  revenue  paymi    ts.    It  is  tlie 
joint  resolution  of  eighteen  hundred  and  six- 
teen, ad..pted  by  both  houses  of  Congres.s,  and 
approved  by  President  Madison. 

'•Where  is  the  distinction,  in  princiiile  as  re- 
gards the  reception  of  bank  paper  on  public  ac- 
count, between  the  two  provisions  ?    And  the 
senator  from  Mi  -.uri,  in  thus  denouncing  the 
bill  of  the  committee  as  a  repeal  of  the  ccmsti- 
ution  denounces  directly  the  President  of  the 
unitcc  states.    Congress,  no  more  than  a  State 
legislature,  can  make  any  thing  but  gold  or  sil- 
ver a  tender  in  payment  of  debts  by  one  citizen 
to  another;  but  that  Congress,  or  a  State  legis- 
lature, or  an  individual,  may  waive  their  con- 
stitutional rights,  and  receive  bank  paper  or 
(Iraits,  in  payment  of  any  debt,  is  a  principle  of 
universal  adoption  in  theory  and  pm  tice,  and  I 
never  doubted  by  any  one  until  at  the  present  ' 
session  by  the  senator  from  Missouri:     The 
distinction  of  the  senator  in  this  respect  was  as 
incomprehensible  to  him  (Mr.  W.)  as  he  be- 
lieved It  was  to  every  senator,  and,  indeed,  was 
discernible  only  by  the  magnifying  powers  of  a 
solar   microscope.      It  was    a    point-no-point, 
flhich,  like  the  logarithmic  spiral,  or  asymptote 
ot  the  hyperbolic  curve,  might  be  for  ever  ap- 
proached withoTit  reaching;  an  infinitesimal,  the 

hr  ifu  .,'^'1  ''^'''•'  ."°*  °"^>'  ^^'t^'^'it  length, 
breadth  thickness,  shape,  weight,  or  dimensions 
but  without  position— a  mere  imaginary  noth- 
ing, which  flitted  before  the  bewildered  vision 
01  the  honorable  senator,  when  traversing,  in 
his  fitful  somnambulism,  that  tesselated  pavo- 
ment  of  gold  silver,  and  bullion,  which  that 
cnator  delighted  to  occupy.  Sir,  the  senator 
rom  Missouri  might  have  heaped  mountain 
iighh.s  piles  of  metal;  he  might  have  swept. 


of  fifteen  hundred  millions,  and  Mr.  W.  would 
not   have   disturbed    his    beatific  visions,   nor 
would  any  other  senator- for  they  were  visions 
only,  that  could  never  bo  realized- but  when 
descendng  from  his  ethereal  flights,  ho  seizecl 
upon  the  Committee  on  Public  I,;inds  as  crMni- 
imis,  ariaingcd  them  as  violators  ..f  the  consti- 
tution and  prayed  Heaven  for  deliverance  from 
ttiem,  Mr.  W.  could  be  silent  no  i  nger     Yes 
even  tJien  he  would  have  passed  lightly  over 
the  ashes  of  the  theories  of  the  honorable  Sena- 
tor, for,  if  he  desired  to  make  assaults  upon  any 
It  would  be  upon  the  living,  and  not  the  deml 
but  that  senator,  in   the  opening  of  his  (Mr. 
VV.  H)  ad(lres.s,   had  rejected   the  olive   branch 
winch,  upon  the  urgent  solicitation  of  mutual 
neiids,  against  his  own  judgment,  be  had  ex- 
tended  to  the  honorable  senator.     The  senator 
rom  Missouri  had  thus,  in  substiince,  declared 
bis    voice  was  still  for  war.'     Be  it  so;  but  ho 
/Ar  w  X    ^'^^^^^  ^""'''  "•'•  recollect  that  he 
^iM.   ,^  ^'^^  ""*  ^^^^  nggressor;    and   that, 
whilst   ho  trusted   he  never  would  wantonly 
assail  the  feelings  or  reputation  of  any  .senator, 
ho  thanked  God  that  he  was  not  so  abject  or 
degraded  as  to  submit,  with  impunity,  to  un- 
provoked attacks  or  unfounded  accusations  from 
any  quarter.     Could  he  fhus  submit,  he  would 
be  unfit  to  represent  the  noble,  generous,  and 
gallant  people,  whose  rights  and  interests   it 
was  his  pride  and  glory  to  endeavor  to  protect 
whose  honor  and  character  w.  i  e  dearer  to  him 
tfian  life  itself,  and  should  never  be  tarnished 
by  any  act  of  his,  as  one  of  their  humble  repre- 
sentatives upon  this  floor." 


in   I-      n    ■       X-      A-    ,       '   "V-  A.,.f^ui,   „a,\K   swept, 

m  us  Quixotic  flight,  over  the  banks  of  the 
Miitos,  putting  to  the  sword  their  officers,  stock- 
holders, directory,  and  legislative  bodies  by 
«liieh  they  were  chartered;  he  jnight,  in  his 
rwenes,  have  demolished  their  chnrtor^  and 
-uHiined  their  paper  by  the  fire  of  his  elo- 
qiience;  he  might  have  transacted,  in  fancy 
mih  a  metallic  currency  of  twenty-eight  mil- 
lions m  circulation,  an  actual  annual  business 
Vol.  I.— 45 


Mr.   Rives  retunied  thanks  to  Mr.  Walker 
for  his  able  and  satisfactory  defence  of  the  bill, 
which  in  fact  was  I, is  own  resolution  changed 
into  a  bill.    He  should  not  be  able  to  add  much 
to  \\  hat  had  been  said  by  the  honorable  senator, 
but  was  desirous  of  adding  his  mite  in  reply  to  so 
much  of  what  had  been  so  zealously  urged  by 
the  senator  from  Missouri  (Mr.  Benton),  as  had 
j  not  been  touched  upon  by  the  chairman  of  the 
I  land  committee ;  and   did  so  in  an  elaborate 
speech  a  fi^w  days  .thereafter.    Mr.  Benton  did 
not  reply  to  either  of  the  sen.-vtors  ;  he  belieyed 
that  the  events  of  a  few  months  would  answer 
them,  and  the  vote  being  immediately  taken, 
the  bill  was  pa.ssed  almost  unanimously— only 
five  dissenting  votes.    The  yeas  and  naj-s  were: 

Yeas— Messrs.  Black,  Bro\vn.  Buchanan,Clay 
Clayton,  Crittenden,  Cuthbert,  Dana.  Davis 
Ewing  of  Illinois,  Ewing  of  Ohio,  Fulton,  Grun- 
dy, Hendricks,  Hubbard,  Kent,  King  of  Ala- 
bama, King. -.f  Georgia,  Knijrld,  .AIcKcan,  Moore, 
Nicholas,  Niles,Norvell,  Page,  Parker,  Prentiss 
Preston,  Rives,  Bobbins,  Robinson,  Sevier 
Southard,  Swift,  Tallmadge,  Tipton,  Tomlinson' 
Walker,  WaU,  Webster,  White.-4i. 


^       I 


706 


TimiTY  YEAIW  VIEW. 


Navh— MessrH.  Bonton,  Linn,  MorriB,  Riig- 
gles,  Wrif^ht — 5. 

The  nainoif  Mr.  Calhoun  is  not  in  either  list 
of  thcso  votoH.  lie  had  u  reason  for  not  votinf];, 
which  ho  cAprcHseJ  to  the  Senate,  before  the 
voto  was  taiion ;  thus : 

'•  lie  hml  liecn  very  anxious  to  express  his 
opinions  somewhat  at  lar^o  uikju  tills  subject. 
lie  put  no  faith  in  tliis  measure  to  arrest  the 
downward  course  of  the  coimtry.  Ho  Injlieved 
the  state  of  the  curren  y  was  almost  incurably 
bad,  80  tliat  it  was  very  doubtful  whether  the 
hij^liost  skill  and  wisdom  could  restore  it  to 
soundness  ;  and  it  was  d'  stincd,  at  no  distant 
time,  to  undergo  an  entire  revolution.  An  ox- 
plosion  he  considered  inevitable,  and  so  much 
the  greater,  the  longer  it  should  be  delayed. 
Mr.  C.  would  have  been  glad  to  go  over  the 
whole  subject ;  but  as  he  was  now  unprepared 
to  assign  his  reasons  for  the  vote  which  he 
might  give,  ho  was  unwilling  to  vote  at  all." 

The  cxplu.^ion  of  the  banks,  which  Mr.  Cal- 
houn considered  inevitable,  was  an  event  so  fully 
announced  by  its  "  shadow  coming  before," 
that  Mr.  Benton  was  astonished  that  so  many 
senators  could  be  blind  to  its  approach,  and 
willing,  by  law,  to  make  their  notes  receivable 
in  all  payments  to  the  federal  government.  The 
bill  went  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  where 
a  very  important  amendment  was  reported  from 
the  Committee  of  AVays  and  Means  to  which  the 
bill  had  been  referreil,  intended  to  preserve  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  his  control  over  the 
receivabilit}'  of  n  Jney  for  the  public  dues,  so  as 
to  enable  him  to  protect  the  constitutional  cur- 
rency and  reject  the  notes  of  banks  deemed  by 
him  to  be  unworthy  of  credit.  That  amend- 
ment was  in  these  words,  and  its  rejection  goes 
to  illustrate  the  character  of  the  bill  that  was 
passed : 

"  A7id  be  it  further  enacted,  That  no  part  of 
this  act  shall  be  construed  as  repealing  any  ex- 
isting law  relative  to  the  collection  of  the  reve- 
nue from  customs  or  public  lands  in  the  legal 
currency,  or  as  substituting  bank  notes  of  any 
description  as  a  lawfid  currency  for  coin,  as  pro- 
vided in  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  ; 
nor  to  dei>rive  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of 
the  power  to  direct  the  collectors  or  receivers 
of  the  public  revenue,  whether  derived  from  du- 
ties, taxes,  dcbti^,  or  sales  of  the  public  lands, 
not  to  receive  in  payment,  for  any  sura  due  to 
the  United  States,  the  notes  of  any  bank  or 
banks  which  th-  s^aid  Sccrotftry  may  have  rc-ipon 
to  believe  unworthy  of  credit,  or  which  he  ap- 
prehends may  be  compelled  to  suspend  specie 
payments." 


Mr.  Cainbreleng,  chairman  of  the  (.'onmiittco 
of  Ways  and  Means,  in  support  of  tliis  amend- 
ment, said  it  hail  been  rcjK)r(c(|  for  ila.  pmpoHo 
of  preventing  a  misconstructicm  of  the  bill  as  it 
came  from  the  Senate,  and  scciiriu;;  the  iiiblic 
revenue  fiom  serious  frauds  ,  and  askf.-d  lor  the 
yeas  and  nays.  The  amendment  was  cut  off  bv 
a  sustained  call  for  the  previous  question ;  and 
the  bill  passed  by  a  strong  vote — 113  (u  59. 
The  nays  were  : 

Nays — Messrs.  Ash,  Barton,  Bean,  Beaumont, 
Black,  Bockee  Boyd,  Brown,  Burns,  Ciunbie- 
lenfr.  Chancy,  Chapin,  Coles,  Cushuian,  Double- 
day,  r)roingfK)le,  Efner,  Fairlldl  Karlin,  Fry, 
Fuller,  Galbraith,  J.  Hall,  ilau  r,  Iliinlin,  A. 
(I.  Harrison,  Hawes,  Holt,  Iluntinirton,  .Janis, 
C.  Johnson,  B.  Jones,  Lansing,  J.  liCe,  t/onard, 
Logan.  Loyall,  A.  Mann,  W.  Mason,  JL  Mason, 
McKay . MoKion,  McLean,  Page,  Parks,  F.  Pierce, 
•Joseph  RLynolds,  Rogers,  Seymour,  Shinn,  Sick- 
les, Smith  Taylor.  Thomas,  J.  Thomson,  Tur- 
rill,  Vand.    ,.oel.  Ward,  AVardwell— .lO. 

It  was  near  the  end  of  the  session  be.bre  the 
bill  passed  the  House  of  Representatives.  It 
only  got  to  the  hands  of  the  President  in  the 
afternoon  of  the  day  before  the  constitutional 
dissolution  of  the  Congress.  He  might  have  re- 
tained it  (for  want  of  the  ten  days  for  consideia- 
tlon  which  the  constitution  allowed  him),  with- 
out assigning  any  reason  to  Congress  for  so  do- 
ing ;  but  he  chose  to  assign  a  reason  which, 
thc-igh  good  and  valid  in  itself,  may  have  been 
lu'lped  on  to  its  conclusions  by  the  evil  tendencies 
of  the  measure.  That  reason  was  the  ambiguous 
and  equivocal  character  of  the  bill,  and  the  diver- 
sity of  interpretations  wliich  might  bo  placed 
upon  its  provisions ;  and  was  contained  in  tlie 
following  message  to  the  Senate : 

"  The  bill  from  the  Senate  entitled  '  An  act 
designating  and  limiting  the  funds  receivable  for 
the  reveimes  of  the  United  States,  came  to  ray 
hands  yesterday,  at  two  o'clock  P.  M.  On  pe- 
rusing it,  I  found  its  provisions  so  complex  and 
uncertain,  that  I  deemed  it  neces.sary  to  obtain 
the  opinion  of  the  Attorney  General  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  on  several  important  questions,  touch- 
ing its  construction  and  efl'ect,  before  I  could 
decide  on  the  disposition  to  be  made  of  it.  The 
Attorney  General  took  up  the  suljjc'Ct  immedi- 
ately, and  his  reply  was  reported  to  me  this 
day,  at  five  o'clock  P.  M.  As  this  officer,  after 
a  careful  and  laborious  examination  of  the  bill. 
jv!^d  a.  distinct  expression  of  his  o'>inion  on  the 
points  proposed  to  him,  still  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  construction  of  the  bill,  should 
it  become  a  law,  would  be  yet  a  subject  of  much 


AN?rO  Iflatv.    ANDUEW  JAfT-sON.  PHI^IDENT. 


llaiK,  r,  Iliii'iliii,  A, 
Iliititintrtoii,  Junis. 


efl'cct,  before  I  could 


perplex.tv  and  .lr,„ht  («  view  of  the  bill  entire- 
y  co.nr„l,,,(   ,v„b  my  „w„),  nn.l  as  I  onnnot 
think  It  pr,.iK.,.,  ,„  ,1  n.attorofHurh  intort'st  and 
•t  mrU  constant  applicati.,,!,  to  approve  a  bill 
so  liable    to   .l.vn-Hity  of  iMter,,rct'utions,   an 
moy  t'sjH-aally  H.  r  have  not  ha.l  tin.e.ami.l  the 
d.itioH  .oiiHtaiiflv  picssin^r  on  mo,  to  -rive  the 
«..bjeet  that  .lelfbera.o  consideration  Xh  its 
impor  ftm-e  deinan.l.,  I  a.i,  constrained  to  retain 
he  bill,  w.tho,.t.wtn,f,Mletlnitively  thereon  ;  and 
to  the  en.l  that  my  reaHons  for  this  step  may 
1«  fu  y  nnderstoo.1,  I  shall  cause   this   paper 
w'.t»|    he  opnnon  of  the  Attornov  (Jenera  ,  Jml 
the  bill  .„  m.estion,  to  be  deposited  iu  the  l)Z 
partment  of  state."  •"  uie  i^t 

Thus  the  flrnniess  of  the  President  again 
saved  the  country  from  an  immense  calamity 
and  in  a  few  months  covered  him  with  the 
plaudits  of  a  preserved  and  grateful  country 


CHAPTER    i       Vi. 

DISTRIBUTION  OP  LANDS  AND  MONEY-VARIOUS 

rKoi'osiTioNa. 

The  spirit  of  distribution,  having  got  a  taste  of 
^  that  feast  in  the  insidious  deposit  bill  at  the  pre- 
I  ceding  session,  became  ungovernable  in  its  ap- 
'  petite  for  it  at  this  session,  and  open  and  undis- 
guised in  its  efforts  to  effect  its  objects.    Within 
the  first  week  of  the  meeting  of  Congress  Mr 
Mercer,  a  representative  from  Virginia,  moved 
» resolution  that  the  Committee  of  Ways  and 
Means  bo  directed  io  bring  in  a  bill  to  release 
the  States  from  all  obligation  ever  to  return  the 
(iividenda  they  should  receive  under  the  so-called 
deposit  act.   It  was  a  bold  movement,  considering 
that  the  States  had  not  yet  received  a  dollar,  and 
that  It  was  addressed  to  the  same  members 
sitting  in  the  same  chairs,  who  had  enacted  the' 
measure  under  the  character  of  a  deposit  to  be 
sacredly  returned  to  the  United  States  when- 
ever desired;   and  un.l  r  that  character  had 
?amcd  over  to  the  support  of  the  act  two  classes 
of  voters  who  could  not  otherwise  have  been 
obtained ;  namely,  those  who  condemned  the 
Nicy  of  distribution,  and  those  who  denied  its 
constitutionality.     Mr.  Dunlap,  of  Tennessee 
met  Mr.  Mercer's  motion  at  the  threshold— con- 
'■cmned  it  :i;;  an  open  cuuversion  of  deposit  into 
flistribution-as  a  breach  of  the  condition  on 
fliich  the  deposit  was  obtained— as  unfit  to  be 


^ 707 

diHcuModj  and  moved  that  it  1h^  hu]  „,,„n  the 
table-tt  motion  that  precludes  diM-ussion,  and 
hrmgs  on  an  innnediato  vote.    Mr.  MerrxT  m^ked 
for  the  yeiw  an.l  nays,  which  being  taken  .howed 
the  astonishing  spectacle  of  seventy- threo  mem- 
her.s  reojrding  their  names  against  the  n,- uon 
The  vote  was  120  to  7:!.  Simultaneously  with  Mr 
Mercer's  movement  in  the  House  topul.  the  mask 
from  the  deposit  bill,  and    .veal  it  in  its  true 
charnctcr,  was  Mr.Clay's  movement  in  the  S,,mto 
to  revive  his  land-money  distribution  bill    to 
give  it  immediate  cnict,  and  continue  its  opera- 
tion for  five  years.     In  the  first  days  of  the 
session  he  gave  notice  of  his  intentio.,  u>  bring 
>n  Ins  bill;  and  quickly  foU.nved  up  H.s  n  .(=co 
with  Its  actual  introduction.     On  presei.t.r,,   .  l,o 
oill,  he  said  it  was  due  to  the  occasion  to  make 
som.>  explauationa:  and  thus  went  on  to  make 
them : 

"The  operation  of  the  bill  which  had  hereto- 
fore several  times  passed  the  Senate,  and  once 
he  House,  commenced  on  the  last  of  December 
1822  and  was  to  continue  live  years.     It  rr„ 
Vide,!    .r  a  distribution  of  the  nett  J.rocee  Is  of 
the  public  lands  during  that  period  np^n  4S- 
know.i  principles.     But  the  deposi    act  of  the 
ast  session  had  disposed  of  so  large  a  nart    f 
the  divisble  fund  under  the  land  bill    ha   le 
.1.(1  not  think  t  right,  in  the  present  staU  of  to 
reitsury,  to  give  the  bill-vvhich  he  was  about 
p  apply  for  leave  to  introduce-that  retrosS- 
tive   character.      He  had  a<:cordingly    i  The 

Ml:  '";',:  ^'  ""^  «"'"«  t«  BubmV.nade  L 
Ia.st  day  of  the  present  month  its  conunence- 
nient,  and  the  last  day  of  the  year  1841  itsS 
miuation  If  it  should  pass,  therefore  ,  tS 
shape,  the  period  of  its  duration  wil  e  the 
same  as  that  prescribed  in  the  former  bills 

f  r'ti^xi!!'' '.r'"  readily  comprehend  the  mo  ij 
1  or  hxing  the  end  of  the  year  1S41  as  it  is  »t 
that  time  that  the  biennial  reductions  of  tea 
per  cen  .  upon  the  existing  duties  cease  acconl- 
ing  to  the  act  of  the  2d  March  1833,  commoify 

ol  h.lf  of'r^'"™n'^'^''  ""^  ^  r^ductio^of 
one  half  of  the  excess  beyonj  twenty  per  cent 

of  any  duty  then  remaining,  is  to  LI  elet 

Ky  that  time,  a  fair  experiment  of  the  land  bill 

will  have  been  made,  and  Congress  can  t;,en  de- 

domain  shall  continue  to  be  equitably  divided 
orshnl!  bo  applied  to  the  current  eiponsfof 
the.  Government.  The  bill  in  his  hnn  1  assi-nm 
o  the  new  State  of  Arkansas  her  just  propoj^ 
tion  of  the  fund,  and  grants  t.j  her  500,000  acres 
•>l  land  as  proposed  to  other  States.  A  similar 
a-sipnineiit  and  grant  are  not  made  to  Micl'ii- 
gan,  because  her  admission  into  the  Union  is  not 
yet  complete.  But  when  that  event  ;>;w8 
provision  is  made  by  which  that  State  will  re- 


™iiW| 


708 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


ceive  its  fair  dividend.  lie  had  restored,  in  this 
draught,  thv  provision  contained  in  the  original 
plan  for  the  distribution  of  the  public  lands, 
which  he  had  presented  to  the  Senate,  by  which 
the  States,  in  the  application  of  the  fund,  are 
restricted  to  the  great  objects  of  education,  in- 
ternal iniprovem  .nt,  and  colonization.  Such  a 
restriction  would,  he  believed,  relieve  the  Legis- 
latures of  the  several  States  from  embarrassing 
controversies  about  the  disposition  of  the  fund, 
and  would  secure  the  application  of  what  was 
common  in  its  origin,  to  common  benefits  in  its 
ultimate  destination.  But  it  was  scarcely  ne- 
cessar)'  for  him  to  say  that  this  provision,  as 
well  as  the  fate  of  the  whole  bill,  depended  upon 
the  superior  wisdom  of  the  Senate  and  of  the 
House.  In  all  respects,  other  than  those  now 
particularly  mentioned,  the  bill  is  exactly  as  it 
passed  this  body  at  the  last  session." 

The  bill  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on 
Public  Lands,  consisting  of  Mr.  Walker  of 
Mississippi,  Mr.  Ewing  of  Ohio,  Mr.  King  of 
Alabama,  Mr.  Ruggles  of  ilaine,  Mr.  Fulton  of 
Arkansas,  The  committee  returned  the  bill 
with  an  amendment,  proposing  to  strike  out  the 
entire  bill,  and  substitute  for  it  a  new  one,  to 
restrict  the  sale  of  the  lands  to  actual  settlers 
ia  limited  quantities.  In  the  course  of  the 
discussion  of  the  bill,  Mr.  Benton  offered  an 
amendment,  securing  to  any  head  of  a  family, 
any  young  man  over  the  age  of  eighteen,  and 
any  widow,  a  settlement  right  in  IGO  acres  at 
reduced  prices,  and  inhabitation  and  cultivation 
for  five  years :  which  amendment  was  lost  by  a 
close  vote — 18  to  20.    The  yeas  and  nays  were : 

Yeas — Messrs.  Benton,  Black,  Dana,  Ewing 
of  Illinois,  Fulton,  Hendricks,  King  of  Alabama, 
Linn,  Moore.  Morris,  Nicholas,  llives,  Robin- 
son, Sevier,  Strange,  Tipton,  Walker,  White — 
18. 

Nays — Messrs.  Bayard,  Brown,  Calhoun, 
Clay,  Clayton,  Crittenderi,  Davis,  Ewing  of 
Ohio,  Hubbard,  Kent,  King  of  Georgia,  Niles, 
P'lge,  Prentiss,  Rob>>ins,  Ruggles,  Swift,  Tall- 
n..idge,  Wright— 20. 

The  substitute  reported  by  the  committee  on 
public  lands,  after  an  extended  debate,  and  vari- 
ous nn  I  Ions  of  amendment,  was  put  to  the  vote, 
and  adopted — twenty-four  to  sixteen — the  yeas 
and  nays  being : 

Ykas — Messrs.  Benton,  Black,  Brown,  Bu- 
chanan, Cuthbert,  Ewing  of  Illinois,  Fulton, 
Grundy,  ITcr-^''icks,  Tlnhhiird,  King  of  Alaba- 
ma, Linn,  Lyon,  Moore,  Mouton,  Nicholas, 
Niles,  Norvell,  Page,  Rives,  Robinson,  Strange, 
Walker,  Wright— 24. 

Nays. — Messrs.  Bayard,  Calhoun,  Davis,  Ew- 


ing of  Ohio,  Kent,  King  of  Georgia,  Knight, 
Prentiss,  Robbins,  Sevier,  Southard  Swift 
Tomlinson,  Wall,  Webster,  White- IG.  ' 

So  Mr.  Clay's  plan  of  a  five  years'  open  distri- 
bution of  the  land  money  to  the  States,  in  addition 
to  the  actual  distribution,  under  the  deposit 
mask,  was  now  defeated  in  the  Senate :  but  that 
did  not  put  an  end  to  kindred  schemes.    They 
multiplied  in  different  forms }  and  continued 
to  vex  Congress  to  almost  the  last  day  of  its 
existence.    Mr.  Calhoun  brought  a  pLui  for  the 
cession  of  all  the  public  lands  to  the  States  in 
which  they  lay,  to  be  sold  by  them  on  graduated 
prices,  extending  to  thir(y-five  years,  on  condi- 
tion that  the  States  should  take  the  expenses  of 
the  land  .system  on  themselves,  and  pay  thirty- 
three  and  a  third  per  centum,  of  the  sales,  to  the 
federal  treasury.  Mr.  Benton  objected,  on  princi- 
ple, to  any  complication  of  moneyed  or  property 
transactions  between  the  States  and  the  federal 
government,  leading,  as  they  inevitably  would, 
to  dissension  and  contention ;  and  ending  in  con- 
troversies between  the  members  and  the  head 
of  the  federal  government :  and,  on  detail,  be- 
cause the  graduation  Avas  extended  beyond  a  ^ 
period  when  the  new  States  woula  be  strong  | 
enough  to  obtain  better  terms,  without  the  com- 
plication of  a  contract,  and  the  condition  of  a 
purchase.     Within  the  thirty-five  years,  there 
would  be  three  new  apportionments  of  repre- 
sentatives, under  the  censuses  of  1840,  1850. 
and  18G0 — doubling  or  trebling  the  new  States" 
representation   each   time ;    also   several   new 
States  admitted ;  so  that  they  would  be  strong 
enough  to  take  efiectual  measures  for  the  ex- 
tinction of  the  federal  titles  within  the  States. 
on  just  and  equitable  principles.    Mr.  Buchanan 
openly  assailed  Mr.  Calhoun's  proposition  as  a 
bid  lOT  the  presidency ;  and  said : 

"  He  had  heard  a  great  deal  said  about  bribing  ; 
the  people  v.'ith  their  own  money  ;  argunient> 
of  that  kind  had  been  reiterated,  but  they  had 
never  had  much  effect  on  him.     But  speakin;; 
on  the  same  principles  on  which  this  had  been 
said,  and  without  intending  any  thing  personal 
toward  the  honorable  .«enator  from  South  Caru- , 
Una,  he  would  say  this  was  the  most  siileiuli'l 
bribe  that  had  ever  yet  been  otfcred.    It  was  ti 
give  the  entire  public  domain  to  the  ])e()ple  ul 
the  new  States,  without  fee  or  reward,  arid  on 
the  single  condition  fb.'vt  they  should  not  bniii! 
all  the  land  into  market  at  once.    It  was  t!it  i 
first  time  such  a  proposition  had  been  broii^lit  | 
forward  for  legislation  ;  and  he  soleundy  pro- 1 
tested  against  the  principle  th.at  Congress  hu'l  ^^ 


ANNO  1836.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


709 


any  right,  in  equity  or  justice,  to  give  what  be- 
longed to  the  entire  people  of  the  Union  to  the 
inhabitants  of  any  State  or  States  whatever. 
After  warmly  expressing  his  dissent  to  the 
amendment,  Mr.  B.  said  he  hoped  it  would  not 
receive  the  sanction  of  any  considerable  portion 
of  the  Senate." 

Mr.  Sevier  of  Arkansas,  said  it  might  be  very 
true  that  presidential  candidates  would  bid  deep 
for  the  favor  of  the  West;  but  that  was  no  rea- 
son why  the  West  should  refuse  a  good  offer, 
when  made.  Deeming  this  a  good  one,  and 
beneficial  to  the  new  States,  he  was  for  taking 
it.  Mr.  Linn,  of  Missouri,  objected  to  the  propo- 
sition of  Mr.  Calhoun,  as  an  amendment  to  the 
bill  in  favor  of  actual  settlers  (in  which  form  it 
was  offered),  because  it  would  be  the  occasion 
of  l<?sing  both  measures ;  and  said : 


lie  that  Congress  lia'i  ■ 


"  He  might  probably  vote  for  it  as  an  inde- 
pendent proposition,  but  could  not  as  it  w^w 
stood.     He  had  set  out  with  the  determinat.,n 
to  vote  against  every  amendment  which  should 
be  proposed,  as  the  bill  had  once  been  nearly 
lost  by  the  multiplication  of  them.     If  this 
amundnient  should  be  received,  the  residue  of 
the  session  would  be  taken  up  in  discussing  it 
and  nothing  would  be  done  for  his  constituents! 
He  wanted  them  to  know  that  he  had  done  his 
utmost,  which  was  but  little,  to  carry  into  effect 
their  wishes,  and  to  secure  their  best  interests 
in  the  settlement  of  the  new  country.    He  was 
anxious  to  obtain  the  passage  of  an  equitable 
pre-emption  law,  which  should  secure  to  them 
their  homes,  and  not  throw  the  country  into 
the  'lands  of  groat  capitalists,  as  had  been  done 
in  tiie  case  of  the  Holland  Land  Company,  and 
thus  retard  the  settlement  of  the  West.    As  to 
the  evasions  of  previous  pre-emption  laws,  of 
which  so  much  had  been  said,  he  believed  they 
either  had  no  existence  in  Missouri,  or  had  been 
grossly  exaggerated.    In  the  course  of  his  pro- 
fessional duty  (Mr.  Linn  is  a  physician,  in  large 
practice),  he  had  occasion  to  become  extensively 
acquainted  with  the  people  concerning  whom 
these  things  had  been  asserted  (he  referred  to 
the  emigrants  who  had  setled  in  that  State 
under  the  pre-emption  law  of  1814),  and  he 
could  say,  nothing  of  the  kind  had  fallen  under 
his  observation.    They  had  come  there,  in  most 
cases,  poor,  surrounded   by  all  the  evils  and 
disadvantages  of  emigration  to  a  new  country ; 
hu  liad  attended  many  of  them  in  sickness  ;  and 
he  could  truly  aver  that  they  were,  as  a  whole 
the  best  and  most  upright  body  of  people  he 
had  ever  known, 

"  Mr.  L.  said  ho  was  a  practical  man,  though 
his  toniperuiueiiL  might  bo  somewhat  warm.  He 
looked  to  things  which  were  attainable,  and  in 
the  near  prospect  of  being  obtained,  rather  than 
at  those  contingent  and  distant.    Hero  was  a 


bill,  far  advanced  in  the  Senate,  and,  as  he  hoped, 
on  the  eve  of  passing.  He  believed  it  would 
secure  a  great  good  to  his  constituents ;  and  he 
could  not  consent  to  risk  that  bill  by  accepting 
the  amendment  proposed  by  the  senator  from 
South  Carolina.  If  the  senator  from  Arkansas 
would  let  this  go,  he  might  possibly  find  that  it 
was  a  better-  thing  than  ho  could  ever  get  again. 
He  wanted  that  Congress  should  so  regulate  the 
public  lands,  and  so  arrange  the  terms  on  which 
it  was  disposed  of,  as  to  furnish  in  the  AVest 
an  opportunity  for  poor  men  to  become  rich, 
and  every  worthy  and  industrious  man  pros- 
perous and  happy." 

Mr.  Calhoun  felt  himself  called  upon  to  rise 
in  defence  of  his  proposition,  and  in  vindication 
I'f  his  own  motives  in  offering  it ;  and  did  so, 
in  a  brief  speech,  saying : 


"When  the  Senate  had  entered  upon  the  pre- 
sent discussion,  he  had  had  little  thought  of 
offering  a  proposition  like  this.     He  had,  indeed 
always  seen  that  there  was  a  period  coming 
when  this  government  must  cede  to  the  new 
States  the  possession  of  their  own  soil ;  but  he 
had  never  thought,  till  now,  that  period  was  so 
near.     What  he  had  seen  this  session,  however, 
and  especially  the  nature  and  character  of  the 
bill  which  was  now  likely  to  pass,  had  fully 
satisfied  him  that  the  time  had  arrived.     There 
were  at  present  eighteen  senators  from  the  new 
States.     In  four  years,  there  wouhl  be  six  more 
which  would  make  twenty-four.    All,  therefore 
must  see  that,  in  a  very  short  period,  those 
States  would  have  this  questi-  -^  in  their  own 
hands.     And  it  nad  been  openly  said  that  they 
ought  not  to  accept  of  the  present  proposititm, 
because  they  would  soon  be  able  to  set  better 
terms.     He  thought,  therefore,  that,  instead  of 
attempting   to  resist  any   longer  what  mu.st 
eventually  happen,  it  would  be  better  for  all 
concerned  that  Congress  should  yi(.'ld  at  once  to 
the  force  of  circumstances,  and  cede  the  public 
domain.    His  objects  in  this  movement  were 
high  and  solemn  objects.     He  wished  to  break 
down  the  vassalage  of  the  new  States.     He  de- 
sired that  this  government  should  cease  to  hold 
the  relation  of  a  landlord.     He  wished,  further, 
to  draw  this  great  fund  out  of  the  vortex  of  the 
presidential  contest,  with  which  it  had  openly 
been  announced   to  the  Senate  there  was  an 
avowed  design  to  connect  it.     He  thought  the 
country  had  been  sufficiently  agitated,  corrupt- 
ed, and  debased,  by  the  influence  of  that  con- 
test ;  and  he  wished  to  take  this  great  engine 
out  of  the  hands  of  power.    If  he  were  a  can- 
didate for  the   presidency,  he  would  wish  to 
leave  it  there.     He  wished  to  go  further :  he 
sought  to  rcm.Qve  the  immenRc  .Tmount  of  pa- 
tronage connected  with  the  management  of  this 
domain— a  patronage  which  had  corrupted  both 
the  old  and  the  new  States  to  an  enormous  ex- 
tent.   He  sought  to  counteract  the  centralismj 


>i\ 


710 


THIRTY  TEARS'  VIEW. 


which  was  the  great  danger  of  this  government, 
and  thereby  to  preserve  the  liberties  of  the  peo- 
ple much  longer  than  would  otherwise  be  possi- 
ble.   As  to  what  was  to  be  received  for  these 
lands,  he  cared  nothing  about  it.     He  would 
have  consented  at  once  to  yield  the  whole,  and 
withdraw  altogether  the  landlordship  of  the 
general  government  over  them,  had  he  not  be- 
lieved that  it  would  be  most  for  the  benefit  of 
the  new  States  themselves  that  it  should  con- 
tinue somewhat  longer.     These  were  the  views 
which  had  induced  him  to  present  the  amend- 
ment.   He  offered  no  gilded  pill.    He  threw  in 
no  apple  of  discord.    lie  was  no  bidder  for  popu- 
larity.   He  prescribed  to  himself  a  more  humble 
aim,  which  was  simply  to  do  his  duty.     He 
sought  to  counteract  the  corrupting  tendency 
of  the  existing  course  of  things.    He  sought  to 
wealvcn  this  government  by  divesting  it  of  at 
least  a  part  of  the  immense  patronage  it  wield- 
ed.   He  held  that  every  great  landed  estate  re- 
quired a  local  administration,  conducted  by  per- 
sons more  intimately  acquainted  with  local  wants 
and  interests  than  the  members  of  a  central 
government  could  possibly  be.     If  any  body 
asked  him  for  a  proof  of  the  truth  of  his  posi- 
tions, he  might  point  them  to  the  bill  now  be- 
fore the  Senate.     Such  were  the  sentiments, 
shortly  stated,  which  had  governed  him  on  this 
occasion.     He  had  done  his  duty,  and  he  must 
leave  the  result  with  God  and  with  the  new 
States." 

Mr.  Calhoun's  proposition  was  then  put  to 
the  vote,  and  almost  unanimously  rejected,  only 
six  senators  besides  himself  voting  for  it ;  name- 
ly :  Messrs-  King  of  Georgia ;  Moove  of  Alaba- 
ma ;  Morris  of  Chio ;  Robinson  of  Illinois ; 
Sevier  of  Arkansas ;  and  White  of  Tennessee. 
And  thus  a  third  project  of  distribution  (count- 
ing Mr.  Mercer's  motion  as  one),  at  this  ses- 
sion, had  miscarried.  But  it  was  not  the  end. 
Mr.  Chilton  Allen,  representative  from  Ken- 
tucky, moved  a  direct  distribution  of  land  to  the 
old  States,  equal  in  amount  to  the  grants  which 
had  been  made  to  the  new  States.  Mr.  Abijah 
Mann,  jr.,  of  New  York,  strikingly  exposed  the 
injustice  of  this  proposition,  in  a  few  brief  re- 
marks, saying : 

"  It  must  be  apparent,  by  this  time,  that  this 
proposition  was  neither  more  nor  less  than  a 
new  edition  of  the  old  and  exploded  idea  of  dis- 
tributing the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  public 
lands,  attempted  to  be  concealed  under  rubbish 
and  verbiage,  and  gilded  over  by  the  patriotic 
idea  of  applying  it  to  the  public  education.  Its 
paternity  is  suspicious,  and  its  hope  fallacious 
and  delusive.  The  preamble  to  this  resolution 
is  illusory  and  deceptive,  addressed  to  the  cupid- 
ity of  the  old  States  represented  on  this  floor. 
It  rcciti'S  the  grants  made  by  Congress  to  each 


of  the  new  States  of  the  public  lands  in  the  an-, 
gregate,  without  specifying  the  motive  or  con- 
sideration upon  which  they  were  made.  Its 
argument  is,  that  an  equal  quantity  should  be 
granted  to  the  old  States,  to  make  them  respec- 
tively equal  sharers  in  the  public  lands.  Now 
sir  (said  Mr.  M.),  nothing  could  be  devised  more 
disingenuous  and  deceptive.  Let  us  look  at  it 
briefly.  The  idea  is,  that  the  old  States  granted 
these  lands  to  the  new  for  an  implied  considera- 
tion, and  resulting  benefit  to  themselves ;  that 
it  was  a  sort  of  Indian  gift,  to  be  refunded 
with  increase.  Not  so,  sir,  at  all.  If  Mr.  M. 
understood  the  motives  inducing  those  grants 
they  were  paternal  on  the  part  of  the  old  States; 
proceeding  upon  that  generous  and  noble  liber- 
ality which  induces  a  wealthy  father  to  advance 
and  provide  for  his  children.  This  was  the 
moving  consideration,  though  he  (Mr.  M.)  was 
aware  that  the  grants  in  aid  of  the  improve- 
ments of  the  new  States  and  territories  were 
upon  consideration  of  advancing  the  sale  and 
improvement  of  the  remaining  lands  in  those 
States  held  by  the  United  States." 

The  proposition  of  Mr.  Allen  was  disposed  of 
by  a  motion  to  lie  on  the  table,  which  pre^  ailed— 
one  hundred  and  fourteen  to  eighty-one  votes ; 
but  the  end  of  these  propositions  was  not  yet. 
Another  motion  to  divide  surpluses  was  to  be 
made,  and  was  made  in  the  expiring  days  of  the 
session,  and  by  way  of  amendment  to  the  regu- 
lar fortification  bill.  Mr.  Bell,  of  Tennessee, 
moved,  on  the  25th  of  February,  that  a  furthei- 
deposit  of  all  the  public  monies  in  the  treasury 
on  the  first  day  of  January,  1838,  above  the 
sum  of  five  millions  of  dollars,  should  be  "depo- 
sited" with  the  States,  according  to  the  terms  of 
the  "deposit"  bill  of  the  preceding  session;  and 
which  would  have  the  effect  of  making  a  second 
"deposit"  after  the  completion  of  the  first  one. 
The  argument  for  it  was  the  same  which  had 
been  used  in  the  first  case ;  the  argument  against 
it  was  the  one  previously  used,  with  the  addi- 
tion of  the  objectionable  proceeding  of  springing 
such  a  proposition  at  the  end  of  the  session, 
and  as  an  amendment  to  a  defence  appropriation 
bill,  on  its  passage ;  to  which  it  was  utterly  in- 
congruous, and  must  defeat ;  as,  if  it  failed  to 
sink  the  bill  in  one  of  the  Houses,  it  must  cer- 
tainly be  rejected  by  the  President,  who,  it 
was  now  known,  would  not  be  cheated  again 
with  the  word  deposit.  It  was  also  opposed  as 
an  act  of  supererogation,  as  nobody  could  tell 
whether  there  would  be  any  surplus  a  ycat' 
hence ;  and  further,  it  was  opposed  as  an  act  of 
usurpation  and  an  encroachment  upon  the  au- 
thority of  the  ensuing  Congress.    A  new  Con- 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


711 


gress  was  to  be  elected,  and  to  assemble  before 
that  time ;  the  present  Congress  would  expire 
in  six  days  :  and  it  was  argued  that  it  was  nei- 
ther right  nor  decent  to  anticipate  their  succes- 
sors, and  do  what  they,  fresh  from  the  people, 
might  not  do.  Mr.  Yell,  of  Arkansas,  was  the 
principal  speaker  against  it ;  and  said : 

"  I  voted.  Mr.  Speaker,  against  the  amend- 
ment proposed  by  the  gentleman  from  Ten- 
nessee rMr.  Bell),  because  I  am  of  opinion  that 
this  bill,  if  passed,  and  sanctioned  by  the  Pre- 
sident— and  I  trust  that  it  never  will  receive 
the  countenance  of  that  distinguished  man  and 
illustrious  otatesman— will  at  once  establish  a 
system  demoralizing  and  corrupting  in  if:s  in- 
fluences, and  tend  to  the  destruction,  of  tlie 
sovereignty  of  the  States,  and  render  them  de- 
pendant suppliants  on  the  general  government. 
This  measure  of  distribution,  since  it  has  been 
a  hobby-horse  for  gentlemen  to  ride  on,  has  pre- 
sented an  anomalous  spectacle  !     The  time  yet 
belongs  to  the  history  of  this  Congress,  when 
honorable  gentlemen,  from  the  South  and  West, 
were  daily  found  arraying  themselves  against 
every  species  of  unnecessary  taxation,  boldly 
avowing  that  t*iey  were  opposed  to  any  and  all 
tariff  systems  which  would  yield  a  revenue  be- 
yond the  actual  wants  and  demands  of  the  gov- 
ernment    Such  was  their  language  but  a  few 
weeks  or  months  ago ;  and,  in  proclaiming  it, 
they  struggled  hard  to  excel  each  other  in  zeal 
and  violence.    And  now,  sir,  what  is  the  spec- 
tacle we  behold  ?    A  system  of  distribution — 
another  and  a  specious  name  for  a  system  of 
bribery  has  been  started ;  the  hounds  are  in  full 
cry ;  and  the  same  honorable  and  patriotic  gen- 
tlemen now  step  forward,  and,  at  the  watch- 
word of  'put  money  in  thy  purse;  aye,  put 
money  in  thy  purse,'  vote  for  the  distribution 
or  bribery  measure ;  the  effect  of  which  is  to  en- 
tail on  this  country  a  system  of  taxation  and 
oppression,  which  has  had  no  parallel  since  the 
days  of  the  tea  and  ten-penny  tax — two  frightful 
measures  of   discord,  which  roused  enfeebled 
colonies  to  rebellion,  and  led  to  the  foundation 
of  this  mighty  republic.    But  we  are  told,  Mr. 
Speaker,  that  this  proposed  distribution  is  only 
for  momentary  duration ;  that  it  is  necessary  to 
relieve  the  Treasury  of  a  redundant  income,  and 
that  it  will  speedily  be  discontinued !    Indeed, 
sir !  What  evidence  have  we  of  the  fact  ?  What 
evidence  do  we  require  to  disprove  the  assertion  ? 
This  scheme  was  commenced  the  last  sessi  •» ; 
it  has  been  introduced  at  this ;  and  let  me  tell 
you,  Mr.  Speaker,  it  never  Avill  be  abandoned  so 
long  as  tlie  high  tariff  party  can  wheedle  the 
people  with  a  siren  lullaby,  and  cheat  them  out 
of  their  rights,  by  dazzling  the  vision  with  gold, 
and  deluding:  tlie  fancy  by  the  attributes  of  so- 
phistry.     Depend  upon' it,  sir,  if  this  baleful 
system  of  distribution  be  not  nipped  in  the  bud, 
it  will  betray  the  people  into  submission  by  a 
species  of  taxation  which  no  nation  on  earth 


should  endure.    Sir,  continued  Mr.  Y.,  T  onter 
my  protest  against  a  system  of  bargain  and  cor- 
ruption, which  is  to  be  executed  by  parties  of 
different  political  complexions,  for  the  purpose 
of  dividing  the  spoils  which  they  have  plundered 
from  the  people.    If  the  sales  of  the  public  lands 
are  to  be  continued  for  the  benefit  of  the  specu- 
lators who  go  to  the  West  in  multitudes  for  the 
purpose  of  legally  stealing  the  lands  and  in> 
provements  of  the  people  of  the  new  States,  I 
hope  my  constituents  may  know  who  it  is  that 
thus  imposes  upon  them  a  system  of  legalized 
fraud  and  oppression.    If,  sir,  my  constituents 
are  to  be  sacrificed  by  the  maintenance  of  a  sys- 
tem of  persecution,  got  up  and  carried  on  for  the 
purpose  of  filling  the  pockets  of  others  to  their 
ruin,  I  wish  them  to  know  who  is  the  author  of 
the  enormity.    I  had  hoped,  Mr.  Speaker,  and 
that  hope  has  not  yet  been  abandoned,  that  if 
ever  this  branch  of  the  government  is  bent  on 
the  destruction  of  the  rights  of  the  people,  and 
a  violation  of  the  Constitution,  there  is  yet  one 
ordeal  for  it  to  pass  where  it  may  be  shorn  of 
its  baneful  aspect.    And,  Mr.  Speaker,  I  trust 
in  God  that,  in  its  passage  through  that  ordeal, 
it  will  find  a  quietus?^ 

Mr.  Bell's  motion  succeeded.  The  secona 
'•deposit "  act,  by  a  vote  of  112  to  70,  was  en- 
grafted on  the  appropriation  bill  for  completing 
a,  '  -instructing  fortifications;  and,  thus  loaded, 
ti.  T  ]  went  to  the  Senate.  Being  referred  to 
the  Oommittee  on  Finance,  that  committee  direct- 
ed their  chairman,  Mr.  Wright  of  New- York,  to 
move  to  strike  it  out.  The  motion  was  resisted 
by  Mr.  Calhoun,  Mr.  Clay,  Mr.  Webster,  Mr. 
Wliite  of  Tennessee,  Mr.  Ewing  of  Ohio,  Crit- 
tenden, Preston,  Southard,  and  Clayton;  and 
supported  by  Messrs.  Wright,  Benton,  Bedfon' 
Brown,  Buchanan,  Grundy,  Niles  of  Connecticut, 
Rives,  Strange  of  North  Carohna :  and  being 
put  to  the  vote,  the  motion  was  carried,  and  the 
"  deposit "  clause  struck  from  the  bill  by  a  vote 
of  26  to  19.    The  yeas  and  nays  were : 

"Yeas— Messrs.  Benton,  Black,  Brown,  Cuth- 
bert,  Ewing  of  Illinois,  Fulton,  Grundy,  Hub- 
bard, King  of  Alabama,  King  of  Georgia,  Linn, 
Lyon,  Nicholas,  Niles,  Norvell,  Page,  Parker, 
Rives,  Ruggles,  Sevier,  Strange,  Tallmadge, 
Walker,  Wall,  Wright— 26. 

"  Nays  —Messrs.  Bayard,  Calhoun,  Clayton, 
Crittenden,  Davis,  Ewing  of  Ohio,  Hendricks, 
Kent,  Knight,  Mioore,  Prentiss,  Preston,  Rob- 
bins,  Southard,  Spence,  Swift,  Tomlinson,  Web- 
ster, White— 19.'' 


Being  returned  to  the  House,  a  motion  was 
made  to  disa;;ree  to  the  Senate's  amendment, 
and  argued  with  great  warmth  on  each  side,  the 
opponents  to  the  "deposit"  reminding  its  friends 


],!» 


712 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


of  the  loss  of  a  previous  appropriation  bill  for 
fortifications ;  and  warning  them  that  their  per- 
severance must  now  have  the  same  effect,  and 
operate  a  sacrifice  of  defence  to  the  spirit  of  dis- 
tribution :  but  all  in  vain.    The  motion  to  dis- 
agree was  carried— 110  to  94.    The  disputed 
clause  then  went  through  all  the  parliamentary 
forms  known  to  the  occasion.    The  Senate  "  in- 
sisted "  on  its  amendment :  a  motion  to  "  recede  " 
was  made  and  lost  in  the  House :  a  motion  to 
"  adhere  "  was  made,  and  prevailed :   then  the 
Senate  "adhered":  then  a  committee  of  "con- 
ference" was  appointed,  and  they  "  disagreed." 
This  being  reported  to  the  Houses,  the  bill  fell— 
the  fortification  appropriations  were  lost :  and  in 
this  direct  issue  between  the  plunder  of  the 
country,  and  the  defence  of  the  country,  defence 
was  beaten.    Such  was  the  deplorable  progress 
which  the  spirit  of  distribution  had  made. 


CHAPTER    CLVII. 

AflLITAEY  ACADEMY:  ITS  EIDXNGWIOTJPE. 

The  annual  appropriation  bill  for  the  support  of 
this  Academy  contained  a  clause  for  the  purchase 
of  forty  horses,  "for  instruction  in  light  artil- 
lery and  cavalry  exercise  ; "  and  proposed  ten 
thousand  dollars  for  the  purpose.  This  purchase 
was  opposed,  and  the  clause  stricken  out.  The 
bill  also  contained  a  clause  proposing  thirty 
thousand  dollars,  in  addition  to  the  amount 
theretofore  appropriated,  for  the  erection  of  a 
building  for  "  recitation  and  military  exercises," 
as  the  clause  expressed  itself.  It  was  under- 
stood to  be  for  the  riding-house  in  bad  weather. 
Mr.  McKay,  of  North  Carolina,  moved  to  strike 
out  the  clause,  upon  the  ground  that  military  men 
ought  to  be  inured  to  hardship,  not  pampered 
in  effeminacy  ;  and  that,  as  war  was  carried  on 
in  the  field,  so  young  ofiicers  should  be  learned 
to  ride  in  the  open  air,  and  on  rough  ground, 
and  to  be  afraid  of  no  weather.  The  clause  was 
stricken  out,  but  restored  upon  re-consideration; 
in  opposition  to  which  Mr.  Smith,  of  Maine,  was 
the  principal  speaker ;  and  said : 

"  I  bog  leave  to  call  the  attention  of  the  com.- 
mittec  to  the  paragraph  of  this  bill  proposed  to 
be  stricken  out.  It  is  an  apprnpriiitinn  of  tliit-ty 
thousand  dollars,  in  addition  to  the  amount  al- 
ready appropriated,  for  the  erection  of  a  buikl- 
iiifi  within  which  to  exercise  and  drill  the  cadets 


at  West  Point.  The  gentleman  from  Pennsyl- 
vania [Mr.  Ingersoll]  who  reported  this  bill,  and 
who  never  engages  himself  in  any  subject  with- 
out making  himself  entire  master  of  all  its  parts 
will  do  the  committee  the  justice,  I  trust  to' 
inform  them,  when  he  shall  next  +ake  tlie  fioor 
what  the  amount  heretofore  appropriated  for 
this  same  building,  in  which  to  exercise  tlie  ca- 
dets, actually  has  been ;  that,  if  we  decide  on 
the  propriety  of  having  such  a  building,  wj  may 
also  know  how  much  we  have  heretofore  taken 
from  the  public  Treasury  for  its  erection,  and 
to  what  sum  the  thirty  thousand  dollars  now 
proposed  will  be  an  addition. 

"  The  honorable  gentleman  from  New-York 
[Mr.  Cambreleng]  says  this  proposed  buikliiig 
is  to  protect  the  cadets  during  the  inclemency 
of  the  winter  season,  when  the  snow  is  from  two 
to  six  feet  deep ;  and  has  urged  upon  the  com- 
mittee the  extreme  hardship  of  requiring  the 
cadets  to  perform  their  exercises  in  the  oix'ii  air 
in  such  an  inclement  and  cold  region  as  that 
where  West  Point  is  situated.     Sir,  if  the  gen- 
tleman would  extend  his  inquiries  somewliiit 
fiirtiicr  North  or  East,  he  would  find  that  at 
points  where  the  winters  are  still  more  inclem- 
ent than  at  West  Point,  and  where  th  i  snow 
lies  for  months  in  succession  from  two  to  ei.sht 
feet  deep,  a  very  large  and  useful  and  respectable 
portion  of  the  citizens  not  only  incur  the  snows 
and  storms  of  winter  by  day  without  workshops 
or  buildings  to  protect  them,  but  actually  pursue 
the  business  of  months  amid  such  snows  and 
storms,  without  a  roof,  or  board,  or  so  much  as 
a  shingle  to  cover  and  protect  them  by  either 
day  or  night,  and  do  not  dream  of  mm'muring. 
But,  forsooth,  the  young  cadet  at  West  Point, 
who  goes  there  to  acquire  an  education  for  him- 
self, who  is  clothed  and  fed,  and  even  paid  for 
his  time,  by  the  government  while  acquiring  his 
education,   cannot  endure  the  atmosphere  of 
West  Point,  without  a  magnificent  building  to 
shield  him  during  the  few  hours  in  the  week, 
while  in  the  act  of  being  drilled,  as  part  of  his 
education  I    The  government  is  called  upon  to 
appropriate  thirty  thousand  dollars,  in  addition 
to  what  has  already  been  appropriated  for  the 
purpose,  to  protect  the  young  cadet,  who  is  pre- 
paring to  be  a  soldier,  against  this  temporary 
and  yet  most  salutary  exposure,  as  I  estcciu  it. 
Sir,  is  Congress  prepared  thus  to  j)ainpi.r  the 
effeminacy  of  these  young  gentlemen,  at  such 
an  expense,  too,  upon  the  public  Treasury  ?    Is 
it  not  enough  to  educate  them  for  nothing,  and 
to  pay  them  for  their  time  while  you  ai'e  edui.ut- 
ing  them,  and  that  you  provide  for  tlu'ir  coinf<jrt- 
able  subsistence,  comfortable  lodgings,  and  all 
the  ordinary   comforts,   not  to  say  niinicrons 
luxuries  of  life,  without  attemjjting  to  keep  tlieiu 
for  ever  within  doors,  to  be  raised  like  cliilcheii  ? 
I  am  opposed  to  it ;  and  I  think,  whenever  the 
people  <>i"  this  nation  shall  be  made  ucfpiaintcd 
with  the  fact,  they  too  will  be  opposed  to  it. 

"  The  gentleman  from  New-York  says  the  ex- 
posure of  the  cadets  is  very  great  and  that. 


i  ^ 


ANNO  183i5.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


713 


among  other  duties,  they  are  required  to  per- 
form camp  .iuties  for  three  months  in  the  year 
It  IS  true,  sir,  that  the  law  of  Congress  imposes 
three  months'  camp  duty  upon  the  cadet.    But 
the  same  tender  spirit  of  guardianship  which  has 
sufrgested  the  expediency  of  housing  tiie  cadets 
trom  the  atmosphere  while  performing  their  drill 
duties  and  exercises  has  in  some  way  construed 
away  one  third  of  the  law  of  Congress  upon  this 
subject ;  and,  instead  of  three  months'  camp  duty 
as  the  law  requires,  the  cadets  are  required,  by  the 
rules  and  regulations  of  the  institution,  to  camp 
out  only  two  months  of  the  year;  and  for  this 
purpose,  sir,  every  species  of  camp  utensils  and 
camp  furniture  that  government  money  can  pur- 
chase IS  i)rovided  for  them  ;  and  this  same  duty 
thus  pictured  forth  here  by  the  gentleman  from 
^ew-York  as  a  severe  hardship,  is  in  fact  so  tem  - 
percd  to  the  cadets  as  to  become  a  mere  luxury— a 
matter  of  absolute  preference  among  the  cadets. 
The  gentleman  from  New-York  will  find,  by  the 
rules    and    regulations  of  the  Academy,  the 
months  of  July  and  August,  or  of  August  and 
September,  are  selected  for  this  camp  duty 
seasons  of  the  year,  sir,  when  it  is  absolutely 
a  luxury  and  privilege  for  the  cadets  to  leave 
their  close  quarters  and  confined  rooms,  to  per- 
form duty  out  door,  and  to  spend  the  nights  in 
their  well-furnished  camps.    Sir,  the  hardships 
and  exposures  of  the  cadets  are  nothing  com- 
pared with  those  of  the  generality  of  our  fellow- 


citizens  m  the  North  in  their  ordinary  pursuits : 
and  yet  we  are  called  upon  to  add  to  their  luxu- 
ries-two hundred  and  fifty  dollar  horses  to 
nde,  splendid  camp  equipage  to  protect  them 
Irom  the  dews  and  damp  air  of  summer,  and 
raagmficent  buildings  to  shield  them  in  their 
winter  exercises.  I  think  it  is  high  time  for 
Congress,  and  for  the  people  of  this  nation,  to 
reflect  seriously  upon  these  matters,  and  to  in- 
quire with  somewhat  of  particularity  into  the 
character  of  this  institution. 

"But  the  honorable  gentleman  from  Pennsyl- 
vania (Mr.  Ingersoll).  has  volunteered  to  put 
the  reputation  of  the  West  Point  Academy  for 
morality  in  issue  at  this  time,  and  sets  it  out  in 
eloquent  description,  as  pre- eminently  pure  and 
irreproachable  in  this  respect, 
.i,".^'i'''  f;"csnotthe  honorable  gentleman  know 
that  the  history  of  this  institution,  within  a  few 
years  back  only,  bears  quite  different  testimony 
upon  this  subject?     Does  not  the  gentleman 
know  the  fact— a  fact  well  substantiated  by  the 
Kegister  of  Debates  in  your  library— that  only 
a  few  years  since  the  government  was  forced 
into  the  necessity  of  purchasing  up,  at  an  ex- 
pense of  ten  thousand  dollars,  a  neighboring 
tavern  stand,  as  the  only  means  of  saving  the 
Uistitution  from  being  overwhelmed  and  ruined 
by  the  gross  immoralities  of  the  cadets  ?     Is  not 
the  gentleman  aware  that  the  whole  armimen^ 
uified  to  force  and  justify  the  government  into 
t^is  purchase  was,  that  the  moral  power  of  the 
Aciulemy  was  unequal  to  the  counter  influences 
ot  the  neighboring  tavern  ?    And  are  we  to  be 


told,  sir,  that  this  institution  stands  forth  in  ita 
history  pre-eminently   pure,  and   above  com- 
parison with  the  institutions  that  exist  upon 
the   private  enterprise    and  munificence,  and 
thirst    for    knowledge,   that  characterize    our 
countrymen  ?    I  make  these  suggestions,  and 
allude  to  these  facts,  not  voluntarily,  and  from 
a  wish  to  create  a  discussion  upon  either  the 
merits  or  demerits  of  the  Academy.     When  I 
made  the  proposition  to  strike  from  this  bill 
the  ten  thousand  dollars  proposed  to  be  appro- 
priated for  the  purchase  of  horses,  I  neither  in- 
teded  nor  desired  to  enter  into  a  discussion  of 
the  institution.    I  have  not  now  spoken,  except 
upon  the   impulse  given  by  the   remarks  of 
the  gentlemen   from   New- York  and  Pensyl- 
vania ;  and  now,  instead  of  going  into  the  facts 
that  do  exist  in  relation  to  the  Academy,  I  can 
assure  gentlemen  that  I  have  but  scarcely  ap- 
proached them.    I  have  been  willing,  and  am 
now  willing,  to  have  these  facts  brought  to  light 
at  another  time,  and  upon  a  proper  occasion 
that  wUl  occur  hereafter,  and  leave  the  people 
01  this  nation  to  judge  of  them  dispassionately. 
A  report  upon  the  subject  of  this  institution 
will  be  made  shortly,  as  the  honorable  gentle- 
man from  Kentucky  (Mr.  Hawes)  has  assured 
the  house.    From  that  report,  all  will  be  able  to 
lorm  an  opinion  as  to  the  policy  of  the  institu- 
tion m  its  present  shape  and  under  its  present 
discipline.     That  some  grave  objections  exist  to 
both  its  shape  and  discipline,  I  think  all  will 
agree.    But  I  wish  not  to  discuss  cither  at  this 
time.    Let  us  know,  however,  and  let  the  coun- 
try know,  something  about  the  expensive  build- 
ings now  m  progress  at  West  Point,  before  we 
conclude  to  add  this  further  appropriation  of 
thirty  thousand  dollars  to  the  expenses  of  the 
mstitution ;  and,  while  I  am  up,  I  will  call  the 
attention  of  the  honorable  gentleman  who  re- 
ported this  bill  to  another  item  in  it,  which 
embraces  forage  for  horses  among  other  matters, 
and  1  wish  him  to  specify  to  the  committee  what 
proportion  of  the  sum  of  over  thirteen  thousand 
dollars  contained  in  this  item,  is  based  upon  the 
supposed  supply  of  forage.   We  have  stricken  out 
the  appropriation  for  purchasing  horses,  and  ano- 
ther part  of  the  bill  provides  forage  for  the  of- 
ficers horses ;  hence  a  portion  of  the  item  now 
adverted  to  should  probably  be  stricken  out." 

The  debate  became  spirited  and  discursive, 
grave  and  gay,  and  gave  rise  to  some  ridiculous 
suggestions,  as  that  if  it  was  necessary  to  pro- 
tect these  young  officers  frotn  lad  weather  when 
exercising  on  horseback,  it  v.«,ght  to  be  done  in 
no  greater  degree  than  young  women  nre  pro- 
tected  in  like  circumstances— parubok^  for  the 
sun,  umbrellas  for  rain,  and  pelisses  tor  cold : 
vvhieh  it  was  msistt-d  would  be  a  great  economy. 
On  the  other  hand  it  was  insisted  that  riding- 
houses  were  appurtenant  to  the  military  colleges 
of  Europe,  and  that  fine  riders  were  trained  in 


i  I 


714 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


these  ci^hools.  The  $30,000,  in  addition  to  pre- 
vious appropriations  for  t  u  same  purpose,  was 
grantM  ;  but  has  been  fovud  to  be  insufficient; 
ai;.!  0  lai?  Board  of  Visitors,  following  the  lead 
of  the  Superintendent  of  the  Academy,  and 
powerfully  backed  by  the  War  Ofllce,  at  Wash- 
ington City,  has  earnestly  recommended  a  fur- 
ther additional  appropri;'i,lon  of  $20,000,  still 
further  to  improve  the  riding-house;  on  the 
ground  that,  "the  room  now  used  for  the  pur- 
pose is  extremely  dangerous  to  the  lives  ;ind 
limbs  of  the  cadets."  T.iis  further  accommoda- 
tion is  deemed  indispensable  to  the  proper  leach- 
ing of  the  art  of  "  equiUition : "  that  is  to  say, 
to  the  art  of  riding  on  the  back  of  a  horse  •,  aj.d 
the  Visitors  recommend  tliis  accommodation  to 
Congress,  in  the  following  pathetic  forms:  "ThiJ 
attention  of  the  coi aiJiittce  has  been  drawn  to 
the  cosj.^i'^kiaiion  of  the  expediency  of  erecting 
a  new  ''iildiDg  for  cavalry  exercifo.  We  are 
aware  t'n  t,r.  the  .iu'>jecl  hrs  been  before  Con- 
gress, upon  t'le  re'.'.itiinienflatiou  of  former  boards 
of  Visiters,  iwl  wi  cannot  add  to  the  force  of 
the  ar^umfiiuh  made  use  of  by  them,  in  favor 
of  the  nie;i,siire.  We  would  regret  to  be  com- 
pelled to  believe  that  there  is  a  greater  indiffer- 
ence to  the  safety  of  human  life  and  limb  in 
this  country  than  in  most  others.  It  is  enough 
for  us  to  say  that,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Super- 
intent'ent,  the  course  of  equitation  cannot  be 
properly  taught  without  it,  '  and  that  the  room 
now  used  for  the  purpose  is  extremely  danger- 
ous to  the  lives  and  limbs  of  the  cadets.'  In 
this  opinion,  we  entirely  concur.  The  appro- 
priation required  for  the  erection  of  such  a 
building  will  amount  to  some  $20,000,  We  can 
hardly  excuse  ourselves,  if  we  neglect  to  bring 
this  subject,  so  far  as  we  are  able  to  do  so,  most 
iimphatic:illy  to  the  notice  of  those  who  have 
the  power,  and,  we  doubt  not,  the  disposition 
ali^>,  to  remove  the  evil." 


CHAPTER   CLVIII. 

SALT  TAX:    MR.  BENT0N3  FOUETU  SPEECH 
AGAINST  IT. 

The  amount  wh'xh  this  tax  brings  into  the 
treasury  isaboul  ';*  ''000  dollars,  and  that  upon 
an  article  costing  uoout  050,0()U  dollars ;  and 
one-half  of  the  tax  received  goes  to  the  fishing 
bounties  and  allowances  founded  upon  it.    So 


that  what  upon  the  record  is  a  tax  of  about  100 
per  cjntum,  is  in  the  realit  a  tax  fif  200  per 
centum ;  and  that  upon  an  article  of  prime  ne- 
cessity and  luiivcrsal  use,  while  we  liave  articles 
of  luxury  and  superfluity — winus,  silks — either 
free  of  tax,  or  nominally  tiixed  ai  some  ten  or 
twenty  per  centum.  Tlio  btire  statement  of  the 
case  is  rcvuitiBg  rad  moi'ii\  Ing,  l«)it  it  is  only 
by  looki)ig  into  the  (li:tail  .i(  fhc  tax — its 
amount  upim  diiJcrent  varieties  "f  K\\t — its  ef. 
fe.'-t  upon  ('.'.}  ti.idi;  aid  •■,.!:'  of  ti  -  iirliclc — upon 
iU  importation  and  use — and  thr-  consequences 
upoi<  the  agricalture  of  the  countiy,  for  want 
of  adeqi.-;ite  supplies  of  salt — that  the  weight 
of  the  tax,  ami  the  disastrou.-i  ed'fcts  of  its  im- 
position, can  be  ascertained.  To  enable  the 
Striate  to  judge  of  these  etli-cts  and  consequcn- 
cofa.  and  to  render  my  n-marks  more  intelligible, 
I  « ill  itad  a  t;il'le  of  the  importation  of  salt 
for  the  year  1835 — the  last  that  has  been  made 
up — and  which  is  known  to  be  a  fair  index  to 
the  annual  importations  for  many  years  past. 
With  the  number  of  bushels  and  the  name  of 
the  couui.ry  from  which  the  im[)ortations  come, 
will  be  given  the  value  of  each  i-arcel  at  the  place 
it  was  obained,  and  the  orijiinal  cost  per  bushel. 

Statem'iit  of  the  quantity  of  Salt  imported 
into  the  United  States  during-  the  year  1835, 
with  the  value  and  cost  thereof,  per  bushel,  at 
the  place  from  which  it  was  imported : 

No  I  if 
Countries.  liiutliel!*. 

Sweden  and  Norway,  8.550 
Swedish  West  Indies,  C.H^fi 
Danish  West  Indies,  2,351 
Dutch  West  Indies,  141,500 
England,  2,013.o1-7 

Ireland,  51,054 

Gibraltar,  17  832 

Malta,  1,500 

British  West  Indies,  05'.)  780 
British  Am.  Colonies,  138  5U3 
France  on  Mediterra-    ,,,  ,.^q 

nean,  ^~' 

Spain  on  Atlantic,  30n  140 
Spain  on  Mediterran.,  K  1.000 
Portugal,  78  ',000 

Cape  de  Verd  Islands,     8  1 34 


$572 

708 

380 

12,007 

412,507 

12,276 

1,385 

118 

08,497 

30.374 


Cost 
p.  bus. 

6  3-4 
101-4 
16 

9 
161-2 

7  34 
7  3-4 

10 


2,155      6  2-3 


Italy, 

Sicily, 
Trieste, 
Turkev. 
Colom'' 

Brc-i, 

,i\.Vt;i:j:-'iI 

Aim. 


Republic, 


30,742 

5,780 

7,888 

0'377 

17.102 

250 

41 :2 

5.733 


4  34 
51-3 
7 
9  1-10 
41-3 

2  2-3 

3  7-8 
084  10  1-10 

1.227 
'  08 

n 

015     10  2-3 


10.760 
,•.,443 
55,087 
751 
1,580 
150 
9.^5 


■ob 


Wi  salt  was  ma 


i 


6,735,304    055,000 


m 


ANNO  1836.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


715 


$572 

0  3-4 

708 

10  1-4 

380 

16 

2,9(17 

9 

2,5(17 

16  1-2 

2.276 

1,385 

7  3-4 

118 

7  3-4 

>8,497 

10 

U,374 

2,155 

6  2-3 

0,700 

4  3-4 

5.443 

5  1-3 

5.087 

7 

751 

9  1-10 

1,580 

4  1-3 

150 

2  2-3 

255 

3  7-8 

084  10  1-10 

1.227 

'  08 

41 

015 

10  2-3 

5,000 

J 


Mr.  B.  would  remark  that  salt,  being  brought 
in  ballast,  the  greatest  quantity  came  from  Eng- 
land, where  wc  had  the  largest  trade  ;  and  tliat 
its  importation,  with  a  tax  upon  it,  being  merely 
in(identa!  to  trade,  this  greatest  quantity  came 
from  tlie  place  where  it  cost  mo.«t,  and  was  of 
far  inleiior  Idnd.     The  salt  from  England  was 
nearly  one  half  of  the  whole  quantity  imported ; 
its  cost  was  about  sixteen  cents  a  bushel ;  and 
its  quality  wan  so  inferior  that  neither  in  the 
United  States,  nor  in  Great  Britain,  could  it  be 
used  for  curing  provisions,  fish,  butter,  or  any 
thing  that  required  long  keeping,  or  exposure 
to  southern  heats.   This  was  the  saU  commonly 
called  Liveri)ool.  It  was  made  by  artificial  heat, 
and  never  was,  and  never  can  be  made  pure,  as 
the  mere  agitation  of  the  boiling  prevents  the 
separation  of  the  bittern,  and  other  foreign  and 
poisonous  ingredients  with  which  all  salt  water, 
and  even  mineral  salt,  is  more  or  less  impregna- 
ted.   The  other  half  of  the  imported  salt  costs 
far  less  than  the  English  salt,  and  is  infinitely 
superior  to  it ;  so  far  superior  that  the  English 
salt  will  not  even  serve  for  a  substitute  in  the 
important  business  of  curing  fish,  and  flesh, 
for  long  keeping,  or  southern  exposi?re.    This 
salt  was  made  by  the  action  of  the  sun  in  the 
latitudes  ai)proaching,  and  under  the  tropics. 
We  begin  to  obtain  it  in  the  West  Indies,  and 
in  large  quantity  on  Turk's  Island ;  and  get  it 
from  all  the  islands  and  coasts,  under  the  sun's 
track,  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  Black  Sea. 
The  Cupe  de  Verd  Islands,  the  Atlantic  and 
Mediterranean  coasts  of  Spain  and  Portugal,  the 
-Mediterranean  coast  of  France,  the  two  coasts 
of  Italy,  the  islands  in  the  Mediterranean,  the 
coa.sts  of  the  Adriatic,  the   Archipelago,   up 
to  the  Black  Sea,  all  produce  it  and  send  it  to 
us.    The  table  which  has  been  read  shows  that 
the  original  cost  of  this  salt— the  purest  and 
strongest  in  the  world— is  about  nine  or  ten 
cents  a  bushel  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico ;  five,  six 
and  seven  cents  on  the  coasts  of  France,  Spain 
and  Portugal ;  three  and  four  cents  in  Italy  and 
tlie  Adriatic  ;  and  less  than  three  cents  in  Sicily. 
Yet  all  this  salt  bears  one  uniform  duty ;  it  was 
all  twenty  cents  a  bushel,  and  is  now  near  ten 
cents  a  bushel ;  so  that  while  the  tax  on  the 
Knglish  salt  is  a  little  upwards  of  fifty  per  cent. 
on  the  value,  the  same  tax  on  all  the  other  salt 
is  from  one  hundred  to  two  hundred,  and  three 
hundred  and  near  four  hundred  per  cent.    The 


sun-made  salt  is  chiefly  used  in  the  Great  West, 
in  curing  provisions;   the  Liverpool  is  chiefly 
used  on  the  Atlantic  coa.sts ;  and  thus  the  peo- 
ple in  different  sections  of  the  Union  pay  difler- 
ent  degrees  of  tax  upon  the  same  articles,  and 
that  which  costs  least  is  taxed  roost.    A  tax 
ranging  to  some  hundred  per  c^nt.  is  in  itself  an 
enormous  tax ;  and  thus  the  duty  collected  by 
the  federal  government  from  all  the  consumers 
of  the  sun-made  salt,   is  in  itself  excessive; 
amounting,  in  many  instances,  to  double,  treble, 
or  even  quadruple  the  original  cost  of  the  article. 
This  is  an  enormity  of  taxation  which  strikes 
the  mind  at  the  first  blush ;  but,  it  is  only  the 
beginning  of  the  enormity,  the  extent  of  which 
is  only  discoverable  in  tracing  its  effects  to  all 
their  diversified  and  injuiious consequences.   In 
the  first  place,  it  checks  and  prevents  the  im- 
portation of  the  salt.    Coming  as  ballast,  and 
not  as  an  article  of  commerce  on  which  profit  is 
to  be  made,  the  shipper  cannot  bring  it  except 
he  is  supplied  with  money  to  pay  the  duty,  or 
surrenders  it  into  the  hands  of  salt  dealers,  on 
landing,  to  go  his  security  for  the  payment  of 
the  duty.    Thus,  the  importation  of  the  article 
is  itself  checked ;  and  this  check  operates  with 
the  greatest  force  in  all  cases  where  the  original 
price  of  the  salt  was  least ;  and,  therefore,  where 
it  operates  most  injuriously  to  the  country.  In 
all  such  cases  the  tax  operates  a.s  a  prohibition 
to  u.se  salt  as  ballast,  and  checks  its  importation 
from  all  the  places  of  its  production  nearest  the 
sun's  track,  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  Con- 
stantinople.   In  the  next  place,  the  imposition  of 
the  tax  throws  the  salt  into  the  hands  of  an  in- 
termediate set  of  dealers  in  the  seaports,  who 
either  advance  the  duty,  or  go  security  for  it 
and  who  thus  become  possessed  of  nearly  all 
the  salt  which  is  imported.    A  few  persons  em- 
ployed in  this  business  engross  the  salt,  and  fix 
the  price  for  all  in  the  market;  and  fix  it  higher 
or  lower,  not  according  to  the  cost  of  the  ar- 
ticle, but  according  to  the  necessities  of  the 
country,  and  the  quantity  on  hand,  and  the  sea- 
son of  the  year.    The  prices  at  which  they  fix 
it  are  known  to  all  purchasers,  and  may  be  seen 
in  all  prices-current.    It  is  generally,  in  the  case 
of  alum  salt,  four,  five,  ten,  or  fifteen  times  as 
much  na  it  cost.     It  is  generallv  fnvfj  or  fifty 
or  sixty  cents  a  bushel,  and  nearly  the  same 
price  for  all  sorts,  without  any  reference  to  the 
original  cost,  whether  it  cost  three  cents,  or  five 


716 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


cents,  or  ten  cents,  or  fifteen  cents  a  bushel. 
About  one  uniform  price  is  put  on  the  whole, 
and  the  purclmscr  has  to  submit  to  the  imposi- 
tion. This  results  from  the  effect  of  the  tax, 
throwing  the  article,  which  is  nothing  but  bal- 
last, into  the  hands  of  salt  dealers.  The  importer 
does  not  bring  more  money  than  the  salt  is 
worth,  to  pay  the  duty ;  he  does  not  come  pre- 
pared to  pay  a  heavy  duty  on  his  ballast ;  he 
has  to  dei)cnd  upon  raising  the  money  for  pay- 
ing the  duty  after  ho  arrives  in  the  United 
States  ;  and  this  throws  him  into  the  hands  of 
the  salt  dealer,  and  subjects  the  country  pur- 
chaser to  all  the  fair  charges  attending  this 
change  of  hands,  and  this  establiislimcnt  of  an 
intermediate  dealer,  who  mtist  have  his  profits ; 
and  also  to  all  the  additional  exactions  which 
he  may  choose  to  make.  This  should  not  be. 
There  should  be  no  costs,  nor  charges,  nor  in- 
termediate profits,  on  such  an  article  as  salt.  It 
comes  as  ballast ;  as  ballast  it  should  be  handed 
out— should  be  handed  from  the  ship  to  the 
steamboat — should  escape  port  charges,  and  in- 
termediate profits — and  this  would  be  the  case, 
if  the  duty  was  abolished.  Thus  the  charges, 
costs,  profits,  and  exactions,  in  consequence  of 
the  tax,  are  greater  than  the  tax  itself!  But 
this  is  not  all — a  further  injury,  resulting  from 
the  tax,  is  yet  to  be  inflicted  upon  the  consumer. 
It  is  well  known  that  the  measured  bushel  of 
alum  salt,  and  all  sun-made  salt  is  alum  salt — 
it  is  well  known  that  a  bushel  of  this  salt  weighs 
about  eighty-four  pounds ;  yet  the  custom-house 
bushel  goes  by  weight,  and  not  by  measure,  and 
fifty-six  pounds  is  there  the  bushel.  Thus  the 
consumer,  in  consequence  of  having  the  salt  sent 
through  the  custom-house,  is  shifted  from  the 
measured  to  the  weighed  bushel,  and  loses 
twenty-eight  pounds  by  the  operation  !  but  this 
is  not  hi?  whole  loss;  the  intermediate  salt 
dealer  deducts  six  pounds  more,  and  gives  fifty 
pounds  for  the  bushel ;  and  thus  this  taxed  and 
custom-housed  article,  after  paying  some  hun- 
dred per  cent,  to  the  government  and  several 
hundred  per  cent,  more  to  the  regraters,  is 
worked  into  a  loss  of  thirty-four  pounds  on  every 
bushel !  All  these  losses  and  impositions  would 
vanish,  if  salt  was  freed  from  the  necessity  of 
passing  the  custom-houses  ;  and  to  do  that,  it 
must  be  frecil  7"/.  tnu)  from  taxation.  The  slight- 
est duty  would  operate  nearly  the  whole  mis- 
chief, for  it  would  throw  the  article  into  the 


hands  of  regraters,  and  would  substitute  the 
weighed  for  the  measured  bushel. 

Such  are  the  direct  injuries  of  the  salt  tax  • 
a  tax  enormous  in  itself,  disproportionati'  in  its 
application  to  the  same  article  in  difl'orent  parts 
of  the  Union,  and  bearing  hardest  ui)on  that 
kind  which  is  cheapest,  best,  and  most  indis- 
pensable. The  levy  to  the  government  is  enor- 
mous, 1(^050,000  per  annum  upon  an  artiek'  only 
worth  about  $000,000 ;  but  what  the  govern- 
ment receives  is  a  trifle,  compared  to  what  is 
exacted  by  the  regrater,— what  is  lost  in  the 
difference  between  the  weighed  and  the  mea- 
sured bushel,— and  the  loss  which  the  farmer 
sustains  for  want  of  adequate  supplies  of  salt  for 
his  stock,  and  their  food.  Assuming  the  gov- 
ernment tax  to  be  ten  cents  a  bushel,  the  aver- 
age cost  of  alum  salt  to  be  seven  cents,  and  the 
rcgrater's  price  to  be  fifty  cents,  and  it  is  clear 
that  he  receives  upwards  of  three  times  as  much 
as  the  government  does ;  and  that  the  tribute 
to  those  regraters  is  near  two  millions  of  dollars 
per  annum.  ^  Assuming  again  that  thirty-four 
pounds  in  the  bushel  are  lost  to  the  consumer 
in  the  substitution  of  the  weighed  for  the  mea- 
sured bushel,  and  here  is  another  loss  amount- 
ing to  nearly  three-eighths  of  the  value  of  the 
salt ;  that  is  to  S!iy,  to  about  $250,000  on  an 
importation  of  $650,000  worth. 

These  detailed  views  of  the  operation  and 
effects  of  the  salt  duty,  contiuued  Jlr.  B.,  place 
the  burdens  of  that  tax  in  the  most  odious  and 
revolting  light ;  b»it  the  picture  is  not  yet  com- 
plete ;  two  other  features  are  to  be  introduced 
into  it,  each  ci  which,  separately,  and  still  more, 
both  put  together,  go  far  to  double  its  enormity, 
and  to  carry  the  iniquity  of  such  a  tax  up  to  the 
very  verge  of  criminality  and  sinfulness.  The 
first  of  these  features  is,  in  the  loss  which  the 
farmers  sustain  for  want  of  adequate  supplies 
of  salt  for  their  stock ;  and  the  second,  from 
the  fact  that  the  duty  is  a  one-sided  tax,  being 
imposed  only  on  some  sections  of  the  Union, 
and  not  at  all  upon  another  section  of  the 
Union.  A  few  details  will  verify  these  addi- 
tional features.  First,  as  to  the  loss  which  tlie 
country  sustains  fc  want  of  adequate  supplies 
of  salt.  Everj'  praciicftl  man  knows  that  every 
description  of  stock  requires  salt — hogs,  horses, 
cuttle,  sheep;  and  that  all  the  prepared  food 
of  cattle  requires  it  also — hay,  fodder,  clover, 
shucks,  &c.    In  England  it  is  ascertained,  by 


ANNO  1887.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRI'SIDENT. 


717 


substitute  the  ^M.  experience,  that  sheep  require,  each,  half  a 
pound  a  week,  which  is  twenty-eight  pounds, 
or  half  a  custom-house  bushel,  ptT  annum ;  cows 
rc(iuire  a  bushel  and  a  half  per  annum ;  young 
cattle  a  bushel ;  dratight  horses,  and  draught 
cattle,  a  bushel ;  colts,  uml  young  cattle,  from 
three  pecks  to  a  bushel  each,  per  annum ;  and 
it  was  computed  in  England,  before  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  salt-tax  there,  that  the  stock  of  the 
English  farmers,  for  want  of  adequate  supplies 
of  salt,  was  injured  to  an  annual  amount  fur  be- 
yond the  product  of  the  tax. 

Dr.  Young,  before  a  committee  of  the  Brit- 
ish House  of  Commons,  and  upon  oath,  testi- 
fied to  his  belief  that  the  use  of  salt  free  of 
tax  would  benefit  the  agricultural  interest,  in 
the  increased  value  of  their  stock  alone,  to 
the  annual  amount  of  three  millions  sterling, 
near  fifteen  nuUions  of  dollars.  Such  was  tiie 
injury  of  the  salt-tax  in  England  to  the  agri- 
cultural interest  in  the  single  article  of  stock. 
What  the  injury  might  be  to  the  agricultu- 
ral interest  in  the  United  States  on  the  same 


United  States  for  want  of  the  free  use  of  this 
article,  would  require  the  minute,  comprehen- 
sive, sagacious,  and  peculiar  turn  of  mind  of 
Dr.  Young ;  but  it  may  be  sufficient  for  the  ar- 
gument, and  for  all  practical  purposes,  to  assume 
that  our  loss,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of 
our  stock,  is  gi-eater  than  that  of  the  English 
farmers,  and  amounts  to  fifteen  or  twenty  times 
the  value  of  the  tax  itself  I 


CHAPTER    CLIX. 

EXPUNGING  RESOLUTION-l'REPA RATION  FOB 
DECISION. 


article,  on  account  of  the  stinted  use  of  salt 
occasioned  by  the  tax,  might  be  vaguely  con- 
ceived  from   general   observation   and   a  few 
cstablislied  facts.     In  the  first  place,  it  was 
known  to  every  body  that  stock  in  our  country 
was  stinted  for  salt ;  that  neither  hogs,  horses, 
cattle,  or  sheep,  received  any  thing  near  the 
quantity  found  by  experience  to  be  necessary 
in  England ;  and,  as  for  their  food,  that  little  or 
no  salt  was  put  upon  it  in  the  United  States  ; 
whjle  in  England,  ten  or  fifteen  pounds  of  salt 
to  the  ton  of  hay,  clover,  &c.  was  used  in  curing 
it.    Taking  a  single  branch  of  the  stock  of  the 
United  States,  that  of  sheep,  and  more  decided 
evidence  of  the  deplorable  deficiency  of  salt  can- 
not be  produced.   The  sheep  in  the  United  States 
were  computed  by  the  wool-growers,  in  1832,  in 
their  petitions  to  Congress,  at  twenty  millions ; 
this  number,  at  half  a  bushel  each,  would  re- 
quire about  ten  millions  of  bushels ;  now  the 
whole  supply  of  salt  in  the  United  States,  both 
home-made  and  imported,  barely  exceeds  ten 
millions  ;  so  that,  if  the  sheep  received  an  ade- 
quate supply,  there  would  not  remain  a  pound 
for  any  other  purpose !     Of  course,  the  sheep 
did  not  receive  an  adequate  supply,  nor  perhaps 
the  fourth  part  of  what  was  necessary ;  and  so 
of  all  other  stock.    To  give  an  opinion  of  the 
total  loss  to  the  agricultural   interest  in  the 


It  was  now  the  last  session  of  the  last  term  of 
the  presidency  of  General  Jackson,  and  the  work 
of  the  American  Senate  doing  justice  to  itself  by 
undoing  the  wrong  which  it  had  done  to  itself 
in  its  condemnation  of  the  President,  was  at 
hand.     The  appeal  to  the  people  had  produced 
its  full  eflect ;  and,  in  less  time  than  had  been 
expected.    Confident  from  the  beginning  in  the 
verdict  of  the  people,  the  author  of  the  move- 
ment had  not  counted  upon  its  delivery  until 
several  years— probably  until  after  the  retire- 
ment of  Generel  Jackson,  and  until  the  subsi- 
dence of  the  passions  which  usually  pursue  a 
public  man  while  he  remains  on  the  stage  of 
action.    Contrary  to  all  expectation,  the  public 
mind  was  made  up  in  less  than  three  years,  and 
before  the  termination  of  that  second  adminis- 
tration which  was  half  run  when  the  sentence 
of  condemnation  was  passed.   At  the  commence- 
ment of  this  session,  1836-.'37,  the  public  voice 
had  come  in,  and  in  an  imperative  form.    A 
majority  of  the  States  had  acted  decisively  on 
the  subject— some  superseding  their  senators 
at  the  end  of  their  terms  who  had  given  the 
obnoxious  vote,  and  replacing  them  by  those 
who  would  expunge  it ;  others  sending  legisla- 
tive instructions  to  their  senators,  which  carried 
along  with  them,  in  the  democratic  States,  the 
obligation  of  obedience  or  resignation ;  and  of 
which  it  was  known  there  were  enough  to  obey 
to  accomplish  the  desired  expurgation.     Great 
was  the  number  superseded,  or  forced  to  resign. 
The  great  leaders,  Mr.  Clay,  Mr.  Webster,  Mr. 
Calhoun,  easily  maintained  themselves  in  their 


718 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


TOBpfctivo  States  (  but  the  mortality  foil  loavlly 
upon  thoir  foilowi.rH.and  left  them  in  a  holploHH 
minority.  Tlic  tinui  had  coiiip  far  action;  and 
on  tho  second  day  after  the  meeting  of  the  S.  n- 
Btc,  ^f^.  Denton  pave  notiro  of  hiw  intention  to 
hrinK  '"  it  an  early  inriod  tho »ni welcome  rt^Bo- 
hition,  and  to  press  it  to  n  dooision.  Heretoforo 
ho  had  introdnc  d  ithoiit  nn\  view  to  action, 
bnt  merely  for  nn  u.ovioii  f  .r  •■,  speech,  to  ro  to 
thoiHJopIo;  bnt  (lii^  oiipoxition,  exulting  in  their 
8trt>npth,  would  of  themselves  call  it  np,  npiiinst 
the  wishes  o(  the  mover,  to  receive  the  rejection 
which  they  "<m-c  able  to  pive  it.  Now  these 
disjjositions  wire  reversed;  tho  mover  was  for 
doci«ion— thi-y  for  stavinp;  it  otU  On  tl\e  ZiJth 
day  of  December — the  third  anniversary  of  tho 
day  on  which  I^fr.  Clay  hud  moved  the  cnndem- 
natory  resohvtion— Mr.  lionton  laid  upon  the 
tablo  the  resolve  to  exi)ungo  it— followed  by 
hia  third  and  last  speech  on  tho  subject.  The 
following  is  the  rosolntion ;  the  speech  consti- 
iiites  the  next  chapter: 

*'Ifi>nohifi<m.  to  f.rpinnre  from  the  Journal  the 
Itesohttion  of  the  Semite  of  March  28,  1834, 
in  relaliim  tn  President  JacLson  and  the 
JRemoral  of  the  Deposits. 

"  Whereas,  on  the  2')th  day  of  December,  in 
the  year  183.1.  tlie  following  resolve  was  moved 
in  the  Senate : 

"  'Heaolv,  '  That,  by  dismissing  the  late  Secre- 
tary of  the  Ireiisury,  k'cause  he  would  /mt, 
contrary  to  his  nvvn  K(  use  of  duty,  remove  the 
money  of  the  T'^^nited  States  in  deposit  with  the 
Bunk  of  the  I'^nit'  1  States  and  its  branches,  in 
couiormity  wiih  the  Pri-ident's  o)nnion,  and  by 
appointing  his  successor  to  ellect  huch  n^moval, 
M'hich  has  bi'en  done,  the  President  has  sumcd 
the  exorcise  of  a  j  ■  or  over  t  he  Treasr  of  the 
United  Staf(»s,  noi  .  nted  Lim  by  tin  institu- 
tion and  laws,  and  dangerous  to  tii  •  lil)ertic8  of 
the  people.' 

"Which  proposed  resolve  was  altered  and 
changed  by  the  mo\.  r  thereof,  on  the  2Sih  day 
of  ^larch,  in  the  year  1834,  so  as  to  i-ead  as 
follows : 

" '  ii'cso/cc  /,  That,  in  taking  upon  him  ■  '.  chc 
responsibility  of  removing  the  d  nosit  of  the 
public  money  from  the  Bank  ■  he  t*  fj,,i 
States,  the  President  of  the  Uniti  ^tfi  has 
assumed  the  exercise  of  a  power  <  r  tl:  rea- 
sury  of  the  i'nited  States  not  gianied  to  #iim 
by  the  const  it  ut  ion  and  laws,  and  dangerous  to 
the  liberties  of  the  people.' 

''Which  rcsolv(<,  so  changed  and  modifud  by 
the  mover  thereof,  on  the  same  day  and  year 
last  mentioned,  was  further  altered,  so  as  to  read 
in  these  words : 

"  'liesolved,  That  the  President,  in  tho  late 


oxeciitive  proeceding.s  in  relation  to  the  revenue 
has  nsHiinu'il  upm)  hinisclf  auihority  and  [mwct 
not  conferred  by  the  eoiistilution  and  laws,  hut 
in  derOf;ation  of  both  : ' 

"In  wliich  last  nuntiimed  form  the  said  re- 
Holvo,  on  the  same  day  and  year  last  imntioncd 
wn<  adopted  by  the  .Senate,  mid  IjeeaiiM  the  act 
and  jiidnrnent  of  that  body,  and,  as  hik  h,  now 
remaii  >«  up'>ii  the  journal  tjieriof: 

"And  whereas  the  suid  resolve  was  notwai  rtnt- 
ed  by  Iho  constitution,  and  was  irri'gnlarly  «nd 
illegally  adopted  by  the  Senate,  in  violation  of 
the  rights  of  defence-  which  beli  ;  to  every 
citizen,  and  in  snbversicm  of  tho  fundamental 
principles  of  law  and  justice  ;  li'Vitme  I'resiilent 
Jackson  was  thereby  adjud(j:ed  and  pronounced 
to  be  guilty  of  an  iinpeaeli.il.le  olUnce,  and  a 
aigma  placed  upon  him  as  a  violator  of  his  oath 
of  ofli. . ,  and  of  the  laws  and  constitntiou  uliich 
he  was  sworn  to  preserve,  i»i'otect.  and  di  Iciul 
without  going  throngh  the  forms  of  uii  inii)eaeh- 
ment,  and  witliout  allowing  to  him  the  benefits 
of  a  trial,  or  the  meuns  of  defence: 

"And  whereas  the  said  re.solve,  in  nil  its 
various  shaix?.s  an.  I  forms,  was  unfomided  uid 
erroneous  in  poini  of  fairt,  and  therefore  unjust 
and  unrighteous,  as  w  11  as  irregular  aid  unau- 
thorized by  the  constitution  r  Ixramf  the  ^aid 
President  Jackson  neither  in  the  act  of  disniis.s- 
ing  Mr.  Duane,  nor  in  tho  appointment  of  Mr. 
Taney,  as  specilied  in  the  tlrst  form  .if  the  re- 
solve; nor  in  taking  npim  himself  tin  responsi- 
bility of  removing  th.  <leposits,  as  spi  died  in 
the  second  form  o*" ;  :;>  same  resolve ;  noi  in  any 
act  which  was  ttien,  or  can  now,  be  specified 
imder  tho  vague  ami  ambiguous  terms  of  tho 
general  denunciation  contain,  in  the  third  ui\d 
last  form  of  the  resolve,  dus  ,,  or  connnit  am- 
act  in  violation  or  in  derogntion  cf  the  laws  ;i 
const  ^Mition ;  or  dan^icrous  ,o  the  liberties  of 
pcoim 

"And  whereas  the  saiii  resolve,  as  ailoptcd, «;, 
uncertain  and  ambiguous,  containing  nothing  Imi 
a  loose  ami  iloating  charge  for  derogating  from  tho 
l.iwsand  constitntiou,  and  assuming  ungrauted 
\)  »ver  and  authority  in  the  I," '"executive p'oeoed- 
ings  in  relation  to  tho  pubii  revenue;  without 
specifying  wdiat  part  of  the  txecntiv(  (iroceed- 
ings  or  what  part  of  tlie  public  reveime  wa-  in- 
tense d  to  be  referred  to;  or  what  parts  of  the 
laws  and  constitution  wt  supposed  to  have 
been  infringed;  or  in  whit  part  of  the  I  iiiun, 
or  at  what  period  of  his  imini-iratioi  'heso 
late  |)roceedings  w  ro  supji  d  to  have  taken 
place;  thivhi/  pulung  oacii  senator  at  liberty 
to  vote  in  ,  vor  of  the  rcsoKe  upon  a  separate 
and  .secret  'ason  of  his  ,,  n,  ami  leaving  the 
ground  of  s.  Senate  s  judgment  !<•  lie  guessed 
at  by  the  pu  *,  and  to  be  diderentl  and  di- 
versely iiiterprein  by  indiviilual  senators,  ai;- 
cording  to  the  pruate  and  particular  under- 
standing  of  each:  contrary  to  all  tin.  ids  of 
justice,  and  to  all  the  forms  of  legal  or  j  idicial 
proceeding:  tii  the  gro.'ii  i'.!\'ju:!:-"o  of  'Si"  "-- 
cuscd,  who  could  not  know  against  what  to 


ANNO  isn7,     ANDHKW  JACKSON,  I'ltKHIDKNT. 


719 


<lt'fi.'n(l  liiiiiHcH ;         I   III  (Ik  "f  Hcnatoriiil 

rpsponwi  1)1  lily,  liv  >lii  ■liliiifr  mi,  iVom  public 

««'C((niit,ultilii\- for  inakiiiy:  iijni  .  rncnt  iiimn 
proiindH  whioli  Hio  |uililic  in  i  know,  and 
whicli,  if  known,  ni'^lit  pruv.  to  bu  insunicifiit 
in  law,  or  nnfoundcil  in  fmt: 

"And  wliiTcivs  the  spccificiition  contained  in 
the  first  and  hccoikI  forinH  of  llio  rcMoivc  'uivinK 
jwcn  ol)jc(tcd  to  in  dclmto,  and  sliown  to  bo 
insuniciiMit  to  Hiint;iiii  tlu;  chart^e.s  Owy  wcro 
wldnced  to  support,  and  it  Immii;;  well  believed 
that  no  nmjority  oonid  be  ol)tuined  to  vote  for 
the  said  spccillcationH,  and  the  same  baviiifr  been 
actually  withdrawn  by  thr  mover  in  the  face  of 
the  whol(^  Senate,  in  conseiiueneo  of  snch  olyee- 
tion  and  ladief,  and  i)ef(ire  any  vote  taken  there- 
upon;  tlie  said  spcciliiationH  eowld  not  after- 
wards be  achnitted  by  any  rule  of  parliamentary 
praotico,  or  by  any  principle  of  legal  implication, 
secret  intendment,  or  mental  reservation,  to  re- 
main and  eontinue  a  part  of  the  written  and 
Sublic  resolve  from  wliich  they  wvra  thus  with- 
rawn;  and,  if  tluy  conlil  be  so  admitted,  they 
would  not  be  sniliciont  to  sustain  the  charges 
therein  contained : 

"And  whereas  the  Sen       being  the  constitu- 
tional  tribunal    for  the  trial  of  the  Presitlent 
when  charp;ed  by  the  House  of  Re|)rc8entative8 
\v  'h  offences  against  the  laws  and  tin'  constitu- 
tion, the  adoi)tion  of  the  said  resolve,  before  any 
impeachment  j)r(forred  by  the    House,  was   u 
breach  of  the  pri     "pies  of  the  House  ;  not  war- 
ranted by  the  e(M.-titution ;    a   subversion    of 
justice;   a  prejudication  ol    a  question  wliich 
mii^ht  legally  come  before  tiie  Senate;  and  a 
iiualilicaticm  of  that  body  to  perform  its  C(jn- 
aiuutional  duty  with  fairness  and  imi)artiality, 
if  tlie  President  should  thereafter  be  regularly 
imiKached  by  the  House  of  liepresentatives  for 
the  samo  offence : 
"Ani      liereaa  the  temperate,  respectful,  and 
mil     ,ui'     defence  and  protest  of  the  I'resi- 
t  as'^insl   the   aforesaid   proceeding  of  the 
Senat<    ,    s  rejected  and  repulsed  by  that  body, 
and  was  voted  to  be  a  breach  of  its  privileges, 
arid  was  not  permitted  to  be  entered  on  its 
journal  or  printed  among  its  documents;  while 
all  memorials,  petitio"     resolves,  and  remon- 
strances against  the  J       ident,  however  violent 
or  unfounded,  and  calcu  alod  to  inflame  the 
people  against  him,  wee    luly  and  honorably 
received,  encomiasticali        immented  upon   in 
speeches,  read  at  t  he  tabl     ordt  red  to  be  printed 
with  the  long  list      names  atf .uhed, referred  to 
the  Finance  ComiuiUee  for  (      -i'leration,  filed 
away  among  the  public  ju'hiv       and  now  cod 
stitute  a  part  of  th<   puh,      documents  of  the 
tJunate,  <     be  handed  down  to  the  latest  nos- 
terity : 

"Aiid  whereas  the  'id  resolve  was  n  -o- 
(luced,  debated,  and  ado|  d,  at  a  V  ne  and  u  r 
circumstimces  which  hit  theeflect  ifco-opti  - 
ingwith  the  Bank    if         United  States  in  tue 


the  country  ;  to  destroy  the  confldenn.  f.f  the 
people  in  I'resident  Jackson  j  to  pa.alvz«i  his 
ndmimslralinn;  to  p;.,vern  the  eleetions;  to 
bankrupt  the  Slate  banks;  ruin  their  currency ; 
lill  the  whole  Union  with  (error  and  distress: 
nn.l  (hereby  to  extort  from  the  sulfeiings  and 
the  alarms  of  the  people,  the  restoration  of  the 
dejK)sits  and  the  renewal  of  its  ehaiter: 

'And  whereas  the  said  n-  <>  is  of  evil  ex- 
ample and  dangerous  iireeed- i,t,  and  should 
never  have  been  received,  debated,  or  adopted 
Dy  the  Sen«(c,  or  admitted  to  entry  upon  its 
journal:  Wherefore. 

"J/r.iolmf,  That  tlu  ..aid  r.  solv(  »)o  cxpunired 
froni  the  journal ;  and,  for  that  j.unw.se,  that 
the  Secivtary  of  the  Senate,  at  such  time  m  the 
Senate  nuiy  ajipoint,  shall  bring  the  manuscript 
journal  of  the  session  IH.J.-J  '.M  im,,  the  Senate, 
and,  in  the  presen.-e  of  the  Senate,  draw  bhu^k  lines 
round  the  said  resolve,  and  write  a(;ross  the  face 
thereof,  in  s(rong  le(ters,  the  following  words: 
Kxpunged  by  order  of  the  S(;nate,  this  —  day 
"J' ,  »»  the  year  of  our  Lord  1837. ' » 


CHAPTER     CLX. 

EXl'UNGINO  RKSOI.tTTl()V.-MU.  KENTON'S  TUIED 
SPEECIt. 

Mr,  President:  It  is  now  near  three  years 
since  the  resolve  was  adopted  by  the  Senate, 
which  it  is  my  present  motion  to  expunge  from 
the  journal.  At  the  moment  that  tins  resolve 
was  adopted,  T  gave  notice  of  my  intention  to 
move  to  expunge  it;  and  then  expressed  my 
confident  belief  that  the  motion  would  even- 
tually prevail.  TJiat  expression  of  confidence 
was  not  an  ebullition  of  vanity,  or  a  presump- 
tuous calculation,  intended  to  accelerate  the 
event  i    ,i!re.,ted  to  foretell.    It  was  not  a  vain 


.""'"»» .[l>i.ji,     -rH..  •-    tntti   jucmUtioii    ■■  :i3 

then  making  to  pro  iucc  a  panic  and  pressu.e  la 


boast,  or  an  assumption,  but  was  the  result 
of  a  deep  < .  ,.  tion  of  the  injustice  done  Presi- 
dent Jackson,  and  a  thorough  reliance  upon  the 
justice  of  the  American  people,  I  felt  that  the 
President  had  been  wronged  ;  and  my  heart  told 
me  that  this  wrong  would  here  essed!  The 
event  proves  that  I  was  not  mistaken.  The 
question  of  expunging  this  resolution  has  been 
carried  to  the  people,  and  their  decisi-  has 
b(  ( ti  had  upon  it.  They  decide  in  favor  of  the 
expurgation ;  and  their  decision  has  been  both 
mrtde  and  nianifestud,  and  communicated  to  us 
in  a  great  variety  of  ways.    A  great  number  of 


B  M- 


# 


720 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


States  have  expressly  instructed  their  HeimtoiH 
to  vote  fin    tliis  expurgation.    A  very  great 
majority  of  the  States  have  elected  wenators  and 
rc|>rcNctitfttives  to  rongress,  upon  the  express 
ground  of  favoring  this  expurgation.     The  Hank 
of  the  United  Stales,  whiili  took  the  initiative 
in   the  accusation  against   the  President,  and 
furnished   tho  material,  and  worked   the  ma- 
chinery which  was  used  np;ain8t  him,  and  which 
wius  then  so  powerful  on  this  floor,  has  become 
more  and  more  odi"  \s  to  the  public  mind,  and 
musters  now  but      slender  phalanx  of  friends 
in  the  two  Houses  of  Congress.     Tli(<  lute  Presi- 
dential election  furnishes  additional  evidence  of 
public  sentiment.     The  candidate  who  «,is  the 
friend  of  President  Jackson,  tho  supi)orter  of 
his      Iministration,  and  the  avowed  advocate 
for  the  expurgation,  has  received  a  largo  ma- 
jority of  tho  suffrages  of  tho  whole  Union,  and 
that  after  an  express  declaration  of  bis  senti- 
ments on  this  precise  point.    The  evidence  of 
the  public  will,  exhibited  in  all  these  forms,  is 
too  manifest  to  be  iniHtaken,  too  explicit  to  re- 
quire illustration,  and  t(  ■  imperative  to  be  dis- 
regarded.    Omitting  details  and  specific  enu- 
meration of  proofs,  I  refer  to  our  own  flics  for 
the  instructions  to  expunge,— to  tho  complexion 
of  the  two  Houses  for  the  temper  of  the  people, 
— to  the  denationalized  condition  of  tho  Bank 
of  the  United  States  for   the  fate  of  the  im- 
perious accuser,— and  to  the  issue  of  tho  Presi- 
dential election  for  the  answer  of  the  Union. 
All  these  are  jjregnant  proofs  of  the  public  will, 
and  tho  last  pre-eminently  so:  because,  both 
tho  question  of  the  expurgation,  and  the  form 
of  the  process,  was  directly  put  in  issue  upon  it. 
A  representative  of  tho  people  from  tho  State 
of  Kentucky  formally  interrogated  a  prominent 
candidate  for  the  Presidency  on  these  points, 
and  required  from  him  a  public  answer  for  the 
information  of  the  public  mind.     The  answer 
was  given,  and  published,  and  read  by  all  the 
voters  before  the  election ;  and  I  deem  it  right 
to  refer  to  that  answer  in  this  place,  not  only 
as  evidence  of  the  points  put  in  issue,  but  also 
for  the  purpose  of  doing  more  ample  justice  to 
President  Jackson  by  incorporating  into  the 
legislative  history  of  this  case,  the  high  and 
honorable  testimony  in  his  favor  of  the  eminent 
citizen,  Mr.  Van  Buren,  who  has  just  been  ex- 
alted to  the  lofty  Louors  of  the  American  Presi- 
dency : 


;V.)ur  last  question  seeks   to  know  'my' 

opuuon  as  to  the  eoni'titutional  power  of  the 

Senate  or  House  of  Uepresentatives  to  expuniro 

or  obliterate  fn.m  the  journals  tho  proceeilinKs 

I  a  previous  session. 

"  \ou  will,  r  am  sure,  Ijo  Batisflcd  upon  fur- 
ther C(.nsideration,  that  there  are  but  few  (lu-s- 
tions  of  a  political  character  le^s  connected  with 
the  duties  of  tho  ofllceof  President  of  the  United 
States,  or  that  might  not  with  equal  propriety 
be  put  by  an  elector  to  a  candidate  i  p  that  sta- 
tion, than  this.  With  thojourni.l.  .,f  neither 
house  of  Congress  can  ho  properly  have  any 
thing  to  do.  But.  a.s  your  question  has  doubt- 
less been  induced  by  the  pendency  of  Col.  Ben- 
tons  re  ..iutioiiH,  (o  expunge  from  the  journals 
of  the  Senate  certain  other  resolulinns  touching 
the  official  conduct  of  President  Jackson,  f  pre- 
(iT  to  say,  that  I  regarded  the  passage  of  Col 
Benton's  preamble  and  resolutions  to  bo  an  act 
of  justice  to  ft  faithful  and  greatly  injured  public 
servant,  not  only  constitutional  in  itself  but 
imperiously  demanded  by  a  proper  respect  for 
the  well  known  will  of  tho  peoiile." 


I  do  not  propose,  sir,  to  draw  violent,  un- 
warranted, or  strained  inferences.  T  do  not  as- 
sume to  say  that  tho  question  of  this  expurga- 
tion was  a  leading,  or  a  controlling  point  in  the 
issue  of  this  election.  I  do  not  assume  to  say 
or  insinuate,  that  every  individual,  and  every 
vot(;r,  delivered  his  suffrage  with  reference  to 
this  quoHtion.  Doubtless  there  were  many  ex- 
ceptions. Still,  tho  triumphant  election  of  the 
candidate  who  had  expressed  himself  in  the  terms 
just  quoted,  and  \>  lO  was,  besides,  the  personal 
and  political  friend  of  President  Jackson,  and 
tho  avowed  approver  of  his  administration,  must 
bo  admitted  to  a  place  among  the  proofs  in  this 
case,  and  ranked  among  tho  high  concurring  evi- 
dences of  the  public  sentiment  in  favor  ol  the 
motion  which  I  make. 

Assuming,  then,  that  we  have  ascertained 
the  will  of  tho  people  on  this  great  question. 
the  inquiry  presents  itself,  hew  far  the  exprc- 
sion  of  tiiat  will  ought  to  bo  conclusive  of  our 
action  hero  ?  I  hold  that  it  ought  to  be  biiulinj,' 
and  obligatory  upon  us  !  and  that,  not  only  upon 
tho  principles  of  repicscntativo  government, 
which  requires  obedience  to  tho  known  will  of 
the  people,  but  also  in  conformity  to  the  prin- 
ciples upon  which  the  proceeding  against  Pre- 
sident Jackson  was  conducted  when  the  sentence 
against  him  was  adopted.  Then  every  tbin^' 
was  done  with  especial  reference  to  the  wiU  of 
fhe  people  !  Their  impulsion  was  assumed  to 
.*  the  sole  motive  to  action ;  and  to  them  the 


ultimate  \ 

whole  mat 

engine  of  | 

in  motion, 

cito  tho  pe 

lip  meetin 

committees 

him ;  and  ( 

was  hailed 

quoted  her 

the  condeir 

legislative  i 

assemblies, 

of  public  op 

der  age,  th 

and  the  rest 

tions,  were  o 

as  the  evide 

stituents.     ' 

thing  while  1 

political  nn( 

verso  to  the 

was  tho  shri 

when  that  w 

and  almost 

ballot  1)0X08, 

tint  to  be  in 

one  can  disi 

tliau  as  the  s 

ultimate  trib 

fully  argued. 

As  such  verd 

verdict  of  th( 

am  content. 

nor  to  recomi 

work  to  othei 

it.    For  niysi 

with  further  a 

Mid  ask  to  ha 

''^PPy  journal 

freemen  finds 

true,  illegal,  j 

condemnation 

of  the  Republi 

But,  while  d 

of  this  questioi 

I  ilu'  ground  all 

1  1  111  a  different 

i.   ^'preaching  tei 

41  administration 

time,  and  whic 

my  duty,  to  ex> 

Vol.  I. 


i  to  know  'my' 
ml  power  of  trie 
itivcH  to  •'xpiirijfo 
■I  flio  pruct'wIirif^H 

itiHficd  upon  fur- 
ire  but  few  (|u.  H- 
iH  connected  with 
lent  of  the  United 
>  tqiml  propriety 
dat(  i  r  thnt  Bta- 
irnal-.  of  neither 
oiH'rly  have  any 
stiori  has  doubt- 
mcy  of  Col.  Ben- 
roin  the  jounials 
iluli'ins  toufliinf^' 
t  JuckKon,  r  pre- 
■  passapo  of  t'ol. 
ons  to  bo  an  act 
tly  injured  public 
lal  in  itHcif,  but 
roper  reapect  for 
)le." 

raw  violent,  un- 
es.  I  do  not  as- 
of  this  cxpurga- 
ling  point  in  the 
t  assume  to  say,  t 
dual,  and  every 
ith  reference  to 
3  were  many  ex- 
t  election  of  the 
iself  in  the  tonus 
les,  the  personnl 
nt  Jackson,  and 
iuistration,  must 
10  proofs  in  this 
I  concurrinfr  evi- 
in  favor  of  the 


ANNO  1887.    ANDKEW  JACKSON.  PRFSIDRNT. 


lave  ascertained 
great  question. 
far  the  exprc- 
snclusive  of  our 
:ht  tobobiiKliii;^ 
it,  not  only  upon 
ve  government, 
3  known  will  of 
ity  to  the  prin- 
ng  against  Pre- 
len  the  sentence 
}n  every  thing 
e  to  the  will  of 
ras  assumed  to 
nd  to  them  the 


altimato  venlict  was  cxpnwHly  referred.    The 
whole  machinery  of  alarm  and  preflaun> -every 
engine  of  political  and  moncye.l  power— was  put 
in  motion,  and  workid  for  many  months,  to  ex- 
cite the  people  agaiist  the  President ;  and  to  stir 
up  meetings,  memorials,   petitions,   travelling 
committees,  and  distress    deputations  against 
hun ;  and  each  symptom  of  popular  discontent 
was  hailed  as  an  evidence  of  public  will  an<l 
quoted  here  as  proof  that  the  people  demanded 
the  condemnation  of  the  President.    Not  only 
legislative  assemblies,  and  memorials  from  largo 
assemblies,  were  then  prochiced  hero  as  evidence 
of  public  opinion,  but  tlio  petitions  of  boys  un- 
der age,  the  remonstrances  of  a  few  signers 
and  the  results  of  the  most  inconsiderable  elec- 
tions, were  ostentatiously  paraded  and  magnified 
as  the  evidence  of  the  sovereign  will  of  our  con- 
stituents.    Thus,  sir,  the  public  voice  was  every 
thmg  while  that  voice,  partially  obtained  through 
political  and  pecuniary  machinations,  was  ad- 
verso  to  the  President.    Then  tho  popular  will 
wa-s  the  shrine  at  which  all  worshipped.    Now, 
when  that  will  is  regularly,  soberly,  repeatedly,' 
and  almost  universally  expressed  through  the 
ballot  lH)xes,  at  tho  various  elections,  and  turns 
<mt  to  be  in  favor  of  the  President,  certainly  no 
one  can  disregard  it,  nor  otherwise  look  at  it 
than  as  the  solemn  verdict  of  the  competent  and 
ultimate  tribunal  upon  an  issue  fairly  made  up 
fully  argued,  and  duly  submitted  *br  decision' 
As  such  verdict,  I  receive  it.    As  the  deliberate 
verdict  of  the  sovereign  people,  I  bow  to  it.    I 
am  content.    I  do  not  mean  to  reopen  the  case 
Dor  to  recommence  the  argument.    I  leave  that 
Hork  to  others,  if  any  others  choose  to  perform 
It.    For  iny.self,  I  am  content;  and,  dispensing 
«ith  further  argument,  I  shall  call  for  judgment, 
and  ask  to  have  execution  done,  upon  that  un- 
liappy  journal,  which  the  verdict  of  millions  of 
freemen  finds  guilty  of  bearing  on  its  face  an  un- 
true, iUegal,  and  unconstitutional  sentence  of 
condemnation  against  th.    approved  President 
of  the  Republic. 

But,  while  declining  to  reopr^  the  argument 
of  this  question,  and  refusing  tu  tread  over  a<^ain 
the  ground  already  traversed,  there  is  another 
and  a  diilbrent  task  to  perform;  one  which  the 
approaching  termination  of  President  Jackson's 
adm„,i«f,ratiQn  make.,  peculiarly  proper  at  this 
tme,  and  which  it  is  my  privilege,  and  perhaps 
my  duty,  to  execute,  as  being  the  suitable  con- 
70L.   I. — 46 


TBI 


cluNion  to  tho  arduous  content  in  which  we  have 
iM'on  HO  long  engaged;  I  allude  to  the  gener 
tenor  of  his  administration,  and  to  itn  effect,  f  - 
good  ,,r  for  evil,  upon  the  condition  of  his  countrv 
This  iH  the  proj)or  time  for  such  a  view  to  be 
taken.     The  political  existence  of  this  great  man 
now  draws  to  a  close.     In  little  more  than  forty 
days  ho  ceases  to  be  a  public  character.     In  a 
few  brief  weeks  he  ceases  to  bo  an  object  of  po- 
litical hope  to  any,  and  should  cease  to  Im.  an 
object  of  political  hate,  or  envy,  to  all.     What- 
over  of  motive  tho  servile  and  timesemng  might 
have  found  in  his  exalted  station  for  raising  the 
altar  of  mlulation,  and  burning  tho  incense  of 
praise  before  him,  tl.ut  motive  can  no  longer  ex- 
ist.   Tho  dispenser  of  tho  patronage  of  an  em- 
pire-tho  chief  of  this  great  confederacy  of 
States-is  soon  to  bo  a  private  individual,  strip- 
pod  of  all  power  to  reward,  or  to  punish.     His 
own  thoughts,  as  ho  has  shown  us  in  the  con- 
cluding paragraph  of  that  message  which  is  to 
bo  the  last  of  its  kind  that  we  shall  ever  receive 
from  him,  are  directed  to  that  beloved  retire- 
ment from  which  he  was  drawn  by  the  voice  of 
millions  of  freemen,  and  to  which  he  now  looks 
for  that  interval  of  repose  which  age  and  infir- 
mities require.    Under  these  circumstances  he 
ceases  to  be  a  subject  for  the  ebullition  of  'the 
passions,  and  passes  into  a  character  for  the  con- 
templation of  history.    Historically,  then,  shall 
I  view  him  ;  and  limiting  this  view  to  his  civil 
administration,  I  demand,  where  is  there  a  chief 
magistrate  of  whom  so  much  evil  has  been  pre- 
«hcted,  and  from  whom  so  much  good  has  come? 
^ever  has  any  man  entered  upon  the  chief  ma- 
gistracy of  a  country  under  such  appalling  pre- 
.  iictions  of  ruin  and  woe !  never  has  any  one  been 
so  pursued  with  direful  prognostications  I  never 
has  any  ono  been  so  beset  and  impeded  by  a 
powerful  combination  of  political  and  moneyed 
confederates !    never  has  any  one  in  any  coun- 
try where  the  administration  of  justice  has  risen 
above  the  knife  or  the  bowstrmg,  been  so  law- 
lessly and  Bhaiiielessly  tried    and  condemned 
by  rivals  and  enemies,  without  hearing,  without 
defence,  without  the  forms  of  law  or  justice! 
History  has  been  ransacked  to  find  examples 
of  tyrants  sufficiently  odious  to  illustrate  him 
by  comparison.    Language  has  been  tortured 
to  find  epithets  sufficiently  strong  to  paint  him 
in  description.    Imagination  has  been  exhausted 
m  her  efforts  to  deck  hun  with  revolting  and 


f!i  ■ 


•||  1 


Pi 


722 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


inhuman  attributes.  Tyrant,  despot,  usurper ; 
destroyer  of  the  liberties  of  his  country ;  rash, 
ignorant,  imbecile ;  endangering  the  public  peace 
with  all  foreign  nations ;  destroying  domestic 
prosperity  at  home ;  ruining  all  industry,  all 
commerce,  all  manufactures ;  annihilating  con- 
fidence between  man  and  man;  delivering  up 
the  streets  of  populous  cities  to  grass  and  weeds, 
and  the  wharves  of  commercial  towns  to  the 
encumbrance  of  decaying  vessels;  depriving 
labor  of  all  reward ;  depriving  industry  of  all 
emploj'ment ;  destroying  the  currency  ;  plung- 
ing an  innocent  and  happy  people  from  the  sum- 
mit of  felicity  to  the  depths  of  misery,  want,  and 
despair.  Such  is  the  faint  outline,  followed  up 
by  actual  condemnation,  of  the  appalling  denun- 
ciations daily  uttered  against  this  one  MAN, 
from  the  moment  he  became  an  object  of  poli- 
tical competition,  down  to  the  concluding  mo- 
ment of  his  political  existence. 

"  The  sacred  voice  of  inspiration  has  told  us 
that  there  is  a  time  for  all  things.  There  cer- 
tainly has  been  a  time  for  every  evil  that  human 
■nature  admits  of  to  be  vaticinated  of  President 
Jackson's  administration ;  equally  certain  the 
time  has  now  come  for  all  rational  and  well-dis- 
posed people  to  compare  the  predictions  with  the 
facts,  and  to  ask  themselves  if  these  calamitous 
prognostications  have  been  verified  by  events  ? 
Have  we  peace,  o,  war,  with  foreign  nations  1 
Certainly,  we  have  peace  with  all  the  world  ! 
peace  with  all  its  benign,  and  felicitous,  and  bene- 
ficent  influences !  Are  we  respected,  or  despised 
abroad?  Certainly  the  American  name  never  was 
more  honored  throughout  the  four  quarters  of  the 
globe,  than  in  this  very  moment.  Do  we  hear  of 
indignity,  or  outrage  in  any  quarter  ?  of  merchants 
robbed  in  foreign  ports?  of  vessels  searched  on 
the  high  seas  ?  of  American  citizens  impressed 
into  foreign  service  ?  of  the  national  flag  insulted 
any  where  ?  On  the  contrary,  we  see  lormer 
wrongs  repaired ;  no  new  ones  inflicted.  France 
pays  twenty-five  millions  of  francs  for  spolia- 
tions committed  thirty  years  ago ;  Naples  pays 
two  millions  one  hundred  thousand  ducats  for 
wrongs  of  the  same  date  ;  Denmark  pays  six 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  rix  dollars  for  wrongs 
done  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago ;  Spain  engages 
to  pay  twelve  millions  of  reals  vellon  for  injuries 
of  ilfleeii  years  date  ;  and  Portugal,  the  last  iu 
the  list  of  former  aggressors,  admits  he  liability, 
and  only  waits  the  adjustn.  at  of  details  to  close 


her  account  by  adequate  indemnity.  So  far 
from  war,  insult,  contempt,  and  spoliation  from 
abroad;  this  denounced  administration  has  been 
the  season  of  peace  and  good  will,  and  the  aus- 
picious era  of  universal  reparation.  So  far  from 
suflering  injury  at  the  hands  of  foreign  powers, 
our  merchants  have  received  indemnities  for  all 
former  inj  iiries.  It  has  been  the  day  of  account- 
ing, of  settlement,  and  of  retribution.  The 
total  list  of  arrearages,  extending  through  four 
successive  previous  administrations,  has  been 
closed  and  settled  up.  The  wrongs  done  to 
commerce  for  thirty  years  back,  and  under  so 
many  difierent  Presidents,  and  indemnities  with- 
held from  all,  have  been  repaired  and  paid  over 
under  tl  o  beneficent  and  glorious  administration 
of  President  Jackson.  But  one  single  instance 
of  outrage  has  occurred,  and  that  at  the  extremi-' 
ties  of  the  world,  and  by  a  piratical  horde, 
amenable  to  no  law  but  the  law  of  force.  The 
Malays  of  Sumatra  committed  a  robbery  and 
massacre  upon  an  American  vessel.  Wretch  5S ! 
they  did  not  then  know  that  JACKSON  was 
President  of  the  United  States !  and  that  no 
distance,  no  time,  no  idle  ceremonial  of  treating 
with  robbers  and  assassins,  was  to  hold  back 
the  arm  of  justice.  Commodore  Downes  went 
out.  His  cannon  and  his  bayonets  struck  the 
outlaws  in  their  den.  They  paid  in  terror  and 
in  blood  for  the  outrage  which  was  committed ; 
and  the  great  lesson  was  taught  to  these  distant 
pirK,tes — to  our  antipodes  themselves — that  not 
even  the  entire  diameter  of  this  globe  could  pro- 
tect them !  and  that  the  name  of  American 
citizen,  like  that  of  Roman  citizen  in  the  great 
d"v8  of  the  Republic  and  of  the  empire,  was  to 
be  the  inviolable  passport  of  all  that  wore  it 
throughout  the  whole  extent  of  the  habitable 
svorld. 

"  At  home,  the  most  gratifying  picture  pre- 
sents itself  to  the  view :  the  public  debt  paid 
off;  taxes  reduced  one  half;  the  completion  of 
the  public  defences  systematically  commenced ; 
the  compact  with  Georgia,  uncomplied  with 
since  1802,  now  carried  into  effect,  and  her  soil 
ready  to  be  freed,  as  her  jurisdiction  ban  been 
delivered,  from  the  preseine  and  encumbrance 
of  an  Indian  population.  A''«sis8ippi  and  Aia- 
oama,  Georgia,  Tennessee,  ani  North  Carolina; 
Ohio,  Indiana, Illinois,  Missouri,  and  Arkansas; 
in  a  word,  all  the  States  encumbered  with  an 
Indian  population  have  been  relieved  from  that 


'"' 


been  t 
every 
their  c 
and  th 
"Th 
trary,  i 
tr}"-  is 
barrier 
banks  ^ 
and  to 
the  con 
the  see 
a  depn 
Gold,  a 
restorer 
with  ai 
three  y 
rency  a 
which 
shows  t 
calculab 
and  soli 
is  styled 
a  reforrr 
a  revolu 
gaining  1 
she  has 
past. 

Domes 

dence  is 

l)ed;  wo 

and  emp 

prices  hf 

the  stree 

not  lumt 

of  curses, 

agonized 

against  tl 

prosper!  ti 

this  is  tn 

ishes  and 

is  not  gol( 

■ncc  betw 

I  know  th 

apparent  ( 

millions  o 

by  one  th( 

allowance 

the  real  pri 

dentediy  ai 

every  flow 


ANNO  1837.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


encumbrance;  and  the  Indians  themselves  have 
been  transferred  to  new  and  permanent  homes, 
every  way  better  adapted  to  the  enjoyment  of 
their  existence,  the  preservation  of  their  rights 
and  the  improvement  of  their  condition.  ' 

"The  currency  is  not  ruined!    On  the  con- 
trary, seventy-five  millions  of  specie  in  the  coun- 
try is  a  spectacle  never  seen  before,  and  is  the 
barrier  of  the  people  against  the  designs  of  any 
banks  which  may  attempt  to  suspend  payments, 
and  to  force  a  dishonored  paper  currency  upon 
the  community.    These  seventy-five  millions  are 
the  security  of  the  people  against  the  dangers  of 
a  depreciated  and  inconvertible  paper  money. 
Gold,  after  a  disappearance  of  thirty  years  is 
restored  to  our  country.    All  Europe  beholds 
with  admiration  the  success  of  our  efforts  in 
three  years,  to  supply  ourselves  with  the  cur- 
rency which  our  constitution  guarantees,  and 
which  the  example   of  France  and   Holland 
shows  to  be  so  easily  attainable,  and  of  such  in- 
calculable value  to  industry,  morals,  economy 
and  solid  wealth.    The  success  of  these  efforts 
IS  styled  in  the  best  London  papers,  not  merely 
a  reformation,  but  a  revolution  in  the  currency! 
a  revolution  by  which  our  America  is  now  re- 
gaining from  Europe  the  gold  and  silver  which 
she  has  been  sending  to  it  for  thirty  years 
past. 

Domestic  industry  is  not  paralyzed;   confi- 
dence is  not  destroyed ;  factories  are  not  stop- 
ixjd ;  workmen  are  not  mendicants  for  bread 
and  employment;  credit  is  not  extinguished; 
prices  have  not  sunk;  grass  is  not  growing  in 
the  streets  of  populous  cities;  the  wharves  are 
not  lumtiered  with  decaying  vessels;  columns 
of  curses,  rising  from  the  bosoms  of  a  ruined  and 
agonized  people,  are  not  ascending  to  heaven 
against  the  destroyer  of  a  nation's  felicity  and 
prosperity.    On  the  contrary,  the  reverse  of  all 
this  IS  true!  and  true  to  a  degree  that  aston- 
ishes and  bewilders  the  senses.    I  know  that  all 
>s  not  gold  that  glitters  ;  that  there  is  a  differ- 
•ncc  between  a  specious  and  a  solid  prosperity 
I  know  that  a  part  of  the  present  prosperity  is 
rtpiiarent  ouly-the  effect  of  an  increase  of  fifty 
millions  of  paper  money,  forced  into  circulation 
by  one  thousand  banks;  but,  after  making  due 
allowance  for  this  fictitious  .and  dehisiv.-  rvce=3 


723 


the  real  prosperity  of  the  country  is  still  unprece- 
clentedly  and  transcendently  great.  I  know  that 
every  flow  must  be  followed  by  its  ebb,  that 


every  expansion  must  be  followed  by  its  con- 
traction. I  know  that  a  revulsion  of  the  paper 
system  is  inevitable;  but  I  know,  also,  that 
these  seventy-five  millions  of  gold  and  silver  is 
the  bulwark  of  the  country,  and  will  enable 
every  honest  bank  to  meet  its  Ifabilities,  and 
every  prudent  citizen  to  take  care  of  himself: 

Turning  to  some  points  in  the  civil  adminis- 
tration of  President  Jackson,  and  how  much  do 
we  not  find  to  admire !    The  great  cause  of  the 
constitution  has  been  vindicated  from  an  impu- 
tation of  more  than  forty  years'  duration.     He 
has  demonstrated,  by  the  fact  itseli;  that  a  na- 
tional bank  is  not 'necessary 'to  the  fiscal  opera- 
tions of  the  federal  government;  and  in  that 
demonstration  he  has  upset  the  argument  of 
Cxeneral  Hamilton,  and  the  decision  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States,  and  all  that 
ever  has  been  said  in  favor  of  the  constitution- 
ality of  a  national  bank.    All  this  argument 
and  decision  rested  on  the  single  assumption 
of  the  'necessity'  of  that  institution  to  the  fed- 
eral government.     He  has  shown  it  is  not  'i, 
cessary;'  that  the  currency  of  the  constitution 
and  especially  a  gold  currency,  is  all  that  the 
federal  government  wants,  and  that  she  can  get 
thatwhemNc.  she  pleases.    In  this  .single    .ct 
he  has  vindicated  the  constitution  from  an  un- 
just imputation,  and  knocked  from  under  the 
decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  the  assumed  fact 
on  which  it  rested.    He  has  prepared  the  way 
for  the  reversal  of  that  decision;  and  it  is  a 
question  for  lawyers  to  answer,  whether  the 
case  is  not  ripe  for  the  application  of  that  writ 
of  most  remedial  nature,  as  Lord  Coke  calls 
It,  and  which  was  invented,  lest,  in  any  case 
there  should  be  an  oppressive  defect  of  justice' 
the  venerable  writ  of  audita  querela  defenden- 
lis,  to  ascertain  the  truth  of  a  fact  happening 
since  the  judgment;  and  upon  the  due  finding 
of  which  the  judgment  will  be  vacated.    Let 
the  lawyers  bring  their  books,  and  answer  us, 
if  there  is  not  a  case  here  presented  for  the 
application  of  that  ancient  and  most  remedial 
writ  ? 

From  President  Jackson,  the  country  has 
first  learned  the  true  theory  and  practical  in- 
tent of  the  constitution,  in  giving  to  the  Execu- 
tive a  (juaiined  nt-gutive  on  the  Icgisiative  power 
of  Congress.  Far  from  being  an  odious,  danger- 
ous, or  kingly  prerogative,  this  power,  as  vested 
m  the  President,  is  nothing  but  a  qualified  copy 


III 


724 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


of  the  famous  veto  power  vested  in  the  tribunes 
of  the  people  among  the  Romans,  and  intended 
to  suspend  the  passage  of  a  law  until  the  people 
themselves  should  have  time  to  consider  it.  The 
qualified  veto  of  the  President  destroys  nothing ; 
it  only  delays  the  passage  of  a  law,  and  refers 
ii  to  the  people  for  their  consideration  and  de- 
cision. It  is  the  reference  of  a  law,  not  to  a 
committee  of  the  House,  or  of  the  whole  House, 
but  to  the  committee  of  the  whole  Union.  It 
is  a  recommitment  of  the  bill  to  the  people,  for 
them  to  examine  and  consider;  and  if,  upon  this 
examination,  they  are  content  to  pass  it,  it  will 
pass  ai  the  next  session.  The  delay  of  a  few 
months  is  the  only  effect  of  a  veto,  in  a  case 
wheie  the  people  shall  ultimately  approve  a 
law ;  where  they  do  not  approve  it,  the  interpo- 
sition of  the  veto  is  the  barrier  which  saves 
them  the  adoption  of  a  law,  the  repeal  of  which 
might  afterwards  be  almost  impossible.  The 
qualified  negative  is,  therefore,  a  beneficent  pow- 
er, intended,  as'  General  Hamilton  expressly 
declares  in  the  'Federalist,'  to  protect,  first, 
the  executive  department  from  the  encroach- 
ments of  the  legislative  department ;  and,  se- 
condly, to  preserve  the  people  from  hasty,  dan- 
gerous, or  criminal  legislation  on  the  part  of 
their  representatives.  This  is  the  design  and 
intention  of  the  veto  power ;  and  the  fear  ex- 
pressed by  General  Hamilton  was,  that  Presi- 
dents, so  far  from  exercising  it  too  often,  would 
not  exercise  it  as  often  as  the  safety  of  the  peo- 
ple required ;  that  they  might  lack  the  moral 
courage  to  stake  themselves  in  opposition  to  a 
favorite  measure  of  the  majority  of  the  two 
Houses  of  Congress ;  and  thus  deprive  the  peo- 
ple, in  many  instances,  of  their  right  to  pass 
upon  a  bill  before  it  becomes  a  final  law.  The 
cases  in  which  President  Jackson  has  exercised 
the  veto  power  has  shown  the  .soundness  of  those 
observations.  No  ordinary  President  would 
have  staked  himself  against  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  two  Houses  of  Congress, 
in  1832.  It  required  President  Jackson  to  con- 
front that  power — to  stem  that  torrent — to  stay 
the  progress  of  that  charter,  and  to  refer  it  to 
the  people  for  their  decision.  His  moral  cour- 
age was  equal  to  the  crisis.  He  arrested  the 
charter  until  it  could  go  to  the  people,  and  they 
havfi  arrested  it  for  ever.     Had  he  not  done  so. 


Union  would  now  have  been  in  the  condition  of 
the  people  of  Pennsylvania,  bestrode  by  the 
monster,  in  daily  conflict  with  him,  and  main- 
taining a  doubtful  contest  for  su{)rcmacy  be- 
tween the  government  of  a  State  and  tin;  direc- 
tory of  a  moneyed  corporation. 

To  detail  specific  acts  which  adorn  the  ad- 
ministration of  President  Jackson,  and  illustrate 
the  intuitive  sagacity  of  his  intellect,  the  firm- 
-■^ss  of  his  mind,  his  disregard  of  personal  popvi- 
iarity,  and  his  entire  devotion  to  the  public 
good,  would  be  inconsistent  with  this  rapid 
sketch,  intended  merely  to  present  general 
views,  and  not  to  detail  single  actions,  howso- 
ever worthy  they  may  be  of  a  splendid  page  in 
the  volume  of  history.  But  how  can  we  pass 
over  the  great  measure  of  the  removal  of  the 
public  moneys  from  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  in  the  autumn  of  1833  ?  that  wise,  he- 
roic, and  masterly  measure  of  prevention,  which 
has  rescued  an  empire  from  the  fangs  of  a  mer- 
ciless, revengeful,  greedy,  insatiate,  implacable, 
moneyed  power  !  It  is  a  remark  for  which  I 
am  indebted  to  the  philosophic  observation  of 
my  most  esteemed  colleague  and  friend  (point- 
ing to  Dr.  Linn),  that,  while  it  requires  far 
greater  talent  to  foresee  an  evil  before  it  hap- 
pens, and  to  arrest  it  by  precautionary  measures, 
than  it  requires  to  apply  an  adequate  remedy 
to  the  same  evil  after  it  has  happened,  yet  tlie 
applause  bestowed  by  the  world  is  always  great- 
est in  the  latter  case.  Of  this,  the  removal  of 
the  public  moneys  from  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States  is  an  eminent  instance.  The  veto  of 
1832,  which  arrest.^d  the  charter  which  Con- 
gress had  granted,  immediately  received*  the  ap- 
plause and  approbation  of  a  majority  of  the 
Union  .  the  removal  of  the  deposits,  which  pre- 
vented the  bank  from  forcing  a  recharter,  was 
disapproved  by  a  large  majority  of  the  country, 
and  even  of  his  ov,'u  friends ;  yet  the  veto  would 
have  been  unavailing,  and  the  bank  would  inevi- 
tably have  been  rechartercd,  if  the  deposits  had 
not  been  removed.  The  immense  sums  of  pub- 
lic money  since  accumulated  would  have  en- 
abled the  bank,  if  she  had  retained  the  posses- 
sion of  it,  to  have  coerced  a  recharter.  Nothing 
but  the  removal  could  have  prevented  her  from 
extorting  a  recharter  from  the  sufferings  and 
terrors  o'*  the  neonl^.     If  it  had  not  been  for 


the  charter  would  have  become  law,  and  its  re- 
peal almost  impossible.   The  people  of  the  whole 


that  neasure,  the  previous  veto  would  have 
been  unavailing:  the  bank  would  have  been 


ANNO  1837.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


the  condition  of 
bestrode  by  the 

him,  and  main- 
r  sujjrcmacy  be- 
te and  till)  direc- 

h  adorn  the  ad- 
on,  and  illustrate 
tellect,  the  firm- 
if  personal  popu- 
11  to  the  public 
with  this  rapid 
present  general 
I  actions,  howso- 
splcndid  page  in 
low  can  we  pass 
removal  of  the 
:  of  the  United 
1  that  wise,  he- 
revention,  which 
fangs  of  a  mer- 
iate,  implacable, 
lark  for  which  I 
!  observation  of 
d  friend  (point- 
it  requires  far 
1  before  it  hap- 
ionary  measures, 
idequato  remedy 
i{)pened,  yet  tlie 
is  always  great- 
the  removal  of 
ik  of  the  United 
.  The  veto  of 
ter  which  Con- 
receivecJ  the  ap- 
najority  of  the 
)sits,  which  pre- 
a  recharter,  was 
of  the  country, 
t  the  veto  would 
ink  would  inevi- 
the  deposits  had 
se  sums  of  pub- 
ivould  have  en- 
aed  the  posses- 
arter.  Nothing 
rented  her  from 
3  suffermgs  and 
id  not  been  for 
ito  would  have 
juld  have  been 


again  installed  in  power;  and  this  entire  federal 


725 


I 


government  would  have  been  held  as  an  append- 
age to  that  bank,  and  administered  according  to 
her  directions,  and  by  her  nominees.     That 
great  measure  of  prevention,  the  removal  of  the 
deposits,  though  feebly  and  faintly  supported 
by  friends  at  first,  has  expelled  the  bank  from 
the  field,  and  driven  her  into  abeyance  under  a 
State  charter.    She  is  not  dead,  but,  holding 
her  capital  and  stockholders  together  under  a 
State  charter,  she  has  taken  a  position  to  watch 
events,  and  to  profit  by  them.    The  royal  tiger 
has  gone  into  the  jungle ;  and,  crouched  on  his 
belly,  he  awaits  the  favorable  moment  for  emerg- 
ing from  his  covert,  and  springing  on  the  body 
of  the  unsuspicious  traveller ! 

The  Treasury  order  for  excluding  paper  mon- 
ey from  the  land  offices  is  another  wise  mea- 
sure, originating  in  enlightened  forecast,  and 
preventing  great  mischiefs.    The  President  fore- 
saw the  evils  of  suffering  a  thousand  streams  of 
paper  money,  issuing  from  a  thousand  difierent 
banks,  to  discharge  themselves  on  the  national 
domain.   He  foresaw  that  if  these  currents  were 
allowed  to  run  their  course,  that  the  public 
lands  would  be  swept  away,  the  Treasury  would 
be  filled  with  irredeemable  paper,  a  vast  num- 
ber of  banks  must  be  broken  by  their  folly,  and 
the  cry  set  up  that  nothing  but  a  national  bank 
could  regulate  the  currency.    He  stopped  the 
course  of  these  streams  of  paper ;  and,  in  so  do- 
ing, has  saved  the  country  from  a  great  calamity, 
and  excited  anew  the  machinations  of  those 
whose  schemes  of  gain  and  mischief  have  been 
disappointed;  and  who  had  counted  on  a  n.nv 
edition  of  panic  and  pressure,  and  again  saluting 
Congress  with  the  old  story  of  confidence  de 
stroyed,  currency  ruined,  prosperity  annihilated, 
and  distress  produced,  by  the  tyranny  of  one 
man.     They  began  their  lugubrious  song;  but 
ridicule  and  contempt  have  proved  too  strong 
for  money  and  insolence;  and  the  panic  letter 
of  the  ex-president  of  the  denationalized  bank, 
after  limping  about  for  a  few  days,  has  shrunk 
from  the  lash  of  public  scorn,  and  disappeared 
from  the  forum  of  public  debate. 

The  difficulty  with  France :  what  an  instance 
i^  presents  of  the  superior  sagacity  of  President 
Jackson  over  all  the  commonplace  politicians  ! 
who  beset   md   impede   „■     udministration  at  ( 
home  !   That  difficulty,  inflamed  and  aggravated  I 
by  domestic  faction,  wore,  at  one  time,  a  por-  | 


tentous  aspect;  the  skill,  firmness,  elevation  of 
purpose,  and  manly  frankness  of  the  President, 
avoided  the  danger,  accomplished  the  object' 
commanded  the  admiration  of  Europe,  and  re- 
tained the  friendship  of  France.    He  conducted 
the  delicate  affair  to  a  successful  and  mutually 
honorable  issue.    All  is  amicably  and  happily 
terminated,  leaving  not  a  wound,  nor  even  a 
scar,    behind— leaving    the    Frenchman    and 
American  on  the  ground  on  which  they  have 
stood  for  fifty  years,  and  should  for  ever  stand ; 
the  ground  of  friendship,  respect,  good  will,  and 
mutual  wishes  for  the  honor,  happiness,  and 
prosperity,  of  each  other. 

But  why  this  specification?    So  beneficent 
and  so  glorious  has  been  the  administration  of 
this  President,  that  where  to  begin,  and  where 
to  end,  in  the  enumeration  of  great  measures, 
would  be  the  embarrassment  of  him  who  has 
his  eulogy  to  make.    He  came  into  office  the 
first  of  generals;  he  goes  out  the  first  of  states- 
men.     His  civil  competitors  have  shared  the 
fate  of  his  military  opponents;  and  Washington 
city  has  been  to  the  American  politicians  who 
have  assailed  him,  what  New  Orleans  was  to  the 
British  generals  who  attacked  his  lines.    Re- 
pulsed!   driven   back!   discomfited!   crushed! 
has  been  the  fate  of  all  assailants,  foreign  and 
domestic,  civil  and  military.      At  home  and 
abroad,  the  impress  of  his  genius  and  of  his 
character  is  felt.     He  has  impressed  upon  the 
age  in  which  he  lives  the  stamp  of  his  arms, 
of  his  diplomacy,  and  of  his  domestic  policy.  In 
a  word,  so  transcendent  have  been  the  merits 
of  his  administration,  that  they  have  operated 
a  miracle  upon  the  minds  of  his  most  inveterate 
opponents.    He  has  expunged  their  objections 
to  military  chieftains  !  He  has  shown  them  that 
they  were  mistaken ;  that  military  men  were 
not  the  dangerous  rulers  they  had  imagined,  but 
safe  and  prosperous  conductors  of  the  vessel  of 
state.     He   has  changed  their  fear  into  love. 
With  visible  signs  they  admit  their  error,  and. 
instead  of  deprecating,  they  now  invoke  the  reign 
of  chieftains.    They  labored  hard  to  procure  a 
military  successor  io  the  present  incumbent; 
and  if  their  love  goes  on  increasing  at  the  same 
rate,  the  republic  may  be  put  to  the  expense  of 
periodical  wars,  to  breed  a  perpetual  succession 
of  these  chieftains  to  rule  over  them  and  their 
posterity  for  ever. 
To  drop  this  irony,  which  the  inconsistency 


m. 


726 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


of  mad  opponents  has  provoked,  and  to  return 
to  the  plain  <lelineations  of  historical  painting, 
the  mind  instinctively  dwells  on  the  vast  and 
unprecedented  popularity  of  this  President. 
Great  is  the  inlluenco,  great  the  power,  greater 
than  any  man  ever  before  possessed  in  our 
America,  which  he  has  acquired  over  the  public 
mind.  And  how  has  he  acquired  it  ?  Not  by 
the  arts  of  intrigue,  or  the  juggling  tricks  of 
diplomacy;  not  by  undermining  rivals,  or  sac- 
rificing public  interests  for  the  gratification  of 
classes  or  individuals.  But  he  has  acquired  it, 
first,  by  the  exercise  of  an  intuitive  sagacity 
which,  leaving  all  book  learning  at  an  immea- 
surable distance  behind,  lias  always  enabled  him 
to  adopt  the  right  remedy,  at  the  right  time, 
and  to  conquer  soonest  when  tlio  men  of  forms 
and  office  thought  him  most  near  to  ruin  and 
despair.  Next,  by  a  moral  courage  which  know 
no  fear  when  the  public  good  beckoned  him  to 
go  on.  Last,  and  chiefest,  he  has  acquired  it 
by  an  open  honesty  of  purpose,  which  knew  no 
concealments ;  by  a  straightforwardness  of  ac- 
tion, which  disdained  the  forms  of  office  and  the 
arts  of  intrigue ;  by  a  disinterestedness  of  mo- 
live,  which  knew  no  selfish  or  sordid  calcula- 
tion ;  a  devotedness  of  patriotism,  which  staked 
every  thing  personal  on  tlie  issue  of  every  mea- 
sure which  the  public  welfare  required  him  to 
iulopt.  By  these  qualities,  and  these  meaus,  he 
has  acijuired  his  prodigious  popularity,  and  his 
transcendent  influence  over  the  pubhc  mind; 
and  if  there  are  any  who  envy  that  influence 
and  popularity,  let  them  envy,  also,  and  emulate, 
if  they  can,  the  qualities  and  means  by  which 
they  were  acquired. 

Great  has  been  the  op^  "silion  to  President 
Jackson's  administration ;  greater,  perhaps,  than 
ever  has  been  exhibited  against  nny  government, 
short  of  actual  insurrection  and  forcible  resist- 
ance. Revolution  has  '  en  proclaimed!  and 
ever}'  thing  has  bee:  , -ne  that  could  be  ex- 
pected to  produce  revolution.  The  country  has 
been  alarmed,  agitated,  convulsed.  From  the 
Senate  chamber  to  the  village  bar-room,  from 
one  end  of  the  continent  to  the  other,  denuncia- 
tion, agitation,  excltemenl,  has  been  the  order 
of  the  day.  For  eight  years  the  President  of 
this  republic  has  stoo(J  upon  a  volcuno.  vomiting 
fire  and  flames  upon  him,  and  tliroatening  the 
country  itself  with  ruin  and  desolation,  if  the 
people  did  not  expel  the  usurper,  despot,  and 


tyrant,  as  he  was  called,  from  the  high  place  to 
which  the  sufl'rages  of  millions  of  freemen  had 
elevated  him. 

Great  is  the  confidence  which  he  has  alwavs 
reposed  in  the  discernment  and  equity  of  the 
American  people.  I  have  been  accustomed  to 
see  him  for  many  years,  and  under  many  dis- 
couraging trials  ;  but  never  saw  him  doubt,  for 
an  instant,  the  ultimate  support  of  the  people. 
It  was  my  privilege  to  see  him  often,  and  during 
the  most  gloomy  period  of  the  j^anic  conspiracy, 
when  the  whole  earth  seemed  to  be  in  commo- 
tion against  him,  and  when  many  friends  were 
faltering,  and  stout  hearts  were  quailing,  before 
the  raging  storm  which  bank  machination,  and 
senatorial  denunciation,  had  conjured  up  to  over- 
whelm him.  I  saw  him  in  the  darkest  moments 
of  this  gloomy  period ;  and  never  did  I  see  his 
confidence  in  the  ultimate  support  of  his  fellow- 
citizens  forsake  him  for  an  instant.  He  always 
said  the  people  would  stand  by  those  who  stand 
by  them;  and  nobly  have  they  justifiid  thrt 
confidence !  That  verdict,  the  voice  of  millions, 
which  now  demands  the  expurgation  of  that 
sentence,  which  the  Senate  and  the  bank  then 
pronounced  upon  him,  is  the  magnificent  re- 
sponse of  the  people's  hearts  to  the  implicit  con- 
fidence which  he  then  reposed  in  them.  But  it 
was  not  m  the  people  only  that  ho  had  confi- 
dence; there  wa>  another,  and  a  far  higher 
Power,  to  which  he  constantly  looked  to  save 
the  country,  and  its  defenders,  from  every  dan- 
ger ;  and  signal  events  prove  that  he  did  not 
look  to  that  high  Power  in  vain. 

Sir,  I  think  it  right,  in  approaching  the  ter- 
mination of  this  great  question,  to  present  this 
faint  and  rai)id  sketch  of  the  brilliant,  beneficent, 
and  glorious  administration  of  President  Jack- 
son. It  is  not  for  me  to  attempt  to  do  it  jus- 
tiwi ;  it  is  not  for  ordinary  men  to  attempt  its 
history.  His  military  life,  resplendent  with 
dazzling  events,  will  demand  the  pen  of  a  nerv- 
ous writer;  his  civil  administration,  replete 
with  scenes  which  have  called  into  action  so 
many  and  such  vnrious  passions  of  the  human 
heart,  and  which  has  given  to  native  sagacity 
so  many  victories  over  practised  politicians,  will 
require  the  profound,  luminous,  and  philost)phi- 
cal  conceptions  of  a  Livy,  a  Plutarcli,  or  a  Sal- 
lust.  This  history  is  not  to  be  written  in  our 
day.  The  cotemiwraries  of  such  events  are  not 
the  hands  to  describe  them.  Time  must  first  do 


f 
I. 


ANNO  1837.     ANDREW  JACKSON,  TRESIDENT. 


727 


the  high  place  to 
18  of  freemen  had 

h  ho  has  always 
aJ  equity  of  the 
a  accustoined  to 
under  many  dis- 
w  him  doubt,  for 
rt  of  the  pt'ople. 
often,  and  during 
panic  conspiracy, 
to  be  in  commo- 
lany  friends  were 
a  quailing,  before 
machination,  and 
ijured  up  to  ovor- 
darkest  moments 
;ver  did  I  see  iiis 
wrt  of  his  fellow- 
;ant.  He  always 
'  those  who  stand 
ley  justified  thtt 
voice  of  millions, 
mrgation  of  that 
d  the  bank  then 
1  magnificent  re- 
I  the  implicit  con- 
in  them.  But  it 
»at  ho  had  confi- 
nd  a  far  higher 
Y  looked  to  save 
from  every  dan- 
that  he  did  not 
n. 

roach  ing  the  ter- 
n,  to  present  this 
illiant,  beneficent, 
'  President  Jack- 
mpt  to  do  it  jus- 
n  to  attempt  its 
'cspieiident  Avith 
ho  pen  of  a  nerv- 
istration,  replete 
d  into  action  so 
ns  of  the  human 
I  native  sagacity 
d  politicians,  will 
,  and  philosophi- 
lutarcli,  or  a  Sal- 
he  written  in  our 
ch  events  are  not 
ime  must  first  do 


if 
%■■ 

I 
f 


its  office— must  silence  the  passions,  remove  the 
actors,  develope  consequences,  and  canonize  all 
that  is  sacred  to  honor,  patriotism,  and  glory. 
In  after  ages  the  historic  genius  of  our  America 
shall  produce  the  writers  which  the  subject  de- 
mauds— men  far  removed  from  the  contests  of 
this  day,  who  will  know  how  to  estimate  this 
great  epoch,  and  how  to  acquirj  an  immortality 
for^their  own  names  by  painting,  with  a  mas- 
ter's hand,  the  immortal  events  of  the  patriot 
President's  life. 

And  now,  sir,  I  finish  the  task  which,  three 
years  ago,  I  imposed  on  myself.    Solitary  and 
alone,  and  amidst  the  jeers  and  taunts  of  my 
opponents,  I  put  this  ball  in  motion.     The  peo- 
ple have  taken  it  up,  and  rolled  it  forward,  and 
^  am  no  longer  any  thin-  but  a  unit  in  the  vast 
mass  which  now  propels  it.     In  the  name  of 
that  mass  I  speak.    I  demand  the  execution  of 
the  edict  of  the  people ;  I  demand  the  expurga- 
tion of  that  sentence  which  the  voice  of  a  few 
senators,  and  the  power  of  their  confederate, 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  has  caused  to  be 
placed  on  the  journal  of  the  Senate ;  and  which 
the  voice  of  millions  of  freemen  has  ordered  to 
be  expunged  from  it. 


CHAPTER    CLXI. 

EXPUNGING  KKSOLIJTION:  MR.  CLAY,  ME  CAL- 
HOUN, MU.  WEBSTEK:  LAST  SCENE:  EESOLU- 
TION  PASSED,  AND  EXECUTED. 

Saturday,  the  14th  of  January,  the  democratic 
senators  agreed  to  have  a  meeting,  and  to  take 
their  final  measures  .or  passing  the  expunging 
resolution.    They  knew  they  had  the  numbers ; 
but  they  also  knew  that  they  had  adversaries 
to  giupple  with  to  whom  might  be  applied  the 
proud  motto  of  Louis  the  Fourteenth:  "Not  an 
unequal  match  for  numbers."    They  also  knew 
that  members  of  the  party  were  in  the  process  of 
separating  fron;  k,  :v-.d  would  require  concilia- 
ting.   They  ml  ii..  the  night  at  the  then  famous 
restaurant  of  .l]nu)«n.:cr,  giving  to  the  assemblage 
the  air  of  a  co-.-'uial  entertainment.   It  continu- 
ed till  midnight,  and  required  all  the  modera- 
tion, (net  !ind  -kill  of  the  prime  movers  to  ob- 
tain and  maintain  the   union  upon  details   on 
the  success   of  which   the  fate  of  the  meas- 


ure depended.     The  men  of  conciliation  were 
to  be  the  efficient  men  of  that  night ;  and  all 
the  winning  resources  of  Wright,  Allen  of  Ohio 
and  Linn  of  Missouri,  were  put  into  requisition. 
There  were  serious  differences  upon  the  modo 
of  expurgation,  while  agreed  upon  the  thing; 
and  finally  obliteration,   the  favorite  of   the 
mover,  was  given  up;  and  the  modo  of  expurga- 
tion  adopted  which  had  been  proposed  in  the 
resolutions  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Virginia ; 
namely,  to  inclose  the  obnoxious  sentence  in  a 
square  of  black  lints— an  oblong  square :  a  com- 
promise of  opinions  to  which  the  mover  agreed 
upon  condition  of  being  allowed  to  compose  the 
epitaph-=>  Expunged  by  the  order  of  the  Se- 
nate."   The  agreement  which  was  to  lead  to 
victory  was  then  adopted,  each  one  severally 
pledging  himself  to  it,  that  there  should  be  uo 
adjournment  of  the  Senate  after  the  resolution 
was  called  until  it  was  passed;  and  that  it  should 
be  called  immediately  after  the  morning  business 
on  the  Monday  ensuing.    Expecting  a  protract- 
ed session,  extending  through  the  day  and  night, 
and  knowing  the  difficulty  of   keeping  men 
steady  to  their  work  and  in  good  humor,  when 
tired  and  hungry,  the  mover  of  the  proceeding 
took  care  to  provide,  as  far  as  possible,  against 
such  a  state  of  things;  and  gave  orders  that 
night  to  have  an  ample  supply  of  cold  hams 
turkeys,  rounds  of  beef,  pickles,  wines  and  cups 
of  hot  coffbe,  ready  in  a  certain  committee  room 
near  the  Senate  chamber  by  four  o'clock  on  the 
afternoon  of  Monday. 

The  motion  to  take  up  the  subject  was  made 
at  the  appointed  time,  and  immediately  a  debate 
of  long  speeches,  chiefly  on  the  other  side,  open- 
ed Itself  upon  the  question.    It  was  evident 
that  comsumption  of  time,  delay  and  adjourn- 
ment, was  their  plan.    The  three  great  leaders 
did  not  join  in  the  opening;  but  their  place  W3 
well  supplied  by  many  of  their  friends,  able 
speakers-some  effective,  some  eloauent:  Pres- 
ton of  South  Carolina;  Richard  &  Bayard  and 
John  M.  Clayton  of  Delaware;  Crittenden  of 
Kentucky;  Southard  of  New  Jersey ;  White  of 
Tennessee ;  Ewing  of  Ohio.    They  were  only  the 
half  in  numbe-,  but  strong  in  zeal  and  ability,  that 
commenced  the  contest  three  years  before  rein- 
forced by  Mr.  White  of  Tennessee.  A«  the  d.irk^ 
ness  of  approaching  night  came  on,  and  the  great 
chandelier  was  lit  up,  splendidly  illuminating  the 
chamber,  then  crowded  with  the  members  of  the 


III 


:m^ 


Ii',    ti 


728 


TIiIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


House,  and  the  lobbies  and  galleries  filled  to 
their  utmost  capacity  by  visitors  and  spectators, 
the  scene  became  grand  and  impressive.    A  few 
spoke  on  the  side  of  the  resolution— chiefly 
Rives,  Buchanan,  Niles  — and  vv^ith  an  air  of 
ease  and  satisfaction  that  bespoke  a  quiet  deter- 
mination, and  a  consciousness  of  victory.     The 
committee  room  had  been  resorted  to  in  parties 
of  four  and  six  at  a  time,  always  leaving  enough 
on  watch :  and  not  resorted  to  by  one  side  alone. 
The  opposition  were  invited  to  a  full  participa- 
tion—an invitation  of  which  those  who  were 
able  to  maintain  their  good  temper  readily  avail- 
ed themselves ;  but  the  greater  part  were  not  in 
a  humor  to  eat  any  thing— especially  at  such  a 
feast.     The  night  was  wearing  away :  the  cx- 
pungers  were  in  full  force— masters  of  the  cham- 
ber—happy— and  visibly  determined  to  remain. 
It  became  evident  to  the  great  opposition  leaders 
that  the  inevitable  hour  had  come:  that  the 
damnable  deed  was  to  be  done  tliat  night:  and 
that  ihe  dignity  of  silence  was  no  longer  to  them 
a  tenable  position.     The  battle  was  going  against 
them,  and  they  must  go  into  it,  without  being  able 
to  re-establish  it.     In  the  beginning,  they  had 
not  considered  the  expunging  movement  a  seri- 
ous proceeding :  as  it  advanced  they  still  expect- 
ed it  to  miscarry  on  some  point :  now  the  real- 
ity of  the  thing  stood  before  them,  confronting 
their  presence,  and  refusing  to  "  down  "  at  any 
command.    They  broke  silence,  and  gave  vent 
to  language  which  .bespoke  the  agony  of  their 
feelings,  and  betrayed  the  revulsion  of  stomach 
with  which  they  approached  the  odious  subject. 
Mr.  Calhoun  said : 


No  one,  not  blinded  by  party  zeal,  can  pos- 
sibly be  mr  siblo  that  the  measure  proposed  is 
a  violation  0.  le  constitution.  The  constitution 
requires  the  «enate  to  keci)  a  journal ;  this  re- 
solution goes  to  expunge  the  journal.  If  you 
may  expunge  a  part,  jou  may  expunge  the 
whole ;  and  if  it  is  expunged,  how  is  it  kept  ? 
The  constitution  says  the  journal  siiall  be  kept; 
this  resolution  says  it  shall  be  destroyed.  It 
does  the  very  thing  which  the  constitution  de- 
clares shall  not  be  done.  That  is  the  argument 
the  Avholc  argument.  There  is  none  other! 
Talk  of  nrecedents  ?  and  precedents  drawn  from 
a  foreign  country?  They  don't  apply.  No, 
sir.  This  is  to  be  done,  not  in  consequence  of" 
argi?nicnt,  buthi  spite  of  argument.  I  under- 
stand the  case.  I  know  perfectly  well  the  gen- 
tlemen have  no  liberty  to  vote  otherwise.  They 
are  coerced  by  an  exterior  power.  They  try, 
indeed,  to  comfort  their  conscience  by  ..uying 
that  it  is  the  will  of  the  people,  and  the  voice  of 


the  people.    It  is  no  such  thing.    We  all  know 
how  these  legislative  returns  have  been  obtained 
It  IS  by  dictation  from  the  White  House.     The 
President  himself,  with  that  vast  mass  of  patron- 
age which  he  wields,  and  the  thousand  expecta- 
tions he  is  able  to  hold  up,  has  obtained  these 
votes  of  the  State  Legislatures;  and  this   for- 
sooth, is  said  to  be  the  voice  of  the  people   '  The 
voice  of  the  people !     Sir,  can  we  forget  the 
scene  which  was  exhibited  in  this  chamber  when 
that  expunging  resolution  was  first  introduced 
here?     Have  we  forgotten  the  universal  givMiff 
way  of  conscience,   so  that  the  senator  from 
Missouri  was  left  alone  ?    I  see  before  me  se- 
nators who  could  not  swallow  that  resolution  • 
and  has  its  nature  changed  since  then  ?    Is  it 
any  more  constitutional  now  than  it  was  then "? 
Not  at  all.     But  executive  power  has  interpos- 
ed.    Talk  to  me  of  the  voice  of  the  people !    No 
sir.     It  is  the  combination   of  patronage  and 
power  to  coerce  this  body  into  a  gross  and  pal- 
pable violation  of  the,  constitution.    Some  indi- 
viduals, I  pe.'ceive,  think  to  escape  through  the 
jiarticular  form  in  which  this  act  is  to  be  per- 
petrated.    They  tell  us  that  the  resolution  on 
your  records  is  not  to  be  expunged,  but  is  only 
to  be  endorsed  '  Expunged.'     Really,  sir,  I  d) 
not  know  how  t.;  argue  against  such  contempti- 
ble sophistry.     The  occasion  is  too  solemn  for 
an  ai-guraent  of  this  sort.     You  arc  goin-^  to 
violate  the  constitution,  and  you  get  rid  of" the 
infamy  by  a  falsehood.     You  yourselves  say  that 
the  resolution  is  expunged  by  your  order.    Yet 
you  say  it  is  not  expunged.     You  put  your  act 
in  express  words.     You  record  it,  and  then  turn 
round  and  deny  it. 

;'  But  why  do  I  wast-  my  breath  ?  I  know 
it  is  all  utterly  vain.  T.ie  day  is  gone;  night 
approaches,  and  night  is  suitable  to  the  dark 
deed  we  meditate.  There  is  a  sort  of  destiny 
in  this  thing.  The  act  must  bo  performed ;  and 
it  is  an  act  which  will  tell  on  the  political  histo- 
ry of  this  country  for  ever.  Other  preceding 
violations  of  the  constitution  (and  they  have 
been  many  and  great)  filled  my  bosom  with  in- 
dignation, but  this  fills  it  only  with  grief. 
Others  were  done  in  the  heat  of  party.  Power 
was,  as  it  were,  compelled  to  support  itself  by 
seizing  upon  new  instniments  of  influence  and 
patronage  ;  and  there  were  ambitious  and  able 
men  to  direct  the  process.  Such  was  the  re- 
moval of  the  deposits,  which  the  President  seiz- 
ed upon  by  a  new  and  unprecedented  act  of  ar- 
bitrary power ;  an  act  which  gave  him  ample 
means  of  rewarding  friends  and  punishing  ene- 
mies. Something  may,  perhaps,  be  pardoned 
to  him  in  this  matter,  on  the  (jld  apology  of 
tyrants— the  plea  of  necessity.  But  here  there 
can  be  no  such  apology.  Here  no  necessity  can 
so  much  as  be  pretended.  This  act  originates 
in  pure,  unmixed,  personal  idolatry.  It  is  the 
molnn.'^hnly  evidence  of  a  broken  spirit,  ready  to 
bow  at  the  feet  of  power.  The  former  act  "was 
such  a  one  as  might  have  been  perpetrated  in 
the  days  of  Pompey  or  Caesar ;  but  an  act  Uke 


k. 


ANNO  183T.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


!?.  We  all  know 
vc  been  obtained, 
lite  House.  The 
t  mass  of  patron- 
lousantl  cxpccta- 
>s  obtained  tlicso 
S  and  this,  for- 
the  people.     The 

1  we  forget  the 
is  chnmbcr  when 

first  introduced 
nniversal  giving 
le  senator  from 
re  before  me  se- 
that  resolution ; 
ce  tlien  ?  Ts  it 
an  it  was  then  ? 
■er  has  interpos- 
;lie  people !    No, 

patronage  and 
fi  gross  and  pal- 
ion.  Some  indi- 
tpo  through  the 
act  is  to  be  per- 
le  resolution  on 
iged,  but  is  only 
ieally,  sir,  I  d  ,t 
such  contempti- 
!  too  solemn  for 
•u  are  going  to 
lU  get  rid  of  the 
irseives  say  that 
our  order.  Yet 
Du  put  your  act 
it,  and  then  turn 

eath?  I  know 
is  gone ;  night 

lie  to  the  dark 
sort  of  destiny 

performed ;  and 

2  political  histo- 
)ther  preceding 
[and  they  have 
bosom  with  in- 
ily  with    grief. 

party.  Power 
ipport  itself  by 
if  influence  and 
)itious  and  able 
ch  was  the  re- 
President  seiz- 
ented  act  of  ar- 
ave  him  ample 
puniahing  ene- 
s,  be  pardoned 
old  apology  of 
Hut  here  there 
10  necessity  can 
1  act  originates 
itry.  It  is  the 
spirit,  i-eady  to 
former  act  was 
perpetrated  in 
but  an  act  like 


this  could  never  have  been  consummated  by  a 
Roman  Senate  until  the  times  of  Caligula  and 
Nero." 

Mr.  Calhoun  was  rignt  in  his  taunt  about  the 
universal  giving  way  when  the  resolution  was 
first  introduced— the  solitude  in  which  the 
mover  was  then  left— and  in  which  solitude  he 
would  have  been  left  to  the  end,  had  it  not  been 
for  his  courage  in  reinstating  the  word  expunge, 
and  appealing  to  the  people. 

Mr.  Clay  commenced  with  showing  that  he 
had  never  believed  in  the  reality  of  the  proceed- 
ing until  now;  that  he  had  considered  the  reso- 
lution as  a  thing  to  be  taken  up  for  a  speech, 
and  laid  down  when  the  speech  was  delivered- 
and  that  the  last  laying  down,  at  the  previous 
session,  was  the  end  of  the  matter.    He  said : 

"  Considering  that  he  was  the  mover  of  the 
resolution  of  March,  1834,  and  the  consequent 
relation  m  which  he  stood  to  the  majority  of 
the  Senate  by  whoso  vote  it  was  adopted,  he 
had  felt  it  to  be  his  duty  to  say  something 
on   this  expunging  resolution;    and    he    had 
always  intended  to  do  so  when  he  should  be 
persuaded  that  there  existed  a  settled  purpose 
of  pressing  it  to  a  final  decision.    But  it  had 
been  so  taken  up  and  put  down  at  the  last  ses- 
sion—taken up  one  day,  when  a  speech  was 
prepared  for  delivery,  and  put  down  when  it  was 
pronounced— that  he  had  really  doubted  whe- 
ther^ there  '  xi  *od  p  ly  serious  intention  of  ever 
puttmg  It  to  11. '.  v,.i  3.    At  the  very  close  of  the 
last  session,  it  w.)!  be  recollected  that  the  reso- 
lution came  up,  and  in  several  quarters  of  the 
Senate  a  disposition  was  manifested  to  rr^^e  to 
a  definitive  decision.    On  that  occabion  h.;  ha  ' 
otfered  to  waive  his  right  to  arLIrr  i^^  the  Senate 
and  silently  to  vote  upon  the  re-  Vi,;x.-t  ;  but  t 
was  again  laid  upon  the  table ;  anu  i,,  1  ,rcre  for 
ever,  as  the  country  supposed,  and  •     he  oe- 
lieved.    It  IS,  however,  now  revived ;  and,  sun- 

X^.^^^T  "^^'"f?  ^^^^^  place  in  the  members 
of  this  body,  it  would  seem  that  the  present 
design  IS  to  bring  the  resolution  to  an  absolute 
conclusion." 


729 

ccssary  powers  of  the  Senate,  and  repugnant  to 
the  constitiition  of  the  United  States,  the  man- 
ner in  which  It  is  proposed  to  accomplish  this 
dark  deed  is  also  highly  exceptionable.  The 
expunging  resolution,  which  is  to  blot  out  or 
enshroud  the  four  or  five  lines  in  which  the 
resolution  of  1834  stands  recorded,  or  rather 
the  recitals  by  which  it  is  preceded,  are  spun 
out  into  a  thread  of  enormous  length.  It  runs 
whereas,  and  whereas,  and  whereas,  and  where- 
as, and  whereas,  &c.,  into  a  formidable  array  of 
nine  several  whereases.  One  who  should  have 
the  courage  to  begin  to  read  them,  unaware  of 
what  was  to  be  their  termination,  would  think 
that  at  the  end  of  such  a  tremendous  display  he 
must  find  the  very  devil." 

And  then  coming  to  the  conclusion,  he  con- 
centrated his  wrath  and  grief  in  an  apostro- 
phizing peroration,  which  lacked  nothing  but 
verisimilitude  to  have  been  grand  and  affectinff 
Thus:  ^' 


Then,  after  an  argument  against  the  expurga- 
tion, which,  of  necessity,  was  obliged  to  be  a 
recapitulation  of  the  argument  in  favor  of  the 
original  condemnation  of  the  Presid-.nt,  he  went 
on  to  give  vent  to  his  feelings  in  expressions  not 
less  bitter  nnd  denunciatory  of  the  ^'resident 
and  his  friends  than  those  used  by  Mr.  Calhoun 
saying :  ' 

"But  if  the  matter  of  expunction  be  contrarv 
to  the  truth  of  the  case,  r..,iroachful  for  its  base 
subserviency,  derogatory  liom  the  just  and  ne- 


But  why  should  I  detain  the  Senate,  or 
needlessly  waste  my  breath  in  fruitless  exer- 
tions.   Ihs  decree  has  gone  forth.    It  is  one  of 
urgency,  too.    The  deed  is  to  be  donc-that  foul 
deed  which  like  the  blood-stained  hands  of  the 
guilty  Macbeth,  all  ocean's  waters  will  never 
wash  out.    Proceed,  then,  with  the  noble  work 
which  lies  before  you,  and,  like  otiier  skilful 
executioners,  do  it  quickly.   And  when  you  have 
perpetrated  it,  go  home  to  the  people,  and  tell 
them  what  glorious  honors  you  have  achieved 
for  our  common  country.     Tell  them  that  you 
have  extinguished  one   of  the  brightest  and 
purest  lights  t^iat  ever  burnt  at  the  altar  of 
civil  liberty.    Tell  them  that  you  have  .  ilenced 
one  of  the  noblest  batteries  that  ever  thun.lored 
in  defence  of  the  con  ^atution,  and  bravely  spiked 
the  cannon.     Tell  .hem  that,  henceforward,  no 
maaer  what  daring  or  outrageous  act  any  Presi- 
i'.at  may  perform,  you  have  for  ever  hermeti- 
cally sealed  the  mouth  of  the  Senate     Tell 
them  that  he  may  fearlessly  assume  what  pow- 
ers he  pleases,  snatch  from  its  lawful  cus^dv 
the  public  purse  command  a  military  detach- 
ment to  enter  the  halls  of  the  capitol,  overawe 
Congress,  trample  down  the  constitution,  and 
raze  every  bulwark  of  freedom;  but  that  the 
Senate  must  stand  mute,  iu  silent  submission, 
ana  not  dare  to  raise  its  opnosing  voice      That 
It  must  wait  until  a  House  of  Representatives, 
humbled  and  subdued  like  itself,  and  a  majority 
of  It  composed  of  the  partisans  of  the  President, 
shall  prefer  articles  of  impeachment.    Tell  them 
hnaliy,  that  you  have  restored  the  glorious  doc- 

VT-r'^u^**^'"'"-'  obt'^Ji-^nc^'  and  non-resistance. 
And.  It  the  people  <1()  not  pour  out  fheir  indis- 
nation  and  imp. , .rations,  I  have  yet  to  leain  the 
cnaracivi  ol  Auieiican  freemen." 

Mr.  Webster  spoke  last,  and  after  a  pause  in 
the  debate  which  seemed  to  indicate  its  conclu- 


730 


TnmTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


slonj  and  only  rose,  and  that  slowly,  as  tho 
question  was  about  to  bo  put.  Having  no  per- 
sonal pricfs  in  relation  to  (Jencral  Jackson  like 
Mr.  Calhoun  and  Mr.  Clay,  and  with  a  ttfinpcra- 
ment  less  ardent,  he  delivered  himself  with  com- 
parative moderation,  confining  himself  to  a  brief 
protest  against  tho  act ;  and  concluding,  in  mea- 
sured and  considered  language,  with  expressing 
his  grief  and  mortification  at  what  he  was  to 
behold;  thus: 

"Wo  have  seen,  with  deep  and  sincere  pain, 
the  legislatures  of  respectable  States  instructing 
the  senators  of  those  States  to  vote  for  and  sup- 
port this  violation  of  the  journal  of  tho  Senate; 
and  this  pain  is  infinitely  increased  by  our  full 
belief,  and  entire  conviction,  that  most,  if  not 
all  these  proceedings  of  States  had  their  origin 
in  promptings  from  Washington;  that  they 
have  been  urgently  requested  and  insisted  on, 
as  being  necessary  to  the  accomplishment  of  the 
intended  purpose ;  and  that  it  is  nothing  else 
but  the  influence  and  power  of  the  executive 
branch  of  this  government  which  has  brought 
the  legislatures  of  so  many  of  the  free  States  of 
this  Union  to  quit  the  sphere  of  their  ordinary 
duties,  for  tho  purpose  of  co-operating  to  accom- 
plish a  measure,  in  our  judgment,  so  unconsti- 
tional,  so  derogatory  to  the  character  of  the 
Senate,  and  marked  with  so  broad  an  nnpression 
of  compliance  with  power.  But  this  resolution 
IS  to  pass.  We  expect  it.  That  cause,  which 
has  been  powerful  enough  to  influence  so  many 
State  legislatures,  will  show  itself  powerful 
enough,  especially  with  such  aids,  to  secure  the 
passage  of  the  resolution  here.  We  make  up 
our  minds  to  behold  the  spectacle  which  is  to 
ensue.  We  collect  ourselves  to  look  on,  in  si- 
lence, while  a  scene  is  exhibited  which,  if  we  did 
not  regard  it  as  a  ruthless  violation  of  a  sacred 
instrument,  would  appear  to  us  to  be  little  ele- 
vated above  the  character  of  a  contemptible 
farce.  This  scene  we  shall  behold ;  and  hun- 
dreds of  American  citizens,  as  many  as  may 
crowd  into  these  lobbies  and  galleries,  will  be- 
hold it  also ;  with  what  feelings  I  do  not  under- 
take to  say." 

Midnight  was  now  approaching.  The  dense 
masses  which  filled  every  inch  of  room  in  the 
lobbies  and  the  galleries,  remained  immovable. 
No  one  went  out :  no  one  could  get  in.  The 
floor  of  tho  Senate  was  crammed  with  privileged 
person^;,  and  it  seemed  that  all  Congress  was 
there.  Expectation,  and  determination  to  see 
the  conclusion,  was  depicted  upon  every  counte- 
nance. It  was  evident  there  was  to  be  no  ad- 
journment unii!  the  vote  should  be  taken until 

the  deed  was  done ;  and  this  aspect  of  invinci- 
ble determinj.,tion,  had  its  effect  upon  the  ranks 


of  tho  opposition.    They  began  to  falter  under 
a  uselesB  persistence,  for  they  alone  now  did  tho 
speaking ;  and  while  Mr,  Webster  was  yet  re- 
citing his  protest,  two  senators  from  the  oppo- 
site side,  who  had  been  best  able  to  maintain  their 
equanimity,  came  round  to  tho  author  of  this 
View,  and  said  "  This  question  has  degenerated 
into  a  trial  of  nerves  and  muscles.    It  has  be- 
come a  question  of  physical  endurance ;  and  we 
see  no  use  in  wearing  ourselves  out  to  keep  cff 
for  a  few  hours  longer  what  has  to  come  before 
wo  separate.    Wo  sec  that  you  are  able  and 
determined  to  carry  your  measure :  so  call  tho 
vote  as  soon  as  you  please.    We  shall  say  xm> 
more."    Mr.  Webster  concluded.     No  one  rose. 
There  was  a  pause,  a  dead  silence,  and  an  intense 
feeling.    Presently  tho  silence  was  invaded  by 
tho  single  word   "  question  "—the   parliamen- 
tary call  for  a  vote— rising  from  the  scats  of 
different  senators.    One  blank  in   the  resolve 
remained  to  be  filled— tho  date  of  its  adoption. 
It  was  done.    The  acting  president  of  the  Se- 
nate, Mr,  King,  of  Alabama,  then  directed  the 
roll  to  bo  called.    The  yeas  and  nays  had  been 
previously  ordered,  and  proceeded  to  be  called 
by  tho  secretary  of  the  Senate,  Mr.  Asbury 
Dickens,     Forty-three  senators  were  present 
answering :  five  absent.     The  yeas  were : 

"Messrs,  Benton,  Brown,  Buchanan,  Dana, 
Ewing  of  Illinois,  Pulton,  Grundy,  Hubbard, 
King  of  Alabama,  Linn,  Morris,  Nicholas,  Niles, 
Page,  Rives,  Robinson,  Ruggles,  Sevier,  Stiangc, 
Tallmadge,  Tipton,  Walker,  Wall,  Wright, 

"  Nays,— Messrs.  Bayard,  Black.  Calhoun, 
Clay,  Crittfinden,  Davis,  Ewing  of  Ohio,  Hen- 
dricks, Kent,  Knight,  Moore,  Prentiss,  Preston 
Robbins,  Southard,  Swift,  Tomlinson,  Webster 
White."  ' 

The  passage  of  the  resolution  was  announced 
from  he  chair.  Mr,  Benton  rose,  and  said  that 
nothing  now  remained  but  to  execute  the 
order  of  the  Senate ;  which  he  moved  be  done 
forthwith.  It  was  ordered  accordingly.  The 
Secretary  thereupon  produced  the  original 
maimscript  journal  of  the  Senate,  and  opening 
at  the  page  which  contained  the  condemnatory 
sentence  of  March  28th,  1834,  proceeded  in 
open  Senate  to  draw  a  square  of  broad  black 
lines  around  the  sentence,  and  to  write  across 
'.t~  face  in  stroiig  letters  these  wOids:  "Ex- 
punged by  order  of  the  Senate,  this  IGth  day 
of  March,  1837."    Up  to  this  moment  the  crowd 


!• 


^um^^ 


hoy  began  to  falter  under 
For  they  alone  now  did  the 
Mr.  Webster  woa  yet  re- 
sonators from  the  oppo- 
bcstable  to  maintain  their 
nd  to  the  author  of  this 
question  1ms  degenerated 
and  muscles.     It  bus  bc- 
ysical  endurance ;  and  we 
ourselves  out  to  keep  off 
what  has  to  come  before 
3  that  you  arc  able  and 
jur  measure :  so  call  tho 
lease.    We  shall  say  m) 
concluded.     No  one  rose, 
ead  silence,  and  an  intense 
3  silence  was  invaded  by 
cstion"— the  parliamen- 
rising  from  the  seats  of 
ne  blank  in   the  resolve 
-the  date  of  its  adoption, 
ing  president  of  the  St- 
ibama,  then  directed  the 
yeas  and  nays  had  been 
1  proceeded  to  be  called 
the  Senate,  Mr,  Asbury 
5  senators  were  present, 
.     The  yeas  were : 

Irown,  Buchanan,  Dana, 
Hon,  Grundy,  Hubbard, 
,  Morris,  Nicholas,  Niles, 
Ruggles,  Sevier,  Strange, 
,lker,  Wall,  Wright. 

ayard.  Black,  Calhoun, 
18,  Ewing  of  Ohio,  Hcn- 
>Ioore,  Prentiss,  Preston, 
ift,  Tomlinson,  AVebster, 

esolution  was  announced 
)nton  rose,  and  said  that 
d  but  to  execute  the 
diich  he  moved  be  done 
iered  accordingly.  The 
produced  the  original 
the  Senate,  and  opening 
ained  the  condemnatory 
!th,  1834,  proceeded  in 
,  square  of  broad  black 
ce,  and  to  write  across 
ers  these  wox.is;  "  Ex- 
i  Senate,  this  IGth  day 
to  this  moment  the  crowd 


ANNO  1837.    ANDRKW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


731 


in  tho  great  circular  gallery,  looking  down  upon 
tho  Senate,  though  sullen  and  menacing  in  their 
looks,  had  made  no  manifestation  of  feeling ; 
and  it  was  doubtless  not  the  intention  of  Mr. 
Webster  to  oxcito  that  manifestation  when  ho 
relbrred  to  their  numbers,  and  expressed  his  ig- 
norance of  the  feeling  with  which  they  would 
see  the  deed  done  whi'-b  he  so  much  deprecated. 
Doubtless  no  one  in/.  M.'idto  excite  that  crowd, 
niairdy  composed,  as  of  usual  since  the  bank 
question  began,  of  friends  of  that  institution ; 
but  its  appearance  became  such   that  Senator 
Linn,  colleague  of  Senator  Benton,  Mr.  George  W. 
Jones,  since  senator  from  Iowa,  and  others  sent 
out  and  brought  in  arms ;  other  friends  gathered 
about  him ;  among  them  Mrs.  Benton,  who,  re- 
membering   what    had  happened    to   General 
Jackson,  and  knowing  that,  after  him,  her  hus- 
band was  most  obnoxious  to  the  bank  party 
had  her  anxiety  sufficiently  excited  to  wish  to 
be  near  him  in  this  concluding  scene  of  a  seven 
years'  contest  with  that  great  moneyed  power. 
ThingK  were  in  this  state  when  the  Secretary 
of  tile  Senate  began  to  perform  the  expunging 
process  on  the  manuscript  journal.     Instantly 
a  (itorm  of  hisses,  groans,  and   vociferations 
arose  from  the  left  wing  of  the  circular  gallery 
over  the  head  of  Senator  Benton.     The  presid- 
ing officer  promptly  gave  the  order,  which  the 
rules  prescribe  in  such  cases,  to  clear  the  gallery. 
Mr.  Benton  opposed  the  order,  saying : 


•  I  hope  the  galleries  will  not  be  cleared,  as 
many  innocent  persons  will  be  excluded,  who 
have  been  guilty  of  no  violation  of  order.     Let 
the   ruffians  wh  >  have  made  the   disturbance 
alone  be  punishel:  let  them  be  apprehended. 
I  hope  the  sergeant-at-arms  will  be  directed  to 
enter  the  gallery,  and  seize  the  ruffians,  ascer- 
taining who  they  are  in  the  best  way  he  can. 
Let  hiin  apprehend  them  and  bring  them  to  the 
bar  of  the  Senate.     Let  him  seize  the  bank  ruf- 
liaiis.  I  hope  that  they  will  not  now  be  sufTered 
>o  insult  the  Senate,  as  they  did  when  it  was 
under  the  power  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  when  ruffians,  with  arms  upon  them 
Misuited  us    with    impunity.      Let    them    be 
taken  and  brought  to  the  bar  of  the  Senate. 
Here  is  one  just  above  me,  that  may  easily  be 
identified— the  bank  ruffians !  " 

Mr.  Benton  knew  that  he  was  the  object  of 
this  outrage,  and  that  the  way  to  treat  these 
subaltern  wretches  was  to  defy  and  seize 
them,  and  have  them  dragged  as  criminals  to 
the  bar  of  the  Senate.    They  were  congrr gated 


immediately  over  his  head,  and  had  evidently 
collected  into  that  place.    His  motion  was  agreed 
to.    Theorder  to  clear  the  galleries  was  revoked; 
the  order  to  seize  the  disturbers  was  given,  and 
immediately  executed  by  the  energeti.;  sergeant- 
at-arms,  Mr.  John  Shackford,  and  his  assistants. 
Tho  ringleader  was  seized,  and  brought  to  tho 
bar.    This  sudden  example  intimidated  the  rest; 
and  the  expunging  jirocess  was  performed  in 
quiet.     The  whole  scene  was  impressive ;  but 
no  part  of  it  so  much  so  a.s  to  seo  the  great 
leaders  who,  for  seven  long  years  had  waired 
upon  General  Jackson,  and  a  thousand  times 
pronounced  him  ruined,  each  rising  in  his  place 
with  pain  and  reluctance,  to  confess  themselves 
vanquished— to  admit  his  power,  and  their  weak- 
ness—and to  exhale  their  griefs  in  unavailing 
reproaches,  and  impotent  dejirecations.     It  was 
a  tribute  to  his  invincibility  which  cast  into  the 
shade  all  tho  eulogiums   of  his  friends.     Tho 
gratification  of  General  Jackson  was  extreme. 
He  gave  a  grand  dinner  to  the  expiingers  (as 
they  were  called)  an<l  their  wives ;  and  being 
too  weak  to  sit  at  the  table,  ho  only  met  tho 
company,  placed    the  "  head-expunger "  in  his 
chair,  and  withdrew  to  his  sick  chamber.     That 
expurgation !  it  was  tho  "  crowning  mercy  »  of 
his  civil,  as  New  Orleans  had  been  of  his  mili- 
iry,  life ! 


CHAPTER    CLXII. 

THE  SUPREME  COURT-JUDGES  AND  OFFICERS. 

The  death  of  lliief  Justice  Marshall  had  vacated 
that  high  office  and  Roger  B.  Taney,  Esq.,  was 
nominated  to  .ill  it.  He  still  encountered  op- 
position in  the  Senate ;  but  only  enough  to  show 
how  much  that  opposition  had  declined  since 
the  time  when  he  was  rejected  as  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury.  The  vote  against  his  confirma- 
tion was  reduced  to  fifteen;  namely:  Messrs. 
Black  of  Mississippi ;  Calhoun,  Clay,  Crittenden; 
Ewing  of  Ohio;  Leigh  of  Virginia;  Mangum; 
Naudain  of  Delaware;  Porter  of  Louisiana; 
Preston  ;  Robbins  of  Rhode  Island ;  Southard, 
Tomlinson,  Webster,  White  of  Tennessee. 

Among  the  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court 
these  changes  took  place  from  the  commence^ 


#♦ 


732 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VleW. 


ment  of  this  Vitw  to  tho  end  of  General  Jack- 
son's administration:  Smith  Thompson,  Esq., 
of  Now  York,  in  1823,  in  pia^o  of  Brockholst 
Living8tMn,EK  ^., deceased;  Robert  Trimi)lo, Esq., 
of  Kcuturky,  in  1820,  in  place  of  Thomas  Todd, 
decoasod;  John  McLean,  Faq.,  of  Ohio,  in  182'J, 
in  plar«  of  Robert  T.  nblo,  dcceiiacd ;  Henry 
BaliUvin,  Esq.,  of  Pennsylvania,  in  1830,  in  plate 
of  Bushrod  WaHhington,  deceased;  James  M. 
Wayne,  Esq.,  of  Georgia,  in  1835,  in  place  of 
William  Johnson,  deceased;  Philip  P.  Barbour^ 
Esq.,  of  Virginia,  in  1830,  in  place  of  Gabriel 
Duval,  resigned. 

In  tho  same  time,  William  Griffith,  Esq.  of 
New  Jersey,  was  appointed  Clerk,  in  182(i,  in 
place  of  Ellas  B.  Caldwell,  deceased ;  and  Wil- 
liam Thomas  Carroll,  Esq.,  of  tho  District  o*" 
Columbia,  was  appointed,  in  1827,  in  place  ot 
William  Griffith,  deceased.  Of  the  reporters 
of  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court,  Richard 
Peters,  jr.,  Esq.,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  appointed, 
in  1828,  in  place  of  Henry  Wheaton;  and  Ben- 
jamin 0.  Howard,  Esq.,  of  Maryland,  was  ap- 
pointed, in  1843,  to  succeed  Mr.  Peters,  de- 
ceased. 

The  Marshals  of  the  District,  during  the 
same  •  period,  were:  Henry  Ashton,  of  tho  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  appointed,  in  1831,  in  place 


of  Tench  Ringgo': 
same  District,  ii'  .  i 
Wallace,  in  18  : 
deceased ;  Richafii 
Robert  Wallace ;  ;' 


in  place  of  Richard  WaDach. 


•  Alexander  Hunter,  of  the 

f  ^   >f  Henry  Ashton ;  Robert 

?  Jftce  of  Alexander  Hunter, 

WrJlach,  in  1849,  in  place  of 

Jonah  D.  Hoover,  in  1853, 


CHAPTER    CLXIII. 

FAREWELL  ADDKE3S  OF  PEE8IDENT  JACKSON— 
EXTKACT. 

Following  the  example  of  Washington,  Gene- 
ral Jackson  issued  a  Farewell  Address  to  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  at  his  retiring  from 
the  presidency  ;  and,  like  that  of  Washington, 
it  was  principally  devoted  to  the  danger  of  dis- 
union, and  to  the  preservation  of  harmony  and 
good  feeling  between  the  different  sections  of 
the  country.  General  Washington  only  had  to 
contemplate  the  danger  of  disunion,  as  a  possi- 
bility, and  as  an  event  of  future  contingency ; 


General  Jjukgon  had  toconlVn  t  it  us  a  present, 
actual,  sul.-;igtlng  darige;  ,  and  >ald : 

"We  bi'liold  systematic  cfTorts  publicly  Ma«Io 
to  sow  the  seeds  of  discord  between  different 
parts  of  the  United  States,  and  to  place  party 
di\  isions  directly  npoi» geographical  distinctions; 
to  excite  the  Sou  I  against  the  North,  and  the 
North  against  tl,  •  Sfc  th,  and  to  force  into  the 
contro\cr8y  tho  nosi  'icate  and  exciting  to- 
pics—topics upon  whicii  t  is  inifossible  that  a 
large  portion  of  the  Uni(  a  can  evur  speak  with- 
out K t rong  emo t ion.  Api » 'als,  too,  a ,  ■  constantly 
made  to  sectional  in  ( "rests,  in  ord  r  to  influen( 
the  election  of  flu  Chief  iVfagistmt»>,  as  if  it  were 
desired  that  he  should  fa'  .r  •>  u  .ular  qu;  ter 
of  the  country,  instead  of  1  dilluia;  the  duties 
of  his  station  with  ini]  utiul  justict  to  all;  and 
the  possible  dis.solution  of  the  F'uion  has  iir 
length  become  an  ordi  >ry  am'  familiar  subjin  ' 
of  discussion.  Has  the  vm  ling  voice  of  Wa-li- 
ington  been  forgotten?  r  have  designs  already 
been  forfned  to  sever  the  Union  ?  Let  it  not  be 
supposed  that  1  impute  to  all  of  those  who  have 
taken  an  active  part  in  these  unwise  and  unpro- 
fitable discussions,  a  wtmt  <  patriotism  or  of 
public  virtue.  Tho  honoralili  ficlings  of  ;ite 
pride,  and  local  attaehmenlr  liud  a  plac  ,ho 
bosoms  of  tho  most  enlightened  an<'  puv.  But 
while  such  men  are  conscious  of  inoi  own  in- 
tegrity and  honesty  of  purpose,  tlay  ought 
never  to  forget  that  the  citizens  ^  other  States 
are  their  political  brethren;  and  thai  aowever 
mistaken  they  may  bo  in  their  views,  the  great 
body  of  them  are  equally  honest  and  upright 
with  themselves.  Mutual  suspicions  and  re- 
proaches may  in  time  create  mutual  hostility ; 
and  artful  and  designing  men  will  always  be 
found,  who  are  ready  to  foment  these  fatal  divi- 
sions, and  to  inflame  the  natural  jealousies  of 
different  sections  of  the  country  !  The  history 
of  the  world  is  full  of  such  examples,  and  espe- 
cially the  history  of  republics. 

"  What  have  you  to  gain  by  division  and  dis- 
sension ?  Delude  not  yourselves  with  the  be- 
lief, that  a  breach,  once  made,  may  be  afterwards 
repaired.  If  the  Union  is  once  severed,  the  line 
of  .separation  will  grow  wider  and  wider ;  and 
the  controversies  which  are  now  debated  and 
settled  in  the  halls  of  legislation,  will  then  be 
tried  in  fields  of  battle,  and  determined  by  the 
sword.  Neither  should  you  deceive  yourselves 
with  the  hope,  that  the  first  hne  of  separation 
would  be  the  permanent  one,  and  that  nothing 
but  harmony  and  concord  would  be  found  in 
the  new  associations  formed  upon  the  dissolu- 
tion of  this  Union.  Local  interests  would  still 
be  found  there,  and  unchastened  ambition.  And 
if  the  recollection  of  common  dangers,  in  which 
the  people  of  these  United  States  stood  side  by 
side  against  the  common  foe — the  memory  of 
victories  won  by  •'••■■Ir  united  valor;  the  pros- 
perity and  happiness  they  have  enjoyed  under 
the  present  constitution  ;  the  proud  name  they 
bear  as  citizens  of  this  great  republic — if  all 


|W  gi 


A^^'0  1887.    ANDREW  JACKSON,  PRESIDENT. 


I  u . 
aid: 


733 


i.r 


i  publicly  >.uult' 
tween  different 
to  place  party 
calfiistinctions; 
North,  arnl  the 
>  force  into  tho 
nd  exciliiip;  to- 

ossible  that  a 
rer  Bpeak  vvitli- 
,an>coii8taiitly 
!'  f  to  influom 
ite,  as  if  it  woif 
rucularqn;,;tcr 
ling  the  duticH 
tic(  to  all ;  and 

''iiion  has  at 
raniiliur  fiubjci  ■ 
voice  of  Wl'lrll- 

iesigiis  already 
Let  it  not  hie 
those  who  hare 
piseuiid  tinpro- 
atriotisni  "r  of 
■clinffs  of  ate 
I  (1  jilat"  Jio 
»n  piut'.  But 
r  tiipi  own  in- 
e,  tiky  ought 
^•^  other  States 
that  iiowevcr 
lews,  the  great 
it  and  upright 
licions  and  rc- 
itual  hostility ; 
vill  always  be 
hese  fatal  divi- 
1  jealousies  of 
!  The  history 
iplcs,  and  espe- 

vision  and  dis- 
s  witli  the  be- 
'  be  afterwards 
:vercd,  the  line 
id  wider ;  and 
fv  debated  and 
1,  will  then  be 
rmiued  by  the 
!ive  yourselves 
!  of  separation 
d  that  nothing 
i  be  found  in 
n  the  dissolu- 
sts  would  still 
imbition.  And 
igers,  in  which 
3  stood  side  by 
he  memory  of 
lor;  the  pros- 
enjoyed  under 
3ud  name  they 
•epublic — if  all 


these  n   ollectiunn  and  jiroofe  of  common  inter- 
est arc  not  strong  enough  to  bind  uh  together 
iiM  one  people,  what  tic  will  hold  united  the  new 
diviHions  <  •' .    ipire,  when  these  bonds  have  been 
broken  an        us  I  ni    i  dissevered  ?     The  first 
line  of  sepn    ition  wo,    '  not  last  for  a  single 
deration;  .lew  fragnui:  -  would  bo  torn  off; 
new  !ead<r    would  sprin-  up;  and  this  great 
and  glorioi.    ,  epublic  w  ,idil  ^oon  bo  broken  into 
a  multitude  of  pettv  States,  without  commerce, 
\v)' bout  credit;  jealous  of  one  another;  am  •  d 
iV.r  mu  t  "il  aggrv    sioi  - ;  loaded  witli  taxes  to  pay 
u-mies  and  Ici.     rs ;    seeking  aid  against  each 
'ther  from  foreign  powers  ;  in  ulted  and  tram- 
pled upon  by  tlic  nations  of  Europe;  until,  bar 
•tssed  with  conflicts,  and  humbled  and  .i     ised 
,  int,  they  would  ))e  ready  to  submit  io  the 
-oluto  dominion  of  any  military  adventurer. 
lid  to  surrender  their  lilwrty  f(»r  the  s.ike 
rcji.  ,se.     It  is  impossible  to  look  on  the  cov 
quences  that  would  inevitably  follow  the  dt  sti 
tion  of  this  government,  and  not  feel  indign; 
when  \\o  In  iir  cold  calculations  about  the  vji 
of  the  I  iiion,  and  have  so  constantly  before 
a  !mo  of  conduct  so  well  calculated  to  weal    i 
Its  ties." 


Nothing  but  the  deepest  conviction  of  an  ac- 
tual (1  ■  could  have  induced  General  Jackson, 
in  thi  im  manner,  and  with  such  pointed 

reference  and  obvious  application,  to  have  given 
this  warning  to  his  countrymen,  at  that  last 
moment,  when  he  was  quitting  office,  and  re- 
turning to  his  home  to  die.  lie  was,  indeed 
firmly  impressed  with  a  sense  of  that  danger— 
as  raucli  so  as  iMr.  Madison  was— and  with  the 
same  "pain"  of  feeling,  and  presentiment  of 
great  calamities  to  our  country.  What  has 
since  taken  place  has  shown  that  their  appre- 
hensions were  not  groundless— that  the  danger 
was  deep-seated,  and  wide-spread ;  and  the  e°nd 
not  yet. 


CHAPTER    CLXIV. 

CONCLUSION  OF  GENERAL  JACKSON'S  ADMINIS- 
TEATION. 

The  enemies  of  popular  representative  govern- 
ment may  suppose  that  they  find  something  in 
this  work  to  justify  the  reproach  of  faction  and 
violence  which  they  lavish  upon  such  forms  of 
government ;  but  it  will  be  by  committing  the 
mistake  of  overlooking  the  broad  features  of  a 


picture  to  find  a  blemish  in  the  detail— disregard- 
ing 1  statesman's  life  to  find  a  misstep ;  and  shut- 
'■"  eyes  ui)on  the  action  of  tno  people.  The 

'  id  errors  of  public  men  are  fairly 

h1i  iiiis  work ;  and  that  might  seem  to  justi- 

fy tli      .proach  :  but  the  action  of  the  peo|)Ie  is 
imnieuiately  seen  to  come  in,  to  correct  every 
error,  and  to  show  the  capacity  of  the  people  for 
wise  and  virtuous  government.    It  would  be  te- 
dious to  enumerate  the  instances  of  this  conserva- 
tive supervision,  so  continually  exemplilied  in  the 
course  of  this  history;  but  some  eminent  cases 
"tand  out  too  prominently  to  l>o  overlooked. 
'  recharterol  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
vorito  measure  with  politicians;  the 
I  jected  it ;  and  the  wisdom  of  their  con- 
is  now  universally  admitted.     The  distri- 
.uun  of  land  and  money  was  a  favorite  mea- 
urc  with  politicians ;  the  people  condemned  it ; 
and  no  one  of  those  engaged  in  these  distribu- 
tions ever  attained  the  presidency.    President 
Jackson,  in  his  last  annual  message  to  Congress, 
and  in  direct  reference  to  this  conseiTative  ac- 
tion of  the  people,  declared  "  that  all  that  had 
occurred  during  his  administration  was  calcula- 
ted to  inspire  him  witli  increased  confidence  in 
the  stability  of  our  institutions."    I  make  the 
same  declaration,  founded  upon  the  same  view 
of  the  conduct  of  the  people— upon  the  obser- 
vation of  their  (-nduct  in  trying  circumstances; 
and  their  uniform  discernment  to  see,  and  virtue 
and  patriotism  to  do,  whatever  the  honor  and 
interest  of  the  country  required.    The  work  is 
full  of  consolation  and  encouragement  to  popular 
government;  and  in  that  point  of  view  it  may 
be  safely  referred  to  by  the  friends  of  that  form 
of  government,      i   have  written  voraciously, 
and  of  acts,  not  of  motives.    I  have  shown  a 
persevering  attack  upon  President  Jackson  on 
the  part  of  three  eminent  public  men  during  his 
whole  administration;  but  have  made  no  attri- 
bution of  motives.    But  another  historian  has 
not  been  so  forbearing— one  to  whose  testimony 
there  can  be  no  objection,  either  on  account  of 
bias,  judgment, or  information;  and  who,  writing 
under  the  responsibility  of  history,  has  indicated 
a  motive  in  two  of  the  assailants.    Mr.  Adams, 
in  his   history  of   the  administration  of  Mr.' 
Monroe,  gives  an  account  of  the  .attempt  in  the 
two  Houses  of  Congress  in  1818,  to  censure 
General  Jackson  for  his  conduct  in  the  Semi- 
nole war,  and  says :  «  Efforts  were  made  m  Con- 


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23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

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734 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


gress  to  procure  a  vote  censuring  the  conduct 
of  General  Jackson,  whose  fast  increasing  pop- 
ularity had,  in  all  probability,  already  excited 
the  envy  of  politicians.    Mr.  Clay  and  Mr.  Cal- 
houn in  particular  favored  this  movement ;  but 
the  President  himself,  and  Mr.  Adams,  the  Se- 
cretary of  State,  who  had  charge  of  the  Spanish 
negotiation,  warmly  espoused  the  cause  of  the 
American  commander."    This  fear  of  a  rising 
popularity  was  not  without  reason.  There  were 
proposals  to  bring  General  Jackson  forward  for 
the  presidency  in  1816,  and  in  1820;  to  which 
he  would  not  listen,  on  account  of  his  friendship 
ta  Mr.  Monroe.    A  refusal  to  enter  the  canvass 
at  those  periods,  and  for  that  reason,  naturally 
threw  him  into  it  in  1824,  when  he  would  come 
into  competition  with  those  two  gentlemen. 
Their  opposition  to  him,  therefore,  dates  back 
to  the  first  term  of  Mr.  Monroe's  administra- 
tion ;  that  of  Mr.  Clay  openly  and  responsibly ; 
that  of  Mr.  Calhoun  secretly  and  deceptiously, 
as  shown  in  the  "  Exposition."  They  were  both 
of  the  same  political  party  school  with  General 


Jackson ;  and  it  was  probably  his  rising  to  the 
head  of  that  party  which  threw  them  both  out 
of  it.    Mr.  Webster's  opposition  arose  from  his 
political  relations,  as  belonging  to  the  opposite 
school;  and  was  always  more  moderate,  and 
better  guarded  by  decorum.    He  even  appeared 
sometimes,  as  the  justifler  ari  supporter  of 
President  Jackson's  measures  ;  as  in  the  well- 
known  instance  of  South  Carolina  nullification. 
Mr.  Clay's  efforts  were  limited  to  the  over- 
throw of  President  Jackson;  Mr.  Calhoun's  ex- 
tended to  the  overthrow  of  the  Union,  and  to 
the  establishment  of  a  southern  confederacy  of 
the  slave  States.    The  subsequent  volume  will 
have  to  pursue  this  subject. 

This  chapter  ends  the  view  of  the  administra- 
tion of  President  Jackson,  promised  to  him  in 
his  lifetime,  constituting  an  entire  work  in  it- 
self, and  covering  one  of  the  most  eventful  pe- 
riods of  American  history — as  trying  to  the 
virtue  and  intelligence  of  the  American  people 
as  was  the  war  of  the  revolution  to  their  cour- 
age and  patriotism. 


ANNO  1837.    MARTIN  VAN  BUREN,  PRESIDENT. 


735 


CHAPTER    CLXV. 


EETIRINO  AND  DEATH  OF  GENERAL  JACKSON-ADMINISTRATION  OF  MARTIN  VAN  BTOEN. 


The  second  and  last  term  of  General  Jack- 
son's presidency  expired  on  the  3d  of  March, 
1837.    The  next  day,  at  twelve,  he  appeared 
with  his  successor,  Mr.  Van  Buren,  on  the  ele- 
vated and  spacious  eastern  portico  of  the  capitol, 
as  one  of  the  citizens  who  came  to  witness  the 
inaguration  of  the  new  President,  and  no  way 
distinguished  from  them,  except  by  his  place  on 
the  left  hand  of  the  President  elect.    The  day 
was  beautiful— clear  sky,  balmy  vernal  sun, 
tranquil  atmosphere ;— and  the  assemblage  im- 
mense.   On  foot,  in  the  large  area  in  front  of 
the  steps,  orderly  without  troops,  and  closely 
wedged  together,  their  faces  turned  to  the  por- 
tico—presenting to  the  beholders  from  all  the 
eastern  windows  the  appearance  of  a  field  paved 
with  human  faces.    This  vast  crowd  remained 
riveted  to  their  places,  and  profoundly  silent, 
until  the  ceremony  of  inauguration  was  over! 
It  was  the  stillness  and  silence  of  reverence  and 
afiection ;  and  there  was  no  room  for  mistake  as 
to  whom  this  mute  and  impressive  homage  was 
rendered.    For  once,  the  rising  was  eclipsed  by 
the  setting  sun.     Though  disrobed  of  power, 
and  retiring  to  the  shades  of  private  life^  it  was 
evident  that  the  great  ex-President  was'the  ab- 
sorbing object  of  this  intense  regard.    At  the 
moment  he  began  to  descend  the  broad  steps  of 
the  portico  to  take  his  seat  in  the  open  carriage 
which  was  to  bear  him  away,  the  deep  repressed 
feeling  of  the  dense  mass  brook  forth,  acclama- 
tions and  cheers  bursting  from  the  heart  and 
filling  the  air— such  as  power  never  commanded 
nor  man  in  power  received.    It  was  the  affec- 
tion, gratitude,  and  admiration  of  the  living  age, 
saluting  for  the  last  time  a  great  man.    It  w.-w 
the  acclaim  of  posterity,  breaking  from  the 
bosoms  of  contemporaries.    It  was  the  antici- 
pation of  futurity— unpurchasable  homage  to 


the  hero-patriot  who,  all  his  life,  and  in  all  cir- 
cumstances of  his  life,  in  peace  and  in  war,  and 
glorious  in  each,  had  been  the  friend  of  his 
country,  devoted  to  her,  regardless  of  self.    Un- 
covered, and  bowing,  with  a  look  of  unaffected 
humility  and  thankfulness,  he' acknowledged  in 
mute  signs  his  deep  sensibility  to  this  affecting 
overflow  of  popular  feeling.  I  was  looking  down 
from  a  side  window,  and  felt  an  emotion  which 
had  never  passed  through  me  before.  I  had  seen 
the  inauguration  of  many  presidents,  and  their 
gomg  away,  and  their  days  of  state,  vested  with 
power,  and  surrounded  by  the  splendors  of  the 
first  magistracy  of  a  great  republic.    But  they 
all  appeared  to  be  as  pageants,  empty  and  soul- 
less, brief  to  the  view,  unreal  to  the  touch,  and 
soon  to  vanish.    But  here  there  seemed  to  be  a 
reality— a  real  scene— a  man  and  the  people- 
he,  laying  down  power  and  withdrawing  through 
the  portals  of  everlasting  fame;— they,  soundmg 
in  his  ears  the  everlasting  plaudits  of  unborn 
generations.    Two  days  after,  I  saw  the  patriot 
ex-President  in  the  c;,r  which  bore  him  off  to 
his  desired  seclusion.    I  saw  him  depart  with 
that  look  of  quiet  enjoyment  which  bespoke  the 
inward  satisfaction  of  the  soul  at  exchanging  the 
cares  of  oflBce  for  the  repose  of  home.    History, 
poetry,  oratory,  marble  and  brass,  will  hand 
down  the  military  exploits  of  Jackson :  this 
work  will  commemorate  the  events  of  his  civil 
administration,  not  less  glorious  than  his  mili- 
tary achievements,  great  as  they  were ;  and  this 
brief  notice  of  his  last  appearance  at  the  Ame- 
rican capital  is  intended  to  preserve  some  faint 
memory  of  a  scene,  the  grandeur  of  which  was 
Ro  impressive  to  the  beholder,  and  the  solace  of 
which  must  have  been  so  grateful  to  the  heart 
of  the  departing  patriot. 
Eight  years  afterwards  he  died  at  the  Hermit- 


w 


736 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


age,  in  the  full  poisession  of  all  his  faculties, 
and  strong  to  thr  last  in  the  ruling  passion  of 
his  soul— love  of  country.    Public  history  will 
do  justice  to  his  public  life  5  but  a  further  notice 
is  wanted  of  him— a  notice  of  the  domestic 
man— of  the  man  at  home,  with  his  wife,  his 
friends,  his  neighbors,  his  slaves;  and  this  I  feel 
some  qualification  for  giving,  from  my  long  and 
varied  acquaintance  with  him.    First,  his  inti- 
mate and  early  friend— then  a  rude  rupture- 
afterwards  friendship  and  intimacy  for  twenty 
years,  and  until  his  death :  in  all  forty  years  of 
personal  observation,  in  the  double  relation  of 
friend  and  foe,  and  in  all  the  walks  of  life,  public 
and  private,  civil  and  military. 

The  first  time  that  I  saw  General  Jackson 
was  at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  in  1799— he  on 
the  bench,  a  judge  of  the  then  Superior  Court, 
and  I  a  youth  of  seventeen,  back  in  the  crowd. 
He  was  then  a  remarkable  man,  and  had  his 
ascendant  over  all  who  approached  him,  not  the 
effect  of  his  high  judicial  station,  nor  of  the 
senatorial  rank  which  he  had  held  and  resigned; 
nor  of  military  exploits,  for  he  had  not  then 
been  to  war ;  but  the  effect  of  personal  qualities ; 
cordial  and  graceful  manners,  hospitable  temper, 
elevation  of  mind,  undaunted  spirit,  generosity' 
and  perfect  integrity.    In  charging  the  jury  in 
the  impending  case,  he  committed  a  slight  so- 
lecism in  language  which  grated  on  my  ear,  and 
lodged  on  my  memory,  without  derogating  in 
the  least  from  the  respect  which  he  inspired ; 
and  without  awakening  the  slightest  suspicion 
that  I  was  ever  to  be  engaged  in  smoothing  his 
diction.    The  first  time  I  spoke  with  him  was 
some  years  after,  at  a  (then)  frontier  town  in 
Tennessee,  when    he  was    returning   from  a 
Southern  visit,  which  brought  him  through  the 
towns  and  camps  of  some  of  the  Indian  tribes. 
In  pulling  ofi"  his  overcoat,  I  perceived  on  the 
white  lining  of  the  turning  down  sleeve,  a  dark 
speck,  which  had  life  and  motion.    I  brushed  it 
ofij  and  put  the  heel  of  my  shoe  upon  it— little  I 
thinking  that  I  was  ever  to  brush  away  from 
him  game  of  a  very  difierent  kind.    He  smiled ; 
and  we  began  a  conversation  in  which  he  very 
quickly  revealed  a  leading  trait  of  his  charac- 
ter,—that  of  encouraging  young  men  in  their 
laudable  pursuits.  Getting  my  name  and  parent- 
age, and  learning  my  intended  profession    he 
manifested  a  regard  for  me,  said  ho  had  received 
hospitality  at  my  father's  house  in  North  Caro- 


lina, gave  me  kind  invitations  to  visit  him  ;  and 
expressed  a  belief  that  I  would  do  well  at  the 
bar— generous  words  which  had  the  efiect  of 
promoting  what  they  undertook  to  foretell.  Soon 
after,  he  had  further  opportunity  to  show  his 
generous  feelings.    I  was  employed  in  a  crimi- 
nal case  of  great  magnitude,  where  the  oldest 
and  ablest  counsel  appeared— Haywood,  Grundy, 
Whiteside,— and  the  trial  of   which   General 
Jackson  attended  through  concern  for  the  fate 
of  a  friend.    As  junior  counsel  I  had  to  pre- 
cede my  elders,  and  did  my  best;  and,  it  being 
on  the  side  of  his  feelings,  he  found  my  effort  to 
be  better  than  it  was.    He  complimented  me 
greatly,  and  from  that  time  our  intimacy  began. 
I  soon  after  became  his  aid,  he  being  a  Major 
General  in  the  Tennessee  militia— made  so  by 
a  majority  of  one  vote.    How  much  often  de- 
pends upon  one  vote  !— New  Orieans,  the  Creek 
campaign,  and  all  their  consequences,  date  from 
that  one  vote !— and  after  that,  I  was  habitually 
at  his  house;  and,  as  an  inmate,  had  opportuni- 
ties to  know  his  domestic  life,  and  at  the  period 
when  it  was  least  understood  and  most  misrep- 
resented.   He  had  resigned  his  place  on  the 
bench  of  the  Superior  Court,  as  he  had  previ- 
ously resigned  his  place  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States,  and  lived  on  a  superb  estate  of 
some  thousand  acres,  twelve  miles  from  Nash- 
ville, then  hardly  known  by  its  subsequent 
famous  name  of  the  Hermitage— name  chosen 
for  its  perfect  accord  v.-itlj  his  feelings ;  for  he 
had  then  actually  withdraT>Ti  from  the  stage  of 
public  life,  and  from  a  state  of  feeling  well 
known  to  belong  to  great  talent  when  finding 
no  theatre  for  its  congenial  employment.    He 
was  a  careful  farmer,  overlooking  every  thing 
himself,  eeeing  that  the  fields  and  fences  were 
in  good  order,  the  stock  well  attended,  and  the 
slaves  comfortably  provided  for.    His  house  wos 
the  seat  of  hospitality,  the  resort  of  friends  and 
acquaintances,  and  of  all  strangers  visiting  the 
State — and  the  more  agreeable  to  all  from  the 
perfect  conformity  of  Mrs.  Jackson's  character 
to  his  own.    But  he  needed  some  excitement 
beyond  that  which  a  farming  life  can  afford,  and 
found  it,  for  some  years,  in  the  animating  sports 
of  the  turf.    He  loved  fine  horses — racers  of 
speed  and  bottom— owned  several,  and  contest- 
ed the  four  mile  heats  with  lliu  best  that  could 
be  bred,  or  brought  to  the  State,  and  for  large 
sums.    That  is  the  nearest  to  gaming  that  I 


over  km 
pit  have 
ously. 
Duels  w 
share  of 
tants;  b 
mosities, 
pressing 
he  had  1 
tility. 

His  tei 

and  his  r 

Of  that. 

After  a  ( 

adviser ; 

favor,  anc 

sage  of  f 

parting,  a 

breath.    ' 

in  him,  ur 

ence  for  d: 

of  the  goi 

house,  anc 

pious  ten( 

they  both 

church,  it 

their  early 

tie  in  his  1 

tions;  and 

in  contras 

worth  mor 

what  that 

his  house  1 

ind  came  u 

before  the 

knees.    He 

remove  the 

explained  t 

cried  becauE 

begged  him 

to  please  tl 

two  years  ol 

that !  and  tl 

his  violence, 

those  who  s 

women  and  1 

for  all  whon 

tion  and  su; 

as  well  as  < 

■  every  walk 

objects  to  r 

Of  this,  I  lei 

Vol. 


^^^Q  ^837.    MARTIN  VAN  BUREN.  PRESIDENT. 


to  visit  him  ;  and 
1(1  do  well  at  the 
lad  the  effect  of 
:  to  foretell.  Soon 
lity  to  show  his 
loyed  in  a  crimi- 
where  the  oldest 
aywood,  Grundy, 
which   General 
cern  for  the  fate 
I  I  had  to  pre- 
st  5  and,  it  being 
und  my  effort  to 
omplimented  me 
•  intimacy  began, 
le  being  a  Major 
;ia — made  so  by 
much  often  de- 
•leans,  the  Creek 
ences,  date  from 
I  was  habitually 
,  had  opportuni- 
nd  at  the  period 
nd  most  misrep- 
is  place  on  the 
i  he  had  previ- 
3  Senate  of  the 
iuperb  estate  of 
les  from  Nash- 
its  subsequent 
! — name  chosen 
reelings ;  for  he 
im  the  stage  of 
of  feeling  well 
t  when  finding 
ployment.    He 
ng  every  thing 
ad  fences  were 
ended,  and  the 
His  house  was 
t  of  friends  and 
rs  visiting  the 
to  all  from  the 
ion's  character 
me  excitement 
can  afford,  and 
imating  sports 
ses — racers  of 
1,  and  contest- 
cst  that  could 
and  for  large 
gaming  that  I 


over  knew  him  to  come.  Cards  and  the  cock- 
pit have  been  imputed  to  him,  but  most  errone- 
ously. I  never  saw  him  engaged  in  either. 
Duels  wore  usual  in  that  time,  and  he  had  his 
share  of  them,  with  their  unpleasant  concomi- 
tants; but  they  passed  away  with  all  their  ani- 
mosities, and  he  has  often  been  seen  zealously 
pressmg  the  advancement  of  those  against  whom 
he  had  but  lately  been  arrayed  in  deadly  hos- 
tility. ^ 

His  temper  was  placable  as  well  as  irascible 
and  his  reconciliations  were  cordial  and  sincere! 
Of  that,  my  own  case  was  a  signal  instance, 
^ter  a  deadly  feud,  I  became  his  confidential 
adviser;  was  offered  the  highest  marks  of  his 
favor,  and  received  from  his  dying  bed  a  mes- 
sage of  friendship,  dictated  when  life  was  de- 
parting, and  when  he  would  have  to  pause  for 
breath.    There  was  a  deep-seated  vein  of  piety 
in  him,  unaffectedly  showing  itself  in  his  rever- 
ence for  divine  worship,  respect  for  the  ministers 
of  the  gospel,  their  hospitable  reception  in  his 
house,  and  constant  encouragement  of  all  the 
pious  tendencies  of  Mrs.  Jackson.    And  when 
they  both  afterwards  became  members  of  a 
church,  it  was  the  natural  and  regular  result  of 
their  early  and  cherished  feelings.    He  was  gen- 
tle in  his  house,  and  alive  to  the  t^nderest  emo- 
tions ;  and  of  this,  I  can  give  an  instance,  greatly 
in  contract  with  his  supposed  charax^ter,  and 
worth  more  than  a  long  discourse  in  showing 
what  that  character  really  was.    I  arrived  at 
his  house  one  wet  chilly  evening,  in  February, 
and  came  upon  him  in  the  twilight,  sitting  alone 
before  the  fire,  a  lamb  and  a  child  between  his 
knees.    He  started  a  little,  called  a  servant  to 
remove  the  two  innocents  to  another  room,  and 
explained  to  me  how  it  was.    The  child  had 
cried  because  the  lamb  was  out  in  the  cold,  and 
begged  him  to  bring  it  in-which  he  had  done 
to  please  the  child,  his  adopted  son,  then  not 
two  years  old.    The  ferocious  man  does  not  do 
that !  and  though  Jackson  had  his  passions  and 
his  violence,  they  were  for  men  and  enemies- 
those  who  stood  up  against  him-and  not  for 
women  and  children,  or  the  weak  and  helpless: 
for  all  whom  his  feelings  were  those  of  protect 
tion  and  support.    His  hospitality  was  a<;tive 
as  well  as  cordial,  embracing  the  worthy  in 
every  walk  of  life,  and  seeking  out  deseiring 
objects  to  receive  it,  no  matter  how  obscure 
ui  this,  I  learned  a  characteristic  instance  in 

Vol.  I— 47 


737 


relation  to  the  son  of  the  famous  Daniel  Boone. 
Ihe  young  man  had  come  to  Nashville  on  his 
fathers  business,  to  be  detained  some  weeks 
and  had  his  lodgings  at  a  small  tavern,  towards 
he  lower  part  of  the  town.     General  Jackson 
heard  of  it ;  sought  him  out ;  found  him ;  took 
him  home  to  remain  as  long  as  his  business  de- 
tamed  him  m  the  country,  saying,  "Your father's 
dog  should  not  stay  in  a  tavern,  where  I  have  a 
house."    This  was  heart !  and  I  had  it  from  the 
young  man  himself,  long  after,  when  he  was  a 
State  Senator  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Mis- 
souri, and,  as  such,  nominated  me  for  the  United 
States  Senate,  at  my  first  election,  in  1820  •  an 
act  of  hereditary  friendship,  as  our  fathers  had 
been  early  friends. 

Abhorrence  of  debt,  public  and  private,  d^s- 
like  of  banks,  and  love  of  hard  money-love  of 
justice  and  love  of  country,  were  ruling  pas- 
sions with  Jax5kson  ;  and  of  these  he  gave  con- 
stent  evidence  in  aU  the  situations  of  his  life 
Of  private  debts  he  contracted  none  of  his  own' 
and  made  any  sacrifices  to  get  out  of  those  m- 
cui    ,  loT  others.    Of  this  he  gave  a  signal  in- 
stance, not  long  before  the  war  of  1812— selling 
the  improved  part  of  his  estate,  with  the  best 
bmldmgs  of  the  country  upon  it,  to  pay  a  debt 
incurred  m  a  mercantile  adventure  to  assist  a 
young  relative ;  and  going  into  log-houses  in  the 
forest  to  beq;ir     new  home  and  farm.    He  was 
hvmg  in  th        -u-:     .enements  when  he  vnn- 
quished  the  Uritish  at  New  Orleans ;  and,  prob- 
ably, a  view  of  their  conqueror's  domicile  would 
have  astonished  the  British  officers  as  much  as 
their  defeat  had  done.    He  was  attached  to  his 
friends,  and  to  his  country,  and  never  believed 
any  report  to  the  discredit  of  either,  until  com- 
pelled by  proof.    He  would  not  believe  in  the 
first  reports  of  the  surrender  of  General  Hull 
and  became  sad  and  oppressed  when  forced  to 
believe  it.    He  never  gave  up  a  friend  in  a  doubt- 
ful case,  or  from  policy,  or  calculation.    He  was 
a  firm  believer  in  the  goodness  of  a  superintend- 
ing Providence,  and  in  the  eventual  right  judg- 
ment  and  justice  of  the  people.    I  have  seen  him 
at  the  most  desperate  part  of  his  fortunes,  and 
never  saw  him  waver  in  the  belief  that  all  would 
come  right  in  the  end.    In  the  time  of  Cromwell 
he  would  have  been  a  puritan. 

The  character  of  his  mind  was  that  of  judg- 
ment, with  a  rapid  and  almost  intuitive  percep- 
tion, followed  by  an  instant  and  decisive  action. 


I  n 


^11 


hi  I 


738 


THIRTY  YEARS'  VIEW. 


It  was  that  which  made  him  a  General,  and  a 
President  for  the  time  in  which  he  served.  He 
had  vigorous  thoughts,  but  not  the  faculty  of 
arranging  them  in  a  regular  composition,  either 
written  or  spoken ;  and  in  formal  papers  he  usual- 
ly gave  his  draft  to  an  aid,  a  friend,  or  a  secretary, 
to  be  written  over— often  to  the  loss  of  vigor.  But 
the  thoughts  were  his  oWn  vigorously  express- 
ed ;  and  without  effort,  writing  with  a  rapid 
pen,  and  never  blotting  or  altering;  but,  as 
Oarlyle  says  of  Cromwell,  hitting  the  nail  upon 
the  head  as  he  went  I  have  a  great  deal  of  hia 
writing  now,  some  on  public  affairs  and  cover- 
ing several  sheets  of  paper ;  and  ao  erasures  or 
interlineations  anywhere.  His  conversation  was 
like  his  writing,  a  vigorous  flowing  current,  ap- 
parently without  the  trouble  of  thinking,  and 
always  impressive.  His  conclusions  were  rapid, 
and  immovable,  when  he  was  under  strong  con- 
victions ;  though  often  yielding,  on  minor  points, 
to  his  friends.  And  no  man  yielded  quicker 
when  he  was  convinced;  perfectly  illustrating 
the  difference  between  firmness  and  obstinacy. 
Of  all  the  Presidents  who  have  done  me  the 
honor  to  listen  to  my  opinions,  there  was  no  one 
to  whom  I  spoke  with  more  confidence  when  I 
felt  myself  strongly  to  be  in  the  right 

He  had  a  load  to  carry  all  his  life ;  resulting 
fipom  a  temper  which  refused  compromises  and 
ba  -gaining,  and  went  for  a  clean  victory  or  a  clean 
defeat,  in  every  case.  Hence,  every  step  he  took 
was  a  contest :  and,  it  may  be  added,  every  con- 
test was  a  victory.  I  have  already  said  that  he 
was  elected  a  Major  General  in  Tennessee — an 
election  on  which  so  much  afterwards  depended 
— ^by  one  voteu  His  appointment  in  the  United 
States  regular  army  was  a  conquest  from  the 
administration,  which  had  twice  refiised  to 
appoint  him  a  Brigadier,  and  once  disbanded 
him  as  a  volunteer  general,  and  only  yielded  to 
his  militia  victories.  His  election  as  President 
was  a  victory  over  politicians — as  was  every 
leading  event  of  his  administration. 

I  have  said  that  his  appointment  in  the  regu- 
lar army  was  a  victory  over  the  administration, 
and  it  belongs  to  the  inside  view  of  history,  and 
to  the  illustration  of  government  mistakes,  and 
ihe  elucidation  of  individual  merit  surmounting 
obstacles,  to  tell  how  it  was.    Twice  passed  by 

4"/\      tmm\      «\WA^«W.v*n'«      Art      J-vHA       Aj.t.^«~      2..     Xl "ITT  i 

—   a-'--   X"'""  •    "•-'^    t'-'    irru   viuviS    111  1110   TT  CSC 

(General  Harrison  and  General  Wmchester), 
once  disbanded,  and  omitted  in  all  the  lists  of 


military  nominations,  how  did  he  get  at  last  to 
be  appointed  Major  General?  It  was  thus. 
Congress  had  passed  an  act  authorizing  the 
President  to  accept  organized  corps  of  volunteers. 
I  proposed  to  General  Jackson  to  raise  a  corps 
under  that  act,  and  hold  it  ready  for  service. 
He  did  so ;  and  with  this  corps  and  some  militia, 
he  defeated  the  Creek  Indians,  and  gained  the 
reputation  which  forced  his  appointment  in  the 
regular  army.  I  drew  up  the  address  which  he 
made  to  his  division  at  the  time,  and  when  I 
carried  it  to  him  in -the  evening,  I  found  the 
child  and  the  lamb  between  his  knees.  He  had 
not  thought  of  this  resource,  but  caught  at  it 
instantly,  adopted  the  address,  with  two  slight 
alterations,  and  published  it  to  his  division.  I 
raised  a  regiment  myself,  and  made  the  speeches 
at  the  general  musters,  which  helped  to  raise  two 
others,  assisted  by  a  small  band  of  friends— all 
feeling  confident  that  if  we  could  conquer  the 
difficulty— master  the  first  step— and  get  him 
upon  the  theatre  of  action,  he  would  do  the  rest 
himself.  This  is  the  way  he  got  into  the  regu- 
lar army,  not  only  unselected  by  the  wisdom  of 
government,  but  rejected  by  it— a  stone  rejected 
by  the  master  builders — and  worked  in  by  an 
unseen  hand,  to  become  the  comer  stone  of  the 
temple.  The  aged  men  of  Tennessee  will  re- 
member all  this,  and  it  is  time  that  history 
should  learn  it  But  to  return  to  the  private 
life  and  personal  characteristics  of  this  extraor- 
dinary man. 

There  was  an  innate,  unvarying,  self-acting 
delicacy  in  his  intercourse  with  the  female  sex, 
including  all  womankind;  and  on  that  point 
my  personal  observation  (and  my  opportunities 
for  observation  were  both  large  and  various), 
enables  me  to  join  in  the  declaration  of  the  be- 
lief expressed  by  his  earliest  friend  and  most 
intimate  associate,  the  late  Judge  Overton,  of 
Tennessee.  The  Roman  general  won  An  mimor- 
^.ality  of  honor  by  one  act  of  continence;  what 
praise  is  due  to  Jaekson,  whose  whole  life  was 
continent?  I  repeat:  if  he  had  beii  bom  in 
the  time  of  Cromwell,  he  would  have  been  a 
puritan.  Nothing  could  exceed  his  kindness 
and  affection  to  Mrs.  Jackson,  always  increasing 
in  proportion  as  his  elevation,  and  culminating 
fortunes,  drew  crael  attacks  upon  her.  I  knew 
her  well,  and  that  a  more  exemplary  woman  in 
all  the  relations  of  life,  wife,  friend,  neighbor,  relit- 
tive,  mistress  of  slaves — ^never  lived,  and  never 


Amomi.  mart:  t  van  buren,  president. 


presented  a  more  quiet,  cheerful  and  admirable 
management  of  her  household.    She  had  not 
education,  but  she  had  a  heart,  and  a  good  one  • 
ajQd  that  was  always  leading  her  to  do  kind 
thmgs  m  the  kindest  manner.     She  had  the 
General  8  own  warm  heart,  frank  manners  and 
hospitable  temper;  and  no  two  persons  could 
have  been  better  suited  to  each  other,  lived 
more  happily  together,  or  made  a  house  more 
attractive  to  visitors.    She  had  the  faculty-a 
rare  one-of  retaining  names  and  titles  in  a 
throng  of  visitors,  addressing  each  one  appro- 
priately, and  dispensing  hospitality  to  all  with 
a  cordiaUty  which  enhanced  its  value.     No 
bashful  youth,  or  plain  old  man,  whose  modesty 
sat  them  down  at  the  lower  end  of  the  table 
could  escape  her  cordial  aiiention,  any  more 
than  the  titled  gentlemen  on  her  right  and  left 
Young  persons  were  her  delight,  and  she  always 
had  her  house  filled  with  them-clever  young 
women  and  clever  young  men-all  calling  her  af- 
fectionately, "Aunt  Rachel."    I  was  young  then 
and  was  one  of  that  number.    I  owe  it  to  early 


739 


I  recollections,  and  to  cherished  convictions-in 

^fllTj""!"^  "^  '^'  Hermitage-to  bear  this 
faithftil  testimony  to  the  memory  of  its  lomr 
mistress-the  loved  and  honored  wife  of  a  gr^ 

wJth  \'T^*l'^  «"I«gyi«  in  the  affection 
which    he  bore  her  living,  and  in  the  sorrow 
with  which  he  mourned  her  dead.    She  died 
at  the  moment  of  the  General's  first  election  to 
the  Presidency;  and  every  one  that  had  a  just 
petition  to  present,  or  charitable  request  to 
make,  lost  in  her  death,  the  surest  channel  to 
the  ear  and  to  the  heart  of  the  President.    His 
re^  for  her  survived,  and  lived  in  the  persons 
of  her  nearest  relatives.    A  nephew  of  hers  was 
his  adopted  son  and  heir,  taking  his  own  name, 
and  now  the  respectable  master  of  the  Her- 
mitage.    Another  nephew,  Andrew  Jackson 
Donelson,  Esq.,  wa«  his  private  secretary  when 
President.    The  Presidential  mansion  was  pre- 
sided over  during  his  term  by  her  niece,  the 
most  amiable  Mrs.  Donelson;  and  all  his  can- 
duct  bespoke  affectionate  and  lasting  remem- 
brance  of  one  he  had  held  oo  dear. 


ig,  self-acting 
le  female  sex, 
>n  that  point 
opportunities 
and  various), 
on  of  the  be- 
nd and  most 
I  Overton,  of 
on  an  immor- 
inence;  what 
'hole  life  was 
beta  bom  in 
have  been  a 
his  kindness 
lys  increasing 
[  culminating 
her.  I  knew 
.ry  woman  in 
eighbor,  rela- 
id,  and  never 


END  OF  VOLUME  I. 


TEM 


Contents:  P: 

ment— TJ 
Peasantry 
Appendix 
ment  of  r 

Bnssla,  of 
Uon,  now  so  ir 


THE  ] 


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ii 

1 

1 

i' 

1 

P! 

^^H 

h't  ■ 

■ 

■ ;  ^ 

^^^1 

■'' 

H 

1 

D.  APPLETON  dc  COMPANY'S  PUBLICATIONS. 


f  Ijc  ^rts,  H'dmifattuns,  aiii  Itincs. 

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Peokkssou  of  Logic  and  Mktaph  .  ica  i.v  Edinuurgh  Universiti. 
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i 


I 

i 

ft 


V. 

LECTURES  ON  THE  TRUE,  THE  BEAUTIFUL,  AND 

THE  GOOD. 

By   VICTOR    COUSIN. 

TRANSLATED    BY    O.    W,    WIGHT. 

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NEW      EDITION,       WITH      AX      APPENDIX. 

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OKEATI..      KNLAaOKI,      KUOM      THE      .AST      KNC.ISI.      K  I.  ,  T  ,  O  . . 

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AND 

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By  JAMES  F.  W.  JOHNSTON,  M.  A.,  F.  R.  S.,  F.  G.  S. 
comprising 
The  Air  we  Breathe,  the  Water  we  Drink,  The  Soil  we  Cultivate,  and  the  Plants  we  Rear.  Tlie 
Bread  we  Eat,  The  Beef  we  Cook,  and  the  Beverages  we  Infuse.  The  Sweets  we  Extract,  The 
Liquors  we  Ferment,  and  the  Narcotics  we  Indulge  in.  The  Odors  we  Enjoy,  The  Smells  we 
Dislike.  AVhat  we  Breathe  and  Breathe  for,  And  wliat,  how,  and  why  we  Digest.  The  Body 
we  Cherish,  and  the  Circulation  of  Matter.     A  Recapitulation. 

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Rear.    Tlie 

Extract,  The 

e  Smells  we 

The  Body 


™EN^  m  T^t^J"^  ""^  EXPLORATIONS  AND  INCI 

DENTS  IN  TEXAS,  NEW  MEXICO,  CALIFORNIA 

SONORA,  AND  CHIHUAHUA. 

By  Ho^f.  JOHN  RUSSELL  BARTLETT, 

UmtKD     StaTKS     CommI88IO«KB     nURXKO     THAT     PKRIOD 

rallr,..,  from  the  Atlantic  t,,  t„e  Padfla    tL  auT..    traZ,  Z         7         ' '"'"'""  "'  ""^  "'  "■"  ^'-P^^-^  """-  '»  • 

Sonora.  near  the  same  line.    In  thc«e  two  States,  whlcl,  are  nowll    h      .       ,  ''"^''  *"  ""^  ^'""^  °'  Chihuahua  and 

thn,ush  their  entire  length,  and  ..escribes  with  ^TlZlZc^T    f    T  '"""'  """"''  "'  '"'^''  -'<^-'-  J-ney. 
emlgranta  to  these  States  or  to  California,  the  infoUloTrbeJva.ur  '  ''  ""^  "'""'^'  '»  """•  "  "  ^"''^^  ^ 


II. 

NICARAGUA ; 

HB  PEOPLE  SCENERY.  MONUMENT,  AND  THE  PROPOSED  INT^ROCEANIC  OANAX. 

wim  mMEnovs  ohwikal  maps  Am  illustbations. 

By  E  G.  SQUIER, 

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III. 

THE  ISTHMUS  OF  TEHUANTEPEC- 

MAJOR  J.  G.  BARNARD,  United  Stat.,  Enoinkkb. 

WITH  A  RESUME  OP  THE 

Geology,  C,i.ate,  Local  Geography.  Productive  Industry,  Eauna  and  Plor.  of  the  Region. 

iLi^vsmAT^n  mTH^vu^novs  maps  akj,  ^^a.Avrr^as 

Arranged  and  prepared  for  the  Tehuantepeo  RaiIro..d  Co„  „rNew  Orlean, 

Bv  J.  J.  WILLIAMS,  Pr,n.  Assist.  Eno. 

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EDITED   BY    MR.    CHARLES  KN'IGIIT. 
Many  of  the  articles  written  hy  the  moat  Eminent  Scholars  and  Scientific  Men  of  the  Day. 

rpon  comi)letinp:  the  first  two  volumes  of  the  "The  Exoi.isn  Cyclopedia"— 
namely,  one  of  Geoohai'iiy,  and  one  of  Natuuai,  HiflxoRY— the  public  attention  to 
the  distinctive  character  of  this  work  is  respectfully  requested  by  the  Publishers. 

"The  Enomsii  Cycloi'.kdia,"  as  now  announced,  is  based  upon  "The  Penny 
Gyclopfodia  of  the  Society  for  the  Dirtusion  of  Useful  Knowledge."  The  copyright 
of  that  great  work  being  the  property  of  Mr.  Knight,  he  alone  had  the  power  of  re- 
modelling it  thronghoiit,  so  as  to  adapt  the  original  materials  to  the  existing  state  of 
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systematize  articles  that  from  the  long  course  of  publication  of  the  original  work  were 
disconnected  to  make  the  references  complete  ;  and  truly  to  present,  as  far  as  a  "  Dio- 
TioKAKY  OF  Univkusal  KNOWLEDGE  "  can  present,  the  advanced  opinions  of  our  own 
times. 

During  the  progress  of  its  completion,  i*  has  become  more  and  more  evident  that 
the  plan  of  issuing  "  The  Exglisii  Cyclopedia  "  in  Four  Divisions  is  a  judicious 
arrangement.  It  has  the  obvious  advantage  of  completing,  in  a  comparatively  short 
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Finishing  the  great  branches  of  Geography  and  Natural  History  in  two  years,  the 
beginning  and  the  end  of  each  series  will  not  present  different  aspects,  the  one  some- 
Vhat  antiijuated,  the  other  perfectly  fresh.  The  editorial  labor,  too,  being  more  con- 
flensed,  the  relations  and  proportions  of  each  article  and  subject  can  be  better  pre- 
served. The  old  materials  were  of  the  highest  value ;  but  the  edifice  required  to  be 
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only  taking  a  new  form,  but  new  in  all  the  essentials  of  literary  novelty. 

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of  "  The  English  Cyclopedia  "  will  be  prepared ;  but  as  it  will  not  be  an  isolated 
collection  of  Maps,  but  one  adapted  to  the  text  of  the  Cyclopoidia,  it  will  not  be  issued 
till  the  work  is  more  advanced ;  and  thus  the  most  recent  information  will  be  therein 
embodied. 

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own  alphabetical  arrangement,  and  each  forming,  when  complete,  four  distinct  volumes. 

Of.OQEIAPIIY,      ...  .  .      4  Tnl9    I  HlSTOKY,  BrOQKAPlIY,  LiTEKATURK,  &0.,     4  VOls, 

Natitkai.  History,      ....       4  vols.  |  Sciences  and  Arts,     ....       4  vola, 

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"A  decidedly  hnppy  prodiiftion    for  nil  i      "F;,,.!,  ..Knnf.,  i      • 
who  lov«  fun  „„d  novelty.    The  ttuthor">f  on.!;    viti     ?  .        '",""  .'^'/''  "  "'"i'"-"^ 
a  work   like  this   neod   not  stop   to   n.ako    yw/  "    '"""*'    l"ugh."_7Vo^    Bail!, 

apologies.      There    is    a   spicp  of    roiil    -■"' '      -  -' 

'     41...    1 I_    it       J  1 


wit 


.., — ^.v,^,.  i,,c,c  ,B  ,1  spicp  oi  roiii  wit 
throiigliout  the  book  tiiiit  renders  it  grontiv 
ottnictive,  while  the  suhjects  iire  of  interest 
to  every  t.ody,  not  even  e.xeoptinir  tiie  wor- 
thy members  of  llie  legal  profe.^^sion.  To  all 
we  say,  get  and  read  tiiis  book."— Z^aiYu 
■t'enHsijlvanian,  Phila. 

"One  of  the  most  entertaining  books  we 
have  rea.'.  wi  a  long  time."— ^Va^iona/  iJcmo- 
crat,  New-  Vork. 

"Tliis  is  a  series  of  dashing,  grnphie,  and 
nolesketohesofmen,  manners,  habils,  seenes, 
incidents,  aeeidents,  and  events  which  passed 
before  the  author's  observntiuii,  while  i)rae- 
tising  law  and  studying  the  world  in  Ala- 
bama and  Mississippi."— >rom,s/tr  JJnil,/ 
Spii.  -' 

"There  is  not  a  page  of  the  book  that  is 
not  invested  with  the  deepe.'^t  interest,  mid 
which  will  serve  to  beguile  a  weary  hour 
with  rending  of  the  most  entertaining  kind." 
— Commercial  Advertiser. 

"We  are  but  giving  an  expression  to  a 
widely  entertained  O|.inion,  when  we  say 
hat  they  are  the  very  best  things  of  the  kiii,! 
Hiat  the  age  has  produced.  Tiie  drollery  of 
the  writer  is  irresistible ;  but  apart  from 
this,  there  are  graces  of  style  which  beloiKr 
peculiarly  to  him.  'The  Virgi„i„„3  in  a 
Jsew  Country'  is  worthy  of  Goldsmith  in  its 
ensy  and  quiet  satire,  anS  its  smooth  descrip- 
tioiis.  —Southern  Literary  Mesnenrfer. 

"A  book  which  will  be  in  great  demand." 
—  Winchester  Uejyuhlican. 
.  "This  book  will  be  good  nny  whore,  but 
in  Alabama  and  Mississippi  it  will  be  road 
with  an  appreciative  gusto  wliich  few  in  this 
latitude  can  comprehend."— .S'yjriTim^WJ  Re- 
publican.  ''•' 

"It  would  provoke  laughter  from  tho 
saadest  phiz.  —Lanmighurcj  (1  azette 
«kt;/i  "1'"""^'"  '"  snarkling  wit  and  irre- 
sistible humour,  and  to  members  of  the  bar 
particularly,  must  prove  a  source  of  much 
merriment."— iVe«,aH-  Daih,  Advertiser. 
tl,.„  w."  »/fn*'f  quiet  humor  running 
through  the  whole;  and  as  the  volume  con" 
tmns  UO  pages,  the  reader  m.iy  be  sure  of 
3,S0  laughs  alone  to  himself  before  he  reaches 
the  cone  us.on.  A  friend  of  ours  says  that 
He  considers  him  his  greatest  bonefaoto-  i,o 
<;?"'"nkehnn  laugh  the  most."— rr(  -r 
Jraltadium. 


•VSinee  the    publication    of  .ludge  Long- 
sfieet  8  (,oorgia  Seene.-,  wo  have  had  notiii.ur 

^  olume.     W  ,.  have  laughed  consumodlv  over 

"Tliov  are  brim  full  of  humor,  "  Lau.'hter" 

'"-t   "in.ld   both   his   sides"  ^hile     ea  il 

them.     We  predict  for  it, nostrtatterlgr 

I   IS  J.ieture.s  of  Life  in   tlie'West    at  thi> 

■;;;:■;;;;- newly  settled  and  coiiJi^UJ; 

'  "^'I'/'d,   are   inimitable.      No   „ie  could 

'iir'bi'ue:  Tk  1^:' '-%  ^-  ^^^t^i 

f.  ,.f,  nypoeondrines  and  un- 

oi  una  e  persons  of  that  class  purehas^e 
M  iiistanter.  It  must  cure  them  "_ 
Murn  Lttvrar;,  Mes^evyer. 

un.es  o/th  """  '"'  ^'".  '""'^^  t.ntcrtnining  vol- 
•>  ts  of  ho  season  ;  for  «  winter  eveiii.i,r  or 
'yumy  day,  ,t  is  „  charming  book.  I  wHl 
chase  away  the  "  blues,"  fill  the  mind  wi  h 
r  eusant  and  agreoable'fancies,  n.T  ob  1  ft 
of  Its  cares     Baldwin,  the  author,  is  a  de- 

nowing.     lie  draws  his  characters   to  na- 
ture. —Lynchburg  Viryinhx. 

Po'rtrlh,!""  ^'''  '^"'S^  '"  *''^  «e°«0"- 
loitia Its  drawn,   c.n  amore,  of  bench  and 

bar,  where  prominently  figuVes  ourold  ^c- 

qiiaintance,  Simon  Su/gs,   J-.Vn.     Mr    ]{nbl 

win  ranks,  intellectually-; and^ as  a  fai^i- 

?o  Z-l^.V'"'^'",'"f  '"'^^  '"  the  State,  ind 
to.  diy  and  genial  humor,  we  know  not  his 
superior  in  the  South."-J/oA*7.  Daily  1^' 

une  ot  the  most  mirth-provokine  little 
works  we  ever  met  with.''_!to«.-.,;/;f  i'™ 

As  a  delineation  of  character  and  inci- 
dent  developed   by  the  Flush  Times,       4 
book  IS  a  verity,  corroborated  by  the  recol 
ettion  of  every  observant  man  of  those  days 
t  18    rulj,  an  admirable  performance,  evinc^ 

»8  Its  Wit  and  irresistible  as  its  humor  are 
oe  sees  that  they  are  among  the  rich  gifts 

a.ithor.  lie  is  a  man  to  write  books  to  en- 
dure. The  gambols  of  his  genius,  inn  merelv 
frohcmood,  indicate  the  power  and  the  grace 
which  eapacitat^  him,  when  he  chooses  ?o 
take  high  rank  ,.  the  roll  of  American  au- 
thors  "—Chambers'  Tribune.  Ala. 


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■nbjocts  upon  which  he  took  a  leading  position,  and  greatly  aided  the  decisions 
Which  were  made  on  them.  With  those  who  take  an  interest' in  our  national  histo- 
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